Stanway Fiveways Primary School

This week in English, the children have been learning about the naming part of a sentence, describing part of the sentence and time openers to write sentences. This has been in the context of postcards to Aunt Lucy from Paddington. They have been practising using capital letters and full stops correctly as well as decribing in their writing how Paddington has been feeling as he travels around London to see different landmarks such as Tower Bridge, The London Eye and Buckingham Palace. In maths, they have continued their learning on subtraction using a number line to solve word problems as well as missing number problems. In art, Magnolia class have enjoyed learning to stamp, print and use the roller to make different patterns. They explored the range of tehniques in one lesson and then used these to create their wallpaper fit for the king! In Cherry class, they enjoyed their art lesson with Miss Fisher, learning about the art work on Vincent Van Gogh. In PE, the children took part in a team game to retrieve treasure from a pirate ship! In the outdoor area, the children have explored the valentines themed tricky word hunt, counting to 50 and construction child-led learning which helps to develop the skills of problem solving, gross motor control skills and teamwork.

This week during indoor PE, the children enjoyed taking part in team games using the parachute. They had to work together to keep the parachute moving whilst the balls were on it. Everyone had lots of fun at the same time as developing their team work skills. In maths they have been becoming increasingly confident adding along a number line by making jumps along the number line to find the answer. The children particularly enjoyed making huge number lines in the hall to jump along to add numbers. In English, the children have been finishing independently writing their own version of the Paddington story. They have also been learning that a sentence always contains a naming part (noun) and doing part (verb). In science, they have learnt to correctly name the parts of the body. On Thursday, both classes were excited to have their first virtual meeting as part of our new project called 'My Future'. It gives children the chance to talk to real people (via a Zoom video call) from the Colchester area about the jobs that they do and the skills that they need for their job. The children were particularly excited to open the golden envelopes and play the game of charades during the session to act out different jobs for the other children to guess. The aim of the program is to increase the aspirations of the children and introduce them at a young age to the many possibilities of jobs they could have in the future.

This week Cherry class have been practising different printing techniques to create patterned papers in their art lesson with Miss Fisher. They enjoyed being messy, creative and experimenting with the different materials and paint. In history, both classes have been learning about Queen Elizabeth's coronation by watching a video from the time. They were excited to make links between what they noticed in the video and the facts they had learnt during the coronation history off the page day. In English, the children have been writing their version of Paddington visits London using prepostions (words such as in, past, next to, along etc.).

The highlight if our week has definitely been our special immersive 'Coronation Day'. The children took part in lots of activities linked to Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. In the morning, the children visited different stations and completed a variety of activities. These included: decorating mugs, making medals, making objects out of clay, decorating bunting and painting jewellery boxes! In the afternoon, they split up into groups to rehearse a performance for the coronation. The children had great fun and were really engaged througho​​ut the day. We are very proud of how well they listened and participated in the day.

In maths this week the children have been learning about the place value of 2 digit numbers, focussing on numbers up to 20. They have used concrete objects of Base 10 to represent numbers to 20, learning that for example 15 has 1 ten and 5 ones. They have also learnt to draw Base 10 diagrams in the appropriate tens and ones column. This secure understanding of place value that they are developing at this time will be essential for developing their understanding in many other areas of maths. On Wednesday as part of our RE day, the children have been learning about the parts of a church, including stained glass windows. They then had the opportunity to create their own stained glass windows using black paper and coloured tissue paper. Each piece of artwork was unique and has helped them develop their understanding of what we find within a Christian church. Despite the cold weather, there have been opportunities for learning outside too in our outdoor area and the children have enjoyed the opportunity to develop their child-led learning in the spring term.