Stretham Community Primary School
Welcome
Kestrel Class 2021
Week beginning 04/07/22
This has been a very busy week for Kestrel class, starting with fabulous performances in the production and culminating with the Year 6 leavers' trip to GoApe! We are very proud of all of our children for their performances! There have been so many performers that have grown in confidence across both year groups and when the time came, every child stepped up their game and delivered amazing performances. Well done to you all! Year 6 enjoyed their trip to GoApe on Friday, tackling the high ropes course in the morning before playing games in the afternoon. We had a wonderful day! Around these amazing activities, we continued our with our English and maths units, learnt about parabolic curves and explored the effects of underwater volcanoes.
Week beginning 27/06/22
Kestrel Class have been fabulous this week, making their final preparations for the production! They have been superb in all the rehearsals, also having many other fun sessions alongside these. One of the highlights of the week was the sponsored walk, where every member of Year 5 and 6 managed the whole route and contributed to raising an amazing amount for the school. They all had fun and greatly enjoyed their biscuits! Kestrel Class also played rounders in PE, continued their Blue Umbrella piece of work in English, worked on their computing projects and enjoyed French. Well done to all of the children for their efforts this week with the production, we cannot wait to see them perform next week!
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Week beginning 09/05/22
After a week full of emotions, we could not be prouder of our Year 6 children, who completed their SATs this week. They have put so much effort in over the last few weeks and didn't relent this week, being absolute superstars! You all deserve a lovely rest over the weekend! We are also proud of our Year 5 children who stepped up wonderfully to fill the Year 6 duties, never complaining and taking it all in their stride. Well done to all of you! On Friday, in a celebration of SATs being complete, Year 6 had a morning of den building, before all children had a Forest School session with smores in the afternoon!
Week beginning 02/05/2022
Year 5 and 6 have been brilliant amongst the hustle and bustle of this week’s learning.
Some highlights from our learning have included:
- Continuing our learning about Living Things and their Habitats;
- Working hard to review our arithmetic and reasoning skills (Year 6) and using fractions to solve problems (Year 5);
- Immersing ourselves in the events surrounding Moses’ early life in RE;
- Completing a piece of writing called ‘Under the Bed’ to make use of our developing SPaG skills (Year 5);
- Reviewing our reading comprehension skills and SPaG knowledge in preparation for SATs week (Year 6);
- Learning about the roles of Athens, Sparta and Corinth in the Peloponnesian Wars;
- Finding out about the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Music and learning the moves to ‘Born to Hand Jive’ a classic Rock ‘n’ Roll track in PE
- Discovering what happens when a volcano erupts.
Week beginning 25/4/22
Although this has been a shorter week than usual, Kestrel class have still reached their full potential, completing learning including:
- Exploring the characters and story within the opening of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet;
- Year 6 investing valuable time refreshing their key GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) skills as well as their reading comprehension skills whilst Year 5 have been learning some new grammar and punctuation features to apply in their writing;
- Year 5 going on a scientific fact hunt to find out more about the functions of parts of flowering plants and the role of the wind and insects in pollination;
- Finding out about the what's inside the planet on which we live in Geography where we identified the 4 key layers within planet Earth;
- Year 6 reviewing various Maths skills (including shape, measurement, angles, area and perimeter) and even trying an arithmetic paper in the hall setting to get a feel for it/ Year 5 have been securing their knowledge of fractions of amounts;
- Rehearsing the skills of relay races in PE
- and
- Learning about the significance of the story of Joseph and his coat of many colours to Jewish people
Week Beginning 18/04/22
Kestrel class have swooped into the new term fabulously, picking up right where they left off! We have started a Romeo and Juliet topic in English, exploring some of the main characters as a base to continue from next week. Year 5 has been multiplying fractions in maths, whilst Year 6 have started looking at algebra in addition to doing revision work. We have completed our Persia and Greece, Agriculture and Abraham, Isaac and Joseph topics in history, geography and RE respectively. Next week, we will start topics of Ancient Greece, volcanoes and Joseph, Moses and the Exodus. In PE we completed a golden mile. We continued our topics in science, computing and French. Well done to all the children for returning so brilliantly!
Week Beginning Monday 28th March
Kestrel class have soared high this week, earning a deserved rest for Easter. Some activities completed this week include:
- Consolidated our knowledge of ancient Greek gods and goddesses by researching and creating an eye-catching double-page spread non-chronological report on the topic;
- Learnt about the Greek language and acted out a phase of Homer’s well-known story - The Iliad;
- Tested our design skills by creating a coat of arms inspired by our personal preferences;
- Discussed agriculture and the changing landscape, as well as how food affects farming;
- Tightened up our knowledge of Punctuation and Grammar terminology through a series of mini-SPaG challenges;
- Used two step rules to solve reasoning problems and have begun to form expressions in algebra (Year 6), as well as test our protractor skills in a very ‘hands on’ way. Year 5 have been accurately subtracting fractions (Year 5).
- Developed our classification skills to group animals (Year 6) and reviewed the main parts of a flower (Year 5);
- Enjoyed a Year 5/6 challenge game of Rounders – the first of the year;
and
- Had a fabulous time hunting for Easter eggs.
🐇🎉We wish you all a happy and healthy Easter holiday. 🎉🐇
Week Beginning Monday 21st March
We started this week in Kestrel class by:
- Reviewing our knowledge of ancient Greek gods and goddesses;
- Completing the intricate artwork for our Mother’s Day cards;
- Finalising our vocal compositions using graphic scores and performing to our peers;
- Taking part in a SPaG race to help practise our Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar skills;
- Finding a one and two step rule in algebra (Year 6) and adding mixed numbers (Year 5).
Year 5 embarked on their exciting residential to Norfolk on Wednesday whilst Year 6 stayed at school to:
- Enjoy an afternoon-long Computing project;
- Craft paragraphs for the Climax, Falling Action and Resolution in a narrative based on the short film ‘The Lighthouse’;
- Complete some SATs review activities;
- Use our classification skills to group animals in the context of ‘The World’s Best (and most organized) Zoo;
and
- Have a fabulous time at Forest School to end the week.
Kestrels had another incredible week, culminating in their class treat on Friday! Children have been writing instructions on how to care for mythical creatures in English, and continuing their topics from last week in maths. We have been learning how to use poses in dance, how to do water colour bases in art, and all about the Greeks in our history topic. Science week formed a large part of our week also, with the children watching a live lesson on how agriculture is reducing its carbon footprint, followed by a lesson on where their food comes from.
Week beginning 7/03/22
Kestrel class have kept on flying though another busy week, completing some incredible pieces of work! In English we finished our persuasive holiday leaflets and booklets, before creating instruction of how to make wacky but scrumptious pancakes. We also completed an outdoor SPaG race at the start of the week! Year 6 have focused in on percentages in their maths, whereas year 5s have been further pushing themselves with fractions. We continued our agriculture topic in geography, Greece and Persia topic in history, and started a new unit of work on Judaism in RE.
