Luther King Class
PGL updates:
Thursday
Toady was the day for water: with a costal walk as well as raft building. The coastal walk saw us learning more about the Manor House and then ending up on the beach. Again, the main draw was paddling! During raft building, the children had to make their own rafts using only barrels, ropes and poles. To test them out, the brave mariners had to take their own craft on to the small river. The rafts all held but not everyone stayed dry! The other activities for today were archery (we have a few Robin Hoods in the class) as well as the dreaded Jacob's Ladder. I can tell you that it looked like a lot of hard work from where I was watching. The children again gave it their all and achieved amazing things again! Last morning tomorrow; we are as packed as we can be and ready to try robot wars and abseiling in the morning.
PGL 2022 Thursday
Wednesday
Today saw the children really having to challenge themselves and they all stepped up; we are very proud of every single one. Today saw them scaling the heights of the trapeze, followed by a daring jump off the platform. There was more fun in the obstacle course, the giant swing as well as a massive zip wire. Everybody has now also completed the sensory trail. This involves the children leading each other around an obstacle course - blindfolded! The children had to trust each other and work as a team. This evening's game was capture the flag. I have no idea how they still had the energy to be so competitive!
PGL 2022 Wednesday
Monday and Tuesday
We have settled in to PGL and the children are having a great time. The first night was very exciting but we did manage to get some sleep! After we arrived, we went for our lunch on the beach and a beach walk where the children loved the waves. Next on the agenda was moving in and most importantly: choosing the correct bunk bed! After our dinner (enough food for all with a salad bar), we joined another school for a campfire were we sang songs.
This morning saw many different activities; the children are in 3 groups but all of them will have had the same experiences by the end. We had a combination of: zip-lining, orienteering, wacky races, team challenge, giant swing and a sensory walk. The children threw themselves into the activities and pushed themselves, showing resilience, team work and their supportive natures. Here are a few photos. Due to technical difficulties, there are only a few but we will post more tomorrow.
PGL 2022
Our Learning - Summer 1
SUMMER 1
We have reached Summer 1 and are in the last few weeks of preparation before the SATs test which start on the 9th May. After learning all about World War II last half term, we are now moving on in time to look at Britain after the war and will specifically be looking at the contributions to society by the Empire Windrush generation and some key individuals (Sam Beaver King and Claudia Jones). This will lead us into different subjects where we will be looking at the importance of equality and the different civil rights movements across the globe. This ties in with our Literacy topic of persuasive speeches. We will be studying Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech as well Barack Obama's inauguration speech. From this we will write about our vision for the future. Our 3pm read will be Floella Benjamin's Coming to England as well as Benjamin Zepheniah's Windrush Child.
Our first RE topic is about Pentecost where we will be looking at being a witness as well as modern witnesses. In science, we will be looking at electricity completing circuits, knowing the symbols and creating our own fair tests to discover what happens when we increase the amounts of batteries or bulbs in a circuit. During our computing lessons, we will be learning how to code by learning all about algorithms as well as using repletion commands, if and if/else statements as well as using variables. Our focus in Maths will be a continued emphasis on our reasoning skills which is built on our solid foundation of our four operations. We are also looking at using statistics to learn about different topics as well as and being able to explain the maths we use to solve problems.
Our Learning - Spring 2
SPRING 2
And so another half term is upon us. The children are very excited about this one, as we are studying their long-awaited World War 2 topic: A Child at War. We will be learning about World War 2 in History, focussing on how the Blitz and World War 2 changed our local area. We are linking this to literacy; our Talk for Writing books are A Candle in the Dark by Adele Geras as well as Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh. Our 3pm read is Fireweed. In DT, we will be learning about war time vehicles before designing our own models and evaluating our success when finished. We will be creating text based adventure games in our Computing, setting them in WW2.
In other subjects, our current RE topic is learning about the Eucharist (and the unity of our community) followed be our topic on Lent. During Science we will be learning all about Light, how it travels and creating our own periscopes. Our focus in Maths will be a continued emphasis on reasoning skills and being able to explain the maths we use to solve problems. During French lessons, we are learning about clothing. Our focus in PE is on problem solving.
Our Learning - Spring 1
SPRING 1
Our topic this half term is called Darwin's Delights and we will be learning all about Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution in Science as well as about inheritance and adaptation. We will investigate why birds have different beak shapes and apply our learning to the finches of the Galapagos Islands.
In Geography we will look at the journey Charles Darwin made in the HMS Beagle and some of the amazing wildlife he discovered. After learning all about the Galapagos Islands, we will plan our own expedition. We will also compare the Galapagos Islands to Madagascar as well as Great Britain.
During Literacy, we will be writing a range of Non-Chronological reports on adaptations of animals to their habitat as well as all about the island of Madagascar as well as using our imagination to create our own animals and islands.
In Art, we will be using our observational and sketching techniques and applying these just like Charles Darwin.
Our focus in Maths is: decimals (as well as converting between decimals and fractions); percentages (converting from fractions and decimals as well as percentage of amounts) and starting our topic on Algebra.
We are currently studying all about the Bible RE and will be learning about the different types of books it contains.
Our Computing topic is coding, creating a programme, using functions and debugging through our purple mash platform.
French will be all about clothes: what we wear as well as giving opinions about clothes.
Our PSHE sessions thief half term are our relationship education - all about relationships and trust as well as privacy and online friendships.
Our Thursday PE sessions are indoor this half term as we are learning gymnastics. Separating skills out to aim to create and perform a rhythmic gymnastic sequence.
Our Learning - Autumn 2
AUTUMN 2
Our topic for this half term is Frozen Kingdom where we will be exploring the planet's coldest lands, which are incredibly beautiful, yet often deadly. We will start by observing icebergs. In Geography using globes and maps, we'll identify the Polar Regions, comparing the Arctic and Antarctic. We'll also think about how we can protect the polar environment and why it is so important. In Science we will learn all about how to classify living things, comparing ones found in Southwark to those in the Polar Regions. . Linking our Science and Geography, we will look at the effects of climate change on the Polar Regions. In Art we will study artwork by the Inuit people, especially that of Kenojuak Ashevak. We will use these to inspire our own lino print artwork. In Computing we will be learning all about blogging.
Our Learning - Autumn 1
AUTUMN 1
Our topic for this half term is Blood Heart where we will be learning all about the heart and circulatory system. In Science, we will explore the heart and circulatory system, the function of blood, blood groups and measuring our heart rates. Armed with this knowledge, we will investigate how heart rate is affected by exercise. Our History lessons will see us going back in time to see how medicine has changed through the ages and continents. In DT we will be learning about healthy heart recipes.
During Literacy, our Talk for Writing text is Clockwork by Philip Pullman, which we will use as a basis for writing suspense stories. The children will have their own personalised targets that they will be working towards.
Our focus in Maths will be accuracy this half-term; making sure we use the checking strategies we learn. We will be solving reasoning problems to practise applying our knowledge and show that we are able to explain our mathematical thinking.
Our first topic in RE is about the 'Domestic Church: God's unconditional love' followed by learning about 'Vocation: The Priesthood & Religious Life' .
In Computing, we will be looking at how to keep safe on the internet including: having a positive digital footprint; how to tell if a website/message is genuine; and looking after passwords.
Our first PE unit is basketball where we will not just improve our dribbling and passing skills but also look at defenders and creating space.