Blog Archives

Learning about plants

19/1/2023

In science we have begun to learn about plants. The children learnt about bulbs to begin with and how they reproduce asexually by sending off little bulblets and creating a clone. Then, they looked at how plants such as strawberries, mint and spider plants reproduce asexually by sending out a runner, creating a daughter plant, which is again a clone of the mother plant. We looked at how a flower is made up of female and male parts and then how a flower uses sexual reproduction to pollinate another flower. This happens when the pollen (male part) makes contact with the ovary (female part) and the eggs are then fertilised. Finally, we looked at the life-cycle of a plant. Here is a selection of photos of the children's work.
The children have used the creative and independence gems.

Guitars in year 5

19/1/2023

In guitars the children have been carrying on with learning how to play and creating their own compositions.

print making

19/1/2023

We have had learnt so much exploring print making. We began by responding to the work of Michael Rothenstien and Belinda King. Then we learnt how to make a press-print, using the primary colours, beginning with yellow, then red and finally, blue. Over three lessons we created our artwork and then reflected on the whole process.
The children have used the creative and reflective gems.

Lego fun during wet play

10/1/2023

Some creative Lego building during wet play today.

Multiplication in year 5

10/1/2023

In maths the children have been learning how to do 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication. First, using the little grids to help them and then once they were confident, they moved onto laying the calculations out for themselves. Then, the children have moved onto 3 digit by 2 digit, and then 4 digit by 2 digit.
The children have used the perseverance, independence and concentration gems.

Press printing in the irwin class

10/1/2023

In art we have begun to learn about the artist Belinda King and Michael Rothenstein. The children have learnt that these artist creates prints and they have responded to the artwork and given feedback on their thoughts on the artwork.

In the second lesson, the children have been learning how to create press-prints. In this lesson they had to create a simple design on a press-print and create then using rollers and tile, create their press-print. Next art lesson, the children will use the same press-print and add more to the image. They children used the creative gem.

...and the finished vacuum cleaners

6/1/2023

And the finished (well almost in a couple of cases) finished articles. Such a fun day exploring, taking apart, starting again and continuing to work to get the vacuum cleaners to work. The activity was completely child-led and the children explored the iterative process of changing and adapting their existing designs. All the children worked brilliantly in their groups to complete the task today. The children used the adventurous, cooperative and creative gems today.

desgning and making vacuum cleaners in dt

6/1/2023

In DT, we used all the circuit skills that we learnt before Christmas and created closed circuits. The children used motors and created their own fans. They constructed their outer casing, hoover bags, nozzles, etc. For some children, they didn’t quite get their vacuum to suck up, and for others they managed to get their vacuum cleaners to suck up small pieces of paper. The activity was completely child-led and the children explored the iterative process of changing and adapting their existing designs. All the children worked brilliantly in their groups to complete the task today. The children used the adventurous, cooperative and creative gems today.