So, it is now December. The school Christmas tree is up; advent calendars are being opened and we are now allowed to ‘mention’ Christmas in Darwin class – but only briefly, yet!

This week has been an interesting and varied one. In maths, we have reached the end of our fraction work, for now, and have started looking at position and direction, specifically co-ordinates. We enjoyed sharing the questions we created for homework on Monday – I think I may have some future exam writers in the class! On Tuesday afternoon, we had a visitor in school who told us what it is like to be Jewish – we learned a lot. We had a house meeting on Wednesday morning to plan our special ‘house afternoon’ in the final week of half-term and Code Club on Monday was as well attended as ever – Bigtrak had a great time completing a phenomenal track in the hall.

This week’s certificate winners are:

Haiden was awarded the writing certificate for the excellent start he made to his non-chronological report about Tongo lizards. Jolame was awarded the red certificate for his kindness in ensuring that nobody was left out during this week’s PE session. Well done, both!

Next week, there are a few events planned for Darwin class:

On Monday (as long as the technology co-operates) we are attending a live comic drawing session online with a book illustrator. The session is entitled ‘Jingle Smells’, which is intriguing. On Tuesday, Darwin class will be having their Christmas lunch; on Wednesday morning (technology allowing, again), Darwin class are taking part in a Micro:bit Christmas themed ‘code along’ – these are always good fun. On Friday, it is, of course, the trip to Ironbridge, which I am sure everyone is looking forward to enormously.

Our writing assessment is currently nearing completion, which means I will shortly be able to complete this term’s assessments and send the information home to you. I am aiming to do this by the end of next week but, if not, certainly before Christmas!

Information about this week’s homework can be found in the section below.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. E.

This week, we have been working on writing a diary entry in the role of Matthew Henson, using clear processes to proofread and edit our work. In maths, we have explored different methods to solve division problems. On Tuesday, we took advantage of an interesting online opportunity to find out about careers with BT; we discovered that many skills are needed in the work place, both digital skills and human-centric skills. The advice ‘be curious’ was given a lot!

Next week is a four day week for the children (Monday – Thursday). On Monday, we have a really interesting opportunity to meet a Baroness from the House of Lords. This will be a live (online) meeting where we will be able to find out about life as a member of the House of Lords and ask questions. Click here to find out more about the House of Lords.

Finally, our certificate winners for the week are: Leighton, who was awarded the red certificate for being generally fantastic in everything that he does. He is an absolute delight to have in the class! Annabelle B was awarded the maths certificate for her hard work all week; her growing self-checking skills and her dedicated application to master her maths target!

That’s it from me this week. Don’t forget to look at the homework section (and spellings section this week!) below!

Mrs. E.

We have had a productive start to the new school year; the children are settling in well and have made a great first impression! Today, we started looking at our new history topic, ‘Maafa’, (a Swahili word which means ‘great catastrophe‘), which explores the history and impact of the slave trade. This week’s homework is to prepare for our next lesson. Details of the homework task can be found in the homework section below this message.

Next week, our class timetable will be a little different from this week’s and from the forthcoming weeks. Next week our PE session will be on Thursday and we have a boxing workshop on Friday, which is exciting! The following weeks, PE will be on Wednesday (swimming) and Thursday. Further information about swimming will be sent shortly.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday for the start of our first full week and I am looking forward to seeing what they have discovered whilst completing their homework.

Mrs. E.