This week in Year 6, we have completed our DT topic where we had to design and build a playground. We firstly looked at different types of structures before planning our own based on our success criteria. We then built our designs using wood where we needed to use saws to cut to our measurements, before using glue guns safely to attach our pieces together. Finally, we decorated our playground. We were all incredibly focused and completed some fantastic designs!

Y3 have been investigating what plants need to grow well. They grew a tomato plant on the windowsill, they grew one without water, one in the fridge and one in the dark. Which do you think is which?

Year 4 have been learning about the water cycle.  They made the ‘Water Cycle’ in a bag and watched the progress of evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection take place.

Year 5 have been learning about metamorphosis (where animals go through an abrupt and obvious change). We studied the life cycle of a variety of amphibians and insects, such as frogs, dragonflies, butterflies and newts. We then compared the differences between them.

“We discovered a frog has 6 stages of its lifecycle and by the time the froglet starts to eat insects, its tail has disappeared.  Also, a newt spends the first 10 weeks of their lives in water. After 10 weeks they are able to leave the water and breathe on land”. Autumn, Indi and Sophie.

This week Year 6 have explored painting and mixed media in their Art topic. We began by exploring five different artists and identified the different features and formal elements. After exploring the key artists, we all selected an artist to inspire our final piece. We collected a range of information about our chosen artist and presented this in our sketchbooks.

Year 3 enjoyed part of their practical Maths lesson outside. The sun was shining and children worked in small groups to measure different items using metre sticks. We thought carefully about the best way to measure depending on the size.

This week, the children in Year 5 have enjoyed a trip to Bishop Auckland College. They visited to coincide with us building bridges. The children have looked at different bridges such as beam, truss and arch bridges. The children first made their own out of spaghetti and then out of wood. They worked in teams to complete their bridge and with the help of young adults from the college used equipment such as a Tenon saw and glue guns to build them. The children had a great time and learned different techniques. Thank you to Miss Bonas for organising this trip.

What a busy week – Science week has begun, this time we are learning about Solids, Liquids and Gases. We took part in a really cool experiment where we mixed cornflour [our solid] with water [our liquid] to see what it made – at first it just looked like a thick liquid, but when we put it in our hands, we could roll it into a ball! Then it slowly seeped into a liquid form again. This was super messy, but great fun and a really interesting way to explore science.

This week Year 4 have enjoyed making biscuits in DT this week.  They followed a recipe, designed their own biscuit and packaging as a group and used budgeting skills to ensure a profit.

Year 6 have worked incredibly hard during SATs week and we have been so proud of their resilience, determination and maturity throughout the week. It has been a very tiring and long week however wherever possible we have enjoyed lots of playtime in the sun where we could relax and have some fun.