Friday 13th February
Well, unlucky for some but Friday the 13th is my lucky day! We have had a fabulous week here in South America. The Children have been busy doing some practice papers each morning this week. I have been SO proud of how they have handled this and have all done amazingly well, showing lots of progress from the start of the year. I was so impressed, that the children earnt themselves enough marbles to get a marble jar treat on Thursday afternoon. There was games, snacks and karaoke, and a wonderful afternoon was had by all.
We have also began our final piece in our art topic, which will be a piece of street art for a community area. So far we have only done the sketching - next week we will add colour - but already, they are all so beautiful. The detail and care that has gone into all of the pieces is phenomenal, and I can't wait to share them with you next week.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
Friday 6th February
Well, another wonderful week here in South America! We have been busy in English writing a persuasive letter to the government as if we were in Victorian Britain, persuading them to look at children's working conditions. I have been so impressed with the quality of the children's work, and will send some home for you to look at.
We have also had a hands on week in maths, where we have been exploring volume and capacity. We began by exploring volume using cubes, and seeing how many different shapes we could make that all had the same volume. Then, we conducted an experiment where we estimated the capacity of different containers and then filled them to compare. Some of our estimates were very accurate; however, some were miles off! We had lots of fun in our groups measuring capacity, and all came away with a better understanding of the concept.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Friday 30th January
What a fabulous week we have had here in South America! On Tuesday, we battled through the storm to go on our class trip to the Victoria Tunnel and Northern Print. The weather might have been brutal, but we had a fabulous day regardless. We began our day with a printing workshop where we recreated WW2 'Dig for Victory' style posters. We all had lots of fun turning the printing press and designing our fruit and vegetables. The end results were incredible!
In the afternoon, we had our visit to the Victoria Tunnel. We learnt so much about this fantastic piece of our local history, including all about the Byker grannies, toilets and how to put a gas mask on. The tunnel itself was fascinating, and the children were all surprised at how much they enjoyed themselves. I was also so impressed with their knowledge of WW2 during our classroom session. I was blown away at how much they remembered from our lessons, and getting the chance to see first hand how people had to adapt during the war really helped their understanding.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
Friday 23rd January
We were treated on Wednesday morning to another visit from our friends from the Music Service, for a KS2 music workshop. These are always filled with fun and the sessions are very much looked forward to. We weren't disappointed this time, as the team brought with them a set of djembe drums from Africa. As we all joined in with a variety of African songs, singing in unison, echo, call and response and in rounds, some of us were lucky enough to be given the chance to drum along with the beat.
We left the hall with our hearts lifted and our spirits high.
I also wanted to share some of the fabulous artwork we have done. We have been focussing on 'street art', and had a go at one point perspective. We used a vanishing point horizon line and for sections of the page to create depth in our artwork. I'm sure you'll agree that the finished pieces are fantastic!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Friday 16th January
Well, another wonderful week here in South America. We have been busy in Maths learning how to calculate the area of parallelograms and triangles. We even learnt a song to help us remember one of the formulas that I know the children would love to share with you. In English we have been planning our new narrative, based on our class reader 'Street Child', which we will be completing next week. In science, we looked at how different living things have become adapted to suit their habitat. We used camels as a case study, and then went on to research a saguaro cactus, emperor penguin and grey seals. I wonder if you could find out about any other plants or animals, and how they are adapted to suit their habitat.
In history, we have been learning about Victorian Britain, and this week was specifically about children. We began by making a comparison of life today vs life for children in Victorian Britain and we were amazed to see how poorly they were treated. We then, in groups, researched different jobs that children often had to do to help support their families if they were from a poorer background. Life for these children was very different from the life a wealthy child, and some of the jobs and working conditions were horrendous, I know you will be just as shocked as us when you hear about it.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
Friday 9th January
Well, the first week of 2026 is done and it has flown by! I have been so impressed with how the children have returned to school and worked so hard. We have started reading 'Street Child' in English and we have been really enjoying the story so far, delving deeper into some of the characters in the book. We have also had the opportunity to revise some previous topics in our maths lessons, and I just have to share how amazed I was in our percentages lesson. We had a quick re-cap, and the class blew me away with their knowledge and the standard of their answers. I'm sure they would love to impress you with their percentage knowledge this weekend if you quiz them with a few numbers.
I also need to make a quick shoutout to some of year 6's who went along to Thorp Academy for a mini basketball tournament today. They played so well, won all of their matches and progressed through to the next round. I am so proud of them; Mr Harrison was full of praise for their attitude and teamwork. Huge congratulations to you all!
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!