Warren Hills Community Primary School & Nursery

Welcome to our Pioneers class page 2021 - 2022

We are the Year 4 class at Warren Hills Primary School. The class is taught by Miss Canning and is supported by Mrs Smith and Mrs Williamson. 

PE this term will be on Thursday and Friday

Please ensure that your child has an indoor kit consisting of a white t-shirt, dark shorts and plimsols and also an outdoor kit consisting of dark tracksuit bottoms or leggings, a white t-shirt, plain sweatshirt and a pair of trainers. Please ensure that long hair is tied back,  earrings must be removed (if your child cannot remove earrings themselves, please ensure that they are taken out before they come to school). 

SUMMER 2 2022

Blue Abyss

Grab your wetsuit. We’re going deep into an underwater world of incredible coral and mysterious sea creatures.  What do real divers get up to below the surface? Create a fishy story about exploring an amazing underwater world. Learn about ocean pollution and how it affects habitats. Time to go a little deeper into our seas. Flippers on? Snorkel ready? Let’s head into the Blue Abyss.

SUMMER 1 2022

Misty Mountain Sierra

Mighty mountains peak above the morning mists, imposing and eternal, rocky outcrops at their feet. Discover how these giants are formed, as a fold or a block, a dome or a plateau. Follow the water cycle’s course from peak to valley and meet the exceptional tribes of the hostile Himalayas. But look out. What’s that by that tree? Its footprints are huge. Have we found the Yeti?

Queen's Jubilee

Ahead of the Jubilee, we created some fantastic 'Queen's silhouette' collages using a range of materials.

Geography

In geography, we have been learning about the different ways that mountains are formed. We were set a challenge to see if we could identify the type based on photographs and reason why.

Science

We have learned about the Water Cycle and worked in groups to create our own presentation to the class to tell them all about it. We had to ensure we used the correct scientific language to describe the process.

DT and Science

In science, we have been learning about States of Matter and Miss Canning challenged us to build our own stand which would allow us to melt chocolate (a reversible change of state). We designed our stands in groups; using saws to cut and glue guns to join. We are still waiting on good enough weather to test them out - using a tealight candle as our heat source!

SPRING 2 2022

Buckle up, sunglasses on. We’re going on a road trip across the good old US of A. Flying from London Gatwick, and landing at JFK airport New York, it’s time to explore the sights and sounds of the Big Apple. Use your map skills to navigate your way around some of its most famous landmarks and send a postcard home to ask the question ‘Do you wish you were here?’ Learn how to send an email to book a day trip or reserve a room. Make sure you ask the important questions ‘Does your hotel have a pool? Is there 24-hour room service?’ It’s going to be a long ride. Put the roof down and let the wind blow through your hair. We’re off.

Cooking

We used an American recipe to cook a savoury meal for the class. When we tasted the Minnesota Hot Dish, it was a bit like Marmite... we either LOVED it or HATED it!

Writing Emails

Professional Customer Service Representatives sent emails to book tickets and hotels for their upcoming holiday to the USA!

Science

This term, we have been learning all about teeth and the human digestive system. We made our own "teeth quiz" for a panel of contestants and we got messy making an interactive digestive system outside! Potato mashers were used to symbolise the teeth, then a tube to model the oesophagus...and tights for the intestines! 

Art

We had a lovely afternoon this week sketching daffodils. We were inspired by the American artist Georgia O'Keefe.

SPRING 1 2022

Big and strong, powerful and brave, the Saxons wave their battle axes and brandish their swords as they begin to invade Britain’s shores. Sail back to the Dark Ages, where battles were rife and fear reigned. Find out about the lives of the Saxons, including how they lived and where they came from. Meet the bloodthirsty Vikings from Scandinavia – never before had such terror swept the land. We don’t want a fight breaking out. Are you ready to shine a light on the dangerous and deadly Dark Ages?

Viking Workshop

We had visitors from Partake to run a whole day workshop about the Vikings. We did a role play Viking raid, had a go at spinning, weaving, making hacksaw bracelets and pottery. Trying on the armour was really fun... and heavy! We also planned our own Viking Settlement.

