Birch Class

Summer Term Curriculum letter

Spring Term Curriculum Letter

Autumn Term Curriculum Letter

09.01.26

Welcome back everybody in Birch class! It's been lovely hearing about all the wonderful Christmas break stories and seeing everybody after their holidays. Birch class have been eager to get back into learning and shown great resourcefulness and energy all week for a range of new learning! We have begun our project enquiry asking "How many times a week do you think about the Romans?" and exploring the new inventions the Romans brought to Britain. We have also been reading the Usborne Official Roman Soldier's Handbook and seeing what rules and requirements there were for joining the great Roman army! In science, we have started learning about the skeleton in the human body and for Art we are exploring self portraits in preparation for our work studying Frida Kahlo! It's been lovely to have everyone back, and well done to Birch class for being so full of energy and ready to go.

19.12.25

What a bumper Christmas week in Birch class! It has been lovely to share stories of Christmas in the class this week, looking closely at A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and doing some of our own Christmas theme free writing. In maths, we have looked at the formal written method with and without exchanges. We have finished our Christmas Art (these seem to have gotten hidden away at the Winter Wonderland we are sorry, so instead we will send them home with your child at the end of term! It was lovely to see the children enjoy the pantomime in Southampton and this fitted very nicely with wrapping up our playscript unit in writing. Thank you all for such a lovely term - have a WONDERFUL Christmas break and we can't wait to see you in the New Year! Merry Christmas!

THANK YOU! OVER AND OUT FOR 2025!

                                                             

12.12.25

And don't the weeks fly by! Birch class are deep into their class advent calendar now with a beautiful range of poems, jokes and messages. In maths, we have moved onto our next unit all about addition and subtraction, and looked at how we add across boundaries of 10, 100 and 1,000. In English, after enjoying the wonderful Midsummer Night's Dream, we have begun adapting to play with new props and imagining our own scenes and playscripts. In project, we have looked at Iron Age beliefs and in art the class have create some truly lovely and super cute Christmas prints inspired by Gail Brodholt, which we are giving to the Winder Wonderland for sale this weekend! The class have been super Reciprocal all week working well together across lessons and as a class as a whole. We can't wait for our Christmassey week next week!

05.12.25

Having finished our Remembrance poems and presented these beautifully (well done Birch class!) we have moved on to our final English unit of the term: playscripts! We have begun studying A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare and learning about the features of plays and playscripts. In maths, we have ordered and compared numbers as well as rounded to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000. In phonics, we are reviewing all sounds from the last three weeks and I am so pleased to see the improvements in spelling across the class as a result. In RE, we looked at the Christmas Story and in particular the arrival of Angel Gabriel to deliver their message to Mary. And possibly MOST importantly: our class Christmas tree is now up and lit! The children have all written a Christmas poem, joke or message for each day on our Christmas Advent which we are revealing each day! Finally, we had a visit from Papaya about screen time and how to manage this in a world of increasing screens - do ask your child about what they learnt and discussed!

28.11.25

This week has seen Birch class refine and finalise their Remembrance poetry which has seen some simply stunning writing and composition from the class. We look forward to sharing these with you at Class Exhibition. We have also looked at different number lines in Maths and the children have tackled some fairly tricky looking number lines with lots of different intervals, grappling with the method to calculate the size of each jump - well done for your resilience Birch class! The children were very excited to do some online research into Gail Brodholt's art and printmaking methods as we think ahead to what our own prints will look like. In reading the children have done an excellent job of spotting descriptive details in Stig of the Dump! Well done Birch class it has been a lovely week!

                                                        

21.11.25

The class has been wonderful this week as we revisit Place Value in maths with lots of children reaching the challenge level in their work. The class have written some beautiful lines of emotive poetry with different imagery for their Remembrance Poem, as we followed along with a BBC Teach Live Lesson on Remembrance, hearing different perspectives of the war, and some of the different emotions that readers might feel. The class have worked very well together all week, supporting each other in reading to the class and listening very well during out reading lessons this week about light. We continue to read Stig of the Dump in our class story time which the children are very much enjoying!  Well done for a thoughtful and creative week, Birch!

14.11.25

Our fraction learning in Birch class has really taken off this week as we have looked at equivalent fractions and fraction families (that like to go on holiday together!) In English, we have more deeply explored In Flanders Fields, thinking about what effect the author Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae might have wanted his poem to have on his readers, and what some of the tricky words mean. We have looked at the sounds 'e' 'i' 'a' and 'o' in phonics and recapped the tricky words Mr, Mrs, Ms and ask. In art, we have explored the printmaking of Gail Brodholt and are excited to get making our own prints this half term. The class have been real Resourceful Emeralds this week as a class focussing really well on their phonics recaps. A final well done and thank you again to Birch class for their confidence performance during the Remembrance Service.

                         

                                               

07.11.25

Birch class this week have enjoyed learning about the importance of Remembrance as they prepare for next week's Remembrance Service on Tuesday. We have also been drafting our instructions on How to Wash a Sabre-Toothed Tiger putting together all the things we have learnt over the last few weeks from time adverbials to imperative verbs, humour and clarity. In maths, we have explored fractions including counting in fractional steps along a jumbo number line in the playground and chopping up shapes with precision and equal parts. In RE, we have begun exploring Angels as Messengers as part of our learning about Christianity and in Science the class have looked at different light sources! Well done Birch class for working so well together in gymnastics in P.E. - several recognition stickers were given for being real Reciprocal Ambers!

24.10.25

We have had a really successful week in Birch and have done a lot of hard work. In Maths, we have focused on multiplication and division focusing on the 3, 6 and 9 timetables looking at arrays and division. In English, we looked at a new model text on the Woolly Mammoth and discussed the tricky vocabulary. We also story mapped and boxed-up the text looking in more detail at the purpose of each section. In project, we finished our Stone Age topic. This week’s lesson looked at how historians were able to find clues about how Stone Age people lived as it was prehistoric. In worship, we focused on gratitude and in RE, we created an acrostic poem on Paganism, bringing together everything we have learnt about this topic. I hope Birch has a wonderful and safe half-term.

                                      

17.10.25

This week the children have done some great exploring and delving deeper into the Instructions themed "How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth". The children recounted the story in drama causing lots of laughs (appropriate, since the story uses humour effectively to entertain the reader!). We have begun looking at measuring with cm, mm and m in maths and will revisit this later in the year. TTRS heatmaps are hotting up! Keep up the hard work at home - if you do not know your home TTRS login, please check your Reading Log or ask Mr Richards. In history, the children have compared the Stone Age to advances seen in the Iron Age and in DT we continue to develop our monolithic stone circles! We continue to explore related themes in Paganism in RE and the children shared some lovely hopes and gratitudes in our class assembly this week following on from Mr Bint's assembly about "What is prayer for?". 

10.10.25

 In Birch class this week we have begun exploring our new writing unit inspired by How To Wash a Woolly Mammoth. The children had to give Mr Richards instructions on how to wash the Wendy house in Reception and then had a go at using a messenger to give clear instructions to each other to complete the job. We also had a trip to the Village Shop to support us in our subtraction learning. Thank you very much to Micheldever Village Store for having Birch class in the store with our pretend money! We have explored the symbols of Paganism in RE with the children sharing a different symbol each, and in Science the class have tested the hardness of different rocks. The class have also explored how to summarise in reading, doing a great job of summarising a whole chapter in just two sentences. In PE, we visited the field twice this week to play Tag Rugby with some fantastic sportspersonship in the class! Well done Birch!

                              

                                                          

 

03.10.25

We have had a very Stonehenge oriented week this week, beginning on Monday as we did some Stonehenge drawing and vocabulary work ahead of our trip on Tuesday. The trip itself was a great success and the children really did us proud being safe, respectful and curious all around the Stonehenge site engaging with questions, learning and simply taking in the inspiring atmosphere. Back in class, we have largely had a week of "show us what you know" papers, as the children take part in their autumn testing. They have managed these very well and have been real Resilient Rubies as a whole taking each test in their stride! Well done Birch class. We also learnt about how different foods are harvested and created our own "wheat" art.

