Spring time and Science

Solids, Liquids and Gasses.

We have been busy with our science this term to witness the changes that happen during some solid and liquid experiments.

First we made Ice decorations showing that liquid can change to a solid and then back to a liquid using the freezing and melting method.

Secondly in science we cut up fruit and mixed with our liquid (yogurt) and froze it to see if we could make it into a solid. It froze and made delicious fruit lollipops.

When we froze water, milk, vinegar and apple juice, some of us thought the milk would freeze first, some the water and some the vinegar. The water froze first with the milk at a close second.


Finally we decided to see if we could turn a solid into a liquid by using the melting process. I think the boys enjoyed this the most. The water that reached boiling point during the melting process turned into a gas (we could see this by the the steam rising).

March has been an action packed month. We designed and made our Easter baskets using the weaving technique we had practised on paper. We learnt about the human body and how senses can be used to inform us about what is around us. We learnt about a significant figure in the world of paleontology - Mary Anning.
We had a great time on our Wild Tribe morning. We loved getting creative with crafts and stories out in the woods.
We went on a trip to The Box museum in Plymouth. We took the train and joined a local children's author in celebrating the International Day of Happiness. We each came up with ideas that the author made into a song. We sang the song together at Plymouth station. While at The Box we learned all about the detective work that natural historians do. We tried to match up animals skulls to their diets and their species. We met Mildred the woolly mammoth - she was magnificent and quite enormous! We also got to see some huge fossils up close which reminded us of our work on Mary Anning.
In literacy we have learnt about, told and written riddles about animals and about dinosaurs. We read our dinosaur riddles to Year 4 who had to guess which type of dinosaur was being described. 
|n maths we have been exploring numbers to 50 and going outdoors to use our length measuring skills.

In February we began thinking about a new big question - 'How do we know about dinosaurs?'. We began learning about fossils and paleontologists. 
In science, we learned about what different animals like to eat and whether they are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores. We also learnt that some animals make more suitable pets than others and explored the reasons for this.
This month we also learnt more about internet safety. We used the DigiDuck stories to explore how we should conduct ourselves online and we learnt that, when we see something online that makes us feel uncomfortable, we should stop, close and tell a trusted adult. 
We have also began exploring patterns, textures and colours in fabrics and have started to learn to weave by weaving paper. 
In literacy we have been reading and writing letters inspired by the 'Dear Dinosaur' story.

We have had lots of fun and managed to take some of our learning outside despite the wet weather.

In Science we have been learning about 'Living Things and Their Habitats'.
We started by classifying things that are living, non-living, dead and never been alive. Then we learnt about different habitats around the world and how the animals that live there, adapt to their environment and depend on each other for survival. We managed to spend some time in the woods looking at micro-habitats and undertaking a survey of bugs that we found there.
In Computing we have been learning all about programmable toys and our teacher was very impressed that we can all explain what 'algorithm' means!

We have also been creating some amazing sketches of the view of our playground in the style of Lowry. We learnt lots of techniques beforehand such as hatching, crosshatching, stippling and shading. We also had fun creating matchstick figures and adding details to them. We tried to include many of these techniques in our sketches.

Our topic 'Where Do We Live?' had a mainly Geography focus. We really enjoyed our walk around the local area identifying human and physical features and created some fabulous maps for another class who wanted to know the way to the park. 

Wishing you all a relaxing Easter break with your families.

As we reach the end of another few weeks at both bases, I wanted to say thank you for supporting the various events which have been taking place during the last couple of weeks. 
It was lovely to see so many of you at our 'fashion parade' during World Book Day. The children looked fantastic in their book character costumes and they spent the day engaging in a range of reading related tasks. I want to than all of the teachers for planning these activities for the children and also Miss Owen for coordinating the event. I have had lots of children tell me how much they enjoyed being on the 'catwalk'!
Mrs Hannaford and the football team have really enjoyed playing in the Callington Arena league. They have had a few wins, but the most admirable thing is that they have played with passion, good humour and determination- well done to all!
Last Friday was Comic Relief. Across the two bases we raised just over £140 which is amazing! I want to particularly thank members of the school council at the Gunnislake base who bravely put themselves forward to be 'gunged' for money. 
Y1 had a fantastic 'Wild Tribe' day on Tuesday where they made magic wands from willow, played games and toasted marshmallows over a camp fire.
We are looking forward to the Easter Bunny Hop next Thursday- thank you for all of your donations for the tombola.

February was a short month due to half term but we have still managed to pack in lots of learning.

In literacy we have been writing instructions about how to make an aeroplane out of recycled materials which we had actually made in DT so this helped us know what to write.

In numeracy we have had fun measuring length in centimetres and metres.

In Geography we have been exploring maps of the local area and comparing them to satellite views. We really enjoyed this, spotting where we live and local landmarks.
We have learnt what physical features are and what human features are.
We have also been discussing symbols and keys and had a go at drawing our own maps of the school and surrounding area.
We are just waiting for some dry weather so we can go for a walk in our local area now.

Art has been all about drawing and we have explored drawing different types of lines, shading, hatching, cross-hatching and stippling.
Again, we are waiting for the weather to improve so that we can take our art outside!

In music we have been learning to play the glockenspiel. We have learnt notes, B, A and G and have also learnt to put them together to play along to a tune. 

