Willow Class News

KS2 SATs Information

Summer Term Curriculum Letter

Spring Term Curriculum Letter

Autumn Term Curriculum Letter.

07.11.25

Willow  have had a fantastic first week back. They have worked incredibly hard and have all shown great focus and determination. Mrs Webber and I have been so impressed by the English writing this week too. The children have constructed some amazing complex and compound sentences using accurate punctuation and some beautiful descriptive language. Well done Willow. We have also had a heavy grammar and spelling focus too. Maths has had a fraction focus. We have continued with addition and subtraction of fractions as well as equivalent fractions. In science we have looked at forces and gravity and next week we will be conducting an experiment based around that. We would also like to mention the amazing pieces of Space homework that has been handed in this week too! All in all a great week Willow!

                         

           

24.10.25

Willow have worked extremely hard again this week! We have spent much time in English revising the components of a simple sentence as well as practicing our handwriting and editing through dictation activities. We hope this will help underpin the writing that Willow will produce after half term. In Maths, children have undertaken some brilliant work in multiplying and dividing numbers by 10, 100 and 1000. In Science, children have learned about the shape of the moon and in Project, have learned about, what became known as, 'The Handshake Agreement', which marked the official end of the 'Space Race' in 1975. I was particularly impressed by the teamwork Willow displayed during our JIGSAW lesson this week, where children had to consider a range of evidence and make a decision as a group. Willow have worked tremendously hard this half term and they should be so proud of all they have achieved. With best wishes for a restful break, Mrs Webber & Miss Quast.

17.10.25

Hello! It has been so lovely to be back with your brilliant children this week. I have been particularly impressed by the standard of children's writing, particularly how thoroughly and methodically children have edited their work, which is an especially difficult skill to grasp. The children and Miss Quast have clearly been working extremely hard this term! In Maths, we have explored factors and prime numbers and children are really getting the hang of this and developing in confidence in applying to more complex problems. Children have also explored how the Bible shows wisdom to Christians and had some really interesting thoughts on the relevance of the Bible today. In Science, children used the idea of the Earth's rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky. We have also looked at the events of the 'Space Race' in the 1960s, landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon! We thought about what it must have been like for them and then wrote postcards home! A busy week indeed!

10.10.25

It has been another fantastic week in Willow Class. We have achieved a lot this week and I continue to be impressed by the children’s focus, determination and hard work. In maths, we have completed perimeter and area. In our fluency part of maths, we have worked on powers of numbers and multiplication of fraction. In English, we have completed planning for our biographies and have started our independent writes. The children have all displayed a great understanding of Katherine Johnson – I have been impressed. We have also looked at how the Qu’ran helps Muslim’s to live wisely. In project, we have written a balanced argument about the advantages and disadvantages of sending animals into Space and the moral aspects surrounding this. In Science, we have looked at the orbital relationship between the Sun, Moon and Earth. It has also been wonderful to have Mrs Webber back too.

             

                  

03.10.25

We have had another packed week of learning in Willow. We started off the week by finally finishing our assessments. As mentioned, I have been so impressed by the attitude the children have displayed and their determination. We had the NSPCC visit. They were very impressed by Willow Class’s mature attitude, comments, questions and listening skills. In Maths, we have looked at perimeter as well as addition and subtraction of decimals. In English, we have focused on some grammar points (parenthesis and adverbials) that we will need to include in our biographies. In guided reading, we have continued with the book Hidden Figures and answered a range of reading gem style questions. In science, we have taken a closer look at how the planets orbit the sun and have calculated how many earth days and earth year it takes each planet to make a full orbit around the sun. We have had some interesting discussions as well in PSHE in regards to our attitudes towards our lives here in England and how these attitudes suddenly change when we realise how difficult some children’s lives in other countries are in comparison to our own.

26.09.25

This week has been a week of trips, movies and assessments! The week started off with our amazing trip to the planetarium. The children absolutely loved it and really got a lot out of the it. We also watched the movie ‘Hidden Figures’ to inform our biography writing further about Katherine Johnson. The children were completely inspired by this film and I feel have gained valuable understanding, not only about Katherine Johnson, but also about the racial segregation in America at the time and the challenges that black people faced. We have completed most of our assessments this week. We have a couple of maths papers that will be done on Monday. I have however, been very impressed by the children’s attitude towards them. They have taken the assessments in their stride and have all viewed them as a stepping stone in their learning journeys. Well done Willow

          

19.09.25

We've had another fantastic week in Willow! The children have shown great focus, determination, and perseverance—well done, everyone! In Maths we've continued exploring place value, including ordering numbers up to ten million, rounding, and tackling reasoning problems. In English we’ve researched the inspiring Katherine Johnson and used our Year 5 and 6 writing skills to map and write about her life. In project, our Space Race topic led to exciting discussions about the USA vs. Russia and how historical events are understood through primary and secondary sources. In Science, we explored evidence that proves the Earth is a sphere, with some brilliant discussions and writing from the children.

                          

12.09.25

It has been an amazing start back for Willow Class. We have worked incredibly hard this week and have really hit the ground running! In maths, we have been focusing on improving our recall of timetables in preparation for our Maths SATs papers. We have also started place value. In English we have begun looking at biographies and have learnt all about Simone Biles the famous gymnast. We have story mapped her incredible life! In guided reading, we are studying the book ‘Hidden Figures’ and using the text to answer our reading gem-based questions. The children are really enjoying this amazing non-fiction text. In project, we have begun to analyse, in-depth, the very philosophical question: ‘What is more important – the journey or the destination?’.. In science, we have started looking at Space and the children have each created a fact file based on a planet of their choice. I would also like to say how happy I am to be back at Micheldever Finally, I would like to personally welcome Mr Forster! He is an amazing asset to Willow and we are very grateful to have him!

18.07.25

Wow! What a week it has been. We have enjoyed all the end of term traditions we have here at Micheldever: rounders on the field, ice pops on the  playground, the game 'Empires' and, of course, our wonderful end of year leavers service this morning. It has been a pleasure teaching your lovely children this year and I look forward to seeing some of them in the new academic year. To our     wonderful Year 6's, we wish you all the very best at secondary school in September. Your new teachers are going to be so very lucky to have you all in their classes. Thank you parents for all of your support this year. With very best wishes for a restful summer.

 

11.07.25

What a week! THANK YOU for coming to support us in our production of 'Matilda' on Wednesday evening. I am sure you'll agree  that the children were FANTASTIC! Well done Willow; you make such a great team! As you can imagine, we have spent a LOT of time rehearsing this week but we have managed to squeeze in some brilliant learning too! In Project, we have started to learn about Alexander the Great and what made him so great(!), we have produced some   beautiful tessellations in art, inspired by Jenifa Chowdhury; we made 3D shapes using polydron in Maths and have revised how to interpret and draw pie charts! In RE, we have concluded our  learning on Humanism and have enjoyed exhibiting our learning to you this afternoon. Have a sunny weekend! 

         

 

04.07.25

Wow! How time is flying! I cannot believe we only have two weeks of the term left! Willow have been working exceptionally hard on their production this week, squeezing in practice wherever possible! It promises to be fantastic and we are looking forward to showing off our hard work on Wednesday night. Thank you for all of your support in finding costumes and helping your child learn their lines and song lyrics. In English, children have written pieces reflecting on their last year at Micheldever and looked ahead to next year and all that is to come - you will be able to read what your child has read in their annual report. In art, children have worked hard to draw tessellations in the style of Jenifa       Chowdhury and we have worked hard to find missing angles in Maths - one of our favourite things to teach! Well done to our lovely Year 6 children who represented our school so well in their bike ability today

                        

              

27.06.25

This week our big focus has been our end of year production and it is really starting to come together, thank you to those who have supported children to learn their lines, it is making a huge difference! In between rehearsals we have been working on      percentages in maths and using what we do know how to calculate (like 10% and 1%) to help us work out what we don't know (like 11% and 21%). In English we have finished the story Iliad and Odyssey, written a section in the first person and also planned and begun to write our favourite part of the story.

