Summer 2 - Ni Hao!

This term, we are learning about Hong Kong. The children will use world maps to locate where Hong Kong is in the world and look at how we get to Hong Kong from our location in Basingstoke. Through photos and research the children will understand the different modes of transport that people in Hong Kong use to travel around the different islands and they will plan a route within Hong Kong using maps of the islands. Using their knowledge of human and physical geography, the children will learn about things they could see or do when visiting Hong Kong. They will also learn about weather patterns and the way people live. The children will use this knowledge to help them compare how Hong Kong is similar / different to Basingstoke.

In Science, we will be learning about the classification of animals including humans. The children will learn to name and identify a variety of common animals, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. We will also learn how to identify animals by their features and their diet.

In DT, we will be learning how to sew using the overstitch. The children will design and make their own stuffed animal. They will then evaluate their results and compare their final result to their original design.

Summer 1 - The Great Outdoors

This term, we have been learning about plants and trees in our amazing world. We have developed our knowledge of the basic structures of plants and trees and the conditions that plants need to germinate and grow. We enjoyed our trip to Queen Elizabeth Country Park, where we worked with the park rangers to learn more about the outdoor environment including making dens for hedgehogs.

In Art this term, we have learnt about the artist Andy Goldsworthy. We went out into our woodland area in the school grounds and collected the resources we wanted to create our own Andy Goldsworthy inspired artwork. On our trip to Queen Elizabeth Country Park, we worked collaboratively to create large scale nature inspired artwork using patterns and textures.

In Science this term, we have looked at different types of seeds. We have grown different seeds to observe the germination process. We grew cress seeds and discussed the changes each day. We then set up an experiment with bean seeds and observed what happened when you gave different amounts of water. Although all the plants germinated and grew, the plant that had been given the most water was stronger and healthier in the stem and leaves.

Spring 2 - Where do I live?

This term, we have been learning about the town of Basingstoke where we live. We have developed our knowledge of human and physical geography in the town and have used this knowledge within our English writing to both persuade and inform. We visited Basingstoke town centre on a field trip where we looked to answer the question 'What is Basingstoke town like?'. Our field trip activities included completing questionnaires with members of the public to find out how they travelled to the town centre, why they were there and their thoughts on the town of Basingstoke. We also competed a Streetscape activity looking at how the buildings are using within Winchester Street, comparing Church Street to a picture from the 1960s and a sketching and soundscape activity.

In Science this term, we have been continuing our learning on materials. We have been conducting simple tests and experiments with materials. We learnt about Charles McIntosh, who invented the waterproof material for the Macintosh coat. The children used wax crayons to try and create their own waterproof fabrics.

We visited All Saints Church and took part in some Easter Prayer Stations with Eleanor from Rising Generations. We completed three Easter Prayer Stations; The Cross, The Darkness and The Tomb. The children also had the opportunity to see how the church prepares for the arrival of Easter and learnt more about the celebrations of Easter at the church.

We enjoyed a cricket coaching session with Coach Vic from Chance to Shine Cricket. The children enjoyed learning the different skills of; throwing, catching, fielding and batting.

Spring 1 - Titanic

This term we have learnt about the Titanic and why this is such a significant event in history. We have learnt about the ship and how it was the most luxurious ship built at that time and why people thought it was unsinkable. We have learnt about the different class of travel on board and have looked at some interactive images of what the ship looked like within each of these sections of the ship and the differences between them. The children learnt about the events on the night of the tragedy and placed these events in chronological order. From their learning, the children decided who they thought was to blame for the disaster and have learnt about how regulations have changed as a result of this tragedy to make sailing on passenger ships safer.

As part of our learning this term, we visited the Titanic Museum in Southampton. The children enjoyed a full day of exploring the museum and taking part in a learning workshop to learn about different aspects of the Titanic. This included looking at historical artefacts that have been salvaged from the ship and can tell us about what life was like in 1912 on board the ship.

Autumn 2 - Into the Unknown...

This term we learnt about significant explorers in history and we considered who was the most significant explorer and why we thought this. We started our theme with an Explorers Day where we took part in an explorers workshop with Amelia Earhart teaching us about many different explorers through time. We then learnt about the explorers Neil Armstrong, Amy Johnson, Matthew Henson and Captain James Cook. We learnt about where and how they explored and how all of them completed dangerous missions on their explorations. At the end of term, the children used their learning to decide which explorer they felt was the most significant and they had to explain why their reasons for this choice using facts that they had learnt throughout the theme.

African Drumming Workshop

The children had a special visit and enjoyed an interactive session in an African Drumming Workshop. They each had a drum where they enjoyed making some music to songs and interactive stories being told.

Autumn 1 - Welcome to our World!

This term we looked at what it is like to live in the United Kingdom. We found a visitor from outer space in our school grounds - Beegu! We taught her about the 4 countries that make up the United Kingdom and the physical and human features that we can visit in each of these countries. Beegu is an alien who looks very different to us and through our learning in Science, we learnt about our body parts and senses and we compared these to those of Beegu and how her senses might be different due to the differences in her body parts. The children enjoyed having Beegu to visit their school and classes and were very sad to see she left at half term.

KS1 Visit to the Discovery Centre in Basingstoke

Each class got to visit the library to learn about the different types of books they could read from the library and where they can find and locate them on the library shelves. The children enjoyed an interactive story of Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson.