Stretham Community Primary School
Welcome
Kestrel Class
Week Beginning 15/04/24
This week, the children came back to school with fabulous attitudes and got really stuck in with their learning. They thoroughly enjoyed our work on perimeter and area in maths, where we first learnt the basic concepts, before putting them to practice by measuring and calculating the area and perimeter of object surfaces in our room. In science, we started our new unit on Living Things and their Habitat, exploring different types of flower reproduction. We took the learning outside and aimed to find the anthers and stigma of a variety of flowers. In English, we completed our write-up of our elephants topic, with the children independently using semicolons wonderfully. We continued with the same humanities topics as before half term and started to create a remix of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' in music.
Have a lovely weekend!
Week Beginning 18/03/24
Well done for an another fabulous week, Kestrels! I was wowed with the children's maths this week, picking up skills in converting percentages to decimals and fractions. This also forms the basis of this week's homework task. In English, we wrote diary entries from the viewpoint of inanimate objects, trying to capture different perspectives and explore emotions in different situations. These came out wonderfully. In history and geography, we continued our topics of Norse culture and megacities, before learning the song 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' in music, in preparation of creating remixes of it next week. In art, we used collagraphy to print backgrounds for our space themed art, which was a lot of messy fun and sets us up brilliantly to finish our pieces next week. We were very lucky to have a visit from Jack Stinton this week, who ran a brilliant dance workshop that got all the children engaged and enjoying it.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mr Coackley
Week Beginning 11/03/24
This week was British Science Week and we had a large focus on it in school. In English, we conducted a parachute experiment, before writing it up fully as a scientific report. The children learned skills in how to write hypotheses, methods and conclusions. We also took part in a whole school pendulum challenge, where the children experimented by changing certain aspects of the pendulum in an effort to make it swing for exactly 30 seconds. In maths, we continued our unit on fractions and decimals, exploring place value charts, partitioning and rounding decimals. We continued our topics in history, geography and RWV, with the children particularly enjoying the sagas of Erik the Red and Leif Erikson. We created printing blocks in art and had a go at remixing Beethoven's Ode to Joy in Songmaker in music.
Well done for another lovely week and have a brilliant weekend!
Week Beginning 04/03/24
Kestrel class did brilliantly in their learning this week. In a week spent celebrating World Book Day, we focused a lot on reading, reading texts about circuses, our book 'Wonderscape', and a variety of animals, including of course, kestrels. In English, we made a class book about kestrels, in which, the children could write a piece of work of their choice. Some chose diary entries, others chose stories, one group chose a poem and another group created a labelled diagram of the bird's physical features. In maths, we started to explore the relationship between fractions and decimals, finding equivalency for tenths, hundredths and thousandths. We continued our topics in history, geography and RWV. The children loved our music lesson, during which we used Chrome Songmaker to create our own music. Have a lovely weekend!
Week Beginning 26/02/24
Kestrels did brilliantly in their first week back, challenging themselves in all aspects of their work. We finished our unit on fractions this week, exploring how to find a fraction of an amount and then how to find the whole if we are presented with a fraction of an amount. Whilst this is one of the most challenging topics of Year 5, the children were incredibly resilient and all of them made good strides with it. In English, we focused on diary entries, analysing a range of texts and then planning and writing a short entry of our own, based off a picture stimulus. We finished our Migration and Lady of the Mercians topics in geography and history respectively, and moved onto new topics of North and South America and Norse Culture. In music, we explored looping beats and in art we experimented with creating the same piece of artwork using 4 different materials.
Well done and have a lovely weekend!
Week Beginning 12/02/24
Well to all the children for keeping up their amazing work all the way to the end of the half-term, absolutely smashing this final week! Their finished reports on Vikings were truly brilliant and will be displayed in the classroom as a testament to their hard work. In maths, they have multiplied fractions and found fractions of an amount, both very tricky skills that the children have persevered through and achieved. We continued our topics in geography, history and RWV and explored space in art. In PE, we finished our gymnastics unit by creating sequences and performing on the equipment.
Have a lovely half-term!
Week Beginning 05/02/24
Kestrel Class participated in their learning brilliantly this week! In English, we researched Vikings and started to write an report on them, which we will finish and present next week. In maths, the children have worked very hard on learning to multiply 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers, which forms a part of the homework alongside bus stop division questions. We continued our topics in history, geography and RWV. In music, we explored composing purely vocal music in attempt to represent abstract art. In science, we created presentations and performed them in front of the class on why the Earth has day and night. In computing, the children were working with Crumble kits.
Have a lovely weekend!
Week Beginning 29/01/24
This week, Kestrel Class has done more fabulous learning! We have completed a 'dreamy' free write in English, exploring an image containing dream jars. In maths, we have been working on subtracting fractions. In science, we made some brilliant orbit models for the sun, moon and earth (see pics).We continued our topics of Vikings and migration in history and geography respectively. We made graphic scores in music to show Sia's Titanium, which turned out brilliantly! Finally, we attempted forwards rolls during PE, which the children greatly enjoyed.
Well done for another brilliant week!
Week Beginning 22/01/24
Kestrels have been brilliant this week, completing some wonderful pieces of work, having the opportunity to display their work in the school art gallery and some children representing the school in a local dodgeball tournament. We were writing our Frida Kahlo biographies in English this week, finishing a unit of work that the children that the children greatly enjoyed. We also presented our Kahlo inspired pieces of artwork in the Stretham art exhibition 'A Collage of Colour', with many parents coming along and being wowed by what they saw! We were adding and subtracting fractions in maths, an studied the differences between heliocentric and geocentric theories of how the earth and sun move, concluding that the heliocentric theory is the correct one. We continued our topics of Vikings and Migration in geography and history respectively. In PE we were working on more partner balances, but this time taking our work onto the apparatus. Also sport related, some of our Year 5 children combined with some of the Year 6 children brilliantly to compete for the school in a local dodgeball tournament, in which they competed valiantly and ended up with 9 won games. Well done to all the children for another fabulous week and I hope that you all have lovely weekends!
Week Beginning 08/01/24
Kestrel Class have made a fabulous start back to the term after the Christmas Holidays, basing a large portion of their learning on the artist Frida Kahlo. We researched her life in English, preparing to write a biography of her next week, as well as starting some Frida Kahlo inspired art for the Babylon Gallery. In reading this week, our topic was beetles, studying a text about dung beetles, an extract from the book 'Beetle Boy' and the lyrics to the song 'Eleanor Rigby' by The Beatles. We explored methods to convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions in maths and started a new gymnastics unit in PE. We starting new topics of Lady of the Mercians, Migration and Living Muslim Traditions in history, geography and RWV respectively. In science, our new topic is Earth and Space, with our first lesson focusing on the evidence for how we know the earth is spherical.
Home Learning 08/01/24
Week Beginning 11/12/23
Kestrel Class had a wonderful penultimate week, cramming in lots of learning before the Christmas break. Our English unit was a tribute to the late Benjamin Zephaniah, studying his poem 'Talking Turkeys' before writing our own versions focusing on saving the oceans. Our geography topic this week linked well to this, covering the impact that humans are having on oceans. In maths, the children started a unit on fractions, learning how to recognise and make equivalent fractions, a vital skill for Year 5/6. In history, the children were captivated by Sutton Hoo and the wonderful artefacts found and the story of the dig there. We have been practising our Christmas song, 'Christmas in any Language', as much as possible this week, preparing for the performance in the Church on Tuesday. Well done to Kestrel Class for another amazing week and I hope you all have lovely, restful weekends before a final push next week!
Week Beginning 04/12/2023
This week was full of festive fun for Kestrel Class, culminating in an amazing pantomime trip and Christmas jumper day. In English this week, we have revisited our work on modal verbs, before completing a Christmas themed free write with a stimulus of a decorated tree. In maths, we continued our work on multiplication, multiplying 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers, before moving onto problem solving skills. We studied the next lessons of our Anglo-Saxons and Oceans in history and geography respectively. On Thursday, we went to the Cambridge Arts Theatre for their pantomime version of 'Mother Goose'. The children were impeccably behaved and represented the school and the village wonderfully. Then, on Friday morning, the children took part in the Santa dash at school, having a competition to transport presents across the playground as fast as they could.
Well done everyone for a fabulous week!
Week Beginning 27/11/23
This week, Kestrel class wrote amazing stories about picture from the book, 'The Mysteries of Harris Burdick'. The image they wrote about was called 'Uninvited Guests' and children came up with a whole range of stories, including Sherlock Holmes style detective stories, phantasmal stories and stories about naughty elves. In maths, we focused on short multiplication and division. We continued our Oceans and Anglo-Saxon topics in geography and history respectively, before putting everything together in art and finishing our wonderful 'Things important to me' pieces. We had the third lesson of our 'Dance by Chance' unit in PE, which the children greatly enjoyed. Well done to all the children for another lovely week.
Week Beginning 20/11/23
This week was topped off wonderfully with Kestrel's class assembly, wowing the parents with our learning about the Early Islamic Civilisation and 1001 Arabian Nights. In English, we added the finishing touches to our Who Let the Gods Out, creating some amazing final pieces! In maths, we explored square numbers, prime numbers and cube numbers. In history, we continued our topic of the Anglo-Saxons, looking at how the Jute tribe of Kent was connected to the Franks, before focusing on the links between oceans and climate in geography. We continued our 'What's important to me?' poem art, creating the backgrounds to our work. In music, we continued from last week, playing the 12 bar blues through their entirety, which turned out brilliantly. Have a lovely weekend!
