English
This term, Oak class read The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. The book is full of figurative language and Oaks were kept busy collecting all the examples of similes, personification and onomatopoeia in this highly unusual book about an initially unwelcome visitor who becomes the world’s saviour. Oaks enjoyed writing up their own imaginary metal menus for the hungry iron man, who ends up living in a metal scrap yard where he can eat delicious metal titbits to his heart’s content.
The class also read the poem ‘The Coming of the Iron Man’ by Brenda Williams, based on the first chapter of the book. They then tried their hands at writing their own poem version of chapter two.
Oaks learned the lovely poem ‘Autumn’ by George Cooper, which they recite below. This beautiful celebration of autumn is also full of imagery.
French with Marie
Durant cette deuxième période, les élèves ont étudié plusieurs notions:
en grammaire: Le sujet et le verbe, les pronoms personnels, l’adjectif qualificatif épithète ou attribut.
en conjugaison: Les verbes d’action et les verbes d’état, le présent de l’indicatif des verbes du 1er groupe, des auxiliaires être et avoir, et des verbes irréguliers du 3ème groupe.
en vocabulaire: utilisation du dictionnaire.
en mémorisation: apprentissage de 2 poésies “mois d’Automne” et “hiver”
en littérature: 1 livre a été lu et étudié:
- Le buveur d’encre d’Eric Sanvoisin
French with Joanna
French Topic with Marie
Cette période a été principalement consacrée à la préparation et aux répétitions du spectacle de Noël ainsi qu’à la confection des décors et des costumes.
French with Joanna
This term we continued our adventures with the characters of Zig&Zag. Félix (main character) took us to visit les Châteaux de la Loire. We revised French numbers (going through historical dates) as well as the past, present & future tenses (vocabulary used ex: autrefois, maintenant, demain). We studied ‘les adjectifs’ and the agreement (l’accord) between the adjective and the subject as well as the subject-verb agreement (l’accord sujet du verbe). We studied specific verbs and had weekly dictées (spelling tests) : avoir/être/changer/grandir au futur. To improve their conversational skills, the students had fun in class writing out a small sketch pretending they were waiters and clients at a restaurant. We are also currently listening to an audio book ‘Rémi et le Mystère de Saint-Péray’.
finding and underlining adjectives in a text 
finding & circling number sequences 
preparing a sktech 
History
Oak learned about the Romans this term, beginning with the story of Romulus and Remus and Rome’s development from kingdom to republic to heart of a great Empire. The class learned about the structure of Roman society and the influence the Romans had around the world. They learned about the life of Julius Caesar and his brief visit to Britain, followed by a full-scale invasion and permanent presence in AD 43 by the Emperor Claudius. The class learned about the changes brought to Britain by the Romans, from food to roads, to design of towns, place names, language. The class researched Roman entertainment, gladiators and chariot racing, and the Colisseum in Rome, able to seat 50,000 people and the scene of incredible games and performances.
Geography
In Geography, Oak class learned about settlements, or why we live where we do. They looked at the considerations made by early settlers who chose sites based on access to building material (wood) and water, protection from the elements, and flat land for agriculture. They compared these to today’s considerations when people are choosing a place to live. They learned about the different sized settlements, from hamlets to cities, how they are defined and their characteristics.
Alongside this, Oaks learned about the continent of South America, learning all the different countries and challenging themselves to complete a blank map from memory, with great success!
They chose countries to research, Venezuela and Argentina, and made posters presenting facts about the respective countries, including the geographical characteristics, natural resources, culture, food, flora and fauna. They presented their findings to Elm class.
Mathematics
Measurements
During this term Oaks worked on solving different measurements word problems. We matched time on the analogue and digital clocks and used the number lines to solve time problems. We dived into problems where the starting time, finishing time and the duration of our favourite TV shows had to be calculated.
Area and Perimeter . Angles and different 2D shapes.
Oak students investigated with the different 2D shapes and then found area and perimeter of compound shapes. We identified different angles on the line and around the point and then measured them with a protractor. Students can recognise different kinds of triangles and know their main properties.
Position and direction. Translation and rotation.
Oak students practiced plotting the co-ordinates of different 2D shapes and then located their corresponding co-ordinates after rotation/translation. We know that 2D shapes stay the same after the rotation/translation and found out that using the tracing paper evidently help us to pinpoint our new location.
Science
This term Oak Class children became robotic scientists and engineers as they got engaged in creating electric circuits and designing their own toys. We investigated with various materials to find out which ones are conductors and insulators. We learnt about different electrical components (e.g. bulb, motor, buzzer, switch, battery) their role and how they need to be connected to make an electrical circuit. We used imagination and gained knowledge to create our very own buzzing and drawing robot, burglar alarm and disco ball.
Wind turbines in the making.
Constructing and testing our ”Burglar Alarm” and experimenting with our Disco Ball.
”Buzzing and Drawing Robots”
ICT
This term, Oak class learned the basics of Logo, a text-based programming language. They planned, modified, and tested commands to create shapes, patterns, and procedures. We explored repetition and loops applied to Logo. Learners spent most lessons typing algorithms (a set of instructions) to draw letters and shapes. We had a wonderful term thinking logically, creatively, and giving commands to the computer.
Coding and Programming Workshop
This term Oak class had lots of fun programming and coding with Scratch. They made fun stories, programs and games and practiced different skills like starting a conversation, switching backdrops, adding voice, gliding to a spot, walking onto the stage, responding to a character, adding a scene, among others. Students love working with Scratch and they show their interest by carefully making projects they are so proud of at the end.
Spanish
This term, Oak class made significant progress in Spanish. We began by practicing Spanish sounds through engaging activities like Bingo, which not only helped in sound recognition but also facilitated the learning and expression of new vocabulary words. Students can now confidently say and ask about their birthdays, involving the months of the year, days of the week, and numbers from 21 to 30. They’ve also acquired the ability to discuss their favourite colours and ask about others’ preferences.
We explored verbs ending in -ar (infinitive). Towards the end of the term, we explored questions related to their origin, asking ‘Where do you come from?’ and questioning about their place of residence.
We added an element of fun and did some singing. The Spanish version of the song ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ became a favourite, supporting the practice and acquisition of numerous new vocabulary words. These words will be an important part of our learning in the upcoming term.
Christmas Candles
Oak and Elm students created their own Christmas candles and then in ICT lessons designed different labels to perfect their packaging.
Christmas Performance
Patience, persistence and artistic flair brought us together for an amazing celebration at the Theatre du Grenier where our students and ‘Lights, camel, action!’ shone bright on the stage.
