Science Investigation

Not being able to resist our fascination with 1066, our Science Materials  investigation carried out this week posed the question ‘What would be the best material that Duke William could use to get across the English Channel?

We had great fun discussing this and carried out an experiment which was very hands on. Ask the children what they did.

Homework this week is to create a table of materials around the home and record some on it. Then write some sentences about the uses of the materials.

Big Sing is progressing extremely well. We had a visit from John Hancorn, who will conduct us on the evening. He said the children were making ‘a lovely sound’. A letter concerning tickets and allocation of seats will be coming this week.

Anglo-Saxon Workshop

A superb introduction to our Learning Journey Myths and Legends-the Anglo-Saxon Workshop gave us an insight into the lives of these invaders of 1500 years ago. The children learned about archaeology and took part in activities. We saw a model of an Anglo-Saxon village, handled wool that they used to make clothes, explored artefacts that have been found locally in Sussex, and, the highlight for many, (including myself), examined a full size photograph of an Anglo-Saxon body in a grave. Fascinating!

We are studying Norse Legends and Myths at first and have begun with the Norse Story of Creation. We will study the legend of King Arthur later in the term.

Homework this week is to practise our new Minute Maths Strip. The children have to write the answers on their strip in a minute. We have started these in class with great excitement. The children have to achieve 20 or more consecutive correct answers to get on to the next level. There is also a Maths Challenge  to put their knowledge into practice.

Badgers’ assembly

We reach the end of an extremely eventful term, culminating in our Class Assembly,  where  we had the opportunity to show the school what we had studied in our Learning Journey ‘1066 and all that’. The children acted and spoke their parts stupendously in our re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings, showing great eloquence and poise. They were reluctant to change out of their clothes afterwards and feel a sadness at the end of the topic.

However, we will not leave the Anglo-Saxons entirely, because our next Learning Journey is ‘Myths and Legends’ and we will study Norse Legends and Myths as well as the stories of King Arthur. On Wednesday 5 November 08 we are having an Anglo-Saxon Workshop with Foxes Class, which will get us off to a geat start.

There is no homework for the holiday but the children are asked to learn their Spellings for  Friday 7 November 08. These have been put in their homework folders. This is a new venture called Personalised Spelling Tests, as they have been organised after scrutiny of the children’s individual spelling errors, to make sure they are tested on words that they personally find difficult. Spellings will be given out weekly on a Friday and tested the following Friday.

Finally, please read the letter sent home about the Christmas Big Sing at the Brighton Centre on 2 December 08. The whole of Key Stage Two is invited to take part in this event and we will be including items from it for our own Christmas festivities. Mrs. Tomsett and I will be running an after school club for children who would like to attend this exciting event on Wednesdays starting 12 November 08.

Hereward the Wake

We have just finished reading a wonderful story about Rollo the pageboy who helped Duke William to conquer England in 1066. He met fierce resistance from Hereward the Wake. The children have written some fabulous stories about Hereward’s exploits, so this week’s homework is to find out some facts about this extraordinary person.

Next week is Book Week with a poetry theme. The children are invited to dress up as a book character on Thursday 16th October. We will learn a poem as a class and we are entering the BBC competition “Off By Heart”. To find out more, look on www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/offbyheart

Welcome

Welcome to Badgers’ Blog! We are enjoying our new surroundings in Badger Class and have had great fun exploring Badger themes such as ‘black and white’, badger characters in stories and facts about badgers.

We have just come back from our Harvest Festival which was the best ever – everyone performed their items confidently and happily and the singing was fantastic!