Junior – Toftwood Infant and Junior School Federation

History Day

One of the threads that run through our Federation History Curriculum is “Sources” so we started the day with an assembly where the children were shown old school artefacts and they had to guess what they were. They found out about log books and how that the information that they used to day came from the original log book which was like a diary of events.

Year 3 really enjoyed the journey back in time to Victorian schooling!

The children practised using cursive handwriting to form letters of the alphabet. There was much hilarity and mirth at some of the letters, particularly – f, s, g, with the children insisting they could not find them on the board!

Once the year group had honed their skills with the alphabet, some of them copied a well-used Victorian school phrase:

Good, better, best,
Never let it rest,
Til your good is better,
And your better, best.

They also wrote their names using their best handwriting.

The children learnt all about corporal punishment – the Dunce’s hat and the cane. We learnt how everyone had to be right handed and how left handed children were taught to write with their other hand.

We explored the local area and looked at how it had changed over time – using maps of the local area. The children were fascinated to learn that Toftwood Social Club was the original local school.

We also took part in a Physical Training session. It was very different to our normal PE sessions and the children thought it was enjoyable – though they are pleased we have our PE lessons, not Victorian ones, twice a week!

In Year 4, we learnt all about the history of our school. We started off by looking at what our school used to look like. We compared the similarities and differences between what our school looks like now and then. Additionally, we looked at different occupations available for people in 1873 and did some research based on a chosen occupation. In the afternoon, we looked at the PE exercises (Drill) that the children used to do. The children enjoyed being the teachers and giving different commands to the class. We finished the day by playing some Victorian playground games.

In Year 5 we presented our work on a double page spread to show all the information we had learnt throughout the day. We were also able to handle the artefacts carefully. We used our inference skills to interpret facts from the data ie

“March 15^th 1876 Sent to Mrs Land to obtain the ages of her children as I discovered that though in their school previously to my undertaking charge, their ages had not been entered in the Admission Register. Mrs Land in reply said, “she could not recollect nearer than the month, “ being unable to state the exact days on which they completed their 12^th 10^th and 7^th years respectively.”

“April 25^th1876 Sent again for ages of children, which I had previously failed to procure. Their mother had promised to obtain them from the parish register.” We can infer that they might not have had calendars or celebrate birthdays on the exact day.

“July 10^th1877 Chain and padlock put on the pumps to prevent the waste of water.” We can infer that they had no inside taps.

Next we looked at extracts from the Parish records 1873 and we were amazed at the variety of occupations that were in Dereham at the time eg. Hawker, Umbrella Maker, Glove Maker, Horse Dealer and Tailer etc.

The children were also amused and shocked when looking at the punishments that were given and for offences such as singing on their way out of school. We also tried some of the Drill exercises.

Year 6 had a fantastic history day. They really enjoyed learning about the history of our school and local area. We explored physical activity drills, punishments, occupations and illnesses. They then completed a double page spread with all of the information they had learned.

KS2 MFL Summer 2024

This term, the children in Year 3 have had the opportunity to revisit and consolidate the Spanish topics they have learned this year. It is great to see how much more confident they are to hold simple conversations with one another and how their pronunciation has improved.

Year 4 have been learning how to talk about their pets in Spanish this term.

They have learned various vocabulary for the different animals they might have at home

Perro, Gato, Ratón, Hámster, Conejo, Conejillo de Indias, Pez, Pájaro and Tortuga (can you guess what any mean?) and looked carefully at how words change when talking about more than one of each.

In Year 5, children have been planning a trip to a Spanish speaking country. They have researched the different places where Spanish is spoken as the primary language, and the different cultures of these. They have thought of useful phrases to have as a visitor and learned to discuss different nationalities.

The children in Year 6 have consolidated their knowledge of one of our autumn term units – ‘en mi pueblo’ (in my town). They produced a knowledge organiser to display the key phrases and vocabulary learnt. The children enjoyed decorating their knowledge organisers once they had recorded the key information.

KS2 Music Summer 2024

In Music, children have continued to increase their ukulele skills. We’ve now reached the trickiest part where they have to quickly move several fingers in a single beat to change chords in a song. We are really impressed with the perseverance that all children are showing and Mr Hardy is hoping some of them will be joining his Ukulele Club next year.

Year 4 have had a new unit of work in Music for the Summer Term exploring rhythm with Body Percussion, Junk and Bucket Drumming. Children learned how to make different rhythmic patterns using cups, explored the range of percussive sounds made with the body (clicking, clapping, tapping, stamping, chest pats etc) to produce different grooves and then moved on to bucket drumming. Children have learned to read rhythm notation and the difference time signatures make. Children played different rhythms in 3 parts with changing dynamics. Really great fun!

In Year 5 we asked, ‘How Does Music Connect Us with the Environment?’. This Social Question evolved as the children moved through the scheme, encouraging them to be responsible and kind citizens of the world using carefully chosen songs. Children then created their own fun and confident performances.

This term Year 6 have been working on adding musical accompaniments to familiar songs using glockenspiels and recorders. The children learnt to play simple tunes to play along to the song “A La Bamba”. They also learnt to sing the song in Spanish.

The second half of the term was spent learning songs to our end of year performance “I’m a celebrity, Get me out of here!”.The children learnt to sing a variety of songs from mock pop and rock, and raps, to a French style accordion accompanied ballad. Some children sang in small groups and we even had some soloists.

In addition, each class in Years 3, 4 and 5 has been practicing performing a song for our annual Toftovision Song Contest – I think this might be the most competitive year so far!

Students who have been having lessons with RockSteady put on a brilliant end of term concert and Ukulele Club ended the year with a fantastic performance of Stick Season and 500 miles in the Leavers Assembly.

It was a real joy for Ukulele Club to play for Millie (who was here doing work experience) but was a dedicated member of the club when she was at Toftwood!

Computing Spring 2024

Year 3

In Computing, Year 3 have continued to consolidate their prior knowledge of Scratch and how it is used, and further developing this. This has involved adding more than one character to their game and including a variety of motions, operated by a number of keys on the laptop rather than by just a click as practised in Spring 1, in order to have more than one character at once. The children have greatly enjoyed their learning in Scratch, and have learned a range of skills which will benefit them as they move into their next year group.

Year 4

This term in year 4 we have been learning how to edit pictures and understand the term copyright. They have using an online software called Pixlr.com. The children have been writing Myth and Legend stories in English and have designed front covers for their stories by using their newly learnt picture editing skills. They have really enjoyed learning how to layer pictures on top of each other and learning how to use filters to change the mood of their picture.

Year 5

This term, Year 5 have been focusing on coding as well as using data bases. When coding, we used Scratch to make a questionnaire. The children worked with their partners to use condition and selection. When using databases, the children were able to filter data numerically, as well as alphabetically, and to search databases using specific criteria about mini beasts and dinosaurs. The children were able to explain that computer databases were much easier to sort as opposed to paper data bases.

Year 6

Year 6 have been working on Spreadsheets this term. We used MS Excel to input data, write formulas and duplicate the formula across to fill in cells. We have also used the data and formulas to complete different input and outputs from this, including finding the sum and average of given details.

We also explored online profiles and online relationships, discussing what was safe to share, why people might share online and the feelings that might be resultant of sharing for different purposes.

Battle of the Bookworms

On Monday 20^th of May some children from years 5 and 6 participated in Battle of the Bookworms at Northgate High School. We sent two teams: Toftwood 1 which had Macey from GB6, Abigail GG6, William EW5, and Heather KH6 ; the other team from our school was Toftwood 2. This team had Ellie KH6, Orson GB6, Lily GB6 and Reeva RL5. There were also teams from 4 other schools.

The Battle of the Bookworms is a reading competition. There were 5 categories, each with 6 questions. We won a point for each questions we got correct, and the team with the most points at the end won. The teams from our school did amazingly well – Toftwood 2 came 3^rd place and toftwood 1 came 1^st place! The winners of the competition will get their school name engraved on the trophy.

“I love reading, so this was so much fun to participate in” Abigail GG6.

Geography Junior Summer 2024

This half-term in Geography, Year 3 have started their unit on Volcanoes. We have learned about the many different types of volcanoes (including composite, shield and dome volcanoes) and how they can be active, dormant or extinct depending on their likelihood and recency of eruption. The children have been applying their knowledge by completing tasks such as identifying the parts of a volcano and even locating where famous volcanoes in the world are. It has certainly been a unit where the children have been very enthusiastic! The children have also enjoyed linking our Geography work with our Summer unit Guided Reading text, ‘When Disaster Strikes: Extreme Volcanoes’, and look forward to continuing to learn about volcanoes next half-term.

