2024 - 2025

A wonderful range of costumes for World Book Day!

For Book Week/Arts Week we looked at the lives of key individuals such as Greta Thunberg, Amelia Earhart, Pelé, Dwayne Johnson and Coco Chanel and we had a go at writing our own biographies about them. We also studied the lives of some key artists such as Pablo Picasso and then created artist factfiles and portraits in his style. We researched Keith Haring, created photo timelines of his work and produced our own art in his style using bright colours and bold black outlines. Mr Duffy joined us on Monday to tell us all about his life and work as an artist, We were blessed with great weather so go outside to do some black and white cartoon drawings of ourselves as superheroes! We also welcomed Mr Mount into our class and learnt about his journey into the music industry and had a go at generating ideas for songs and albums, writing some lyrics and music! Having read the introduction to the book Wonder by R.J Palacio - we were inspired to do portraits in the style of the book cover. We finished the week studying the Japanese artist Hokusai who was famous for the Great Wave of and we painted our own too!

After studying the work of Claude Monet and learning about impressionism, we had a go at producing our own watercolours of the River Thames and Westminster. We could only choose 4 colours and enjoyed exploring mixing and blending to create these striking pieces of art.

We started our CREST Science Award Investigation Unit by studying what is under our feet. We used magnifying glasses and mini microscopes to study the minibeasts and foliage on the school grounds.

Some wonderful diary entries written as if we were on board the tragic maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic.

We started the gymnastics unit by exploring symmetrical and asymmetrical paired balances.

During the day, we learnt all about Ramadan – what it is, the meaning behind it, why it is important to Muslims and what they do during the month. We thought about what our Ramadan goals should be and then recorded what 5 bad habits we would try to give up during the month too. We tasted dates as they were a fruit eaten to break the fast during Ramadan. We then spent time looking into the festival of Eid which celebrated the end to Ramadan. We designed Henna which they had as part of the celebrations, we made crescent moons and stars and sun catcher Mosques.

Term 3 - D.T - Fairground Rides

This term's D.T project has involved us learning and exploring pulleys, gears and levers. We have been learning all about the history of fairgrounds and theme parks so we were challenged with making a ride from K'Nex. In groups, we tried following instructions and building a range of theme park rides with motor power. We then evaluated the the making process.

We had another wonderful day cooking with Mrs Twynam.

We all studied drawings and images of the Titanic either leaving Southampton or on the fateful night with the iceberg. The children focused on shading and tone and trying to gather a sense of perspective.

We made 'values trees' in our RE lesson which had hung on them values which we think are important to live our lives by. These values ranged from forgiveness, honesty, love to trust, friendship and positivity.

We had a marvellous Poetry slam competition this week. The class had written their own poems either individually or in pairs, rehearsed them and then performed in front of the class in a knock out competition.  The performances were judged on the quality of the poem, rhythm, use of gestures and props and eye contact. Everybody performed brilliantly and after a close fought battle, Zina was crowned the champion!

In Computing, we are designing our own theme parks and this week we had a go at using the iPads to create a logo for them. We are using an Excel spreadsheet to make a map of our theme park before using it to calculate visitor spending, running costs and profits. Some of us even managed to change the rules and apply a formula to colour code the cells. We used the data to also make pie charts and bar charts to visually represent our theme park's running costs, visitor spending and profit.

We created some art concentrating on conveying motion. We drew fairground and theme park rides using blurring techniques, speed lines, facial expressions, hair and hands flying back all as ways to show they were moving.

We investigated the effect of the size of the parachute on the time taken for it to fall to the ground. In groups, we made 3 different sized parachutes, dropped them from the same height and recorded the time they took to fall to the floor. We discuss the controlled variables and evaluated what effected our results.

During our first Fantastic Friday session of the year, we used Garage band on the iPads to create our own Music.  We have also enjoyed spending the time playing board games with each other.

We are learning how to play handball this term, we have looked at the different types of passing, accurate shooting and attacking tactics. The children have enjoyed playing some mini-games to put these skills into practise. We have now focused on defensive strategies and general game tactics and enjoyed playing round robin games to implement them.

