A message from Mr. Dawson
It has been a very busy week here at Whitkirk. The children have continued their great start to the term and have been really engaged in their learning. Miss Quarmby and I had the pleasure of observing some writing lessons across school this week. The children’s love of writing is continuing to develop well and their learning behaviours were excellent – Year 3, in particular, are enjoying linking their Harry Potter class text to their writing.
I would like to say a huge well done to the Y5/6 pupils, who took part in our Trust’s athletics competition on Tuesday at Temple Learning Academy. Mr Shooter and Miss Appleyard were really proud of how they conducted themselves and represented our school with fantastic sporting abilities and attitudes – they are definitely Whitkirk role models.
We have been extremely fortunate to receive a donation of £500. This was given by the Wellington College, as we were nominated by one of our former pupils. With this money, we are going to purchase some large timelines for history and maps for geography, which will be displayed in the corridors.
May I remind you that parking on Templegate Walk is for permit holders only. This is to ensure that all parents and children are safe, when walking to school. We have also received communications from local residents on Templegate. Please ensure that you park considerately – making sure you do not block or park on driveways. Also, please be mindful not to park on the corners of Templegate, as there have been a number of occasions where buses have been unable to turn out of and into the road.
Attendance
Wow! For the first time in quite some time, we have a class that has achieved 100% attendance this week! Congratulations to Year 1JL who have all attended school every single day this week. In second place is Y6JC with 98% attendance, followed by Y4CO with 97% attendance. We have some very impressive class results this week, and as always, well done to every child across the school who has attended school every day this week.
Let's see what our classes have been up to this week:
Reception:
It has been an extremely busy week in Reception. We started the week with a science experiment, we explored winter and identified key changes outside during this season. We then discovered how ice is formed and why ice melts. The children enjoyed counting how long it took an ice cube to melt in their warm hand and learning about polar regions in our brilliant non-fiction texts!
The children then learnt about our artist of the term, Piet Mondrian! The children identified Mondrian's use of primary colours and the shapes that they could see within his artwork. They then created their own Mondrian-inspired pieces of art. We have some extremely artistic children in EYFS this year!
KS1:
In Year 1 this week, we have prioritised talking and learning about ourselves and others around us. In PSHE, we explored the similarities and differences between ourselves and our peers. We emphasised and celebrated the fact that we are all different and unique in our own ways - and that is what makes our class, our school, and our world such a special place! We painted a portrait of our partner to illustrate just how different and special we each are. In Year 1JL, we have focused on friendship this week. We chose a partner to celebrate all their wonderful traits. The children created a friendship cloud where they outlined all the positive traits their friend has. Children were calling one another kind, thoughtful and brave. What a lovely week to celebrate our fantastic Year 1 team!
Year 2 have worked extremely hard this week yet again. We have learnt about the climate in Africa and decided what items we would take on holiday to Africa. We have learnt that Africa is the hottest continent because it is on the equator. Also, we have learnt all about African animals and planned our own poems about animals we would see on Safari. In PE, we have practised an interpret dance to Thriller and experimented what objects we can twist and bend in Science.
LKS2:
This week in Year 3, we have been writing persuasive letters, based on this half term’s book ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. The children have been really engaged and they have loved learning all about Hogwarts. We are passionate about building the children’s passion for reading, as well as widening the range of books and texts they are able to access. Mrs. Kinlough and Mrs. Johnson have been really impressed by the increasing amount of children reading at home and recording this in their reading records. Those who read three times a week will be entered into our Year 3 raffle, with the chance to win their own book. In Art, we have been exploring the properties of different paints. This week, we used different brush strokes and watercolours to create beautiful flower paintings.
Year 4 have continued to blow us away this week! We have become experts at persuasion (sorry parents and carers!) and have begun to research how we can combat food waste. From our research, we have produced fantastic paragraphs about one of our chosen topics; we are excited to see next week's persuasive letters! In maths, we have been focusing on counting in multiples and have been great at spotting the patterns between them. The highlight of our week must be science, where we carried out two investigations into solids and liquids to see how they change over time and how we can classify their properties. It is safe to say our oobleck was definitely a messy afternoon, but one that Year 4 will remember for a long time! An excellent week everyone, keep it up!
UKS2:
This week Year 5 have really got into our class text, Journey to the River Sea. After reading about Maia's adventure to the Amazon, we learnt about another rainforest in Cameroon and took on a similar character role to write a postcard back home. We have learnt about a range of biomes in this half term's theme, focusing on the rainforest in our English lessons as we prepare to write a letter to persuade people to stop chopping down the rainforests. In other lessons, we have been learning about the Qur'an in Islam, searching through databases on the iPads, and investigating forces through practical experiments. Overall, a brilliant week!
It has been a brilliant week in Year 6: in Maths we have applied our knowledge of the four operations into solving problems; in English we have written a persuasive letter to the WWF about an endangered animal on the Galapagos Islands using persuasive techniques; and, in Theme we have explored the life of Charles Darwin. The children have fully immersed themselves into their learning, showing great enthusiasm and creativity in their work. We are really proud of them and excited to see their independent letter writing next week. A particular mention needs to go to our fantastic athletics team who represented our school brilliantly on Tuesday at Temple Learning Academy. Well done Year 6!
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