Hawthorn Class News
27th November 2020
Hawthorn Class have had a busy and exciting week. We made the most of a crisp morning this week to enjoy an active English lesson with the children adding conjunctions to sentences.
Science Day proved to be a big hit with the children when they looked at light for the day. The photographs show them exploring refraction with a glass of water and 2 arrows drawn on paper.
We were also lucky enough to be joined by Andy from Widdershins who performed an excellent puppet show for the children. They were enthralled by the stories and enjoyed finding out how the show was put together.
Hawthorn Stars of the Week
Congratulations to Tyler who has worked really hard in his hockey lessons, and Kerry-Ann who works hard in everything that she does.
20th November 2020
Hawthorn Class have been taking part in Anti-Bullying Week. The children have looked at how we all have a part to play in stopping bullying and looked in detail at how bullies might be supported by others. They learnt about the role of defenders, and how speaking up will help to resolve the situation. As you can see from their beautiful artwork, Hawthorn Class say ‘NO’ to bullying.
Congratulations to our Stars of the Week. Hope has had a fantastic week working hard in all areas of the curriculum. Lincoln made a magnificent effort in his Big Write. Well done both of you!
13th November 2020
Hawthorn class have had a busy week. They collected rainbow colours as they began their new RE topic of the Creation story.
The children have had two online workshops this week. On Monday, they brushed up on their E-Safety will a workshop from Hazard Alley. They learnt amongst other things, how to create a strong username and password. On Thursday, they had the first of six workshops on leading a healthy lifestyle. This week the focus was on having a healthy body.
They also took part in a Intra Schools cross country event. The fastest boys and girls in each year group will have they completion times put forward against other schools.
16th October 2020
Hawthorn class have this week been looking at an Indian Folk Tale in literacy. The children have made animal masks and fire sticks in preparation to re-enact the story next week.
2nd October 2020
Within their topic work, Hawthorn Class have been investigating their own teeth. After completing a tooth survey, the children made models of their teeth from modelling clay.
25th September 2020
As part of our recovery curriculum, the children have been exploring horizons. They painted watercolour backgrounds of the horizon and then created their own poems about the sky.
18th September 2020
Hawthorn children enjoyed taking their topic work outside this week. They have been looking at the work of an Italian artist who was clever enough to be able to create portraits of people from fruit.
The children also welcomed back Mrs O’Flynn who began ‘body popping’ with the class. They haven’t lost their rhythm during lockdown!
Welcome to Hawthorn Bubble
Hawthorn Class are enjoying the Recovery Curriculum activities on their return to school. They have made rainbow sand, played socially distanced team games to name but a few.
They are also getting used to the new ‘normal’ of Whole School Collective Worship being online!
The children are very happy to be back with their friends again, as they settle into their new class.
Romans (20th March 2020)
The children in Hawthorn class had lots of fun this week creating Roman buildings out of recycled goods. Can you recognise the famous buildings they have made?
Healthy Schools Week (11th March 2020)
As part of our Healthy Schools’ Week activities, the class have conducted a survey on the snacks they bring to school each day. It was quite surprising that a large proportion of children do not bring a snack to school.
Young children have smaller stomachs than adults. They are incapable of eating a lot of food at one meal and typically get hungry between meals. If your child only eats three meals, they may not get enough carbohydrates, protein and fat. Snacks also give your child the vitamins and minerals they need to grow and develop properly.
Hawthorn class also took part in a blind- folded food tasting session to help highlight what a portion of fruit or vegetables actually is. The children went on to research interesting facts such as 32 grapes are a portion.
Learning log
The Romans Timeline by Daniel Peaker
RE (28th February 2020)
In RE this week, the class continued to explore festivals. This week we looked at the ancient story of Moses and if he was right to lead the Israelites to safety or not. For this, the children formed a ‘conscious alley’ whispering to Moses as he walked by, giving their opinions on what he should do.
RE (14th February 2020)
This week in RE the children made Diwali lamps. They learnt how lamps were lit to mark the way for Rama & Sita to return to their homeland. They also looked at how today Hindus mark this important festival.
Hawthorn looked at Burundi today as this is where a proportion of the profits from the company that built our new classroom go to support a school. They learnt about the extreme poverty in the country and how much of the arable land is used to grow coffee and tea – neither of which you can eat. The children moved on to look at sustainability, and went on a ‘shopping trip’ to decide which products they would buy, and what impact this might have on our climate, pollution and poverty.
Harriet made a fantastic model of a volcano to show her class. She also made her own ‘lava’ from washing up liquid, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. As you can see it erupted rather well!
7th February 2020
The children in Hawthorn Class had a go at retelling the story of Rama & Sita. They made puppets to help them. This is part of their look at religious festivals, especially those where light is a feature.
Kerry-Ann shared her very impressive Japanese Rock garden with the class this week. She had cunningly used aquatic plants and stones to help her.
The children were looking at fossils this week and how they are formed. They went on to make some impressive replicas for themselves.
Japanese Rock Gardens (31st January 2020)
William shared his impressive rock collection with the class. He told the class about these rocks which had formed in and around volcanoes.
Hawthorn Class had a go at designing and creating Japanese rock gardens this week. They used resources that they found in the playground to create features such as ‘rippling water’.
Computing Themed Day (24th January 2020)
Hawthorn class really enjoyed their Computing Themed Day. The children began the day by exploring types of communication and how fake news can be identified. They then explored how the internet and also search engines work.
The children then moved on to evaluate some websites, before making their own especially designed for children.
The children also had a go at creating their own websites. Check out the links below:
https://sites.google.com/s/1Qc9W5JYF7ByFK2VcxU0ULwKJjQNpjCyv/edit?ts=5e2adb16
https://sites.google.com/s/19JxNRgH3MX3uRtDNpmr0hTUnnqNKx4FW/edit?ts=5e2adb6f
https://sites.google.com/s/1Q7UJXYQdcFxbb5cz8Z2GLiKJD3SIvWD4/edit?ts=5e2adc45
https://sites.google.com/s/1dhmTkWdoZ5Qxxfh13YGzw87Viv65HLiZ/edit?ts=5e2adc8b
https://sites.google.com/s/1-bGjxAYQnOUDZn1yMzt_QGKawgmorTjR/edit?ts=5e2adcdc
History at Sutton Lower School (22nd January 2020)
The children in Hawthorn class have been thinking about why we learn history at school. Have a look at some of their ideas.
Shake, Rattle & Roll (17th January 2020)
Hawthorn Class have begun their new topic of ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll.’ This week the class have been investigating what makes up soil.
They also completed an experiment to see whether different soil types were permeable of impermeable.
Happy New Year! (10th January 2020)
Hawthorn Class have had a busy week beginning their new topics. In RE the children are beginning to look at religious festivals across a variety of faiths. This week they thought about what elements are included in festivals.
A festive week! (20th December 2019)
Hawthorn Class have been looking at the origins of Christmas this week. They began by making Christingles at Sutton Church. A very able production line managed to create enough for the class in no time at all.
The travelling crib visited us during the week. The children were in awe at the wonderful knitted Nativity characters.
In RE the children learnt about how the Gospels of Matthew & Luke are combined to create the Nativity story. They also explored many of the strange customs and traditions that we have at this time of the year – such as putting a tree in your house!
Curriculum Intent (13th December 2019)
The children in Hawthorn Class were asked to think about what they learn in Geography and why they learn it. Here are some of their answers.
Stone Age Artwork (13th December 2019)
The children in Hawthorn Class collected natural materials this week for their Stone Age artwork. They ground and mixed their own paint to experience how difficult it must have been to produce artwork on cave walls and to decorate objects. As you can see, it was messy but fun!
The school had Christmas lunch this week. All the staff, as well as the children, wore their Christmas jumpers as well in order to raise money for Save the Children.
The Stone Age (6th December)
The children went outside to experience what it was like to have to construct a shelter from scratch in the Stone Age. The class made scaled down versions of Mesolithic shelters. They began by gathering small flexible sticks which they wove together. They then had to collect grass and create bundles which they then placed over the sticks. These constructions took them over 45 minutes to make. Imagine what it must have been like for Stone Age people with their simplistic tools and no forms of transport to help gather materials.
This week Hawthorn Class have looked at fronted adverbials in literacy. One activity was to play a game. Whichever word you landed on had to be converted into a sentence with a fronted adverbial.
Mrs Farnsworth, a dental nurse, gave the class a talk on dental hygiene this week. They learnt have to brush their teeth effectively and the amount of toothpaste that they should use. They were then tested on which foods were not kind to teeth and which were.
A very busy week! (29th November 2019)
During RotaKids this week, Ethan from St John’s Hospice in Moggerhanger, talked to the children about the types of care that the hospice offers. Children learnt how the hospice is a ‘home from home’ and that even pets were allowed to visit/ They also heard how St John’s sends nurses out into the community to help people in their homes.
Hawthorn Class had a fantastic time at The Higgins in Bedford this week. They explored artefacts from the Stone Age that had been found locally. They were also able to try some simple tasks for themselves such as grinding barley for flour. They were shocked to find how much effort was involved in each task and the time it took. The children then explored a Bronze Age man and recreated the life that they thought he had led from the artefacts that were buried with him.
The Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO) took to the pavement this week. The children had created a letter and a map to help to improve the parking of their grown-ups at drop off and pick up times. The letter was very positively received.
Geography Focus Day (22nd November 2019)
The whole school enjoyed a geography focus day this week. In Hawthorn Class we looked at deserts. The children found some of the deserts in the world, including Antarctica. They learnt that a desert has less than 25cm of rain in a year. They also looked at who or what lived in these difficult and unhospitable climates.
We were also treated to two visitors teaching the children about flags, their symbols and colours, and what life is like in Croatia.
Athletics (15th November 2019)
Some of the children from Hawthorn Class took part in the sports hall athletics at Mark Rutherford School in Bedford this week. They competed in a variety of activities against other local schools. All the children gave a big ‘thumbs up’ for the event. A big thank you to the Schools Partnership for organising it.
Climate Change
The children throughout the school looked at the issues with climate change in a Global Learning afternoon this week. The older children in Hawthorn looked at how CO2 emissions are causing different foods across the world to be affected, with changeable weather patterns and seasons. Each child made a promise to ‘Share the Love’ and reduce the amount of CO2 they were responsible for. Some pledged to walk more or turn off the lights when not in a room. They also painted endangered species from around the world in a pointillism style (small spots).
Play Leaders Training (8th November 2019)
Mr Blunt from the Schools Partnership joined the children on Tuesday morning. Hawthorn Class had a busy session learning how to be Play Leaders. They are now ready to lead games and activities during lunchtime play.
Art - Matisse (18th October 2019)
Investigating lung capacity (11th October 2019)
The children of Ocean Class had lots of fun this week investigating their own lung capacity.
First they had to mark 500ml intervals on a large plastic bottle. They then needed to invert this filled with water into a box of water. The next step was to carefully insert a plastic tube into the bottle. The children then took it in turns to blow down the pipe into the bottle. The air that they breathed out displaced the water in the bottle and they were then able to read their lung capacity on the scale.
Basketball (20th September 2019)
Ocean class have been enjoying the autumn sunshine whist developing their basketball skills. A group of children demonstrated to the class, showing how to mark your opponent to try and block them from scoring.
Humans are Animals too (13th September 2019)
The children in Ocean Class have begun their new topic ‘Humans are animals too.’ This week they explored food chains and how animals can be classified by what they eat. They were also alarmed to discover the number of teaspoons of sugar hidden in some food and drink. Did you know that a can of cola has 9 teaspoons in it, and the recommended amount of sugar for KS2 children is only 6 a day?
Pirate Day (19th July 2019)
Ocean class was taken over by pirates this week. The children had an exciting day completing a maths pirate challenge. This was followed by biscuit decorating – pirate themed biscuits of course. After lunch the children had the challenge of constructing pirate ships from Lego to see who could carry the most cargo without sinking. A pirate feast was enjoyed by all. The day finished with fish racing. What a day!
Georgraphy (19th July 2019)
The children have completed their learning on the Journey of a River. As you can see they have made some impressive collages showing how this happens.
Bikeability (12th July 2019)
Flower Festival (28th June 2019)
Ocean class have had a busy morning. Some of the class have been to the church and created some beautiful flower arrangements in preparation for the Flower Festival. The remaining children have helped to prepare the village with litter pick. Sutton is almost set for an exciting weekend.
A busy week! (21st June 2019)
Eight members of Ocean Class travelled to Bedford athletics Stadium this week to take part in an inter schools athletics competition. As you can see there were a variety of field and track events. The weather was kind and the team competed well.
This morning the RotaKids children were joined in school by Ronnie and Bill. They were accompanied by two doctors from Germany who have been trying to set up a school in a remote part of Ghana. Ocean Class has previously fundraised for this project so it was a chance for the children to find out first-hand what the money was going to be used for.
Charlotte and Ella proudly displayed their certificates that they were awarded following the skipping rope challenge that the children took part in on Monday. Both girls received a skipping rope with a built in counter so in future they will know how many skips they have completed.
Ocean class are looking at rivers in their geography work this week. They are creating collages that show the journey of a river form source to sea. Completed collages to follow!
Rotakids (7th June 2019)
RotaKids began their service work today. The children gave the church a timely spruce, just in time for a large wedding at the church. Floors were vacuumed and mopped, books counted, chairs washed down. The time flew by!
Junior Road Safety Officer's 7th June 2019)
The Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO) completed their 1st assembly this week. William, Lewys and Florence talked about the importance of wearing cycling helmets when you ride a bike. They also gave suggestions of places in Bedfordshire where there are cycle paths.
The JRSO’s also launched a competition to encourage cycle helmet wearing. If you would like to take part, children should have a photograph taken wearing a cycle helmet and their picture will be entered into a prize draw.
Mind Maps (16th May 2019)
Mind Maps came to visit us on Thursday. The children were introduced to Casey – a caterpillar to help us explore emotions. They then had a workshop on resilience where they made their own shields. The children learnt that being able to brush minor incidents and niggles away is an important lesson in life. They devised their own tool kits of what they could do to help them if they feel concerned in any way.
Innovate Cookery Workshop (16th May 2019)
Along with the rest of the school, Ocean class enjoyed a cookery workshop led by the school’s catering company Innovate.
The children identified healthy foods and then made ‘rainbow’ salads learning that the more colourful the ingredients the healthier it is.
They then tried their hands at making a wrap with healthy fillings of their choice. The end results looked good enough to eat!
First Aid Training (10th May 2019)
Ocean Class had some First Aid training this week. The children learn what to do in an emergency if someone needed First Aid. They also practised putting someone into the recovery position. Sophia may be small but she managed to manoeuvre Mr Blunt, no problem at all!
Salt Dough (3rd May 2019)
Ocean class have begun a new topic – ‘Amazing Amazon.’ As part of the introduction to this, the children made a salt dough map of South America. They marked the countries on it and the route that the Amazon River takes. Watch this space as we add colours and labels to it.
Maths Workshop (5th April 2019)
The class had an End of Term treat today, when they spent the afternoon at a maths workshop.
The children were challenged to solve various puzzles, including copying a model from multi coloured building blocks when they were only allowed to visit the completed model one at a time and only use mathematical language to describe it.
The emphasis was on teamwork and the children worked well together in their groups.
Last week, the children went along to All Saint’s Church to prepare posies of flowers for their mums or carers, in readiness for Mother’s Day. The children also made a card each to accompany the flowers. We hope you liked them.
Outdoor Reading (22nd March 2019)
Ocean class made the most of the Spring sunshine this week and took guided reading outdoors. The children read an extract from "Tilly and the Time Machine" and dramatised it.
Bedford Faith Tour (15th March 2019)
Ocean Class took part in the Bedford Faith Tour this week. The children first visited the Gurdwara. Inside they saw the langar or food hall. This is where visitors to the Gurdwara congregate and share food. They then moved on to the prayer hall or Darbar Sahib. Here they saw the incredibly ornate canopy which hangs over the Guru Granth Sahib or Holy Book. The book is placed on a raised platform. During a service a person waves a fan over the book called a chaur.
From here it was a short walk to the Mosque. The children learnt about the importance of the Five Pillars to Muslims and how this affects their lives. They were shown pictures of Mecca and its importance was explained to them. They saw the mihrab – a niche indicating the direction of Mecca, which Muslims face when they pray. They were interested to know about the prophets who influence Islamic faith as they also appear in Christian stories.
The final stop was at All Saints Church. Here the children enjoyed their picnic lunch before touring the church, and having many of the similarities between the 3 different faiths pointed out to them. They all thoroughly enjoyed the day and have learnt a great deal.
Dragon Art (7th March 2019)
Ocean Class have been busy creating artwork in the style of Stanley Grosse. The children had to use 3 different types of material within their collages, mimicking the artist’s trademark. They created dragons to fit in with our current topic theme of ‘Dragons – Fact or Fiction.’ As you can see there are some impressive creatures.
The Last Supper (1st March 2019)
The children were invited to the Last Supper this week. They explored the many different emotions that must have been involved at this memorable meal. They children also enjoyed flatbread and grape juice and talked about their significance in the church today.
Ocean Class have had a busy week investigating how to be healthy (22nd February 2019)
On Monday the children looked at what they should eat as part of a healthy diet. They then investigated the number of food miles that were in an average school packed lunch. The children devised healthy packed lunches that caused fewer food miles.
Tuesday saw the children look at personal hygiene and reasons why it is important to keep clean. The class then ‘carefully’ brushed their teeth before chewing on a disclosing tablet. Most were surprised by the results!
The children also received an invite to become Junior Road Safety Officers - more on this to come!
On Wednesday the children attended a ‘Flash and Bash’ workshop to learn how to use the fantastic new play equipment in the playground. They were also introduced to some traditional games to play during break times.
Thursday saw the children look at ratios in maths and then calculate the ingredients in the correct portions to make a delicious healthy smoothie – yum!
They also supported the campaign ‘Wear Bright, Shine Bright’ which promotes good mental health.
On Friday the children made Affirmation Stones. They children found words in newspapers to reflect how they feel about themselves and their hopes for the future.
All in all, a very busy week, full of fun and excitement.
Electricity and Magnets (8th February 2019)
To end our topic of Electricity and Magnets, the children designed and made their own torches. They managed to convert plastic bottles, incorporating switches, a bulb and a reflective surface to make their torches shine bright.
Safer Internet Day (8th February 2019)
For Safer Internet Day, Ocean Class looked at the amount of information that social media sites collect as you open an account. The children began by collecting information from Terms and Conditions. They then made ‘Gift Cubes’ to take home and place next to their own computers reminding everyone in their households of the information that is given away to these sites.
Maths Treasure Hunt
Ocean class have been enjoying an indoors maths treasure hunt today. The have been applying their knowledge of measures to work out the answers.
Boccia (18th January 2019)
The children in Ocean Class tried a new sport this week. Boccia (pronounced Bot-cha) is a game that is very similar to Boules. A jack is thrown and then the members of each team try and throw their ball as close to this as possible, scoring points.
The children spent the afternoon competing against each other in teams. Their techniques improved greatly as the afternoon went on. The scores were incredibly close with the four teams winning the same number of games.
Christingle (14th December 2018)
In preparation of our Christingle Service this afternoon, the children went to church to make their Christingles with the help of Reverend Gill and some parents. Reverend Gill was very impressed with how much the children already knew about Christingle.
Athletics Tournament (7th December 2018)
A selection of children from Ocean Class attended an athletics tournament today. They really enjoyed themselves and recorded some good times against other competing schools.
Ocean Class have had a very busy and exciting week (30th November 2018)
On Wednesday they had a drama workshop with Jasmine. As you can see from the photos they enjoyed playing ‘wink murder.
On Thursday the children had a mindfulness session where they explored different emotions and how these can be affected by others and how to control them. The children really enjoyed exploring their differences and their similarities.
Ocean Class children also took their knowledge of how to make line and bar charts into the great outdoors. They plotted how long journey times took for each of them.
Saxon Workshop (14th November 2018)
The children in Ocean Class had a shock on Wednesday when the classroom was raided by a Saxon Warrior. They decided to join with him, and spent the morning learning how to use Saxon weapons and trying on their chain mail and helmets.
They also explored how they could lay and ignite a fire should they need to travel away on a campaign.
After that, by way of entertainment, the children re-enacted the story of Beowulf. All the children took a part in the story retelling how Grendel and Grendel’s mother were slain.
Later, the story continued with Beowulf as an old man. He completed one final act of bravery, slaying a dragon, just before he died. He was buried along with possessions that he may need in the afterlife, such as a horse and a hunting dog. A slave was also sacrificed to accompany her master.
Odd Socks Day (12th November 2018)
One of the activities in Ocean Class on Odd Socks Day was to create a poster. The children were asked to name examples of different types of bullying and then scrunch them up and throw them into their bins.
They also created short poems, writing these on to their own handprint shapes cut from paper, based on respect.
Identity Day (9th November 2018)
Mrs Van Gruenan visited Ocean Class to tell us about her South African identity. The children learnt about the area in which she grew up, the wildlife in that area and some of her favourite South African foods. She also shared some Afrikaans greetings with them.
Making Sounds (9th November 2018)
Ocean Class children took our focus on mindfulness and the Creation story outside this week. They sat quietly in the sensory garden and listened to natural sounds. They were then tasked with trying to recreate these sounds for themselves.
Outdoor Learning (1st November 2018)
Ocean Class were looking at the colours of the rainbow in RE. The children were asked to collect as many colours that they could find in nature. We will then use these to think about how we should look after the Earth and stewardship.
The children were also asked to find an unusual place to read in. As you can see from the photos, some were very inventive with their chosen spots in which to read.
Where does my Food GO? By Prem Ahluwalia
A busy week in Ocean Class (5th October 2018)
In maths we have been investigating shape. Year 3 children produced Venn diagrams and sorted shapes by their properties.
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In our topic work this week, the children investigated what had happened to egg shells left in various liquids. By looking at the eggs, can you guess which ones were in sugary or acidic drinks and those in liquids which are kinder to your teeth?
The children travelled to St Albans this week to take part in a Harvest Celebration service with other schools that are part of the St Albans Diocese. We were treated to fantastic live musical performances and the children really enjoyed this heart-warming event.
Move Up Day (19th July 2018)
The new Ocean Class enjoyed move up day. They followed a planets theme for the day, constructing the planets from papier mache. Having painted them we then used a toilet roll to create a scale model of the distance of the planets from the sun.