Making Circuits

We've been having lots of fun in our Electricity topic this term making circuits with different components. 

Anglo Saxon Crafts

We've been using our skills in Art and Design to make relief and block pattern blocks to print. 

...Can't wait! 

We wrote speech bubbles to show how the Anglo Saxon warriors who were invited to Britain would be feeling.

Science 

We have had a great start to our electricity topic in Science; exploring static electricity!

AUTUMN 2 2021

What’s that noise? A bash? A crash? A shake, a rattle or a low, bass hum? Which do you prefer – an acoustic singer or a booming brass band? A solitary voice singing sweetly and quietly or a magnificent choir lifting the roof? Take out your ear plugs as you journey through the valley of sound and find out about instruments, the sounds they make and how they are produced. Discover how sounds are made and which sounds travel the furthest. Then, sing up and compose a class song for the local talent contest, Class Factor. Can you write a number one hit? Be sure to stand up straight, warm up your voice and sing your heart out. When your performance is done, sit back and listen to calming classical melodies, a soothing lullaby or your favourite boy band ballad. Can you hear me over there? Or do I need to TALK MORE LOUDLY?

Anti Bullying Week 15th - 18th November 2021

For anti bullying week, we made a chain of kindness that we passed around the class, writing something kind about each person until we were left with a list of kind words to share. We also discussed and acted out (as part of our Literacy work on playscripts) a play about a boy who stood up to a bully. 

Karate Workshop

We were visited by a karate instructor this term who showed us some moves. There will also be a karate club after school!

Sound

We have been learning about sound in science lessons. We can now name the parts of the ear, talk about pitch and vibrations. In one of our lessons, we investigated how pitch changes according to the tension or length of an elastic band. We have also used the a decibel reader app on the iPads to take measurements. 

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AUTUMN 1 2021

I am Warrior! I am strong, brave and powerful. Meet me in battle. Draw your sword, wield your axe and challenge me if you dare. Invade and attack. Romans versus Celts, the fight is on. Discover warring Britain: meet Claudius, Boudicca and Julius Caesar and find out what the Romans did for us. 

Unearthing the Past Workshop

We were visited by Creative Learning Services (Leicestershire) who delivered a workshop. We were able to get our hands on real Roman coins and artefacts!

Boudicca of the Iceni tribe 

We have been learning all about the brave Iceni warrior and leader, Boudicca. We acted out her life as freeze frames.

Maths - exploring 4-digit numbers

We had to organise ourselves into ascending order. The 4-digit numbers had the same thousands digit and zero as a place holder. 

PSHE - VIPs

Our PSHE topic this term is VIPs. We created mini friendship dramas to show different strategies of how to make new friends.

Topic Launch

We had great fun acting out and playing invasion games. One group were the attacking Roman soldiers and the other group were the defending Celtic tribes of Briton.

Outdoor Maths

Place Value fun outside this week.

PIONEERS 2020 - 2021

This year, the Pioneers class is taught by Miss Canning and is supported by Mrs Timson. There are lots of exciting activities planned for the class. Keeping checking back to our website page and check Twitter to see what we get up to.

SUMMER 2: BLUE ABYSS

Grab your wetsuit. We’re going deep into an underwater world of incredible coral and mysterious sea creatures. Time to go a little deeper into our seas.  Flippers on? Snorkel ready? Let’s head into the Blue Abyss.

Ukulele 

Pioneers have been working hard all year learning ukulele with the support of Mr Giles. 

Digestive System

We had lots of fun and made loads of mess when we recreated the digestive system! We crushed food like the teeth using potato mashers, passed the bolus through a tube like the oesophagus. Next, we squeezed it and made it into smaller pieces in a plastic bag, just like the stomach. Finally, we passed it through a pair of tights to model the small intestines and created poo! 

