TikTok a social media app that gives users the opportunity to share 60 second short videos with friends, family or the entire world. Like Twitter-owned Vine and Musical.ly before it, videos shared range from funny sketches to lip-sync videos featuring special effects. Currently, the app is available in 75 languages and has over 1 billion active user. Like Musical.ly before it, it is most popular with under 16s. It was the most downloaded app of 2019, however there is some controversy over access to age appropriate material and a format which may tempt younger users to take risks in order to get more of a following or likes on a video. When the app is downloaded, users are able to see all

We have had such a fun week completing experiments in Science! One of our experiments was to investigate friction and see the how much friction there was on different surfaces. We used a toy car to do this - please ask your children all about this. The surfaces we tested included: cardboard, sandpaper, plastic and paper. Please see Eve's bar chart, which all the children created to present their data. The children did a brilliant job of presenting their data using their maths skills!

This week we will be continuing our Geography topic on mind-blowing maps. Using OS maps, the children will develop their understanding of keys, scale, direction and grid referencing, with some children extending this to looking at 6 figure grid references. We will be planning routes using the OS maps, and paying particular attention to contour lines. In English, we will be beginning our new genre of discussion texts: the children will be looking at discursive texts about the effects of homework, and will be exploring the structure and layout of this text type. On Tuesday, we will be taking part in the STEM K'NEX challenge, where the children will be designing and building structures in pairs

In English this week, we will be continuing our writing journey based on diary recounts and will be writing our own versions of the diary of a child during the Blitz. We are looking at using figurative and descriptive language and the children have been very imaginative so far! In maths, Year 4 will be looking at using the associative law when multiplying 3 numbers, before starting a unit on division alongside Year 3. In RE, we will be looking at the creation story and making connections to the Book of Genesis. In our immersion work, we are learning about internet safety which has tied in well with our work on emailing in computing. We will be using search engines to investigate local commu

This week we have been really lucky to have a visit from Mrs Mead who came in to talk to Dexter class about her conservation work for Shared Universe in South Africa. She showed us photographs of the rescue work that the foundation undertake including clearing scrub land, rescuing endangered animals including; a cheetah, a pangolin, rhino and elephants. We also saw cave paintings which are thought to be between 1000 and 3000 years old. The children were fascinated to hear that the tribal people used mud, blood, plant dyes and poo! They had a go at their own paintings using mud and paint. Mr and Mrs Howick sent in photographs of their trip to Kenya where they helped build an orphanage and vis

We continue to investigate forces in science this week whereby we will be looking at magnets and completing an investigation into their strengths. In English we are writing a newspaper report in full, using our class novel that we have just finished - the Hodgeheg. In Maths we continue our work on time. Lots of us are applying and deepening our knowledge of time. In RE we are revisiting work from last week, that we found tricky. We are looking at how Christians see God as a loving and forgiving father and the ways that they show their belief in this. We continue to research about our continents in Computing, finding out about the countries within them, the landmarks, physical features, anima

Our visit to cook with Forest Green Rovers' chef, Jade, has been reported on the club website and featured in last week's match day programme! https://www.fgr.co.uk/news/january-2020/community-fgr-cook-up-a-matchday-treat

This week is a busy one in Belted Galloway (doesn't it seem like they all are?!). Mr Beech and a number of our class will be attending the Young Voices concert in Birmingham on Tuesday, while a small groups of BGs will be representing the school as part of the football team in the Riddiford Shield on Friday. We will be launched our Geography topic of work on Mind-Blowing Maps this week, and we will be looking at keys, directions, global mapping features and different map types,including comparing the topological map of the London underground with OS maps. To commemorate the week, Mr Beech will be wearing a particularly horrific shirt in the design of a map... In maths, the children will furt

This week in Dexter class we will be making the most of the cold but beautiful sunny weather to investigate frost and ice, talk about freezing and melting and why these things occur. We will be filling lots of containers with water so that it freezes overnight so that we can observe the changes and experiment with the ice. We are continuing with our storytelling of Eileen Browne's book Handa's Surprise and also looking at Handa's Hen. Both these stories lend themselves to cross-curricular learning as they contain lots of fantastic vocabulary, have a clear story structure and sequence and contain mathematical concepts. There are lots of opportunities to encourage the children's 'Understanding

This week in Friesian class, we will be beginning a new writing journey based on diary entries from a child who was evacuated during the Blitz. We will be looking at the features of a recount and then using our knowledge of WW2 to write our own diaries, as if we have been evacuated. This work will include some drama, so that we can imagine more clearly what it would have felt like, and then use carefully chosen language to describe our emotions. In maths, we are continuing with our work on formal multiplication methods and will be using them in the context of scaling. This will involve lots of problem solving where we will, among other things, be working out what quantities will be needed i

