Corvus and Draco - Reflect and Review

Dear Parents and Carers,

As Writers, Corvus have been working on a non-chronological report about wolves - turning our research notes into full sentences and ensuring they were structured in clear sections with subheadings. We wrote our reports and had the chance to edit our work. As Mathematicians, we have been continuing our exploration of Grouping and Sharing and methods of division and completed all of our Maths assessments. As Geographers, Corvus have been exploring what makes Antarctica so cold and looking climate data for the Rothera Research Station, matching it to diary entries from across the year. We were particularly interested in the fact Antarctica’s summer is our winter! 

This week, in English, Draco started planning our newspaper report about Ivan escaping from the wolves in Pinewood forest.  As part of a drama lesson, we thought about who would have been in the forest and witnessed key events and staged our own press conference. Some members of the class adhered to the role of  reporters and collected quotes from eye witnesses to use in our newspaper report.   We also explored how a reporting clause functions in a newspaper report by telling the reader who has said something.  As a challenge,  we generated quotes where the speech is separated in the middle by the speech verb and extra details about the speaker. It really was an enjoyable lesson filled with a lot of excitement! As Mathematicians,  we have been  looking at related multiplication and division facts.  Children explored scaling facts by 10 and 100, for example using the fact that 4 × 7 = 28 to derive 4 × 70 = 280 and 4 × 700 = 2,800. They looked at this relationship with division, for example using 12 ÷ 3 = 4 to derive 120 ÷ 3 = 40 and 1,200 ÷ 3 = 400. Please could parents continue to practise times tables with children at home. In PSHE, children have been exploring health and wellbeing and self-regulation. We looked at patience and how we can use patience to improve a situation or solve a problem. The children provided lots of lovely examples through role play and used their My Big Think Journal to self-reflect. 

Next Week

It’s our trip to the Science Museum and Hercules in London and we’re very excited! A reminder to please be at school for 07:45 (information below) on Thursday 11th so that the coach can leave on time. 

As Writers, Corvus will be starting to build a story map of Ivan’s adventures and building our summarising skills by writing about our experiences on the trip to London. 

In Maths, Corvus will be applying our multiplication and division skills to the 3 and 4 times tables in a variety of contexts. In Wider Curriculum, Corvus will be starting our R.E. unit on Christianity - has Christmas lost its true meaning? 

Coming Up

11th December - Hercules and Science Museum Visit  Please ensure that children are at school for 07:45 for the trip ready to leave at 8am. Your child will need to be wearing normal school uniform with comfortable shoes and a coat. They should have lunch, including a snack and a full water bottle. We expect to arrive back at school at approximately 7:30 pm.

12th December - Christmas Service at St Peter and Paul's (2-6 only) – Children in Draco and Corvus can come dressed as shepherds for the Christmas Service if they would like to. Please don’t buy anything for it specifically, each phase will be a different part of the nativity, but think low-key, tea towels on the heads etc – Be excited for the staff’s important dressing up role too! Starts at 10am, please be at school for 9.15am if you wish to walk with us. 

12th December - HSA Christmas Bazaar after school

15th December - Reading Passports Returned to School

Spirit Week

We are excited to announce that our Christmas Spirit Week is coming up from 15th–19th December. Throughout the week, students are invited to join in the festive fun by dressing up according to each day’s theme and helping us celebrate the holiday season. Participation is completely optional. If your child chooses not to take part in the themed dress-up days, they should come to school in their regular uniform as usual. We look forward to a joyful and spirited week together!

Monday – All Aboard the Polar Express!

Start the week by jumping on the festive train! Come dressed for a magical ride: PJs, conductor vibes, or any look that screams “hot chocolate at 3 AM.”

Tuesday – Sparkle and shine

Time to sleigh the runway! Wear your most shimmering, glimmering, twinkling outfits.

Wednesday – Head-to-Toe Christmas

Bring out your merry headgear and Christmas shoes and socks. If your toes are dashing and your head is dancing… you’re on the right track.

Thursday – Christmas Jumper Day 2.0

You snow the drill: pull out those festive jumpers for round two! The bolder, the brighter, the better.

Friday – Freestyle Christmas

It’s time to express your elf! Anything Christmasy goes: reindeer glam, gingerbread chic, full Santa realness...

19th December - End of Term 1pm finish time