| Classes |
Hedgehog-Year 4
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Badger - Year 5/6 | Otter - Year 5/6 |
Grey Wolf - Year 5/6
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| Class Teacher | Miss Caroline Parry | Miss Charlotte Cowdell | Miss Ashleigh Maaka | Mr Lloyd Marshall |
| Learning Support Assistants | Mrs Melissa Smith | Mrs Christine Hitchins | Mrs Laila Fenton | Mrs Lauren Weaver |
Through their unique personalities and drive for success, our children are challenged to reach their full potential by applying their skills and knowledge, embedding them within all areas of the curriculum. We encourage our children to take tremendous pride in their achievements and endeavour to support each other to grow as well-rounded individuals.
Years 5 and 6 are fast-paced and challenging as our children work incredibly hard to prepare themselves for the end of their primary school journey. Children in Year 6 take on many roles of responsibilities within school and participate fully in the life of the school in its wider community. As a year group they begin preparation for secondary school life, ensuring that they are inspirational role models to our younger peers.
We work hard to fully embed skills that our children have learnt during their time at the school and strive to achieve mastery approach to learning across all subject areas. Throughout the year, the children deepen their reasoning and reflective skills, showing a true understanding of how to improve and advance their learning.
Inspired by the huge breadth of skills our children have learnt on their journey through Bearwood, our children leave the school as kind, integral, and successful individuals ready to face the challenges of secondary school and adult life, becoming successful, compassionate and productive citizens.
Year 5 have been working hard this week. We have started our new topic of Our Earth and learnt about key lines of latitude. We have set up a Science investigation to discover which liquid contains salt and we are waiting for it to evaporate, nothing has happened yet! We have started a new unit in Athletics and learnt about pacing ourselves to run for 6 minutes and we started to learn our Maypole dance.
This week in Otter class we had the pleasure of attending Rafael's assembly. After celebrating neurodiverse week last week, it was a nice way to wrap that up. We enjoyed hearing about what life is like with hyperactivity. We are very proud of Rafael and think he did a fantastic job of presenting.
This week in Badger, we have reached the end of our learning about World War II. We have been using the knowledge we gained to answer two main questions, How and Why did lkife change for people in Britain during the War? How and Why did Britain change after the War? We included information about what it was like for different groups of people to live during the war as well as looking at the Windrush generation including the formation of the NHS. We also learnt about how technology changed life and began to form the way we live now.
On Tuesday morning, Miss Gaynor led the Upper Key-stage 2 Assembly with the help of Grey Wolf class. Miss Gaynor shared the story of how her grandad Hansel moved to England from Jamaica and served in the RAF in WW2. Grey Wolf class sang 3 Little Birds beautifully and they performed with sign language too! 'Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is gonna be alright!'
In UKS2 this week we have been learning about the life cycles of insects and amphibians to compare them. We were fascinated to discover that insects and amphibians both have four stages to their life cycle which also include metamorphosis. We challenged ourselves to draw these life cycles in our books and label them with the key information that we learnt.
UKS2 thoroughly enjoyed World Book day yesterday with an amazing array of costumes. We also heard more from the book we are reading, 'Coming to England' by Floella Benjamin, linking to our topic of Britain after World War II. In the afternoon, we completed a variety of book themed activities including book reviews, designing a new book cover and finishing off with Buddy reading with different classes from across the school.
In Upper Key Stage 2 this week we participated in the NSPCC Speak Out Stay Safe assembly. We then did some further work on this in class where the children showed us what they had remembered and could empathize how children who were in difficult situations might be feeling. They then created posters to show the NSPCC character Buddy and the key messages from the Assembly.
In Hedgehog Class, we have used our drama skills to immerse ourselves into the short film, The Black Hat. We had a great time acting out the various scenes. We have also completed our artwork using recycled plastic materials in the style of Veronika Richterova. We hope you like our creations!
