Learning Journey – ‘Freedom’
A snapshot of our week:
Reception discovered some mysterious footprints, a bit of fur and a sack with some items: one of them was the story ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. We later found out that the sack belonged to one of the characters in the book! The children have been super-engaged with the story which has provided lots of opportunities for play and discussion as well as to begin learning our phonics. In maths this week we have been learning about repeating patterns.
Year 1 had such a fun trip to the Dulwich Woods this week! We used our collaboration tool to find different leaves and identify the trees they came from. We then got creative back in our classrooms and made some fantastic leaf art, rubbings and wrote recounts of our trip. In literacy, we were using our imagination tool and pretended we were Beegu writing a postcard to our Mother all about our time on earth.
Year 2 have continued to build on their knowledge of number bonds to add and subtract ones to a two-digit number, and solving one step problems using their knowledge of addition and subtraction. In Literacy we have been looking at rhyming words to help create our own version of Edward Lear’s ‘The Owl & the Pussy-Cat.’ And then acted them out! We have also used our ‘planning’ tool to help order and sequence the events in the poem.
Year 3 had a surprise package delivered on Monday! Using the clues to predict what was in it, we were excited to find our new class pet; Sparky, the Sloth. We have really enjoyed learning all about him and his owner! On Wednesday, we took advantage of the sun and conducted our science investigation into how shadows change during the day. The children collaborated brilliantly in their teams and came up with some great conclusions.
Year 4 have just started a new book in literacy called Tar Beach, which will continue our theme of ‘Freedom’. We have used our asking questions tool to make inferences about our new story and the wonderful characters in it. In maths, we have finished place value, and are now looking at negative numbers and Roman numerals.
Year 5 have continued our focus on addition and subtraction, using estimation and inverse number sentences. In Literacy we have used Nelson Mandela’s ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ to produce and perform some phenomenal motivational speeches. In Geography we have been focusing on using our map skills and comparing human and physical landmarks in South Africa.
Year 6 have blown us away with their perseverance and resilience when consolidating their understanding of long multiplication. They were able to demonstrate that they could not only secure the skill but could also apply their knowledge to reasoning style problems. In literacy, the children have worked really hard on writing a persuasive travel brochure to convince others to visit the New Land. They focused on their persuasive techniques as well as a range of sentence structures. In Science, we began to carry out an investigation focusing on the development of mould. The children thought carefully about the conditions each slice of bread would be under, whilst ensuring the test was keep fair. We will return to this investigation over the next coming weeks and make our observations.
Digital Parenting Week (11th-15th October)
We know how important it is to keep our children safe online, and the vital role that parents, carers, and guardians play in helping teach our young people the protective skills and behaviours that they need to safely navigate the digital world – whether that’s social-media, apps, or gaming.
To coincide with Digital Parenting Week (11th-15th October) Southwark are offering all our families access to a year of free support through participation in the new Parent Zone Local programme.
This programme – which is being funded in our borough by Southwark Council – is open to all parents / carers / guardians who either live in the borough or have a child attending school or college locally. The programme will offer those who sign up access to:
· A range of online workshops and webinars, covering different aspects of online safety and digital-resilience
· A selection of parent guides and tech tips, which will be updated regularly
· Online surveys, games, quizzes and child-friendly activities
· Access to the Resilient Families online training-course of parents
· Access to a personalised ‘help service’, where a team of experts will provide you with advice and support on any aspect of digital family-life
To access the Parent Zone Local programme, and this wide range of free support, including the introductory webinars, which are taking place every day from Tuesday 12th – Saturday 16th October.
please visit their website: pzlocal.org.uk
Climbing
Joey Howells in 4B spoke at assembly this week about his interest in sport climbing. Some children have asked how they can try climbing and there are some great gyms nearby.
There are also some great climbing communities in London which meet at many different centres:
https://instagram.com/climbmuz
Harvest Festival
Thank you for all the Harvest donations, we collected nearly £300, all the proceeds will go to The Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers.
The School Council wanted to find ways of supporting refugees and many of them pledged they would do this in their election speeches. A huge thank you to School Council for their hard work in raising this issue and getting the rest of the school behind them. Several of their friends in Year 6 spoke in the Church about the importance of sharing and saying thank you. Holly (Y6B) asked that we all put on our empathy goggles and imagine how it might feel to have to leave your home, your family and your life behind and have to start all over somewhere new.
Dates for your Diary
Wed 13th Oct: FODW AGM – 7:30pm in the School Hall
Fri 22nd Oct: Freedom Carnival – from 2pm (details to follow)
Fri 22nd Oct: IROKO storytelling session after school (see poster below)
Mon 25th – Fri 29th Oct: Half Term
Mon 1st Nov: INSET DAY 2
Tue 9th Nov: Flu Immunisation (more details to follow)
Mon 22nd Nov: Learning Reviews
