We always try to keep you informed about our learning and what’s going on in school by sending home our topic webs, curriculum plans, information letters and texts, but if you’d like a reminder of what’s being taught each half term here’s our current Curriculum Plans.
In year 2 the children have been making different shapes during their gymnastics focus. They were able to show that they could make these shapes and hold them on the floor and on the apparatus. We have also looked at jumping and reminded ourselves of jumping techniques, the importance of bending our knees, swinging our arms and landing on the balls of our feet.
During our core real PE sessions the children have been revisiting different ways of travelling including side stepping, galloping and skipping.
The year 1 children have really enjoyed focusing on gymnastics this term in PE. During the first part of their series of lessons the children focused on holding balances. They enjoyed completing floor work and using apparatus to balance. During the second part of the term they focused on jumping from 2 feet to 2 feet. We also discussed landing and using their previous knowledge of balance to help them to land.
Reception have been enjoying learning how to use the equipment during their PE lessons.
They have been developing their gross motor skills and working in groups to have a go at all of the activities. The circuits contain a bridge to climb over, balance boards, textured beams to balance on, agility tables to jump off and the large apparatus to climb up.
The children have demonstrated really good listening and showed they can use the equipment safely.
Ukulele Club is back on, after school each Thursday. It’s great to see so many children from across Key Stage 2 excited about making music and already getting the hang of Three Little Birds and Hound Dog.
The children in Year 3 have been having whole class ocarina lessons with Mr Hardy building on skills learned in Year 2. They have started to recognise the names of the notes on the treble clef stave and relate this to what they are playing. The music the children have been playing has been a delight to hear across the classrooms! We have also been able to have Yr3 and Yr4 group singing again in assembly time and the children learnt two African songs, one from Ghana and the other South African – ‘Tue Tue’ and ‘Siyahamba’- celebrating Black History Month.
Year 4 have enjoyed learning the song Hoedown this half term. We first learnt to sing it so that we were familiar with the melody and then we began to play it on the glockenspiels. The children have loved exploring how to get the best noise out of their glockenspiels e.g. by holding the stick loosely in one hand and not hitting the keys too hard or too softly! The children were also fascinated to learn that they could play an A# instead of a B♭!
During autumn 1, Year 5 looked at three songs: Ghost Parade, Words Can Hurt and Joyful, Joyful. The children have played the Glockenspiels, as well as working hard on performing as a class. In particular, Year 5 enjoyed Ghost Parade.
Year 6 have enjoyed investigating how music brings people together throughout this half term. They have played the recorder and glockenspiel to a range of songs. They have played up to 5 notes and also challenged themselves to read music. Their favourite song to sing and play this half term has been ‘It’s all about love.’
Children at the Junior School joined classes from all over Norfolk for a special online music assembly to celebrate Black History Month. Lead by the amazing Anna Mudeka, pupils were introduced to the culture and customs of Zimbabwe, through music, stories and song. Children learned about Anna’s childhood and joined in call and response singing. The sound of the Mbira (thumb piano) was mesmerising and Anna’s stories transported us to village life in Africa.
During the first half term back, the children in Years 1 and 2 have enjoyed our ‘Singing Assembies’. The children have enjoyed singing to song such as ‘Big Blue Tractor’, and ‘Harvest Tango.’ They also have been enjoying listening to a different piece of music every week that can range from modern pop to classical, movie soundtracks and music from different parts of the world. After listening to the music children spend ‘reflective time’ thinking about how the song made them feel.
Reception
In Reception classes, the children have enjoyed listening to and singing along to many songs with their class peers.
A variety of music has also been experienced in the classrooms, as well as created in the outdoor classroom. Children have been observed making music independently, singing and moving to the music experiences throughout this half term.
We have also been learning about songs from Black history month, such as ‘3 little birds’ and ‘Dancing in the Street’, discussing what the children enjoyed about the music.
If you wish to watch the other episodes, here is the link :-
In year 1 the children have explored wide range of musical styles and have had an introduction to learning about the beat of a song. They have experienced listening, singing, playing as well as performing their ability to find the beat. The children enjoyed learning the songs, ‘Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ and ‘Shapes’.
Year 2
This half term the children in Year 2 have been exploring simple patterns in music. They have listened and appraised different genres of music as well as learning about different musical styles. They have learnt different songs and performed these in class. At the end of the half term the children explored playing the chime bars alongside one of the songs they have learnt to sing ‘Music is in my Soul’. They learnt the notes C, D and E and performed these together as a group.
For SAW week we have been exploring the ocean! Our topic this half term is ‘Around the world’ so we started by looking at the Earth and discussing continents and oceans. We found there were 7 continents and 5 oceans! We focused on the continent of Oceania (sometimes called Australasia) and looked at the Great Barrier Reef. We talked about how to look after the ocean and how important it is to recycle and look after the planet. We learnt the names of sea creatures, and found out facts about them, as well as making up stories with the small world sea creatures. For the Art part of SAW we make bubble paintings of the ocean and collages. We conducted a Science experiment where we discovered that ocean water is salty and this can effect on whether things float or sink. We predicted and then experimented to see what would happen to different objects in water with no salt, a little salt and a LOT of salt. We also did some excellent writing about ocean creatures!
Year 1
The children really enjoyed participating in activities this week for SAW week. They loved learning about different trees, and even had a go at matching the different trees to their leaves! They went exploring outside and even made friends with a tree (this helped them with their writing the next day). The children collected lots of leaves from outside and made some leaf rubbings using crayons and paper. They then cut around their leaves and collaged them to make their own tree! Some children even had a go at doing bark rubbings, even though it was windy outside.
When writing the next day the children described their tree! They were very imaginative, coming up with lots of different adjectives to describe their new tree friend.
The children loved this week, and had lots of insightful and interesting ideas, well done Year 1!
Year 2
For our SAW activities, year 2 looked at local insects and focused on three insects that are only found in Norfolk. They learnt all about swallowtail butterflies, Norfolk hawker dragonflies and pond mud snails. The children learnt all about the habitats of their chosen insect, what they eat and where they can be found. Using this knowledge they wrote their own cinquain poems which were decorated with collage art representing their chosen insect.
This all tied in fantastically with their habitats learning at Pensthorpe at the end of the week!
Year 3
We really enjoyed SAW week (Science, Art & Writing) in year 3 where we learned about the undersea world including plankton. We learnt about their role in food chains and how complex food chains can be! We then wrote plankton shape poems in our English lessons, considering language choices to enable the reader to visualise the magical vision of bioluminescent plankton we had watched recordings of. We finished the week by creating an interactive under the sea volcano painting which ‘erupted’ when squirted with vinegar using a pipette because of the hidden bicarbonate of soda in the paint!
Year 4
Year 4 had such fun during SAW week. First, we looked at some fascinating close-up images of yeast cells. We used scrunched up newspaper and shaped them into the shape of a yeast cell. We then covered the yeast structure in PVA glue and tissue paper so it looked like the false-colour images we had seen.
On our second day, we learned that yeast eats sugar and produces carbon dioxide. We wanted to test this, so poured dried yeast, water and sugar into a bottle. We used a balloon to test whether any carbon dioxide was produced. The balloon inflated, showing us that yeast produces carbon dioxide!
On our third day, we wanted to write a poem about what we have learned, seen and smelled about yeast!
Year 5
This year, Year 5’s theme for SAW week focused on Greenhouse Gases.
For science, we learnt about the two main gases that make up the air around us (Nitrogen and Oxygen). The children now understand that carbon is in all living things – including themselves, which they found interesting! After we discussed the different types of gases in our atmosphere, we conducted an experiment. This explored the difference between the effects of a melting iceberg and the melting of glaciers on land to explore the relative effects on sea level rise. The children ensured that they kept the test fair by measuring the water and ice cubes, which made good links with our recent maths unit. Our findings revealed that the tub with the ice cubes that were placed on land saw the greatest sea level rise while the other did not rise. This is because glacier ice is mostly sitting on land, so when it melts it runs into the sea, causing the sea level to rise.
