Week beginning 7th December

This week, UKS2 will be learning about....REINDEERS! In addition to this:

Design and Technology - designing, making and evaluating a scaled reindeer shelter 

Maths - reindeer problem solving activities 

PE - orienteering and netball 

Art (Sapphire) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

NB There will not be any new spellings for the remainder of this term. We will be reviewing all spelling rules covered in our remaining sessions. 

Burning in our science lessons - Week beginning 30th November

UKS2 enjoyed interactively exploring changes when materials are burned during their science lessons this week. The following items were (safely) set alight: polyester filling, cardboard, fabric, paper, cotton wool, plastic and foil. After observing the changes, we decided that burning is an irreversible change! We were pleased to see that polyester, which is contained in most soft furnishings, was not very flammable. The plastic, meanwhile, disintegrated in a matter of seconds! 

UKS2 RE - Week beginning 30th November

Year 5 and 6 worked very hard in their RE lessons this week as they explored Shabbat. We first learnt about customs that some Jewish people follow and then started to discuss the benefits and possible problems facing people observing 25 hours of rest in the modern world, such as what this might actually entail. After considering all aspects of Shabbat, we had a 'tug of war' to try and persuade others to side with our opinions. Well done for the excellent reasons put forward, UKS2! 

Week beginning 30th November

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - writing a narrative 

Maths - Year 5 - multiplication; Year 6 - SATS questions practice

PE - orienteering and netball 

Art (Topaz) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

Science - burning

History - methods of protection used during Blitz attacks

RE - exploring Shabbat 

A Virtual Vet Talk for Year 6 - Thursday 26th November

Year 6 had a very enjoyable half hour talk this morning from Melissa, a veterinary surgeon who trained locally at the RVC and now works in research with the Dogs Trust. This was arranged for six schools in our area and was tailored towards Year 6 pupils who might be considering working with animals. Melissa spoke about her career and the importance of caring for dogs. We then had the opportunity to ask questions about the best and worst parts of her job, the most difficult animal she has performed surgery on (it was a lion!) and whether she always knew she eventually wanted to work with dogs. Well done to everyone for participating so brilliantly; it was lovely to hear so many of you are interested in working with animals in the future! Thank you to the Wroxham Partnership and Ms Hart for arranging this virtual event and for inviting us along. 

Year 6 English - Tuesday 24th November

As part of our literacy heritage unit, Year 6 have been inspired by J. R. R Tolkien's The Hobbit. Take a look at these amazing character descriptions of Gollum!

Issy E:

Deep down by the dark water lived old Gollum, whose voice was as loathsome as a stealthy snake. The puerile creature lurked around, inspecting his surroundings. He was a strange, slimy being, deformed in body. The hair rising out of his skin, which appeared deadly cold, rose in long bristles. Bloodthirsty for his next meal, I wondered: would he throttle me? His gaze was spine-chilling; his egotistic heart pulsed as his orb-like eyes stared at me.

Ollie W:

Lurking in the depths of the shadows by the lake, there lived an old creature. He was Gollum: frail and vile. His thin, brittle bones curved round in flexible loops, making him a slight and solitary being. His bulky feet were as solid as metal, usually hanging low over the sides of his weathered wooden boat. The mysterious being’s hands grasped out with abominable, bony fingers attached to its palm – engulfed in the putrid entrails of his nose contents. Gollum’s venomous glare exposed his glinting yet penetrating eyes. His gruff, hissing voice scared the wits out of any mortal, while his ominous presence allowed him to pounce on prey, a leopard-like creature he was.

Jersey:

Deep down in the black, soul crushing water, an unimaginable creature lurked below. The gruesome demon was dressed in ripped sheets of ogre skin and, with overgrown toenails, scratched the path he walked. It hobbled around on its bony legs and skeletal arms, his torch-like eyes leading the way through the utter darkness of the mountain. The Gollum’s feet, that could crush anything in its path, paddled the boat of bones through the water with no ripple in sight. Villagers believed he was a monster. Villagers believed that whoever walked into the cave would never come out. Some said if you become too close to the water’s edge, like a crocodile he would leap, thrashing and splashing, pulling you back down. Down, down, down, into the murky, black, soul crushing water, never to be seen again…

Oliver:

In the very roots of the mountain lurked a shadowy column of despair. Its name? Gollum. Searching, ever searching, for food in its ancient, tiny rowing boat. Rapidly, the creature was plunging its manky hand into the water to grab out a fish and eat it alive. Abruptly, his head intruded my hiding place (a large rock). I thought: would it end my life gruesomely? A pungent smell, a vile noise and a foul figure slowly appeared…

Week beginning 23rd November

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - exploring narrative writing 

Maths - Year 5 - addition and subtraction; Year 6 - Circles 

PE - orienteering and netball 

Art (Ruby) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

PSHE - changing friendships

History - completing a WW2 timeline and exploring events leading up the declaration of war

RE - Moses and how rules can impact upon daily life

UKS2 Making Ice Cream in Science - Week beginning 16th November 

UKS2 have greatly enjoyed their science lessons this week, which culminated in making and eating their own ice cream! We have been learning about reversible and irreversible changes this half term, and have learnt about the processes of melting and burning.

Here is Boris to explain what we did:

Today, we made ice cream by mixing ice and salt. In a separate bag, we mixed cream with sugar and then placed it inside the ice and salt. After shaking this vigorously for ten minutes, the cream turned from a liquid to a solid. We had made ice cream!

Followed by an excellent explanation of the scientific theory from Hannah:

To make ice cream, you have to remove heat energy from the cream. To aid this process, we ensured that all the hot air was squeezed out of the bag before shaking it. Whilst vibrating, the heat travels from the cream, melting the ice. This causes the cream to become a solid and the ice to become a liquid. 

After sampling our creation, we then created a superb line graph to show the changing temperature of a single scoop of Mr Neiman's vanilla ice cream throughout the hour that we were making our own. Well done, UKS2! It was lovely to see you all having so much fun in science! 

Topaz's music lesson watching a virtual concert - Monday 16th November

Although the pandemic resulted in the proposed UKS2 trip to Hatfield House to watch a chamber music concert being cancelled, the talented musicians from the Purcell School did not let us down! On Monday afternoon, we were lucky enough to view the concert virtually, via a YouTube link. We were treated to superb performances of pieces including the Arrival of Sheba by Handel, Pachelbel's Canon, Albinoni's oboe concerto and more modern works by Howard-Skempton. After the concert, we explored the concept of canon in more detail and transferred this to a class performance of Frere Jacques on the glockenspiels, which also contained a ground bass played by the back row. Well done to our budding young conductor and to all of Topaz for an excellent lesson! 

Week beginning 16th November

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - exploring narrative writing 

Maths - Year 5 - mental multiplication strategies; Year 6 - 2D and 3D shapes 

PE - orienteering and netball 

Art (Sapphire) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

Science - burning

PSHE - anti-bullying week 

History - creating a WW2 timeline of events

Music - watching a virtual chamber concert live from Hatfield House and taking part in linked activities 

Remembrance Day in UKS2 - Wednesday 11th November

To mark Remembrance Day, our phase decorated a giant poppy to attach to the railings at the front of school. Using mixed media collage, we each made a small poppy which, when all put together, made a beautiful visual reminder of all lives lost through war. On Wednesday morning, we gathered outside as a school in order to hear the fantastic poem created by our Year 6 Writing Group, who have worked exceptionally hard with Mrs Davies to produce this wonderful piece of writing:

Why do you wail, poppies?

We remember the bang of bombs,

The cries of pain, the fear of uncertainty

Screaming – screaming.

Why do you bow, poppies?

We remember the tut of guns,

The river of blood, the stench of death

Waiting - waiting.

Why do you mourn, poppies?

We remember the ache of despair,

The agony of grief, the weight of loneliness

Screaming - screaming.

Why do you scream, poppies?

We remember the bloodshed tears,

The groan of death, the guilt of sacrifice

Silence – silence.

Why do you hope, poppies?

We remember the pain of loss,

The courage of soldiers, the wish for peace

Yearning - yearning

Why do you droop, poppies?