                         

26.09.25

 This week Birch class have gotten stuck into writing their Stone Age Boy stories with their own characters and wonderfully descriptive settings, thinking about all the vocabulary that we have learnt. In Maths, the class have very competently learnt how to use the inverse and begun using estimates to check answers. We have explored why and when we might estimate. In project, we created a Stone Age dinner plate looking at all the things that were eaten during the Stone Age. In RE, we have explored information about Pagan beliefs and rituals, timed nicely before our Stonehenge trip next week! In PE the children have shown excellent teamwork and reciprocity working in small teams buildings skills in Tag Rugby. Well done Birch class for being very resilient all week and using our learning walls on a daily basis!

19.09.25

Birch class have done some fantastic writing this week based on The Stone Age Boy using a range of subordinating conjunctions and descriptive writing. We have also been learning about how we use pronouns to avoid repetition in our writing. Our focus this half term is mostly on sentence level writing, making sure we have our basics correct! In maths, the class have worked through a range of addition strategies thinking about "If I know, then I know" and complements to 100. The class have started their Science unit on the Rocks cycle, which fits very nicely with our Stone Age Theme. The children are being real resourceful Emeralds using our new English Working Wall and accessing a great range of vocabulary both in English but also in maths. Birch are becoming great verbal reasoners! Well done Birch! Please remember our school trip on Tuesday 30th September - we can't wait!

                             

12.09.25

With our first full week behind us, we are feeling excited for the year ahead in Birch Class! This week, we have explored what it means to be a member of Team Birch and how we support each other and make sure that everyone is included. We have begun exploring number lines in maths, and I have been super impressed with the level of precision on display from everyone in Birch. In English, the children have explored The Stone Age Boy and delved back in time to the Stone Age, making beautiful time lines and escaping through holes in caves. In RE, we have begun exploring Paganism and the Winter and Summer Solstice festivals, which will lead us nicely into our Stone Henge trip. Please note that we have now finalised a minibus for our trip to Stone Henge and are finalising costs. We have managed to bring the cost down from hiring a coach but this has presented a slight delay in sending a final letter out with costs. We hope the costs will be no more that around £10 per child. It has been so lovely welcoming back Year 4s and seeing their learning behaviours and getting to know all our wonderful Year 3s and seeing equally excellent learning behaviours!

18.07.25

We made it! I can't believe that we have finally reached the end of term, and all still in one piece! Birch class have impressed me so much this Summer Term with all their resilience, awesome ideas and - the thing that has impressed me the most - how well they have been working together, supporting each other and sharing ideas. We have had such fun learning about the Egyptians and     everything that came with it. This week we have prepared for our end of year leaver's service, learnt about time, played a Maths Race twice in class - calculating speedily and accurately to win a race in two teams. Our challenge this week ended up a draw, well done Green and Red teams! We have showed off all our learning on a final project poster and written letters to our teacher next year telling them what helps us in class. THANK YOU for all your support with your children in Birch class this year, I am so proud of the progress they have made. All that is left to say is HAVE A FANTASTIC SUMMER!

 

11.07.25

Birch class were really excited to show their Ukelele skills this week at their musical showcase, and thank you to the parents, family and carers that were able to attend (and sorry to those that were not, we do realise it is difficult!).  The children sounded wonderful playing a range of songs! This week the class have finished their nature poetry using a range of poetry tools from similes and metaphors to personification, and thinking about the effect on the reader. We have focussed on only using tools when necessary and effective. In Maths, the class have been working with money and learning about the decimal point. Adding money, finding change and being very careful about the placement of tenths and one hundredths for pence. In project, we have also finished other Egyptian pieces of work that we are really excited to show for our class exhibition on Friday!  The class have shown a great range of learning   powers this week, but in particular   being Resourceful Emeralds as they use resources and learning walls to support their money addition and subtraction work. Well done Birch Class!

                          

04.07.25

This week in Birch, we have been really exercising our writing ability going through our Poetry Toolkit of alliteration, similes, metaphors and personification. Our writing is all about noticing the tiny little words that exist in the smallest parts of nature, and inspiring awe and wonder. In maths, we have tackled some tricky fractions and the class have shown great resilience working through some of the stretch tasks - well done everybody for stretching yourselves! We also gave       everyone in the class their own alliterative name and name badge in English for a bit of added learning and enjoyment. In project, we have finished our Pharaoh self portraits and cartouches and we are really looking forward to showing them off at exhibition.

27.06.25

In Birch class this week we have packed away our mystery stories as we finished inventing our stories and for some as a challenge even imagined what our story would be like as a movie! In place of mystery writing, we are now exploring nature poetry! We have drafted some wonderful initial poems on nature and will be writing poems on the tiny wonders in nature that we often overlook. In maths, we have spent the week working on the formal written or "column" method in maths, with everybody managing to achieve short multiplication using this method. In PSHE, we have continued to look at the body and changes that happen outside the body during puberty. A particular highlight of the week had to be Sports Day however! Birch class were FANTASTIC in both their efforts and their sportsperson-ship, cheering on their fellow house team members and getting behind each and every child in the school. Well done for being such Reciprocal Ambers and working together as a team while also achieving individually!

 

20.06.25

It's been a week of getting plenty of fluency practice with our times table facts this week as well as using this knowledge as the basis for broader problem solving. The        children have used all they have learnt about intrigue and crafting a narrative to draft and edit their mystery story this week with their chosen portal object. In Project, we have learnt about how the River Nile was used for the irrigation of crops in Ancient Egypt. In RE we explored the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan and how it shows how protection is important to Hinduism, making our own protection brackets to see how it feels to give and receive protection.  In DT, our Egyptian Death Masks have started to take shape with their initial outline and design. In PSHE, Relationships and Sex Education continues this week, learning about how babies grow inside the uterus and everything they need to grow. The level of correct and thoughtful responses in our retrieval tasks this week has been very impressive and the class are becoming real natural Resourceful Emeralds.

 

                                              

 

13.06.25

We've had a mysterious week in Birch class as we continue to think about intrigue and mystery for our narrative unit. We have learnt about how to properly format direct speech within stories and thought about story structure and story openings. In maths, we have spent the week mostly thinking about subtraction and how to subtract using the column method with exchanges. Everybody has achieved this at different complexities which is a real achievement! We have also learnt about some key landmarks within Egypt and explored how important they were to the Ancient Egyptians. The class have really looked after their classroom well this week, and have taken to their new English Lesson seating well with refreshed table goals. The children are being real Reciprocal Ambers checking each others work for their table goals, well done! Thank you to those that have brought in some AMAZING model pyramids for your homework. Don't worry, there is still plenty of time to complete this if you are taking part!

 

23.05.25

Birch Class have had a fantastic week completing their newspaper reports covering Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun and having some puns with pharaoh-ciously fascinating headlines! I was very proud of Birch Class' performance during our Teachers vs Students Times Table battle where they battled adults for a full 45 minutes to clinch a nail-biting win! We have completed our digital portraits of famous people inspired by Michael-Craig Martin. In project work, we crated posters about our most inspirational Egyptian Gods and thought about our own devotion and those devoted to us in RE.

 

16.05.25

This week Birch class have been exploring what makes a news report feel particularly "news" like as they ready themselves for their Newspaper Report writing. We have been listening to the BBC News theme music and considering why it sounds the way it does. We have explored geometry and 2D and 3D shape sorting in maths, as well as finding shapes in the natural environment. In science, Birch class have continued to learn about Sound and this week thinking about volume. In Art, we are now fully digitising our portraits and filling them with bright and contrasting colours. Birch class have been real resilient Rubies this week supporting their friends in Year 6 with their SATs and being extra quiet for extended periods.

09.05.25

Birch class had a lovely week building up to VE Day this week where we made our own Union flags and learnt about the history and components of the flag. We also learnt about the allied forces and how VE Day is a special mix between jubilant celebration and respectful remembering. In maths, we have had a week of problem solving with multiplication and division and in English we have finished writing our diary entries based on Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. In music, we have continued to learn how to play the ukelele. We hope everyone has had a wonderful week marking VE day!

