We have had a wonderful week celebrating Chinese New Year in school; enjoying Dragon and Lion dances, performances, cultural activities and Traditional Chinese Dress Day. It has been fantastic to see the children so excited and enthusiastic to celebrate and share their knowledge about this special time. On behalf of all the staff in Primary we wish you and your families a happy and healthy Chinese New Year!
Year 1 have continued with the celebrations of Chinese New Year in class and have been drafting and writing their own acrostic poems about the New Year. In Mathematics, the children have been revising all they know about 2D shapes, naming them and explaining their properties. They then used coloured card to create their own spectacular New Year dragons!
Year 2 have been further exploring volcanoes; learning about their location within The Ring of Fire and discussed the pros and cons of living near a volcano with some very interesting ideas! They have also discovered what happens at a recycling plant and were surprised to learn how a plastic bottle is recycled and to learn about its journey to become another object.
Year 3 have consolidated their knowledge of adding and subtracting 2- and 3-digit numbers and have used this knowledge to solve various word problems. In English they have had a grammar focus linked to poetry and have tried to use the present perfect form.
Year 4 have been busy writing scripts about their own Ancient Greek myth. The children’s stories have included philosophical questions the Greeks would have asked such as, “How were the rivers formed?” and “How the Greek alphabet was created”. They have been sure to include all the key features of a script as well as different Greek gods and goddesses, heroes and their own mythical monsters!
Year 5 have been working on being able to summarise, answer questions and make inferences about text and images. Children have developed their understanding of a ‘Right there and think about’ question whilst also thinking outside of the box to make some more detailed answers. They have also continued to practise how to use a semi-colon correctly. In Maths have been enjoying using a protractor to measure angles and learning about reflex angles.
In Art lessons over the past few weeks, Years 4-6 have been focusing on line, shape, colour, form, value, space and texture. While learning about these formal elements of art and how to implement them to their own work the children have been practicing a variety of skills and new media, expanding their creativity and learning valuable problem-solving skills.
Each year group has been introduced to a new period of art and have started to produce work resembling the works of artists during this time, using methods close to the ones originally used. Year 4 have been learning about Ancient Greece and studied the columns of this time, Year 5 have been introduced to Fauvism and Lino carving, practicing using the tools safely and learning how to print using negatives and Year 6 have learned about the Middle ages and Fresco painting, a method in which paint is applied to wet plaster.
In addition, the children have been introduced and taught to use an online learning app to reinforce the theory of their work and have been able to see the history they are studying through VR and 3D models as if they were present at these historical sites.
Katherine Mustoe
Vice-Principal and Head of Primary
CNY Performance from Primary
CNY Open Morning Activities