D&T Week! Let's Go Fly a Kite

In our D&T week we made our own kites! We learned about the structure of a kite, we made prototypes and planned our own design. We selected materials, measured, cut, fastened and used saws! We were really proud of our achievements!

In science, we have been developing our scientific process skills and our understanding of classifying and sorting. Miss Canning told us all to bring in our favourite cuddly toy. We headed out onto the field and had to sort them all using a classification key; sorting them according to their characteristics. What is similar? What is different? 

In science, we have also been recapping our knowledge of vertebrates. We played a team bingo game to sort each characteristic and decide if it was mammal, fish, bird, reptile, amphibian or invertebrate. Then, Mr Burrows caught us a fish and we had a look at how the fish's digestive system works! Mr Burrows cooked the trout for us, and we tried it. 

SUMMER 1: MISTY MOUNTAIN SIERRA

Mighty mountains peak above the morning mists, imposing and eternal, rocky outcrops at their feet. Discover how these giants are formed, as a fold or a block, a dome or a plateau. Follow the water cycle’s course from peak to valley and meet the exceptional tribes of the hostile Himalayas. Look out. What’s that by that tree? Its footprints are huge. Have we found the Yeti?

In science, we have been learning all about changes of state - solids, liquids and gases. We have taken part in lots of fun experiments to explore melting points, reversible and irreversible changes. We've also researched, created our own diagrams and produced a presentation in groups about the water cycle. 

To understand how mountains are formed, we first had to understand how the earth is formed. We made model earths to show the different layers: crust, upper mantle, mantle, outer core and inner core using plasticine. 

In geography, we learned all about how mountains are formed in different ways, but we also learned about the Adi tribe who live in the Himalayas. Here's what we learned about them using our inference skills after watching documentaries and researching them.  

We also learned about how animals adapt to the extreme habitats of living at high altitude, and researched in pairs. We presented our non-chronological report as an information poster. 

In D&T, we did a whole project about bread. Using Warburtons as a current market leader, we researched their existing products, designed our own shaped bread rolls using salt dough and did some market research; asking Year 5 which their favourite shape was. We decided which flavours combined best to make a sweet bread roll and which we each wanted to use in our batch. Then, we made our bread rolls in groups according to the additional ingredients, baked them and.... ate them! We evaluated what went well and what could be improved next time. 

SPRING 2: ROAD TRIP USA

Buckle up, sunglasses on. We’re going on a road trip across the good old US of A. Flying from London Gatwick, and landing at JFK airport New York, it’s time to explore the sights and sounds of the Big Apple. Use your map skills to navigate your way around some of its most famous landmarks and send a postcard home to ask the question ‘Do you wish you were here?’ Learn how to send an email to book a day trip or reserve a room. Make sure you ask the important questions ‘Does your hotel have a pool? Is there 24-hour room service?’ 

In Art, we have been learning about different American artists through time. This is when we were studying about Helen Frankenthaler. We collaborated to make abstract art in her style.

In Science, we have been learning about Electricity and here we are making complete and incomplete circuits by using a switch to turn the lamp on and off.

SPRING 1: TRADERS AND RAIDERS

Big and strong, powerful and brave, the Saxons wave their battle axes and brandish their swords as they begin to invade Britain’s shores. Sail back to the Dark Ages, where battles were rife and fear reigned. Find out about the lives of the Saxons, including how they lived and where they came from. Meet the bloodthirsty Vikings from Scandinavia – never before had such terror swept the land.

See below for Home Learning Ideas.

AUTUMN 2: PLAYLIST

What’s that noise? A bash? A crash? A shake, a rattle or a low, bass hum? Which do you prefer – an acoustic singer or a booming brass band? A solitary voice singing sweetly and quietly or a magnificent choir lifting the roof? Take out your ear plugs as you journey through the valley of sound and find out about instruments, the sounds they make and how they are produced. Discover how sounds are made and which sounds travel the furthest. 

During this topic, we have crafted our own poetry and performed it, created our own musical instruments and planned and performed our own silent movies...and had some fun in Science with some sound experiments! We have even written our own version of the Christmas classic "it's the most wonderful time of the year".

