Many of the children in Year 6 had an unforgettable residential trip to Mersea! We travelled by coach to the island and began by setting up camp. It was great to see the children, some of whom had never camped before, collaborating with each other to set up camp. Over the three days, the children enjoyed a selection of challenging activities such as caving, high ropes, pedal karts, rock climbing and archery. Many of the children tried new things, and pushed themselves out of their comfort zones. It was fun to see the children taking part in ‘It’s a knockout’–a competitive assault course of bouncy castles and water activities. In the evenings, we played games altogether and spent time scouring the Mersea coastline for interesting shells and rocks.

Overall, we were so proud of the children who joined us in Mersea – they were exceptionally responsible and very ambitious with the different activities! Thank you to all the parents for helping with packing for Mersea, it made our job a lot easier!

Year 4 have shown great responsibility in the art studio, listening carefully to instructions and taking care of art equipment. Inspired by Alexander Caulder’s mobile art and wire portraits, they have been creating portraits of their own. Using chalk pastels, the children have been learning to observe themselves closely, considering all of their features. They have been thinking about shape, size and the positioning of their art as well as adding texture using a mix of pencil tones. We have discussed the variety of colours in our skin tones and used a blend of colours to mix and smooth seamlessly onto their portraits.

Keep up the creativity year 4!

Year 4 had a very memorable trip to the London Zoo! We walked around the different enclosures and were lucky enough to see a wide variety of animals, from playful monkeys to majestic tigers. We even saw a little baby gorilla!  As we have been studying the five vertebrate groups in science, the children were especially curious about spotting mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. They asked thoughtful questions and made links to what we have been learning in class. The children also showed great responsibility by following instructions carefully and moving sensibly around the busy zoo. Also, some of the children had the chance to see some animals up close and gently pet some goats. We enjoyed a lovely lunch in front of the penguins, which gave us a chance to relax and watch them play. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves and learning together throughout the day!

To begin our Science learning this year, Year 3 Oak have been diving into the fascinating world of plants and how they function. Inspired by the book The Green Planet, we’ve discovered some truly amazing facts. Did you know that plants in the Amazon rainforest release so much water that they create an invisible river in the sky?

We started by learning the key word germination and planting kidney beans. With daily care and watering, we were thrilled to watch the beans begin to germinate and slowly bend toward the light on our classroom windowsill.

Our first foundation subject of the year was RE. We began RE with Hinduism, where we learnt Hindu’s core beliefs and values. The children were very excited to learn about what Hindus believe in, how they worship and the different responsibilities they have to society.

Pictured above is a group activity where children had to group and annotate the relevant pictures in each category around the ‘Om’ symbol. Did you know that Hindu’s believe their supreme God, Brahman has no fixed form? So they use the symbol at the centre to refer to their God.

We created picture boards to represent the Hindu Creation story to understand how Hinduism came to be. They cut and stuck down the correct order of events and then wrote what happened to aid their learning. The children were very curious and bursting with questions, and it was great to see them so interested in learning about other religions.

Year 2 has had a very exciting start to the new school year! We have been learning to be curious about our local area, and on our very first trip we spotted many human features, such as cafés, shops and flats. The children were full of questions and enthusiasm as they explored and noticed the different parts of our community. Back in class, we had our first go at sketching our own maps of the local area, thinking carefully about how we best show the same colours and symbols of the key on the map. We then had a go at sketching a map on our own to show the different features. It was wonderful to see how creative and careful everyone was with their work.

2 Oak has made a great start to the year, and the teachers and teaching assistants are so proud of how they have tried their best in every task. The children have already shown that they can work together brilliantly, supporting each other with kindness and showing incredible learning behaviours. We are so excited to see how much more they will discover and achieve as the year goes on!

Our Year 2 children have been having a fantastic time taking part in an exciting music workshop this term — and we’re thrilled to share their progress with you!

Talented musicians have been visiting our school to teach the children a special selection of songs in preparation for a big performance at the Barbican Theatre. The pupils have already completed two out of three sessions and are loving every minute of it!

The songs they’ve been learning are fun, catchy, and full of energy. Their current setlist includes:

• Roller Ghoster – A spooky and silly tune that’s become a class favourite!
• The Bear Missed the Train – A jazzy number that had everyone giggling.
• This Pretty Planet – A gentle and thoughtful song about looking after our world.
• Apple Tree – A playful piece with actions and rhythm games.
• I’m OK – A positive, feel-good song about emotions and friendship.
• Driving in My Car – A lively journey full of fun sounds and movement!

The children have shown amazing enthusiasm and teamwork during rehearsals. It’s been wonderful to see them grow in confidence, develop their musical skills, and most importantly, to have lots of fun!

There’s one more workshop session to go before the big day at the Barbican, where they’ll join other schools in a special performance. We can’t wait to see them shine on stage and show off all their hard work.

Thank you to the music leaders and all the staff supporting the workshops — and a huge well done to Year 2 for singing with such joy and spirit! 

We have been looking at maps in geography this week. We learnt about the different ways people use maps to draw places and routes. As a class we drew a map of Little Reds journey through woods. We used our phonics to label our map and added a key.

Last week Willow class went to the farm. We walked through Stepney Park and looked at deciduous and evergreen trees with the change in seasons. We then went to the farm. At the farm we saw pigs, sheep and goats. We were really brave and fed some animals. We were curious so we were allowed to stroke the soft, fluffy rabbits. It was such fun!!

In reception Willow,  we have been exploring Autumn as the seasons have changed. We have had lots of fun learning and exploring in our classroom. We have been developing our fine motor skills and our cognitive learning, placing conkers on the patterns and counting conkers in maths.

At the sensory table, we have been feeling, counting and identifying different autumnal nuts and seeds. Leaf rubbing has been really fun, the children have been picking a leaf and rubbing the crayon to create a picture.