Rowan
Hello Everyone and Welcome to Rowan Class!
In Rowan class you'll find:
Mrs Duncan (Class Teacher)
Miss Harris (Teaching Assistant)
Mixed age class Years 4, 5 & 6: 22 pupils in total
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Summer 2:
Welcome back everyone. I hope you have had a lovely half term. This is always a very busy time, see below for some updates on what we have been doing.
Week beginning 28th June 2021
As part of their Rainbow Flag work, Rowan class shared some stories ( ‘Julian is a mermaid, ‘I’m a girl’ and ‘King and King’ ) with Ash class. The children enjoyed listening to the stories and those who had read 'King and King' were quick to comment that "A prince can marry a prince and a boy can marry a boy because in a story we read about two daddy penguins, they laid and egg and had a baby penguin!" and they added "A girl can marry a girl, it's who you love". The books that we use in school cover this part of our curriculum in an age-appropriate way see https://www.kimboltonprimaryacademy.cambs.sch.uk/rainbow-flag-kite-trust/ for further information.
As part of our ‘SAWG’ week - Rowan class were thinking about how they could reduce their carbon footprint by, among other things, using less electricity. Pew realised that if everyone reduced their carbon footprint, less carbon dioxide would be released into the Earth’s atmosphere so there would be less global warming.
Week beginning 14th June 2021
In art, pupils were practising their tonal drawings of the three witches from Macbeth. They used a variety of mixed media, including pencils, watercolours, pastels and inks to recreate images provided and their own work.
Week beginning 7th June 2021
Another busy week for Rowan. Some highlights of this weeks events are shared below. In English we have been reenacting the opening science of Macbeth using the drama techniques recommended by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Initially we explored the relationship between two characters in different scenarios. Then we practised a series of moves, in pairs, which would be performed in unison as part of the opening battle scene see photos below.
Exoloring the relationship between two characters in different scenarios
Working in pairs to create the opening battle scene
In science, as part of their study of evolution and inheritance topic, were introduced to the work of the palaeontologist Mary Anning, by reading ‘Stone Girl, Bone Girl’ by Laurence Anholt which tells of her fossil discoveries in Lyme Regis. Reading the story lead to some interesting discussions about the importance of the discovery of fossils at that time, society’s views to women in science and what the fossil record can still tell us today. Y6 are completing their Mary Anning fact files as homework. As part of their topic on forces, Year 5 are researching Sir Isaac Newton for homework. Year 4 are practising their times tables.
Summer 1
Welcome back everyone. Our topic this term is 'Lights, Camera, Action! See the topic map below for a summary of what we hope to cover this term.
Week beginning 24th May 2021
Well done Rowan: all the Humanities projects for this term were in school on time! See below for a selection of photographs of the completed projects based on this term’s topic ,Lights, Camera, Action!’ Super effort everyone - fantastic work!
Y6 also had a Teams meeting about transition to Longsands.
Week beginning 10th May 2021
As always, Rowan have had a busy week. In science, pupils recorded and evaluated their findings from their independent, child-led enquiries. Below are some videos of children being ‘interviewed’ about their work.
Week beginning 3rd May 2021
Rowan class have had another busy week! The highlight of this week was Wednesday’s ‘World Maths Day’. Children took part in a series of activities to not only promote engagement in maths but to help pupils understand the importance of this subject in their daily lives. Pupils were asked to consider how they had already used maths that morning; it was a lengthy and surprisingly varied list! Children then worked together to complete a series of investigations around number, wrote and performed maths jokes and shared their ‘weird’ maths facts. Pupils also learned how to construct and interpret pictograms, bar charts, line graphs and pie charts during ordinary maths lessons. In Exciting Writing, in preparation for our work on Macbeth, pupils wrote a story about an image of Macbeth and Banquo and their encounter with the three witches. On Wednesday afternoon, children used their maths knowledge, to help them to tessellate 2D shapes to create some lovely artwork. Prior to that, despite the torrential rain and hail, pupils had enjoyed their cricket lesson. Thankfully the weather was much better for Friday’s PE session with Mrs Griffiths when the children enjoyed playing rounders.
Week Beginning 12th April 2021
Rowan class have had a very busy start to the new term. Our new topic is ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ which has, as a history focus, the Elizabethans and key turning points in British history around this time. We started our topic by sorting cards, depicting various time periods in British history, into what appeared to be the ‘correct’ chronological order - not everyone was feeling confident ;) We then used books and the internet to check the dates and correct any misunderstandings before correctly placing the events on a timeline. In art, we looked at portraits of the period and had a go at emulating the artists’ work using a range of mark making techniques. In science, we completed our independent investigations into the factors influencing the growth of mould. We also planned and carried out investigations to help us to answer our own scientific questions. Rowan class also completed their work on plant reproduction by observing whether or not their plant cuttings were growing. In Maths, we’ve been learning how to plot co-ordinates on a grid, use co-ordinates to create polygons, find unknown points and translate and reflect 2D shapes. In English, we have used ‘The Red Tree’ by Shaun Tan, which deals with feelings of loneliness, isolation and depression, to improve our emotional literacy and awareness of mental health issues. In RE we have learned more about the Three Jewels (or Three Refuges) of Buddhism namely - the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Pupils considered how seeking refuge in the Three Jewels influences how Buddhists lived their lives. Children also learned that ‘dukkha’ or suffering is the first of the Four Noble Truths.
Spring 1 - Home Learning
We've had a very busy term of home learning over the last few weeks. We have been so impressed and are extremely proud of the children and all their hard work. Here are a few highlights...