We were super impressed with the mature behaviour and sensitives displayed by both year groups when we learnt about puberty for girls and boys as a group of year 5's and puberty and conception to birth for the year 6's. They listened and asked lots of questions - we hope it has sparked further conversations at home. The highlight was obviously sports afternoon, where they showed sportsmanship and camaraderie towards each other and other classes. We have some talent in the school for running!

 

 

20.06.25

Willow have had another great week. A particular highlight has got to be our morning at Henry Beaufort, where children represented our school beautifully. They engaged in a wide range of activities and races and showed excellent sportsmanship throughout. Well done, Willow! We have also made some brilliant headway with our production - it promises to be really fantastic. Do keep your eyes peeled for more information about this. As well as this, we have revised how to multiply fractions by whole numbers in Maths and considered the role of dialogue in our story writing. Children have learned about  tessellations in art and have continued their RE learning with Miss Morse. The children have also learned about the role of the heart in our bodies and have begun to use some of the vocabulary associated with its function. Have a lovely, sunny weekend!

         

13.06.25

I can't believe I am writing another newsletter entry already! Time really is flying by! Willow have had another brilliant week. They have been busy revising equivalent fractions this week and applying their knowledge to ordering, comparing, adding and subtracting fractions. They have nicely picked up from where they left off last time we explored fractions in class and have made excellent progress. Children have really got stuck into their new unit of writing, which will explore Marcia Williams' interpretation of Homer's, 'The Iliad and the Odyssey'. So far, children have enjoyed getting to know Odysseus, which we hope will lend itself well to some lovely character descriptions in their final writes. Children have also begun their new units of RE, exploring the idea of a 'good life', and Art, where children will explore the work of local artist Jennifa Chowdhury. Willow have also begun the long-awaited rehearsals for their end of term production, 'Matilda'. Please do encourage your child to learn their lines and song lyrics - this will greatly support our practice time.

              

                

06.06.25

Willow have had a brilliant week. As you have seen from our updates, the Y6's are having the time of their lives down at Calshot Activity Centre, where they have enjoyed all sorts of activities including climbing, skiing, sailing and high ropes. Mrs Griffiths also appears to be having a wonderful time and Mrs Webber enjoyed seeing them on Wednesday - she even got a go on the team swing! The Y5's are keen to learn more about their trip and we look forward to sharing photos with them on Monday to give them a taste of what's in store for them next year. In the Y6's absence, the Y5's have had a superb week with Miss Morse and Mrs Webber. They have made amazing progress in division and are able to show their remainders as both decimals and fractions; they have written some brilliant Greek myths and have started publishing these into mini books to share with their buddies. In Project, children have undertaken a research task exploring the differences between Athens and Sparta ready to share with the Y6's on their return. They are looking forward to testing the Y6's with a quiz to see how much they have learned!

 

23.05.25

Willow have had a great end to the first half term. They have worked exceptionally hard in English and have produced some of the best writing we have seen from them! Children have shown such pride in their work that they have also published them on laptops to create a class 'Mythologica' book - we look forward to showing this to you at our exhibition of learning in the summer, along with the children's digital artwork. In Maths, the Year 6's have been supporting the Y5's with long multiplication - we have discussed common mistakes to help ensure accurate calculating and, in Science, we have learned about the different components of blood and their function. In Project, we have learned about the Battle of Troy and considered elements of the story that are likely to be true and those that are likely to have changed over time. A particularly exciting element of our week is the distribution of scripts for our end of term production and leavers' hoodies for our Year 6's! An exciting half term ahead! 

 

16.05.25

A huge well done to our lovely Year 6's who have worked tremendously hard on their SATs papers this week. We are so proud of you all for the effort you have put in and for the resilience you have shown. Thank you, too, to the Year 5's, who have coped really well with the changes to the timetable this week - they have completed some fantastic geometry work in Maths and some beautiful poetry about Greek gods and goddesses in English with Miss Morse. In addition to all of this, children have got creative by depicting the Greek gods and goddesses they have designed by editing photographs and using clay. Children have thought really carefully about these, which also shows in the writing they have planned for next week's English. We ended the week on Greek Day, where we particularly enjoyed making Greek salads for our Greek feast! Thank you for your support with costumes! 

        

     

09.05.25

Willow have worked very hard again this week and we have managed to squeeze such a lot of learning in, despite us only having a four day week! Children's writing is looking really good and we've been so impressed with how children have applied different features we've modelled into their innovations. We can't wait to see how this translates into their final pieces. After next week, we will have lots of lovely art work to accompany them too, which is very exciting. Children have been working hard to solve problems involving measure in Maths and have applied their knowledge of ratio to support them converting between units of metric and imperial measure. Children have prepared their recipes for Greek salads in DT, ready for our feast next week, and have been busy creating pieces of music using all the knowledge learned with Miss Morse. Next week is our long-awaited SATs week, where our lovely Year 6 children will have opportunity to demonstrate all their hard work. We are so proud of you, whatever the outcome, and wish you all the luck in the world. 

      

02.05.25

We have been so busy this week! Children have worked hard in Maths, where we have been exploring volume. Children are now familiar with what volume is and how it can be calculated. They applied their knowledge by making a series of cubes and cuboids whose volumes increased incrementally by drawing nets to specific dimensions - a challenge but we got there in the end! We have had great fun in English where we have used Victoria Topping's illustrations in the text, 'Mythologica' to inspire some practice writing. Children are chomping at the bit to create their own Greek god or goddess from scratch to provide the focus of their writing - it will be worth the wait! Children have continued their learning with Miss Morse in RE, where they have looked at how submission is demonstrated by Muslims; DT, where they have researched existing Greek salad recipes; and Music, where they have created their own soundscapes! Not to mention SPaG scavenger hunts, using colons and semi-colons to punctuate complex lists and practicing our spelling rules! Phew! Time for a bank holiday weekend I think! Please do check your emails for a letter detailing information about our Ancient Greek Project Day coming up. 

                    

25.04.25

Willow have had a great start to the term, where they have started to gain an understanding of who the Ancient Greeks were and what they believed. To do this, children have researched a Greek god or goddess and created 'shrines' dedicated to them, which have been added to our Ancient Greek 'temple'. This is filtering into our English learning as well, where children have read and unpicked the features of a non-chronological report about the Greek god, Apollo. In Maths, children have been learning about volume, exploring how we can calculate and estimate the volume of cubes and cuboids using both images and formula to help us. We have been very lucky to welcome Miss Morse to the Willow team, who has explored the term 'submission' with the children in RE, the components of a balanced diet in DT and the vocabulary required to accurately identify different elements in a composition in music.

 

04.04.25

Willow have had a great end to a great term this week. We have worked SO hard at showed such resilience in Maths, where we have learned how to find percentages of amounts. In English, we have shown our learning power of reflectiveness by making edits to our already-fantastic stories and we have also written formal persuasive letters to Birch class following our protest last week. In Science, we had fun with bicarbonate of soda as we investigated the indicators of an irreversible change and had great fun in DT, testing our flood-proof homes: they survived! We rounded off our PE unit with hockey tournaments and enjoyed our final computing lesson with Mr Johnston on Thursday afternoon. Thank you for your continued support this term. I hope you have a restful Easter break. 

28.03.25

Willow have been getting creative this week - they have made flood proof homes using wood, cardboard, tinfoil and plastic! We cannot wait to test them next week and see which of them will survive! As well as this, children have worked hard creating cardboard placards for their climate change protest. In Maths, we have revisited fraction, decimal and percentage equivalence and are now working to find percentages of amounts. Our stories are almost finished in English and Mrs Griffiths and I have been really impressed with how much children have learned in this unit and what improvements we can see in their writing. We have really enjoyed the opportunity to share our learning with you and hope you enjoyed your afternoon with us.

