Welcome to Hawk Class Blog

Football tournament

Our Year 4s set out on a cold morning on the last day of February for their first football festival, at the ODSG. It proved to be a great start: Winning their group games 3-1; 10-0 and 4-0 with Oliver Noad bagging a number of goals (so many in fact we lost count!) However the Quarter Final would be a trickier affair against a well-marshalled Pensford side. After 10 mins StPhilip’s were 0-3 down and struggling. However, our team did not give up, and rallied, scoring twice to ensure a nail-biting finish. Although disappointed to go out (we lost 2-3) the team played very well with a number og beautiful passing moves that bode well for the future of the team.

Climbing trip

On Monday, Hawk class enjoyed a trip to The Climbing Academy in Bristol. The children had great fun, and for many children, it was their first time climbing!

Science

This week, the children in Hawk class investigated light and discovered that light travels in straight lines.

Last week of term

We have had a really fun last week of term. We had a visit from Wessex Water which was so informative and taught us about the water cycle and where our water comes from. We made gingerbread and produced some beautiful Christmas decorations. We hope you all have a restful and joyful Christmas holiday. We look forward to seeing the children on Wednesday 4th January.

We have sent home a reading task to complete. Information sheets are inside the children’s planners. We look forward to hearing about the book they’ve read!

Christingles

In English, Hawk class have been writing instructions on how to make a Christingle. Here they are making their own:

Batik prints

This term, we have been mastering the art of batik, using glue (instead of hot wax) and acrylic paint to dye the fabric squares. First we designed our pattern. Then we squeezed the glue onto the fabric over our design. After the glue had dried, we painted the fabric with acrylic paint. Once the paint had dried, we soaked the fabric, rubbed off the glue and left our finished batik print out to dry.

PE

Year 3/4 have been taking part in gymnastics this term, performing sequences and mastering balance and agility.

Stop motion animation

Today, the children in Hawk class had a go at creating their own Stop Motion animations. They had great fun producing mini video clips with moving images. Take a look:

Reminders:

Looking forward to starting the new term on Monday 31st October. Please remember to bring your P.E kits back in, for our first lesson on Monday afternoon. Spellings and sentences are due, as normal, on Wednesday.

This half term:

We have been up to lots of exciting activities this half term. Y4 enjoyed a two-day residential trip to Folly Farm; Y3/4 consolidated their learning on Judaism with a visit to Park Row synagogue in Bristol; we designed and made boxes in D&T and much more.

LEGO WeDo

As part of our computing lessons, we are learning to build LEGO models and then use the computers to control their movements. This is applying the skills we have developed in computer programming. Today we have been building our models and tomorrow we will test and program them.

Wonderful World Book Day

Today, in Hawk Class we have been celebrating world book day by…

  • Visiting Jay Class to read books and share stories.
  • Enjoying looking at everyone’s costumes and discovering who they are.
  • Playing The Masked Reader, which we found pretty tricky.
  • Sharing our favourite books with a book report
  • Exploring fairy tales with a twist

What a brilliant day!

The Year 3’s go on a Climbing Adventure

Today, the Year 3’s had an incredible adventure to a climbing centre. It was fantastic to see how determined they were to get as high as they felt they could. Some challenged themselves to reach the top and others had personal goals that they were extremely proud to reach. We all had a brilliant time and many overcame personal challenges. Well done Year 3’s.

Creating Clay Volcanoes

As part of our art topic, Form, the children of Hawk Class have been learning to sculpt clay using their hands and specialist tools. The class loved this activity and we can’t wait to get the clay out again.

Our beautiful volcanoes are now in the kiln and we are hoping to glaze them very soon to make cosy lamps for their homes.

Coding using Python

Today, Hawk Class were introduced to the world of algorithms and learning how to debug them using Python. Whilst it started quite simply, it soon became tough and the class really had to persevere. I was so impressed with them, as they dug deep and managed to progress to the next level of coding.

Visiting Caerleon

Last week, Hawk Class embarked on an adventure to the Roman settlement in Caerleon. We had a wonderful time following Latin orders, (play) fighting in amphitheatres and visiting the barracks. It really helped to bring our Roman topic to life.

Marvellous Mosaics

This week we have combined art and science with our topic, The Romans, to create fish mosaics. The class loved sketching different fish and next week they will be using paint and tiles to create their finished mosaics. We can’t wait to update you.

The Celts v the Romans

This week, we have been learning about Boudicca and what a fierce and brave warrior she was. As Queen of the Iceni tribe in East Anglia, she was betrayed by the Romans and treated very badly. In 60AD, she led a revolt against the Roman army and destroyed Colchester, London and St Albans. She was famous for her auburn-red hair hair and fierce look in her eyes! Here is Isaac, playing the part of Boudicca very well!

Cooking week

Before the half term break, we had our cooking week. As part of our Roman topic, we made mini pizzas on lightly baked tortilla wraps. We cut and sliced all the toppings, spread the tomato base and created our own mini pizzas.

Fantastic Frida Kahlo

During our art lessons, we have been discovering Frida Kahlo and drawing self portraits. We have now combined both skills and have started to create our own self portraits in the style of Frida Kahlo. So far, we think they look great. We can’t wait to see the final results.

The Water Cycle with Wessex

Today, we were delighted to welcome Mrs Smith, from Wessex Water, into our classroom to introduce the water cycle. The children listened really well, learned lots of new vocabulary and asked thoughtful questions.

Glorious Gases

Today we explored gases through a variety of different experiments. This included compressing an empty water bottle (with and without the lid), watching the bubbles rise from a bowl of marbles and a squeezed sponge and even weighing a balloon, before and after air had need added. Have a look at all of our fun:

Fun with Maths

For the last two weeks, we have been learning place value in Maths. We have used Base 10, counters, number lines and digit cards to create numbers up to 1,000! Have a look at us in action:

Meet the Teachers

Thank you to all those parents who attended the ‘Meet the Teacher’ meeting we held last week. For those of you who were unable to attend, please click here for the PowerPoint of notes which were discussed.

Exploring Solids and Liquids

Today in our science lesson, Hawk Class explored the properties of solids and liquids. We even got our hands really messy feeling ooblek (a mixture of cornflour and water), discussing whether it was a liquid or a solid. They then used this amazing new knowledge to create their own scientific diagram. Great work scientist!

Exploring the new Junior playground equipment

One of the things Hawk class said they are enjoying the most so far in the Juniors is the playground equipment and the bigger space to run around and play. Here we are having a go on the equipment:

Becoming archaeologists

Today, we found out how archaeologists learn about the past, by taking part in our own archaeological dig. We used small tools and brushes to delicately scrape away at the ‘earth’ (or sand in this case!) and find tiny treasures and artefacts left behind for many years! Take a look: