Life cycles, Richard III and chocolate cake!

The Rabbits have been learning about Butterflies and have made a 3D life cycle showing the amazing transformation!  The grass heads are looking luscious, this is Miss Dixon's, it's looking good but let's check back next week to see if any of the grass heads have caught up with her impressive hair!























The Dragonflies have made a start on their Richard III sculptures!  They have layered their balloon with paper, can you see much resemblance yet?  

The Otters made a superb chocolate cake, it looked wonderful!  They have continued to explore magical materials, and have made their own collages using a variety of different textures.

 

Happy Lunchtimes!

The Rabbits have been reading the “Enormous Turnip” and to mark the occasion they made some delicious turnip soup.  In Numeracy the children have been working on the topic of “Time” and to continue their theme of plants that grow, they have started a Science investigation looking at cress.  The children have been making predictions and over the next week they will be able to see if their predictions were correct! 

The dragonflies have started to look at the 5 senses and how they can use them to improve their writing and make it more exciting!  In their topic lessons they have been learning about Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores.  The children explored the diets of animals and then classified them accordingly.  In Numeracy the dragonflies have been learning about capacity and today they start their investigation!  More pictures to come next week…

The Otters have played an active role in Brookside life this week!  On Wednesday, we met Steve from “Happy Lunchtimes.”  He came to see us to share his lunchtime wisdom and to help make playtime even more fun!  All the classes completed a questionnaire and the answers that the children gave were discussed with Steve and the members of the School council.  The Riverbank School Council representative is in the Otters, and she had plenty to feedback from her class.  At lunchtime the children went outside and had tremendous fun dancing and singing to music, using chalk to create a trail and playing fun games.

Sprouting heads, a trip to ancient Egypt and exciting investigations!

This week the Rabbits have started their new topic about plants that grow.  The children have made their very own grass heads; they might look a bit different in a few days!  To help develop your child’s understanding of plants, why not go on a nature walk and explore the environment.

The Dragonflies have had a very exciting week; they have been on a trip to New Walk Museum! 

The children joined year 3 and were lucky enough to have a special Egyptian workshop where they handled ancient artifacts, dressed up in Egyptian clothes, used Egyptian tools and even got to see 3 real-life Mummies!  That wasn't all, after their Egyptian adventure, the Dragonflies explored the rest of the Museum and enjoyed looking at the Dinosaurs, beautiful paintings, animals around the world and Richard III’s very own book!  The children were impeccably behaved and a brilliant day was had by all.

The Otters have been putting on their lab coats and have turned into Scientists this week!  They have been mixing liquids and solids to see if they explode.  As part of their ‘Delicious desserts’ topic in cooking they have made pineapple upside down cake.

We hope you have a lovely bank holiday weekend, fingers crossed the sun is shining!

Lots of visitors!

Another busy week for the Riverbank children!

The Rabbits had a special visitor, Dixie the dog came to see the Rabbits and even took them on a walk.  In Numeracy the children used the Beebots to learn about position and direction.












The Dragonflies also had a visitor but he was not as fluffy as Dixie!  Sid the skeleton came to see the children.  The children could to see what bones look like and how they are arranged in our bodies.  The Dragonflies have been learning why our skeletons are important and imagining what we would look like without one!
















The Otters have made great progress with their "Magical Materials" topic by looking at the properties of wood, paper, rubber, plastic, to name just a few!

Fluffy, flat and farmer friends!

The Rabbits have been very lucky this week!  Their new topic is “Pets,” Mrs Worral brought in her Guinea pigs!  The children loved it and are looking forward to another furry friend coming to visit next week.  As part of their topic the children have started to read “My best friend, Bob” by Georgie Ripper.

   

The Dragonflies have made an enthusiastic start to the new summer term.  Their new topic is “Richard III,” this week they have started looking at bones.  The children were lucky enough to enjoy the sunshine in their PE lesson by joining year 3 and Mrs Kirby on the field to play Rounders.  The children displayed excellent team work skills and enjoyed learning the rules.  In Literacy the Dragonflies are learning about adventure stories and they are reading “Flat Stanley” by Jeff Brown.

The Otters have started their new topic “Marvellous Materials,” in cooking the children made Lassi and in Literacy they have started their author focus on Martin Waddell.  They have been enjoying reading his books and have even found some in our classroom!

Science Week 2015

Science week!

This week has been jam-packed with Science, investigations, discoveries and a Solar eclipse! 

The Rabbits joined Foundation for a trip to the Farm.  They had a wonderful time and saw some animals up close and personal.  Their animal adventures haven’t just stopped there, as part of Science week they have been learning about Jane Goodall, she is a chimpanzee expert and has been studying them for over 50 years, wow!

The Dragonflies have also been exploring famous Scientists. This half term we have been focusing on “Sound” so the Scientist the Dragonflies have been learning more about is Sir Alexander Graham Bell, he is famous for inventing the telephone.  The children found the development of the telephone fascinating, we can even play games on our mobile phones nowadays!

The Otters have been investigating Forces as part of their Science week activities, they have been having great fun exploring ways to push and pull! 

This morning all the children went out into the playground to experience the Solar eclipse.  The children all had a piece of card with a small hole in the middle.  You would expect that if the sun was shining through the hole, it would be round, however, the children saw an arc shape – the eclipse was happening right before their very eyes!  The children really enjoyed this special occasion.   

World book day 2015

The Rabbits have been learning about Spring, in particular, what signs to look out for to know when it is coming!  They have been making their own flowers and taking part in Spring walks.

On Tuesday, a professional theatre company came to perform a fantastic drama that explored relationships, decision making and friendships.  The Dragonflies and Otters joined the children from Key Stage 2 for this wonderful opportunity.  After the performance, the actors led a workshop that explored the various issues that arose from the play.  The children were encouraged to examine the actions of the characters and how they could have made better choices.  The performance offered a unique and exciting opportunity for the children to discover and develop their personal, emotional and social skills through the conventions of live drama.

On Wednesday, the author Rose Impey came to visit key stage 1 and the Dragonflies.  She spoke to the children about her story writing journey and how it all began.  The children were lucky enough to buy her books and even have them personally signed!  A series of books that Rose Impey has written is about ‘Pirate Patch,’ the following day was World Book day and the children in key stage 1 and the Dragonflies wore their best pirate costumes.  Foundation, Rabbits, Key Stage 2 and the Otters dressed up as a book character of their choice.  All the children made a fantastic effort and looked great!  At the end of the day, we had a surprise visit from the Twits.  Do they look familiar to you? 

The children in the Riverbank have also been experimenting with different painting techniques.  Blow painting, marble painting, finger painting, sponge painting…all sorts!  The children have really enjoyed learning about the different effect of each technique.