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Stretham Community Primary School

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Robin Class

Week beginning 4th November

 

This week, the children have been working on group performances of In Flanders Fields, a poem written by World War I poet, John McCrae. We are so proud of their courage, expression skills and use of intonation which they used to create beautiful performances. The video files are very large so we are working on uploading them but here are some photos of our performances. We will be holding a minute's since on Monday to commemorate those that have lost their lives in conflicts.

Week Beginning 21/10/24

Robin class had a lovely final week. In English, we finished our Lighthouse Narrative writing, with the children using amazing descriptive language to create vivid retellings of the story. In maths, we focused more on column subtraction, building up our confidence and then using it to check addition calculations. In DT, we finished our Roman pavilion structures, adding cladding to our designs. These are very impressive! We continued our topics in history, geography and R and W, before wrapping up this term's music by arranging a Buddy Holly song. Well done again for a wonderful week and have a lovely half term!

Week beginning 14/10/24

The children were brilliant as ever this week, really wowing in their English work. On Monday the children wrote a character description for their film stimuli 'The Lighthouse', before planning a long write on Tuesday and then creating similes and metaphors to put into their work on Wednesday. Mr Sweeney taught the children English on Thursday and Friday and he was blown away by their writing, as they completed their first two paragraphs of the piece. In maths, we started our new unit on addition and subtraction, learning how to complete column addition questions, before starting column subtraction without exchanges on Friday. In music, we created our own arrangements of 'Rock around the clock', then presenting these in front of the class. We continued our topics of Romans, Rhine and Mediterranean and The Family of Jesus in history, geography and R&W respectively.

 

Well done to everyone for another great week!

Week beginning 07/10/24

This week, the children applied themselves to their learning brilliantly! In English, we finished off our Romulus comic strips, before completing a series of lessons of sentence structure and enhancing description, finishing off by writing a setting description on Friday. In maths, we focused on rounding, doing this to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000 and completing our final week of place value in maths. In geography, we started learning about the Mediterranean sea, the strait of Gibraltar and what a peninsula is. In computing, we furthered our knowledge of what a network is, acting out the different parts of one. We continued with our structures in DT, which are looking very impressive now.

 

Well done and have a lovely weekend!

Week Beginning 30/09/24

This week, the children started making some wonderful comic strip versions of Romulus and Remus, based off the style of Marcia Williams, the children had to split the story into parts, before practising their summarising skills for each, finally adding speech bubbles. These look amazing so far and we can't wait to see how they turn out after next week. In maths, we continued with our unit on place value, focusing on partitioning numbers. In DT, the children continued to create their structures, which are starting to take shape. We practised our throwing skills in PE and started to learn 'Walking base line' in music, playing it on the glockenspiels. We continued our topics in history, geography and R&W.

Week beginning 23/09/24

This week was harvest week, and Robin Class did a wonderful job becoming fully immersed in it! We baked apple crumbles on Monday morning (and tasted them of course!) before writing a recipe on how to make them. The children then added designs as as well as useful tips. These recipes turned out wonderfully and we had lots of fun showing them in assembly. We continued with our focus in maths, particularly focusing on representing numbers up to 1000. We continued with our humanities subjects, before starting to create some wonderful pavilion structures in DT. We did a golden mile run in PE, which pushed the children, but showed them that they are very capable!

 

Well done for a fabulous week!

Week Beginning 16/09/24

The children had another wonderful week in school, having fun and producing some brilliant work. In English, we wrote letters for younger siblings or aliens, explaining our world to them. There is a lot to explain when you break it down! In maths, we finished our unit on fractions and started a new unit on place value, focusing on thousands. In PE, we had a mini Olympics as part of our fitness, testing our sprinting, throwing, balance and long distance running capabilities. We continued our topics of the River Rhine, Romans and The Family of Jesus in geography, history and R and W respectively. We began exploring how the internet works in computing and continued our topic of structure in DT. Well done for another brilliant week!

Week Beginning 09/09/24

What a wonderful first full week for Robin Class, who all came in with a super attitude towards their learning. In English this week, the children focused on the book 'Here We Are', a book that explores the concepts of understanding a new place and setting and how important it is to be kind. This English unit was a whole school focus and the Year 4 children produced some fabulous 'How to be healthy' leaflets. In maths, the children explored fractions, culminating in finding unit fractions of an amount on Friday. We started the topics of Romans, the River Rhine and The Family of Jesus in history, geography and R and W respectively. The children particularly enjoyed making structures from cocktail sticks and sweets in DT!  

 

Well done again for such an impressive week!

Last week of the year!

The Robins staff team wish you all a wonderful and safe summer holiday and we look forward to seeing you after the break in September. Here are a few photos from our last week; we enjoyed our swimming, we celebrated those in the Kickathon, our Year 6 leavers and we said goodbye to Year 4 with a class mural and opening our time capsules which we made in September, right at the start.

It has been a pleasure to teach you all this year and all the best for Year 5.

Mrs Dillon and Mrs Yeoman

Week beginning 8th July

It was another jam-packed week in Robin class. On Thursday we went on our sponsored walk along with the whole school. It was a challenging trek to Little Thetford and back but we made it as a team without getting too muddy and wet. We also spent the rest of our day outside with a special session in the explorers' area. Lots of children told us this was their highlight of the week with making s'mores and hot chocolate on the campfire.

 

In History we used drama to gain a better understanding of Alexander the Great's battles. We brought the pages of our history books to life and were able to see how each battle played out.  Meanwhile in Geography, we spent the whole day on Friday focussing on climate and biomes. We learnt that a biome is an area that has similar plants, animals and climate and we delved deeper into these biomes: tundra, savanna and rainforest. The children did their own research and created to posters on their chosen biome.

 

We have been rounding off our maths unit on position and direction by plotting coordinates to draw 2D shapes. The children have been working really hard with their maths and are also consolidating their knowledge of symmetry in shapes.

 

We hope you all have a lovely weekend, whatever the football result, and we look forward to a wonderful final week in Robin class.

Week beginning 1st July

 

And just like that, we are in the final month of the school year! Time is really flying by.

 

In Maths, we have been looking at time: converting between analogue and digital time and using the 24-hour clock. We have also been finishing off some learning from our position and direction and shape topics. Our minds were blown in our quadrilaterals lesson as we learnt that squares are a special type of rectangle. They have four vertices, two sets of parallel sides and four right angles.

 

Meanwhile in English, we have been completing writing assessments, showing off what we have been learning in Year 4. The children used calming music to get in their creative zone and picture their cloud story in their heads. Later in the week they also worked on writing first person narratives inspired by Journey to the Centre of the Earth. These were fantasy stories about finding or digging a tunnel and what their character might come across along the way.

 

Our SRE lessons started this week and the class had a long discussion about the human life cycle and asked a lot of thoughtful questions.

 

We have had several caterpillars living in our classroom for the past few weeks so we have been able to observe them creating chrysalises and eventually emerging as butterflies inside the net. This was part of a whole-school science initiative and last Friday it was time to release them. The children watched in awe as they emerged and waved goodbye as they flew off. We also completed our science topic on electricity, demonstrating what we have been learning.

 

We somehow found time for learning about Alexander the Great in history, Indian music and improvisation, making prehistoric charcoal pictures and, of course, our swimming and PE (rounders) lessons.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Week beginning 24th June 2024

 

We have been really active this week in Robin class. It all started on Monday with Sports Day; we were really proud of our class members in the way that they put their effort into the races and took part in supporting their house teams. Despite the heat, it was a really fun morning. On top of this, the children also had a lovely cooling swimming session in which they worked on turning at the end of the pool.

It has been assessment week this week so the class have been showing off their learning in reading, writing and maths. Their writing assessment was related to clouds so we kept an eye on the clouds in the sky - when there were any! We have been preparing for transition so they also had a morning in their new class, Kestrels, where they will be in September with Mrs Everest. In our maths lessons, we continued our learning on calculating with money and classifying triangles: isosceles, scalene and equilateral.