Week Beginning 28/1/22
Kestrels have had a fabulous week, with lots of focus on World book day and reading. We read a new story as a class everyday, and even shared our own favourite stories in a book cafe event on Thursday. Other things we have done include:
- Begun learning about the growing kingdom of Persia under the rule of King Cyrus in History;
- Taken part in the House Pancake Race on Shrove Tuesday;
- Developed our persuasive language structures and vocabulary choices to engage the audience for our travel brochures;
- Concluded our investigation into the impact of water resistance on variously shaped objects (Year 5) in Science;
- Started to learn about the different forms of agriculture in Geography;
- Listened to authors and illustrators including Cressida Cowell, Humza Arshad, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Maisie Chan live at the Cambridge Theatre to launch World Book Day;
- Learnt how to convert fractions to decimals and their link to percentages (Year 6) and compared/ ordered fractions (Year 5);
- Concluded our teaching about the Hindu faith, with a focus on the specific festivities for deities like Parvarti, Ganesha, etc, in RE;
and
- Developed our understanding of dynamics in our new dance unit – ‘Dance by Chance’;
Week beginning 21/02/2022
Welcome back to the new half term. In Kestrel Class, we have leapt in by:
- Consolidating our knowledge of the Indus Valley civilisation and trying to solve the remaining puzzles they left us;
- Using our powers of persuasion to develop powerful vocabulary for some persuasive travel destination brochures;
- Investigating the impact of water resistance on variously shaped objects (Year 5) and further consolidating adaptation and evolution (Year 6) in Science;
- Drawing together our geography knowledge of settlements;
- Performing and evaluating our vocal compositions based on a visual stimulus;
- Deepening our understanding of calculating with decimals and their link to percentages (Year 6) and manipulating Fractions (Year 5);
- Merging our learning of the origin story of the Hindu god, Ganesha, with the role of Shiva in beginnings and endings for Hindus, in RE;
- Beginning our new dance unit – ‘Dance by Chance’;
and
- Making time to celebrate the palindromic date – 22/02/2022 – on a very special ‘Twos-day’ at exactly 2:22pm
Week beginning 7/02/22
In the final week before half term, Kestrel class gave some of their best effort yet! We used the climbing apparatus in PE this week, allowing the children to create their most spectacular gymnastics routines yet. We then continued our topics in history, geography and RE, before looking at fossils (Y6) and gravity and parachutes (Y5) in science. Whilst English was mostly spent completing reading assessments this week, the children all performed amazingly and then had fun creating a story in 'Free write Friday'. We hope you all have a wonderful half term and a well deserved rest!
Week beginning 31/01/2022
Kestrel class explored many different topics this week, from finishing fairy tale based newspapers to creating intricate clay tablets. In maths, Year 6 was studying position and direction in the four quadrants, whilst year 5s finished their division topic before doing a times tables lesson on Friday. We finished our newspaper topic in English, with the class splitting into 5 small groups that each studied a different fairy tale. After analysing the story, we planned out how we could adapt this into a newspaper format, breaking the story into its key sections, writing an orienting paragraph and the main events. In history, we have been learning about some of the beautiful things that the Indus Valley people made such as seals, pots and jewellery. Seals were made by carving a design into a piece of stone. The carving was then pressed into a piece of wet clay to make a square. Once the clay dried, the seal became a solid little tag that could be attached to things. We made our own seals by making a design into a square of clay. Our designs were of animals, real or imaginary, then some of us chose to make symbols and patterns to go with them. We used apparatus in PE to practise our movements and balances and continued our topics in RE, geography, French and music.
Week beginning 24/01/22
Kestrels continued to flourish this week. In English we finished our fabulous narrative pieces based off the short video Lune et l'autre and then proceeded to start a newspaper topic based on fairy tales. In maths, we improved our reasoning skills when working with fractions, including the Four Operations Rules (Year 6) and division skills when using various methods (Year 5). In music we have learnt about 'Synesthesia' - people who see colours/ shapes/ images when they hear music – and completed our own synesthesia experiments using various pieces of classical music. The Year 6s studied adaptation and how species have changed to better survive in their environment, whilst the Year 5s were conducting experiments with force meters. Meanwhile, in history and geography we continued with our Indus Valley and Cities topics respectively.
Week beginning 10/01/22
Kestrel Class performed incredibly during their first full week back in school. They have produced very high quality biographies in English, created amazing art projects for the showcase, and started new topics in history, geography and RE with enthusiasm. In maths, Year 5 have finished their perimeter and area topic, moving onto to multiplication, whilst Year 6 have been adding mixed numbers and fractions. Year 5 have started their new topic, 'Forces', in science, whilst year 6 have started looking evolution. Well done for all the effort, we are all incredibly proud with the determination the children have shown!