We've been designing dragon bowls, finding out more about Buddhist enlightenment and learning lots more about 'The Great Fire of London.' In Science, we have been looking at teeth and the human circulatory system. We have thought about our individual identity in PSHE and reflected on relaxing like a Buddhist. In Maths, we have focused on decimals, fractions and percentages. In English, we have looked at newspaper reports and the idea of 'fake news,' before writing our own newspaper articles.
Week ending 18th of December
Happy New Year everyone!. Here’s hoping 2020 will be a lot better than 2021. Some photos from the last week or so of term, including Rowan class’ Christmas lunch and a few from the Christingle service. See also some of the fantastic Humanties Home Learning projects. Thank you so much for your support with this; the children were so proud of their achievements.
Week ending 4th of December
Rowan have had a busy week. In English we have been working with a partner to evaluate each other’s writing before editing or work. We also started a new unit - the rest of this term we will be focusing on myths. Pupils worked with their partner to identify some of the key features of this text type before reading the old English myth, ‘Maud and the Dragon’. The made notes about the text and practised retelling the story to each other and identifying the key events of the story. Pupils also created ‘freeze frames’ of their favourite part of the myth - see photos below. In Maths, Y5 and 6 continued their work on prime numbers, factors, common factors and prime factors while Y4 multiples, factors and common multiples and factors. In science, Y5 and 6 learned about plant and animal reproduction and pollination in flowering plants. They learned about the different parts of a flowering plant and drew and labelled these structures in lilies -see photos below. As part of our topic, Rowan learned about the importance of calligraphy in ancient Chinese culture; some pupils also had the opportunity to use traditional methods to make their own ink using an ink stick and stone before writing Chinese characters with brushes.
Week ending 16th of October
Rowan class have had another busy week. In English, the class added a discussion paragraph to finish off their non-chronological reports. Pupils then used a marking ladder to review their own and each other’s writing to ensure that they have included the key features expected of this text type. Rowan class also revised their use of homophones, particularly their, there and they’re’. In addition, pupils wrote a short ‘Ode to Autumn’ - sharing their thoughts on the season and the importance of the Harvest Festival. In Maths, Year 4 have been working on their mental maths skills, using different strategies to add and subtract mentally including: counting on, partitioning, adjusting and looking for near doubles. Year 5 practised their mental maths skills before moving on to using formal written methods to add and subtract and solve addition and subtraction problems. Meanwhile, year 6, revised mental and written methods of addition and subtraction and problem solving, before moving on to short and long multiplying by a single digit and a two-digit number. In science, we’ve learned more about the work of the taxonomists Carl Linnaeus and the classification methods he developed. In topic, we researched farming methods in China and wrote about the crops grown there and compared agricultural practices between there and the UK. This week’s assembly celebrated World Mental Health Day. As a follow-up, pupils discussed different strategies for looking after their mental health and we went on to discover, as part of our studies on Buddhism, that Buddhists use meditation to calm and focus their minds. Rowan class went on to practise meditation for themselves - see photos below. Afterwards, pupils wrote about how they felt before and after meditating- almost all said that they felt more relaxed and calm.
Week ending 9th of October
Rowan class have had a busy week. In English they finished editing the poems they wrote for National Poetry Day; the poems were written in the style of ‘Tell Me a Dragon’ by Jackie Morris. Some clips of pupils reciting their poems are shown below. Also shown below are two of the documentaries made by pupils, in the style of Sir David Attenborough, about endangered animals. Also in English, pupils finished writing the Introduction section and information paragraphs for their non-chronological reports on dragons. In maths, Rowan class have continued to work on place value, rounding and counting forwards and backwards through zero and solving problems involving negative numbers. While in science, pupils have classified animals in their local environment using branching keys and researched the scientist Carl Linnaeus. In art, pupils have continued to develop their 3D drawing skills, focusing this week, on drawing reptilian (dragon) eyes. Dragons have also featured in this week’s music lesson where pupils have used the pentatonic scale to compose short pieces of ‘dragon-inspired’ music.
Week ending 2nd October
Rowan class have had a busy week or so. We started our work on place value with some ‘human’ numbers: pupils made 4-8 digit numbers as requested and worked together to make the largest/smallest numbers they could. We also practised rounding numbers. In English, we looked at the key features of non-chronological reports and thought about how we would organise our reports on Dragons. We then used the notes we had made in our research to write paragraphs about the appearance, habitat and diet etc of dragons. In art, we practised our 3D drawing skills. See below. In topic, we learned about the geography of China and it’s near neighbours.
Week ending 18th of September
Rowan class have worked hard this week. They have completed their reading, SPAG and maths NfER tests and two pieces of independent writing for baseline assessments. Pupils have also continued with the ‘Here We Are’ unit of work: learning more about the world and their responsibilities to the natural world. They have written letters to Mr Djanogly MP to ask him to petition parliament on their behalf. Rowan class have also been learning more about endangered species and the work of Sir David Attenborough. They also enjoyed French, music and PE on Friday.
Week ending 11th of September, 2020
Rowan class have really enjoyed being back at school and meeting with their friends and it has been wonderful to have the whole class in school. Pupils started the week with a range of activities designed to help pupils get to know one another and re-establish classroom rules and routines. They also drew self-portraits and wrote about their aspirations for the year ahead.
Rowan class have really enjoyed working on Oliver Jeffers' book 'Here We Are': they have considered their own place in the world and thought about places and people that are special to them; creating images, poems and letters to celebrate what they hold dear. Pupils have also had the opportunity to share their emotions and describe their feelings about the last few months; and about being back at school.
