Another busy week at Atwood!
In Nursery, the children have been thinking about families and the number 2. You can read more here:
https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/eyfs/atw-nursery-news-3rd-october
In Reception, the children have been reading The Rainbow Fish and reading poems for National Poetry Day.
This week, Year 1 have been using adjectives in their sentences describing the hats they are making for the bear in ‘I want my hat back’. In maths, the children have been ordering and comparing sets of objects ranking them from fewest to most and n their thematic work the children have been identifying London landmarks.
This week in Year 2 the children have read ‘The Bear and the Piano’ and they have been working sentences to retell the story. In their history work the children have been learning the order of Henry VIII’s wives and how they all met their end. In gymnastics the children have been learning and developing their rolls and balances and in DT the children have been designing the boxes that will eventually be used to take their healthy muffins home. In maths, the children have been learning methods for addition.
This week, Year 3 the children have been gathering information for their non-chronological report on the Tyrannosaurus and practising using subordinating conjunctions to make their sentences more dynamic. They have begun practising their sketching skills, looking at adding depth and texture through shading in preparation to draw The Crystal Palace. In Science, the children have been identifying and labelling the bones of the human body and discussing the important roles the skeleton plays in keeping us healthy and strong. In Maths, this week they have been finishing off their place value module by exploring counting in 4’s 8’s and 50’s, recognising patterns and solving problems systematically. The children had a wonderful first official visit to the newly refurbished library where everyone was so excited to ‘take out’ a new library book!
Also, in Jade class the children explored problem solving with paper in our creative thinking session. They had to create the tallest sculpture using only strips of paper (cast offs from all the sheets Mrs McWhinnie had been making for them!!). They had to think about how to manipulate, join and construct the paper in different ways to create sculptural shapes. This then evolved into exploring what would happen if they shone a light at their shapes to create shadows and thus more shapes. They were fascinated with how their sculptures completely changed and how they could make their sculptures appear to move as they altered the angle of the torch light
This week, Year 4 have been writing speeches for Boudicca. They have been including powerful and emotive language as they write in role as Boudicca comes to terms with the death of her father, Prasutagus the King of the Iceni tribe. In maths, the children have been rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and in their thematic work they have been learning all about the Roman army and what a Roman soldier would wear.
In Year 5, this week the children have focused on subtraction with one exchange and have got their teeth stuck into some challenging problem solving and reasoning in maths. In English the children watched a new stimulus which is a spooky animation called ‘Alma’ which has generated a lot of class discussion. Every time they watch it, the children spot something new to talk about – what they like, dislike, anything that is puzzling them and anything that it reminds them of. The children have begun to write their own sentences full of suspense and spooky description. In science the children completed a practical investigation to study the effect friction has on a shoe being pulled across different surfaces and on Thursday as part of National Poetry Day the children focused on the poem by Michaela Morgan ‘Word Play’. Pupils performed it in small groups and then had a go at writing their own.
This week, Year 6 headed to London to visit the Natural History Museum. After a very smooth commute by bus, train and tube the children had a good look around the Blue Zone looking at the dinosaur skeletons and the mammals. The children took part in a workshop where the children learnt how evolution takes place over time and how fossils help us to know this. The children then had time to ride the escalator into the centre of the Earth and visit the exhibits on human evolution. In maths the children have started to look at fractions and in English the children have stared reading ‘When Stars are Scattered’. The children also recited poems in recognition of National Poetry Day.
Sports News
Cross Country
It has been a busy week for our runners this week with teams from Key Stage 2 attending the cross-country events at Royal Russell School. On Wednesday, year 3 and 4 attended and on Thursday it was the turn of year 5 and 6. Everyone gave 100% competing with determination and perseverance and there were some stand out performances. In the Year 4 boys’ competition Zac and Michael placed 1st and 2nd and in the Year 6 girls’ race Grace came in a very creditable 8th. Well done to everyone who took part and thank you to Mrs Bayliss and the all the staff who supported the event.
A Farewell
It is with much sadness that we say goodbye to Miss Hollywood today. She has been an excellent member of staff at Atwood for the past five years and we are very sorry to see her go. Nevertheless, we wish her all the best with her new business venture and hopefully she will come back and see us soon. We are pleased that we have been able to recruit Miss Wicks as a replacement who some of you may know from her previous stint in Nursery.
And finally...
Please can I remind all children and parents that the children should not be bringing toys in to school. At the moment, we seem to have a proliferation of Labubu dolls and, lovely as they are, they shouldn’t be in school. Unfortunately, the teachers do not have time to sort out quarrels or issues that arise as a result of dolls (or other toys) being lost, broken or stolen. The school cannot accept responsibility for any toys that are brought in to school that then get damaged or disappear and this can be very upsetting for the children. Best all round if the toys stay at home. Thank you.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Monday 6th October: Parents’ Evening
Monday 6th October: Year 5 Gurdwara visit
Tuesday 7th October: Year 5 Gurdwara visit
Wednesday 8th October: Year 2 Diwali visit
Wednesday 8th October: Parents’ Evening
Monday 13th October: Year 6 TfL Road Safety Presentation
Tuesday 14th October: Individual and sibling photos
Friday 17th October – Show Racism the Red Card – Wear Red day
Thursday 23rd October end of half term
Tuesday 4th November – First day back to school
Wednesday 5th November: FOAP Fireworks display
Friday 7th November: Year 2 Hampton Court Palace trip
Friday 7th November: Magenta Class assembly
Friday 14th November: Cyan Class assembly
Friday 21st November: Indigo Class assembly
Thursday 27th November: Year 5 Viking Workshop
Thursday 27th November: Year 1 Science Museum trip.
Friday 28th November: Amber Class assembly
Friday 19th December: End of Term
Monday 5th January INSET day- School closed
Tuesday 6th January: Back to school