February in the ARC

There has been lots to celebrate in the ARC this February with birthdays and Valentine's Day. 

Our topic is Dinosaurs. We have been baking Dinosaur biscuits, creating fossils like the ones that Mary Anning found, creating Dinosaur skeletons out of pasta and building large scale 3D dinosaurs. Watch this space for the Dinosaur stories that we have worked on in literacy. All the ARC children have engaged really well with the topic! 

Freddie has been enjoying his piano playing and messy play. He is getting brilliant at using some of his symbols to communicate. We are very proud of him. 

Our newest member of the ARC, Eddie is settling in nicely. He loved making his dinosaur skeleton! 

This February...

...we have been continuing our work looking at the Tamar Valley, in particular the river Tamar.  We learned about the history of the river and went on a field trip to the Tamar Bridge (a very wet field trip).  
In RE we have been thinking about Holy Week and the events leading up to Easter.
In science we have started a new unit all about plants.
We also had Mental Health Week where we thought hard about showing kindness, being confident and talking kindly about ourselves.
We've been learning about different watercolour washes in art and practicing creating different effects.

January has been a busy month and we have been trying to answer the question 'Why was Amelia Earhart important?'.

In history we have been learning all about her adventures and achievements and the class have blown me away with their knowledge of the history of flight. This linked nicely to our literacy work where the children wrote a biography of Amelia Earhart's life.

In DT we have been designing and making aeroplanes which is ongoing. Have a look at our wonderful designs and we will post some pictures of the completed products when they are finished.

This half term has been learning all about multiplication and division in maths. The children have been able to recognise equal and non-equal groups, use stem sentences to describe arrays and problem solve using the 2, 5 and 10 times table.

Science has been all about humans and other animals. We recapped on the main animal groups, learnt about lifecycles and we can also explain what metamorphosis is! The children learnt about the basic needs for survival and also enjoyed an investigation into the best types of exercise for raising your heartbeat.
Finally we really enjoyed joining Steve Backshall for a live lesson all about sharks at the Marine Aquarium in Plymouth.

Well done for all your hard work this half term children, enjoy your half term break.

It was a cold return to nursery after the Christmas break and we started learning all about Winter. We explored the world, discussing animals that live in colder climates and used these creatures in our small world play. We also used these in our play dough to make footprints. We explored colour mixing whilst using pipettes to paint snowflakes. We also learnt about the Northern Lights and made our own Northern Light pictures using printing and pastels. One of our focus stories this month was Owl Babies and we learnt lots about owls and used the story to compare sizes, making comparisons between the three babies - Sarah, Percy and Bill. We completed some great observational drawings and paintings of Owls too. At the end of the month it was the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch so we made some seed bird feeders to send home and help encourage birds into our gardens. We were very fortunate to be given some brand new puddle suits , kindly funded by the Friends of Delaware and Gunnislake which are keeping us nice and dry during our outside play.

January 

We have been busy this January working on our water theme. We have recreated Monet picutres in Art and made fish out of willow and tissue paper. In Geography we have looked at the wonderful world where we have been learning about the seven Continents and five Oceans. Our cooking sessions have also been connected with water and liquid.

In Science we are learning about Solids, liquids and gases. We decided to make a Lava lamp to see what happens to the oil and water. The oil had greater density as it stayed at the bottom while the water stayed at the top. The bubbles were created by the fizzing tablets.

We enjoyed making Ice decorations, using natural items such as leaves, sticks, fir cones, conkers and flowers. We showed that liquid can change to a solid and then back to a liquid using the freezing and melting method.

Finally we decided to see if we could turn a solid into a liquid by using the melting process. Using chocolate buttons we conducted a fair test by using two chocolate buttons in each container. We used the same amount of water but 3 different temperatures (cold, warm, boiled). I think the boys enjoyed this the most and concluded that the cold water left the chocolate as a solid, the warm water slightly melted and the boiled water completely melting the chocolate. They noticed that the chocolate still tasted the same on all three.

This month we have been exploring the question of 'What can you find where the land meets the sea'. We have learnt about the 7 continents and 5 oceans and discovered what can be found around the coastline of Plymouth. We have also learnt how human beings are changing what can be found where the land meets the sea by allowing so much plastic pollution to get into the water and wash up beaches all around the world. 

In art we have been learning about the 3 primary colours and have been mixing paint to make secondary colours. 

In maths we have been learning about the place value of numbers to 20. we have been ordering and comparing them.

In music we have been learning about rhythem. The children have learnt rhymes and used drums to tap out the rhythm of the syllables in words. 

Happy New Year!

The Topic this term will be all about Water. It is a short term so we have lots to fit in!

In Art we are looking at the paintings of Monet and then creating our own water scenes with chalks and textiles. We will also be making 3D fish. We will also be working on some Computer Art this term.  Geography will focus on our Wonderful World where we will investigate the 7 continents and 5 oceans. In Science we will be learning about solids, liquids and gasses. Our cooking sessions will all involve using water. 

In the ARC we provide sensory activities for our pupils. This term, alongside individual sensory diets, we will be focusing deep pressure activities. 

We are all learning  Makaton together so that we can use to communicate using signing. This has been lots of fun! 

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.