For art, we made a 3D model of planet Earth using papier-mâché. The children absolutely loved this activity! After they dried, the children added the different continents onto their planets.
During our writing session, Year 5 published some outstanding poems all about Planet Earth. Some children opted to write a haiku poem, free-verse poem or an acrostic. We were really proud of the final product, well done!
Year 6
As part of the year 6 SAW project, we looked at the adaptations of marine creatures and the ocean as an environment.
We started off by learning the names of the oceans of the world and thinking about the negative impact of human behaviour on ocean habitats such as coral reefs. We discussed pollution within our oceans and what we can do to make a difference. We learnt amazing facts about sharks – did you know that they actually don’t have a skeleton? We produced some leaflets to persuade people to look after our sharks and protect their species. Following this lesson, we learnt about the different layers of the ocean and the creatures that live in each one and created a collage to display this information. The children created some ‘top trumps’ style cards using their new knowledge of marine creatures. The children focused their categories on: body size, weight, depth, life span and number of species left. They really enjoyed playing against each other and winning cards! We also painted some ocean creatures, using dots in the style of aboriginal art.
The children in year 6 all thoroughly enjoyed their week and were more aware of the oceans as ecosystems on our planet, and the threat they are under.
This term reception have been learning about different continents and during our learning of Africa, Reception got to listen to lots of African instruments and listen to how music in different area of Africa music changed. The children really enjoyed the South African music and used percussion instruments to play along to the beat. We also discussed what instruments we could hear and talked about pitch and tempo of the different music.
Year 1
In music this half term, the children have continued to learn to find the beat and pulse. They have enjoyed moving their bodies to the music and have learned new songs. The children especially enjoyed singing along to ‘Alice the Camel’ and ‘Ten Green Bottles’. They were able to use percussion instruments to play along to the beat of the music.
Year 2
This half term in music, year 2 haven been learning about music that makes you dance and thinking about the question, ‘How does music make us happy?’ The children listened to a wide range of musical styles, including funk, hip-hop and calypso, which they listened and responded to, commenting on what they liked and what they didn’t like. The children also learnt the songs ‘I wanna play in a band’, ‘Music is all around’ and ‘Saying sorry’.
We all enjoyed the ‘Virtual Big Sing’ where children have been practising during assembles and in their classrooms songs from musicals, such as “The circle of life” from Lion King or “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2. On 21st June, the children got to join in with singing with celebrities such as Claire Sweeny and Mark Feehily from Westlife! Year 2 really enjoyed taking part in the ‘Big Sing’. They sang along to all of the songs and particularly enjoyed singing ‘A million dreams’. In Year 1 the children also enjoyed watching and excited to hear the songs that were familiar to them.
In Reception, the children all enjoyed it and here is a few things they said after the performances:-
Mia – ‘I liked it when both ladies sang’
Leo – ‘I liked the man; he did good actions for the elephant and giraffes.’
Daisy – ‘When we sang let it go and into the unknown. ‘
Clara – ‘I liked the Lion King. He was a good singer.’
Summer saw the start of the Year 3 lunchtime ocarina club which gave some children a chance to experience these lovely little instruments which they had been unable to play at the in Year 2 due to Covid restrictions. Happily, ocarinas are back in use now in Year 2 and next year the children will build on their learning with a term of ocarina playing at the start of Year 3!
Children have continued to learn from the New English Model Curriculum, across the year groups using our online resource ‘Charanga’ as well as whole class instrument learning. The Year 3s are becoming more and more proficient ukulele players and playing a range of 3 chord songs. Year 6 students were able to try their hand at Samba drumming using a range of traditional percussion instruments to explore the rhythms of Brazil – Bateria Vai!
Summer also sees our Toft-o-vision Song Contest with each class vying to give us the best vocal and visual performance.
All classes were able to join in with this year’s Virtual Big Sing coming together with other schools across the county to join in singing some much loved Musical hits!