We are lucky enough to have Lesley Uphill coaching us in badminton this term. She represents England in her age category and has been teaching us all about back hands and forehands and how to stand and hit the shuttlecock so far. We have played a variety of fun skills based games and practiced serving.

This term, we are exploring and investigating forces such as friction, gravity, air resistance and water resistance too. We have made and tested paper helicopter spinners and tested scrunched up balls of paper versus flat piece of paper.

Some of our wonderful Totem pole designs we completed for homework!

We were testing and using our pencil sketching skills, focusing on blending, shading, stippling and cross hatching to create depth and light and shade to our sketches of Australian landmarks. Perspective was also something that we tried to be mindful of.

This term we were doing Netball in our PE lessons, learning the different types of passing, defence tactics, dodging, attacking skills and applying them in game situations.

Using our understanding of light and materials from our Science lessons, we created Christmas themed stain glass windows using transparent or translucent materials.

We made Easter Island Moai statue heads from clay in our DT lesson which was linked to our Topic learning all about the Continent of South America.

We made models from tinfoil and then explored making shadows with them. We tested what would happen to the shadow the nearer or further away the light source got to the object.

In our Topic themed Art lesson, we learnt about and studied the work of South American artist Beatriz Milhazes - who focused on bright colours and patterns using paint and collage. We had a go creating our own pieces imitating her style.

This week, we enjoyed exploring what makes up white, visible light by refracting torchlight through glass prisms. As we passed the light through the prism we could see the colour spectrum.

R.E. Day was all about exploring and learning about the way Christians and secular religions celebrate Christmas. We studied the Christmas story and then made 3D paper origami stars to symbolise the North Star, which was so pivotal in guiding people to Jesus. We made 3D origami Christmas tree cards as many people display a Christmas tree in their home to celebrate Christmas. Mrs Ashmore ran a workshop whereby she explained the symbolism and importance of the Christingle in reminding us of the four seasons/corners of the world, Jesus blood and that he was the light of the world. We then all made our own. Finally, we had a look at Christmas around the world, using the I-pads to do some research on how different countries celebrate Christmas. In pairs, we then produced posters with the countries flags and facts about how they celebrated.

This week in Topic, we have been learning all about Antarctica. We then produced some detailed fact pages about the geographical features of the coldest continent. Furthermore, we learnt how animals are adapted to live in the harsh conditions and then designed and created our own, highlighting their adaptations.

Fantastic Friday's have so far included making 3D poppies for Remembrance Day and using pipe cleaners in a creative manner.

We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to make our own German Lebkuchen ginger biscuits. In groups, the class weighed the ingredients, followed the recipe to make their own German ginger biscuits. They cut them out and baked them and of course were looking forward to eating them! This D.T project fitted perfectly into our Around the World Topic and couldn't have been done without the wonderful help from Mrs Twynam.

Some of the children's thoughts:

Our S.T.E.M week was themed around the concept of time. During the week, we designed, made and evaluated our own analogue clocks -they look fabulous! We explored the idea of time travelling and designed our own time machines; coded the microbits to be timers; filmed some slow-mo and time lapse videos; wrote emotive and motivational letters to our future selves; solved a range of time related maths problems and created timelines of important inventions.

Having studied some original Greek vases, we planned our own and then made them from clay, painting our designs on them.

We had a fantastic time taking part in the PTA Spooky Fun Run, with many of us running, walking and some even cartwheeling all in amazing outfits.

We held our own ancient Greek Olympics which was highly successful - the children all competed in five events (long jump, shot putt, sprint, javelin and long distance). We had two separate competitions, the boys competing against each other in honour of Zeus and the girls in honour of Hera. There were then winners crowned in each event who were awarded a laurel wreath (thank you Mrs Dryhurst).

In pairs or groups, we researched an aspect of Greek life including: food, children, men, women, theatre and Alexander the Great and then produced posters, fortune tellers or unique ways to share the information we had learnt. 

This term we have been learning the skills and rules of hockey. We have had sessions where we have learnt how to hold the hockey stick, shooting and attacking, defending and marking, game rules and tactics. 

After studying all about the Battle of Marathon in ancient Greece, the class split into small groups to rehearse, perform and record their own news reports about the event using the i-pads. There was some very entertaining acting ocurring!

Computing - PowerPoint Interactive Stories

This term we have been learning about hyperlinks and using them to navigate between the pages in a PowerPoint presentation. This has allowed us to turn the Choose Your Own Adventure stories that we wrote at the end of Year 4 into interactive digital games. The children had to think carefully and logically to ensure the stories flowed correctly and that all the buttons linked to the correct pages. There are some screenshots from the stories below and, below those, you can download and play a selection of the children's games yourself. Beware though, some of them are quite scary! 

I was blown away by all the effort that the class put into their Pandora's Box homework. We had a variety of boxes using Lego, Papier Maché, Salt Dough, cardboard and wood. 

The ancient Greeks built temples from stone as a home for the gods or goddesses. The larger the temple the more powerful and rich the city state looked. Cities would build there temples on hills to be nearer to the gods and have a statue of the god or goddess inside the temple. They might have a triangular pediment at the front of the temple and a frieze with carved figures on it. We had a go at making our own temples from Lego or clay. We chose whether they had Doric or Ionic columns and who they were in honour of.

We learnt about the Greek alphabet and then had a go at writing our own names in Greek. We noticed that not every letter of our alphabet is represented in the Greek one.

Following on from our Greek myth work in English, we had a go at designing and drawing our own. We took care to denote whether they had fur, scales or feathers. Some of us used pencil to try and explore with texture and shading.

In groups, we investigated which materials were good thermal insulators. Each material was wrapped around a cup of warm water, we measured the temperature in each every five minutes and had a control beaker which wasn't insulated. 

Fantastic Friday kicked off with a fun Lego building activity in groups. We had some very creative and innovative ideas.

In groups we rehearsed and then performed a section of the Greek myth Pandora's Box which we have been studying in our English lessons. It was wonderful to see different voices and personas put on and teamwork in each group.

2023-2024

We enjoyed another wonderful Outdoor learning/ Forest School Session. This week, we used clay and natural materials in the Forest School area to make either woodland creatures such as hedgehogs, squirrels, birds and foxes; green men or tree spirits created on the tree trunks.

Class 4 and 5 took part in a drama workshop lead by the Abbey School. We worked in groups of 10-12 and recreated the story of the 'Three Little Pigs' using physical acting. We all enjoyed the chance to do some more drama and have the help and advice of some of their Year 9 students.

We created some fantastic Aztec Sun Art using oil pastels and focused on the use of hot and cold colours complementing each other.

In groups, we made our own Aztec warriors either Eagle or Jaguar Knights. We made sure they had shields for protection and spears or clubs for defence. They wore either a jaguar skin outfit or an eagle one with headdresses attached.

We had a very active and busy Sports Week enjoying sessions in archery, sitting volleyball, skateboarding, taekwondo, golf and rhythmic gymnastics. The class were very enthusiastic and gave all sports a good go showing real determination, teamwork and passion. We also made some wonderful Olympic medals out of clay with intricate designs on them. We also made some wonderful tinfoil sports statues and Olympic themed chalk art.

During our outdoor learning sessions so far, we have made Aztec temples and homes from natural materials and produced some wonderful land art.

We had a fantastic day of designing, testing and racing our very own Formula 1 style cars. In teams, we came up with a team name, colour scheme, logo and car design and then we built a prototype. After testing and tweaking our ideas, the teams all built their racing cars focusing on linking our colours, logos and team names across the car and advertising poster. The teams then tested their cars in the air tunnel, looking at the aerodynamics before moving to test their cars on the track. Each team raced twice against another team to see how fast they could complete the course with the team with the fastest average time winning. Awards were given out to a few teams which the QE staff thought shone in particular areas but everyone took part so brilliantly!

Having just completed our film trailers, it made perfect sense to make an award Oscar statues for our roles in their productions. We looked at the original statues and modelled ours from clay - we took care to mould body parts from one piece of clay and focused on using modelling tools to create detailing. We finished them by painting them gold and adding a plaque.