We have also being learning all about Hinduism. 

See below for Home Learning Ideas 

AUTUMN 1:  I AM WARRIOR

I am Warrior! I am strong, brave and powerful. Meet me in battle. Draw your sword, wield your axe and challenge me if you dare. Invade and attack. Romans versus Celts, the fight is on. Discover warring Britain: meet Claudius, Boudicca and Julius Caesar and find out what the Romans did for us. Get ready for Gladiator School and learn alongside Spartacus and Spiculus, brave fighters of the Roman Colosseum!

We are loving our topic so far this term and have been lucky enough to have Leicestershire Library Services visit us and get our mitts on some real life Roman artefacts! After the workshop we had a creative day using D&T and Art skills to create our own Roman coins and natural dyes. 

We've also been busy learning about Boudicca, a famous Celtic leader. We created freeze frames to retell her story...

Science 

In Science, we have been developing our Scientific Enquiry Skills, observing, asking our own questions and investigating them. First, we all did the same experiment: adding water to Skittles and made observations every 2 mins. Then, we proposed our own questions we'd like to investigate, for example: "what would happen if... we swapped Skittles for Gummy Bears?" The children loved designing and planning their own experiments.

PSHE

PSHE is more important now than ever before since the Covid 19 outbreak. Our topic this term is Relationships: VIPS. We have been using role play  to help us understand how to make new friends, how to maintain friendships and how to deal with bullying. 

Local Artist

We were visited by a local artist recently. They were helping the whole school create a beautiful rainbow in clay which will be displayed to mark our celebration of 50 years of Warren Hills School.

It's so lovely to have all the children back in school and learning with us. Thanks to parents for the brilliant support you've given your child/ren during the difficult period of time we endured. We are coming back in to a 'new normal' and we are getting used to new routines and ways of doing things differently. 

We've been back in the first week and focusing on the mental health and well-being of the Pioneers; building a support network within class by using PSHE lessons and team building games. We've also written our own acrostic poem all about how we aspire to be as a class.

AUTUMN 1:  I AM WARRIOR

This term we are learning all about the Celts and the Romans! Stay tuned for more details and photos!

Find below our Home Learning and Topic Overview for Autumn 1 (2020-2021)

W/C 6th July 2020 Home Learning

W/C 29th June 2020 Home Learning

W/C 22nd June 2020 Home Learning

W/C 15th June 2020 Home Learning.

Don't forget to keep practising your times tables too!

Please contact Miss Canning via the School Office if you are unable to access Weduc, but would like the Maths Worksheets emailing to you.

W/C 1st June 2020 Home Learning. 

Please see email on Weduc from Miss Canning dated 22.5.2020, or letter below regarding this week's home learning. 

W/C 18th May 2020 Timetable of Home Learning. Don't forget to keep practising your times tables too!

Please contact Miss Canning via the School Office if you are unable to access Weduc, but would like the Maths Worksheets emailing to you.

W/C 11th May 2020 Timetable of Home Learning. Don't forget to keep practising your times tables too!

Please find below an overview of the learning to be completed on the week beginning 11th May 2020. All of these activities and resources are on Weduc from Monday 11th May. Please try your best to keep up to date with your learning. You could send some photographs of your work or some examples of work through Weduc and I can then share these with the rest of the class to show what a great job you are doing. 

Advice for parents/carers on using weekly learning overviews at home:-

• Learning overviews will be posted on the online learning platform each week.
• They provide a selection of 'suggested' activities, feel free to tailor and adapt them to suit your child's needs.
• Please remember, children do not have to complete every activity on here if it is not possible. Encourage them to do as much as they can to keep their brain active!
• You can complete the activities in any order, it is to be used as a guide or 'menu' for you to work through and choose from with your child.
• Remember to work with your child to structure each day accordingly. Some children respond well to regular routine with clear timings in a similar style to an 'at school' day e.g. English followed by Maths each day. For others, they might prefer to vary their routine e.g. choosing a subject to focus on each day- Maths on Monday, English on Tuesday.
• Learning from home is extremely different to the classroom environment, at home, short bursts of learning followed by regular brain breaks work well.

Stay safe everyone. 

W/C 4th May 2020 Timetable of Home Learning. Don't forget to keep practising your times tables too!

Please find below an overview of the learning to be completed on the week beginning 4th May 2020. All of these activities and resources are on Weduc from Monday 4th May. Please try your best to keep up to date with your learning. You could send some photographs of your work or some examples of work through Weduc and I can then share these with the rest of the class to show what a great job you are doing. 

Advice for parents/carers on using weekly learning overviews at home:-

• Learning overviews will be posted on the online learning platform each week.
• They provide a selection of 'suggested' activities, feel free to tailor and adapt them to suit your child's needs.
• Please remember, children do not have to complete every activity on here if it is not possible. Encourage them to do as much as they can to keep their brain active!
• You can complete the activities in any order, it is to be used as a guide or 'menu' for you to work through and choose from with your child.
• Remember to work with your child to structure each day accordingly. Some children respond well to regular routine with clear timings in a similar style to an 'at school' day e.g. English followed by Maths each day. For others, they might prefer to vary their routine e.g. choosing a subject to focus on each day- Maths on Monday, English on Tuesday.
• Learning from home is extremely different to the classroom environment, at home, short bursts of learning followed by regular brain breaks work well.

Stay safe everyone. 

W/C 27th April 2020 Timetable of Home Learning. Don't forget to keep practising your timetables too!

Please find below an overview of the learning to be completed on the week beginning 27th April 2020. All of these activities and resources are on Weduc from Monday 27th April. Please try your best to keep up to date with your learning. You could send some photographs of your work or some examples of work through Weduc and I can then share these with the rest of the class to show what a great job you are doing. 

Advice for parents/carers on using weekly learning overviews at home:-

• Learning overviews will be posted on the online learning platform each week.
• They provide a selection of 'suggested' activities, feel free to tailor and adapt them to suit your child's needs.
• Please remember, children do not have to complete every activity on here if it is not possible. Encourage them to do as much as they can to keep their brain active!
• You can complete the activities in any order, it is to be used as a guide or 'menu' for you to work through and choose from with your child.
• Remember to work with your child to structure each day accordingly. Some children respond well to regular routine with clear timings in a similar style to an 'at school' day e.g. English followed by Maths each day. For others, they might prefer to vary their routine e.g. choosing a subject to focus on each day- Maths on Monday, English on Tuesday.
• Learning from home is extremely different to the classroom environment, at home, short bursts of learning followed by regular brain breaks work well.

Stay safe everyone. 

USEFUL WEBSITES:

KS2 SCIENCE - There are lots of mini videos on here for Science Revision:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z2pfb9q (Food Chain and Habitats, The Digestive System, Solids, Liquids and Gases, Forces and Motion, Electricity)

MATHS - TABLES PRACTISE: https://urbrainy.com/mtc

Pioneers 2019/2020

PE KIT is only needed on Friday morning this half term. Please ensure you have warm clothes for PE outdoors.   (Swimming lessons finished December 2019). 

This year, the Pioneers class is taught by Miss Canning and is supported by Miss Coulthurst and Mrs Hall. There are lots of exciting activities planned for the class. Keeping checking back to our website page and check Twitter to see what we get up to.

ROAD TRIP USA! (Spring 2)

Buckle up, sunglasses on – we’re going on a road trip across the good old US of A!  We've been learning how to send emails to book hotels and excursions, investigating climate, using map skills and sending postcards. 

Y4 COLLABORATIVE EVENT

Every year the Collaborative schools get together and host a fun day for the children. This year we went to Castle Rock and took part in a Life Skills Day with Whitwick St John, All Saints, New Swannington, Hugglescote and Thringstone. We practised calling for help in an emergency, emergency first aid, chopping skills, hand washing and getting out of danger in water.

SCIENCE

We've been learning all about Electricity. We created our own switch using a paperclip, split pins and cardboard. Our favourite lesson so far was an investigation: Can you use playdoh to make a switch? We predicted that playdoh was not a good conductor of electricity based on our previous investigations where we tested if different materials were good conductors. 

WORLD BOOK DAY!

World Book Day was loads of fun! Dressed as our favourite fictional characters, we played the game Pass the Parcel (and had to answer book related questions in between each layer). We also did a Speed Book Date where we had to convince a friend to read our favourite book. We were illustrators for the morning and designed our own Front Cover to an unpublished book, using clues from the text to infer what the character was like.

MATHS

We've been learning about coordinates and translating shapes on a grid using a giant grid!

I AM WARRIOR! (Spring 1)

I am Warrior! I am strong, brave and powerful.

Discover warring Britain: meet Claudius, Boudicca and Julius Caesar, and find out what the Romans did for us...

POTIONS! (Autumn 2)

Potion: a poison, a mixture, an aromatic brew, a vapour, a liquid or a sticky goo...

This term we will be Scientists, Poets and Mathematicians as we explore the world of Potions.

Harry Potter, Romeo and Juliet and lots of experiments await...

CHRISTMAS CRAFT MORNING

PRACTICAL MATHS

We've been practising adding and subtracting amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts.

SCIENTIFIC ENQUIRY - OBSERVATION OVER TIME

We've continued to develop our scientific enquiry skills this term, we focused on 'observation over time' and observed what happened when we put skittles into water. We ,made observations every 5 minutes. Next, we planned our own experiment using the same observation methods, but different materials.

POTION BOTTLES

We designed and made our own potion bottles from clay.

VARIABLES (Science)

We are developing our scientific questioning skills. We started with: "I wonder what would happen if...." following from an experiment we did a couple of weeks ago. We discussed what a variable is and how to make a Fair Test. We used our observation skills and took measurements. 

I wonder what would happen if.... we changed the quantity of the Bicarbonate of Soda?

THE HISTORY OF ANESTHETIC

Research of historical accounts of operations in the past made us squirm and shiver. We are now working towards creating a timeline of the most significant events that happened in history which have lead to us now being able to be 'put under' in theatre... phew! thank goodness for those pioneering scientists!

A MYSTERIOUS PACKAGE...

Miss Canning received a mysterious package from Amazon for her birthday and it was a potion bottle. We had a debate For and Against and invited a guest Speaker in to decide the verdict. The debate winners were the FOR team, so Miss Canning had to drink the potion! She turned a bit of a funny colour and she forgot all of our names and kept talking in riddles!

MAKING POTIONS

We used ancient recipes from different periods in History. We made a cure for nose bleeds from the Aztecs, a sinus relief potion from Ancient Greece, a draught for nervous disorders designed by the Romans and an Anglo-Saxon potion to banish infections!  Some of them contained weird and wonderful ingredients including cow bile!!

BURPS, BOTTOMS AND BILE! (Autumn 1)

During this topic we have been investigating the different types of teeth and their jobs. We looked at how plaque builds up and wrote our own Fact Files for younger children. 

We also performed a science experiment to see what effect different drinks/sauces have on a tooth-like surface (egg shells). The most damaging was vinegar! Better remember that next time we have chips!

We have been reading David Walliams' Demon Dentist as our class novel, we acted out scenes to bring it to life...poor Alfie!

LOCAL COMMUNITY PROJECT

Pioneers decided they wanted to make better use of and upgrade the area immediately outside of the Staff Room,  Year 4 and Year 5 classrooms. It was rather bleak and bare before. We had help from our Class Governor and a parent who regularly volunteers and supports our school,  to tidy, sweep and plant. It's looking brighter, but we'll be working on this area throughout the year, so we'll keep you posted!

Harvest Festival

We went down to St Davids Church on 25th September to celebrate Harvest and give thanks. As part of our performance, Pioneers created a fantastic array of artwork inspired by the Italian artist Guiseppe Arciboldo.