In Year 4, we have been focusing on map-work skills. We have learned about the equator, lines of latitude, longitude and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. We have also looked at how the climate varies when you live within the tropics and the children even produced a weather report for a location in the tropics! We have also been learning to read four- and six-figure grid references and also to label the same features on an aerial photograph as on a map.

Year 5 started out by studying the history of the Norfolk Broads and we were interested and surprised to find out that they were actually man–made in the Medieval times by people cutting out peat for fuel. They then filled with water when sea levels rose and became navigable waterways where wherries would transport goods. The children also learnt about eutrophication and the positive and negative impacts of tourism and ways to resolve problems. They understand how man contributed to the making of the Broads and how man was now adding to its destruction. The children were keen to learn rich vocabulary associated with this topic.

Art Summer 1 2024

Year 3

We have focussed on the artist Jeannie Baker and the text ‘The Window’ as an inspiration for our artwork. Using mixed media we created a Jeannie Baker inspired collage of a view from a window.

The children have used their knowledge of blending paints to create different shades and tones to replicate sky and grassland as a background and then used a variety of materials for collaging for texture. Once they were happy with their backgrounds, they gathered natural resources from the school grounds to recreate their window scenes. They thought carefully about placing natural resource on their collages.

Year 4

This half term, we have learnt about Claude Monet and have used his paintings to inspire a watercolour creation of water lilies. We have created a fact file of Claude Monet and have experimented with blending paints, using sponges and brushes to create a piece of art based on the impressionist’s famous paintings.

We have also explored the sculptures of Alberto Giacometti. We have used mixed media to create the sculptures. We used foil to produce the shapes we wanted, then applied masking tape to it. Finally we very carefully added clay to create our sculptures, these range from animals to peoples in different poses.

Year 5

This half term, we have created collages inspired by our Geography topic of Norfolk landscapes. We have focussed on the perspective of fore and back ground and the effected of using mixed medias.

Year 6

This half term we have observational bird drawings. We used our sketching techniques of contour, cross, random and hatching as well as stippling to complete a series of observational drawings. After each drawing, we evaluated our art work and annotated the areas we felt we could improve and the things that we liked.

Art Spring Term 2024

Year 3 Spring Term

In Year 3 we have been looking at our focus artist Georgia O’ Keeffe, a 20^th century artist who experimented with bold colours and different techniques when creating her beautiful pieces. In particular, we have carefully studied O’ Keeffe’s close-up paintings of flowers. The children have worked hard to emulate O’ Keeffe’s techniques by first creating a viewfinder which they used to pick a section of their flower to sketch, and then sketching two of these into their books. After evaluating which one they liked best and why, the children then sketched the outline of their flower at a larger scale, ready to be completed using our chosen medium of oil pastels. Once they had explored a number of techniques, such as sgraffito and dry blending, Year 3 then meticulously filled in their sketch using oil pastels to replicate the shades and tints of their flowers.

Year 4 Spring Term

In Art, the children learned about Islamic patterns. The children researched different elements of Islamic art such as calligraphy, geometric patterns, vegetal (relating to plants) and repetition of patterns. They particularly enjoyed discovering that most Islamic art will have a small deliberate mistake to show that nobody is perfect! After creating their final design, the children then made a printing tile out of string, card and other found items and used it to print a repeating pattern into their books. We have all enjoyed this topic as we have been able to use a range of different mediums such as pencil, string, cardboard and paint! The final task involved evaluating their work by recognising what worked well, what could be improved next time and what they had learned throughout the project.

Year 6 Spring Term

In Year 6 we have developed our collage skills by creating our own North American landscapes in the style of American photographer, Ansel Adams. We used only black, white and grey paper to create our collages based on some of the scenes that Adams captured. To develop our skills further we used paint to create a mixed media piece of art.

DT Spring Term 2024

Year 3, Spring Term

The children have been busy, designing their own Three Age dwelling – based on their History topic of Stone Age to Iron Age. They chose their own materials and constructed their dwelling. They evaluated their designs and the materials that they chose.