This week we are beginning a new topic in the Immersion curriculum where we are looking at forces. We will be identifying pushes and pulls and recognising that a force is a push or pull acting on an object as a result of the object's interaction with another object. We will discuss that forces can make objects stop or start moving. We will be working scientifically a lot within this science topic and look forward to presenting our findings on the BLOG at the end of the two weeks. Last week we launched our new RE topic of 'What do Christians believe God is like?' We will continue to explore this by looking at what Christians do to show their belief in God and how Christians follow Jesus' mess

This week in Belted Galloway class, we continue with our work on Invaders, Fractions and Flashback narratives! We are focusing on equivalence in maths, moving onto using this to order fractions with different denominators. Our history topic of the invaders centres on the Anglo Saxon and Viking invasions, and looks at King Alfred in particular. Using The Piano animation as our stimulus in English, the children will complete their versions of this flashback narrative, ready to create their own version of this text type next week. It has been wonderful to see the children writing with such sensitivity and emotion: I look forward to inviting you in to look at your children's work when they compl

This week in Dexter Class, we are continuing to learn the story of Handa's Surprise in detail. The children are verbally retelling the story and are using actions (which they have chosen) to convey the meaning. They almost know it 'off by heart' and we will be performing it to Miss Holden at the end of the week. By memorising stories in this way, children build up a repertoire of traditional tales which have been recognised as 'rich' texts for use in Literacy. They provide us with challenging voabulary and have a memorable structure which will help children when writing their own stories. In Maths. we will be having fun with dice, recognising the number pattern on sight ,known as subitising

This week has begun with the immersion curriculum with Mrs Lury whilst Miss Holden has been on a course. The children have been identifying hot and cold places around the world as well as identifying key landmarks and where they are located. We continue with newspaper reports this week where we are writing our own version of the end of WWII using information that we have previously learnt. In maths we are learning to tell the time: Y2 have begun with 15 minute intervals, moving onto 5 minute intervals whilst Y1 are looking at half past and o'clock. Immersion curriculum will continue in the afternoons where we are looking and devising our own maps using compass directions. In computing we are

Monday 13th January 2020 Dear parents and carers, RE: Reading books I am writing to you following the results from a recent ‘Deep Dive’ into reading, where we commissioned a local, lead Ofsted Inspector to complete an inspection across the school. During part of this review, the inspector evaluated our current phonics and reading provision in KS1 and gave detailed feedback identifying strengths and areas to develop. The inspection was extremely positive about reading across the school and identified a clear love of reading. The phonic provision and English coordinators (which includes Phonics) were also praised for their expertise. The inspector was very impressed with the pupils that she sp

This week in Friesian class, we are continuing our work as scientists and will be learning about food chains and webs, and using scientific vocabulary to classify creatures according to what they eat, and where they come in the food chain. On Wednesday, after school, you are welcome to pop in and find out a bit more about what we have been learning about, as part of our celebration. In English, we will be planning and writing our own non-chronological reports, based on different animals (a great opportunity to include some of the scientific language we have been learning!). In maths, we are continuing with multiplication and will be looking at more formal methods for calculation. We will als

Happy New Year and welcome back! This week in Friesian class we will be starting a new immersion topic and will be learning all about animals. We started our work as scientists on Monday and had great fun trying to identify different animals by their skulls! We are hoping to visit the Guardianship on Wednesday, to look at insects. Please could you send your child in with a pair of wellies/ walking books. In maths, we are starting a unit on multiplying and dividing and will be learning more formal methods for calculating with larger numbers, as well as increasing speed and accuracy with mental methods. In English, we are using our knowledge about the Romans to write non-chronological reports

Welcome back to a new and industrious term in Belted Galloway class. We hope you ha a restful Christmas and wish you a happy new year. This term will start with us beginning our History topic of Invaders. While the second part of this work looks at the Anglo Saxons and Britain up to the Normal Conquest, the first half of the block will look at continuity and change in terms of social, technological and religious features from the middle stone age to after 1066. We will then arm the children with the knowledge to make judgements about which eras had significant change and to compare time frames with confidence. In English this week we will be starting a block of work on flashback narrative, i

This week, it has been so lovely to welcome back the Dexter children; they have all come back with big smiles, they are well rested and raring to go! We are going to be looking at all things wild this term and relating this to all areas of our EYFS curriculum. Our first text will be the beautifully illustrated 'Handa's Surprise' by Eileen Brown. This gives the children an insight into a little Kenyan girl's life and her wish to do something nice for a friend. We will use the book as the basis for lots of our literacy and maths activities, but we will also use it to investigate habitats, wildlife and foods from Kenya and around the world. We will be looking at traditional crafts and music fr

Welcome back to Spring Term 2020. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas break and enjoyed times with family and friends. Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to you all for your generosity. The voucher and gifts are really appreciated. Thank you so much! This week we will begin a new English topic on Newspaper reports. We will be linking this back to our History Topic of WWII and will be finding the features, looking at the structure and understanding the text. In maths, we continue our work on fractions and finding fractions of shape. We will move onto shading shapes and applying our knowledge of fractions. We launch our immersion curriculum this week where we are looking at our