                      

21.03.25

We have shown real resilience in Willow this week, particularly in Maths, where we have revised how to add and subtract fractions. It is a tricky skill but one that the children have persevered with and now know how to do! We have worked hard on our writing, too, responding reflectively to feedback as we have progressed. Children have now completed their practice write and are almost ready to use what they have learned over these past few weeks to plan and write a story completely independently! In Science, we explored different ways of separating mixtures and used the equipment provided to separate the solids and liquids. In DT, we tested materials as part of the design process for our flood-proof homes and we have considered how we could organise a peaceful protest to raise awareness of climate change and how Micheldever can help. We hope to share this with you at our exhibitions next week. 

                 

         

14.03.25

Willow have worked exceptionally hard this week and we are very proud of the conscientious attitude they have taken towards their Mock SATs. Particular thanks to the Year 5's, who have endured them with their older peers and have provided a quiet workspace for the tests to be conducted. As well as these, Willow have made linear number sequences with matchsticks in Maths, have planned stories in English, evaluated flood-proof homes in DT, considered reversible and irreversible changes in Science and considered what they can do to limit the impact of climate change on Micheldever! A very busy and productive week in Year 5 and 6! Please keep your eyes out for information regarding an amendment to home learning following feedback from parent consultations this week.

 

07.03.25

Willow have had a busy week; World Book Day being our highlight of course! We enjoyed creating some micro art of our favourite book covers as well as creating our very own 'Gobblefunk' dictionary! We have written the first draft of our stories in English and have worked hard to solve multi-step problems in Maths. We created a beautiful collaborative piece of artwork with Mrs Featherstone, inspired by El Anatsui, in art and have advised teachers on how they can help the sugar in their tea dissolve quicker thanks to a Science investigation conducted at the beginning of the week. 

   

28.02.25

Willow have had a super start back- in art, children have created sculptures in the style of El Anatsui, using milk bottle tops! Thank you for those. Children were inspired by the rainforest so our classroom is currently full of trees, turtles and blowfish! We have brushed up on our written methods for addition and subtraction in Maths and, in English, we have discussed the importance of an exciting plot in a story and used story mountains to plan some writing based on the picture book, Flood. A real highlight this week, has been seeing the fantastic learning undertaken by children at home. The dioramas, fact files and sculptures children have created are just amazing- thank you so much for your support. 

                                                 

                              

14.02.25

What another fantastic week for Pine Class! We have enjoyed and worked hard in all of our explore time activities, I think a highlight was making 2d and 3d shapes out of marshmallows and sticks! In maths, we've been having a great time with division. Year one have been sharing like pros in twos, while the year twos have really taken to their 2s, 5s, and 10s – go team! In English, we’ve finished our super informative spy journals, and I just know they’ll come in handy for Silver Knight on his exciting investigations. We’ve also had fun diving into all the emotions that Charlie felt in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which led to some brilliant chats among the class. On Safer Internet Day, we were brilliant at spotting scams, showing how clued up we are about staying safe online. As we wrap up this half term, I’m genuinely proud of every single one of you in Pine Class for all your hard work and fantastic attitudes. Have a lovely half term – can’t wait to see everyone back, ready for more learning fun!

                                   

                  

07.02.25

Willow have had another very positive week. We have been particularly impressed with the children's Maths learning over the past few days, which has explored ratio and solving problems involving unequal sharing. Children's informative writing is well under way in English, where we are innovating an explanation text about the life cycle of a sloth in preparation for our inventions next week. Willow  are enthusiastic about this term's project and have enjoyed learning about the tropical rainforest biome this week. Thank you very much for all of your bottle tops - please keep them coming! 

 

31.01.25

It has been lovely to be with Willow again this week. We have been busy in Maths revising fraction, decimal and percentage equivalence and they have really impressed us with their understanding. We have begun a new unit in English, where we will be writing explanation texts about animals from the picture book, 'The Greak Kapok Tree''. So far, we have read an explanation text about the life cycle of a butterfly and unpicked some of its advanced vocabulary. Children have undertaken some research about Boa Constrictors ready for some writing on Monday. Willow explored the assemblage artist, Betye Saar in Art this week and have explored biomes in Project. Do please make sure you have received the home learning letter - many thanks.

 

24.01.25

Willow have worked exceptionally hard this week. We have continued to explore the Amazon rainforest and written some poetry using personification and alliteration. In geography, we worked in pairs and used the intrernet and atlases to learn keys facts about different countries in south America. The children then had to present their findings to the rest of the class. In maths, we started by understanding the difference between factors and multiples and then we moved onto square and cube numbers. They enjoyed using the unifix cubes to make the cube numbers. Next week we welcome back Mrs Webber, we know she is looking forward to getting to know the class.       

17.01.25

This week Willow class have learnt about some different types of animals that live in the Amazon rainforest and Amazon river. It was fascinating to learn that 10% of the worlds animal species live there despite only covering 1% of the worlds surface! In English we have looked at a diary entry and written our own pretending that we are in the Amazon rainforest and had to describe some of the animals and birds that we saw. In maths we have continued to solve problems based around length, capacity and weight. We are getting the hang of whether we need to multiply or divide by 10, 100 or 1,000 depending on what we are converting to. In geography we mapped out various human and physical features of South America by using atlases. Most had never used one before - it just goes to show how reliant we are on technology these days. Thank you for the increased number of PE kits we had in this week - we do appreciate your support.

20.12.24

Merry Christmas form Willow Class

                                         

13.12.24

As Christmas approaches, the excitement among the children is truly infectious! Although the festive season is just around the corner, there’s still lots of work to be done. In Maths, we've been exploring 3D shapes, identifying their properties, and even building nets to create them. It's wonderful to see such enthusiasm for learning! In English, we’ve embarked on an engaging informal letter-writing project. The children are crafting letters from the perspective of a soldier receiving the news on 7th May 1945 that the war has ended and he is coming home. To complement our theme, we've also delved into Michael Morpurgo’s touching book “Coming Home,” which many will remember from a Waitrose advert a few years back. We can't wait for the Winter Wonderland this weekend and eagerly anticipate all the Christmas festivities next week! Don't forget that Willow will be running the Christmas Service next Friday, and we would love for you to join us at the Church. As I approach my final week with the wonderful Willow Class, I feel incredibly blessed to have taught such an amazing group of children. You should be very proud of them—they have worked tremendously hard this term and are an absolute joy to teach! Wishing you all a splendid festive season ahead!

 

06.12.24

What a very fast week it has been! It’s been all about donning our journalist hats as we wrote up our report from Mrs Baily's fascinating visit. We learned about her mother, Elizabeth Jeans, and her evacuation from Southampton during the Blitz – truly an incredible experience that brought living history to life! In Maths, we explored the world of shape – naming and classifying the properties of 2D and 3D shapes, tackling symmetry along the way. It proved a bit tricky, so if you’re out and about, why not become shape detectives and help reinforce their learning? In Music, we’re busy practising for the Christmas Service and we’d love for you to join us! We’re also gearing up for our World War 2 museum Exhibition on Friday, featuring some amazing artefacts and even some songs created by the children. If you made it along, we hope you enjoyed everything the children have been learning!

 

29.11.24

Another week whizzes by! Willow class have been absolutely super this week, taking part in assessments to check on their learning, and they’ve shown brilliant resilience throughout. We’ve continued our time topic in Maths and delved into our Newspaper project in English. In Science, we explored how light is reflected, even trying to see our friends around the corner with mirrors! On Tuesday, the school enjoyed a fantastic workshop organised by Clare from EMTAS, featuring live accordion music and a chance to use "jig puppets". It was a lovely way to connect with our heritage. Later in the week, we welcomed Lisa's mum into school, who shared her mother's story as an evacuee during the Blitz. The children became the “press pack”, took notes, and will be writing their own reports. A huge thank you to Mim Mim for sharing her story and Mrs Bailey for telling it so brilliantly! What a busy week it’s been!