We remember the smashing of bombs,

Burning clashing

Surging slashing

Thrashing

We remember the aching breaking

Searing slicing

Sacrificing

We remember the war that could have killed us all

We lament and we remember.

Written by Anaya, Ava, Daniel, Elizabeth, Hannah, Ollie, Oliver, Saoirse and Sophie

The two-minute silence was marked by our guest brass player, Ed, playing The Last Post. We all found this to be a very moving tribute. Well done to all of Year 5 and 6, who were extremely respectful throughout.  

NSPCC Virtual Assembly and related activities - Week beginning 9th November

This week, UKS2 watched an online assembly from the NSPCC, who were unable to deliver this in person due to the lockdown. After viewing this, we discussed that we all have the right to speak out and be safe and explored the places, people and things that make us feel this way. Finally, we learnt about the different sources of help available to us should we ever need some support, as found within our chatterboxes! 

Week beginning 9th November

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - writing our news reports 

Maths - Year 5 - mental multiplication strategies; Year 6 - calculating area of shapes 

PE - orienteering and netball 

Art (Topaz) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

Science - reversible and irreversible changes 

PSHE - exploring positive relationships and online NSPCC assembly 

PSHE/History - why we celebrate Remembrance Day and making a collaborative poppy art installation 

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths morning in UKS2 - Thursday 5th November

The Year 6 girls were invited to take part in an online virtual event celebrating Women In STEAM this morning. We began by watching various inspirational women discuss their careers such as website design, construction, engineering and fire fighting. Meanwhile, the Year 6 boys (and Sapphire Year 5s) joined forces to create an A-Z of STEAM careers and then had great fun building the tallest possible tower using only ten marshmallows and dried pasta. After break, the Year 6 boys did a maths quiz with Mr Parkes, whilst the girls completed the activities that the boys had done earlier on. We had a super morning exploring STEAM careers and using some of the skills that we would need within our possible future industries! Here are a few comments from the girls:

'STEM activities are important in school because they help me realise I can achieve whatever I put my mind to. A career in STEM I might consider is becoming a medical writer.' - Isla

'I enjoy STEM activities which build new relationships and help us work as a team. I am considering becoming a vet, as Millie's visit made me realise I have a passion for this.' - Livvy

'This morning has made me consider becoming a physiotherapist.' - Alice

'I enjoyed seeing different job possibilities and learning the ins and outs of these careers. I am considering becoming a doctor (GP) so will need to study medicine at university.' - Hannah 

Topaz helping to train a guide dog - Wednesday 4th November

Mrs Thomas, our school secretary, and her husband are 'puppy walkers' for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Their latest puppy, Millie, was recently chosen as a suitable candidate for being a 'buddy dog', which is a guide dog for a young person. As part of her assessment process, Millie needed to come into a classroom for the afternoon and be filmed both within a lesson and when interacting with a group of children. Miss Kropman and Topaz were more than happy to help with this request and welcomed Millie into class on Tuesday! We found it quite difficult not to stroke her at first, but we had been specifically asked to ignore her during the lesson, as she will need to lie by her owner's feet for lessons in a future school setting. A group of us were then asked to sit in a group situation and involve Millie, which was great fun! I am pleased to announce that, as a result of the film evidence obtained, Millie has passed her assessment and will definitely become a buddy dog! Miss Kropman is very proud that Topaz have played a small part in this and Mr and Mrs Thomas have thanked us for our support. 

Week beginning 2nd November

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - bias and the language of uncertainty within news reports 

Maths - percentages 

History - a detailed exploration of the start of WW2 

PE - orienteering and netball 

Art (Ruby) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

Science - exploring which factors affect the rate of dissolving 

Music - improvisation around C Jam Blues

Computing - Purple Mash

Black History Month creativity - Friday 23rd October

UKS2 spent time this morning learning about iconic black role models. Ruby focused on Muhammad Ali and Sapphire learnt about Barack Obama, whilst Topaz explored the life of Nelson Mandela. As class collaborations, we then used a split picture of each of these to create art inspired by the work of Chuck Close. These are now proudly displayed in the UKS2 corridor for all to see!

Thank you to the children for an excellent half term. We hope you have a lovely break and look forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 2nd November. 