PE

We've been having loads of fun learning to play Tag Rugby!

Today, on the first day of our Autumn Term as we start our journey in Pioneers, we have made a formula for what we want our classroom to look like in one months time:

• there will be good behaviour for learning; not having to be told off, we will be working as a team to promote good behaviour
• there will be good listening and thinking about what is being said
• there will be no interrupting the teachers
• there will be no time-wasting
• everyone will feel safe inside and outside the classroom
• we will be smartly presented - both ourselves and our classroom environment
• we will not shout out; we patiently wait for our turn
• we will be happy
• we will be colourful thinkers
• we will be learning creatively

BURPS, BOTTOMS AND BILE! (Autumn 1 2019)

 Le Français

Year 3 and Year 4 have been learning French with Miss Canning.

Here are some videos they can use at home to revise!

Colours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZWN2Uragvc

Numbers         

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liP5GecvBQk

Greetings 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXkJ88ygPY0

Days of the week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rim94Xp2XQ4

Months of the Year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw-hbPt-Zsw

Pioneers 2018/2019

Summer 2 2019 - Blue Abyss 

Summer 1 2019

We have had loads of fun in our Potions topic. We really loved the experiments that we did. We created carbon dioxide by mixing baking powder with vinegar. The best part though was when we got to walk on custard! We found out that custard is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means it is a liquid and can be poured, but as soon as you exert any pressure onto it, it takes on the properties of a solid. Some of us then went home and made oobleck, which is another non-Newtonian fluid.  

We had a wonderful trip to Long Whatton Organic Farm on Thursday 2nd May 2019. It was great to visit the farm again and see what had changed. One of our favourite moments was running through the long grass and falling over. Thanks to Dave and Amy for being amazing guides. 

Spring 2 2019

We had a great day at Castle Rock learning about 'Life Skills' and what we could do to stay safe. We learnt about the recovery position, water safety, bandaging and bleeding, how to call for the emergency services, kitchen safety and internet safety.  We also made lots of new friends from other schools. 

Making Easter Bonnets with our family and Friends

We used place value counters to explain how we could divide larger numbers that were not in the times tables we already knew.

A big thank you to Mr Richards, who is a Science teacher at a high school, who came in to teach us about liquids and what happens when we heat them up and cool them down. 

As part of our Playlist topic, we made some pan pipes. We discovered that the shorter straws made a higher pitch sound and the longer straws made a lower pitch sound. They were really hard to blow though!

Spring 1 2019     

This half term we have been learning to play badminton. So far we have practised how to throw and catch the shuttlecock. Not as easy as you might think! We have learnt how to serve using backhand and also how to hit the shuttlecock over the net. The coach, Carol, has been a great teacher. 

Our topic is 1066 and we had a Norman day. The children and staff came in costume. First we had to grind the wheat to make the flour. This was really hard. Fortunately Mrs Reynolds had also bought some flour from the shop. After that we made our own bread. To make pottage, we cut up lots of vegetables and put them in a gravy. We had to use porridge oats to bulk it out so that it would feed more people. This is what the poor Normans would have done. We weren't too sure about what it would taste like, but actually we really liked it. Some of us even asked for seconds and thirds! We also had an archery competition. 

In Science, we are learning about classification of living things. Today we went out on an invertebrate hunt. Once we had found all of the cards we took them back to class and used a classification key to find out what they were all called. 

   Autumn 2, 2018    

When we started to learn about our digestive system, we found out that our teeth were a very important part at the beginning of the process. Our teeth are different shapes and sizes to help us bite and chew different types of food. Then we tasted different types of food to see which teeth we used. That was fun. 

Each week we enjoy choosing something that we have achieved and that we are proud of to put into our Proud Scrap Books. 

We made and baked Poppy Day biscuits to share with our family and friends. 

We had a great time learning some self-defence moves in our Judo taster session. 

A great workshop of the Community Support Officers about how to stay safe, how to make a 999 call and who our trusted adults are. 