In Hedgehog Class, we carried out a Voice 21 fed in facts activity to support our learning about the Ancient Egyptians in History. We learnt about new facts as a group and then shared those facts with others in the class. We also shared some of our learning in our class assembly this week. We hope enjoyed celebrating our learning with us!
This week, in Otter class we have been diving into history as we explored World War II, with a particular focus on the Blitz. In English, we brought our learning to life by writing instructional guides on how to survive an air raid, combining historical knowledge with clear, step-by-step writing. We enjoyed writing these and being able to share and develop our understanding of this important period in history.
This week Badger class worked in teams to go shopping for rations during wartime. Using the list of available items they had to work out a menu for the week and then go to the 'shop' to queue up. However, due to wartime shortages, some teams found that the ingredients that they wanted were either not in stock or had sold out due to short supplies. They then had to adapt their ment to work out what they could have. They were shocked to discover that 24 points had to last for a 4 week period and spending 20 points on a pack of jelly or 6 points on 1 can of baked beans would have meant running out of points very quickly!
Badger Class performed their class assembly on Thursday. Their assembly was about Britain at War - looking at the lives of children and adults during World War 2. They showcased their art, reading and writing on the topic, as well as a great performance of 'We'll meet again' by Vera Lynn!
This week in Otter class, we loved sharing our learning during our class assembly. We proudly showcased our knowledge of the solar system and presented our fantastic Peter Thorpe–inspired rocket ship artwork. Thank you to all the parents and carers who came along to watch and for your continued support of our learning—it was wonderful to have you there.
In Year 4 Hedgehog class this week, we have been newspaper reporters. We were amazed, shocked, confused by the bizarre sight of slimy frogs flying on flat green lily pads around the town! We hope you enjoy reading our newspaper articles all about it.
Year 5/6 have been busy investigating the properties of materials in Science. This week in Otter, we focused on thermal conductivity. We carried out an experiment to discover which materials are best at keeping heat in. To start, we filled three cups with hot water: one wrapped in tin foil, one in cotton wool and one plain plastic cup. Using thermometers, we recorded a baseline temperature and then measured the temperature over a 15-minute period. After analysing the results, we discussed which material was the best insulator. To finish the unit, we put our learning into practice by designing a brand-new coffee mug for teachers – all with the important goal of keeping break-time coffee warmer for longer!
This week in Badger class we learnt about how children were evacuated during World War II. We found out that children were evacuated to Berkshire as it was a safe area and that there was a hostel set up in Wokingham for 30 children to live in during the war. Children had to pack a few belongings and catch a train with their classmates and teachers, leaving their parents behind.
This week, UKS2 have been finishing off our tote bags in DT. We have been really proud with how they have persevered (particularly with threading the needle!) and shown patience to complete their designs.
This week some of our UKS2 children went to Maiden Erlegh to take part in Sportshall Athletics, organised by School Games. All the children were fantastic! A special mention to Bobby, who managed to jump 2.1 metres in the standing long jump, the furthest of anyone in the competition!
Aiden, Tanishi, Cayden and Chace in Y6 took part in a 'Mathemagical' Event on Monday morning at Luckley House School. A maths teacher turned magic circle member performed maths tricks with the pupils, showing them the magic of numbers!
UKS2 had a fantastic day on Wednesday led by the Osun Arts Foundation. We were treated to African dancing and drumming by experts of African heritage. We also had a story-telling talk about the Benin Kingdom by Felix, the great grandson of a Benin Warchief!
In Year 4, have had a fantastic first full week at school. We created hedgehog artwork and some will be displayed on our Bearwood Forest display in the hall. We learnt about the importance of friendship and created a mind map before the lesson and added to it after, to demonstrate what more we have learnt about what makes a good friend.
We wrote recounts of our summer holidays, describing where we went, what we did and how we felt along the way.
In Hedgehog Class, we have used our drama skills to immerse ourselves into the short film, The Black Hat. We had a great time acting out the various scenes. We have also completed our artwork using recycled plastic materials in the style of Veronika Richterova. We hope you like our creations!