           

 

25.04.25

It has been a delight to be back in Birch class and starting our new project exploring all about Ancient Egypt including Howard Carter's more recent discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. We began our term with a secret tomb in the middle of Birch class which the children crawled through to uncover ancient artefacts, including a mummy! We have begun creating a scrap book and fact-file about Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun so that we can write a diary entry/recount in the voice of Howard Carter himself. We have also been looking at times tables and different ways to represent them and for the Year 4's division using the bus stop method. In art, we have begun exploring the digital art of Michael Craig-Martin. The class have been real Reciprocal Amber's this week working very well together in their table groups.

 

04.04.25

Quite an exciting final week for Birch class as we wrapped up several units, including our project work based on recycling and Yayoi Kusama. The final stage of the art work was to deconstruct it and recycle the whole piece, completing the cycle of recycling! We wrote a review of our project and in English we finished writing our balanced arguments either on the seasons of the year or whether children should be allowed to make their own choices for school dinner. In maths, children were comparing numbers and the Year 4s converted between units for volume, comparing these different units and placing them on a number line. In PSHE, we looked at the dangers of unknown medicines and drugs and what children should do if they find them. The children have been real Resilient Rubies getting to the end of the term!

                                  

28.03.25

We have spent some time this week getting ready for our exhibition which the children are very excited to show you! They have created a piece of Installation Art that they feel shows the impact of recycling and raises awareness of the importance of thinking about recycling and how much better our world can be with re-using and recycling. The children have been inspired by the Installation Art of Yayoi Kusama and inspiringly linked this with their project work. The children have entirely lead this project and it's been amazing to see the links they have made and the messages they have attempted to communicate through their art. We have also looking at ordering and comparing numbers in maths and continued delving into balanced arguments in our English work, identifying and improving features, including what it means to be impartial.

 

 

21.03.25

An exciting day of Art filled our whole day on Friday as we move to finish our exciting piece of installation art. We are excited to show you the outcome of this at our class exhibition!  In maths, we began our week with a fraction hunt in the classroom and have continued to build on last year's learning on fractions, unit fractions and equivalent fractions with our own fraction walls made with precision and accuracy. In writing, we have begun exploring balanced arguments and thinking of For and Against reasons for arguments in an impartial way using the third-person. Birch class have been real Resilient Rubies this week as children have stretched themselves with their friendship skills and growing maturity.

 

14.03.25

This week, Birch class have completed their non-chronological reports on recycling and waste, with some really creative and persuasive writing that encourages the reader to delve right into their reports! It has been really impressive to see the children's passion for change when it comes to improving our treatment of waste. We have also solved some multiplication challenges in Maths, calculating the exact number of weeks, days and even the number of total hours left of school until the Easter Holidays. In project, we have looked at different inventions from the Industrial Revolution and research more about them. The class have shown great resilience this week, to be honest hammering their Times Table practice and we have a few children edging close to that "Gone Green"!

  

07.03.25

The highlight of this week has to be World Book Day with so many FANTASTIC (literally, in the case of the Fox ) characters visiting the classroom. The children displayed great understanding of their characters traits, personality and motivations - taking part in a whale-of-a-ride hot seat activity. Mrs Trunchball and a Witch even became best friends with their self-declared mutual hatred of children(!). We have now collected all the recycling we need, thank you very much. A reminder that we will be holding a Class Concert with the children showcasing their woodwind skills on the afternoon of Thursday 27^th March from around 1pm (please await a text message for precise timing). In maths we are revisiting multiplication and division and in writing we have begun making improvements to our model non-chronological report all about the world's oceans. Birch have been a vibrantly creative class this week with their book characters from Roald Dahl - well done!

                                             

28.02.25

Our theme of recycling and the environment continues this week, as we have gotten started with learning about non-chronological reports and their features. We will be writing reports all about recycling and the effect of waste in the environment. We spent the day on Wednesday learning all about time, as the children took over looking after the clock-watching for the day and Mr Richards had his watch confiscated. We answered questions based on the story Cluck O'clock and learnt to tell the time to 15, 5 and 1 minute(s), as well as calculating time forwards and backwards. In art we have now begun to think about shape and form in installation art, as we piece coloured objects together. The children worked very well together this week in maths timing the duration of different activities that lasted 1 second and 1 minute, with great creativity thinking of different activities! In our project work, the children have started to learn about The South Downs National Park and they will be comparing this geographically to The Alps.

                             

14.02.25

Birch class have continued to consolidate their addition and subtraction knowledge this week, deciding which methods are most efficient from round-and-adjust to the formal written method. In English we have picked apart a similar persuasive letter and imitated it with our own language, beginning to draft our own letters to Colgate. Of course the painting continues, please do keep that recycling coming in, we really appreciate it! In science the children have finished their unit on electrical circuits and we also spent the day exploring scams and how to avoid them on Safer Internet Day. The class have been very creative with ideas this week, well done Birch class. 

 

07.02.25

Birch class have explored Children's Mental Health Week this week exploring the idea of "Know Yourself". We have discussed the benefits of knowing yourself, and how this can support your emotions and feelings. In maths, we have looked at rounding and how this can help us with the helpful "round and adjust" method for addition and subtraction. In art and project, we have experimented with how different paints stick to different surfaces ready for our large art project later this term. Please do continue to bring in recycling - thank you to everyone for your mammoth efforts so far! We have been Resilient Rubies with some tricky maths this week. Our writing continues, exploring what formal and informal language is.

                 

 

             

 

31.01.25

Thank you AGAIN to everybody that has been bringing in recycling to the Birch Class Recycling centre - we are building up a great resource of materials and we are not at capacity yet! Please keep them coming in all term - we really appreciate it! This week, the class have showed off their addition and subtraction knowledge with a range of tasks including subtraction with exchanges in Year 4, using the formal written method. We have also solved logic problems using multilink. In English, we have learnt about persuasion and thinking about recipients for letters that we will write encouraging change. Our theme is (of course) recycling and the environment and the children have had some fantastic ideas! The children made their own switches in Science and brought together computing and art to design our art piece using computing software. Well done Birch for being real resourceful emeralds this week and using lots of maths resources!

 

24.01.25

 Birch class have worked like Reflective Sapphires all week this week, as they have received last week's test papers back with their marks. Reflecting on questions that they did not answer correctly, the class have grown their maths skills and also fixed little errors that they identified. This is a great skill to strengthen, so well done Birch class! We have also continued writing our narrative and looked at the grammatical features of speech, including reporting clauses. In science, Birch have continued to work with electrical circuits and in reading we have been practising our evidence finding and comprehension skills. Well done Birch for being such Reflective Sapphires!

               

 

 

17.01.25

The recycling centre is in full swing in Birch class! We have explored how recycling is sorted this week, and what is involved in a "recycling loop" - the children have devised different methods of sorting waste and recycling, and explored further installation art and what it is and can be. We continue to be inspired by the work of Yayoi Kusama and in particular her installation art. Birch class have impressively undertaken 5 tests this week, showing their Arithmetic, Problem Solving, Reading and Spelling and Grammar (SPAG) skills and have showed excellent resilience, determination and a calm attitude to practising test conditions. As a result, they have earnt additional relax time this week to unwind afterwards. Well done Birch class. Please do continue to bring in your recycling from home - we need a LOT for our project, and will be collecting all this half term. Thank you!

20.12.24

                                                    Merry Christmas from Birch

                                      

13.12.24

This week in Birch we have been exploring mass, the children have been measuring objects through estimation and lots of practical activities. In English the children have been publishing their final interviews for their chosen animal and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these and exploring ideas. Its been a fantastic week in Birch with the children showing an aspiring attitude to their learning. “Eric the Elf” has been super mischievous playing tricks in the classroom and hiding himself each day. A sprinkle of magic to spread the Festive cheer in every way.