   

           

22.11.24

This week seems to have flown by and we are so grateful for our underfloor heating! I've had to remind the children to close the door when they dash out to their lockers, as the cold air does whip into the classroom. We kicked off the week by writing a song for this year’s anti-bullying week slogan, “Choose Respect,” using our poetry skills. Later, we learned about journalistic writing, focusing on Kristallnacht, which tied in with our poignant history lesson on the Holocaust. In maths, we revisited telling the time and began exploring elapsed time and reading timetables. Remember to practise this at home! In science, we observed how shadows behave and change in length. I'm incredibly proud of the children for their hard work. It was lovely to see Mrs Webber on Tuesday, and she'll be back in January. Just a quick reminder for some boys to bring their PE kits on Thursdays, particularly jogging bottoms with temperatures dropping.

 

15.11.24

What a whirlwind of a week we've had! On Monday, it was lovely watching Birch Class at the Church for Armistice Day. We then enjoyed a short stroll to hear Captain Roberts share his RAF stories and why remembering the 11th of November is so important. After that, we joined the Micheldever community for a touching service of remembrance and a two-minute silence. The highlight? Getting to hop on the Chinook helicopter and watching it take off—so fabulous!

In Maths, we’ve been getting stuck into multiplying and dividing fractions, and the children have been amazing! In English, we wrapped up our poetry unit with simile poems and metaphor ballads. A special shoutout to local artist Isabella Lambert for helping us with our sketching and line drawing in art. Just a quick reminder that PE is on Thursday; a few boys forgot their kits again this week. I would like to thank the parents for coming to the parents' evening—it's great to team up in partnership with you to support the children's progress!

 

08.11.24

We have had a great week back and it has flown by after half-term. This week we have started our poetry unit and are looking at different poems every day. This week the children have been so creative and have written Haikus, Limericks, Acrostics, concrete (shape) poems and cinquains. All have different rules about what they need to write and I have been really pleased with the outcome. Here is a limerick we wrote about Mr Johnson:

In our school, Mr Johnson's the head,
Where he leads with a smile, it is said,
He makes learning fun,
For everyone,
Ensuring we get our daily bread. 

In Maths we have continued our Fraction topic, and learned how to add, subtract and multiply fractions. We move onto dividing fractions next week.

In our topic we have found out about rationing, and why Britain turned to "dig for victory" and "make do and mend". Please ensure that children have their PE kit in school on a Thursday, as we started our new invasion game learning this week with an introduction to tag rugby. Many of the children - mostly boys - did not have their kits with them. We have also started our next science topic of Light - looking at the sources of light this week. We are looking forward to the "Micheldever's got Talent" next week and what the children will do.  Just a gentle reminder that the School exhibition is on 6^th December, and the children's "jigsaw" homework will need to be in school for this date. Have a wonderful weekend, and if you are attending a fire work display - please be really careful.

 

25.10.24

What a busy week it has been! The children have worked hard and absolutely deserve next week's half-term break. We kicked off on Monday in English by watching an animated clip called "Beyond the Lines," which vividly depicted the storming of the beaches in Normandy. This set the tone for a week focused on creativity in writing, emphasising the "show me, don’t tell me" technique. For example, instead of saying "The sand was hard to run through," we crafted sentences like, "My feet sank into the gritty grains, each stride a struggle against the stubborn surface. "In Maths, we delved into fractions. I was delighted to see how much they had retained since they last encountered them. This week, we've primarily concentrated on comparing fractions with different denominators. On Wednesday, we ventured to Manor Farm, exploring the experiences of evacuees transitioning from city to country life. Our day was filled with code-breaking activities, learning in a schoolroom as if we were children in the 1940s while discovering the significance of the "Dig for Victory" campaign during the war. Thursday afternoon brought a live link-up with a Year 5 class from Tower Hamlets, London, where we discussed our RE topic of belonging. It was utterly fascinating to explore the similarities and differences in our lives, particularly regarding the role of religion. Thank you all for your continued support, and I wish you a fantastic half-term!

                            

     

18.10.24

This week we have been looking at how the World War started to affect ordinary families by looking at the reasons that Neville Chamberlain started to evacuate children from the cities. We looked at how hard this must have been for families to be split from each other from between a year to the whole of the war.

In English, we have been using our skills as diary writers by writing the "lost pieces of Anne Frank's Diary". Anne's last input into her diary was 1^st August 1944, as on the 4^th August the hiding place was leaked to the Police who raided the building and captured the families in hiding. We have imagined what it must have been like to be found and then transported to the concentration camp which has resulted in some really wonderful writing. In DT our topic on seasonality comes to an end with Willow Class cooking a wartime seasonal meal of Squash Soup and Eggless Chocolate Cake. We are excited to invite parents in to taste our creations.

Maths has seen us develop our skills in short division and dividing by 2-digit numbers by using their factors. Again, this is a plea for the children to learn their tables as this would help the children calculate multiplication and division problems. Next Wednesday we are looking forward to joining Barton Stacey at Manor Farm looking at aspects of World War 2.

 

11.10.24

Another really busy week in Willow this week. We have thought about our place in our world and belonging in RE. This developed into a class poster of the wonderful Willow children and where they belong. In Maths we introduced square and cubed numbers and moved on to more formal methods for multiplication. If the children find themselves with spare time at home - learning their tables will never be a waste of time! In English and Topic, we have continued to look at World War II, with the miraculous evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, to how Anne Frank must have felt when her family was forced into hiding to escape the clutches of the German army and the fate of the concentration camp. In DT, we have looked at seasonal food, and this week will be designing a seasonal meal from WWII to cook on the 18^th of October. We would love for you to come into school in the afternoon next Friday and sample some of our hearty, wartime seasonal cooking. I will send out more information once the children have planned their meal next week. If your child has any food intolerances that we know of,  I will be in touch separately. I was pleased again to see everyone with their PE kit as they started to play the game of netball and begin to look at tactics of dodge and move. This was followed by the children using their knowledge of series circuits to overcome the issue of when one component is taken out of the circuit then the circuit fails (we can all remember the one bulb failing in a Christmas light string) by trying to put together a parallel circuit (thankfully like modern Christmas light chains) where the circuit remains on even if a bulb is blown. They did it, with very little input and by using their prior knowledge gained in this unit - I was so proud of them.

 

04.10.24

This week has flown by - with the beginning of the week meeting at Barton Stacey to meet Richard the Air Raid Warden. He taught us all about how World War II started and his role in this, especially during the Blitz by helping people who were injured, making sure people got to safety, and ensuring that the blackout was maintained during the night. We also got to touch, try on, and look at many artifacts from the period from Jackets to belts, helmets to medals. Following on from this we started our narrative diary unit as we are looking at the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. In Maths, we have moved on to our unit looking at multiplication and division, and have learned about factors, multiples, rules of divisibility, and prime numbers. It has been a busy week! Thank you for all your support with the children's homework. Please can you also continue to listen to the children read at home - even if a child can read, they need to practice the skill of decoding, and fluency and develop an understanding of the text. 

Have a lovely weekend

 

27.09.24

I was very proud of Willow Class this week. We have produced a song all about evacuees, and learnt to sing it with the guitar. They sang beautifully to the parents and visitors who attended the coffee morning on Thursday. Well done Willow Class.

In English we have written up our wartime chocolate cake recipe using persuasive instruction writing and although missing eggs - due to rationing - they do sound delicious.

In Maths we have been looking at mental methods for addition and subtraction as well as formal methods, using the inverse to calculate problems.

Topic this week built on the reasons why World War 2 began and looked at the invasion by Germany across Europe over the years from 1939 to 1942. This leads onto the next session when we look at the British being forced to withdraw through Dunkirk.

Science was fun as the children were looking at switches and why they are in circuits. They then put their circuits together making the switches.

I would like to thank all the class as everyone remembered that PE is on Thursday, so we all had our PE kits in school and although the weather was atrocious - we were able to continue developing the skills needed for netball in the hall.

Next Monday Willow Class are out of school all day at Barton Stacey School learning more about World War 2. You have had letters and I will meet you there at the school.

