Oak Tree Class Blog
Oak Tree Class Blog
Week 3, ending 23 January
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader:
Special Mention:
A super week for these children especially!
As the children have come into class each morning, their ears have been assailed with the sounds of ‘Girl Power’ bands. It is probably no surprise to hear that the Spice Girls caused the best reaction!
In English lessons, we have been continuing to write non-chronological reports about the city of Leeds and a town it has been twinned with. The children have found it interesting to research facts, not only about places as far afield as Durban, South Africa, but also about their own city! Hopefully, these pieces of work will be completed next week.
Along with PE, RE and French, in Maths the tricky concept of division has been explored. We have looked at division with and without remainders; homework this weekend includes some work on the 8x table. Once again, if a child’s times tables knowledge is not secure in Years 5 and 6, it truly slows down their mental skills for dividing in particular.
The highlight of our week, of course, was spending time with the gladiator, Steel. His assembly was inspirational and key messages of healthy living were taken on board by the children. All created posters and some wrote a poem to mark his visit – it is safe to say that Steel (or Zach) was pleased with the children’s efforts.
Here is the poem they wrote:
This poem is written for Steel
Who visited Rufford today
We’ve learned so much about him
And living a healthy way
Steel talked to us about confidence
Being brave, not being scared.
Having a positive mindset
Aiming higher than first you dared.
His messages were also about diet
Eating sensibly AND drinking water
Made us think about healthy food choices
And drinking 1.5litres – we ought to.
A gladiator needs to be fit, he said,
But exercise is for all.
Running, skipping, jumping and so on
Prepare us for ‘Power Ball’!
Thank you for coming to Rufford
And giving us many top tips.
We promise to live well and exercise
And not eat so many salty chips!
Week 2, ending 16 January
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Flossy
Special Mention: Zahra
A special well done to these children!
This week, Rock has been the genre of music the children have entered into class with. Foo Fighters seem to have been the most popular rock band, judging by the head banging I witnessed!
Monday formed the Launch Day for our new topic – My Region and the Western USA - quite a wordy title, but we will predominantly be looking at rivers and mountains, comparing the two regions with a geography base. On this day, all the children participated in a workshop -style session, learning skills that will enable the new topic to be a success.
Multiplication methods continue in Maths – but we are nearing the end of this super long (and super important) unit; moving onto division next week.
In English, we have begun to research information to be able to write non chronological reports. We have each chosen a city or town that has been twinned with Leeds and we are finding all about similarities and differences between the two places. It is very interesting.
In Art this term, we are looking at US artists and their work.
PE continues to be Tag Rugby. The children work extremely well in these sessions and give their all at all times. Please note, the days to wear PE kit for Oak this term, are Thursdays and Fridays.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend – some of you will probably be listening to children learning lines for our production of The Wizard of Oz. The children have until half term to learn all their lines and cues – they are all so very keen, which is marvellous.
Homework is Maths, Grammar and Spellings – words with the suffix -ship
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 1, ending 9 January
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Aarav
Special Mention: Labiba
Well done to these children!
Welcome back to school for Spring Term 1! Metal Music has greeted the children every day – from Linkin’ Park, to Twisted Sister via a bit of AC/DC! We have had a very enjoyable first week.
In English, we have spent time discussing our achievements from 2025 and our hopes for 2026. We linked this the Roman god Janus, who is depicted as having two faces: one to see the past; the other to see the future and then we discussed, drafted and created amusing cartoon strips on the theme of Top Tips for New Year’s Resolutions. We also revisited remembering how to write sentences, use speech bubbles and include capital letters in the right places. Homework reiterates this grammar point.
In Maths, work has begun on long multiplication – once again, it is clear that the children who have a ready knowledge of their times tables have found this unit much easier than those who don’t. Please spend times practising these at home, if your child struggles to recall these facts. 6x, 7x and 8x seem to be the weakest tables in Oak Tree Class. Homework this weekend will be to consolidate times tables with two timed tests.
Again, please spend no more than 40 minutes on weekly homework.
Our first proper rehearsal for the Wizard of Oz took place on Wednesday and it was fab to recognise that so many children had practised or even learned lines over the Christmas holiday. Look out for a letter or email about key messages for this show next week.
Please remember: our PE sessions this term are on Thursdays and Fridays now.
Have a great weekend,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 8, ending 19 December (FINALLY!)
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Louise
Special Mention: Layton
A very well done to these children!
Christmas Classics have welcomed the children in each morning this week – top of the popularity scale seemed to be Chris de Burgh’s Class, A Spaceman Came Travelling.
The children did a brilliant job contributing to our Y5/6 Very Victorian Christmas assembly, I think, and it was lovely to see such a big audience supporting them. A really special way to end a term-long topic.
Christmas cards, parties and activities have dominated our week, but we have completely finished and evaluated our Marble Runs (hurrah!) Their final creations were truly fab – and many had taken on board the need for their run to be aesthetically pleasing! Some of you will have pleasure
We spent a fun time in Reception (Friday) helping the youngest children in our school make a Christmas craft. It was lovely to see how patient the Y5s were with their little buddies!
We have also held the auditions for Wizard of Oz and most of the speaking parts have been handed out now – but there will be some additional parts given out next term, I am sure. It’s always difficult to give out parts for a show, as some children will obviously be disappointed that they haven’t been given a main role/the role they wanted – but I do hope you can encourage your child (if they feel downhearted) and say that the whole experience will be a lot of fun! Every part is important in this show...Work will begin on this in January.
Many thanks for your kind Christmas gifts and cards – and I hope you all have a really lovely fun-filled holiday.
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 6, ending 12 Dec
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Harper
Special Mention: Coral
A super well done to these children!
Songs from popular musicals have been the background music to our early morning work and it was exciting to see how animated all the children were when they recognised a track from Bugsy Malone. We have launched the Wizard of Oz, which will be the big show in our Easter term. Audition information has gone out, so please do encourage your child to learn a few lines and audition for a speaking part. (Performance dates will be in the week commencing 23 March 2026).
We have also been able to watch the EYFS and KS1 Nativity shows, which have been fantastic! The children loved singing along to Prickly Hay, bringing about lots of stories of the characters they all played in previous nativities.
Fractions and Biography writing continue to form the basis of Maths and English in Upper Key Stage 2 at the moment, along with a sprinkling of Christmas essence.
Practices are happening for the Very Victorian Christmas (on next Wednesday) so I hope you will be able to come along and hear all about the fascinating work we have done so far in Year 5! I hope you got the verbal message that the children will need to wear their Victorian costumes for this event.
Next week: PE will be on Wednesday and Thursday (so children can bring PE kit in to get changed into on Weds)
Wednesday: A Very Victorian Christmas
Friday: Secret Santa! Thank you for all your support with this - we are very gidy about it!
Hope to see you at the Victorian assembly,
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos