This term, our focus is on forces and magnets, and we have been busy investigating push and pull forces (e.g.using a dustpan and brush! )and the magnetic fields of different magnets. The children especially enjoyed using the iron filings and making patterns with the magnets!
We have started having child-led collective worship at North Elmham, and Whales class have been busy bees preparing for it this week! This term, we are focusing on our school value of friendship, and the children who led today’s collective worship read the story ‘The Rainbow Fish’ and then asked us questions about what this tells us about friendship. We then said the prayer that the class had written themselves about friendship. Well done, Whales!
The whole school came together to perform this year’s Christmas play. They sang beautifully and wowed us all with their confidence performing on stage for the first time in many years. Thanks to children, staff and parents for making the day so magical. As we break up for end of term we would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all back in the new year.
Whales have written some amazing stories, inspired by Phillip Pullman’s ‘Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp’. We had tales of a magical abominable snowman, genie cats and dolphins with magical powers who granted wishes just like the genie in Aladdin. The children were so proud of their work that they then wanted to type them on the computer and perform them. We did lots of practice of reading with expression and those that wanted to then read their stories in front of the class and then again with Sheep class! We’re so proud of their confidence!
We all had a delicious Christmas lunch together, which we enjoyed whilst wearing our Christmas jumpers! The sticky toffee pudding was especially yummy! Afterwards the children had a fun playtime in the snow and frost ❄️🌨
Here is our school contribution to Dereham Baptist Church’s annual display of Christmas wreaths!
Whales class have been completing lots of investigations in their learning about sounds recently. We have been using data loggers to record the volume of sound, and have discovered that sounds get quieter as you move away from the sound source. We have also been exploring how to insulate sounds, and we experimented by wrapping an iPad in different materials and then recording the volume of the iPad’s alarm. We found out that the soft, thick materials were better insulators than the thinner materials. Whales class were also able to recognise that the results of our investigations were not always reliable due to background noises that may have affected the recordings (lots of other children practising their nativity songs was a culprit!)
Children in Whales have been discussing bullying during the week, and specifically the ‘Reach Out’ initiative from the Anti-Bullying Alliance. We came up with ways we can help those who might be affected, but agreed that the best cure is prevention. The children had some brilliant ideas of how this could be achieved, including ‘sharing our worries’, ‘being kind to everyone’, ‘respecting everyone for our differences’, ‘noticing what’s going on around us’, ‘talking about our feelings’, ‘checking in with friends’, and ‘asking for help when we need it.’ Well done, Whales!
Whales class has been learning all about how Christians express their faith, one way being through baptism. We learnt about the different parts of the baptism ceremony and then had a go at re-enacting a baptism (see pictures of the ‘parents’, ‘Godparents’ and the Reverend below)! Children could explain that baptism represents a person’s devotion to their faith and a promise to live life following the example of Jesus.