We also had some more relaxed moments, as you can see from the picture of us enjoying a story in class. We even spotted a peahen called Alice on the school roof and coming up to our classroom door to take a look.

The children are in need of a rest in the run up to the summer holiday so we wish you a peaceful and restorative weekend.

Week beginning 17th June

We have had a really varied and interesting week in Robin class. 

The highlight for many has been the chance to come up with ideas and plan for writing their own fantasy narrative set in a tunnel. We have been looking at writing in first-person and using a thesaurus to find synonyms to edit and improve our writing. The children looked at, touched, smelt (and eventually ate) marshmallows and likened them to clouds, pillows and cheeks. Meanwhile in our grammar lessons, we have looked at adding fronted adverbials to add detail and interest, for example instead of, 'She tried her best,' we could add an adverbial to make it, 'On a daily basis, she tried her best.'

In mathematics the class have been learning about money, and in particular, writing money as decimals and converting pounds and pence. On a Friday, they have been looking at shape with Mrs Dillon, so we continued our learning by defining and spotting obtuse, acute and right angles.

The children have been loving their swimming lessons and have made the most of the glorious, sunny weather this week. They loved the Kickathon which involved kicking or throwing a ball into a machine which measured the speed it went.

Our art lessons saw us drawing native British animals such as deer in the style of prehistoric drawing, while our geography saw us learning more about volcanoes, and Mount Etna in Sicily in particular. We even squeezed in a visit from a French student, Eugenie, and the children had some really insightful questions about her and her life. 

That is just a small snapshot of all the lovely learning that has taken place this week. Enjoy the sunny weekend!

Week Beginning 10th June

This week started with Robin class having their class assembly.  For the Assembly the children explained all about the layers of the earth and took everyone on a journey through them. All the children were fantastic and worked very hard, well done. In Maths, the children have completed their multiplication checks and all their hard work paid off. There is no pass mark for this check but I am sure they did really well. In English we have been continuing to look at our book Journey to the Centre of the Earth and think about some of the key language features of it, ready to write their own stories. 

In Science we have continued to explore circuits thinking about whether different materials were insulators and conductors. If you ask the children they should be able to explain the meaning of these words. We have also started our swimming lessons this week and the children thoroughly enjoyed being back in the pool.  

Week beginning 3rd June 2024

 

The children have come back from half term well rested and full of energy for their final half term in Robins. Practice for class assembly is in full swing ready for our performance on Monday. They will be showcasing their learning all about the layers of the earth from our geography and English lessons. Each member of the class will have something to say and contribute.

In guided reading we have been reading a retelling of the classic adventure novel, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. The children have been working on their inference skills about Axel as the main character and how it is written from his point of view. Meanwhile in our writing, we focussed on how direct speech is correctly punctuated which will help us with writing an adventure story.

In mathematics, the class have been working on learning their times tables, looking particularly at useful for strategies to use when we don't know the answer straight away. You can see in the photo a times table loop game that we played. It is really importance to practise times tables little and often at home and at school.

Our history lesson was about The Odyssey, in science we discussed how an electrical circuit could be complete or incomplete and in music we continued our unit on jazz.

Another busy week in Robin class. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and can make it to our class assembly on Monday!

Week beginning 24th May

 

This week we have been writing an explanation text all about what you find beneath our feet. We have found out all about the layers of the earth and described them in our writing. Once we had written our text we edited our work to make sure it was the best it possibly could be. 

In guided reading, we have been continuing to read the book; The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane. We have also explored the character of Edward, to think about what he is like and what might happen to him. 

In Maths we have been playing lots of multiplication games, to practice our times tables. Keep these up over half term. At the beginning of the week we also explored turns and thinking about them in context. 

In Geography we continued learning about volcanoes and specifically learning about the eruption of mount Etna. We will be continuing to explore volcanoes and how they erupt after half term.

In Science on Friday we looked at circuits and how they are made, including what components are needed to create a complete circuit. After we had learnt that we had a go at making our own circuits with the different electrical components. 

Enjoy your half term holiday!

Week beginning 13th May

 

We have begun some new learning this week finding out what is below the earth's surface and linking this to our geography unit on volcanos and our writing in English.

