As part of our study of India, we headed off down to the Damers kitchen to learn how to make an Indian dish called Goan Pulao. Mrs Thorpe called in for some expert help and we were so lucky to have Venetia come in and tell us so much about Indian cuisine. Prior to going to the kitchen we learnt how to cut vegetables safely using the bridge and claw methods of chopping food. In the kitchen ( after washing our hands thoroughly) we chopped different vegetables and we soaked the rice and washed it. We were introduced to numerous spices, and found that peppercorn could be quite spicy. We learnt that turmeric has medicinal properties, which we liked the sound of. After that we made vegetable stock and put everything together and let it simmer. There were some fabulous smells coming from the pot. Finally, we got to dish out, share and taste what we had made. A wonderful morning that everyone enjoyed. Our special thanks go to Venetia for spending the morning with us and we can’t wait for you to return!

We love to read together and share stories about a range of themes. Reading together improves our empathy, our understanding of how authors write, widens our vocabulary and sharing our thoughts and opinions helps us to connect with the books that we read. We enjoy predicting what will happen next too…

We have just finished reading, ‘ The boy at the back of the class’. A powerful story that we all loved and gave an amazing 10/10 ! 🏆 We wrote some reviews of why we loved it so much.

Here are some photos from today. Dressing up as a ’word’ was another success this year with some interesting costumes!

We had a fun time trying to persuade ‘Ruby’ that our opinion was correct and that we knew what she should decide to do next in the story. Should she follow the mysterious package or should she stay in the forest and try to find out more about what is going on? The children were very persuasive!

We would like you and your child to take part in the Big Plastic Count 2024 from Monday 11th in the morning to Sunday 17th March in the evening.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0nQHO7Mw-k

In 2022, nearly 250,000 people from schools, households and communities across the country made The Big Plastic Count the biggest ever investigation into UK household plastic waste. It showed that nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic are thrown away in the UK each year, with hardly any of it recycled. 

The rest is burned, sent abroad or ends up in landfill. We can’t recycle our way out of the plastic waste crisis

By joining thousands of people across the country and counting all the plastic you throw away for a week, you can gather the vital evidence needed to convince UK ministers, supermarkets and big brands to lead the way at the global talks that could finally phase out plastic production for good.  

It’s easy!  count as you throw! 

Simply mark every piece of plastic package as you throw it away in your bin or recycling on the Let’s Count Tally Sheet 

TOP TIPS

1.       Put the Let’s Count Tally Sheet up on your fridge, or near your bin or recycling. 

2.       Tell everyone you live with that you’re going to be taking part and ask them to include their plastic waste in the count too. 

3.       Using the Let’s Count Tally Sheet, record the different types of household plastic packaging waste you use for one week. This includes plastic going in your bin and plastic you put out for recycling.

4.       Use the Plastic ID Tool to look up plastic items if you need to.

5.       Remember to write down any piece of plastic packaging you use while out and about, then mark it on your tally sheet when you get back home.

Record your results online by 31st March using your class unique link (https://thebigplasticcount.com/submit/2955/skipper-4). The platform will be able to work out each class plastic carbon footprint as well as our schools. 

Prizes to be won for the top three classes that have the most children that record their results. Prizes include any item off the Learn Play Nexus Education Resource Website https://learnplaynexus.com/  a £20 Amazon Voucher, Any Outdoor resource item from Empties Please list.  

Good Luck!  Let’s win!!

It was great welcoming Mrs Goldsack into our classes this week to talk to us about her visit to the Samarapan school in India. We enjoyed listening to her stories and first hand experiences of her time there. We were able to find similarities and differences with our own school life in the United Kingdom. We explored lots the of artefacts after listening to Mrs Goldsack’s talk, and some of us enjoyed having a bit of a ’dress up’ !

Today, is National Safer Internet Day. The children have spent time in class discussing and learning about how to stay safe online. The main focus of our learning has been the importance of talking to a trusted grown-up if the children come across anything they don’t like or are unsure of online. We have also looked at our SMART rules for using digital devices and the internet and the different places we can go for help. Ask your child at home about what they can remember about our discussion and for any further information or guidance about staying safe online or Safer Internet Day please visit https://www.saferinternetday.org 

Thank you, Skipper 4, for making such beautiful pictures which brighten up our classroom and corridor. Wonderful job everyone!

We are learning all about the states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. We are also going to learn about changes of state: evaporation, condensation, melting, freezing/solidifying. Here are some pictures of the children proving that gas exists all around us, even through we can’t see it!