Oak Class Autumn Term 2

What a long and busy term it has been in Oak class. We have carried on with our ‘Invaders and Settlers’ topic this term, focusing on the Vikings and answering the Big Question: ‘Who were the biggest troublemakers in history?’ 

In English, Oak class has become a newsroom! We have been writing as journalists about an exciting and mysterious discovery which was made on the school grounds – a Viking Ring! The teachers had to own up eventually that it was planted there by them, but it created some amazing discussion, fantastic newspaper reports and wonderful writing journals as everyone thought about where it could have come from. The children then applied their journalistic writing skills to produce a report about something else exciting that has happened in Oak this term, including our Viking Day and visit to the Nottingham Panthers.

                                     
In history we have learnt why the Vikings (or Norsemen) came to Britain – did you know that the word ‘Viking’ was originally a verb, meaning to raid? We found out about, and acted out, the raid on Lindisfarne, and learnt about why the Vikings were such great raiders and traders. We experienced a fantastic Viking Day with our friends at Ab Kettleby, where we were able to handle and try on a vast number of Viking artefacts, and we learnt all sorts of interesting facts, including how Vikings got their names and how they were much cleaner than the Anglo-Saxons, who thought washing was bad luck and only bathed once a year!     

In maths, Oak class started the term with multiplication and division, learning about multiples, factors and prime numbers, before moving onto fractions, which will continue after Christmas. We have learnt about equivalent fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers so far.

Our science work has focused on electricity this term; we have learnt about how electrical appliances work and made circuits using all the correct components as well as investigating why a circuit might NOT work. In computing, we have learnt about the role of HTML in web pages, taking a peek inside a website to see how it is programmed and even tinkering with the HTML code to make changes.

In RE, Oak have been learning about Hinduism this term. They have learnt about how Hindus worship and how different deities represent their beliefs about God. They have tried to make links between the Hindu idea of everyone having a ‘spark’ of God in them and ideas about the value of people in the world today. In PSHE they have been thinking about human rights, diversity and the value different people bring to a community. 

For PE this term, Oak have been developing their skills in basketball, dodgeball and volleyball. Year 4 took part in a dodgeball competition and came 3rd, which was a fantastic achievement for such a small school! Their term of swimming has now come to an end, and we have seen lots of improvement, especially in our non-swimmers and developing swimmers who have grown in confidence as the term has progressed. The class also had an amazing day with the Nottingham Panthers ice-hockey team, trying their hand at skating as well as watching the team train and asking them questions. What an experience!

It seems a long time ago now, but we started the term with ‘Take One Picture’ week, where we focused on the painting ‘Regatta on the Grand Canal’ by Canaletto. We had a wonderful day with the Kathryn Saunby art studio creating wonderful Venetian masks and watercolours, took part in drama with a visiting teacher from Iveshead school, and found out all about Venice. In our art lessons, we have also been learning about how to use shading to create tone and make our drawings look 3 dimensional.          

In music, our djembe drumming lessons culminated in a wonderful performance for parents, and of course, we have been doing LOTS of singing in the run up to Christmas, ready for our nativity and carol service. 
It’s hard to believe that we have fitted all that into 8 weeks! No wonder we are all ready for a well-deserved Christmas break!