Have a super weekend,

                 

20.09.24

It's been a really busy week in Willow! We’ve introduced into our day a new 10-minute run, and some of the children are absolutely smashing it, completing between 18 and 20 laps around the playground. In English, we’ve been consolidating the skills we've learned over the past fortnight. The children have been working hard on a persuasive instructional piece, creating a wartime recipe for Cheesy Tomato and Potato loaves – quite the culinary adventure! In spelling, we've been focusing on plural rules, and the children have each received their Look, Say, Write, Cover, Check sheets to pop into their homework books – a great way to keep track of their learning. Speaking of homework, this week’s assignments include daily reading, spelling practice, a maths exercise, and an English task. We’re also excited about the jigsaw homework where we’re asking the children to complete five out of the nine pieces for an exhibition of home learning on 6th December. In maths, we’ve been tackling rounding numbers to 10,000,000 and getting to grips with negative numbers. On Monday during Worship, Mr Johnson spoke about kindness, and it’s been lovely to witness the children showing random acts of kindness throughout the week—hopefully, you’ve noticed this at home too! I’m encouraging the children to be more independent in their learning, so we’ve introduced trays for their pencil cases and learning tools like whiteboards to help them settle in quickly.

As always, my door is open – even if it’s just for a friendly chat!

 

13.09.24

I am so pleased with how Willow Class have coped with a lot of change this week. With the departure of Miss Quast on Tuesday (she was really touched by all the kind messages, thank you) and my first day on Wednesday. It shows how resilient the children are as a class. We spent the day together in class on Tuesday so were able to get a good time together for a handover. As I said, the children have coped with the change of teacher really well and continued with their learning. In English we have been looking at the mechanics of writing, ensuring that punctuation such as commas and apostrophes are used correctly. We are looking at World War II this term, especially how it impacted the children and so we started to read about Anne Frank and how the war affected her. In DT on Friday we will start to look at food and how seasonality was important in war-time Britain by looking at what food is available compared to modern farming techniques during each season. In science we looked at how to draw and interpret a series circuit diagram, while in maths we are concentrating on place value of numbers up to ten million.

PE is always on a Thursday and I would like to start a 10-minute run in the morning as this stimulates the brain and gets blood pumping around the body, so it would be beneficial if the children had trainers or something they would like to run in with them daily.

If you would like to speak to me, after school is better as I have more time and I would welcome you into the classroom or make an appointment through the office.

Thank  you, Mr Lambert.

 

06.09.24

It has been a wonderful start to the new academic year for Willow Class. Everyone has come back looking incredibly smart in their uniforms. Not only this, the attitude towards learning this week has been impressive and all the children have settled in beautifully to their new class and routine which has been a pleasure to see. We have made our locker tags, name tag signatures in class which have been displayed for each child to see. We have started our new project topic this term which is World War 2. This week we have focused on the causes of the war. In English we have learnt about rationing during World War 2. This is because we will be writing a persuasive, instructional text on a war time recipe. In maths, we have refreshed out times table knowledge and arithmetic skills.

On a separate note, I would like to say goodbye to everyone as this is my last newsletter I will be writing. It has been an amazing experience to have the opportunity to teach and work at Micheldever C of E Primary School. I have learnt so much. I will miss the Micheldever family and wish all the children, staff and parents all the best. Thank you all for making me feel so welcome and at home!

 

23.7.24

Goodbye Year 6 class of 2024. We are so proud of you.

19.07.24

We have ended the year in Willow Class on an absolute high! Our performance last night was incredible and I think we can all agree that the children we phenomenal! The commitment that the children have shown for the past six weeks has been truly commendable. Rehearsing for an hour and a half twice a week after school, plus rehearsals during the school day, plus learning the lines to all the songs and the script in their own time! I have been bowled over. I have also been inspired and incredibly humbled by the team work that the staff at Micheldever have shown! Literally everyone has been involved and supported this production and it has been a privilege to watch and experience what can be achieved as a team working for the same goal! Thank you everyone! I would also like to thank all the parents for their encouragement, support, enthusiasm and commitment and all the late pickups from school! You have all been amazing! I hope that everyone can enjoy a restful weekend and be ready for the final 2 days before the summer holidays!

                                                  

12.07.24

This week has been literally The Greatest Showman week! The children have worked INCREDIBLY hard on perfecting the dances and the acting and I must say we are on target for an amazing show this coming Thursday! We had a full dress rehearsal run through today which was INCREDIBLY successful and I am very proud of ALL Willow Class! Your commitment has been commendable and I would like to thank ALL parents for their support these couple of months with rehearsals and costumes and often tired children! Year 5 children also completed their swimming sessions very successfully. Year 5’s focused on their diving skill with great success. WELL DONE Willow class on an amazing week!

 

05.07.24

It has been a wonderful week in Willow Class. A week that I think teachers, parents and especially children will remember for a very long time! It began with SRE, completing our report comments, Greatest Showman rehearsals, the Henry Beaufort Sports event. It ended though, on our incredible trip to London! I can honestly say what an amazing trip it was and how much both the children and the staff absolutely loved it! The weather was kind to us and we started our adventure at Micheldever Train station with a very excited Willow Class. The train ride up was full of chatter and fun! There were some very curious members of the public on the train keen to know where we were taking this bunch of high-viz clad children! When we told, them they all seemed very impressed and wanted to join! We arrived at Waterloo Station and made our way into the busy undergrounds! The children were brilliant at following instructions and managing themselves on the busy carriages! Frameless was a unique and mesmerising experience for all and the children loved choosing their souvenirs from the gift shop! Then we were on to Hyde Park for a late lunch with a group of starving children! We sat under trees and ate our lunch and played ball games and football and found a very entertaining water fountain which kept us amused and, for some, slightly wet for a while! Then, it was back onto the underground and off to Covent Garden. We were very lucky to watch a ‘Charlie Chapman’ like street performance which was brilliant. We stopped there for about 20 minutes and sat on the cobbled pavements and then it was on the move again to out ‘All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet Restaurant’. The children were superbly well-mannered and the restaurant staff commented on how well-behaved our children were! We ate and ate and ate. Some children managing 3 to 4 servings of food! Finally, we made our way to the Lyceum Theatre! Honestly, what a stunning performance! Just phenomenal. It’s truly almost impossible to put into words the quality and artistic brilliance of The Lion King! A memory the children will hold forever. At 22:15 we wended or rather sped our way back to Waterloo station over the bridge with the view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and the London night sky! We all breathed a sigh of relief to see that the 23:05 train to Micheldever Station was not only not cancelled BUT also on time! We managed to board the train early and find seats and enjoy the last, by now, exhausted hour left of our adventure! I would like to say an absolute HUGE thank you to Mr Johnston! His leadership and ability to navigate us so safely and perfectly and without stress through London was nothing short of impressive! It was truly such a success because of his skills, calmness, patience and energy! Thank you Mr Johnston!

                         

28.06.24

This week was a little bit of an itsy bitsy one and not a full week either. We have focused on the Greatest Showman Production; Mr Johnston has been very busy continuing to choreograph the dancing routines which has been amazing and I must say we are making progress. We have also continued to work on our acting skills and further develop and perfect the scenes! Thank you again to all parents for their continued support with the show! It is greatly appreciated. Sport Day was a fantastic success too this week. Thank you to all parents who managed to buy or bake something for the fundraising cake sale! We managed to raise over £100. A special thanks to Mrs Snary, Mrs Vallance and Mrs Queck for selling and organising this event. We have started our SRE topic too and will continue this into next week. A reminder that next Thursday is our London trip and next Tuesday the children will be going to Henry Beaufort for a sports events.

