Pixies

It’s been a flutter of excitement in Pixies as we explored the magical world of butterflies! The children were captivated by the butterfly life cycle, discovering how these beautiful creatures grow and change.

We began the week reading the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which sparked lively discussions and curiosity. From there, the children delved into the four stages of a butterfly's life. They examined tiny model eggs and imagined what it would be like to begin life so small. We brought the learning to life by acting out the stages—munching and crawling like caterpillars learning about what they eat and wiggling their bodies to form a Chrysalis.

The highlight of the week was creating vibrant butterfly wings, exploring the concept of symmetry, and joyfully fluttering around the classroom with their creations.

The Shire

'Last week we designed, decorated and flew kites. It was great fun. So this week we decorated and flew polystyrene planes. We all stood in a long line, took our aim and launched our planes into the air. We measured how far they flew. Allegra’s plane flew the furthest – 8 metres and 10 centimetres. Well done Allegra, great shot! We initially displayed them on the table, but the best thing of all was we could take them home.

We have also discussed our ideas about our school value which is ‘hope’. Some of us thought that hope could make you feel brave, some of us thought hope could mean we could get a dog or a cat. We think hope can make you believe and it can make you feel joy.

We have started our live action filming for our summer film. We had to have lots of practice, patience and perseverance … but most of all, HOPE! We have also been decorating our ‘Out and About’ caps, so they match our costumes for’ on-location live action filming.'

Griffins/Elves

'In maths, we have been measuring. Year 1s really had fun measuring capacity in the water tray and Y2 have been looking at measuring mass.

Our topic work (as engineers) is all about flight. Year 1s have started their models of balloons which we hope will be decorated in the style of the Montgolfier Brothers. The Year 2s were learning about the impact of the Wright Brothers on the history of flight. We found out that their shortest flight was only 3 seconds, and they even managed to make a flight of 190m in 59 seconds. We tested how long those times were by putting our hands on our heads – it wasn’t long! We think the brothers definitely needed hope, perseverance and a lot of patience.

We also looked at the importance of the Spitfire in WW2, in particular the difference it made in the war in the skies. It was an amazing piece of engineering.'

VE Day

'We decorated some Union Jack flags to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day.'

(Shared writing by Elves and Griffins)

The children enjoyed learning about V.E. Day. Our budding bakers got busy in the kitchen, whipping up savoury cheese and bacon muffins along with vanilla cupcakes in preparation for our special tea party this afternoon.

Dragons

This week the dragons class has been learning about VE day. They have looked at the history of World War Two and VE day and what it means now. The children were really interested and shared stories about people they know that are in the army.

Artwork inspired by Isambard Kingdom Brunel

The value of this term is 'hope'. The pupils were inspired by the story of Noah's Ark and the flood, to write and draw it. 

Filming has started in earnest in the greenhouse and animation is ongoing. The year fours are working hard in maths in preparation for a multiplication test coming up. They have also been looking at money and using coins for change. It would be great if the children could practice their maths skills when buying things with money and counting their change.

The pupils in year four went to a language festival at Chipping Norton School. They joined in beautifully and experienced Norwegian, Spanish and French.

Wizards

This week, the Wizards have been finding out about Mandir (the Hindu place of worship). They have researched the similarities and differences of worshipping at home or in the Mandir including ringing a bell to let the gods know that they have arrived. They have also found out about the god Brahman and the fact that Hindus also worship an array of different gods as well. They also had a discussion about how the Mandir is different to Christian churches. 

Our Bristol display is now almost finished, and we are very pleased with the final result, including our mini graffiti wall and our lovely hanging sign. The children added lots of labels and researched and written about all the different places we visited on our trip. 

In English, the children have begun to write a story based on a 'story starter' and they have been sharing these with the rest of the class. The year 5s have been looking at fractions, including improper fractions and mixed numbers in Maths, whilst the year 6s have been revising different topics ready for their SATs tests.