Ian Gardner from the Baptist Church paid us another exciting visit to talk to KS1 about harvest time and how the people of his faith celebrate. Ian showed the children four different types of soil, one with stones, one that was very thinly spread, one that was covered in thorns and one that was well cared for. With the help of some of the children, Ian explained how the seeds would grow and develop on the different soils. He related this to the teachings of God and his faith. The children loved acting out the different seeds and deciding how well they would grow. To close the assembly, Ian took a moment to remember Queen Elizabeth and spoke to the children about how important the Queen’s faith had been to her throughout her life. He explained how the Queen would always smile when she met new people and how that made people feel. He also spoke about how she dedicated her life to helping her country.
This term we have been looking at the continents of the world and learnt about many of the animals that live there. In RE we have listened to the story of ‘A special promise’ from the Bible and talked about how Noah was able to save the animals from a flood because God had instructed him to make a boat. We also linked this to our SAW activities and experimented with how much salt we needed to make something float, just like Noah’s boat did.
Year 1
This term the children had been exploring how Christians belong to their faith family. The children were able to recall their prior learning in RE, and remembered some facts they already knew about Christianity, for example where they worship and what their holy book is called.
The children learnt all about Christian celebrations that take place in a Church, and sought to understand how these celebrations made them belong to their faith family. We looked at Baptisms, and some children spoke about their own, or their siblings baptisms’.
The children then learnt about weddings, and they even participated in their own wedding in the classroom, with a bride, groom, bridesmaids, page-boys and vicars! They really enjoyed this and making their own aisle in the classroom!
Year 2
This term, the children have recapped their previous RE learning by retrieving facts and ideas from their previous enquiry questions. They have also looked at a variety of religions as part of a philosophy focus, listening to videos from Ian Gardner and Marsha Parker about why people have different ideas of God. The children thought about morals, and if different scenarios were right or wrong, and thought about how they could be nice to each other in different ways. They ended their RE learning this year by drawing their own Rangoli patterns on the playground!
This term the children have thoroughly enjoyed our topic Once Upon A Time. The children have been learning about traditional tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The 3 Billy Goats Gruff, The Ugly Duckling etc. The children particularly enjoyed The Gingerbread Man where the story was told alongside ‘Zorba the Greek’ music. As the tension in the story heightened, the tempo of the music quickened. This really helped add to the drama of the tale.
The Children also enjoyed watching Miss Helen’s performance of The 3 Little Pigs. Everyone got to join in with building the houses and blowing them down in character as The Big Bad Wolf. The music used really supported the children as they them expressed themselves.
Year 1
The children this half term have loved continuing their learning in music focusing on finding the pulse and beat. The children have learnt and sung lots of new songs all focused around getting ready! They have loved singing songs, such as ‘Brush Our Teeth’ and ‘Dress Up’, and have liked moving their body to find the pulse. The children have even tried playing some percussion this term by playing some beaters. They focused really hard when listening for the steady beat and then practiced hitting the beaters in time with the pulse. They did really well with this!
Also in singing assembly, the Year 1 children had been practising singing ‘God Save the Queen.” They did such a great job of it that they also performed to the whole school on the field when planting our jubilee tree!
Watch the video below of the wonderful singing of our national anthem!
Year 2
As part of our Art ‘Around The World’ topic, all of the children in year 2 listened to sounds of the South American rainforest. They listened carefully and thought about which instruments they could use to recreate the same rainforest sounds in the classroom. The children were very focused and made excellent choices, transporting us all to the Amazon Rainforest.
In music this half term, DC2 and ZK2 have been learning to play the ocarinas. The children learnt how to hold the ocarinas correctly and how to blow into them. They have thoroughly enjoyed it and have perfected notes D, B and G.
PA2 have been learning about how music can teach us about our neighbourhoods and have enjoyed learning songs such as, ‘The music man’ and ‘Helping each other’.
Ian Gardner came into school to speak to the children about being confident. He told a story about Jesus believing that we are all beautiful and special, and we can be confident I knowing that we are all unique but special in our own way. At the end of the assembly, the children sang a song about Jesus loving us and knowing how special we are!
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