 

21.06.24

We have had a fantastic week in Willow. Monday was our Victorian day which was such fun! It was a delight to see the children all dressed in their Victorian outfits and most of the day was run like a typical day in a Victorian school. The children rose admirably to the challenge. The children that misbehaved were sent to the back of the class and had the horror of wearing the dunce cap! We sang hymns, practiced handwriting on our chalk board, read out a bible verse, rehearsed our times tables, made scones and played typical Victorian outdoor games. The rest of the week has been publishing our balanced arguments, rehearsing for the greatest showman, continuing our topic on earthquakes, looking specifically on investigating the 5 deadly features of earthquakes. We have also explored body image and how social media can affect our perceptions of our own bodies and how we view ourselves. On Thursday morning, we completed our challenge of walking 61 miles as a class ( the distance between Micheldever and London) and we have raised approximately £600 from this event! This is amazing! A huge thank you to Mrs Vallance who organised and ran the event! We are so grateful for your time and input! Also a massive thank you to all parents for their continued support of our fundraising! I know Mrs Snary has raised almost £200 from our Willow Bear raffle. Willow Bear has been in Cornflowers and we have been so grateful for the window space and support from her too. Also Mrs Snary and Mrs Hornby have been selling ice-creams on Friday after school which has also brought in about £150 so far in cash and we have a couple more Friday selling to go. On Tuesday, for sports day, will be our last push to raise Money. We will be selling cakes during Sport Day. Again, thank you in advance to any parents who are able to beak something for this event!

 

14.06.24

Time seems to be suddenly racing by in Willow and so many exciting things are either happening or are on the horizon! The Year 6’s and myself have recovered from our amazing residential trip and we are now fully focused on the next five and a bit weeks! Rehearsals for The Greatest Showman are in full swing and I must say I am beginning to feel very excited (as are the children) about the production. Willow Class have all shown great commitment and determination to learn their lines and the words of the songs and Mr Johnston has become our dance choreographer which is amazing! I would like to thank the parents for their continued support and ensuring that their children, as far as possible are at rehearsals after school. I am very grateful. In English we have completed our independent writes on our balanced argument ‘are modern day children better off than children in the Victorian era’. We will be publishing these writes next week. In history, we have been focusing on Queen Victoria and looking at her long reign and life as well as putting the Victorian era into the context of the overall timeline of British history. In RE, we have focused on mosques as a sacred place and looked at how Muslims worship in these places. In art, we are looking at the famous Victorian artist Marianne North. We have so far studied her life but we will be producing art pieces taking inspiration from her work. The Year 6’s have also used Anthony Gormley as inspiration for clay modelling and will bring their pieces to the cathedral day next Friday

07.06.24

A lovely week in Willow, quiet without our wonderful year 6 but enjoyable, together with Mrs Owens the children have been creative they have designed and made a D Day scene to mark their respect. It looks fantastic! Willow have also been busy making Victorian projects ready to show year 6 next week and have designed and created a Victorian style tea dress.

                                                                    

24.05.24

With SATs over and out the way, we have been able to focus on some far more exciting topics this week. Writing is still a focus, so this week, we have researched extensively for our next writing unit which is a balanced argument discussing the statement ‘children are better off nowadays than in the Victorian Era’. From looking at articles and factual YouTube clips, the children have discovered a huge amount both about the Victorian children as well as the challenges children face these days. We are now going to put this wealth of information into a detailed plan to then support our writing of this discussion point. We have also been looking at earthquakes this week discussing tectonic plates, the 4 layers to the earth, where earthquakes occur, why they occur and what is in place to measure them as well as lessen the devastation they may cause to areas around the world. In RE we have been looking at sacred places and have had some in-depth discussions about what constitutes a sacred place. The Year 6’s have all successfully completed their Bikeability this week! Well done to all Year 6’s. Mrs Owens and Danny (the instructor) were very impressed with you all! The Greatest Showman continues in earnest too. I think we all deserve a good break, ready for another very busy half-term to come! I would like to thank all parents for their continued support whether it has been for SATs, our upcoming London Trip or Greatest Showman! It has been greatly appreciated!

 

17.05.24

What a wonderfully successful and happy week it has been. Year 6’s have completed their SATs and have done so with confidence, calmness and great maturity and determination and as a school we could not be prouder of them. It has been such fun too enjoying our breakfasts together every morning! A big thank you to Mr Johnston for cooking us delicious bacon and sausages. It was enjoyed and appreciated by all. I would also like to say a big thank you and well done to the Year 5’s! Mr Richards, Mr Jarman, Mrs Griffiths and Mrs Jackson have all reported on how helpful you have been in their classes and how well-behaved! Again, I could not be prouder of you all! Thank you! We have certainly missed the Year 5’s and are happy we are all back together as the Willow gang! SATs week has ended with some lovely art activities! Precious has demonstrated her painting skills for the rest of the class to take inspiration from and Zoe has taught us some origami skills which we will continue to perfect! We have also rightly enjoyed, as a class, a wonderful party and rounders and film! On a final note, The Greatest Showman has been cast! This is very exciting! The casting list will officially be out next week! Well done Willow.

 

10.05.24

Our final week of SATs preparation is over! Mrs Owens, Mr Johnston and myself have been so impressed by the children’s focus, commitment and determination in their learning and this is clearly demonstrated in the AMAZING progress they have all made! We are so proud of them and they can all go into their SATs week with confidence! Well done Willow Class. Our learning this week has, of course, been focused on SATs preparation again! We have had one final push in reasoning, arithmetic, grammar and spelling. We have also continued our auditions for The Greatest Showman. Some of the roles have already been cast, however, Mrs Tellet and myself will decide on the final cast list by next Friday. Auditions will therefore continue next Wednesday during school and next Thursday after school. Well done Willow on an amazing learning week! We have this! Could I ask that all parents try to ensure that their children get a decent night’s sleep on Sunday and throughout the following week. Just a reminder too, that SATs breakfast will be happening in the hall from 08:15am from Monday through to Thursday next week.

 

03.05.24

It has been another very focused week of learning for Willow Class. In maths, we have covered how to calculate the area of parallelograms and have applied this knowledge to reasoning problems. We have also looked at mean and range this week. Our knowledge of this has been applied to some very tricky Year 6 SATs questions. Alongside this, we have revisited percentage, ratio and algebra. In reading we have continued to practice our comprehension skills focusing on mainly inference style questions. We have continued to push spelling this week and review grammar on a daily basis. In English, we have completed a shared write based around the statement ‘dogs are better than cats’. Unfortunately, we were unable to run the auditions this week for The Greatest Showman’. However, we did have a go at practicing some of the scenes and I was incredibly impressed at how confident the children were and their ability to act! I am VERY much looking forward to getting really stuck into the play once SATs are over! Well done again Willow Class on another hard-working week! We are nearly there!

26.04.24

We have had a very productive week in Willow. The children have again been incredibly focused and have worked very hard. Our focus, of course, has been our continued preparation for SATs. We have less than two weeks now and then we can all breathe a sigh of relief. In maths this week, we have continued to practice our fluency skills. Alongside this, we have also covered area of quadrilaterals, area of compound shapes and area of triangles. In our reasoning review, we have covered number patterns, rounding, decimals and fractions. In English we have focused on using quotes accurately in writing and have completed a piece of writing discussing ‘why football is so popular worldwide’ ensuring that we are using quotes to support our points. In grammar, we have continued general revision and we have also had a big spelling push this week. I have been very impressed on the children’s understanding of their grammar now! Gratefully, there has been some relief from our SATs focus and we have discussed Calshot and Year 6 hoodies which the children are incredibly excited about. We also had our second after school production session where the children completed watching The Greatest Showman. Next week, we will be starting auditions! Well done Willow on again a VERY focused learning week!

 

19.04.24

Welcome back Willow to another very busy half-term! We are in full swing now with final preparations towards our SATs! We have three weeks to go! However, I have been very impressed as to how focused and well-behaved Willow Class has been this week! A very positive start to a very busy half-term! In maths, we have continued honing our arithmetic skills. We have also had an in-depth focus on angles of shapes and have tackled some very tricky reasoning problems and this has encouraged some fantastic mathematical discussions. We have also focused our reasoning on factors and multiples, BIDMAS, Roman Numerals and intervals on a number line. In English, we have started looking at balanced arguments and have looked in-depth at the features that make-up a good balanced argument. We have focused particularly on adverbials that further support arguments, counteract an argument and ones that are used in the conclusion. In guided reading, we have been looking at Greater Depth type questions and practicing those with different reading texts to continue to hone our SATs reading skills. In grammar we have revised types of verbs again and continued to practice SATs style questions. On a less academic note, we are very excited to be starting our school production! We have already watched half of The Greatest Showman and this has really started to inspire the children! Once SATs is over, we will be in full-swing with rehearsals!

