Oak Tree Class Blog
Oak Tree Class Blog
Week 2, ending 26 January, 2024
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Lilly W
Special Mention: Corey
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.
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 time 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 this method – good luck!
Along with PE, Computing, Art, French and other subjects, we have spent time creating a piece of art work on the theme of the Fragility of Freedom. This work will be displayed in school, to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day (27th January). I was really touched by the sensitive and mature approach the children displayed towards this subject.
Enjoy your weekend,
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 2, ending 19 January 2024
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Ezmae
Special Mention: Daisyrose
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!
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 Maths, we have finished Fractions – hurray! Next week, we will begin working on Multiplication and Division, so any extra time you can find to spend on revising all those times tables (up to 12 x 12) will be time well spent. In this unit, methods for long multiplication and short division are covered and times table knowledge is of paramount importance for both.
In Art this term, we are looking at US artists and their work - particularly American landscapes. This week, we explored the work of John Singer Sargent and tried hard to draw ‘the other half’ of one of his paintings. The final results were spectacular! We used pencil crayons, but we shall be exploring other media as the term progresses.
PE continues to be Tag Rugby and Modern Dance. The children work extremely well in these sessions and give their all at all times. Due to the icy conditions though, Tag Rugby had to be held indoors.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend – some of you will probably be listening to children learning lines for our production of Oliver! 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 and Spellings – words with the suffix -ity.
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 1, ending 12 January 2024
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Ruby
Special Mention: Destiny
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 Twister Sister via a bit of AC/DC! We have had a very enjoyable first week.
Music was also a big start for ten of our pupils, as we took part in the first Young Voices Performance in Sheffield. The girls (for there were only girls in the choir from my class) behaved impeccably, representing the school superbly and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, I think. Singing along to a live band with over 4,500 voices was quite something.... If you get chance, try to watch a young drummer, Nandi Bushell, on YouTube. She was one of the amazing guest artists for the concert and we were all blown away by her talent.
Speaking of talent - Y5 Auditions have taken place this week for the speaking roles in Oliver! More details about these will trickle through to you next week, I am certain! But it is safe to say, that Miss Suggett and I were incredibly impressed by the auditions and we are truly excited about our upcoming show.
Wednesday 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.
Fractions continue in Maths – but we are nearing the end of this super long (and super important) unit.
And in English, we have spent time discussing our achievements from 2023 and our hopes for 2024. This was linked to Mr Cooke’s assembly on the Roman god Janus, who is depicted as having two faces: one to see the past; the other to see the future.
Please remember: our PE sessions this week are on Thursdays and Fridays now.
Have a great weekend,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 7, ending 22 December (FINALLY!)
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Zara
Special Mention: Henry S
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!). I have put some final pictures on our Facebook page for you to see. Their final creations were truly fab – and many had taken on board the need for their run to be aesthetically pleasing! :)
We did manage to have a bit of an intra-school football tournament, following our unit, in spite of wind and rain – the Blue Team was the victorious one this time. Well done, Blues!
Many thanks for your kind gifts and cards – and I hope you all have a really lovely fun-filled holiday.
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos
Week 6, ending 15 December 2023
Mrs Amos (a.amos) on: Oak Tree Class Blog
Reader: Lillie
Special Mention: Stanley
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 Oliver! Hopefully, I shall get a chance to speak with all the Y5s about the launch and auditions for our Y3-5 production before the end of term. (Performance dates will be in the week commencing 18 March 2024)
We have also been able to watch the EYFS and KS1 Nativity shows, which have been fantastic!
Fractions and Dickens continue to form the basis of Maths and English in Upper Key Stage 2 at the moment, along with a sprinkling of Christmas essence. This week, Oak Tree Class were able to participate in a national science lesson, combined with artwork. I am hoping your child has told you a bit about this fun Christmas decoration activity, but it has also been posted on the brand new Rufford Park and Nursery page on Facebook.
The best day of the week for the children was Wednesday, when we spent the day designing and building marble runs – at last, the tubes have been fully utilised!
Practices are happening for the Very Victorian Christmas (on next Tuesday) 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, and hear the array of Christmas songs we have been learning too!
Hope to see you then,
Yours,
Mrs Adrienne Amos