Year 3 have created their own bookmark. They have explored three different types of stitching (running, overcast and backstitch, creating samples of these to help decide which stitch they prefer for their design. They have drawn and labelled a diagram of their design, and have, in many cases, adapted these as they have progressed from drawing to stitching! The children evaluated their product, spending much time deciding whether they would like to change anything if they had the opportunity to do it again.

Year 4 Spring Term

This term in year 4, we have combined our Science topic of electricity and our Geography topic of mountains to create a working electrical board game. The children have loved using their scientific skills in a practical way and have created some fantastic board games, fit with light bulbs and buzzers. The children used their problem solving skills to ensure that their wires connected to the correct conductors in order for their games to work.

Year 4 has also completed their Food Technology project for this term: Fish cakes!

Through the process of producing fish cakes, they have learnt the D&T cooking skills of peeling and coating. We started by peeling and cutting potatoes into chunks, before boiling them and mashing them. We added this to tuna and grated lemon peel, finally flavouring it with parsley. We then scooped a handful of this mixture to press into a fish cake. We then practiced the skill of coating these fish cakes in breadcrumbs to learn to how to create a coating. The fish cakes went in to the oven for 20 minutes and we were able to take them home to taste them. They were delicious!

Year 5 Spring Term

During the spring term, Year 5 made a vegetarian curry. The children had a sequence of lessons whereby they carefully considered how to stay safe in the kitchen, discovered the different food groups, planned and researched a curry, made a vegetarian curry and then evaluated it. The skills that the children mastered were: chopping, measuring, peeling and squeezing. The children surprised themselves and enjoyed the curry despite it having lots of vegetables in!

Spring RE 2024

Year 3

In RE, Year 3 have been learning about Islam and what Muslims believe about God. This has been a very interesting and detailed unit in which the children have discussed who the Islamic god Allah is, how Muslims show their dedication and belief to Him, and why prayer is an important part of their religion (see the pictures of the children trying out the Islamic position for praying). It has been excellent to see the children enquiring about the similarities and differences between Islam and religions they have previously learned about, such as Christianity and Hinduism. Please find details of our previous March visit from Janet Marshall, in which she discussed many aspects of Islam and developed the children’s interest in exploring a new faith, under our Year 3 tab.

Year 4

This term in Year 4, the children have been learning about what a sacrifice is. This children have learnt about a variety of sacrifices such as giving up time and money in order to help someone else. All children were able to identify what different sacrifices have in common which helped them to answer our big question.

The children particularly enjoyed their role play activity where they decided how they would sacrifice their money to give it to organisations that need it most. All children were able to explain why they thought their organisation needed the money and how they would spend it to help others.

Year 5

In RE, Year 5 have been focusing on our enquiry question of ‘What does the Resurrection mean to Christians?’ They have been looking at what happens on Good Friday and Easter Sunday and have been making comparisons between the different Gospels.

On Thursday 21^st March, Reverent Laura delivered a workshop to each Year 5 class. The children started off by looking at a photograph of Jesus’ tomb, whereby the children discussed the photo, which depicts the Resurrection. The children commented how bright the picture was.

Reverent Laura asked the children why Good Friday had that name – the children thought it was because it was the end of the week! She explained that the day got its name because Christians believe that God loves us and is willing to die for us. The children discussed the meaning of names and Reverent Laura informed us that Jesus’ name means he saves. The children were very curious as to what their name meant and used the tablets to find the answer!

The last part of the workshop involved discussing the 5 meanings of Easter Eggs. The children were really fascinated that Easter Eggs are hollow, which illustrates the tomb being empty! Overall, the children discovered that the Resurrection is so important to Christians because it demonstrates a new life, a promise and a gift.

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Year 6

RE Spring Term 2024

In this half term, Year 6 considered the big question; Creation and Science – conflicting or complementary?

We began the unit by looking at some of the natural and manmade wonders of the world before recapping our learning from year 3 on the creation story in Judaism and Christianity, and how it may conflict or complement scientific theories of the beginning of the world; this also went alongside their science topic of evolution. The children wrote some lovely poems about different aspects of creation.

We had some fantastic discussions about how people interpret their religious texts and leads to differing viewpoints, even within the same religion.