This week, in English, we delved into Lady Macbeth’s complex feelings, behaviour and experiences. The children stepped into her shoes and wrote diary entries from her perspective, revealing her true character based on what we’ve learned so far. They skillfully used relative clauses to add detail, capturing her inner thoughts, ambitions and struggles with vivid writing.
In History, we learned about the first moon landing and Neil Armstrong’s incredible journey on Apollo 11. Inspired by this momentous event, we imagined ourselves in his space boots and wrote detailed recounts of his experiences during the mission. Our writing included fascinating facts about the mission, descriptions of key moments, and insights into the emotions and feelings he might have experienced at different stages—from the launch to setting foot on the moon and returning to Earth.
In Art, the children stepped into Vincent van Gogh’s shoes as they explored a brief history of the renowned Dutch painter and his iconic masterpiece, Sunflowers. Inspired by his work, they sketched their own sunflower-themed artwork using pastels, thoughtfully experimenting with colours and textures to convey their emotions.
Year 4 children put on their dancing shoes and learned an exciting combination of moves, including the grapevine, ripple moves, level changes and repetition sequences. They practiced with energy and enthusiasm, while building their rhythm and coordination.
On Tuesday, during our gymnastics session, the children practiced a variety of rolls, including the straight roll, forward roll, backward roll, and straddle roll. It was wonderful to see their initial hesitation transform into confidence as they bravely gave each roll a try.
In PSHE, we explored the terms danger, risk, and hazard, defining each one and explaining the differences between them. Through discussions with their learning partners, the children identified and analysed real-life situations that could be classified as dangerous, risky or hazardous. To deepen their understanding, the children used actions to indicate whether they thought a situation posed a high, medium, or low risk. This activity was further enriched by linking it to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly the right to safety (Article 19) and the right to education (Article 28), emphasising the importance of empowering children to make informed and responsible decisions.
This week in Year 5’s Earth and Space topic, the children explored gravity and air resistance. Gravity pulls objects toward Earth, while air resistance slows them down. They learned about an experiment by physicist Brian Cox, where a bowling ball and a feather were dropped. With air, the ball fell faster due to air resistance on the feather, but in a vacuum, both fell at the same time, showing gravity acts equally on all objects without air resistance. The children also conducted their own investigation, dropping a crumpled and a flat piece of paper. Both were pulled down by gravity, but the flat paper fell slower due to greater air resistance, demonstrating how air resistance affects falling objects.
This week in music, the children have been studying Earth by Hans Zimmer. They explored creating their own music by selecting three notes to form a motif. Using a stepping motion in pitch, they experimented with different note lengths, including quavers, crotchets, minims, and semibreves, to add variety and rhythm. Improvisation played a key role, as the children used their motifs creatively to develop unique musical ideas, building an understanding of melody, rhythm, and structure inspired by Hans Zimmer’s work.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend. See you all on Monday.