In English we read The Street Beneath My Feet which explores the different layers of the earth including the crust, mantle, inner core and outer core. This book formed our guided reading for the week. We made predictions about the story, explored new vocabulary (such as seismologist) and looked at new and interesting ways of varying our sentence openers.

Our geography was closely related to our English. We explored the layers of the earth and made a plasticine model in small groups to represent these layers. We wrote an explanation of how to make the models as part of our English exploring the features of explanation texts.

In Maths we have been using diens (practical equipment) to show tenths and hundreths. We then looked at how these are written as decimals as we explored our decimal topic further. Mrs Dillon started a unit on shape which she will be carrying through with the class each week; this week we did quarter, half and whole turns clockwise and anticlockwise.

In DT, we are making models of the Parthenon to relate to our learning on Persua and Greece in history.

 

We hope you all have a lovely feast weekend.

Week Beginning 6th May 2024

 

This week we have continued our learning across the curriculum. Here is a little about what we have done:

 

  • In Maths, we have completed a short unit on statistics, looking at line graphs and interpreting data. 
  • This week we have completed many short, mini SPAG lessons related to suffixes, fronted adverbials and the use of commas when punctuating different sentences. 
  • We have been preparing for our Float for Stretham Feast, with the theme Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! We've enjoyed the painting and decorating!
  • In Music, the children have started a unit on Jazz, looking at different styles: ragtime and traditional.

 

A big goodbye to Mrs Spencer! We're sure she'll be back to visit. 

 

Have a restful weekend.

Week Beginning 29th April 2024

 

What a week! We have done so much learning - here is a little about what we have done... 

 

  • We began our week with a fantastic drumming workshop! The children were so engaged and learnt all about keeping a pulse, beat and creating rhythms linked to African Samba. They had a go at playing three different musical instruments. It was such a treat!
  • In Maths, we have finished a unit introducing decimals and linking these with their fraction equivalences.
  • We have been learning about how we hear in Science. The children played a game of cat and mouse moving towards where they heard the sound! 
  • In Geography, they have learnt about how food affects farming.
  • It has been Skipping Week at school and every class has enjoyed a special PE lesson to put their skipping skills to the test! They did a super job and had to remain resilient with the challenges...
  • We have also learnt about road safety in our PSHE lesson and reminded the children to make sure they STOP, LOOK and LISTEN when crossing roads. 
  • Lastly in DT, the children learnt about 'nets' and how these create 3D shapes for building and making models. 

 

We need to say a very warm welcome to our new teachers in Robin Class, Mrs Yeoman and Mrs Dillon, who have joined us to begin the transition in taking over from me, Mrs Spencer. What a super week, well done!

Week Beginning 22nd April 2024

 

It has been another busy week and the children have learnt:

 

  • All about sound proofing in Science. We conducted an investigation to test different materials at their abilities to sound proof. We used data loggers to track the the decibels that could be heard. The children had to draw their own table and record their findings.
  • How to divide a single digit and two digit number by 10 to give us a decimal number. The children completed peer assessment and gave each other feedback and support.
  • To predict what might happen next in our story. We have continued our reading of The Borrowers - it is getting good!
  • Lastly, the children are working hard on writing a narrative about the creature they developed last week, using the underlying pattern of 'The Barnabus Project'. 

 

Well done this week, Robins!

Week Beginning 15th April 2024

 

This week the children have settled back into old routines quickly. We have:

 

  • designed our own creatures or 'failed projects' based on the story 'The Barnabus Project'. The children are using these to write their own character descriptions which will support the development of a story next week. 
  • To go alongside our writing in English, the children have painted their creatures as a mini Art lesson. 
  • revised adding and subtracting fractions and then have moved onto finding a fraction of a quantity in Mathematics. The children were able to draw bar models to support working out the answer (on the tables I might add!) and use their times table knowledge. 
  • learnt all about pastoral and arable farming and how mixed farming includes both types. They learnt new vocabulary: manure and grazing!
  • continued reading of our class novel - 'The Borrowers' - and I think we'd all agree, it's getting good!

