Willow Class Blog 2024/2025

Term 1 Week 5

This week we have been doing lots of making to help us with our learning.  As part of our English work, we followed a set of instructions to make a woolly mammoth model.  We then thought about whether the instructions were easy to follow and why this was and whether the instructions could be improved in any way.  In science, we learnt about fossilisation and we used created our own fossil models to help us to understand the process.  We have began a new unit in maths - addition and subtraction.  We learnt how to clearly set out our calculations and started to learn about exchanging.  We will continue this next week.

We look forward to going on our school trip to Earth Trust to learn more about the Stone Age next Tuesday.

Term 1 Week 4

We have had a busy week of learning in Willow Class.   We used our planning from last week to write action-packed Stone Age stories.  They were full of adventure and excitement and I really enjoyed reading them all.  Continuing our Stone Age work, we worked in pairs using the tablets to research the Stone Age village, Skara Brae.  We found out so many interesting facts and information about how the  Stone Age people lived in the Neolithic period.  In science, we investigated permeable and impermeable rocks.  The children were able to predict which rocks they believed would allow water to pass through them using their science learning from the term so far.  We then tested them to see if the predictions were correct.  Happily, we also managed to dodge the rain and play some 3v3 games of netball using the skills learnt so far!

Next week, we start our instruction writing in English using the book 'How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth'.  We will also be learning all about Stonehenge. 

Term 1 Week 3

We continued our work on the Stone Age by looking at Stone Age artefacts this week.  We thought about what they tell us about the Stone Age and also what information we can deduce from them.  There was lots of interesting discussion.  In science, we explored different rocks.  First, we observed them carefully and described them, then we looked in reference books to classify them as igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic before researching what they are used for.  We had our first lesson using the Chrome Books in Computing this week.  We learnt about logging in and why it is so important to keep our passwords safe.  We created freeze frames in groups to plan our own Stone Age stories in English and we are looking forward to writing them next week.  There were some fantastic ideas so I am really looking forward to reading them!

We began the week with a visit from PCSO Haynes. In our session, we focussed on equality and the similarities and differences between us all.  

In English, we continued our work on our class text 'Stone Age Boy'.  We focused on adverbials of time (such as ' as dusk fell) and adverbials of place (such as 'next to the cave.)  We used these to write a letter home as if we were the central character in the text describing our adventures in the Stone Age.  In our maths this week, we practised placing numbers on number lines up to 1000 and, for a challenge, 10,000.  We also practised counting in steps of 50 and 25.  Our science began with an introduction to the three main types of natural rock - igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.  We used the power of chocolate to help us remember how these different rock types were formed!  We continued our history by learning about cave art; thinking about how we can use it to help us find out about the Stone Age and the materials used.  We then worked in pairs to create our own fantastic versions.

Term 1 Week 1

Welcome (back) to Willow Class!   I have been so impressed with how everyone has settled back to school and has been so quick to learn the class routines.  We have jumped straight in to our topic 'The Sensational Stone Age'.  We thought about where the Stone Age fits on a timeline and explored what Stone Age people used to survive against threats.  We also started reading our class book, 'Stone Age Boy'. In PSHE, we thought about our school rules and how important it is for us to work as a team. We created a beautiful class display (see below) to illustrate this.  When the sun shone on Wednesday afternoon, we enjoyed some fun PE games outside.

Next week, we look forward to a visit from PC Ben and our first Forest School session on Monday.