Wednesday 15th July

Well, that was nice!

I really enjoyed seeing you all this afternoon, and thankfully we managed to dodge the predicted shower! Thank you all for coming, and your parents for bringing you.

Thanks for your pros and cons of home schooling letters - I think, on balance, you are equally divided between home learning and learning in school - hopefully we can adapt things in school a bit next term to incorporate some of the positives of home learning, though I'm not sure we can manage two students to one teacher Lucy, dog walking before lessons Howie, or finishing earlier Jack! What you all agreed on was that school is great for seeing your friends - and that's definitely something you will be able to do when we are back in September!

Thanks too for all your lovely cards, flowers, chocolates and sweets. I also received this lovely owl charm for my Pandora bracelet - its very cute - thank you Erin, Lucy, Beau, Scarlett, Amelie and Phoebe. 

Mrs Slingsby took lots of photos of our afternoon, which the ipad doesn't want to let me upload, so I'll get some tech support from Mrs Godden in school tomorrow and post them for you to show your parents.

Tuesday 14th July

La Fete Nationale du quatorze juillet!

I hope you've enjoyed some of the Bastille Day activities today?

I'm really looking forward to seeing you on the field tomorrow at 1.30pm! Remember to go to the toilet before you come as you won't be allowed into the school building! There will be hand sanitizer for you to use as you come in the gate. If you have your "lockdown vs school learning" letter you can bring that along, as well as a question for a quick quiz (rainforest or Beech class themed).

Gaby has made this amazing informative and creative powerpoint about deforestation - make sure you take a look! It's very clever Gaby - you'll have to teach me how to add all the fancy bits!

See you all tomorrow

Mrs S x

Monday 13th July 2020

We've made it to the last week of summer term! Well done children and parents for almost completing another term of Home Learning! I know its been hard work for many of you and I appreciate the efforts you have put in.

We will finally be able to meet face to face this Wednesday at 1.30pm - I hope you will be able to come along (children only)? We'll be on the school field for 45 minutes of chat, sharing stories and there might even be a little time for an informal class quiz - see if you can think of a question about something we've learned during lockdown to ask everyone.

Have a great Monday everyone, and see you soon!

Mrs Strover x

English Assessment

Please complete the following task and hand in to me when we meet:

Write a letter to your teacher (Me!) about your opinions on whether the school environment is better for learning than the home environment. Use your own experiences of Home Learning to inform your writing, make sure you give examples and make a balanced argument. Think about how other learners in school can have positive and sometimes negative effects on your learning, think about how subjects are taught in school and how this differed at home.

Make sure you think about how to set out a letter using paragraphs, formal language, correct grammar and punctuation and, of course, your very best handwriting.

This is the only "formal" task you are being set this week - everything else is very informal!

On Tuesday the French celebrate their "Fete Nationale" - "Le quatorze juillet". We know it as Bastille Day. So this week we have a French theme for our learning. What can you find out about Bastille Day? How will French people be celebrating? Can you plan your own French-themed celebrations? Here are some resources, and a few in French if you're lucky enough to have a French speaker in your family to help you out!

Can you find out what "liberte, egalite, fraternite" mean? How do they relate to the British values you have been learning about in PSHE this term?

The musical Les Miserables is set in France in 1832, around the time of the French Revolution and has some very stirring music - I particularly like "Do you hear the people sing?" Can you learn the song and put on your own musical for your family? Watch the film version of the famous song here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q82twrdr0U

There are also video lessons and games on this website:  https://kids.classroomsecrets.co.uk/?s=french&post_type=page&mc_cid=9302423adc&mc_eid=8f9ebeabf5 

You will need to sign up, but there's a 14 day free trial and you don't need a credit card number to sign up!

RE

Are all journeys similar?

This term you have looked at how people of different faiths mark their journeys through life. I would like you to now reflect on your journey through year 4 or 5 in Beech class - think about the highlights and the not-so fun times - what did you learn from these? Look through your Home Learning books to see just how much you have achieved this term. Take a look back through the web pages - what were some of your favourite activities?

Elham School Learning Journey

Usually at the end of every term we complete our Learning Journey - we reflect on everything we have done during the term from Sports to Computing, Maths to RE, trips, visitors etc. We think about what we did well and what we'd like to improve on as we move forward in our Learning Journey. Print off the page for term 6 and write down your thoughts so that we can include them in your file when you return to school in September. Or use the Publisher document (make sure you use Term 6 on the final page) and email it to me so that I can print it out.

Remember to include:

What did you enjoy?

What did you do well?

What would you like to improve on next term?

Topic

You have found out a lot about Rainforests this term and last term and have learned about the threats they and their inhabitants face in a very uncertain future. This week choose an activity from the list below - you might want to do more than one activity, or even do some over the summer holidays.

I hope that one day, when the world is back to normal and we can travel again, you will have the opportunity to see the rainforests for yourself. Being able to experience the very feeling of the humidity, the cacophony of sounds and the sheer vastness of it all was one of the highlights of my life. I really hope that these essential environments can be protected, so that when you are adults, you too will be able to have the same experiences!

Choose:

• Plan a sustainable palm oil picnic - send me a photo of your delicious food!
• Make a powerpoint about the dangers of deforestation for animals and humans.
• Make a poster encouraging people to help to save the rainforests - what practical advice can you give?
• Write a letter to your MP asking for their help in saving rainforests – give information that you have learned from your research this term and suggest solutions.