 

22.03.24

What a wonderful week we have had in Willow! It has been full of art, presentations, publishing of English Writes, making tye dye bags and our exhibition day! As a class, we would like to give the parents a HUGE thank you for supporting our endeavour to raise money for the Embabazi project! We would also like to thank all parents that made cakes and cookies that were sold (they ALL looked so delicious – a BIG THANK YOU)! Thank you too to all parents that came and bought items to support the charity! Again, we are so grateful. In total we raised an outstanding £500.

The lucky winner of the raffle goes to Eilidh in Birch class.

Finally, Mrs Owens and I would like to congratulate Willow Class on the way they managed themselves during the selling and the exhibition! We were so impressed at how the children engaged with all the parents and actively helped to sell items and raise money for such a good cause! Well done Willow Class – you should all be really proud of yourselves!

   

  

15.03.24

We have had a very busy and productive week in Willow Class. In maths this week, we have focused on converting between fractions, decimals and percentages and applied these skills to tricky reasoning problems which have further broadened our understanding of this topic. We have also continued to improve our arithmetic skills through daily fluency practice. In grammar, we have focused primarily on plugging learning gaps: types of sentences, modal verbs, progressive tense and perfect tense. In English, we have finally published our Temptation Stories and I must say I am very impressed with the progress I have seen across the board in their writing! Well done Willow. Parents will be able to read these stories at the exhibition day on Thursday. In art, we have completed our batik silhouettes which are looking fantastic and these will be auctioned off as well on the exhibition day. Just a reminder that Willow Class will be selling the Embabazi Charity products. We would so appreciate any support you can give to this charity! We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday at 2pm!

 

08.03.24

We have had a very exciting week in Willow Class and a lot has been achieved. On Tuesday, we had a visit from a lady called Lauren, who is Head of Geography at Peter Symonds College, and also runs a charity called the Embabazi charity. She kindly came to talk to us not only about the charity but also about Uganda and what life in rural Uganda is like! We all learnt a huge amount and we are very grateful for her time! In maths this week, we have competed our unit of algebra! I have been very impressed as to how quickly Willow Class has taken on board this new maths concept and the children have loved using algebraic formulae to solve problems! In English, we have finished planning for our Temptation story and we start our independent writing next week! I am very excited to read their stories! World Book Day was a huge success! The costumes were fantastic and Willow Class created their own stories based on the Harris Burdick images! They were incredibly creative and I noticed some lovely use of higher-level punctuation too. In RE, we had a really interesting debate on the question, ‘Is God important to human kind’. I really enjoyed hearing both sides of the argument. Well done Willow!

                        

01.03.24

Wow, what a week Willow! The Year 6’s have survived SATs Mock Week with flying colours and the Year 5’s have survived their NFER assessments with flying colours! I am very proud of all of Willow Class. Each child has made impressive progress across the board! They have demonstrated the ability to push themselves under pressure, remain focused and calm, persevere when things may have been a little tricky and all have felt a sense of pride and achievement in what they have done this week. Mrs Owens, Mr Johnston and myself could not be more proud of you all! Not only this, we also went to Henry Beaufort for a visit and a sports session on Thursday. Each child represented Micheldever with pride. They were incredibly respectful and well-behaved and all children joined in with the badminton session with gusto and enthusiasm! Well done Willow! You certainly all deserve a rest this weekend!

       

23.06.23

Hawthorn and Willow have enjoyed working together to rehearse the first two scenes of their end of term production this week. We have been impressed by children's enthusiasm! Please do try to support your child with learning lines at home as well as finding an appropriate costume. In English, Y6 have worked hard to write a reflective piece on their last year of primary and Y5's have been refining their grammar to support their editing skills. In Maths, both classes have moved on to geometry units of learning and this has included some beautiful Mandala patterns outside Willow! In RE, children have moved on to exploring the question, "What makes a good life?" and have considered some of the contributions the Greeks have made to our lives today in Project.

                            

                    

                     

16.06.23

Hawthorn and Willow have had a very hot week of learning this week! Year 6 have enjoyed being back in school and retelling stories of their residential experience at Calshot. This has led to some diary writing, which we hope to share with the Year 5's in preparation for next year's visit! In Maths, both classes have been revising fractions: Year 6's have looked at fractions as division and Year 5's have been multiplying fractions by whole numbers - we have been very impressed by children's learning. Children have enjoyed playing tennis in PE, thinking about the concept of submission in RE and beginning our new music unit. We are excited to begin our production practice and Year 6 have been drumming in preparation for their 'Cathedral Day' today.

                            

      

09.06.23

This week in Willow class we are revisiting fractions and are becoming increasingly confident in comparing and ordering fractions. We have been studying The Odyssey by Homer and we have read about lots of different mythical creatures like the Sirens, Scylla and Circe the enchantress amongst many others.  We have continued with our clay sculptures which Mr Ali has been very impressed by and in our class worship assemblies we have discussed trust and forgiveness.

08.06.23

07.06.23

Calshot, day three:

Yippee!

Started off with an initiative course;

dark tunnels, seesaws and more.

We encouraged our peers, 

conquered fears.

 

Next up, team swing!

You ask, what did that bring?

Higher and higher into the sky-

released; flying high.

Harnesses on and helmets clipped,

our stomachs did the occasional flip!

 

After lunch, a trip to the velodrome-

a bit of a challenge, but no children moaned!

Riding around in a circular loop

We all did so well - the whole group!

Then, we changed into cleats,

Before a final footwear swap into skis!

 

Activity number three:

we learnt how to ski!

Building upon skills from lesson one,

Using a ski lift? Job done! 

Hot and sweaty on the slopes,

A shower was our only hope! 

 

Day almost done,

Lots of room points won,

it was time for the Tudor castle.

From the top, watching the boats travel

and building bridges with paper.

Such a busy day! Early night? No brainer!

 

06.06.23

5.06.23

Climbing and skiing:

Calshot, day one.

Testing our limits,

We had heaps of fun!

 

The glorious sun,

shone over our time

A picnic lunch to fill our tums,

Feeling just fine!

 

An egg drop to end the day,

How far will they fly?

Now it’s time to hit the hay,

Tomorrow, we’ll give more things a try!

25.05.23

Willow and Hawthorn have had a great end to what has been a very busy half term! Year 6's have revised translation and reflection in Maths this week and Year 5 have been learning how to read and interpret line graphs. In English, both classes have begun a new unit of narrative writing inspired by the two picture books, 'Journey' and 'Illiad and the Odyssey'. Children have learned about the parts and function of the heart as well as the positive impact of exercise on our bodies in Science and Year 6's have learned about the Battle of Troy, the Trojan Horse and the evidence (or sometimes lack of!) to prove it. Some of the UKS2 children have worked hard in the Travellers' Garden, where we now have tomatoes, carrots and broccoli growing! Yum! 

 

19.05.23

We have had another super week in Upper Key Stage 2! In English, Year 6's have started some really amazing writing on the Greek deity they created and have accompanied this writing with clay busts and digital art work inspired by the illustrations in the book, 'Mythologica'. Year 5 have worked hard publishing these and have started a new unit of story writing. In Maths, Year 6's have been revising how to solve calculations involving fractions and Year 5 have worked hard to master written methods of division. Children have learned about the components of blood in Science and have used a painting to decipher what the ancient Greeks believed about the afterlife in Project and the significance of the Quran in RE.

