HAPPY NEW YEAR HOPS CLASS...

Welcome back to the start of a new year full of exciting learning opportunities in Hops Class. Our spring topic is TIME TRAVEL and we are focusing on history, firstly on the impact and legacy of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, and then after half term, we will travel around the world to explore the Maya.

In English, this term we are very excited to be focusing on story-writing, using our three class novels (Sky Song, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Nowhere Emporium as inspiration to write three extended stories: a 'Defeat the Monster' tale, a portal story and a new chapter in the style of the author. The children will be building up their writing skills - learning to engage the reader and create suspense, as well as painting vivid pictures using powerful vocabulary and a 'show not tell' approach. Alongside this, we shall be focusing heavily on Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation, by having daily skill sessions to build fluency, and to learn grammatical terminology.

In Art, we will be practising different painting techniques and considering composition leading to the creation of still life paintings inspired by Paul Cezanne. Our DT topic this term is Food Technology and the children will be creating a range of delicious savoury dishes from around the world.

In Science, the focus this term is Forces, and we shall be continuing to develop our skills in working scientifically by carrying out a range of comparative and fair tests exploring air resistance and friction. In Computing, we will be developing skills in video-making to link with our narrative writing focus, and the children will work in teams to write, produce and edit short films using ipads and editing software.

Understanding the elements of music involved in composing as well as how to read and write music using correct notation will be the focus of our music lessons. In RE we will be studying Hinduism and in PSHE, we will be learning about managing money and also doing some basic first aid training.

This term, we will be working hard to improve our maths skills, developing techniques for solving problems and becoming faster and more accurate at our times tables. Maths home learning tasks will be handed out on Wednesdays and due back in the following Monday. Please support your child and encourage them to complete these tasks promptly each week to build up good learning habits. Many thanks.

Latest News from Hops Class (15/11/24)

In Hops Class, we are reading a new class novel called 'When the Mountains Roared' by Jess Butterworth which is set in The Himalayas. To link with this book, we are learning about mountains in our geography lessons and writing persuasive holiday brochures in English. The children have been learning about persuasive devices to entice the reader, and have done a good job thinking up rhetorical questions and using powerful vocabulary to make their holiday resorts sound exciting.

In Maths, we have been learning to calculate perimeter and area as well as using formal methods for multiplication. We will be focusing on learning times tables facts by heart next week as well as moving onto different methods for division. 

On Wednesday, Hops class led an assembly about Remembrance day and shared some powerpoint presentations and artwork they had created about life in the war and why poppies are used as a symbol of Remembrance. Despite the technical hitches, the children did very well in conveying the importance of remembering those who have been and continue to be affected by war.

Family Learning (October 15th 2024)

We had a fantastic family learning session making salt-dough maps as part of our topic  'River Deep, Mountain High'. Thank you all for coming and working so hard. The children had a great time and went on to paint their creations once they had finally dried out.

Design and Technology

We learnt about different types of bridges and how they can be strengthened using different techniques. We tested how much weight different bridge designs (made out of thin card) could hold. We were surprised to find out that simply supporting a beam bridge with an arch, or folding the card, made a huge difference to the amount of weights that could be held before the bridges collapsed.