Kew Trip   Thank you to the parents who joined us on our trip to Kew Gardens. We had a fantastic time and hope you enjoy looking at the photos with the children. The hands on workshops really informed us about what the rainforests provide.           Here is what some of the children learned from or thought about the trip:   Poplar class: ‘At Kew I enjoyed going into the Palm House where I was wacked in the face by a banana plant! The amount of spikes on the cacti in the Princess of Wales Greenhouse astonished me. It was such a lovely experience going to Kew and I think everyone else who came would agree.’   ‘Kew Gardens is full of fascination to giant standards. I couldn’t bear to close my eyes.’   ‘The whole place was super but the one thing which really stood out for me was the work shop. It was such fun and we were able to test our taste buds.’   ‘The most fascinating bit about Kew was the banana plant. It hung down on quite a hard looking vine. There were amazing carnivorous plants like the Pitcher Plant and Venus Fly Traps.’   ‘I enjoyed searching in the green house for the poisonous plants because it was fun searching for them.  What I found most interesting was that monkeys prefer papaya more than bananas!’

Literacy Maple Class wrote up their talk homework on the subject of which animal they would like to be. The children wrote about a wide range of animals from lions to snakes and even a sloth! Here are some extracts of their work; can you guess what animal they are writing about? ‘It would be amazing to see all the types of coral and fish. I could glide through the silky water and dodge the powerful currents as they sweep past me.’                                                                                          Hannah   ‘My straw-like tongue injects itself into the flower and sucks the sweet nectar into my mouth.’                                                                         Ellie   ‘The smell of bamboo to us is as special as diamonds and as rare as rubies. My muzzle would twitch at the smell.’                                            Isabella   ‘I would dive all day surrounded by glimmering ice-bergs.’                 Joshy   Poplar Class also wrote up their talk homework and here are some extracts from their work: ‘We would travel far and wide in our area, jumping logs, hiking mountains, walking through rivers.’                                                                   Skye ‘Catching juicy rabbits would be a walk in the park as I am so silent, quick and deadly, nothing has time to notice me’.                                       Enya ‘I would see a myriad of fish.’                                                           Isaac ‘I would see slimy shipwrecks or the colourful coral or the snapping sharks.’                                                                                           Jessica ‘I would be able to fly over snow-capped mountains and scorching barren desserts.’                                                                                        Dylan ‘I would move by swaying my black tail (called a fluke) back and forth as fast as you can imagine.’                                                                    Mia   Lime Class have written some recounts on our visit to Kew Gardens.  We have also been busy designing invitations for our Cookie Kingdom café.  Please look out for these invitations and remember to RSVP!   Homework: The children will be practising their use of clauses and phrases. They should do their homework in their green books with the usual high standards of presentation.

Mathematics   In Mrs Prowle’s group, we have been practising our multiplication skills and working on our targets again this week. Do you know your 2,3,4,5, and 10 times tables really thoroughly? Are you getting more confident with your 6 and 8 times tables? Can you recall the related division facts just as quickly?   In Mrs Williams and Mrs Gilder’s group we began working on 2D shapes. We look for them around the school and compared them using their properties. Have a look around your house or garden for some shapes. Can you name them? How many sides do they have? Are they regular? Useful Websites: http://www.innovationslearning.co.uk/subjects/maths/information/shape_facts/shape_facts.htm     http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/3d/index.htm   In Mrs Roche’s group we have been looking at halving and doubling numbers. We have asked the children to set out their work very neatly and show every step of the operation. When you double a number, will it be odd or even? Or does it depend what the number was first? When you halve an odd number will you have a whole number as your answer or will there be a fraction?   Homework: Mrs Prowle’s group: Due to my absence today, the children should complete another page in their Schofield & Sims book.   Mrs Williams and Mrs Gilder’s homework   Mrs Roche’s group: halving and doubling to be completed on the sheet. Complete as much as possible.

TOPIC Following our trip to Kew we have been doing some writing based on our trip.

RE We have continued to look at the life of Muhammed.

MUSIC This week we have been learning about Ostinato alongside the work on Pitch, Duration and Dynamics that we have already been practising.  Maple class used xylophones to play the ostinato in the Canoe Song that we learned earlier in the term. We also really enjoyed learning a great new ‘call and response’ song called ‘Kye Kye Kule’