 

06.12.24

Birch class have really enjoyed reviewing their learning for the term this week as we have prepared for class exhibition. In maths, we have explored mass and used balancing scales to balance weights as well as measure the mass of items in the classroom. In English, we have been working on statements and relevant questions, as well as using up to 10 different subordinating conjunctions, learning to identify the subordinate and independent clauses in a complex sentence. This has helped us write some really interesting animal interview questions and answers! In PE, we enjoyed some volleyball practice and games before we return to hockey next week. The class have been very resourceful emeralds this week as they reference their exercise books for all the components of writing that have taken place this week.

 

29.11.24

We have had a very busy week in Birch class this week. In Maths we have been exploring time and looking at past and to the hour, we have explored word problems as well and Birch class were super at this. In English we have started to look at the book Interview with a Tiger by Andy Seed and thought about questions we may want to ask our favourite animals. In science we explored the question whether oobleck is a solid or a liquid this got lovely and messy! As a class we loved the stepping workshop and really showed off our creative skills, we are also still practising our Samba drumming, hopefully you can come see us perform soon. What a great week Birch class!

 

22.11.24

Our marathon of fractions work is coming to an end this week! Year 4 have been measuring the playground with our super-length tape measure and calculating fractions of the length. In English, the children have been super writers and editors finishing up their Viking poetry with some wonderful literal and metaphorical interpretations of "journeying somewhere". In science, the children conducting a mini-experiment on the very cold day of the week, seeing if water would freeze and if ice would melt! In PSHE, we have explored families and what this word means, as well as what different families can look like. We have been real reflective sapphires this week (as we had hoped) with reviewing and editing our poetry, improving it bit by bit!

                              

15.11.24

A varied week of activities in Birch class across the week, starting with Birch class performing their thoughtful Remembrance performance and service in the church, followed by a fantastic visit from the Royal Air Force in a Chinook to Micheldever Village. The children were lucky enough to board the helicopter and ask questions to the service people on board, and we are very grateful. We have continued working on our Viking poetry in English focussing on word selection with a black-out poem, and in maths we have been finding fractions of very large areas on the playground as well as fractions of increasingly complex shapes. Thank you to everyone that brought in their copper coins for our Children in Need challenge today, we made a very very long line through the school! I hope you enjoy watching Children in Need on BBC One tonight if you're watching!

08.11.24

Birch class this week have been preparing for their part in the Remembrance Service next week at the church and learning about the importance of this key date in our year. We have spent a lot of time practising our lines, thinking about the meaning of remembrance and reading names from the Micheldever cenotaph war memorial. In maths, we have started looking at fractions with Cuisenaire rods, finding equal parts of different lengths. In English, we have been exploring poetry and all its forms, looking at different structures of poems and how they are laid out on a page, as well as word choices within single lines of poetry. We have been great Resourceful Emeralds and Resilient Rubies this week!

 

 

25.10.24

With our final week before half term, we have been enjoying all things autumn in Birch class. Collecting autumn leaves and painting them lovely patterns and colours to create a wonderful autumn-inspired mobile and adding our autumn and leaf themed poem. In maths, we have taken part in the EPIC Birch vs Teachers TTRS battle, and whilst it was neck-and-neck for a while, congratulations to Birch who pulled through and won the battle! 469 vs 226. Well done Birch class!  Every single member of Birch class contributed to the final huge score, so well done. We have also been exploring strategising in maths with a counter game of NIM7, thinking about which strategies were more likely to make us win. In RE, we have finished our Diwali mobiles and decorated the classroom. In music, the children have continued to practise their fantastic drum beats! We have been wonderful Reciprocal Ambers this week as we have strategised and played with a good winning/losing spirit in our NIM-7 games.

 

18.10.24

This week we have dug into one of our favourite maths operations: division! We have learnt division as grouping and sharing, and dividing large numbers by partitioning first. In our writing, we have completed our instructions and begun typing them up in neat to create a printed version. In project, we learnt all about King Arthur and created "The Great!" comics to show all the things that he became known for. In RE we learnt all about Diwali and created our own hanging colourful candle decorations. In computing, we learnt how to use and programme the microbits and creating our own scrolling LED matrix name badges. 

      

 

11.10.24

The weeks are flying by! This week we completed our paper models of an Anglo-Saxon Hut, reading, writing and editing written instructions using imperative verbs and adverbs to describe how. We have also practised our adverbials of time. In maths, we have learnt about the link between multiplication and addition and shown that repeated addition is the same as multiplication. We then began grouping objects with our really "group-ey" circles! In project, the class split themselves into two teams and prepared for a visit from a nearby tribe by building a small village in our outdoor woodland. Were the tribes friendly or aggressive visitors, and what laws did they need in place to keep their Anglo-Saxon villages protected? We have been fantastic reciprocal Ambers this week working very well together in our tribes and during a basketball match.

04.10.24

This week's writing has moved onto instructional writing and as a class we have been having fun exploring the different ways we can give instructions and how important it is to be clear, precise and use adverbs to assist. We have explored a week of money in maths converting pounds and pence, calculating change and playing different money games. In our project work we explored the Anglo-Saxon gods and goddesses and how their names related to the days of the week. Music continued with drumming and in DT we have made Anglo-Saxon brooches with a jewellery box. Birch class took an abundant collection of foods over to harvest festival so thank you everyone for your contributions.

 

27.09.24

We have had the luxury this week of slowing down our English writing and really dig into some edits of our civilisation story, as well as learning about clauses and compound sentences.  Our David Hockney inspired paintings now have beautiful colour and lines that look fantastic and we can't wait for you to see them. In maths, the children have learned to accurately measure and are beginning to add measurements together to find the perimeter of shapes. Our week finished off with our trip to Stubbington, enjoying visiting an Anglo-Saxon roundhouse and trying different Anglo-Saxon activities and den building!

 

20.09.24

The term is whizzing past and so are our writing projects! The children have been creating wonderfully rich paragraphs for our Weslandia civilisation story conveying characters personality through their actions, settings that excite the reader and sentences that advance the plot. In maths we have strengthened our flexible partitioning skills, so that children are able to break numbers down to make additions and subtractions easier and possible for them to process mentally. In PE we have learnt further outdoor games working as a team and building our competitive nature with friendly teamwork. Project work this week explored what grave goods are and how they can help us learn about the past. Please remember next week on Friday is our school trip to Stubbington - we are very excited!

                      

                            

 

13.09.24

Only week 2 and it already feels like the weeks are flying by! Birch class have continued their adventure with the wonderful Weslandia and have created their own alphabet for their newly formed civilisations. They have looked at how to use conjunctions and fronted adverbials to improve their writing, as well as all the things that make describing settings really powerful. In maths the children have continued to secure their place value knowledge, with Year 4s getting more and more comfortable with thousands and even some tens of thousands. We continue to learn about David Hockney and have started a new science unit all about plants. The children have set their own ambitions for the year and created a shared goal together: if we have enough golden rule role models over the coming weeks, we will celebrate as a class!

06.09.24

What a wonderful first week we've had in Birch! Everybody has contributed to our lovely new classroom, getting to know each other, showing our respect for each other and sharing interesting things about ourselves! We also built a life-size Viking Longboat together and sailed the rough seas, shown everything we know about place value in Maths and begun reading the enchanting Weslandia story together, which will form the basis of our English writing this term. The children have shared their motivations for our #TeamBirch wall and everybody has begun their weekly reading and explored our new Reading Garden in the corner of our classroom. We begun our RE unit by thinking about the symbolism of a candle and sketched our own candles after lighting some to see how they changed the atmosphere in class. Homework letters with Spelling Shed and TTRS logins will be sent home soon.

 

19.07.24

This week has been a reading focus in Birch class as we have completed our English curriculum for the year. We have made some sensational predictions based on evidence, dramatizations of scenes and discussed characters and settings in The Last Firefox. The children directed their own maths learning, choosing a topic they wanted to delve in deeper to, or practise more on. We finished our week off in the woodland area and with some creative art using different mediums of expression. We have been very resilient as our Year 4's met their new teacher as they will move into Year 5, and our Year 3s met the other half of their class coming to join us from Year 2 - we are very excited!

 

12.07.24

It has been lovely to return to Birch class this week to see the wonderful work they have been doing while I have been away. The children have engaged in a robust and detailed debated about the Swing Riots, managing to convince several people several times to change their view on this important history in Micheldever. Birch class have completed writing their balanced argument and we have refreshed all of our Guided Reading group readers for our last book for the Summer term! In maths, we have begun a week of learning all about money and are taking ourselves "shopping" for the week, estimating, formatting, adding and subtracting prices. Birch class have done some great editing this week in their writing and as such have been very Reflective Sapphires.

05.07.24

 Birch have had a fantastic week and been very busy! In English we have been looking at the skills needed to write a balanced argument ready to write our own about the Swing Riots in 1830 which we have gained so much knowledge on, even Mrs Talt has learnt new information!! In Maths we have been exploring equivalent fractions, year 3 have been looking at how to add fractions and year 4 have been looking at the decimal equivalents. In PSHE we have been looking at our goals for next year and in Science we have been looking at how we can classify animals and plants using a classification key. What a busy week! I have very much enjoyed teaching Birch; all the children should be so proud of their hard work and attitude this week. 

 

28.06.24

Birch have had a really excellent week this week. We were so impressed with how they took on Sports Day on Tuesday and the support they had for each other was fantastic. In English this week, we have begun a unit of writing on balanced arguments; trying to decide whether the Swing Riots should have happened. Maths this week has seen us doing division, including divisions that have remainders. We are looking forward to Mr Richards being back with us, although his return has been delayed by 1 week so we will be having Mr Johnston and Mrs Talt with us again next week.

 

21.06.24

Birch class have really impressed me this week. We have ben writing narratives based on James and the Giant Peach and they have managed to really excel in this. Their efforts to edit and improve their work was admirable. We have continued to look at expanded column multiplication and will be moving onto division next week. We have this afternoon made our animal homes, which we are hoping will begin to house some animal this weekend.  Mrs Talt and I have really enjoyed teaching Birch this week and look forward to it next week as well.

 

14.06.24

Congratulations to our Year 4s that have completed their Multiplication Check this week - everybody studied very hard to do the best that they could in these checks, and we are really proud of Birch Class Year 4s this week for their efforts and successes. Year 3s have also done amazingly well preparing themselves early for their own checks next year. We have continued to delve into the history of Micheldever this week learning about the Swing Riots of 1830 in the village, which we will delve into further over the coming weeks. The class have also begun designing their animal home for our woodland area, been working with negative numbers, and learnt how to use prepositional phrases to add detail to both characters and settings. Well done Birch class for once again being Resilient Rubies and persevering with so much times table practice!

 

 

07.06.24

This week has been terrifically Times-Table-ey in Birch class! We had a bumper TTRS day on Wednesday when we also awarded our first "Gone Green!" certificate for completing their entire Times Tables averaging every question under 5 seconds. Each child will receive their certificate when they have mastered their Times Tables to 12 - keep up the awesome TTRS efforts at home to get their soon! We have also begun exploring Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach and the children have started creating their own fantasy insect creatures themselves for their own "buggy" narrative. We have been looking at how Roald Dahl writes and the impact of this on the reader. In project work, we explored "Micheldever Mysteries" asking questions about the local area we would like to answer, before beginning our dive into the history of the local area. This week, Birch class have been more resilient than ever as we have clocked up minute after minute of Times Table practice, shaving seconds of our top speeds! Well done Birch!

 

24.05.24

We have had a very packed and productive last week of the half term in Birch Class! In maths, we have been using column method in calculating addition and subtraction with exchanging. In English, we finished our river poster using desktop publishing software.   We have also had a split PSHE lesson this week: the Year 4's learned about relationships, including boyfriends and girlfriends, with Mr. Richards and Mrs Talt; and, with Mr. O'Neill, the year 3's looked at the importance of how to maintain good friendships, before then performing some role play on what good and bad friendships look like. We have all been Resilient Rubies in our maths race, cheering each other on and succeeding under pressure! 

                                                               

17.05.24

Another week, another rush of rivers! This week, we have visited part of the River Dever in Micheldever (thank you Mrs B and Mrs B's dad!) to sketch it and its surrounding wildlife. The class have produced some beautiful sketches onto which we will add watercolours later in the week. In maths, we then plotted the area of the land we visited and calculated an imagined area in meters squared, with both Year 3 and Year 4 tackling area of rectilinear shapes. In writing, we have reviewed our previous research and refined our technique to clarify some definitions, before we begin drafting. We have also looked at angles, delved deeper into sacred spaces in RE and continued our athletics in PE. We have been Reflective Sapphires this week as we improve our research and knowledge capture skills.

           

 

       

10.05.24

With our beautiful river poems now written up in neat, we have moved onto our new text type in English: information texts. Sticking with the theme of rivers, we have created small fact-finding groups to discover new information about rivers, including their physical and human geography, flora and fauna and environmental considerations. In project, we have begun to learn about significant rivers around the UK as well as our glorious local rivers in Hampshire. In maths, we also begin a new unit: geometry - Year 3 are focussing on 2D shapes while Year 4 are looking will look at 3D shapes and coordinates. In PSHE, the children approached the theme of grief with great sensitivity and insight, as we discussed what kinds of feelings different kinds of loss might present, and how we can help ourselves to manage them. In PE, we continue our work in athletics for the summer term. We have been real Resourceful Emeralds this week, as we research all about rivers independently!

 

03.05.24

Our highlight of the week this week has to be our mini-hike along the River Dever, among the rapeseed fields, along the crystal streams and underneath the woodlands. We saw lots of wildlife, stopped to hear the natural sounds around us - and used our OS map reading skills to locate ourselves on a map. We have used the trip in English to further inspire our poetry with new adjectives, nouns and adverbs. In maths, we have turned to problem solving and using all our new multiplication and division knowledge to help us. This week, since Resilient Ruby joined us on our walk, we have to say that Birch class have been very resilient indeed!

                 

 

              

26.04.24

The poetry that has continued to come out of Birch class this week has continued to astonish. We have incorporated similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration and an increasingly rich vocabulary around rivers, streams, lakes and waterfalls. We have continued our project work on maps and our local area, this week using symbols on OS maps and discussing the make-up of small areas of land. In maths, the class have mastered division with remainders and multiplying/dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000. In PSHE we have discussed feelings of jealousy and how to handle them. Our touch-typing work continues in computing and the class have been very resourceful Emeralds using increasing amounts of vocabulary in the classroom within their writing.

19.04.24

We have had a wonderful first week back in Birch class for the summer term, getting started with our project "How do we share our local area?". The class have been practising rhyming couplets and quatrains in English and have written some stunning nature poems already. In maths, we have been focussing on our Times Table this week and noticing that 2s, 4s and 8s all double to make the next Times Table. Year 4s have been getting to grips with some challenges in their 11 and 12 Times Table. In project, we have explored the meaning of the word local and created a short route on a simple map. Birch class have been good Reciprocal Ambers this week performing poems and giving feedback on this and their written work.

 

22.03.24

Thank you to all our visitors at our class exhibition this week, we really enjoyed showing you our learning this term including the digestive system, the Romans, viaducts and aqueducts, the different human teeth and our wonderful fantasy narratives. This week, we also enjoyed a wonderful visit to The British Museum where the children explored various areas including the British Roman room - all of Professor Fig's challenges were completed! We have been ordering numbers up to (Year 3) and beyond (Year 4) 1,000 on a number line in maths. In English, we have written some cracking titles and learnt about different layouts and bulleted lists. Birch class have shown great pride in their work this week preparing for Exhibition, well done.

