Year 3
Colchester Castle adventure
What an amazing time we had at Colchester Castle! The children made us incredibly proud with their excellent behaviour, enthusiasm, and impressive historical knowledge. They asked thoughtful questions, engaged fully with the activities, and represented our school brilliantly. Please have a look at the photographs on the website.
Easter play costume reminder
A quick reminder that costumes for our Easter play are due by Monday, 24th March. Please ensure they are brought in a clearly named bag. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to get in touch (claire.murphy@moulton.suffolk.sch.uk).
This week’s learning highlights
We explored a reading comprehension about peculiar plants - it’s wonderful to see so many children now reading and answering questions independently. In grammar, we focused on identifying proper nouns, and we also started gathering creative ideas to describe a character from The Secret Garden. Our maths focus shifted to capacity and volume, where we have been reading scales of varying intervals to find volume in millilitres and litres. This is a great concept to explore at home - perhaps while cooking or baking in the kitchen!
We’ve been busy investigating what plants need to grow in science. The children identified key factors like light, air, warmth, nutrients (soil), and water. They designed a thoughtful experiment to test these conditions and are now carefully observing the germination process each day. Over the next couple of weeks, they will record their findings and draw conclusions.
In art, we practised shading techniques, transitioning smoothly from dark to light. Miss Spinks led our music session, where the children worked hard to polish their songs for the upcoming play. The children had a fantastic time capturing photographs and recording short videos using a variety of shots and techniques to create their very own Secret Garden book trailers in computing.
It’s been a fantastic week of learning, creativity and collaboration. Well done, Year 3!
The year 3 team (Miss Murphy, Mrs Troughton and Mrs Dobson)
Year 4
What a glorious week we have had, both weather and work wise. Made even more exciting by ending the week with a bake sale on Thursday and Red Nose Day on Friday. The school looked very happy and colourful today.
In our learning;-
English - This week we have written up our invention text, a discussion text about whether people should be allowed to live on the edges of tectonic plates. With Mrs Harper the children completed a reading comprehension task about a poem.
Maths - We have looked at the expanded column method for multiplication. The children really like these new methods. With Mrs Harper the children compared and ordered angles.
Art and Design - Following on from looking at famous Architecture and the architects that designed them the children researched different architectural styles and the important features of each style.
Topic - We looked again at the events of 79AD and then made a timeline.
Science - The children set up an investigation looking at the effect of different liquids on tooth enamel using eggs.
RE - We investigated and shared our knowledge of Sikhism in relation to this term's question.
Play - The practice is going really well, you are in for a treat, we just need to get a little more volume in the voices. You are in for a treat.
Thank you for reading more with your children, we got 3rd place this week, let's try for second next week please.
Have a great weekend, I hope it stays warm and sunny.
Mrs Chittock and the year 4 team
Year 5
In Maths this week we've been testing our resilience and problem-solving with some tricky 'route' problems. It was great to see the children work together to try and solve the problems - even if one was impossible! Towards the end of the week, we started calculating decimal and fraction equivalents.
In English, we finished writing our non-chronological reports about the sphinx and have planned one about another mythical creature from Ancient Egypt, the Ammut. The Ammut plays a key role in the Ancient Egyptian afterlife, so it's an interesting creature to write about.
In History, we finally arrived at the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. We focus on Howard Carter and how unlikely his discovery was, rather than Tutankhamun himself. All Tut did was not be found (he wasn't a very exciting Pharaoh as Pharaohs go....)
In Science, we learnt about the reproductive parts of flowering plants. There are lots and lots of names to learn! We also dissected daffodils to give the children a chance to spot those features in real life. I apologise in advance if they try to dissect any flowers you happen to have at home. I did tell them they needed to ask first and avoid lilies at all cost!
In RE, we learnt about the symbolism behind the Triple Gem and how it supports Buddhists with their concept of refuge and safety.
Gentle nudge - homework is due in on Mondays. Please can you ask children to check their books are in their bags. I was 9 books short this Monday.....
There is lots happening next week! On Wednesday morning, we are holding our next Reading Cafe. On Thursday afternoon, we will make our Tutankhamun style death masks. Thank you to everyone who sent in cereal boxes.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Miss Rutter, Mrs Marsh and Mrs Nichols.
Year 6
The sun is shining-hurrah!
We’ve been delighted with the learning and attitudes from Y6 this week.
In maths, we have been exploring number sequences-this was the perfect opportunity to practise addition, multiplication and division, presented in a slightly different way. We know it certainly stretched some thinking.
In English, we revisited a Y5 text to help plan a persuasive piece for Macbeth’s defence counsel, arguing that he was not solely responsible for the deaths of King Duncan and Banquo.
In history, we were learning about some of the reasons behind Henry VIII’s decision to break with Rome, considering which we felt were most significant.
In RE, we were exploring the Four Noble Truths- Mrs M and I were really impressed with some of the thoughtful questions posed and we considered how the parable of the poisoned arrow is equally as important today.
We did not have a separate PSHE lesson this week, but we used this as an opportunity to listen to a retelling of a picture book about setting boundaries in friendships. As we look towards summer term and transition, this is something we will continue to focus on.
Miss Spinks has been exceptionally busy planning and teaching small sessions for revision of some of the Key Stage Two material.
In science with Mrs Offley, the class dissected a pig's heart. This is very similar to a human heart. Mrs Offley was impressed with how well the children engaged with this. They asked lots of relevant questions.
In computing, the children are working to code a falling game in Scratch. So far, they have coded the falling sprites and the catching item. This was great fun.
Home learning this week: ratio and reading for most. Some children have some calculation work and reading. All children have spellings.
Uniform reminders- we know that we are edging towards summer term, but please could we ensure that we are continuing to follow our uniform policy, please.
Hoodies - please remember that the orders are being closed at 9AM next Friday. I will send the orders then in the hope that they are back with us very soon after the holidays. We will collect payment when they arrive.
Transition dates: please, please could we ask that you share with us your child’s transition dates as soon as you know them? We are trying to finalise the July diary, and with ten different schools, each with different transition dates, it’s hard to plan for events such as the play, rehearsals, leavers’ lunch etc with this many schools to liaise with. We’re doing our best to schedule things on the ‘free’ dates, but invariably, we’ll have some clashes. Please could I ask that these are shared with me by the end of next week please, as some of these events impact Y5 and the wider school.
Crucial Crew- We will be off to Crucial Crew in Bury St Edmunds on 4th July.
Have a super weekend
The Y6 Team
