February 1, 2012
Chinese Blossoms
Year 4 studied different Chinese blossom artwork and then used watercolours to create their own painting. They looked closely at the range and depth of colours and worked hard to show different shades of pinks and greens. They tried hard to add texture to their artwork by using colour effectively. Do you like them?
Posted by G Lawson at 8:25 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Making a TV advert
Year 4 have worked very hard to create their own TV advert about China on Movie Maker. They imported pictures, inserted information, changed background colour and how the text appeared on screen to make the audience want to visit China.
Posted by G Lawson at 8:18 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
The Willow Pattern
Year 4 listened to and discussed the Willow Pattern story. They then wrote their own version and used their story to plan and design their own Willow pattern plates. Do you like them?
Posted by G Lawson at 8:03 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
CHINA
Year 4 have learned lots about China! They know where it is on a map and which continent it is in. The children each made their own Chinese dragon! They have listened to, spoken and written chinese numbers to 10. The class really enjoyed researching information about the giant panda and then wrote a non chronological report. Ask your child what else we learned about China!
Posted by G Lawson at 7:50 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 31, 2012
Chinese New Year
The Year of The Dragon!
On Thursday we had a 'Chinese New Year Party'!
We made Dragon masks to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. We did a dragon dance in the hall and used the percussion instruments to make our own music.
We tasted some chinese food including prawn crackers, noodles and duck spring rolls! YUMMY!!!
Posted by J Cullen at 11:54 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Whatever Next?
This half term our theme is "Space"!
We read the story "Whatever Next?" by Jill Murphy.
We haver been doing lots of space activities in class!
We made ICT pictures of our own space scenes. We are getting very good at logging on to the computers and contolling the mouse!
We made splatter and marble art pictures of stars and planets for a display in class.
Some of us have been building rockets in class! We have been pretending to visit the moon.
We are busy making paper mache aliens. the mixture is very slimey!!!
Posted by J Cullen at 11:48 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 29, 2012
Year 5 Investigate the Legacy of the Victorians
To link in with our Literacy lessons where we are reading a historical novel, we have been looking at the many items we've got today that we wouldn't have had if it hadn't been for the Victorians.
To explain what we've learnt, each group constructed their own timeline and presented it to the class. We also did some Maths to work out where the approximate place of each event would be on the timeline.
Posted by A Allsop at 9:10 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
October 7, 2011
Year 6 in space!
This term Year 6 are working on a 'Space' topic, which is largely science based. As part of our work we studied the work of space artist Donald E. Davis.
We recreated some of his artworks using chalk pastels. We used blending and layering techniques to produce some high quality spacescapes. Why not pop into Year 6 to see some of our finished artwork on display?
Posted by P Pigott at 8:39 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
September 2, 2011
Year 3 CIRCUS SPECTACULAR!
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you have had a fantastic Summer break and welcome back to a new Autumn Term in
Year 3. Your children are now in the Juniors (Key Stage 2) and I’m sure they will rise to every challenge. They are a fantastic class who work well together. This term is all about the circus and below you will find some of the things your children will be learning. The children had an introduction to the circus during last year’s Book Week, but now we are unpacking the theme further to include an Ancient Roman flavour. Before Christmas, your child will be performing a panto with Year 4 children which I’m sure will be brilliant. I’m also looking forward to seeing you again at Parents/Carers Evening (dates to be confirmed for this).
To research…
*What acts used to be found at the circus
*different costumes performers should wear and why *Where is Rome in the world
*Why people joined the circus years ago
*What skills did circus people/animals have
*Roles of various performers in the circus *how the circus has changed
*famous circus performers (both animal and human)
*safety for circus performers *What was the Roman circus?
*Roman chariot races, games, murals and mosaics, gods, numerals, invaders, roads, soldiers, gladiators, Boudicca’s revolt
To talk…
*generate questions for research around their theme
*their own views about use of animals in the circus
*to plan, develop and evaluate all their work *to plan a performance
*Talk about why circuses do not include animals nowadays
*Talk about what you might see, smell, taste, feel, hear at the circus
*Talk about a description of a clown *Roman circus
*What did the Romans give to us?
To read and write…
*Circus Stories & adventures/running away to the circus *Circus Poems *Description of a clown ‘if I were a clown I would look like…’
*poster to attract people to circus *Order and write Instructions for clown cakes/biscuits *circus leaflet
*a simple argument for why circuses are good/bad *recount of a circus trip
*a list of jokes which would be good for a clown *circus wordsearch
*RE: Daniel, Samson
*Timeline to place Roman times within it *investigation of Roman website
*reading information about the roman circus, historical and modern circus
To calculate…
*Circus 'finding all possibilities' problems
*Circus theme word problems
*money problems dealing with admission cost, payment for performers, cost of refreshments
*Measuring (g/kg) for cooking circus *Circus data – input onto excel (ICT)
DISCRETE – focus: tables and four operations
To make/produce...
*Lion faces – using cut out shapes and word programme
*Clown paintings *clown faces with mixing foam and dry
*Large scale picture for wall display *net of a box for circus biscuits
*Clown cooking (biscuits/cakes) *moving circus tent
*Clown puppet *Roman oil lamps *mosaics *clown car
To perform…
*Circus skills (in PE using equipment) *PE circus clown dance/gymnastics
Discrete...
*SCIENCE – forces (clown cars & balloons), life processes (humans and other animals) *MUSIC – recorder
*RE scheme & Christmas activities *Christmas play – Cinderella *PSHE&C *PE – games
*ICT – wordprocessing *Handwriting (printed and joined style) *Phonics/Reading/Spelling
Dates and information…Don’t forget!
Reading Books – Changed once or twice weekly depending upon level of book. Days may vary so please ensure books are returned EVERY DAY. A variety of staff need to record in the diaries during Read Write Inc sessions so it is very important we have them in school. One frogget will be given to your child each time they bring their book bag to school. Remember, fluent reading is the key to your child’s progress in every subject in Key Stage 2. Please record in the diary each time you hear your child read. Reading to your child is also very important - Make it fun and they will enjoy it!
Homework- This is more frequent in the Juniors and will be sent home on Friday to be returned the following Wednesday. Homework is often something to share so children may not be confident to do it all alone.
PE – Please send in kits and leave in school.
Uniform – I will send a full uniform list home in your welcome pack. PLEASE WRITE NAMES IN ALL CHILDREN’S CLOTHES.
I’m sure it will be a fantastic year! Any problems/concerns/questions, please come and see me after school. I’m usually available until 5.30pm, Tuesday to Friday.
Yours sincerely,
Miss E Allen.
Posted by B Allen at 3:44 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
June 30, 2011
The Seashore
This term the children in Mrs Dykes class are learning about the seashore.
We will research and compare seaside holidays in the past to the present day.
We will be finding out about animals that live by the sea and look at life in a rockpool.
We will produce a powerpoint presentation about the seashore.
We will read a selection of stories about the seaside and use non-fiction books to find information.
We will talk about what we find out, plan, develop and evaluate our work.
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 2:34 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Coats of Arms
As part of the England theme and the topic about castles the children in Mrs Dykes class designed and produced a Coat of Arms to display at the England Showcase.
We researched information about Coats of Arms.
We found out that a Coat of Arms is used to represent a person or group/family and the design is unique to that person/group.
In medievel times knights had a Coat of Arms design on their shields and tunic which covered their armour. This helped to identify them on battlefields from allies and enemies.
Coats of Arms are still used today to represent many institutions.
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 11:48 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Castles
As part of the England theme the children in Mrs Dykes class were given the challenge to produce a castle to display at the English Showcase.
Our first task was to mark on the sheets of card where the battlements would be and then to cut them out. We then chose which colour we wanted our castle to be and painted all the pieces of card.
When the paint was dry we were able to draw arrow slits and stick on arched windows and doors.
Finally the pieces needed to be joined together to complete our castles. We were pleased with the end result and we had achieved the challenge.
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 11:16 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Prudhoe Castle
As part of the England theme the children in Mrs Dykes class visited Prudhoe Castle.
Before the visit we had been learning about the features of a castle. At Prudhoe castle we saw the battlements, the arrow slits,where the drawbridge would have been, the Keep and the Great Hall.
We looked at a large book about how and why Prudhoe Castle was built.
We constucted a castle using building blocks following numbers on the blocks.
We enjoyed our day and consolidated our knowledge about castles.
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 10:07 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
June 14, 2011
Have you spotted the Garden Buddies?
Year 3 have designed and made ‘Garden Buddies’ for our school grounds. As part of our creative curriculum theme about spring time, we used recycled tins, plastic bottles and a lot of hard work to create the little characters to watch over our school gardens.
See if you can spot them around school!
What do you think of them?
Posted by J Barnes at 8:45 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
June 7, 2011
You are invited to our Art Exhibition at Roman Road!
Every child from Nursery to Year 6 are busy preparing works of art to be exhibited in the school hall in our very own art gallery. This exciting event will involve everyone's work being professionally framed and exhibited for all to see. You are all invited! We would love to see all parents, carers and other family and friends visiting the gallery to appreciate our masterpieces!
The exhibition will be held after school on Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th June. We look forward to seeing you all there. There will also be an opportunity for you to purchase the children's work at a very reasonable price.
Posted by J Barnes at 9:02 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
June 6, 2011
Year 3 at the Angel of the North
Year 3 had a fantastic time visiting the Angel of the North as part of our work exploring English art. We found out about the English sculptor Antony Gormley and learnt some amazing facts about the giant sculpture that is so close to our school! We did some drawings that we later used in our own artwork. We also enjoyed having a picnic there in the sunshine.
Posted by J Barnes at 9:23 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
June 5, 2011
Year One Visit Beamish Museum
As part of our England project, Year One took a trip back in time to see England in the past. Our visit to Beamish Museum was enthralling! The children were very excited but listened hard and learned so much. Many visitors and staff at the museum told us we were the best school they had ever had. Well done Year One and Year Two.
Check out our amazing adventure in the gallery. Click on the link below.
Posted by A Inkster at 8:05 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
Families Cooking Together
During our England Extravaganza project Nick from Cooking 4 Life was inundated with over 50 requests from parents to cook with him and their child. The parents thoroughly enjoyed their experience rating it as 'Outstanding.'
Apologies for any parents who did not get the chance this time, we look forward to welcoming Nick back in the future to continue to help us to "Cook Well, Eat Well, Live Well."
You can find a selection of photos in the gallery. Click on the link below.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:22 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
May 27, 2011
Year 4 Complete London Project
A huge well done to year 4 for completing our England project on London.
Over the fortnight, lots of different types of research have been carried out using various sources and fieldwork.
From this, we were able to build an excellent model with a working model railway around it. (The locomotive is now in the depot for maintenance after the amount of miles it did at the showcase!!!!) Some fantastic land use maps were drawn and the information used to write letters to persuade others about the theme park scheme. I can see that lots of you will be expert Geographers when you reach Comprehensive school!
Added to this we had a large of amount of children who stayed in school overnight to gain an understanding of what it is like to be homeless. We've even got some brilliant clog dancers in the class as well !!!!
Again, well done year 4 for completing the challenge.
Posted by A Allsop at 6:56 PM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
May 25, 2011
Roman Road Rockin' Recipes.
Year 5 have completed their challenge for the England Extravaganza, and written a fabulous recipe book of regional English recipes.
The children have worked incredibly hard to produce the book which is being professionally printed. It will be on sale at the England Showcase event on Friday afternoon in the KS2 Hall for the bargain price of just £3.00. Don't miss out, buy yours quickly as we are sure they will sell like hot cakes!!
Posted by P Pigott at 10:44 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
May 24, 2011
Castles
As part of the England theme the children in Mrs Dykes class are investigating English castles. They will learn about the features and life in a medieval castle.
We will use a variety of skills;
To research
-features of a castle
-location of castles
-history of castles
-life in a castle
-myths and legends associated with castles
To talk
-what we found out
-plan, develop and evaluate our work
-ask questions and record answers
-express opinions
To read and write
-'The Enchanted Sword'
-poems about castles
-historical accounts
-guide books for castles
To calculate
-a timeline for Prudhoe castle
-building areas of the castle using numbered blocks at Prudhoe castle
To make/produce
-coat of arms
-model castle
-powerpoint presentation about castles
-castle shaped book 'The Enchanted Sword'
To perform
-medieval sports/games
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 9:08 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
May 9, 2011
What's Cooking?
As part of our England theme, Year 5 are studying regional dishes from around England. We are trying out a variety of recipes, and are working towards producing our very own Regional English Recipe Book.
We kicked things off by baking these delicious Cornish pasties.
The children were delighted with the result, and agreed that the pasties tasted as good as they looked. We are looking forward to lots more cooking in the coming weeks.
Posted by P Pigott at 7:44 PM | Discuss/Ask? (4)
May 8, 2011
England Extravaganza
Following from the huge success of last years African Showcase, this years whole school project will concentrate on all that is great in England.
Class Challenges will begin on Monday 16th May with the English Extravaganza Experience taking place on Friday 27th May from 1.00pm. So parents / carers book this date in your diary you do not want to miss it.
Further information on the many visits and visitors that will be taking place during this two week project will follow soon.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:56 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Homelessness
One of the most basic things we expect today is for somewhere safe and stable to live, yet homelessness continues to be one of the worst social problems in England today.
A place to live is vital to a stable life that includes education, employment and healthy relationships. Homeless families find themselves living uncertain lives. They never know when they will have to move, and basic essentials like attending school or finding a doctor become major problems.
Last year during our Africa project we raised enough money to send Omar to school for two years. During this years England Extravaganza we hope to raise money to support the homeless.
Wondering how? Watch this space and a once in a lifetime opportunity might be heading your way.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:48 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
What are Year 5 up to?
Year 5 are studying England this term. We have kicked things off by looking at the sculptures of English artist, Barbara Hepworth. The children researched her life and works on the internet, and liked the large clear shapes of her sculptures.
The children have started work on a large paper mache model of a sculpture in the style of Barbara Hepworth. We cannot wait to see how it turns out.
Posted by P Pigott at 8:21 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
May 1, 2011
Circus Book Week! Roll up... Roll up!
This year’s Book Week was, as always a great success and the children had a fantastic time!
Thank you for all your support. You especially excelled at the adult and child competition – all entries were fantastic!
Money Raised:
Bookfair Total - £449
Fun Afternoon & Sponsored Event Total - Just over £400!
All monies raised will go straight towards buying school resources for Literacy and the Library.
I have put together a KS2 Hall Display showing photos and work completed by children and parents during Book Week. Please come and have a look! In past years we have really benefitted from this money raised. We bought our sound system with it which we use during performances. Also, we purchased a lot of Read Write Inc products which has been a massive success.
What’s next?
The next big literacy/drama event will be at the end of the Summer Term when Year 6 will be performing ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at 6pm in the Junior Hall. Fliers will be distributed next term to promote this exciting event.
Thank you for your continuing support in all our Literacy projects.
Posted by B Allen at 9:21 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Eco Success!
We have recently had a whole school Eco Week which was a brilliant success! All children took part in Eco activities across the week and the school theme was 'Waste Not, Want Not!'
'Waste Not, Want Not' incorporated recycling, waste, water and energy which are all themes within the Eco Award. After receiving our Bronze and Silver Eco Awards last year, we are striving towards our Green Flag which we will hopefully receive in the Summer Term. Everyone rose to the challenge this year and included Eco issues within their Creative Curricular Themes. But in Eco Week we had a fantastic time. This is a list of activities we enjoyed:
*making recycled musical instuments
*making wind turbines
*making shelters using recycled canvas
*setting up recycling of paper towels
*making quality items from recycled items to sell on a stall to raise money for our orphanage/polar bears
*making bottle top flower garden decorations
*research about polar bears/reducing, reusing, recycling
*making a water filter
*pie charts and data handling about recycling and water usage in the home
*Cooking with leftovers alongside nick, our resident chef!
*Biking to school
*Making Eco eggs from recycled materials for a competition
*Washing cars with recycled water
*Picking up litter
*Weaving with plastic bags
*Using cans to make garden buddies
*Thinking about a life without energy
*Making collage patchwork quilts
*Alan's visit to classes to talk about Eco Issues
We finished the week with Green Day. We dressed up in green and went to a green breakfast in the Junior Hall. We ate green food and watched a video about our Indian orphanage. four people from Living Waters Church in South Shields have now visited the orphanage and handed over the £500 raised by Roman Road so far. It bought uniforms for the children and was greatly appreciated by the Tsunami orphans.
At the breakfast, Year 2's Recycling Retail raised £56.20 which will go towards supporting our orphanage and polar bears!
Well done to everyone for your unwavering support!!
Posted by B Allen at 8:58 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
April 26, 2011
Eco week.
The whole school had great fun during Eco week, working in class and with various visitors to school. Year 5 enjoyed making a delicious curry from leftover Sunday dinner with Nick from Cooking 4 Life. They found out lots of fascinating facts from Alan about how much they can help the environment by cycling to school, in stead of travelling in a car. Big-Eyed Ben had his eye on the whole school, but did not catch a single class with lights left on!
We also...
...did a lot of work in class. We set up recycling bins to recycle paper towels, as we felt that a lot of paper gets wasted in this way. Year 5 have taken responsibility for emptying these boxes into the big blue recycling bins. We also researched the threat to polar bears by global warming, and wrote persuasive texts to try to show people the danger that the polar bears are in. We produced some great recycled art work, using only materials which were being thrown away at our homes; and also some posters to remind people how they can help to protect the environment. All in all it was a really busy, and very enjoyable week.
Posted by P Pigott at 8:03 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
March 19, 2011
Winners Again!
Well done to our fabulous Robotics team who won the final of the Robotics Competition by a massive margin.
Mr Bradshaw took the team to Heworth Grange where they completed a variety of challenges, and put in an almost flawless performance. Thank you to Mr Bradshaw for all the work he put into training the team; and also to our two reserves.
The team won memory sticks for themselves, and a fantastic new robot for the school. Well done Team!
Posted by P Pigott at 7:26 AM | Discuss/Ask? (4)
March 6, 2011
Food and Fitness.
Year 5 had a fabulous morning on Thursday, working with Nick the Chef and fitness trainer Ross. We were looking at the importance of balancing diet, exercise and rest. Half of the class worked with Ross looking at the idea that "Practising correctly makes perfect."
The rest of the class...
… worked with Nick, looking at the need for a balanced diet, and cooking some delicious, healthy pizzas.
The work was followed up in the classroom with Mrs Pigott looking at the ways in which food and exercise affect our bodies, and why it is important for us to have rest times. Everybody had a great morning, and learnt a lot at the same time.
Posted by P Pigott at 9:13 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
February 27, 2011
Circus skills workshop.
The theme for Book Week this year was the circus, and all of the children have been doing lots of exciting work about circuses. Miss Allen organised a circus skills workshop which started with a performance for the whole school which had the children gasping in awe,
Throughout the day each class had the opportunity to try out some of the equipment.
Mrs Pigott was very impressed with how much the Year 5 children improved their skills during the session. Every single member of the class could balance a peacock feather on their chin, and the effort and concentration the children put into learning other skills was impressive. As you can see, even Mr Craggs could not resist joining in.
Posted by P Pigott at 8:10 AM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
February 20, 2011
Our Shadow Theatres
As part of our Creative Curriculum topic entitled 'Into the Light', Year 4 have been making shadow theatres.
Linked to the bookweek theme of 'A Circus' the children worked in small groups to write their own script and make characters for a performance.
We experimented with the position of torch and the characters.
Following a bit more practice, the plays will be performed after half term.
Posted by A Allsop at 6:36 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
February 13, 2011
Circus Book Week
Roll up, Roll up ... It's time for Book Week and the Circus Book Fair is here in town!
In addition to the exciting events we always have, this year, our children will receive circus training from a professional circus visitor who has actually worked in the travelling circus for 2 years. Alan, our Bike it officer will also be joining the junior children to work on some circus creative writing. It's going to be a fantastic week and an exciting end to this half term!
Dear Parents/Carers,
Book Week 2011 (14th-18th February)
It’s time for this year’s Book Week which has always been a fantastic and enjoyable time for the children as well as being supported by parents exceptionally well. There will be loads of events and loads of ways to get involved!
Bookfair
The Bookfair arrives in school on Monday 14th February and will be with us until Thursday. As always, it will be based in the Junior Hall and books, posters and stationery will be available to buy each night from 3.30pm. This year the theme is ‘Roll up, Roll up and read!’ (A Circus theme) and some of the books you can purchase are shown in the catalogue. There is always a great selection and the school also benefits from the fair. Last year the school received £300 which was put towards buying further Literacy resources. Children can bring their £1 off voucher which they received last Friday when they come to the fair. We will have a special visitor this year at the bookfair each night...I wonder who it could be?
Fun Afternoon (Tuesday 15th)
The children love this! This is an afternoon in celebration of Book Week where the children simply enjoy themselves. The Year 6s will be running this as an enterprise project and look after stalls selling old books/videos. We will also have various competitions to guess the name of the ‘cuddly clown’ etc. Children are free to bring in money on this day and spend it during the afternoon. The Book Fair will be open during the fun afternoon and there will be face painting which is always popular so fill in the form below if you do not wish your child to be painted! Thank you for all your generosity in sending books, toys, gifts and DVDs which you no longer want.
Non-uniform day
Children can get dressed up on Tuesday 15th to match the theme of our Circus Book Week. There will be prizes for the best costume! Anything linked with the Circus will be great. Your child could be a clown, trapeze artist, circus animal or ring master! This non-uniform day will be great fun.
Parent/Guardian & Child competition
Last year we ran a parent and child competition which proved very successful – a few parents and guardians proved to be budding writers! This year, we want you to write a poem/story/information booklet around the theme of ’Circus’. Your poem/story/information text could be about anything to do with Circus. Remember to decorate it then hand it in to your child’s teacher and they will pass it on to me. If you would prefer to be more creative, you could make a model of a circus instead with some information attached! There will, of course be prizes for the most inventive!
Sponsored Event
This year we will be doing a Sponsored Circus Writing Challenge set by each teacher around a Circus theme (Foundation Stage will learn a rhyme). Each child will bring home some talk homework linked with the sponsored challenge, so carers have the opportunity to give your child ideas to include in the writing. Sponsor forms and further details have been sent home with this letter. All money raised goes straight back into school funds. Last year this money was spent on buying Literacy Resources for KS2 which are used within our new ‘Pirate Writing’ initiative to raise writing standards in school. As always, children who raise the most amount of money will receive a fab prize!
I’m sure the whole week will be a great success. There will be loads of prizes and exciting events during the week. Let’s raise as much money as possible to buy further resources to boost our children’s learning and enjoyment in school.
Thank you, as always, for your continuing support.
Yours sincerely
Miss E Allen
Posted by B Allen at 3:18 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
February 12, 2011
Cookery Inventions.
Nick from Cooking 4 Life was working with Year 5 as part of their Incredible Inventions theme. He showed the children ways in which food preparation and cookery has changed throughout history with a range of inventions.
The children looked at different ways of cutting food, starting with stone tools, and then building up to knives and graters.The children particularly enjoyed ...
The Egg Whisking Challenge. Four children raced to whisk an egg; one was using a fork, one a balloon whisk, one a manual hand whisk and one an electric whisk. This was an excellent way to demonstrate how inventions can make things easier to do. After all their hard work the children made omelettes, and surprised themselves with how much they liked them. Thanks once again to Nick for a brilliant day!
Posted by P Pigott at 8:15 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
February 4, 2011
Chinese Cooking with Cooking 4 Life
As part of our Chinese New Year celebrations, Nick from Cooking 4 Life has been working with Nursery, Reception and Year One making healthy chinese food.
We made sticky chicken and egg fried rice. It was absolutely delicious. Nick also taught us about some of the different foods you can try in China. Anyone for sweet and sour rat!
Click on this link to find out all about Cooking4Life
Please check out the link below to see the many pictures of our cooking experiences.
Posted by A Inkster at 11:27 AM | Discuss/Ask? (5)
February 1, 2011
Incredible Inventions In The Making.
Year 5 have started work on their own inventions. They have been using a huge range of skills, with all kinds of tools and materials.
There has been sawing and joining of wood, needlework, modelling with clay, glueing, painting and decorating.
Mrs Pigott was delighted with how well the class worked, taking responsibility for their own materials and equipment; and following their own plans, adapting them as they needed to. Once all of the inventions are completed, the children are going to prepare presentations to promote their inventions. We are going to hold our very own Dragon's Den where they will try to impress the Dragons with their creativity, and the quality of their designs.
Posted by P Pigott at 10:01 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
January 28, 2011
Welcome to Our Chinese Restaurant
As part of our theme of Celebrations, we have worked together to create a Chinese restaurant for our role play area. It is equipped with woks, menus, noodles, rice, take away menus, chinese good luck charms and so much more.
We are really lucky that Michelle's parents own restaurants and take aways, and have been able to help us set our own restaurant up, as well as offer us many chinese artefacts to look at.
This is our favourite role play area to date and we are experts at providing top quality Chinese food. Chow Mein anyone?
Posted by A Inkster at 1:31 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
Chinese Dragons
We have been making Chinese dragon puppets to display in our Chinese Restaurant. Intially we researched some of the colours that were traditional in Chinese dragons. Then there were lots of skills involved, such as cutting, paper folding, gluing, sticking and decision making.
Year One had great fun making them dance in the classroom to some Chinese dragon muisc
Posted by A Inkster at 12:28 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Chinese New Year Story
Do you know why China uses animals to represent each year? It is an ancient Chinese story.
Click on the power point presentation below to find out.
Posted by A Inkster at 12:18 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
New Year Celebrations
Our theme this half term is Chinese celebrations.
We are comparing a European New Year and a Chinese one. We pretended we had our own New Year's party. First, we went outside just before midnight (not really, Mum's and Dad's!), counted down from ten and then shouted as loud as we could "Happy New Year!!!"
The celebrations continued with lots of hugs and handshakes and we sang Auld Lang Syne a traditional ScottishNew Years song that means we will forgive and forget what has happened in the previous year.
Finally, Jack was then chosen as he is tall, dark and handsome to be our first foot. He entered our classroom first to try and give us lots of Godd Luck. It's working so far!
Posted by A Inkster at 11:56 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Gingerbread Houses
As part of our PSHE, working towards a goal. We worked in teams to design, make and decorate a gingerbread house. How amazing are they? Please pop into year One at any time to have a closer look.
We are very proud of our results but most importantly we learned lots about working towards a common goal. We needed to us effective teamwork, good listening and making compromises, these were all important to get the job done.
Posted by A Inkster at 11:40 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Christmas with Cooking 4 Life!
Just before we broke up for our Christmas holidays, we were lucky enough to get the chance to work with Nick from Cooking 4 Life. We had a fantastic time making some Christmas muffins, using chocolate and cranberries. You are probably wondering what they looked like? Unfortunately they were so amazing we ate them and then remembered we hadn't taken a photograph. Oops! We also took the recipes home to try out at home.
We had to measure lots of different ingredients, using different scales. Pouring the milk was really tricky.
We were wonderful whiskers!
A great time was had by all, we love our cooking time. Mrs Inkster was also pleased as we made some very special cakes for her that were gluten free. She was delighted!!!
Please let us know if you tried to make them at home.
Posted by A Inkster at 11:33 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 15, 2011
Indian Breakfast
A BIG thank you to staff, children, parents and visitors who raised £250 for our Indian orphanage yesterday (Friday 14th January). The day was a massive success!
Visitors included parents, who came for their second authentic Indian breakfast which included paranthas (pancakes) and mango jam, fruit and scrambled egg.
An artist worked with children from Year 1 to Year 6 making rangoli patterns. These are Indian floor patterns used as a welcome to Hindu gods in the Indian Culture.
Mrs Robson, our Eco Governor visited for the day and worked with the artist as well as visiting all classes!
Foundation Stage children had another visit from Sheila from Miss Allen's church who told an Indian story and painted faces and hands with tigers and mendhi patterns.
Sheila also led a whole school assembly and used balloon modelling to tell the Christian story of Creation and perform a magic trick to tell us that God loves us all equally. We saw pictures of the Indian orphans whose parents were the victims of the 2004 tsunami.
The £250 raised will be taken to India in February by 4 members of Miss Allen's church and it will be used to buy school supplies. Money raised by Living Waters Church will go towards the building fund for Pastor Emmanuel's secondary school in Malakapatnam in India!
Thank you again for your generosity!
Miss Allen
Posted by B Allen at 5:27 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
It's our planet! Mission:Eco Heroes!
Year 2 are learning how to be Eco Heroes this Term. Here are some of the exciting things we will be learning...
To research…
…how rainforests/jungles have positive affect on environment and how they are adversely affected by people
…challenges facing India (litter and hygiene)
…current environmental issues
…what to recycle and how best to do it
…the school’s beliefs about Eco Friendly issues
…what they do as a family to recycle or to be more Eco Friendly
..alternative forms of power (solar, wind)
…how our school can be more Eco Friendly
…human and physical aspects of rainforest
…where in the world are rainforests/jungles
To talk…
…to discuss what they have found out
…to find short and long term solutions to problems
…to show an understanding of world issues
…to plan, develop and evaluate work
…to negotiate, plan and perform
To read and write…
…a report on ways to be Eco Friendly/’Cats’
…explanation how to make organic ‘jungle’ cakes
…diary of a jungle animal
…a narrative about what will happen in the world if we don’t take better care (‘Rainforest’ by Helen Cowcher)
…a poster to encourage recycling
…an explanation about the water cycle
…questions to find out more about the jungle
…instructions on how to plant a seed
…green poetry
…letter to wwf to sponsor a tiger
To calculate…
…find the weight of recycled materials
…collection and display of data showing recycled materials (use of excel)
..2D Shape based around sorting recycled shapes
…solutions to number and data problems based around the theme
…measuring lengths of plants and comparing
…problems involving change
To make/produce
…an allotment for growing own produce to sell to community
…a jungle magnetic game (ICT for background)
…jungle animal painting (style of Andy Warhol)
…a moving butterfly toy
…a short film based upon Eco theme
…symmetrical recycled masks
…Recycled robots
…jungle masks (Family challenge – made from recycled materials)
…an allotment
…tiger hand puppets
…experiments and investigations based around plants/healthy eating
To perform…
…dance or music made from recycled instruments (Stomp & Vegetable Orchestra)
…a song about Eco theme
…a rap using our school Eco Code
Other…
PE
Science – Electricity, Materials, and their Properties. Theme of SC2 (Life Processes and Living things) to be incorporated where possible into theme.
RE – Jewish Hannukkah and Christian beliefs
Numeracy/ICT – 2D and 3D shapes. Use of Logo Programme
Posted by B Allen at 5:03 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
January 13, 2011
Puppets
This term the children in Mrs Phillips class are looking at puppets.
We will use a variety of skills:
To research - the structure, construction and workings of a range of puppets
- materials, fabrics and design features of a range of puppets
- TV programmes that use puppets
To talk - what we have found out
- to plan, develop and evaluate our work
- to agree types of puppets and a puppet theatre for their show
- to agree and script a story to perform
- to retell a chosen story
To read and write - to choose a story
- read playscripts
- write own playscripts to perform
- to create a dialogue for their puppet show
To make/produce - a range of puppets of one type - string/glove/finger
- a puppet theatre
- a back drop suitable to the story chosen
- scientific and technological experiments and investigations (light and shadows)
To perform - as a puppeteer for their show
- dance routines to the stimulus 'puppets'
Posted by S Phillips at 11:18 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 9, 2011
Spring Term in Year 4
Year 4 are all back and raring to go after Christmas.
If you've eaten too much turkey and sweets, a great opportunity to run it off comes up really quickly with multiskills coming up at Heworth Grange!
Our main theme this term is science based. It is called 'Into the Light' and we will be looking at all things to do with light which is something we couldn't do without.
As well as looking at the scientific elements of light, we will also be covering the Hindu festival of Light which is called Diwali and doing artwork linked to shadows and colour.
Our Literacy work work is based around stories from other cultures so the story of Rama and Sita (The Diwali Story) will be read and used as a focus. During the second half term, we will be working on writing explanations using all the knowledge and skills that we will have developed.
We will also be investigating angles when we come to reflect light rays.
The topic links in well in the run up to Easter and the Easter story which we will also be doing activities on.
Why not get a headstart and try this activity from the BBC:
width="784"
height="400">
Posted by A Allsop at 8:57 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Successful Bridges
Year four finished their Creative Curriculum topic called 'Bridging the Gap' just before Christmas.
They have made some very good drawbridges which are controlled by a mechanism underneath.
Throughout the topic, the class have had to think about how they can get their bridges to stand straight as well as how to make sure the string did not jam.
In addition to this, they were able to work well with their partner and develop a large amount of skills throughout the topic.
Well done year 4!!!!
Posted by A Allsop at 8:36 PM | Discuss/Ask? (6)
January 4, 2011
Happy New Year.
Now that all the festivities are over, it's time for a brand new topic in Year 5.
This term our theme is 'Incredible Inventions'.
We will be learning about some of the most important inventions throughout history; as well as designing and making inventions of our own. We will be having our very own Dragons' Den, to present our ideas and try to persuade the class that our inventions are going to make us into millionaires!
We want to find out what people think is the most important invention ever. Why not add a comment to let us know what you think?
Posted by P Pigott at 7:49 PM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
December 12, 2010
Christmas Cooking.
Nick from Cooking For Life has been in school doing Christmas cooking with all of the classes from Reception through to Year 6.
Year 5 made some delicious mince pies. They really enjoyed working with Nick and could explain everything that they had done.
The staff were delighted to be able to sample the lovely treats which Nick made with the various classes, including Christmas muffins, gingerbread biscuits, and my personal favourite (not that I am biased) the Year 5 mince pies.
A big thank you to Nick!
Posted by P Pigott at 10:17 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Tudor Christmas.
Year 5 and the ARMS went on a visit to St Mary's Heritage Centre and Betty Surtees House to learn about a Tudor Christmas.
The children had a fabulous time learning about toys and games which Tudor children would have played.
They also had the opportunity to compare the Tudor clothes of rich families and servants. They learned about traditional Tudor Christmas meals, and table manners. One of the rooms was decorated for Christmas in the traditional Tudor style, and the children had the opportunity to make their own pommander (a decoration made from an orange and cloves) before they returned to school.
The children had a lovely afternoon, and learned a lot. Their behaviour was exemplary, and they were fantastic ambassadors for the school. Well done!
Posted by P Pigott at 10:00 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
December 9, 2010
Tudor Christmas
The children in Year 5 and Mrs Phillps' class went on a visit to St Mary's Visitor Centre and Bessie Surtee's House.
The children had the opportunity to visit and look around a Tudor House.
They compared rich Tudor clothes and played some Tudor games.
They talked about what King Henry V111 ate for Christmas dinner.
The children learnt a Tudor Christmas dance and song and made a pomander.
Posted by S Phillips at 10:11 AM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
December 4, 2010
Polar Bottles
Don't forget to bring in your coppers to fill your Polar Bottle this Winter time!
We support the Svalbard Polar Bears who are being affected by Climate Change!
Have a look on our map in the Junior Hall to see who else we support around the world!!
Posted by B Allen at 8:14 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Dissolving in Year 2
We have been learning the difference between dissolving and melting in Year 2.
We worked in teams of 3 to try and dissolve various solids. Some dissolved and some did not. Coffee dyed the water brown as it dissolved. We discovered that scientific experiments need to be fair and that materials dissolve quicker if you use warm water. Dylan says "If you dissolve a thing, it is still there, it's just so small you can't see it!"
We dissolved solid jelly in boiling water. It dyed the water. We then cooled it down in the fridge and it turned back into a solid again.
We then had a jelly and ice cream party. The ice - cream melted. It was YUMMY!!!
Posted by B Allen at 7:57 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Jonah the Moaner!
Year 2 have been learning about the story of Jonah in the bible. Rather than doing what God told him to do, he moaned, was swallowed by a big fish and spent 3 days in it's belly. Look at our Fab paper sculptures to depict the stormy sea into which Jonah was thrown.
We learned how to cut, rip, fold, twirl and roll the paper in creative ways.
We also learned that Christians should always do what God says because He knows best and has our best interests at heart. He had a plan for Jonah, who did not do as he was told! Our retelling of the jonah stories are brilliant. We used lots of WoW words and included loads of detail. come and read them on display!
Posted by B Allen at 7:51 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Lighthouses to light the way!
We have been learning to compromise and make decisions with a partner in Year 2 whilst making lighthouses as part of our Water Theme. We will use electricity to light them so Marina the Mermaid can find her way to meet us!
Posted by B Allen at 7:47 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
To float or not to float?
That is the question! As part of our Water Theme (Mission H2O) in Year 2, we have been learning what kind of materials float and which sink.
We tested lots of materials...hard, soft, spongy, flexible, waterproof...
We discovered that light object often float and heavy objects often don't. We were surprised that some heavy objects do float due to their special shape.
We made a ball of blu tack (which sank) into a boat shape and it stayed afloat!!!
Posted by B Allen at 7:42 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
November 29, 2010
A Trip to Thornley Woods
As part of our 'Wildlife Protectors' theme, we wrapped up and went on a trip to Thornley Woods to learn how wildlife is protected in Gateshead. The children loved going into the hide, where they had to be very quiet and got the opportunity to see a variety of birds and squirrels feeding! We learned lots of fantastic information and enjoyed an orienteering challenge on the afternoon.
Posted by G Lawson at 2:38 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Photo Upload
On our recent trip to Thornley Woods, Year 6 have taken photos their own photos. We now know how to zoom in and out to get the perfect picture! Some children can delete a photo if they are unhappy and retake it. When we returned to school, we learned how to upload a photo onto the computer and add text. We have some expert photographers in the making!
A photo taken by Lauren Johnson!
Posted by G Lawson at 2:23 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
November 28, 2010
Making Magnificent Music
In Year One we have loved using a range of percussion instruments to accompany and compose our own music. We have learned all the names of the instruments and how to play them properly.
Unfortunately we have been unable to upload our DVD of Don't Worry, Be Happy onto the school website, but if you would like to see it, just pop in and ask. Mrs Cullen came for her own little performance and she was very impressed.
Posted by A Inkster at 1:42 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
November 25, 2010
Tudor Houses
The children in Mrs Phillips' class have been making their own Tudor House.
The children did a lot of research finding out about the features, the materials used and the colour of Tudor houses.
Posted by S Phillips at 11:35 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
November 23, 2010
Are you ready for...Pirate Writing!
Don't forget. On Friday, we are dressing up as PIRATES!
We have challenges to face...and we will meet them head on!
We will become the BEST WRITERS IN THE WORLD!
We will be bringing home TALK HOMEWORK! Please help us with it because our writing on Friday depends upon it! ARRRGGGGHHH!
‘Pirate Writing’ is a whole school initiative adopted by Roman Road Primary School to improve writing standards. It is a strategy which emphasises the development of the writer’s voice. Children will be introduced to the concept:
‘If you can’t speak it…you can’t write it’
Using a variety of techniques, children are encouraged to ‘steal’ the best ideas to use in their own writing.
The main focuses are:
• 4 basic skills (GHASP: Grammar,Handwriting,Spelling,Punctuation)
• VCOP (Vocabulary,Connectives,Openers,Punctuation)
• Rainbow Reading and Writing using WoW words:
Red words WoW doing words (verbs)
Purple words WoW descriptive words (adjectives/adverbs)
Blue words WoW connectives
Orange words WoW openers
Green words WoW additional phrases and clauses
• Using OSIE (Openers, Senses, Imagery, Emotions)
• Stealing the best ideas from other writers
• Talk homework
• Assessment for Learning strategies:
(peer/self assessment, paired talk, questioning)
• Creativity & linking to Creative Themes – making the writing process meaningful
• Addressing all learning styles
• Specific Targets (of which the child is aware)
• Lots of praise and rewards
• Silence for writing (where appropriate)
• Tracking of progress
Pirate Writing culminates in a whole morning session every alternate week:
Lesson 1:‘Build up’ to writing using a variety of lively games/whole class modelling and planning/use of Rainbow Writing etc.