                                               

         

 

15.03.24

This week has been very busy in Birch class. In maths, we have been practicing our subtraction and addition skills to find and calculate fractions! We have also started our new writing unit and have been looking at persuasive writing for a Roman banquet. In science, we are carrying out a very fun investigation into the effects of sugary drinks on our teeth, and have placed eggs into a drink to observe this. Birch class have also worked hard continuing their viaducts in DT, well done for a week’s good work everyone!

 

08.03.24

This week in Birch class, we have had a busy and productive week - as always! In English, we have been continuing with our story writing and have now got onto the 'action' part of our writing. In maths, we have been looking at division and multiplication with problem solving. In our history, we've reached the end of our Romans unit and have finished out fact file posters with Mr. O'Neill, ready to move onto learning about volcanos.     

Well done Birch class on a great week, and have a restful weekend!

                                   

 

01.03.24

This week Birch have been real Resilient Rubies in working through our tests in English and maths, well done everyone! In science, we learnt about the functions of the different organs in our digestive system and even got to watch and take part in a rather yukky demonstration. In R.E., we have continued to look into the concept of courage by drawing and writing about times we have had to show courage. In English, we have learnt writing skills we will use our fantasy writing, like expanded noun phrases and successfully writing direct speech. Birch class have very nearly finished reading our class book ‘Varjak Paw’ and we are all very excited to see how it ends! In DT today, we have started our work towards making our very own viaducts!

       

23.02.24

This week, Birch class has been transformed into a fantasy wonderland! We have been Reciprocal Ambers working together to construct our fantasy world in our English writing. In maths, we have learnt to tell time to the nearest minute – wow Birch! We also tested our amazing Roman aqueducts, well done everyone for working so hard to make them, they all passed the test! In Science, we learnt about our digestive system and where in our body the organs belong. In RE, we discussed courage as a concept and how we could be courageous in all different parts of life.

     

08.02.24

This week Birch class have completed one of their most successful hot writes yet, writing up their three-day diary entries in neat. Children have included descriptive writing, thoughts and feelings, roman numerals, apostrophes for possession, adverbs and subordinating conjunctions and most importantly a rich passage of writing set convincingly in the pre-Roman/Roman period of Britain. In maths the children have become excellent problem solvers, choosing the most efficient method for their calculations. In art, Children have completed their beautifully colourful self portraits in the style of Frieda Kahlo. Professor Fig has gone a bit quiet this week it seems, however the children have been encouraged to offer their help to Professor Fig during our visit to the British Museum. The children have been wonderfully resourceful emeralds this week using our vocabulary wall, as well as discussing and learning with each other: What makes a great conversation?

 

19.01.24

This week in English, Birch class have been working hard towards writing their non-chronological reports on the Roman Empire. In Maths, we have learnt about different types of angles, such as acute, right angle and obtuse. We then looked for these angles in triangles and other 2D shapes. In Project, we have been looking at important features of the Roman Empire on a timeline. In RE, we discussed the concepts of good and evil and made collages from these ideas. In Art, Birch class have continued looking at portraits by the wonderful Freida Kahlo and creating their own self portraits inspired by her work. In PHSE, we have been Resilient Rubies, looking at dreams and goals, talking about broken dreams and how to be resilient when you feel disappointed.  Finally, the class have received a very mysteries letter from Professor Fig (according to the children - more to follow!).

 

12.01.24

This week we are really excited to welcome our new student teacher Miss Collier to Birch class, who the children have loved getting to know and working with this week. Miss Collier joins us from the University of Winchester and will be with us for the Spring term, working alongside Mr Richards. We have continued to explore the Romans this week in our project "How many times a week do you think about the Romans?", discovering where they lived in the world, including in Britannia. In maths, we have continued to explore fractions and the children have done a great job of ordering, comparing and adding fractions. Our non-chronological report continues to be explored in English, with the children writing introductions and sub-headings that make their readers want to read more.

 

05.01.24

Our week began with the transformation of Birch class into a Roman amphitheatre! We have explored a range of new Roman vocabulary that the children have begin using and are now also even preferring to write in Roman Numerals when writing numbers in some circumstances! In maths, we have revisited what we know about fractions so that next week we are ready to begin exploring ordering and comparing fractions. We have begun practising catching and throwing for our unit on handball in P.E. Our amphitheatre remains in place for the next week as we prepare for Boudica's battle with the Romans and how they established themselves in Britain. In English, we have immersed ourselves deeply in Roman vocabulary ready for our non-chronological reports in which we will record our learning.

15.12.23

It's finally here, the last week of school before Christmas! We have had a week full of Christmas joy, with Christmas themed learning, making, decorating and planting. Our hedgerow is now planted in the woodland area and all children have marked the trees that they planted. We used our maths skills to create carefully cut and measured paper-chain decorations all around the classroom, with some children even dividing decimals by 10 successfully. Thank you for all the Christmas cheer, cards and kind gifts that have made their way into Birch class one way or another, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

 

08.12.23

The children's playscripts in English have started taking shape, all themed around "a missing something". We have learnt about playscript formatting and consistent use of the present tense in stage directions. We have explored adverbs, pronouns and verbs all useful in a playscript and planned scenes and settings. In maths, we have been measuring mass using balancing scales and comparing objects for their mass. We have also learnt about the prefixes centi, milli and kilo. Our Christmas advent calendar now has some wonderful poems, prayers and jokes that the children have written. In science, we have made giant shadows and learnt about the movement of the sun and its effect on shadows. We are very excited about Christmas week next week.

 

01.12.23 

Our exciting DT project of building a model roundhouse has come together this week in style. We have constructed and finished our Stone Age roundhouses according to our designs, thinking carefully about them so they are as authentic to our understanding of Stone Age as possible. In maths we have been improving our measuring skills, which have been applied well in our roundhouse construction. In English, we have had a dramatic start to our final unit of the year as we begin reading, performing and writing playscripts. This week, Birch class have been particularly resilient in the building of their roundhouses, working carefully and meticulously to their finish!

                               

 

                                           

24.11.23

Our focus for DT this term has been the planning phase of a construction, and now that we have spent a thoughtful amount of time indeed planning our model roundhouses, we have now been collecting the materials (decided in our designs) needed to make them! The class' designs include twigs and clay, and so Birch class went out foraging for twigs this week, carefully choosing them for impact on their surroundings and suitability for our project. We have also decided where our new hedgerow will be planted in the wooded area, and thought about access, protection and its use for wildlife. The children have completed their unit on shape and Year 3 have finished their week-long car park investigation - ready to let Hampshire County Council how many spaces are needed on each floor! We have finished our hot writes for our historical fiction, and the class have used their resilience learning power making sure their work is neat and error free.

                         

17.10.23

We have explored further into the worlds of our historical fiction, and children have been deciding on the plot of the story, their setting, object and characters. We have also explored the definition of bullying and how to spot it when it might not be so easy as part of Anti Bullying Week. In maths we have been exploring 2D and 3D shape, with Y4 additionally learning about symmetry. Year 3 have focussed on counting faces on 3D shapes and working out the number of vertices. And next week, it's time to get our hands dirty! We will be planning and making preparations for where to plant our new hedgerow in our outdoor area, with plants donated by Woodland Trust. Birch Class have been very supportive of one another particularly when individuals have been learning their 4 times table for the first time.

                      

                

 

               

 

10.11.23

Birch Class led a wonderful Remembrance Service this Friday, working very well to rehearse their work while not having their usual teacher for two days this week! We have also looked deeper into the remembrance poem and what the author Laurence Binyon may have inferred by the words. The children had thoughtful and provoking ideas and have showed a deep understanding of Remembrance, particularly thanks to Charles Holden and his Friday morning assembly at the school. We have also had an excellent week working finishing our fractions unit and Year 4's have also been working with decimals below and above 1. Next week we will begin our work with 2D and 3D shapes and start final-drafting our Stone Age Historical Fiction! Birch Class have been great at reciprocity this week in PE working well together in small teams calmy, supportively and energetically. Finally, in DT the class have begun designing their neolithic roundhouses that we will begin to construct next week.

