Henderson Green Primary Academy Newsletter - 16th February 2024

Attendance this week

93.5%

Half Term Highlights 

Written by the class teachers.

Rocket

Rocket has been learning traditional tales this term. We first read The Gingerbread Man and explored making bridges for the Gingerbread man to cross. We then read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and discussed whether Goldilocks had made a good choice by eating the porridge without asking. We spoke about what she could have done instead? We celebrated Lunar New Year by creating our own Dragon and having a Dragon Dance around the school!

Reception

Reception has been immersed in telling and reenacting traditional tales this term. They have been developing their sound knowledge, practising their letter formations and working hard to blend in phonics. We have spent time with Mr Wellard developing the outdoor area, creating an exciting pirate ship - the children loved sailing out to sea and burying treasure!

Year 1

This term has been fantastic and I am so proud of the learning year 1 has done. I was particularly impressed with their learning in Bushcraft. Year 1 has learnt how to make a fire and chop wood safely. In our last lesson we used our skills to make a fire and toast marshmallows. It was a lot of fun and very delicious.

 Year 2

This term the children in year 2 have really enjoyed reading our core text 'Coming to England,' they have worked hard to develop their fluency, inference and retrieval skills. In Geography, they loved discussing the differences between Nairobi and London. The class remained very split where they would live if they had the chance. In maths, the children developed their knowledge of money and enjoyed using the concrete resources (fake money) to problem solve.

 Year 3

Year 3 have had a busy half term! We have been learning all about fractions and are nearly experts! We have produced some wonderful writing and have written stories that have historical references in them that allowed us to link back to our history learning last term! Our reading is coming along well and we are proud of the children who are moving up levels on Reading Buddy. In maths, we have learnt so much about fractions, we are nearly all masters.. all the practise we have been undertaking on TTRS helped us a lot when we were completing our maths learning this half term.

Year 4

Year 4 have worked extremely hard this half term developing their water confidence and water skills over at City Academy. They have really enjoyed our CUSP journey in Science and History studying animals, continuing to learn about Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. In Maths we are still continuing to work hard on our times tables in order to get the best results in our multiplication checks in June.

 Year 5

We have achieved so much since Christmas. Sea Palling have been busy developing their writing this half term and they are growing in confidence in their story writing and formal letters. They have really enjoyed using the Microbit in Computing and have been coding them to do all sorts of interesting things, including writing code to make a step counter and light sensor. I have been impressed with the Science investigations they have carried out, to learn more about Forces and they are getting good at identifying variables. Mr Neil has been very pleased with their dance skills as they are able to choreograph their own dances in groups. However, the biggest achievement for me is their knowledge and understanding of Fractions - they have worked so hard to learn all the formulas and vocabulary associated with adding and subtracting fractions. I think they will say their biggest achievement is learning to sing 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' in music lessons! I am a very proud teacher. 

Year 6

What a whirlwind of a half term! We have worked our socks off to really improve our reading, writing and maths to the next level and, even in a short term, we have made big jumps! All the while, we have balanced that with our amazing trip with the Into University, building our aspirations and drive for when we came back to school. We have loved learning about how our body works, including the circulatory and urinary systems. Our art is slowly coming along, with our resist art working well with printmaking as we understand perspective. We have also started understanding the impact of the Windrush generation, which has been an eye-opening experience for sure! The class have been so amazing with the mature content and I have been so impressed.