St Paul's Walden

Welcome to The Silver Birches 2022/23! 

Our class teacher is Mrs Hawtree. Our TAs are Mrs Constable and on a Friday, Mrs Jeffs and Mrs Daniels. 

We try our best, don't give up and work together as a team. It's important to us make learning fun and share our skills. 

Have a look at our Curriculum Overview to see what we are learning about this half term.

Our PE lessons are on Monday and Wednesday, so make sure you come to school in your PE kit on those days.

Please come back regularly to see what we have been up to!

|Science - Electricity

This week, we investigated how to create a simple circuit to light a bulb. We were incredibly quick at this and then explored other components, such as buzzers and motors. Mrs Hawtree was really impressed that we made brilliant predictions about what would happen as we added more components in the circuits. 

Ahead of the Coronation, we looked at the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth II. We looked at some of the key features of the service and compared it with what is planned for King Charles and Queen Camilla's coronation. We spoke about how historic the occasion is and then created bunting and paper chains to celebrate. We had a brilliant Dragons and Phoenix vs Griffins and Unicorns competition with the Rowans to see who could create the longest paper chain. Both were exceptionally long and it was incredibly close! We really enjoyed our whole school celebrations on Friday. 

RE

In RE, we have recently been learning about Pentecost. We had a fantastic visit to All Saints Church where Canon Stephen Fielding spoke to us about Pentecost and what he believes it means to Christians. We also had the opportunity to look around the church, here he told us what different parts were and told us more about the history of the church. 

Science

In Science, we have been learning about teeth and eating. We learned all about what happens to the food we eat through modelling the digestive system. We modelled chewing the food with various teeth - cutting with incisors and grinding it down with our molars. We looked at the different body parts it travels through and how nutrients are taken out. 

Roman Chariots

School Trip - Whipsnade Zoo!

We had a fantastic time on our whole school trip to Whipsnade Zoo. When we arrived, we had a workshop about tigers and preserving the tiger food chains. It was really interesting to learn how tigers are tracked. We had a brilliant time looking around the zoo and particularly loved the otters!

Cooking

After a lot of talk of and drawing pepperoni pizzas in PSHE, we made our own pizzas! They were delicious!

PSHE

In PSHE, we have been learning about how to use the internet safely. We have also been learning about how to be precise when searching for something online. Mrs Hawtree explained this to us by asking us to draw a picture of something on our own without speaking to anyone else. We kept repeating the activity, with her being more precise. Our drawings began to look much more similar. We then searched the same online to see how the results changed. 

Science 03.03.23

This half term, we are learning all about teeth and eating. Last week, we set up an experiment where we put egg shells (which represented our teeth) in different liquids to see what would happen to them over a week. Throughout the week, many of the cups began to look and smell pretty bad! In today's lesson, we poured away the liquid to see what had happened to them. We were very surprised to see what they looked like! 

We then set  up another investigation where we coated the egg shells in toothpaste. We are going to leave them in the same liquids to see what happens to them next week! 

Shrove Tuesday 2023

After a brilliant whole school pancake breakfast, we had a fantastic time taking part in pancake races! 

This week, we have been using our knowledge of magnets to design and create our own games. We had lots of fun playing them! 

In RE, we have been learning about the Islamic festivals, Ramadan and Eid. We learned how Muslims fast during daylight hours during Ramadan, which lasts around 30 days. Every night, they break their fast by eating special meals with their family. We made roti and raita which are a flatbread and dip, which Muslims eat during Ramadan. 

We had a brilliant Science lesson this week where we tested whether magnets work through different materials. We chose lots of different materials and compared using different magnets. 

In Geography this week, we were learning about the different layers that make up the Earth. We created models using playdough that the Willows had kindly  made especially for us. 

We then learned that the Earth's crust is made of tectonic plates and we used crackers and play-doh to learn what happens when these move apart and collide. We looked at different situations and how earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains happen. 

Science: What are magnets?

We've been busy investigating magnets this week. We've been using them to see which objects are magnetic and which are not. We then looked at how magnets could be different strengths. We created our own investigation to see how many paperclips different magnets could pick up. Some of us were quite shocked by how many the big magnet could pick up! 

Science: What are forces?

In Science, we have been investigating forces. Through different activities, including tug of war, we learned about push and pull forces and how they are needed to make things move.

