Summer 1

Badger's class had a lovely half term. It's been full of interesting lessons and exciting finds which inspired lots of fantastic writing.

English

This half term, Badger's class had a very exciting discovery in the school flower beds. We found two ammonite fossils and wrote about them in our reporter's journals. We then took our findings back to the classroom and started the process of writing our own newspaper articles. We interviewed witnesses and used direct speech to record their answers. We then looked at time prepostions and different types of sentences. Our final reports were very interesting and really appealed to our audience.

Maths

Both year groups were looking at measurement throughout Summer 1. We started by looking at measuring in cetimetres and metres. We really enjoyed measuring objects around the classroom and investigating their length. After this, Year 2 moved onto looking at postion and direction. We discussed clockwise and anti-clockwise turns and postional language such as above and below. Year 3 moved onto perimeter, investigating how to find the perimeter of shapes and measuring them.

Topic

For our topic this half term, we looked at the history of the seaside. This meant looking at Victorian seaside holidays and comparing their holidays to ours now. We learnt all about Victorian fashion including bathing machines. We also created a poster for a seaside town all about what entertainment was avaliable during those times. Donkey rides, piers, Punch and Judy, bucket and spades and much more!

Science

Our science topic this term is 'Forces and Magnets'. We have really enjoyed conducting some fantastic experiments around this topic. We have looked at push and pull forces, tested magnetic and non-magnetic materials and looked at the strengths of different magnets. This has been great fun and we look forward to continuing to investigate forces this half term!

Spring Term:

Spring Term was a very challenging and busy time in Badger's Class. Having started the year with a new lockdown and half of the children in the class learning from home, it was a joy to have the whole class back from the 8th March. Thank you so much to all of the parents/grandparents who supported their children with learning from home. It made a real difference to both the children and us staff in school. I loved receiving all of the work by email each day and was truly amazed with how hard all the children had worked both in and out of school. Here's a glimpse into some of the things we learnt about last term...

English

In English, we started by watching a short clip called 'Treasure'. It was about an old lady who lived in a junkyard. We explored emotions and thoughts through writing diary entries. We also looked at a letter from the council which suggested that the junkyard be shut down. We debated reasons for and against closing the junkyard and in the end, we wrote persuasive letters to insist that the junkyard remain open. We then looked at 'The Tunnel' by Anthony Browne and we explored how adventure stories are structured. We then used the features we found to plan and write our own adventure stories based on what happened when we ventured outside the tunnel. There was everything from ice caverns to lava fields, giant monsters to evil witches who turn children to stone!

Maths

In Maths, we learnt about shape. We firstly explored 2D shapes including vertices and symmetry. We then moved onto looking at 3D shapes and even constructed our own! Year 3 also looked at position and direction including 90degree and 180degree turns both clockwise and anti-clockwise. I have included some pictures of our 3D shape models!

Topic

We enjoyed learning about Winchester for our topic lessons and explored how the land is used, tourism in Winchester and we used Google Maps to explore human and physical features. We can't wait to learn more about the history of the seaside in our topic for this half term!

Science

In Science, we learnt about different materials. We identified the properties of different materials, including whether we can bend, stretch or twist objects. We conducted an experiment entitled 'Which material is best to clean up a water spill?' This was all about testing the absorbency of a J-cloth, tissue, kitchen towel and paper. There was a mixture of different interesting results!

Autumn 2

We have had an incredibly busy but fun half term in Badgers Class. The children have been settled and have enjoyed learning all the new things Autumn 2 has had to offer...

Topic:

Our topic has been Rivers in which we had a very exciting trip to the river in Beaulieu. We conducted a river study and even went pong dipping. We found dragonfly larva, blood worms and many other cool creatures! Thankfully, none of us got too wet! In class, we have been learning about the features of rivers including many technical terms such as 'mouth', 'meander' and 'source'. We have also learnt about rivers around the world and, lastly, the Water Cycle. 

English:

Linking in with our topic, we wrote our own explanation texts about the Water Cycle in English. Firstly, we looked at the features of an explanation text such as subheadings, diagrams and facts. Then, we went on to plan and write our own explanation texts. We had to include time conjunctions and technical vocabulary such as 'Evaporation' and 'Condensation'. This half term, we have also explored Poetry, in particular the works of a poet named Valerie Bloom. We created our own Poetry Journals and explored many of the techniques used by Valerie Bloom such as similes, metaphors and rhyme to then create our own poems. We made sure our work in our Poetry Journals was presented creatively and colourfully.