Week Beginning 13/11/23
Kestrel Class continued to soar this week, producing some wonderful work. We continued our topic of newspapers in English, based off part of our class story, Who Let the Gods Out. In maths, we explored multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000, learning strategies to improve speed and accuracy in this process. We looked at ocean trade in geography and how the Angles, Saxons and Jutes migrated to England. We completed our second week of 'Dance by Chance' in PE, before starting a piece of art about things important to us in art. We used the chords learnt last week in music to start to learn to play the 12 bars blues. Well done everyone!
Week Beginning 06/11/23
Well done to Kestrel Class for another lovely week! In English, we finished our unit on relative clauses, before starting a new topic on newspaper writing. In maths, we continued to focus on common multiples and factors, before moving on to study prime numbers. In geography and history, we have continued our topics of oceans and the Anglo-Saxons respectively. We played blues chords in music, drew poem portraits in art and started our dance unit in PE. Have a lovely weekend!
Week Beginning 30/10/23
Kestrel Class came back with a bang after half-term, brilliantly tackling a week of challenging learning. Our focus in English this week was relative clauses, but we also found time to complete a spooky, Halloween themed free write based off a picture stimulus. In maths, we investigated multiples and factors, learning to how to find common multiples and factors across two numbers. We started new topics of oceans and the Anglo-Saxons in geography and history respectively, before embarking on a blues adventure in music. The children explored the life-cycle of a human during science and gender-stereotyping in computing. Finally, to top the week off, some of our children were part of the Stretham tag rugby team that beat out 7 other schools to win the silver league at the East Cambridgeshire tag rugby tournament.
Well done all!
Week Beginning 09/10/23
This week, Kestrel Class focused greatly on the Islamic Golden Age, studying 1001 Arabian Nights in English. The children broke down the story of The Poor Man's Dream, acted it out to get to know it better and then wrote their own versions of the story. Then, at the end of the week, the children were each given a new story to read in groups with the aim of writing these themselves next week, creating a class version of 1001 Arabian nights. In maths, we finished our addition and subtraction unit, preparing for our new multiplication and division unit that we will start next week. We continued our topics of California, Early Islamic Civilisation and Baghdad in geography, RWV and history respectively. In art, the children started some lovely geometric patterns inspired by Middle Eastern architecture. Children completed a fun hula hooping challenge in PE, as well as exploring drumming rhythms in music. Well done Kestrels!
Week Beginning 02/10/23
Kestrels had a wonderful week of learning, highlights including designing our Christmas cards, conducting crazy science experiments and learning to drum to African rhythms. In English, we designed our own mythical creatures and wrote instructions for how to take care of them. In maths, we continued our work on addition and subtraction, focusing on multi-step reasoning problems and inverse operations. In art, we created some brilliant, abstract Christmas card designs using a centre piece of Christmas trees. In science, we conducted two fun experiments to investigate irreversible changes. The first experiment we carried out was combining warm milk and vinegar to create casein plastic. The children moulded this plastic into shapes and will hopefully be able to bring home their creations when fully set next week. The second experiment we conducted was mixing vinegar with bicarbonate of soda to create enough gas to blow up a balloon. Well done for a brilliant week of learning!
Week Beginning 25/09/23
Kestrel Class have soared high this week, producing some lovely work and engaging brilliantly with all the learning. In English, we finished our narratives based upon the animated film, ‘The Lighthouse’. The children created some incredible stories at a very strong level, impressing us all. In maths, we started our addition and subtraction topic, practising our column addition and subtraction skills. In RWV, geography and history, we studied Ibrahim’s call, Almond farming in California and the construction of Baghdad respectively. We learnt all about breathing during our swim sessions. The highlight of the week was the children’s fabulous performance for Harvest Assembly, blowing the audience away with their song. Well done!
Week Beginning 18/09/23
Sorry the lack of updates here last week. This week in Kestrel Class, we have done a lovely array of activities. In English, we finished our persuasive pieces of writing from last week, advocating for an extra break time, before moving onto writing stories based off of the animation, 'The Lighthouse'. Our primary focus in maths was rounding, whilst we observed how the temperature of solvents can affect solubility in science. In geography, the children explored why California is running our of water and in RWV, the children learnt about Nuh's ark. The children continued the tag rugby unit in PE, practised breathing in swimming, choreographed their Harvest Assembly performance and dived into the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser in art. Well done for another brilliant week and have a restful weekend!
Week Beginning 04-09-23
Well done to Kestrel Class for a wonderful first week back in school. They have all coped with the transition to Year 5 and the accompanying expectations brilliantly and we are very proud of all of them. This week, we have been exploring place value in our maths topic, as well as some times tables refresher games outside. In English, the children have written stories about an event that they did in their summer holidays but with a crazy twist. For history, geography and religion and worldviews, the children studied topics of The Ancient City of Baghdad, Water and Islam respectively. We sang a traditional South African song in our music lesson, before developing our observational drawing skills in art. Finally, in science, we explored properties of materials.
Well done again for a fabulous first week!
Video message from Mr Sweeney.MOV