Lesson 2: ‘Pirate Writing’ session. The atmosphere of the room is altered to create an environment conducive to creativity.
We hope to become excellent writers and 'steal' all the best ideas...like pirates!
Posted by B Allen at 10:37 PM | Discuss/Ask? (4)
November 22, 2010
Parents amazed in Read Write Inc Lessons
100% of parents enjoyed working their child today and thought Read Write Inc was a fantastic way to teach reading and writing to our children. Roman Road is the only Model School for Read Write Inc in the North of England. We train other schools so they can implement it and have had many success stories! Read on to find out some of the wonderful things parents and carers thought about our reading scheme!
"Really enjoyed toaday. I think the lessons are made fun for the children so they enjoy it a lot more. I have noticed a massive difference in Charley's progress. She works well with her partner and I think that is a good ideas because they helped each other very well. Thank you!"
Amanda Robinson (Parent)
"I was amazed with my child's progress. The lesson gave me a great understanding of Read Write Inc" Leanne Johnson (Parent)
"It was very interesting to see all children paired off with partners and enjoying all that they were learning and how they were praising each other. The teaching is FIRST CLASS in Read Write Inc. I would like to help a lot more" Carol Hope (Carer and Governor)
Wow! Thank you so much for all your positive comments. We are pleased you all found the parents meeting very useful.
Miss Allen and Mrs Inkster
Posted by B Allen at 11:26 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
November 14, 2010
What have Year 5 been getting up to?
Mrs Pigott went to find out what Year 5 have been doing during her PPA time. She was lured to the Community Room by the sound of soothing music. This half term the class have been learning peer massage with Mrs McAtominey.
Everybody was very relaxed, and Miss Pryde was delighted that Mrs McAtominey needed somebody to demonstrate the techniques on!
The class then liven back up with a fabulous hula hooping session with Mrs Lacey. I did try to get some photos of that, but they were all moving so fast that the photos were a blur. I saw some amazing hooping, and everyone was having a great time.
Posted by P Pigott at 10:19 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
November 9, 2010
Antarctica Temperatures
As part of our 'Wildlife Protectors' theme, year 6 are travelling the continents of the world. On our recent visit to Antarctica, we located two weather stations and compared temperatures on Antarctica. To sum it up, we all think it is very, very cold!!! The children carefully inputted the data provided on Microsoft Excel and then created a bar chart to make the data easy to interpret. Year 6 were able to change the colour of the backgound and the bars to make the information easy to read. They have also added a title and labelled the x axis and y axis.
Posted by G Lawson at 10:00 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Work Inspired by Franz Marc
After studying the work of Franz Mark, year 6 have now completed their own painting in the style of Franz Marc. The children chose an endagered animal they felt strongly about, and sketched it with a backgound to show its habitat using geometric shapes. Just like Franz Marc, year 6 used fantastic tone of colour in their work. We hope you like them as much as we do!
Posted by G Lawson at 9:46 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
November 8, 2010
Risk Assessments by Year 4 !!!!
Wow!! Year 4 have entered an adult world of risk assessments !!!!!
As part of our work on bridges, we looked at the importance of staying safe during activities in the classroom. Even though risk assessments are normally in the adult domain, the children showed that they could do it as well.
This has involved us writing a class risk assessment for working with saws and other materials during the task of building our drawbridges. The class showed a really good understanding of the importance of being safe and how they could reduce the risk of someone getting hurt.
Well done year four!!
Posted by A Allsop at 10:40 PM | Discuss/Ask? (5)
November 1, 2010
Music week
During music week, year 6 had a challenge to work as a group to compose a piece of music for an animal's habitat! We used a variety of percussion instruments, keyboard and voice to compose music for grasslands, ocean, rainforest and desert. Year 6 worked well in teams and wrote musical scores in beats of 4 to help them play in time and whether to play quietly or loudly. We then practised lots and recorded our music on audacity, so that you can listen to our work. We hope you enjoy!
Posted by G Lawson at 4:25 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
October 26, 2010
Pirate Treasure
A pirate called Captain Bones came to steal OUR TREASURE!! We had to earn it back by proving we could use money well. We succeeded in using a certain number of coins to make an amount. It was jolly tricky, but we used our knowledge of partitioning to help us!!
Posted by B Allen at 11:09 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Argghhhh! Pirate Biscuits
We designed and made pirate biscuits for Captain Bones. After we made them, we took them home and ate them. They were really FAB!! We sequenced the pictures and used them to write some amazing instructions using WoW words!!!
YUM YUM ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!
Posted by B Allen at 11:05 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Mission: H20
Year 2 are learning all about WATER in the Autumn Term
To research…
*Materials…floating and sinking & Electricity
*Famous figures associated with the sea and sea travel
*Creatures and plants living in or near the sea
*What sort of shops/businesses do you find at the seaside? What is sold? How far away form the seaside do we live?…look at maps of coastline
*Water Aid and how important it's work is
To talk…
*Water, beach and sun safety…life guards/using sun screen
*Stories about the seaside/pirates
*What is a tongue twister?
*What is the ‘Water Cycle’
*The geography of the seaside…physical and human features & the effect of the sea on the land
To read and write…
*Character studies…
*Instructions how to build a sandcastle
*Report/Leaflet…The seaside/Under the sea (creatures and their habitats)/Human & Man-made features
*Postcards…from the children/from a fantasy or historical character.
*Sea poems – write & analyse
*Narratives about seaside adventures
*Tongue twisters
*Diary of a sea creature
*Story of ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’
*Christian & Jewish Bible stories linked to sea/water…
To calculate…
*The solutions to problems based on capacity
*The solutions to number problems based around a sea shore theme (4 operations)
*Data Handling
To make/produce...
*Sculptures…sandcastles
*Seascapes…using printing and painting techniques and various mediums
*Magnetic Sea Game …using shoe boxes
*Boats and test materials for their waterproofing and buoyancy.
*Observational drawings & paintings…shells/waves/reflection paintings
*A working lighthouse (Electricity)
To perform…
*Songs and rounds about the sea and sea shanties
*Their own tongue twisters
*Dance based upon movements of the sea/sea creature
*Musical class composition based upon building of a ship
*Role play…pirates/mermaid market
Discrete
*PE : Gymnstics – Apparatus; Cricket Skills; Hoola Hooping; Dance
*Numeracy…Place Value
*RE… Christianity
Who is God?, Prayer, The Creation story, Harvest, The Christmas Story.
*PSHE & C…New beginnings & ‘Getting on and falling out’
Making friends, school and class rules, dealing with conflict.
Posted by B Allen at 10:49 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Pastor Emmanuel says "Thank you!"
Pastor Emmanuel from our Indian Orphanage has sent a thank you email for the massive £205 raised during Eco Week for our orphanage/school. It was sent over the summer holidays, along with £500 from Living Waters Church. Pastor Dave and Siman from LWC in South Shields are going to visit the orphanage in February.
The Indian Breakfast was a real success. Thank you to everyone who made it possible! We ate Indian fruit (mango, apple, strawberries and grapes). These treats would be reserved for rich indians. We also cooked and ate parantas (Indian pancakes) with mago jam or scrambled eggs. Yum Yum! Parents, Staff and children all enjoyed the experience and a DVD of our Indian children played in the background.
Posted by B Allen at 7:16 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Anyone for Polar Bottles?
As part of our Eco Week challenge, we raised money for the Svalbard Polar Bears. We raised over £200 altogether and every class received a certificate to put in their portfolio. this amazing amount raised means we can support the polar bears for another 2 years.WOW!
A few coppers goes a long way to support the polar bears, who are being affected by global warming! Send in all the coppers you can!
Posted by B Allen at 7:04 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
All about India in Eco Week!
During the summer term 2010 as part of Eco Week, we took part in a creative curriculum theme about India. this was mainly to raise everyone's awareness of the problems faced by the country and the religious beliefs of the people. Sheila, Bethan and Nim (from Miss Allen's church) came to tell us about an Indian Orphanage we could support together.
Sheila left us with a selection of Indian desserts which were very sweet. We learned that the children in the orphanage in Machilipatnam did not have sweets like this. Most of them were orphans due to the Tsunami of 2005. Pastor Emmanuel (the principal of the school) is a Christian who has asked us to raise money for these children so a secondary school can be built. We learned that the only clean water they receive is between 6am and 7 am
Mrs Banergee taught us how to wear a sari. She taught us about the differences between schools in India compared to England.
Nick the chef came to work with Year 1 and 2 to make a biriyani. It was YUMMY!
Posted by B Allen at 6:51 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
October 23, 2010
Year 5 Music Week challenge achieved.
Year 5 performed two dances in front of the rest of the school.
First they danced to 'Let the sun shine' by Labyrinth. All of the moves were related to things which people do on the beach in the summer. The second dance was to 'It's raining men' by the Weathergirls.
The class divided themselves into three groups and choreographed their own moves. One group used floaty cloths and were the storm clouds; one group danced with umbrellas; and the final group was our muscle men. Everyone was very impressed with the standard of the dancing, and Mrs Pigott was so proud of every single one of you.
Outstanding Year 5!
Posted by P Pigott at 4:34 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
October 19, 2010
Our Musicweek Challenge
During this special week based around music, year 4 have focussed on the 'Water Music' by the composer Handel.
The children have found out that the piece of music was written for King George I. It was first heard on the 17th July 1717. A special concert was held on the River Thames in London. The King listened to the music from a barge on the river. It was played by an orchestra who were also on a barge.
Year 4 have used the ICT to digitally record their feelings to the music.
Some of their podcasts can be heard by clicking on the initials below:
(More to follow)
Posted by A Allsop at 9:54 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
October 18, 2010
Year 5 Music Challenge.
This week is Music Week at Roman Road, and each class have been given a challenge. Year 5 have been challenged to choreograph and perform a dance for the rest of the school to a piece of music which has been inspired by the weather.
We listened to lots of different pieces of music, and then voted for which ones we would like to dance to. Everyone has worked really hard today, and we are making excellent progress. Lots of the staff have been popping into the hall, and I'm sure they are just trying to get a sneak preview. Keep up the good work Year 5!
Posted by P Pigott at 7:19 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
October 17, 2010
Year 4 Out and About in Newcastle and Gateshead
Year 4 had a day out in Newcastle and Gateshead.
The morning session saw us find out alot about Newcastle and Gateshead's bridges by visiting the Discovery Museum. After doing some research in the 'Building Bridges' exhibition, the children undertook a challenge in a workshop.
We had lunch at the museum and then walked through the city centre, pausing to do some observational drawing of the Redheugh bridge.
A walk down to the quayside was followed by crossing the Millennium bridge and arriving in Gateshead. For half the class, it was the first time they had gone from Newcastle to Gateshead in this way. On the Gateshead side, the class did some more drawings and looked at the structure of the bridges.
We hope to use what we've learnt when making our own model bridges.
Posted by A Allsop at 6:46 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Don't Worry, Be Happy!
Did you know Bobby McFerrin was the composer of this song? Did you know there are no instruments used?
As part of music week Year One are going to be learning all about body and voice percussion using Bobby Ferrin as a stimulus. We are looking forward to recording our own version of his song and putting it on the website for you to enjoy.
Want to find out a little more about Bobby Ferrin - click on the link below.
Posted by A Inkster at 3:43 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
October 12, 2010
The Tudor Rose
Do you know how the Tudors Began?
The children in Mrs Phillips' class have been researching how The Tudors began.
They found out there was a Battle at Bosworth Field between King Richard 111 (from York) and Henry Tudor (from Lancster). Henry Tudor won and became King Henry V111. The battle is known as 'The War of The Roses'.
The class made their own Tudor Rose to display in our classroom.
Posted by S Phillips at 11:36 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
October 7, 2010
Jack and the Beanstalk
M&M Theatre Production Company came to Roman Road to share their production of Jack and the Beanstalk. It was a hit with all children from Nursery to Year 6!
Year 3 enjoyed the show so much we continued with the Jack and the Beanstalk theme in our Numeracy lessons. We measured ourselves and ordered our heights on our class beanstalk. We even solved a problem for the giant to produce gigantic fruit and vegetables for him and his family.
Posted by J Barnes at 10:37 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Fruity Friends and Vegemates!
Year 3 have been using food to create their own fruit and vegetable photographs for display.
We had a great time working in teams to create faces using some fruit and vegetables. We photographed them using digital cameras. Take a look and tell us what you think...
Posted by J Barnes at 10:09 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
October 6, 2010
The Adventures of Super Toilet
Year Two came into Year One this afternoon to tell us all about Water. We then learned about the importance of water for keeping us healthy. We watched a fantastic comic clip all about it.
The Adventures of Super Toilet is a fun, but important, reminder to kids everywhere of the importance of clean toilets, safe drinking water and good hygiene...
Want to watch it - click on the link below. It will definitely make you laugh but also teach you some important facts.
http://www.wateraid.org/uk/learn_zone/other_resources/7214.asp
Posted by A Inkster at 2:27 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
October 5, 2010
Investigating Structure
As part of of our Creative Curriculum topic called Bridging the Gap, year 4 have been investigating structures. They've even turned themselves into some examples !!