Parents joined us to make Christmas crafts

As part of our topic in Hinduism, we went on a trip to the Shree Hindu Temple in Leicester. Every morning at 10am the Hindu's worship at this temple. We were very lucky to see this. There was lots of singing and dancing. After the prayers, we were able to look at all of the deities in the temple. Hindus believe in one God but this god can take on many different forms. There is also a big bell that is rung to let God know that they are ready to worship. It was a very beautiful place. 

      Autumn Term 1, 2018    

We are starting off the year with a trip to the USA, where we will be finding about the states of America and some of their famous landmarks. We will also find out about the native Americans. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our topic on Road Trip USA and learnt lots about the States of America and the different landmarks that we would see if we visited. 

We particularly enjoyed learning about the native American tribe called the Iroquois who lived in America. They did not live in a teepee like we though, they actually lived in long houses. We listened to some native American music and made our own rain sticks. That was fun. We also listened to a story called 'The Indian in the Cupboard' about a boy who put a plastic Indian in the cupboard and it came to life. We then made our own cupboards and put plastic figures in them. Then wrote own own versions of the story. 

Pioneers 2017/2018

Summer Term 2, 2018

Summer Term 1, 2018   

Investigating sound in Science

   Spring Term 2, 2018  

Happy Easter All!

Parents, family and friends helping the children to make an Easter Bonnet for our parade and competition

We loved watching the eggs in the foyer, waiting to see if they would hatch. We had 10 eggs and all of them hatched! It was great fun to hold the baby chicks when they visited us in class.  

In Science we have been learning about States of Matter. We discovered that water could be changed into a solid, liquid or gas by changing temperature. Here we are making our own mini water cycles in a bag!

Using place value counters to help us understand how short division works. We are getting there, but it is hard. 

Life Skills Day

 On Tuesday 27th February, we went to Castle Rock High School to learn some life skills. We learnt how to stay safe on the internet, how to stay safe near water, what hazards there could be in the kitchen, how to put on bandages, how to put someone into the recovery position and how to call 999. We had a fantastic day learning lots of new things. We also made lots of new friends as we were mixed up in groups with year 4 children from other schools in our Collaborative group. We can't wait to see them again next year.

Spring Term 1, 2018 

Below are some photographs of what we have been up to this half term

We really enjoyed our badminton sessions with Carol and Eve. Thank you. 

Working collaboratively to make rules for new games. 

  Autumn Term 2 2017   

A lovely morning of making Christmas decorations and calendars with parents, friend and family. Great to see you all, the children had a wonderful time.

A fantastic trip to Beaumanor Hall to learn about life in the Victorian times. We especially enjoyed the experience of the school room. One child even got the cane for using the wrong hand for writing!

The children enjoyed playing with Victorian toys and have made their own zoetrope which is a toy with moving pictures. If you spin it around quickly, it looks as though the characters are moving. 

Another new school year is upon us. We are very excited to get back to school and see our new, extended classroom. Mrs Reynolds is still the class teacher in Pioneers but this year we have Mrs Cooke as our classroom support. We have got some exciting things planned for this year, so keep checking back here to see what we've been up to. But for now, take a look at our plan for the first half term. 

Autumn Term 1 2017   

This half term, Mr Emmerton has been teaching us to play the Djembe drums. We have learnt an accompaniment called 'Yankadi'. To help us play the correct notes we remember it as 'dog, chee-tah, dog mon-key, dog, fish, dog, mon-key'. We are really improving in playing in time with each other. At the end of December we will be putting on a performance to the rest of the school and our parents. 

Amazing work in class and superb homework around the Iron Man. Thank you to the children and also the parents for all of your support on this topic. 

Collecting invertebrates from our school field to take back to class and classify using a key. When we had finished we made sure that we released them all back to their natural habitats. 

For Roald Dahl Day on Wednesday 13th September, we wrote some poems based on characters from his books and we also made Roly-Poly birds from the Enormous Crocodile book. Above you can see us making our birds and below is some of the rhyming poetry that we wrote.