After studying the work of Andy Warhol, in particular his Pop Art, we had a go at creating our own using film actors and actresses. We had repeating images and bright bold colours to wow the audience.

We were lucky enough to have a visit from Mr Moore (a professional camera man), who brought with him some of his camera equipment and films/pictures of some of his wonderful work. He gave an inspirational talk about his job, the challenges and highs, showing us some of the pieces he had filmed.

We were lucky enough to have a visit at Sheldwich from the Olympian sprinter, James Dasaolu. He came an did an inspirational talk about his career, the highs and lows and showed us some  medals and running spikes. He demonstrated how flexible and springy he was before running a workout with us as a class. We completed a circuit of 4 activities including, press ups, star jumps, spotty dogs and burpees.

We thoroughly enjoyed the whole film making process, story-boarding, rehearsing, filming and editing them. Everyone took on a role in the process including: costume designer, producer, director, camera person, actors and actresses. We used Computing lessons to learn about different camera angles, how to edit our footage and using imovie! We were thrilled with the end result!

Our focus for History Day was the history of Sheldwich School. We started the day with a walk up to the green to locate the old Georgian school building. Whilst there, we spent time sketching the school using our observational and drawing skills. We looked at the Victorian building attached to the school and had a go at writing using quills and ink in a Victorian cursive script. A history quiz using photos dotted around the school of the school in the early 20^th century was a fun task we also completed. We looked at a range of sources including photos, school roll and attendance documents from the late 19^th and 20^th century. We spent time analysing them, deducing information and investigating what we could learn about the school, annotating them with our ideas.

We completed an Art Workshop with Jo from Animate Arts, whereby we illustrated different letters of the alphabet, completed sketches of different buildings from Faversham and the class even did portraits of me!

This week in our Fantastic Friday session, we made, customised and flew our own paper planes. A simple but fun task!

After exploring different types of angles, as an extension to one of our Maths lessons, we drew, identified and labelled angles on our desks!

We have started our athletics sessions with a focus on sprinting. Exploring different starting positions, developing and improving our reaction times and looking more closely at the best sprinting techniques were all key elements of our learning. We ended the session with some fun relay races, implementing the techniques we have learnt. Furthermore, we have looked at the long jump and the throwing techniques of the push (shot putt) and pull (javelin).

This term, we have Russ from Faversham Tennis Club, coaching us and he has already brought some fun and engaging activities and drills to our sessions. We have learnt about forehand and backhand and the importance of being in the ready position.

We took our Maths outside, using a variety of measuring equipment to calculate the area and perimeter of a plethora of things on the playground in pairs. 

We enjoyed a wonderful trip to the theatre, where we were treated to a super performance of 'Let it Go' by the Canterbury Academy. It was a fantastic production and it was lovely to see some ex-pupils taking part too! Thank you to Mrs Budd for coming along and assisting us.

After weeks of anticipation, we chose and acted out a scene from the Titanic disaster. In groups, we chose a scene, allocated roles and rehearsed a scene or two about the historic event. Each person had a particular part to play and we discussed using our voice, using freeze frames within the scene and fully embracing the role. We then performed our scenes to the class.

T4 Music - Composing and Performing Titanic Folk Songs

This term we studied folk songs, deconstructed them into its parts and then composed our own, including writing lyrics and adding a musical accompaniment. We spent time, editing our lyrics, rehearsing our songs and then performing in font of an audience.

We have been learning about coral reefs: where they can be found; what they are made from; what lives in and around them and how they are helpful to us. We have had a go at making our own from air dry clay. We looked at the different tools and techniques to use to create lots of different types of coral - to great effect. They all look so detailed and wonderful! 

This term we are learning the skills and rules of lacrosse. So far we have practised the art of cradling, scooping and throwing and catching the ball in the lacrosse nets. We are looking forward to applying our understanding in game scenarios.

We used thin, flexible wire to make some turtles or fish sculptures. We found it quite challenging to mould and shape the wire how we wanted it to go but managed to combine and fix them into shapes that are recognisable!