We then investigated how different surfaces impact how things move. We tried pushing toy cars along different surfaces and compared how much force we needed to make the cars move, and whether this was different on the difference surfaces. We designed and carried out a fair test to compare how far the cars travelled on each surface. 

We have had a brilliant start to the term and on Thursday enjoyed a fantastic trip to the British Schools Museum. We were transported back to the Victorian era and had a real life experience of what a lesson would have been like for children. We did arithmetic using Victorian money, used slate and chalk to write on and then had a go using a fountain pen and ink. Some of us even had to wear the Dunce hat for not knowing the answers to questions!

We also had the chance to explore the Headmaster's house and to experience Drills. 

On Friday we investigated freezing. There was no better way of doing this than making our own ice cream! It was a very cold process (especially on an already cold December day!) but it worked and got a thumbs up from everyone!

This week we have been investigating turning solids into liquids through melting. The children came up with their own investigation questions of what they wanted to answer and what items they wanted to compare. They made their predictions and decided what they needed to do to keep the test fair and allow them to compare results. We then had fun carrying out the investigations!  

In Science, we are learning about different states of matter. We have been investigating what makes something a solid, liquid or gas and have been able to compare and group different items. 

In History, we are learning about life in the Victorian era. We have started our topic by understanding when the Victorian era began and ended. We then looked at different items that were invented during the era and wrote down our ideas of what we thought they were. We then learned whether we were correct or not and compared the items to the modern-day version.

We plotted on our timeline when we thought the item was invented before learning when it was.

On Friday, Olaf Falafel, a local author, illustrator and comedian visited our school. He shared with us what he’s done throughout his career and how he became a children’s author. He has written several picture books and just released his first book for KS2 children called ‘Trixie Pickle Art Avenger’. Through the book and through his Art Club videos, he also teaches children about different artists. He taught us how to create one of his characters. 

RE/Cooking

On Thursday, we made coconut squares which are a snack Hindus make to celebrate Diwali. 

Science - How are rocks made?

We have had a busy Friday investigating how rocks are made. We created our own versions of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks using a range of ingredients including bread, brown sauce, lettuce and lots of chocolate!

In English we have been studying ‘Ulf the Finger-Eater’. We have been designing some excellent posters to warn others to watch out for Ulf and what to do if they see him. In Friday’s lesson we learned Ulf was planning on tricking Gudrun. We wrote as if we were Ulf and explained what our plans were.

Over the last couple of weeks we have been investigating rocks. We have been inspecting them, grouping them in different categories and identifying their properties. On Friday, we learned about Mohs' scale of hardness and you can test the hardness of rocks using the 'scratch test'. We had a go at this ourselves and were able to order rocks from hardest to softest. 

In Geography, we have been learning about lines of latitude and longitude. This week, we explored how the world is split up into lines of latitude and longitude and created our own version of this in class. We made lots of comparisons and observations before having a go at using coordinates to find positions. 

We have had a great start to the term and the new Year 3 and 4s have settled in really well. We are learning about some really interesting topics (read down to see more of our great work and topics!) and it's great to see everyone so engaged in lessons and always trying their best. Thank you and well done for such a great start to the year and for making me feel so welcome at St Paul's Walden. 

Mrs Hawtree

In English we have been studying different types of poetry. We have enjoyed learning about word play and have had fun using this in tongue twisters and riddles, and to create interesting images. In groups, we gave some excellent performances of a poem we had studied called 'Water-Cycle' and carefully chose actions to emphasise parts. 

Inspired by fireworks and waterfalls, we also created our own poems where we experimented with features such as onomatopoeia, alliteration and rhyme. We have also carefully presented our poem to emphasise words or phrases when it is performed. 

We have started this topic by focusing on soil. We asked the question 'What is in soil?' To help us solve this we gathered soil samples from around the field and had a look to see what was inside. We found that soil is made up of lots of things! We also experimented by mixing water with soil to see what happened over time. We recorded our observations and found that over time some of the parts in the soil separated. 

In art, we have identified key features you may find on a treasure map. We learned about sketching and practised our sketching skills by sketching physical and human features used on treasure maps.  We have started to explore adding colour to our sketches by using watercolours. We are going to explore another medium and compare which we prefer. Before the end of the half term, we will bring all of our  skills together and create our own treasure maps! They're looking great so far! 

We started this topic by investigating what items Hindus have in their homes. To learn about this, we had to work out what each item was by reading the description and matching it with the correct picture and name of the object. 