                     

20.10.23

This week Birch class have been counting in 3s, 4s and 25s, both forwards and backwards. We have explored some large arrays in Year 4 and in Year 3 we have found different arrays that match our new Times Table facts. In English, we have finished our poem inspired by  Michael Rosen's I Was Born in the Stone Age. We completed our unit on basketball with an indoor game in PE. We have also have continued our journey exploring the word neighbour in RE. Birch class have been very reciprocal this week, supporting each other in maths and English, particularly with spellings!

13.10.23

This week we've had enourmous fun playing with our new Story Cubes in class, generating short stories to make predictions from, as well as generate new maths questions! In maths, we have had a week of Times Tables, looking at our 3s, 4s and even our 8s, new for some Year 3s! We have mainly focussed on our 3s, and explored some word problems involving these facts. Our Year 4s have been challenged with more complex work problems involving a wider range of times table facts.  In English, we continue to explore Michael Rosen's Stone Age poem, and have looked at how poems are structured and shaped. We have begun our computing for this term, learning how to use Logo Code, including PENUP and PENDOWN commands. The children have been very resourceful this week, using maths resources to support their multiplication and doubling.

                  

06.10.23

Birch class have started to explore their poetry this week, firstly by exploring lots of poetry books and then spending some time getting to know I Was Born in the Stone Age by Michael Rosen. In Art, the children have continued their sculpture using carefully cut pieces of wood as we continue to think about sculpture. In maths, Birch class have been learning about accurate measurement and combining lengths together to measure perimeters! Birch class have been very supportive listening to each other read poems to the class, and all very enthusiastic to do so themselves, well done Birch.

 

29.09.23

A very exciting start to the week for Birch saw us travel to the ancient stone site of Stonehenge, where we spent the day being curious and answering many of our questions that we had thought of beforehand. Back in class, we have been looking at money and the coins and notes needed for items in the Stonehenge gift shop. We have also had a wonderful week of free writing before our poetry unit begins next week. The class did a great job of following all our golden rules while being off-site this week, well done.

 

              

 

22.09.23

This week we have learnt how Stone Age people made fire and written up our final set of instructions for how to do so, while continuing to expand our Stone Age vocabulary. We have placed the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods on a timeline and begun thinking about expanses of time and their duration. The children have used a great range of imperative verbs in their writing. In maths, we have used numberlines to help us bridge across 10 when adding and created our own multiplication grids for our Times Tables. We have further explored sculpture with doweling rods, and prepared ourselves for our exciting trip on Monday! Birch class have been very resourceful this week, using word banks in the classroom regularly. 

            

15.09.23

Birch class have ended the week creating a dramatisation of a Stone Age story that describes Auri using and making Stone Age tools, featuring their tame wolf, Bones! Next week we will begin exploring Stone Age history in our local area using Ordnance Survey maps in preparation of our visit to Stonehenge. In maths, we have secured some of our work using number lines, using a variety of numbers lines with different jumps on them. In English the children have worked with time adverbs, imperative verbs and lists to prepare for their instructional writing. P.E. continues with Invasion Games which builds on our new Early Morning Social Communication work of working together and improving our group communication skills – the children have done a great job of engaging with this work and working with each other this week.

    

08.09.23

Birch class have been so welcoming to each other this week and have made themselves proud following our Golden Rules and working very well together in our first week back! We have been exploring our new project focussed around the Stone Age: "Has life always been like this?" We have done some place value work in maths and began our Times Table journey for the year starting by revisiting our 2s, 5s and 10s. In English we have begun looking at what instructions look like, and the kinds of vocabulary we might use in them. The children have also done a great job at using a range of Stone Age related vocabulary already and have been using the words Neolithic and megalith in sentences and discussions. It is lovely to have the children spreading so much love already in the Autumn term, welcome back Birch

                                              

14.07.23

Birch class have surpassed themselves in their writing this week, with some stunning poetry - the range of subjects and moods conveyed is impressive and there are some really moving pieces of writing. We have been practising character voices and intonation in reading and in maths have completed a range of lessons on measurement. In art, we have finished creating our Egyptian death masks and now just waiting for them to dry! The class have shown great reflection and resilience this week as well as great team work and encouragement in P.E. That encouragement followed through into Sports Day and I'm very proud of how Birch class encouraged each other along the day.

       

07.07.23

Birch class revisited computing this week and have spent some time coding, as well as reflecting on their year and writing up their personal reflections for their end-of-term reports. We have continued our work with money in maths and will be looking at calculating change from set amounts. In English, the class have set the success criteria for their poem writing and found examples of success and similar writing in poetry books. The class have enjoyed painting their Egyptian Death Masks and preparing posters showing their artefact knowledge for the classroom exhibition. Birch class have followed goldren rules well this week and continue to do an amazing job of lining up for all our transitions!

                          

30.06.23

Birch class have planned the design of their Egyptian Death Mask this week in their sketch books and completed the neat write up of their newspaper articles reporting on the discovery of Tutankhamun. In English we have then begun a new unit on poetry, and already I have been stunned with the beauty and skill on display in the poetry written! The children have performed their initial poems to one another. In maths, we have begun exploring money using coins and notes in class. Towards the end of the week, Birch class had a go at some tests in Reading and Maths, as we learnt about what 'test conditions' means - we discussed how this will prepare them well as they progress though to Year 6. The class have shown excellent reciprocity in PE working on volleys and forehand and backhand, as well as a game of King/Queen of the Court!

         

                                                    

23.06.23

In science the class have been finding out which objects in the classroom are magnetic and testing out their prior predictions. In maths we have been hunting for fraction problems in the wooded area and Birch have made great progress in their fractions work this week! We have related our earlier learning on division to finding fractions of amounts. In English we have continued to work on our newspaper reports and this week have been inserting quotations from Howard Carter and his team. Birch's tennis skills this week have really strengthened as they have been practising volleys as well as their forehand and backhand. RSE has continued this week learning about puberty with the Year 4's additionally learning about the menstrual cycle. On Wednesday afternoon the class went on a "noticing" walk around the local area, exploring the landscapes and wildlife of beautiful Micheldever! The class have shown how excellent they are this week at both following instructions and also working with each other to solve problems as a class.

                            

   

16.06.23

In maths we have begun to look at division as part of our multiplication and division unit, firstly securing our knowledge of equal groups. In writing we have started drafting our newspaper article on Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. To get into the mood for writing headlines for their articles, Birch have been listening to the BBC News theme music and announcing various headlines to camera. There may have been the odd dance to the tune also in the warm up task (it’s quite a bop!). The Year 4’s have shown great problem solving skills this week in Maths tackling larger divisions with dienes and Birch class have all shown great paired working solving division equations together.  In RE, Birch visited the woodland area to think about the symbolism of trees, and in Geography we have been discussing Egypt on the world map, with all its wonders up and down the country.

                     

09.06.23

It has been a joy and a pleasure to teach Birch class this week. Birch have been learning to write a newspaper report—we begun the week by recreating the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter and have even had Carter, the water boy and Lord Carnarvon visit our class and talk to us. In maths, we have been learning about multiplication and learning many different techniques for solving these. Birch have risen to every challenge that has been thrown at them and have shown great resourcefulness in their learning.

                                 

25.05.23

Another week of outdoor registrations saw Birch class finding spellings outdoor this week, inspired by nature. We have focussed on subtraction this week in maths as well as using the inverse to check our calculations. In English, we have continued writing our mystery narrative, following the story of the imagined Birch class trip to the pantomime showing "The Mystery of the Egyptians Treasures"! For our active early morning work this week the class constructed pyramids from K'nex and identified their vertices. We have been making posters showcasing our artefact knowledge in history and PSHE has continued with e-safety.

 

       

 

19.05.23

This week Birch class have returned to learning about addition and subtraction, with a particular focus on what it means to be efficient - which method would be most efficient when solving addition and subtraction equations? We have begun learning more about our artefacts in history in preparation for our exhibition. Our morning register is now taking place outside where we will do a number of quick early morning tasks. On Wednesday we tidied away any dropped rubbish and on Thursday we sketched some wildlife. We also found a bird's nest with fledglings in the hedge! Music continued with African Drums and in PE our athletics continued back on the wonderfully green field.

