29 November 2022
It's been another wonderful week at Fairfield.
In Nursery, The Friendly Frogs have been pondering the question- What is our new book? for a few days! They used lots of clues and were very good at predicting what the story might be about. The children were very excited to see it was 'The Gruffalo' and have been busy producing splendid work relating to their new text of study. On Tuesday, the children went on an owl hunt around the school, matching the pictures to the names. Later in the week, they continued their research of woodland animals and created their own fact-file about their favourites. In Maths, our youngest learners have been perfecting their counting skills this week- they are becoming very confident mathematicians!
The bears arrived at Fairfield in Reception last week. The children were very excited by their new book of study 'We’re Going on a Bear Hunt'. The week started with the children being hibernating bears, roaring bears, curious bears, reading bears, counting bears and they made bear traps and produced wonderful bear drawings. In Maths, Reception have been learning about tally marks and how they can be used. On Tuesday, they had a go at writing 1-4 using tally marks in their books and they found out what was special about number 5 during Wednesday's lesson and during that session, as an extra challenge, they even had some symbols instead of numbers! In P.E, the children enjoyed playing ‘silly bananas’ to get their bodies and muscles warmed up before balancing beanbags during 'cups and cones'- great teamwork!
Meanwhile, in Key Stage One, in cricket last week, Year 1 practised their bowling and batting skills with an impressive, determined attitude. Another super Computing lesson was in action this week as the children were learning how to use a keyboard to type text and use a variety of keys to add punctuation. Their challenge was to then change the font style, size and colour. To conclude their Maths learning, Year 1 carried-out a Maths experiment to test the capacity of different containers. They made predictions then worked together in teams to fill each container up with cubes and recorded the results. The children were extremely surprised by one of the results and used lots of reasoning skills to justify their findings.
In Year 2, the children were busy designing their very own cereal pots as part of their D&T curriculum. The children are really enjoying this topic as it shows a clear link between designing a purposeful, functional and appealing product based upon a specific set of criteria. They also get to then follow this up with the ‘making’ stage (next week), using a range of tools and equipment. Plus, there is the added bonus of tasting what they have created! In PE, it was another fabulous visit to Clip and Climb on Wednesday- it was an incredible morning of the children challenging themselves, pushing their limits and making memories, all as part of an engaging and active PE curriculum. Year 2 have also been busy writing sentences in English, where they have mastered the skills of using commas and the conjunction ‘and’ to separate adjectives. In Maths, the children have been solving word problems using column addition and subtraction- applying their recently learnt skills to problem solving activities.
In Key Stage Two, at Forest school, Year 3 discussed how fire was important to the Stone Age People (linking to their History topic of study). Then, all of the children had a go at using the flint and steel to set a piece of cotton wool alight. In Science, Year 3 are continuing their rock experiments from last week. This week, they have been busy testing the permeability of 6 different rocks. The children were also identifying if each of the rocks were igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. They did this by using their prior knowledge from previous lessons and from using the classroom display to support their learning. Year 3's active Maths was all about different time periods that occur throughout the day and how these relate to AM and PM. They had a great time doing these activities, working collaboratively in pairs- well done Year 3!
Meanwhile, Year 4 'made rain!’ There was much excitement in Year 4 last week as the children checked on the mini water cycles, which they set up last Friday and found that their pots had collected some water! In Maths, Year 4 are beginning work on written methods of multiplication so went outside to complete a multiplication trail. The answers to their calculations told the children which card to go to next. In Art, the children were enjoying having a go at painting Stockley Bridge over the River Derwent using impressionist techniques. We are sure you’ll agree, they are looking wonderful! Some fantastic stippling, cross hatching and broken colour being used! In PE, Year 4 have continued with their hockey topic of study and have enjoyed working on their skills and putting them to the test in team games. In Science, the children have been taking accurate measurements of temperature using a thermometer. Some of the temperatures of the different bowls of water did surprise the children and to conclude their lesson the children went outside to take the temperatures in the sun and the shade.
In Year 5, in English, the children have been busy writing gripping diary entries whereby, they have included lots of sophisticated language and technical vocabulary. In Maths, the children have been perfecting their knowledge of ordering decimals with increased accuracy- our Year 5 mathematicians enjoyed lots of practical work to help with this skill. In D&T, the children have started learning about healthy snacks and on Friday, they had a tasting session. The children were eager to try some foods, and more apprehensive about others, but everyone had a go and were able to describe and rate the foods they tried. Well done Year 5!
In Year 6, our oldest learners have been working on some beautiful rangoli patterns in RE after finding out about why and how they are traditionally created. They also utilised their learning in Maths with some children using the compass to create a concentric, circular template and others using geometric, symmetrical designs. In PE, the children have been practising Sportshall Athletics and had a lovely morning on Friday perfecting many skills. In Art, the children have been learning all about their focus artist, Albrecht Durer, and have produced beautiful, detailed work in their sketch books, which understandably, they are very proud of.
Finally, last Thursday, children across Years 4, 5 and 6 took part in a Cross-Country Event at Cockermouth School. Their efforts were incredible. It was wonderful to see the Year 4 children take part in a mass participation event and three of our Fairfield pupils were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Years 5 and 6 grouped together to run and again, the efforts were incredible, with six Fairfield pupils placed in the Top 10 for Year 5 and 6 Boys- including 1st, 2nd and 3rd place- and seven Fairfield pupils placed in the Top 10 for Year 5 and 6 Girls- including 2nd, 4th and 5th! Well done to everyone who took part.
Today, we have had a wonderful start to another great week at Fairfield
