Back to School with a Brrr-illiant Start!

Happy New Year and welcome back! We hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable break. The spring term promises to be a busy but fun-filled one, and we have certainly started as we mean to go on.

This week in Willow Class, we wasted no time getting back into routine with our learning, despite the chilly temperatures and a dusting of snow. We returned with fantastic attitudes and enthusiasm, ready to jump straight back in. With snow falling so rarely these days, we just had to take a moment to pause and enjoy how beautiful and peaceful it can be. It provided the perfect backdrop to launch our exciting new topic for this term: ‘Frozen Kingdoms’.

In Maths, we have been learning about the relationship between numbers and developing our understanding of the language of ratios. We solved problems using ratios, learnt how to use the ratio symbol correctly, and explained our thinking using clear mathematical vocabulary.

In English, we have been researching fascinating facts about icebergs in preparation for writing our own non-chronological reports. We collected information about the size, shape, colour and dangers of icebergs, as well as learning how climate change is affecting them. We also discussed the importance of using a formal tone and subject-specific vocabulary in our writing. Next week, we will be drafting and then publishing our reports, and the children are very excited to see their work come together.

We have also been busy sharpening our punctuation skills in English by exploring the many uses of hyphens. We have learnt how hyphens help with compound adjectives and nouns, ordinal numbers, and even how they can be used to avoid confusion (a ‘man-eating shark’ is very different from a ‘man eating shark’!). To bring it all to life, we had great fun playing Hyphen Huddle Up, a fast-paced, brain-boosting game where we quickly sorted well-chosen, correctly-hyphenated words. There were plenty of “aha!” moments with learning and laughter going hand in hand.

In RE, we have been discussing the big question: Can anything be eternal? This led to some thoughtful and enjoyable debates. We shared ideas about the things we wish would last forever – memories, love and family were among the most popular suggestions (along with favourite chocolate bars and free WiFi, of course!).

In PE, we blew away the Christmas cobwebs with a fast-paced fitness session. We raised our heart rates while enjoying hurdles, skipping, shuttle runs, ladders and hula hoops. We also learnt how to keep our bodies streamlined and more aerodynamic to help us move faster.

Our Forest session was very much ‘Traitors’ themed this week and an epic game ensued that lasted for the entire session. There was talk of murders in plain sight, secret traitors and absolutely no one was safe! It was very difficult to  keep up with who thought what about who! Luckily, the Faithful were successful and managed to find the Traitors but not before a few of their own were banished from the log circle!

What a great start to the new term! Have a lovely weekend – stay warm!