Week Beginning Monday 18th March 2024

 

On Monday, we had a wonderful dance session with Jack, from JSDC Dance Company.

We have been working hard on a non-chronological report all about Honey Bees! We have enjoyed the research because it has helped us to understand some of the lines in our Bee Musical production. The children are working hard on their tone of voice and sentence structures for this piece of writing. 

 

Robin Class have enjoyed their rehearsals singing and acting out the different scenes. They are getting excited about their performances next week, though maybe a little nervous!

Week Beginning Monday 11th March 2024

 

We have been well on our way with rehearsals for our production. We are really excited to preform to our loved ones in just 8 days! Next week we will be very busy bees on stage getting sorted!

 

Alongside this, we have been continuing our learning about fractions and the children have been using drawn representations to support their understanding. They have work particularly hard on this. 

 

We also enjoyed our Geography lesson all about different types of farming and learning the following terms: arable farming, pastoral farming and mixed farming. 

 

It was also Science Week! We investigated pendulums and completed an investigation about making pendulum that moved for 30 seconds. It was a whole school competition and we loved our Science assembly. 

 

Well done this week Robin Class. 

Monday 4th March 2024

 

This week, we have been very busy with learning our lines for the Year 3/4 Production. Keep practising those lines at home and saying them with expression! 

 

The children have been working hard to show their understanding of mixed number fractions and improper fractions. It has not been an easy task! Will continue our learning about fractions in the coming weeks. 

 

In Science, we continued our learning about sound and how sound waves move through the air and other materials as vibrations. We learnt that when we can no longer hear something that is making sound it is because we have moved too far away and the sound waves have lost their energy. This means they can't reach our eardrum for us to hear the sound. We tested it out on the playground with a beeper.

 

This week, the children also enjoyed our 'Craft', Art lesson where we were able to tie-dye material to take home! They did a great job and they look very effective.

 

We have also managed to fit in World Book Day celebrations! We started off on Monday morning with a fantastic animal experience - all the children got to hold a meerkat! The children loved dressing up, participating in the BBC Live Lesson and making a Book Cover of their favourite book. We also enjoyed a story. There are a few more stories from different teachers in school on Seesaw for you to watch at your leisure!

 

Well done this week!

Monday 26th February 2024

 

We've had a great week back after half term! Here are a few things we have learnt:

 

  • In Science, we learnt about how sound travels in vibrations as waves. We were able to prove this through various demonstrations. They then drew the models in their books and wrote about their learning. 
  • We created 'mood boards' in Art as part of our new craft unit. The children found images and materials that they liked and annotated their work. 
  • During English this week, we have been focusing on using a variety of verbs in a descriptive piece of writing about a bird. We were inspired by the book Windhover.
  • In PE, we have started to develop our Tennis skills! Lots of us found this difficult but we just need to keep practising.

 

This week we have talked a lot about the word 'yet' and how we might not be able to do something 'yet' but if we keep persevering we'll be able to do it eventually!

Week Beginning Monday 12th February 2024

 

What a super end to the half term. Well done Robin Class for working so hard!

 

  • This week we have enjoyed having a dance specialist in school teaching us an Indian dance. It was a lot of fun!
  • Year 3s and Year 4s worked together on a Maths investigation to solve the puzzle of 'Who let the birds of prey out?' We had to solve different Maths problems to find the clues to the culprit. They showed great teamwork.
  • Year 4s also made seasonal tarts in DT and used this to inspire our writing. We wrote instructions on how to make a tart (a recipe) using our computing skills. 

 

Have an enjoyable half term!

Monday 5th February 2024

 

Here are a few things we have learnt this week:

 

  • In Mathematics, we have continued our learning about length and perimeter, thinking about rectilinear shapes and polygons;
  • In History, we made clay seals as if we were the people living in the Indus Valley civilisation. The children enjoyed being hands-on and using practical skills to support their learning;
  • London was our topic for Geography, looking at cities and the facilities that they have;
  • We finished off our non-chronological reports related to our Science learning. The children are very proud of their research and layouts. 