Black History Month - Tuesday 20th October

Our phase spent this afternoon learning about Martin Luther King as part of our celebration of Black History Month. We began the lesson by recapping the segregation and racial discrimination which existed in America in the 1960s, before leaning about Martin Luther King's life. We listened to his highly inspirational 'I Have A Dream' speech, and then used ideas from this to create our own, modern-day speeches. As you can see below, these were presented with great passion, conviction and maturity. Well done, UKS2! 

Geography in Topaz - Monday 19th October

For homework this half term, many UKS2 children wrote some questions for Milo, Miss Kropman's cousin's 10 year old son who lives in New York City. With his school still being closed due to the pandemic, Milo took on this challenge to the highest possible level and produced a slide show of information, videos and photographs. We were SO impressed with this and learnt a great deal, which you can see from our double-page spreads pictured below! 

Week beginning 19th October

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - an exciting hook for our newspaper reports, direct and reported speech 

Maths - adding and subtracting fractions

Geography - a detailed study of life in North America

PE - fitness and tag rugby, plus cross-country on Wednesday! 

Art (Sapphire) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

PSHE - focus on Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela as part of our celebration of Black History Month 

UKS2 Archery sessions with the Welwyn and Hatfield Schools' Sports Partnership - Monday 19th October

Ruby, Sapphire and Topaz classes had a wonderful afternoon of archery on Monday, led by Mr Williams from the Welwyn and Hatfield Schools' Sports Partnership. Each class got the opportunity to learn some archery skills before competing against each other, and everyone had great fun trying to hit the target 10! Congratulations to the Year 6 winners (pictured at the end) who will virtually compete against six other schools across the district after half term. 

Week beginning 12th October

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - exploring features of journalistic writing

Maths - simplifying and comparing fractions

PE - fitness and tag rugby, plus archery on Monday! 

Art (Topaz) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

RE - Jewish food laws

Science - reversible and irreversible changes 

PSHE - circle time

Celebrating Mental Health Awareness in UKS2 with Hello Yellow Day - Friday 9th October

UKS2 have had a lovely day celebrating our mental well-being today. We began the day by looking at why it is important to have good mental health, and also exploring the excellent service that Youth Minds provides to young people who are struggling with their feelings of anxiety or depression. Following this, we were set the 'Hello Yellow' challenge - can we say something kind to a teacher, wave and smile at someone, and say something to make a friend laugh? We also set our own challenges! Each class then designed their own Mental Health superhero, such as the World's Best Friend and You Are Not Alone Champion. We later spent time listing things that make us unique and also writing compliments for each other, with the aim of promoting our own positivity. Well done, UKS2. You have made your teachers, and yourselves, smile a great deal today! 

Week beginning 5th October

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - topic learning to inform writing our diary entries

Maths - working backwards, arithmetic 

Geography - exploring different time zones 

PE - fitness and tag rugby

Art (Ruby) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

Music - exploring the pentatonic scale 

PSHE - well-being survey

House Captain Elections - Thursday 1st October

Congratulations to our new Year 6 house captains for 2020/21! All of the candidates produced polished, professional and inspirational speeches, reflected in how close the final votes were. Well done to the following children. We know you will perform your roles brilliantly: 

Air - Keval and Sienna

Earth - Hugh and Issy E

Fire - Oliver A and Jersey

Water - Henry and Izzy D

Geography learning in UKS2 - week beginning 28th September

Ruby, Sapphire and Topaz have all been geography whizzes this week, learning about the migration of swallows. We began our lessons by watching a film about a swallow's journey, before going onto the playground to re-enact this flight! Following this, we undertook some map work and plotted a swallow's migration route from London to Cape Town, South Africa. In a seamless link to our English topic, we then all created diary entries to describe the journey, highlighting key landmarks that would have been observed from the sky. As a final challenge, we used a scaled atlas to work out the distance that the swallow might have flown. Well done, UKS2 - you impressed your teachers greatly this week!  