The Silver Birches took part in a forest school morning at the Bury. This was lead by Mrs Lines around the grounds and gardens. We first started with a map reading exercise, using grid references to find places of interest before answering a question using our observational skills. We then took part in a raft building and story making activity. We had to make a shipwrecked boat using the natural resources around us. Upon competition we had to create a story to explain what had happened to cause us to be shipwrecked, using our creative skills.

To start our new History topic of Anglo Saxon and Viking kings, we created our knowledge organisers and topic pages in our books. We showcased what we already know about them and what we wanted to find out. 

This half term we have been learning about Henri Rousseau and his jungle paintings. We have looked at how he used sketches and sketchbooks to form his  ideas. We have also learnt about how he composted his pieces, to include fore, mid and background.

This half term we have been learning about how to keep our bodies and teeth healthy. We have explored what we should do if we feel poorly and the different ways we look after our teeth.

This half term we have been learning about the Easter Week. We have learnt about the events of each day and why the Friday is known as 'Good Friday' even though that is the day Jesus died.

In Science this half term we have been learning about sound and how it is made. We have looked into different sound sources and how the sound is made. We have also investigated what happens to sound as we get further away from the sound source.

In Geography this half term we have been learning about the Rainforests. We have learnt about; rainforest's climates and weather; the world's biomes and what humans do in Rainforests that is damaging them.

This half term we visited the National Space Centre. While there, we explored the different zones, discovering the different experiments that scientists do while in space. We even saw a real piece of the moon! We imagined we were real astronauts and what it would be like in the International Space Centre. We all learnt a lot and had a very enjoyable experience. 

In Science we have been learning all about plants. We have learnt about the roles of roots, stems, flowers and leaves. We have also looking into the different parts of the flower. We did this by disecting the flowers of daffodils and labelling them. 

In Art this half term we created delicious looking cakes. Although they look like they have been made out of sponge and icing, we actually used Modroc and scuplting paste! First we created a base using triangles and rectangles using cardboard. We then wrapped these in kitchen foil to protect them from the Modroc. After wrapping the bases in Modroc, we applied the 'icing' on top. Finally we painted using acryllic paint to make them look realistic!

In English this half term we have been writing Sci-Fi stories. We first read about a boy called Callem who invented a room cleaning robot called Robert. We then continued the story on, taking Robert and Nita (another cleaning robot) on an adventure. Here are some examples of our writing:

We have been learning about classification and identification of animals and plants in Science. This has included visiting the pond and investigating to see what animals we could find. We discovered several blood worms, some water louse, a leech and a mayfly larvae. 

In English this half term we have been writing Play Scripts. We have learnt about the main features, such as setting descriptions, stage directions, character lists and how to set out speech. We then used this knowledge to change the ending of the play 'A Tune of Lies'.

We have been learning about the Railways and how they have changed people's lives in the local area. We looked at a painting by Samuel Lucas and some of the people who were depecited in it. We have also learned about what a Victorian beach holiday would have been like to go on. We have created posters to advertise the use/ease of the Railways in taking a beach holiday as many people would not have gone on one before the Railways were in use.

We recently travelled to Letchworth Rugby Club to take part in a Tag Rugby Festival run by the North Herts School Sports Partnership. We all had great fun and were awarded 'Team of the Day' for showing all the other teams and each other respect during the day. 

So far in English this half term we have written a non-chronological report about holidays. We added to a book called "A to Z of Holidays" and a website called "Which Holiday?". We carefully chose how we were going to present out work, before drafting and publishing our work.

We have also written a range of reports about different topics. We started writing about a treasure island that had been used by pirates to bury treasure. 

In Science we have been learning about food, nutrition and bones. We have grouped different foods together based on their type - such as starchy foods or proteins. We have also learnt about human skeletons and the name of the bones. We then made a human skeleton using cotton buds and then labelled them.

We have been exploring the works of L.S. Lowry and his landscape paintings. He have looked at his background, how he painted his pieces and how he created his 'matchstick men'.

We have explored using a range of tools to recreate the matchstick men, evalutating which tools were best for the job.

We created our own versions of LS Lowry's work, using the school at the end of breaktime as our inspiration. 

This half term we have been learning all about the different countries of the UK. We have learnt about the major cities of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We have also learnt about the major rivers, mountains and hills. We developed the skill of using atlases to locate these physical features and place them onto a map.

We have also conducted our own research to create posters about each country.