                                              

                                             

 

12.05.23

This week Birch have been exploring 3D shapes and coordinates. What examples of prisms can children find at home? In writing, the children have been able to identify all the wonderful features they demonstrated in their diary entry hot write, and we are now exploring our new unit: a time-travelling mystery narrative! We have been practising running along a curve in PE and our African lessons will continue next week. in PSHE, we have been exploring friendships and strategies to deal with conflict. Finally, Birch class also created a wonderful set of mini-posters exploring the rules of our new woodland area,  "The Animal's Home".

        

 

05.05.23

This week Birch class have worked really hard to get their Howard Carter diary entries written up for their hot write. There is a long list of ingredients that the children have included in their writing, from subordinating conjunctions to wonderful subject-rich language and describing observations, actions, thoughts and feelings. In science, the children have continued to explore sound and this week experimented with pitch by making their own paper flute. We have made some jelly in the student kitchen for our Coronation party! In PSHE, we have been discussing roles in work and the home and in PE the children have continued their athletics, once again on the field!

 

28.04.23

Birch class have been wonderful writers and historians this week, exploring their diary writing and the Egyptians further and deeper. We revisited the artefacts from our tomb exploration in Week 1 and considered what each one could teach us about our understanding of the Egyptians and what kind of people they were. In maths, we have been multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100 using a Gattegno chart. Our "Very Important Things" we have explored in the morning have included the 7 tallest mountains,  and the 10 most deadly animals! In Art, the children have been exploring colourways and colour theory and we continue our athletics in PE. Last but not least, the children have begun learning how to play the African drums!

                                       

21.04.23

This week began with the classroom looking a little different. Birch class had been replaced with a large crawl-through tomb! The children discussed what mysteries are and how we uncover them, and then went on to explore the tomb taking photos inside. We pieced together the clues and discovered that they were Egyptian! This has led the children to researching who both Howard Carter and Tutankhamun were, and exploring the first parts of writing in the first person for a diary entry. In maths we have been exploring multiplication and division and in science we have started learning about sound. Can your child tell you how sound travels from an object to your ear?

                                         

                                                      

31.03.23

What a bumper Easter week! We have all enjoyed practising our Easter prayers in handwriting this week as well as writing some Easter themed poems for our last writing unit of the term, based on Spike Milligan's On the Ning Nang Nong. We have assessed our skills in football (passing, defending and control of the ball) and brushed up on our 6 times tables. In geography, we learnt about how the Alps have changed over time, and thought about how this was different to how the South Downs have changed over time.

    

24.03.23

This week we have been exploring volume and in particular the volume of water. Y3 have been pouring and measuring while enjoying a game of "just one more drop!", and Y4 have been calculating how much water they would need to fill the assembly hall entirely with water. In English, we have almost finished writing our persuasive letters and the children have been learning to peer review and edit each other's work. We have continued our football practice in P.E. and our new Times Table station is getting great results every morning!

         

17.03.23

Birch class held an amazing Mini COP event joining Hawke Owls class at Barton Stacey this week. The children worked fantastically together to come to an agreement across their 24 countries, prioritising real-life climate goals, all reasoned with sound arguments and considered prioritising. We enjoyed a lovely performance from the Barton Stacey choir and the day began with a very special letter from Buckingham Palace! The suggestions, team work and consideration shown by the children during our Mini COP gives me every confidence that Birch class will be excellent stewards of our planet Earth for years to come. On Friday we enjoyed a day of science experiments as part of Science Week, from exploding sandwich bags to creating more circuits with buzzers and bulbs!

        

               

10.03.23

A week of persuasion in Birch class has seen the children split into two teams debating on both sides of the argument: should children wear school uniform? The children have gotten excellent at their persuasion skills and even managed to persuade Miss Stirling to complete press-ups at the front of class! We continue to learn our football skills in PE and have explored what happens when we double arrays (in any direction) in maths. We’re very excited about our Mini COP27 event next week and look forward to reporting back on this! A special well done to the children of Birch class for such excellent and beautiful homework projects. It has been wonderful seeing the children share these  – the pride that children have shown demonstrates the effort that went into them – well done Birch class!

         

03.03.23

Naturally the highlight of this week has been our World Book Day festivities this Friday! As I write this we have begun the day with some fascinating interviews with Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie who have taken a range of questions from their very interested audience! Later we look forward to interviewing all the other wonderful individuals gathering in Birch class today! Earlier this week we completed our explanation texts on climate change and continued our times table deep dive, introducing Year 3's to new tables and challenging ourselves with word problems. The children are now excellent at calculating the number of legs on a zebra!

                                                                     

 

                                                        

10.02.23

You’re stuck in a tree with precarious looking branches all the way down and a few metres up a clearing to the views beyond. Would you climb down those frightful looking branches and risk falling or continue climbing upwards to call for help and risk never being able to get down?! Just one of the dilemmas to come from Birch class stories this week as we finish drafting our narratives. We have also started putting together our sculptures and our highlight of the week was a visit from Mr Hornby who explained his fascinating work in climate change, oceans and visits to COP27 - ahead of our own Mini COP27 next half term! Have a wonderful break over Half Term and we look forward to Spring 2!

                 

03.02.23

Birch class have continued to explore the meaning of dilemmas this week as they flesh out their narrative story writing. The children have imagined some complex scenarios with characters having to make some difficult decisions! In maths, our addition and subtracting work continues as we move into using the formal written method (a fan favourite for some!). The clarinets are beginning to sound pleasing as children grapple with the delicate reed and we have been listening to more Nina Simone as we explore her life and story in Guided Reading. Thank you to all those that have sent or dropped in their recycling for our sculptures (which have begun taking shape) – please feel free to keep these coming in various shapes and sizes until next week (any old fabrics are welcome too)!

                         

27.01.23

With our non-chronological reports now published we have moved onto narrative writing in English. We are exploring stories with dilemmas and reading about Greta Thunberg. The class have continued their leaning of claranet and are listening to the music of Nina Simone. In maths we have started looking at addition and subtraction again, with a revisit to place value and lots of organising ourselves into hula hoops! In art, we have begun looking at artist Yayoi Kusama at how we can create a sculpture from recycled materials - if you have any fabrics or used packaging at home that can be used, please send this in with your child!

        

20.01.23

Birch class have had a lovely week learning more about the Industrial Revolution and fact hunting along a timeline of events. They have put this new knowledge into their Non-Chronological Reports which are now at the publish stage and contain lots of lovely subject-specific language. The children finished their unit on fractions by creating a “fraction flower” out of paper, puzzling over the fraction of a tiny petal – we had some insightful approaches and great investigating. On Friday, Birch class are learning all about time – we will be speaking and learning about time all day – if you need someone to keep their eye on the time this weekend, why not ask your child!

 

13.01.23

We have continued our learning about the Industrial Revolution this week increasing our vocabulary understanding of the factors revolution and conditions of the time. The children have created another giant number line in the classroom and measured their arms, head circumference and handspan all as part of their fractions work. We continue to explore how to write a non-chronological report and have begun gymnastics in PE. Our new wind instruments are in the building ready to begin learning on next week! Apologies that Spelling Shed settings were not correct at the beginning of the week; this has been fixed and all children should now have their spelling homework set.

 

06.01.23

What a wonderful start to the term we have had in Birch class! We have begun exploring what is meant by non-chronological report and the children have written some wonderful first attempts across a range of topics. In history, we have explored when the Industrial Revolution was and some of the inventions and advances it was responsible for, as well as some of the hard-fought workers’ rights came out of this era. In class, we began to explore our new project question “Do you have to be in adult to change the world?” and the children already have some beautifully poignant answers. The children have begun a new gymnastics unit in PE and a fair bit of mental gymnastics with further fractions work in maths! Quick quiz for the children at home: what is a numerator and what is a denominator?