We thought about how structures spread out the weight. By using a base and beanbags added in different ways, we experienced how a bridge's supports (our arms) felt the force of supporting the weight.
In addition to our work in the hall we've also experimented with finding out how we can support as much weight as possible using one sheet of paper. We had a competition in class which everyone took part. Unfortunately the children in year 4 LOST !!!!
CHILDREN 0 STAFF 1
Posted by A Allsop at 11:55 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
A Year 6 trip to Antarctica
Year 6 have been looking at the world map and now know the 7 continents of the world. Throughout our theme, we will be learning about each continent of the world and it's endangered species. This week, the children have packed their suitcase and have braved the rough waters of the Southern Ocean and have visited the freezing continent, Antarctica. They have written their own diary of their day, and have included description of what they saw and have included feelings. Lucas had a husky ride - wow! Chloe saw a blue whale! Although Year 6 were extremely cold, they were sad to leave Antarctica but had a truly amazing time!
Year 6 have also researched the endangerd blue whale. Did you know they are killed for meat and also get killed by ships because they swim close to the surface of the ocean?! Ask your child more facts, they know lots!
Posted by G Lawson at 9:51 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Animals in Art
As part of our 'Wildlife Protectors' theme this term, year 6 have been studying the work of Franz Marc. The children have used geometric lines and tone of colour effectively to reproduce a Franz Marc painting. Paul Jobson's is fantastic so far, so I have given you a littel sneak peak! I can't wait to display the finished pieces of artwork and hope you enjoy viewing them!
Next week, each child will choose an endangered animal that they feel strongly about, and will produce their own piece of artwork in the style of Franz Marc. Year 6 are very talented artists and I am looking forward to seeing the finished pieces!
Posted by G Lawson at 9:38 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
September 29, 2010
So you think you can dance!
Do you think you could beat Mrs Inkster and Miss Allen at dancing? (I don't think so!)
Well dance club with a difference will be starting soon.
We are looking forward to hosting Wii Dance Club. With our very own huge projector in KS2 hall and our own wii will be looking forward to competing against you on Just Dance.
Night and times to be confirmed. Places will be limited so if you are interested let Mrs Inkster know.
Posted by A Inkster at 11:20 AM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
September 22, 2010
A Blast from the Past
Knock, knock - who's there? Well in Year One you will find yourself time travelling back to a home from the past.
We have transformed our role play area into a Victorian kitchen and we are having great fun. In our lessons we have also been learning all about some of the things you would find in our house today and how they have changed over the years. Click on the link below and see what you can learn.
Posted by A Inkster at 4:32 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
September 15, 2010
Tudor Times
The children in Mrs Phillips class this term will be researching and learning all about the tudors.
We will use a variety of skills.
To research
King Henry V111 and his wives
Tudor houses ( compare rich and poor )
Differences between Tudor schools and present schools
Mary Rose
Tudor town/location ( Betty Surtees house in Newcastle )
Tudor portraits
To talk
What we have found out
To plan and evaluate our work
To ask questions and record our answers
To express likes and dislikes
To present information as a power point
To read and write
A non-fiction report about Tudors
A biography of Henry V111
A persuasive letter from one of Henry V111's wives
A newspaper report about The Mary Rose
Historical reports/ newspaper articles
A set of instructions about how to make Tudor houses
A non-fiction report on punishment
To calculate
A timeline of important dates/ key events
To make/produce
Tudor houses/street
Tudor portraits
Tudor clothes/costumes
Pen/pencil studies of a town/Tudor house
Scientific experiments and investigations ( teeth/ food )
To perform
Tudor sports/games
Tudor music ( workshop )
A simple Tudor dance
Posted by S Phillips at 2:33 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
September 12, 2010
Bridging the Gap
Year 4 are settling down into their new classroom well.
Our Creative Curriculum topic is called 'Bridging the Gap'
We will be looking at all things to do with bridges and structures including making our bridges that move !!
As well as bridges, we will be looking at some of the important areas that are linked to bridges such as forces and weight/mass.
We all need to focus on the skills we will be using during the topic which will include predicting, discussing, making and evaluating.
Look out for the results on our website.
Posted by A Allsop at 11:09 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
September 5, 2010
Knock Knock! Who's There?
Welcome back Year 1. I can't wait to start a new school year with such a brilliant class. There are lots of fun activities and adventures just around the corner for you all to experience this year. I am sure we will be learning lots of new and exciting things.
Our theme this term is ...Knock Knock! Who's There?
Please click on the link below to find out some of the activities that you can enjoy.
Using a skills based curriculum, here is an example of some of this terms lessons.
To research...
...the type of dwelling they live in and its history
...types of dwellings across the world
...how climate affects housing
...how some people live (shanty towns)
...where their family might have lived before
...materials used to build houses
...how houses have changed over time
...materials and their properities
...a visit to a museum
...knock, knock jokes
...using a camera and a video
To Talk...
...about their own experiences
...show empathy and understanding of the way other children live
...find out about the houses their family have lived in
...share humour
...to plan, develop and evaluate their work
To read and write...
...knock, knock jokes
...a letter to a child in another part of the world, elling them about where they live
...know how materials have changed and why
...recount the story of the gingerbread house
...know why building a house from wood is not a good idea
...an autobiography of themselves
...a list of instructions to build a house
...report what they have found out about houses
...make a list of different houses
To calculate...
...number problems based on houses
...patterns and shapes in buildings
...properties of 2D and 3D shapes
...data handling
To make / produce...
...a role play area based on a Victorian home
...a class biography to send to another school
...a photo montage of their house with key features identified
...a graph showing most common house in class
...a gingerbread house made from cake!
...a model of a gingerbread house
...using construction to build a variety of homes
To perform...
...a video diary of classwork
...a historical re-enactment on how and why dwellings have changed over time
...re-enact familiar stories with puppets
...share knock knock jokes
...as a team member in a variety of games
WOW!!!!! What a lot to look forward to.
Posted by A Inkster at 3:38 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
June 5, 2010
African Showcase - Outstanding Achievement
The whole school have worked tirelessly over two weeks to provide a showcase for the parents, carers, the local community and children from other schools the opportunity to share our learning and expertise on the continent Africa.
Visitors waited patiently in the sunshine as they heard the drums begin to play in the school hall. There was a great surge of people as the doors opened and they were enthralled by the sight of ten African flags and a hall jam packed with outstanding work.
Each class had set up their own showcase area and visitors were invited to walk around and view each challenge. Each class had nominated children to be in charge of their challenge and were on hand to answer any questions or queries that may arise.
Nursery and Reception bedazzled guests with their amazing artwork inspired by Africa.
Year One had created a magnificent safari role play area that the toddlers and some parents (you know who you are!), thoroughly enjoyed playing in.
Year Two amazed everyone with their work on elephants and so much more.
Year Three made some of the most delicious treats, using original African recipes and Fair Trade ingredients. Many of the guests took home the recipes to make them for the rest of their family as they were so impressed.
Year Four produced some outstanding power point presentations which demonstrated their excellent ICTskills and research abilities. They were able to provide visitors with accurate information on Fair Trade.
Year Five had made an outstanding range of footwear, artwork and a leaflet promoting anti-racism.
And finally, guests stood in awe at Year 6's DVD regarding racism. Could it possibly have been produced by 10-11 year olds - YES!
94% of visitors rated our African showcase Outstanding
5% of visitors rated it Very Good
1% of visitors rated it as Good.
High praise for the huge effort of everyone at Roman Road Primary School.
Many thanks to the children and staff for all of their hard work and dedication to this project.
Posted by A Inkster at 4:48 PM | Discuss/Ask? (7)
Fanuel - djembe drums
We all had a fantastic day with Fanuel and his djembe drums. Djembe drums are a very popular drum in Africa. Fanuel also brought with him a range of other instruments from a thum piano to a xylophone with dried pumpkins!
During our morning assembly Fanuel had us playing rythmns and jiving and we were all hyped, eager and ready for our own drums.
Fanuel taught us how to play the drums with "Booms" and "Cha Cha's"
No idea what we are talking about, just ask us and we will let you know. You never know we may even play a rythmn for you.
Thanks for two great days Fanuel, you were amazing.
Posted by A Inkster at 4:05 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Colour Carnival Day
As our African project came to an end the school celebrated with a Colour Carnival Day. We all came dressed to school in one bright colour. We looked so bright and cheerful. During Colour Carnival Day we also used the opportunity to raise money for Omar, an African child from Senegal. We are hoping to sponsor Omar for at least one year.
During Colour Carnival Day we were also able to sample some African food. Mrs Slator (our school cook) researched African stews and cleverly made some for each of us to have a taste. They were delicious. Well done Mrs Slator!!!
Posted by A Inkster at 3:54 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
May 24, 2010
Lions Photos in the Gallery
Photos from the visit of the Lions of Zululand can be found in the gallery. Click below for the direct link:
Lions of Zululand pictures
Look out for other photos from the African topic fortnight to follow.
Posted by A Allsop at 11:12 PM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
Today I made some new friends
Can you believe we have had the chance to hold a snake!!!!!!!
Early Years and key Stage One had a fabulous time today and made lots of new friends - creepy crawly and slippery slimy friends.
Zoo Lab visited us all and brought a range of animals that could be found on the continent of Africa. We met toads, snakes, cockroaches, millipedes, snails, stick insects and finally a lovely cute bunny.
We learned all about their habitats and how they have adapted to suit their environment. Take a look at some of the animals we held. How brave were we?
Meet Harry the Hissing Cockroach. He is from the African country of Madagascar.
This is Sammy the African land snail. It was gigantic!
Twiggy is a stick insect. She can be found in many of the jungles in Africa.
Posted by A Inkster at 5:06 PM | Discuss/Ask? (5)
May 23, 2010
Year 4 Visit the CO-OP
Year 4 visited the CO-Op at Wrekenton to find out about Fairtrade products.
This was in preparation for their African Fortnight challenge.
The store manager told the children many interesting facts and they were all given a bar of Fairtrade chocolate (which was eaten by the time we walked back to school !!)
Year 4 are very grateful to thye CO-OP for helping us out with the project.
Posted by A Allsop at 11:54 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
African Authors
We have been writing African stories this week and we wrote the story of the Tortoise and the Baboon. Next we made them into books. They are fabulous. Look out for them at the Showcase.
Posted by A Inkster at 5:44 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Leam Lane Safari
We all went on a safari. What can you see?
Posted by A Inkster at 5:37 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Are you an Eco Eagle?
Get ready to launch into ECO WEEK!!
Week beginning 7th June 2010!
Get ready to launch straight into…
ECO WEEK
when you return after the half term holidays!
During the week beginning 7th June 2010, we will be learning how to become Eco Eagles!
Roman Road Primary School is embarking upon a journey to achieve our Green Flag Award. This is an internationally recognised award. During this year’s Eco Week, we will be launching Eco Themes in a BIG way and will hopefully achieve our Bronze and Silver Flags during the week.
As a school, we are already looking for ways to be more Eco friendly:
*Our School Council are also our Eco Council and Staff members include Mrs Lacey, Mrs Phillips, Mr Bradshaw and Miss Allen.
*Teachers are including ‘Green themes’ in their Creative Curriculum.
*We are brilliant at ‘Bike-it’
*Our garden club has been up and running for a while and the vegetables grown are very tasty!
*We have our Healthy School Award!
In order to improve further, we need to review the 9 Topics of the Eco Award:
Energy
Litter
Waste & Recycling
Water
Transport
Healthy Living
Biodiversity
School Grounds
Global Perspectives
The Theme of Eco Week this time is…
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Our particular focuses will be:
India & Global Warming.
Aims of ECO WEEK :
*To create an understanding about Indian culture
*To make links and raise money for an Indian orphanage in Malakapatnam
*To raise whole school awareness of Climate change issues
*To sponsor a polar bear
*To devise a school Eco Code
Indian Orphange Information:
It’s a Christian school based in the middle of a Hindu community. The children are mainly orphans due to the Tsunami hit on December 26th 2004. The children are of the lowest caste system (or ‘untouchables’) and without education would end up living in the worst possible conditions. We want to help them build a school and keep in touch with them to find out about life in India.
Events during the week:
The children will be taking part in loads of activities during the week which will raise their awareness about Indian life and Climate change. An Indian expert will be talking to the children, a drama company will be visiting to tell an Indian story and a visitor will be doing art work with the children.
On Friday 11th June we are having a Green Day.
This is a national event and children can get dressed up all in green.
Please bring £1 and all the money raised will be sent to the Indian Orphanage.
If you would like to donate more it will be greatly appreciated.
How PARENTS/GUARDIANS can get involved:
*Encourage your child to bike-it to school during the week and bring your own bikes as well!
*Each class will be given a ‘polar bottle’ through the week. Any spare coppers you have, please send them into school and we use the money collected across the year to sponsor a polar bear.
*You are invited with your children to an Indian breakfast on Friday 11th June at 8am in the Junior Hall. The event is free, but if you would like to bring a donation for the orphanage/polar bear, there will be a collecting box available.
KEEP A LOOK OUT ON THE WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT ECO WEEK!
Thank you for all your support...why don't you begin looking for ways in which YOU can become more eco friendly?
Posted by B Allen at 5:29 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Jeeptastic!
Our Year One African challenge is to make a safari role play area. We really wanted to include a jeep so we set about making one.
It was very tricky to cut the card, but we managed to make two doors.
We made headlights using tissue paper and strawberry boxes.
We worked in teams to camouflage our vehicle.