                                         

12.05.23

A HUGE 'Well Done' to our lovely Year 6's, who have worked tremendously hard on their KS2 SATs this week. When children have not been sitting papers, they have enjoyed plenty of PE and designing and making clay busts of their own Greek gods and goddesses. We look forward to sharing these with you at our exhibition of learning! Thank you to our Year 5 children, who have been so considerate of the timetable changes this week. They too, have been looking at the work of Greek sculptor and architect, Phidias, and have designed their own bust ready for making with clay in art. In Maths, children have been revising methods of multiplication and division and have worked hard to write their non-chronological reports on a Greek god or goddess that they have designed in English.

     

05.05.23

It's been another busy week in Willow and Hawthorn classes this week. The children have continued to write at the 'innovate' stage of their non-chronological report unit based on an invented Greek God. The children have really focused on using the key features of these reports. In maths, Hawthorn have been getting their heads around the tricky concept of squared and cubed numbers. Willow have been having fun with drawing 2d shapes and then finding the co-ordinates of the vertices - very tricky! Nest week, Hawthorn class will be working through their SATs papers each morning. We know that are so well-prepared and that they will do brilliantly. We wish them the very best of luck.

28.04.23

Willow and Hawthorn have had a great week of learning and have enjoyed getting to know Mr Robinson, our new Year 5 teacher. Children have worked hard in English, where they have begun producing non-chronological reports about ancient Greek gods. In Maths, Year 6's have revised factors, multiples and prime numbers and children have done a great job identifying patterns to support with this. Year 5's have begun a unit on geometry looking at points and shapes on a co-ordinate grid. We've begun a unit looking at the concept of 'submission' in RE, where children have considered its definition in preparation for future learning. Finally, in Project, children have explored the features of Greek temples and have begun to think about how we could replicate one in our classrooms!

                  

21.04.23

We have had a brilliant first week of summer term. Year 6 started the week by undertaking their bike ability. Children were exhausted by Tuesday afternoon but the certificates and badges they received made it all worthwhile. Children have begun their new Project based on the enquiry question, 'How are ancient Greek ideas evident in our lives today?'. They have enjoyed researching each of the Greek gods and goddesses and have thought creatively about how they can present their learning in the form of a shrine. We hope to show you photographs in next week's newsletter. Our project has filtered into our English too, as children have been exploring some of the texts in 'Mythologica'; an encyclopedia  of Greek gods, monsters and mortals! Both Hawthorn and Willow are sad to see Mrs Wright go this afternoon, but wish her all the best in her new role.

          

31.03.23

Children have had a fantastic end to what has been a busy term. Year 5's have been learning about factors and multiples and applying this knowledge to prime and square numbers while Year 6's have been revising how to multiply fractions by whole numbers in Maths. Both classes have written some fantastic persuasive letters to Mr Johnston in English and have applied their knowledge to separating mixtures in Science. A highlight for both classes was testing the 'Flood Proof' homes children produced in DT earlier in the term. This has helped children reflect on what worked well and what could be improved about their designs in future.

      

  

24.03.23

This week Willow and Hawthorn have been working hard to make their narratives the best they can possibly be by editing carefully and typing them up on the new laptops. We're sure they will look amazing when they are printed out. Hawthorn have been exploring algebra in maths while Willow class have learnt all about long multiplication; these are really tricky topics and Mrs Wright and Mrs Webber have been super impressed with how well everyone has done. In RE, we have continued examining the story of the resurrection and what that means to Christians, and we have created our assemblage pieces based on the work of Betye Saar

17.03.23

Willow and Hawthorn have continued to work hard this week, especially the Year 6's, who have completed their second round of Mock SATs. A particular well done to Hawthorn class for trying their best! Children have continued their writing in English - we are looking forward to finishing and publishing our stories next week to show you at our Class Exhibitions. In Maths, children have been using algebra to solve problems (!) and have worked effectively with partners in art to design a piece inspired by Betye Saar. We would appreciate your support in gathering materials your child requires. Hawthorn class have also set up a Science investigation to remind us of the processes of evaporation and condensation and have enjoyed their football in PE.

         

10.03.23

Hawthorn and Willow have had another busy week of learning. Children have worked hard to make changes to their stories based on the picture book 'Flood' in English, thinking particularly about how to convey character using dialogue and how to increase pace and tension for the reader. In Maths, Year 5's have revised adding and subtracting fractions and Year 6's have been converting between different units of metric and imperial measure. Children were introduced to the idea of reversible and irreversible changes in Science and used PE equipment to create their own assemblage pieces in the style of Betye Saar in art. In Project, children have learned how deforestation all the way over in the Amazon rainforest can impact us here in Micheldever!

       

       

03.03.23

This week Willow and Hawthorn have had a great time writing narratives to the story Flood, a book with no words! We have also explored 3D shapes in maths, and looking at the relationship to volume and capacity with some intriguing investigations. In art, we have learnt about the artist Betye Saar and created beautiful profiles about her and her work. 

10.02.23

This week Willow and Hawthorn have researched animals from the Amazon rainforest in order to create explanation texts about their life cycles. We've seen some beautiful work so far! This has been supported by our geography work in Project as we continue to explore South America. In maths, we have been dipping back into some statistics topics, including line graphs and information tables, as well as looking at negative numbers. We have also really enjoyed looking at Islamic rites of passage such as the Aqiqah naming ceremony in RE. 

             

03.02.23

Willow and Hawthorn have had a great week at school. Children have continued to work hard on using addition and subtraction to solve problems and have used their knowledge of rounding to make estimations. Year 6's moved on to applying to describing number sequences and even used algebra! Some brilliant writing about Boa Constrictors has also taken place, where children have independently applied many of the features of an explanation text. Both classes have enjoyed using the apparatus in PE, where Mr Wallace challenged them with a 'Ninja Warrior' course around the hall. We also had fun applying our knowledge of the rainforest layers by adding to the displays in our classrooms; and testing the hardness of different wood types in Science. 

                       

            

27.01.23

This week, Willow and Hawthorn have brought all the exciting things they've learnt about South American countries in project to diary writing in English, creating some really creative entries imagining their own road trip. We have also stretched ourselves with challenging mental maths focusing on addition and subtraction. In R.E, we have continued our work on rites of passage by learning about the Hajj, and in P.E we have had a thrilling time doing gymnastics on the apparatus. Well done as well to those in our classes who took part in the cross-country event this week; despite the cold and the mud, they all did fantastically! 

          

20.01.23

Willow and Hawthorn have had another great week. In Maths, children have started a new unit on geometry and have revised how to measure and draw angles using a protractor. Year 6 children have applied this to constructing their own pie charts! Children have reached the end of their unit on Ode writing and have produced some beautiful poems on Rainforest fruits in English. We are looking forward to seeing what they remember of diary writing next week. Children have also enjoyed researching South American countries in preparation for our 'Road Trip' and had fun in PE, where they were practicing dismounts off the gym equipment. A particular well done to the boys who represented our school so well at the Football Tournament on Wednesday - you should all be proud of the sportsmanship and good spirit you showed.

                      

             

13.01.23

In Willow and Hawthorn this week, we have really grown in confidence with fractions, decimals and percentages. Some of us have also looked at percentages of amounts, which is brilliant work! We have also compared lots of poems and started to create our own poem based on food from the Amazon rainforest in English, linking in with our Geography topic of South America. In science, we have explored the differences between natural and synthetic materials, and PE we have been having tremendous fun with Samba, a dance from Brazil, and gymnastics. In RE, we all strongly made our cases for rites of passage to the PM. 

       

06.01.23

Willow and Hawthorn have made a flying start to the Spring Term. Children have been learning in the rainforest(!) and have used clues in some mysterious postcards to deduce our topic for the next term: we will be exploring what life is like in South America to help us answer the question, 'How is Our World Changing?' In Maths, children have begun a unit exploring fraction, decimal and percentage equivalence and have used their knowledge of poetic features to unpick Pablo Neruda's 'Ode to My Socks' in English. Children are busy planning and writing their own odes about their own socks! We look forward to sharing the results with you! In RE, children have looked at key milestones in their lives as part of a new unit exploring rites of passage .