Maths:

For Maths this half term, we finished our topic of addition and subtraction. Year 3 developed a greater understanding of how to use formal written methods when both adding and subtracting (including exchanging and carrying). Year 2 developed their skills of counting on and back using a number line. We then progressed onto learning about and handling money. We began by identifying different coins and their value then we moved onto adding money and giving/finding change. This meant we had to use our addition and subtraction skills to help us!

Science:

Our Science topic has been Animals and their habitats. We started looking at what animals and humans need from a habitat in order to stay alive. We then went exploring around our school grounds to look for any animals that share our habitat. We also went on a mini-beast hunt to look for microhabitats. Lastly, we designed our own animals and created a habitat for them, thinking about what they would need everyday to survive.

It has been a fantastic half term and I am very proud of everything the children have achieved! Have a very happy Christmas and I can't wait to welcome everyone back in January!

Autumn 1 in Badgers Class

It has been a fantastic start to the year in Badgers Class. We have been extremely busy learning all sorts of new things as well as recapping things we may already know. Here is a recap of all the amazing things we learnt about in Autumn 1:

Topic:

Our topic this term was based around the question: Who was Scott of the Antarctic and why should we remember him? To launch this topic, we had a very special visitor who came in to speak to us about Antarctica and what it is like to explore this incredible continent. We learnt all about the different animals that live there, the treacherous crossing between South America and Antarctica and what the conditions are like when in Antarctica itself. Did you know that there are no time zones in Antarctica so it is daylight all day long?! After we had our talk, we followed up with some lessons all about the famous explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his mission to be the first to reach the South Pole. We learnt about the conditions he faced, the problems he encountered and how his expedition tragically ended. We also designed our own statues and thought of how we would like to remember Scott's perseverance and bravery today!

English:

English this term has been great fun! We began by learning all about Fairytales. We thought about what features make a fairytale and how these can be spotted throughout many different tales. We then looked more depth at the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. We planned and developed our own version of the story by either changing a character or the setting. Badger's class produced some amazing stories including 'Little Red Riding Fish' who bumps into an evil shark who then pretends to be 'Grandma Fish' and 'Little Red Riding Girl' who must cross the busy and dangerous city she lives in to deliver pizza to her poorly Grandma.

Our second English topic was based on a book called 'The Journey' by Aaron Becker. We looked closely at the story and wrote setting descriptions based on the magical land the girl draws. We also developed our knowledge of speech and thought about the features needed to create successful speech within a story. Our final outcome was to use the concept of drawing a door and stepping through into a land. Each child thought about the land they would step into and then used their describing words and speech skills to create a story about what happens to their character once they step into the imaginative land.

Maths:

This half term in Maths, we have focused on recapping past concepts and learning new ones. We started with Place Value. In Year 2, using a place value chart, we have been able to represent numbers to 100. We have also compared numbers/objects and been able to count in 2s, 5s and 10s. In Year 3, we have been representing numbers to 1000 and using a number line. We have also compared and ordered numbers to 1000 and counted in 3s.

Towards the end of the half term, we moved onto the topic of Addition and Subtraction which we will continue into Autumn 2. Year 2s have been working towards adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers crossing tens. They have also been practice our numbers bonds to 10, 20 and 100. Year 3s have been adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers crossing 10 or 100.

Guided Reading:

Our text for Guided Reading this half term was 'Jack and the Baked Beanstalk'. The children loved reading this story and were able to complete a variety of different tasks based on their comprehension knowledge of the text. The children explored the vocabulary of the text, they made predictions based on pictures or a small extract and they were able to infer using what they could see.

Science:

In Science, our topic this half term has been 'Plants'. The children have really enjoyed this topic, particularly as they were able to conduct their own experiments into what plants need in order to grow. We looked specifically at the question: 'What happens if a plant has too much or too little water?' In groups of 3, the children grew beans in 3 different conditions (no water, too much water and a small amount of water). The children made observations each week and when they came to drawing conclusions, many were surprised by the results! 

We also looked at the functions of different parts of flowering plants and explored what plants need for life and growth (MRS GREN). The last lesson was about exploring the life cycle of plants including pollination, seed formation and dispersal.

PSHE: 

This half term was all about getting the children settled back into school and also getting them used to their new classroom, teachers and classmates. We have also looked at stranger danger (Clever Never Goes) and also treating each other with kindness both in and out of the classroom.

PE: 

We have been learning some athletics skills such as hurdles and javelin in PE. We have also played team games and developed our teamwork skills.

Music:

The children have really enjoyed learning to play the guitar in their Listen to Me lessons. They have explored rhythm and pitch and are starting to grasp the basic notes on the guitar. This will continue next half term.