We had to mix lots of different colour greens for the camouflage.
We bet you will be amazed when you see our jeep at the showcase. Don't miss it...Friday 28th May at 1.15pm.
Posted by A Inkster at 5:28 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
May 19, 2010
WOW!!! INCREDIBLE!!! AMAZING!!!! OUTSTANDING!!!
Roman Road has just had the MOST amazing day today. This was a day that we will never forget and will remember even when we are old and wrinkly!
The Lions of Zululand were unbelievable.
What did you think? Please leave a comment.
Mdu and the Lions arrived early this morning and the hall quickly filled up with children eager to find out why all of the teachers had been so excited! - We were not disappointed.
We heard the singing and the a drum beat before the Lions suddenly burst up the stairs with their shields and knobsticks at the ready.
They began singing, dancing, entertaining and making us laugh for the next 45 minutes. Words and pictures cannot describe the amazing vibe in our school hall. We were left speechless and eager to work with the Lions of Zululand.
Throughout the day we all had the opportunity to learn how to sing and dance like the Zulus. Many of us also had the opportunity to learn about their culture and to draw some of their costumes, shields and spears. The teachers also got the opportunity to purchase African jewellery.
The day came to an end with the whole school showing what they had learned for the whole school. Even the staff demonstrated the dance we had all been taught. What a cheer they got.
Many, many thanks to Mdu and the Lions of Zululand you truly are AMAZING!
What did you think? Please leave a comment.
Posted by A Inkster at 8:05 PM | Discuss/Ask? (11)
Spears and Shields - RUN!!!!!!!!!!
As part of our Africa challenge, Year One have been making African shields and spears. We even got the chance to try them out in the hall. We had a great time doing our Ganda dance with them.
Do you like them? Please leave a comment to let us know what you think?
Posted by A Inkster at 7:59 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Amazing Africa
We have all begun our African challenges this week and we are lucky enough to be getting lots of help from our good friend Lawrence Nnyanzi from Uganda. He will be working with every class across the two weeks.
Lawrence has a wide range of activities for all the children to share in, from African weddings to weaving, dancing to poetry.
We are honoured that Lawrence is giving so much of his time freely to help support our fantastic project. In the photo you can see Year 1 learning all about the continent of Africa.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:50 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Our Very Own Indiana Jones
We were all very suprised todayin assembly to find out Mrs Jones is related to the very famous archaeologist Indiana Jones.
He had sent her an African story of the Greedy Zebra that helped us learn all about grabbing opportunities and making the most of them.
Make sure you make the most of all of the opportunties that come your way.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:43 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
May 5, 2010
Your School Needs You! - Creativity Council
Have you noticed that the way you are being taught has changed in recent years?
Wondering why and want to be a part of that decision making... read on!
Education expert Sir Jim Rose conducted the most significant review of the primary school curriculum in a decade.
His task was to propose a curriculum which would inspire primary children to become life-long learners and give teachers greater flexibility as well as to develop children’s personal skills.
Sir Jim also recommended organising the primary curriculum into six new areas of learning. These would be:
•understanding English, communication and languages
•mathematical understanding
•understanding the arts
•historical, geographical and social understanding
•understanding physical development, health and wellbeing
•scientific and technological understanding
In a nutshell this means we have been given the opportunity to provide a curriculum to meet the needs of Roman Road's children.
As a staff we have been working hard to deliver lessons that are exciting, fun and challenging. We are inspired by the opportunity to meet lots of exciting visitors or visit amazing places and to create new and exciting experiences for you all.
However you are IMPORTANT! We want your views, ideas and suggestions to help make our curriculum outstanding and one that everyone can't wait to share in.
So, how can you go about this?
In the next two weeks you will be asked to choose 2 candidates in your class to become Creativity Councillors. They will meet once a term as part of the Creativity Council where they will be given the opportunity to represent what you want.
Do you think your up for the challenge? Get ready to put yourself forward to be part of Roman Road's Creativity Council.
Posted by A Inkster at 3:17 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
April 27, 2010
Linking to Ghana
As part of our forthcoming work on Africa, we will be soon linking with the country of Ghana.
Very soon children will be exchanging information about what life is like in the two countries.
As part of this, the school is now linked to the Pa Pa Paa website.
This site, which is partly ran by Comic Relief, sends out webcasts from a school in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Children from the Great Fammis School talk about their life in the village. As part of the link up, we are able to e-mail questions which will be answered in the webcast.
The school was built using money from Fairtrade. Fairtrade believes that farming families should get a fair amount of money for what they produce. Cocoa beans for chocolate is the major produce of the area. Lots of the families of the children at the school are tomato farmers.
Year 3 & 4 are focussing on Fairtrade but we will be looking for questions to ask the school from everyone !!
Pa Pa Paa :
Can you use the site to find out what Pa Pa Paa means in the Ghanaian language of Twi?
Posted by A Allsop at 10:29 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
April 14, 2010
Year One Summer Term
Wondering what we will be upto next term Year One. Well wonder no longer.
We will be transporting ourselves into the world of Africa. We will be looking at African art, music, animals and so much more. Get ahead of the game and see if you can name five African animals.
In the Summer term we will be covering the following
To research......the main African animals
...differences between Africa and the UK
...why some animals are endangered
...animal habitats
...what is a safari?
...traditional African stories
...the flags of Africa
...and interview Africans about their country
We will also have an amazing visit from Zoo Lab where we will get to meet lots of exotic animals. Don't worry mum's - no lions!
To talk...
...what we have found out
...about the issues facing African people and animals
...to plan, develop and evaluate our work
...to express likes and dislikes
...to establish roles and responsibilites within the class
...to find answers to problems
...to ask questions and record answers
...about endangered animals with Zoo Lab
To read and write...
...a non-fiction report about an African animal
...a poster showing how we can save animals
...a report on Africa as a holiday destination
...a poem about an African safari
...a letter to an African child
...labels for a role play area
...booking forms for role play area
...an animal adventure story
To calculate...
...number problems and number facts based on African animals
...aspects of number when looking at sizes of animals
...measuring using standard units to make a jeep
...which is our favourite African animal and show in graphs
...repeating patterns for African jewellery
To make / produce...
...create an Andrinka cloth using prints and stamps
...clay coil pots
...an African animal mask
...an African drum
...a jeep
...a safari role play area for classroom
...weave a Kente strip
...a traditional knot dress and wrap around
...rock art painting
To perform...
...a game of tic-tac-oe
...music made from recycled instruments
...songs from Africa
...a simple African dance
Discrete subjects to be taught: Maths, R.E., PSHE
Homework Project - This terms family project will be to design a safari role play area in a shoe box. We will then use children's ideas and incorporate them into the class role play area.
1st Prize - £10 cinema voucher
2nd Prize - £5 cinema voucher
3rd Prize - Surprise!
Posted by A Inkster at 4:04 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
April 11, 2010
Year 2 at the Seaside!
Hope you are enjoying your holidays Year 2! I just want to let you know what theme we are going to be splashing into throughout Summer Term...that's right you've guessed it...The Seaside!
As well as Literacy and Numeracy, we'll be finding out everything we can about the seaside. We'll be interviewing pirates, making boats and sailing the sea singing shanties! Get ready to embark upon amazing adventures this Summer!
Parents...
We'll be learning loads this term. Here are some of the fun things we'll be making and learning. I bet you wish you were back in school!
*Making Lighthouses and learning about electricity
(please send empty pringles boxes to school)
*Learning sea shanties and songs and singing in rounds
*Lots of reading and writing about the sea
*Making boats and drawing things you might find at the seaside
*Habitats and living things
*Water and sun safety
*History of the seaside and myths/legends about the sea.
*We might even visit the beach!!
"Oh we do like to be beside the seaside"
Posted by B Allen at 9:12 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
March 31, 2010
Weighing
As part of our maths lesson we have been comparing and weighing objects and reading scales.
We practised weighing ingredients and reading scales to make some buns. We had to be accurate with our measurements or the buns wouldn't have tasted very nice. We did well though as the buns were delicious!
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 1:01 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Thornley Woods
Year 3 and the MSB enjoyed their visit to Thornley Woods as part of their theme 'Animal Kingdom!'
Whilst there the children went in a bird hide, did some pond dipping to explore all the different kinds of animals that live in a pond, made some art sculptures using natural materials found in the woods and went on a camoflage hunt.
It was a fantastic day out and no one fell in the pond!
width="400" height="300" />
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 11:42 AM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
March 28, 2010
Palm Sunday
This week we created a role play of Palm Sunday but we did it with a difference!
We were separated into three groups - costume designers, props and actors.
The costume designers were responsible for researching clothes that may have been worn in Jesus time using our Childrens Bible. They then had to dress the actors for their role.
The props people were responsible for making palm leaves, a donkey mask and tail.
The actors had to cast themselves into the role and then decide what they would say.
We had an amazing time and had to make so many decisions and choices. At first wefound this tricky but soon we were working as superb teams.
Our final play was amazing and we really enjoyed watching the actors perform the story of Palm Sunday.
Posted by A Inkster at 8:46 AM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Mothers Day Madness!
We had great fun cooking up some wonderful treats for our mums for Mothers Day.
Peppermint Pyramids in gold boxes were their surprise gift this year.
We were able to use our new skills in measuring when we had to measure the icing sugar and peppermint essence. Separating the eggs was very tricky and the icing sugar had the habit of jumping out of the bowls.
However we used lots of cookery skills and made a wonderful gift for our wonderful mums.
Posted by A Inkster at 8:18 AM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Cezanne Creations
Paul Cezanne was a very famous French artist who painted lots of still life. Year One have been creating their own still life using photography and pastels.
We were shown a range of fruit, materials, pottery, jugs and a bottle of wine (aka Ribena bottle). In our groups we had to make choices as to what we wnated to use.
Once we had chosen the objects we wanted to use in our still life, we had to arrange the objects in the same style of Cezanne. This was much trickier than we thought.
After making our arrangement we took photographs and compared them to some of Cezanne's paintings.
Next we used the still life and photographs to create our own still life picture. We chose pastels as it allowed us to blend colours much easier.
We used a white pastel first to sketch the shapes onto the paper before we started adding colour.
Our artwork is on display in our classroom and looks amazing!!
Please leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:58 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
March 18, 2010
Year 6 - Garage Band at Heworth CLC
We made our own songs using a program called 'Garage Band.' We had to find 30 different sounds covering bass, rhythm and melody. Then we used these to build up a song out of even building blocks. We then learned how to fade in and out the song and add pauses. Mrs Lawson and Mrs Pigott were very impressed by the results. 
We then used our songs as background music to a film that we produced from a variety of space clips. We are awaiting our finished product to view in class. We are very excited!
Posted by G Lawson at 2:59 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
March 14, 2010
Fun Afternoon
Well done to Year 6 who raised just over £200 during Wednesday's Egyptian fun afternoon. The money raised will go towards the Year 5/6 end of year concert. Everyone was fantastic and enjoyed a brilliant afternoon...thank you to all the parents and children who donated gifts for the tombola. Thank you to all staff who gave their help and support. Another big success!!!
Posted by B Allen at 9:02 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
A Mummy for you on Mothers' Day
In Year 2 we completed the Egyptian themed week by making gingerbread mummies and then wrapping them with icing. We hope you enjoyed eating them...that is if they reached you in one piece (Miss Allen caught a few of us tucking into them as we left the building on Friday night...yum, yum!)
We have learned absolutely loads this week!
Posted by B Allen at 8:51 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
Sponsored Event - BOOKWEEK!
In Year 2 we had some really difficult spellings to learn for the BookWeek Sponsored Event.
One of the words was 'papyrus'. Miss Allen is giving out the prizes for the most sponsor money raised this Friday (19th March). there will be a bronze, silver and a gold prize so keep collecting!!! Good Luck!
Posted by B Allen at 8:40 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
March 11, 2010
Hieroglyphics
Did you know the Egyptians used pictures and symbols for their alphabet? We do!
We are transforming our cloakroom into Ancient Egypt and decided that our old name cards were no use in Egypt. So we chose a famous Egyptian, artefact or building and then added our name in hieroglyphics. Aren't they amazing!!!
Would you like to try out your name? Just click on the link below.
http://www.eyelid.co.uk/e-name.htm
Posted by A Inkster at 11:39 AM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
Ancient Step Pyramids
Today we have been exploring how the Ancient Egyptians made pyramids. Unfortunately Mrs Inkster does not have the muscle to transport lots of stone into school so we relied on rough cut sugar cubes instead.
We found that if we built up each section of the pyramid using squares and then layered them on top of each other it made quite an effective sugar pyramid. Anyone for coffee???
Posted by A Inkster at 11:33 AM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
Mummy Art!!!
During our Egypt day we made some fantastic Egyptain scenes on sandpaper to give the texture of the desert. We have all learned how to draw a pyramid and it is much easier than we first thought. Our work will be displayed in our Egyptian cloakroom.
Posted by A Inkster at 11:24 AM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Egypt Day
The whole school celebrated our Egypt theme week yesterday by coming to school dressed as Egyptians. Our costumes were amazing and we had a fantastic time. Many thanks to all our parents who sent us to school so wonderfully dressed, you helped make it a special day.
Posted by A Inkster at 11:19 AM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
Mummy Who?????
All of the school were very privilged to receive a visit from Carol an Egyptologist this week.
Carol brought lots of fascinating artefacts to show us and really helped us understand what it must have been like to live in Ancient Egypt.
Our favourite facts were the gorey details. Did you know before they mummified a dead body, they removed some of the internal organs and placed them in jars? How did they get the brain out?
Let us know if you can remember.
We also had great fun learning how they used the bandages and special creams and ointment to make a mummy. Who could possibly be the mummy in this picture? A prize to the first person to get it correct. (Please leave your answers in the comment box with your name.)
Did you learn anything else? Please let us know in the box below. At this rate we could all become Egyptologists.
Posted by A Inkster at 11:10 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Egyptian Sand Scene
We are using all of the knowledge we have learned about Egypt in our play this week.
During play in the sand tray, two year 1 boys made an amazing Egypt scene. It included - the River Nile, pyramids, a temple, a boat and the Valley of the Kings. Can you spot them?
What a fantastic way of showing what Egypt might have looked like!
Posted by A Inkster at 11:03 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Totally Terrific Tutankhamun!!!!!!
During Egyptian week we have been learning all about the boy king Tutankhamun. We were fascinated and really enjoyed learning about the discovery of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. We decided to design and make our very own Death mask. We think King Tut would love them - do you? Please leave a comment letting us know what you think.
First we drew around our mask onto a piece of card. We had to place it well so that we left enough room for the headdress. Then we drew the headdress shape on the paper and cut it out. This was extremely tricky!
Then Mrs Inkster helped us to spray paint the masks. PHEW! what a stink - good job it was outside, we even managed to spray some of the grass.
After we had cut out the headdress we chose foil and made a repeating pattern on the headdress. There were parts that were very tricky to do, like curving the strips of paper. Our teamwork was brilliant and we kept checking to see that our pattern was repeating. Then we trimmed round our mask so there was nohing hanging over the edge.
We chose a colour we had not used to be the centre piece of the mask. They look amazing. Everyone who has visited our class this week are amazed Year 1 produced such skilful masks. Please pop along and have a look - they are now on display in our Egyptian cloakroom.
Posted by A Inkster at 10:24 AM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
Yummy Mummy Sandwiches
This week Year One received a letter from the Head of the Mummy Society in Egypt. They asked our help with making party food for the Annual Mummy Ball.
We worked together with a partner to make some spready cheese sandwiches. We had to think carefully about which time connective to use (first, then, next, finally). We also had to make sure we had included a bossy verb that would tell the mummy chef exactly what to do (spread, put, serve).
Once we had made the sandwiches and talked through each instruction, we used a cutter to make the sandwiches look like mummies. As all good chefs do, we tried our sandwiches and they were delicious.
The next day we wrote detailed instructions to the mummies on how to make our fabulous sandwiches. Our writing was superb and we remembered all of the connectives and bossy verbs.
We have sent our instructions in a book to the Head Chef of the Mummy Ball and we are waiting to hear how they liked them. Perhaps you too could try making yummy mummy sandwiches at home.
Posted by A Inkster at 9:59 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
March 7, 2010
The Best Book Week Ever!
Tomorrow is the launch of Book Week 2010. Let's make it the best ever and spend the week 'Wrapped up in Reading!'
There will be lots of exciting things to learn and get involved with at school. Two prizes to look out for are Gold Writer award and Poetry Prize. These are given out every year to one person in KS1 and one in KS2.
Remember to learn your song or spellings for the sponsored event and return your money soon. Also get ready for the fun afternoon and dress up day on Wednesday!
Thank you for your returned parent/child competition entries. Winners prizes given out on Friday so return quickly please.
Keep checking the website for events happening this week and see how much fun we are having and all the learning going on!!!
Posted by B Allen at 8:35 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Year 2 Assembly - Parents!
We had a gift for all of the parents. We made a French painting (inspired by Claude Monet) and a bookmark. We also gave the parents a taste of France - a crepe (pancake) and cakes with home-made french flags.
All of them enjoyed our gift and the assembly went really well.
After the success of the assembly, we all said goodbye to parents and they congratulated us!
Posted by B Allen at 8:00 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Year 2 French Assembly!
The Year 2 performed their fabulous Year 2 French assembly last Thursday. It was super and all the parents enjoyed it.
The children were fantastic and remembered all their lines. The audience heard every word! Miss Allen thought it was so wonderful the children all received a prize afterwards! Even Mrs McKeown said she had learned new things about France! Well Done for all your hard work Year 2!
Posted by B Allen at 5:52 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
February 28, 2010
Alarming - Our Desks !
After learning about circuits, Year 4 went on to do a mini project in which they made their own switches and then finally turned the whole circuit into a burglar alarm for their desks.
They were really good at it and finsihed in super quick time !!! I think we've got some security experts in the making !!!
They learnt lots and lots about science and the technology planning process. Maybe some year 4 children can leave comments on the website to say what they learnt.
There are a few more photos in the website gallery.
Posted by A Allsop at 9:54 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
February 23, 2010
YEAR 2 CLASS ASSEMBLY - France!
Bonjour!
We would like to invite all year 2 parents and guardians to come to our class assembly about France! It will be superb!
Our assembly will be in the Infant Hall at 9.15 am next Thursday (4th March).
Tomorrow, Miss Allen is going to start practising the assembly. We will be bringing some lines home to learn. Please help us to learn our words so we can speak them loudly, slowly and clearly!
Looking forward to seeing you next Thursday!
Posted by B Allen at 10:41 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
CHANGE TO DRESS UP DAY!!!!
The dress up day has been changed during Book Week to Wednesday 10th March. Letters were sent out this Tuesday sharing this information. Remember, it's an Egyptian theme so you could come as an explorer, a pharaoh, Cleopatra or a mummy! Prizes for the best costumes.
Remember, it's also the fun afternoon on the same day so bring your money!!!
Posted by B Allen at 10:32 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
February 16, 2010
Are you an Eco Hero?
We are an Eco School! We will shortly be asking pupils and staff to join our bid to win our Bronze, Silver and Green Flag Award. this will make us an Eco School. A Green Flag Award is an internationally recognised Award and we will win it!
Parents, let us know if you are interested in joining our Action Team!
You might be able to give us some tips on how to become more Eco Friendly. We already have a gardening club run by parents and staff. We have a rag bag bin so all your old clothes can go to be recycled. We are an amazing Bike-it! school and we can only get better!
Look out in the future for Eco Events and join with us in our journey to win the Green Flag!
Miss Allen
Posted by B Allen at 10:24 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
The countdown begins for Book Week!!!
10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1
It's the week you've all looked forward to...
Book Week is Monday 8th - Friday 12th March!
The theme this year is 'Wrapped up in Reading' - an Egyptian theme...
Keep working on your parent/child competition entries and pass them to Miss Allen as soon as you can. There will be loads of competitions and activities to get involved in during the week:
*Every night from Mon - Thurs the Bookfair will be in the Junior Hall from 3.30pm!
*Wednesday is the Year 6 Enterprise Project where they run a sale in school ...bring your money as there will be loads of fab games, food and prizes as well as books to buy!
*Friday is the BIG competition day. All prizes will be given out on this day. This is also when you can get dressed up...Egyptian style!
(For other information about Book Week, please check the letters sent home before half term)
REMEMBER...Book Week is when we choose our Gold Writer in KS1 and KS2. It could be anyone, so work hard!
If anyone reads this entry and you find information about Ancient Egypt using the internet/researching in the library...Miss Allen will give you a Frogget!!!!!!!!!!!!! Roll on March 8th!
Posted by B Allen at 10:00 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Growing Magic Beans in Year 2
As well as our stories about Jack and the Beanstalk, we have been growing broad beans. Miss Allen challenged us to 2 competitions. Whao could write the best instructions for 'How to grow a bean' and who could grow the tallest beanstalk.
Alisha and Liam grew the tallest beanstalks for the girls and boys.
Bethany and Haydn wrote the best instructions.
We measured our beanstalks using a tape measure. We can measure really well now using cm.
Posted by B Allen at 7:27 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Jack and the Beanstalk
In Year 2 we have been learning the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.
Miss Allen read it to us, then we said the story as a class, in groups and in pairs using actions to remind us of the main parts of the story. The ogre's wife had a face as ugly as a troll's doll. Miss Allen said our scary faces would keep her awake at night!! Argghhhh!
Afterwards, we created a story map on a beanstalk with memory joggers. This helped us to write our story. We have a beautiful classroom display of our work with a massive beanstalk!!
Posted by B Allen at 6:36 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Snails a la Francais
Year 2 were amazed that French people actually EAT snails! We read a book called 'The Snail and the Whale' by Julia Donaldson (the person who wrote 'The Gruffalo'). It was a rhyming story and was about a snail who wants to see the world. She hitches a ride on the tail of a whale!
We used clay to mould and shape the form of a snail. Do you like them? They are super! We decided that we prefer making clay snails to eating real snails!
Posted by B Allen at 6:24 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
French Printing
We have thoroughly enjoyed using polystyrene tiles to design and make our own printing blocks. We used the colours of the French flag to create our finished artwork.
Posted by B Allen at 6:09 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
February 14, 2010
Bonjour and Cheers!
Year 2 had a French afternoon! We tried some French food and wrote our own French menus to go into our classroom 'Restaurant Francais'. The wine (fizzy pop) was super and when Mr Slane popped the cork on the bottle we all got a shock! What would you choose to eat in a French Restaurant? Escargot? Le hamburger avec les frites? Read on and find out what we had to eat...
We had grapes which the French use to make wine. We loved to brie cheese and the crepes (pancakes)
Posted by B Allen at 8:49 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
February 10, 2010
Fun with Science
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/5_6/ourselves.shtml
Try out some games from bbc schools.
Posted by A Inkster at 10:03 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Sense -tastic!
Can you write your own non-fiction book? - We can!
Try out our quiz also.
A non- fiction book gives the reader lots of information and facts. We have written a booklet all about our senses?
Try our quiz and see what you know.
1. How do we see?
2. What happens if there is no light?
3. How can I hear?
4. How does sound travel?
5. What sense does our nose have?
6. Can you name the four kinds of food we taste with our tongue?
7. What part of our body gives us the sense of touch?
How did you do?
First person to submit the correct answers will receive a prize from Mrs Inkster.
Write your answers in the comment box below.
Posted by A Inkster at 8:15 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
February 4, 2010
A Touch of Art
Year One are learning all about their senses this week. We have learned lots of fascinating facts. But today, we decided to use our sense of touch to create a work of art.
We will display our art work on the wall in our classroom. Do you like it? Please leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
When we put our hands in the paint we thought of lots of words to describe how it felt. How would you have described it?
Our brains will remember how it felt and if we do it again it will recognise it as paint.
I am uniquely clever!
Posted by A Inkster at 1:47 PM | Discuss/Ask? (5)
January 28, 2010
Year 6 Star Chefs
Year 6 have designed and made their own cakes. They weighed out their own ingredients at home and worked independently to make and decorate fairy cakes, and they look scrumtious I'm sure you will agree!
Posted by G Lawson at 5:32 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
Year 6 at Heworth CLC
Year 6 attended Heworth Grange CLC last week to develop robotic skills. As we are the reigning champions of the robotics competitions we were given an exclusive invitation to trial a new piece of equipment. The children had to use the robot, find codes and complete the challenge to avoid mass destruction! In addition to this we also learned about energy and had to present our findings to the class and answer challenging questions. We now know about tidal power, wind power and nuclear power!
Posted by G Lawson at 4:57 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
January 26, 2010
Christian Visitors!
Sheila and Katie came to see us today. They are from Miss Allen's church (Living Waters Church).
As part of Interfaith Week, Sheila and Katie came to talk to us about their faith. They visited all our classrooms and led a whole school assembly. Sheila made a banana appear from nowhere in a magic trick. She wanted us to eat dog food! Don't worry parents...it was only chopped up mars bars and jelly with a different label on. She told us that we should never judge people by their outward appearance!
We heard the story of Frd with the wobbly legs (the paralysed man story in the Bible) and asked Sheila questions about what she believed. What a fab day! She wants to come and visit again!
Posted by B Allen at 10:11 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 24, 2010
Hannukkah in Year 2
We made potato latkes, a Jewish savoury pancake eaten during the festival of Hanukkah!
We fried the pancakes in oil!
Then we ate them...YUM!!
Jewish people have a lot of fried food during Hanukkah. This reminds them of the oil in the Menorah (candlestick) which was only supposed to last one day but God let it last 8 days. Hanukkah cards show the message 'A great miracle happened there'!
Posted by B Allen at 9:23 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Eating Plants in Year 2
"What a strange thing to do" I hear you say! But yes...Year 2 have been eating leaves, roots, stems and flowers!!
As part of our science topic about plants, we have been eating them. We tried lettuce leaves, cauliflower, celery (stem) and carrot (root). Most of us loved them! We now have a garden centre in our classroom and we are taking part in a Jack and the Beanstalk challenge. Miss Allen has given us 2 magic beans and we are planting them for a competition. Whoever grows the highest beanshoot will win a prize. Whoever writes the best instructions about planting a bean will also win a prize. I winder who has the greenest fingers?
Posted by B Allen at 8:42 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
January 18, 2010
Following and Reflecting the Path of Light
Year 4 have been hard at work investigating light as part of their Creative Curriculum topic.
We used torches and black sugar paper to follow the light beams. From there, each group was able to reflect the light around an object. Another drawing using chalk was carried out.
Posted by A Allsop at 10:21 PM | Discuss/Ask? (8)
Interfaith Week
We have been exploring different religions as part of Interfaith Week. We are focusing on Judaism in Year 3.
