Distance Learning Week 5
This week saw the numbers of children attending school increase significantly as, in addition to the children of Key Workers, we welcomed back Transition, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. Whilst not all pupils returned, those who did have adapted well to the ‘new normal’ and seem to be taking things in their stride. Our ‘bubbles’ of 15 children have been working well. Maintaining these small, consistent groups under the supervision of one adult is vital to ensure everyone’s health and safety as we gradually emerge from lockdown. We are extremely fortunate that our splendid site and the recent glorious weather has allowed for outdoor play in specific zones but without the feeling of confinement or too much restriction. The children have been ‘cheerfully trying hard’, making new friends and often learning in different classrooms. We are so proud of them.
Around 70% of Year 6 have returned and we are delighted that they have been able to return to their Hub and continue with their learning at BCS before they head off for pastures new in September. The celebrations have unfortunately been put on hold for now but the Senior Leadership Team are busy discussing ways in which we can still mark this special culmination of the children’s BCS days in some form or another. So too for our Year 2 pupils who have been learning more about Prep from Mr Newman in their weekly assembly. Mr Hill and Mr Nicklin have been working hard behind the scenes to create a special virtual ‘House Sorting Extravaganza’ which will be broadcast into their homes via Zoom next Friday!
Buttons children have been looking at ‘Real Life Stars’ as their topic this week; talking about the different jobs people do. We hope some of the children also helped Mummy or Daddy with some of the daily chores around the house! The children have been doing lots of counting activities in Maths, playing hopscotch and jumping to different numbers, making a fishing game and pairing up odd socks.
Transition children have been learning about money and coins and playing shops. During phonics sessions they have had lots of fun learning about the ‘v’ sound. In their ‘Real Life Stars’ topic they have thought about people who help us at home and school and also people like doctors and policemen. The children made stick puppets of people who help us in various ways and enjoyed showing and talking about how their puppet helped others during circle time.
As our Reception children returned to school, they spent time getting used to new surroundings making friends within their new groups. They used the time to talk to each other and settle any worries, making sure that the worry monsters gobbled up any things that were bothering them! The Reception teachers are extremely proud of the way the children have tried very hard to settle into their new situation without any fuss. The children have simply been incredible!
In lessons, Reception have been learning alternative sounds in phonics and counting in 5’s and making Tally charts in Maths. They also learnt about sport and thought about the qualities needed to become a good sportsperson.
Year 1 returned to school on Monday with smiles on their faces and a spring in their step! They settled into the new routines really well and have worked hard all week. In maths they have been working on division and they have written poems in English with fantastic use of alliteration. Seaside themed activities have been the focus in science and humanities. In creative arts, the DT focus this half term is designing, making and evaluating a sandwich. The children also analysed data about favourite sandwich fillings and made bar charts to represent the tally results. A busy and successful start to Trinity 2!
Year 2 children have been working on their 3,4 and 6 times tables as well as carrying out investigations all about capacity. English lessons have focussed on the story of ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Catastrophe’. The children predicted what they thought might happen in the story and have thought about questions that they would like to ask the characters. They have also been imagining all about the different catastrophes that could happen in the story. The art work this week was linked to the same story and the children created a landscape which had a lighthouse as the main feature of the picture.
It was another busy week for Year 3! English has focused on Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, with fantastic pirate themed writing using the first person and past tense. Mathematics has seen the children looking at sequences of numbers and shapes as well as grid coordinates and compass directions. There were some fabulous “secret messages” written in mathematics tying into the pirate theme and great explanations for number sequences. Humanities has really caught the children’s interest, studying and then creating diagrams and models to show the layers that make up planet Earth. Finally science has seen Year 3 focus on how bees make honey presenting this information on the children’s own slideshows.
In Maths, the Year 4 children have been focusing on coordinates and how to write them accurately, plot them correctly and follow instructions to draw pictures using them. This has been great fun! There has been a mythical creature theme in English. The children looked at the poem ‘They Call To One Another’ by George Barker and then challenged themselves to design their own mythical hybrid and describe it using imagery.
Year 5 pupils have also been working on coordinates. The children have looked at finding coordinates across all four quadrants, along with finding missing vertices of shapes drawn on a grid. Year 5 also carried on with their exam practice, working through a practice paper, while also working on different arithmetic skills and non verbal reasoning.
In English, the children have enjoyed looking at comprehension all to do with Harry Potter. They wrote about the bizarre goings on in ‘Dumblepitt Lane’ and presented a balanced argument about the good and bad things to do with the internet. Finally, Year 5 started a new Humanities topic, which is a study of Bournville and its surrounding areas.
It’s been great to see the Year 6 pupils who are in school and at home, settle back into Distance Learning after their well-deserved half term break. In maths, the children have been eagerly investigating pentominoes, creating some fantastic art pieces using the shapes. After identifying their individual characteristics, they have also been using their pentominoes to solve puzzles and create a ‘Who Am I’ quiz for their peers.
In English, the pupils became advertisers and created their own radio advertisement to persuade passengers to buy a ticket to board the luxury liner as either a First, Second or Third Class Passenger. The children then recorded their adverts and presented them to their peers. Finally, Year 6 have also been learning about where their favourite foods are sourced from and discovering how many miles it travels to get to them in the UK. Using maps and atlases, the children then located the countries of origin.