Week beginning 28th September

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - looking at a range of punctuation features and planning a diary entry

Maths - short and long division

Geography/Computing - completing our lines of latitude and longitude learning, learning about the migration of birds 

PE - fitness and tag rugby

Art (Sapphire) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

Science - a practical carousel of learning about how to separate materials 

PSHE - exploring the importance of respecting others 

An excellent week of English with Miss Kropman's Topaz group - Friday 25th September

We have had a great week of learning about diary entries in our English lessons, beginning with analysing diary features before turning our attention towards two excellent sources of inpiration - Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic. After reading about when conflict first hit the streets of Sarajevo in 1991, Topaz created some fantastic vlogs in order to model personal pronouns and adopt an individual viewpoint in a style akin to Zlata's. Later in the week, we turned our attention towards Anne Frank's diary, studying her use of colloquial language and chronological sharing of events. Today (Friday) we began our lesson by playing Top Trumps! We then created Top Trumps cards for Anne and Zlata, focusing on chosen criteria and using evidence from the text to justify our scores. Miss Kropman has been very impressed by the excellent work produced this week! 

Week beginning 21st September

This week, UKS2 will be learning about:

English - features of a diary entry, assessing the validity of personal opinions

Maths - factors and multiples, short multiplication

PSHE - reviewing our learning powers 

Music - exploring WW2 swing music 

PE - fitness and tag rugby

Art (Topaz) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

French (Ruby and Sapphire) - describing the parts of the body 

RE - exploring ideas about forgiveness, linked to Yom Kippur 

Science - a practical introduction to dissolving

Miss Kropman's Topaz English group - Thursday 17th September

The children have been working exceptionally hard during their English lessons this week to create poetry based upon figurative language. They have compared an object from nature to an animal using similes, metaphors and personification, in addition to the senses, to create effective descriptions. We hope you enjoy these awesome examples!

RE in Topaz - Tuesday 15th September

Topaz were absolute superstars in their first RE lesson of the year! We began the session by exploring reasons why we learn RE in school and began to argue reasons for and against ranking these in order of importance within a Diamond 9. These are the reasons suggested by Miss Kropman.

The most popular amongst Topaz class members was that 'we need to be able to understand everyone', showing a great recognition of diversity, but we were all very clear that there were no right or wrong answers involved in ordering these ideas! 

Following this, we were introduced to our focus religion for the year, which is Judaism. We learnt that this is the oldest of the main world faiths and discussed anything we already knew and what we would like to find out. Next, Miss Kropman taught us about how many Jewish people will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah (New Year) at the weekend, as this festival will last from sunset on Friday 18th - sunset on Sunday 20th September. 

In order to wish ourselves a sweet and happy year ahead, we ended the lesson by sampling apples dipped in honey, which is a customary treat for Jewish people at this time of year! 

Shanah Tovah to all our families who are celebrating this weekend. 

Week beginning 14th September

This week, UKS2 are learning about:

English - writing a poem using similes, metaphors and personification

Maths - place value and the number system

PSHE - creating our own 'wise words'

Geography - atlas investigation quiz

PE - fitness and tag rugby

Art (Ruby) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

French (Sapphire and Topaz) - describing the parts of the body 

RE - exploring why we learn RE and an introduction to Judaism, including learning about Rosh Hashanah. 

Science - a practical introduction to dissolving

Our first full week back at school!

What a busy first full week we have had in UKS2! Despite many things being different in school at the moment, all of the children have adapted brilliantly and have been a joy to teach. We have been keeping our minds and bodies healthy by focusing heavily on PSHE and PE this week. Please see below pictures of the lovely Zones of Regulations work being completed in Topaz, helping us to regulate our feelings, and of Ruby and Sapphire running their daily mile! 

Week beginning 7th September

This week, UKS2 have been learning about:

English - figurative language within poetry

Maths - place value and the number system

PSHE - Zones of Regulation and focusing on the wise sayings contained within 'The Mole, The Boy, The Fox, And The Horse'. 

Geography - 'Atlas of Adventures' exploration and labelling a world map with continents and oceans

PE - fitness and tag rugby

Art (Sapphire) - creating a collage for a WW2 scene

French (Ruby and Topaz) - learning the names for parts of the body 

Music - appraising WW2 songs and learning 'Hey Mr. Miller'

Computing - Purple Mash