Week beginning Monday 3rd January 2022
All of our kestrels came with amazing desire to learn as we welcomed them back to school life this week. Refreshed after a couple of weeks off, they got their heads down and aced everything thrown at them! In English we started a biography unit, specifically looking at the lives of Pablo Picasso (Year 5) and Salvador Dali (Year 6), conducting research into their history and achievements. We also used these 2 artists as inspiration for our art lesson this week, with Year 6s creating Dali inspired initial sketches for a upcoming clay project, and Year 5 creating their own Picasso inspired cubist portraits, ready for their big project next week! We started a new finance topic in PSHE and continued where we left off in science and maths. Well done to all kestrels!
Week beginning 6th December 2021
In our final week before the Christmas holidays, Kestrel class did not let up the pace, finishing all of our learning fantastically. In English, we have been creating a narrative or series of diary entries based on a short film, trying to capture the voice and emotions of the characters. In maths, Year 5 have continued their work in perimeter, whilst Year 6 have been finding equivalent fractions, placing fractions on a number line and ordering by their denominators. The children have also completed their Rangoli lanterns in art, finished mountains, cradles of civilisation and Hindu stories topics in geography, history and RE respectively, before ending the week on a variety of Christmas themed activities.
Merry Christmas from Mr Coackley, Mrs Hawes, Ms Taylor and Mrs Smith!
Week beginning Monday 6th November
This week Year 5 and 6 have been furthering their learning through a variety of fun activities. Things we have done this week include:
- Continuing our Jabberwocky topic in English, creating our own versions of the poem.
- Looking at multiplication, division and perimeter in Year 5 maths, whilst the Year 6s have been furthering their calculation skills.
- Creating burglar alarms to catch Burglar Bill in science.
- Touch rugby and the golden mile in PE.
- Mountains in geography
- Cradles of civilisation in history
- The story of Arjuna in RE
Week Beginning Monday 29th November
Year 5 and 6 have been busy with their learning across many subjects this week.
Some of the highlights have included:
- Learning about other cradles of civilisation in comparison to the ancient Sumer;
- Building our own rangoli patterns from scratch as part of our Art/ DT project;
- Finding out more about mountainous regions within the UK in Geography;
- Developing our knowledge of poetry conventions and enjoying the performance skills required to deliver Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’ poem;
- Finding out how the Hindu religion has changed over time;
- Continuing to develop our calculation skills – in Year 5 with Multiplication and Division and – in Year 6 with Order of Operations (BIDMAS);
and
- Sharing a mini Science/ PE project about Keeping Healthy both in body and mind.
Week Beginning Monday 22nd November
This week, Year 5 and 6 have been:
- Developing a piece of independent descriptive writing called ‘The King of Winter’;
- Recapping how to multiply/divide by 10/100/1000 (Year 5) and Consolidating our understanding of Long Division strategies, as well as our knowledge of Common Factors, Common Multiples and the Order of Operations (Year 6) in Maths;
- Exploring the Epic of Gilgamesh in History;
- Reviewing our knowledge of Vishnu and his symbols within the Hindu faith as part of our studies in RE and
- Discussing Life in the Andes in Geography.
We ended the week by enjoying a Speed Stacking competition and an afternoon of Christmas craft making across Kite and Kestrel classes. What a lovely way to end our week together!
Week beginning 15/11/21
This week was a very busy week for kestrels, comprising of both anti-bullying week and Children in Need! We have been completing various anti-bullying week tasks in English and PSHE, focusing on what bullying is and the strategies we can use to try to stop it. In maths, Year 5 have been looking at multiplication and Year 6 have been looking at division. Year 6s continued using circuits this week in science, looking at the difference between current and charge and drawing circuit diagrams. We have also started gymnastics in PE, continued our topics in history, geography and RE, and done some Pudsey inspired colouring.
Week beginning 8/11/21
Kestrels produced some fabulous work this week, particularly their very high quality information reports. They created double page spreads about rivers, the Ancient Egyptians or Rama and Sita, adding colour and diagrams to make them amazing! In maths, both Year 5 and 6 looked at multiplication and division, with everyone improving their skills. In other areas of learning, the children continued their civilisations, mountains and Hinduism topics, created more zentangles in art and had a very special street dance lesson!
Week beginning 01/11/21
Kestrels returned with a fabulous attitude this week, throwing themselves into everything with amazing enthusiasm. We have researched the Ancient Egyptians and rivers in English, planning for an information report that we will writing next week. In maths, the Year 6s have been continuing with multiplication and division, with the Year 5s doing a unit of work on statistics. In other subjects, we started to look at mountains in geography, zentangles in art and more Hindu stories in RE.
Week beginning 18/10/21
Kestrels can finally land and take a rest after this week, putting in all their effort before half-term! Although the Year 5 residential was unfortunately cancelled, they have been doing other fun activities including composing music, making sweet treats and designing halloween parties! The Year 6s ploughed valiantly on through assessments on Thursday and Friday mornings, joining up with the Year 5s in the afternoon to whole afternoons of Forest Schools and PE respectively. Thank you for all of the children's efforts this half-term, and we hope they have a wonderful break!
Week Beginning 11/10/21
There was no hovering for our kestrels as they continued rising through their learning, Years 5 and 6 both finishing their addition and subtraction topics in maths, moving onto statistics in Year 5 and multiplication and division in Year 6. Year 6s also got an extra fill of maths and science on their STEM day, representing the school extremely well and making us all very proud! In English, we looked at a variety of punctuation and grammar points to help push all of our writers to the next level of accuracy and quality. We also made models of v-shaped valleys in geography, practised short passing in hockey and conducted experiments in science!
Week beginning 04/10/21
Half of our kestrels swapped their wings for two wheels this week, with many of the Year 5s taking part in Bikeability! They completed 4 days of cycle training, including some sections on roads. Everyone who took part was fabulous and represented the school extremely well. In other areas of learning, both year groups continued their topics on addition and subtraction, with the Year 6s cracking on with inverse operations. We completed some Zentangle art, played our first matches in hockey, continued our rivers and Egyptian topics in geography history, looked at expanded noun phrases in Year 5 English, and refraction in Year 6 science.
Week beginning 27/09/21
Kestrel class spread their wings this week, starting a new topic in maths and using a very different style of writing in English. In English, we have created some fabulous newspaper articles about Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun, challenging the children to write in a formal manner. In maths, the Year 5 and Year 6 classes have both started addition and subtraction topics at their appropriate levels. The children's skill levels in all of the other subjects are continually improving, with some great results produced in PE, geography and history!
Week beginning 20/09/21
The Kestrels took off in their learning this week with a fabulous 5 day English project, plenty of high quality maths, and brilliant efforts in all of the other subjects! We researched, wrote and edited 4 diary entries about Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen, dived further into place value in maths, and continued Ancient Egyptian, Hinduism and rivers topics in history, RE and geography respectively. In science, the Year 6s investigated shadows in our light topic, whilst the Year 5s were testing materials to uncover their properties.
Week beginning 13/09/21
Our flight of Kestrels split into two groups at the start of the week, with the Year 6s going on a trip! On this trip they did a range of activities from high ropes courses, to beach activities, to knife carving (photos in the gallery section of the website). Whilst they were away, the Year 5s had a great time researching about Egypt, using chalk in art and taking part in a forest skills session. Finally, when the two halves of the class reunited for Thursday and Friday, we created double page spreads of the Iroquois creation story in English, continued with our hockey in PE, and looked at the River Indus in geography.
Week beginning 6/09/21
Kestrel Class have been flying through their learning this week! We have been looking at place value in maths, creating exciting sentences and writing story openings in English, and then a whole range of other activities in the afternoons. Children particularly enjoyed a lesson on code breaking and ciphers in computing, starting a unit of work on zentangles in maths, and refining their dribbling skills in hockey!
The topics year 6 children will cover this term
The topics year 5 children will cover this term
Over the first two days, Kestrel class have settled in well and enjoyed getting to know one another! We have done a recap of times tables and place value in maths, started to write a letter based on the book 'Dear Teacher' in English, and completed various PE, PSHE and art activities in the afternoons. Here are some children making their backgrounds for the art project we have been doing.
Photos from our art project