We really enjoyed our visit from Michael Glickman, who is a Jewish man living in Gateshead. He came into our assembly to tell us about some of the important religious symbols and traditions of Judaism. He then came to Year 3 to tell us all about the Jewish community we have here in Gateshead. We had lots of interesting questions to ask him and learnt a lot from him.
Posted by J Barnes at 4:57 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
Interfaith Week
This week, we are learning about Judaism. Michael Glickman, a Jewish man who lives in Gateshead came to visit our school. He spoke to Year 2 about the Torah.
We didn't know anything about the Torah at the beginning of the lesson. The Torah is the first 5 books of the bible. We found out that the books of the Torah is written on scrolls and they are kept in a cupboard in the synagogue. They can't be touched at all. People use a 'yad' to point to the words. This week we are going to find out loads of information about Judaism!
Posted by B Allen at 4:42 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Winter Wonderland
This term the Early Years topic is Winter Wonderland. The children in Nursery and Reception will be learning all about cold environments.
http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/winter/fun.htm
Try out some winter activities on the website above. Please leave a comment about what you have learnt.
Brrrrrrrrr - have fun!
Posted by A Inkster at 4:34 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 11, 2010
Animal Kingdom - MSB and Year 3
During the Spring term our topic will be all about animals. We will be investigating and finding out about lots of different types of animals, where they live, how they move and much,much more. Do you have a favourite animal?
Science
- Why do some living things need protection?
- How can we group animals?
- What do animals eat?
- Look at life cycles of butterflies and frogs.
- Build an ant farm to observe over time.
Geography
- Where do animals live?
- Does the climate affect where certain animals live?
- Develop map skills.
Art
- Colour mixing to create patterns and colour tones for jungle and desert habitats.
- Create own animals using different mediums eg. paper mache, clay.
Design and Technology
- Design and make a moving insect.
- Design and make an animal puppet.
Literacy
- Non chronological reports
- Instructions.
- Fact finding
- Animal stories.
- Record life cycles through a story board.
- Dictionary work.
Music
- Listen to music that describes animals.
- Sing animal songs.
- Create sounds for animals using a range of instruments.
French
- Learn animal words.
Posted by Teaching Assistants at 3:02 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 3, 2010
Year 4 Sound and Light
Year 4 will be looking at Sound and Light as our Creative Curriculum topic for this term.
To get you started why don't you have a look at the BBC site about changing sounds by clicking here:
There is also another great interactive site from Engineering Interact. Click here to try and do some of their activities:
Engineering Interact Sound and Light Resources
Posted by A Allsop at 7:28 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
January 2, 2010
Year 1 - I AM UNIQUE!!!!!
Wow - do you have a dancing skeleton inside you?
Year One will be discovering all about their bodies and what makes them so UNIQUE!!!
Can you name the parts of a skeleton?
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/smallskel.html
Our role play area this term will be a Health Care Centre including a Baby Care Clinic. If you have anything at home that you would be willing to lend for our area, it would be much appreciated.
SCIENCE
* How we grow into adults.
* Parts of the body.
* What our bodies need.
* Medicines
* Importance of a healthy diet and exercise.
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
* Investigating fruit and veg.
* How does food change when cooking.
* Health and hygiene.
* Designing a healthy meal or packed lunch.
HISTORY
* Time line of the stages in our lives so far.
* Do people remember differently?
* Guess who I am?
* What I want to do / be in the future.
ART
* We will be investigating a range of media and techniques to create images of food.
* We will be looking closely at the work of other artists such as Cezanne and Picasso.
MUSIC
* Investigating sounds that can be made wit the body.
* Play 'Take the Hat.'
* Can we control instruments.
* Using sounds to tell a familiar tale.
* Listen to Peter and the Wolf.
P.E.
* Gymnastics using apparatus
* Team Games.
Posted by A Inkster at 3:25 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
December 27, 2009
The World Around Us
Calling all Year 2!!
During Spring Term, we will be learning about 'The World Around Us'. Get ready to travel to France, Africa and the North Pole. You will be learning about French Artists, a French saint, French food and the French language. We will also invite your parents to take part in our French presentation and experience the delights of our French Restaurant!
Get ready to learn an African dance and create African music! We will have a garden centre in the classroom and will be growing plants and learning how different animals survive in various habitats. In RE we will learn about Hannukkah.
WELCOME TO 2010!!!! YOU ARE GOING TO LEARN LOADS! JUMP INTO THE NEW YEAR AND ENJOY YOUR TRIP AROUND THE WORLD!
Posted by B Allen at 9:29 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
A Tale of Two Birthdays
It made you laugh and cry...our KS1 Christmas Musical was FAB! We spent ages practising and learning the songs and everyone performed brilliantly. Thank you to all staff for your fantastic input. Thank you to all the children for their hard work. Thank you to all the parents for your support!
Posted by B Allen at 9:21 PM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
Our Time Travelling adventures are coming to an end!
Do you like our Airport? We have spent the Autumn Term Time Travelling but all that will change...we are going to be investigating 'The World Around Us' during the Spring Term. Get yourself ready for new challenges and amazing learning opportunities!
Posted by B Allen at 9:06 PM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
Golden Anniversary Celebrations in Year 2
We have been celebrating our Golden Anniversary this term. Roman Road is 50!
We had a competition to design a 50th anniverary plate. One person from every class won!
We also used ceramic pens to design our own tile and cups contining our memories of Roman Road.
Last year, we wrote to soldiers in Afganistan. They sent letters back to each of us and then they came to visit and took part in our 50th Anniversary celebrations! Wow!
Posted by B Allen at 8:50 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
Frozen in Time!
This Term our theme has been Time Travel. We travelled back in time to meet Guy Fawkes. We learned all about the 'Real Hallowe'en' and we even visited a real castle. But we never expected this!
Our Magic Time Travelling dragon, Denzel sent an S.O.S. to Year 2. A dinosaur had been trapped in the ice and could not escape. He wanted the Year 2 children to rescue it!
We did an experiment in groups of 3 to see which ice cube melted first. We wrapped the ice cubes in 4 different materials...metal foil, plastic bag, bubble wrap and air. We predicted which material would win. The metal foil won!
We rescued the dinosaur and now it lives on our Science Table
Posted by B Allen at 8:20 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
December 9, 2009
And the winner is....
Year One have worked incredibly hard on their homework project to build a castle. Mrs Inkster was amazed at everyone's efforts.
On Wednesday, Mrs Jones and Alun (our Bike It Officer) had the difficult position of choosing who had won. After much deliberation they chose.
1st place (£10 voucher to Cineworld) - Brian Swindale
2nd place (£5 viucher to Cineworld) - Kieran Brydon
3rd place (Large selection box) - Connar Ainsley and Joe Corbett
All the runners up received a selection box as they had worked tremendously hard.
A big thank you to all the parents who supported their children, I hope you had as much fun as the children did.
And finally, a huge thank you to the children of Year One, you truly are the best in the world!!! I am so pleased to be your teacher.
Mrs Inkster
Please check our our castles in the gallery area of the website.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:40 PM | Discuss/Ask? (3)
November 23, 2009
GREAT GOBLETS
Today we have been making goblets, like those that would have been used in a castle.
We used air hardening clay. First we rolled and cut the clay. We shaped it into a bowl shape for the top. Then we made a stem for the goblet. Finally we added patterns to the clay. We can't wait to paint them when they are dry.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:28 PM | Discuss/Ask? (2)
What did we want those rolls for?
We have had a great time using the MANY rolls that we brought into school. We have turned them into fairy princesses and knights. We are looking forward to displaying them with our castles.
Posted by A Inkster at 7:09 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Super Stained Glass Windows
When we visited Raby Castle we saw some stained glass windows. After we returned to school we created some of our own.
First we got an OHP / acetate sheet.
We then tore up pieces of tissue or cut cellophane.
Next we glued this to the acetate sheet.
We made sure there were no spaces between the colours.
After that we glued over the top to make a varnish and to stick down all of the edges.
Then we had also been learning about different 2D shapes in numeracy, so we chose from a selection of shapes the frame we would like for the window.
Finally we glued these together and displayed them on our corridor windows.
They look fantastic!
Posted by A Inkster at 6:57 PM | Discuss/Ask? (1)
Raby Castle Visit
Year 1 and year 2 had a tremendous time at Raby Castle in Durham.
Year One have been learning all about Castles and Fairytales, whilst Year Two have been Time Travelling. Therefore Mrs Inkster and Miss Allen combined our two classes for an exclusive visit to Raby Castle.
Raby castle is in Durham and is the home of Lord Barnard. He was at home the day we visited as he still lives there.
We saw some amazing sights, ranging from the Red Deer who were in the castle grounds, the castle kitchens, the Entrance Hall, Great Hall and Octagon Room.
We really wish we could show you some photographs of inside the castle but there was a no photography rule. However you can click on the link below which will take you to Raby Castles website. There you will find photos of the rooms we visited.
http://www.rabycastle.com/categoryrender.asp?categoryid=3885
After our tour of the castle, and lunch in the Servants Hall, we were lucky enough to be able to play in the grounds of the castle.
The gardens were amazing. We had so much fun, playing hide and seek, making up fairytales and playing sharks on the lawns.
Before long it was time to go home. We all wanted to stay but we know our parents would have missed us, so we hopped on the bus and headed back to school, with many amazing memories of our castle trip.
Check out some other photos of our castle trip in the gallery.
Posted by A Inkster at 6:11 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
November 22, 2009
Life at Home in The Second World War
Year 4 together with some year 3 children have been experiencing what it would have been like for children during the Second World War.
As part of our Creative Curriculum topic, a mock air raid shelter (with air raid sound effects) has been constructed in the classroom.
More can be found out about life in the second war for children by going on to a site by the BBC. Click on the link:
BBC World War 2 Site for children
Posted by A Allsop at 9:37 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
November 12, 2009
Spaghetti and Marshmallow Structures
Year 5 worked on a project to explore what happens with structures when they are being built together with what is needed to keep them strong and sturdy.
We used spaghetti and marshmallows to produce a structure which stood up. The best group was the one who thought out how re-enforce weak points as well as holding the weight from above.
The groups found the spaghetti was very brittle meaning it had to be handled carefully. One wrong move sometimes meant the collapse of their structure. This enabled them to see where weak points were. Too much marshmallow in a certain place gave too much weight.
A lot was learnt with some fun and mess added in for good measure!!
Posted by A Allsop at 7:02 PM | Discuss/Ask? (0)
September 3, 2009
Fairytales and Castles
The theme for Autumn in Year One is Fairytales and Castles.
This term we will be reading lots of fairytales and using this as a basis for our work on castles.
Literacy
We will be concetrating on the stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Pea and Jack and the Beanstalk. We will be writing menus, job lists, sequencing stories, speech bubbles and much much more.
From the 14th September, children will also be streamed into groups for Read Write Inc. Children will attend their Read Write Inc groups Monday to Thursday, Friday we will be writing creatively.
Numeracy
In Numeracy we will be forming numbers and counting objects upto 20. In Shape, Space and Measures, we will be measuring and comparing the size, length and weight of objects. To link with our topic we will be solving 'real life medieval' problems such as paying taxes.
Science
We will be sorting and naming materials and discussing their properties. We will also look at Birds of Prey that were used in castle life and this will also link to our work on the Red Kite.
ICT
We will be concentrating on basic skills such as logging onto the computer independently, developing mouse control skills such as clicking and dragging an object. We will be using a variety of programs such as Kid Pix4 and Google Earth.
History
What is a castle? What was castle life like? Name the parts of a castle? What happened inside the castle? These are some of the questions that will be answered across this term. We will also be learning about St. George and the Dragon and William the Conqueror.
Geography
We will be comparing the locations of castles and the physical features that support where a castle is situated. We will be designing our own fictional maps of a country as well as looking at the jobs in a castle.
Art
Will be painting Medieval portraits and making pasta frames. Weaving using simple frames. Stained galess windows and making a clay goblet.
Design and Technology
We will be making cardboard kinghts and princesses, designing our own coat of arms, constructing castles with construction kits, designing a penant flag, making simple swords and castle cakes.
As part of a homework project children will be asked to design and make a castle at home to bring in for a competition. We hope also to set up a market stall to sell our cakes, just like in real castle life.
Music
We will be listening to medieval music, naming instruments of the time and looking at high and low notes using bottles.
PE
We will be concentrating on balancing using large and small apparatus. Juggling with bean bags and balls like a castle jester. Learning social dances such as the Hokey Cokey and maybe even the Waltz (who knows?).
PSHE
Using SEAL we will be concentrating on changes that happen in our lives. We will be making a set of rules for our classroom and for our castle.
RE
Our RE topic is all about Belonging - to a family, class, school etc. We will look at baptisms and weddings.
Year One Day Trip
Finally we will be going on a visit to Raby Castle in Durham (pictured below), where we will be getting our own personal tour of the castle, dressing up as Lords and Ladies, eating in the servants hall, visiting the deer in the Deer garden and even having time to play in the children's play area. This is a very exciting trip and we are really lucky to get access to the castle...more information to follow when we are back to school.
Further details of Year One timetable will be available once we return to school.
Please ensure children bring their reading books EVERY day to school.
If you have any worries or concerns please do not hesitate to speak to me either before or after school. I hope this has given you a little taster of the exciting things that Year 1 will doing this term.
Mrs Inkster
Posted by A Inkster at 9:07 AM | Discuss/Ask? (0)