 

Another super week! Keep up the hard work, Robins.

Week Beginning 29th January 2024

 

Here are a few things we have been learning:

 

  • In English, we are writing non-chronological reports with a cross-curricular link to Science and Geography! The children have really enjoyed the research to get their ideas for their own texts.
  • In Maths, the children are learning to convert between different units of measure.
  • We have learnt to 'jump from height' in our PE lessons with the use of our legs and arms. The children had to perform their jumps safely and coordinate their landing.
  • Our Religion and Worldviews lesson included learning about the story of Ganesha's birth, related to our Hinduism topic.

Week Beginning 22nd January 2024

 

This week: 

 

  • Robin Class went to Forest School and had a wonderful session this week. We made birdfeeders and hung them around school. The children enjoyed a hot chocolate and baked apple with cinnamon. 
  • In DT, the children have been exploring vegetables and fruits that grow around the world.
  • We have been learning how to write a diary entry in English by pretending to be one of the characters in Robin Hood. 
  • In Geography, we learnt about the different facilities in towns.

 

Robin Class absolutely loved visiting our Stretham Art Gallery. We viewed everyone's work and looked at the different artists which inspired all of the great artistic flare across the school.

Week Beginning 15th January 2024

 

What a week! We have made great progress across the curriculum. We have been:

 

  • for a walk around the village to spot amenities and buildings that 'make a village, a village'! The children should be proud of their sensible walking.
  • conducting an investigation to measure the temperature of different jugs of water.
  • working hard in English, creating WANTED posters for Robin Hood and thinking about arguments for and against his arrest.
  • learning about what a 'source' is in History and identify the sources from the Indus Valley that help to piece together clues about this ancient civilisation. 
  • learning to work with a partner in PE, creating safe, strong partner movements/shapes.

 

Well done this week!

Week Beginning 8th January 2024

 

A big Happy New Year to all of you and your families. The children have come back brilliantly and are showing such a positive start to the term. Here is a little about what we have been doing this week...

 

  • In Mathematics, we have begun our learning on multiplying by 10 and 100 and then have moved onto factors and factor pairs. 
  • The children have been using Robin Hood to inspire some amazing newspaper articles about a tournament that happened in the book. They are pretending that they witnessed the event first hand and are writing a column in 'The Sherwood Times' newspaper! I look forward to reading their writing. 
  • In History, we learnt about a 'dancing girl' figurine that was found in Mohenjo-daro. We also learnt that the Indus Civilisation build their settlement around the Indus River which floods to provide them with fertile land. The children did a super job at making links to other ancient civilisations we have learnt.
  • During our States of Matter Science lesson, the children demonstrated their understanding of solids, liquids and gases. They learnt about the structure of the particles and the properties. 

 

Week Beginning 11th December 2023

 

We're coming towards the end of term so we were finishing up a lot of our units and topics this week! 

 

The children have worked particularly hard on writing letters to their Head Teacher about our Local Habitat Survey that we conducted. We looked into the threats that pose a danger to different habitats and wildlife. Following this, we wrote letters with recommendations on how we can improve our school grounds for the ecosystems around the school. They did a super job!

 

We also finished our Art and Design Unit on shading and tone, so were able to begin a fun Art project, looking into colour theory, including complementary colours. We focused on a particular artist and were inspired by their work! We can't wait to show you our results in the new year.

Week Beginning 4th December 2023

 

Here are a few things we have enjoyed this week:

 

  • We continued our learning about mountains and looked specifically at what it would be like to live in the Andes.
  • We finished our unit on the Cradles of Civilisations by comparing different ancient settlements. 
  • Year 4s have finished their learning of the times tables but we urge parents to support their child at home to consolidate this learning. Don't forget to make use of your Times Table Rock Stars accounts!
  • We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the panto Mother Goose in Cambridge yesterday. Thank you so much to everyone involved in planning the trip and a big thank you to the PSA for funding it. What a privilege!
  • Today we have worked closely with Year 3 to solve a Mathematics Mystery puzzle. We had to solve several different problems to give us clues as to which person was the sculptor. They worked beautifully in their pairs.