As of this afternoon we are officially halfway through the school year (but who's counting?). We've passed some big milestones and are now preparing for others. After a welcome week off we need to return ready to work!


We just finished our topic on states of matter, looking at different substances and their properties as solids, liquids and gases, ending with a look at the water cycle and how important it is to our planet. When we start back we'll be going to a new science topic: habitats and food chains. We'll be looking at the relationships between predator and prey and the complex connections all plants and animals have to one another.


In Geography we have looked at a variety of different earth sciences such as mountain and river formations and how landscapes form over thousands and millions of years. We have then been looking at the features of India and how they are used by the people who live there. One fun fact that amazed the children: the Ganges River has over 300 million people settled along it, and Great Britain has only about 75 million people altogether! In the next term we will continue to look at the physical and social landscape of India and prepare the children for their projects by showing them some of the cities of that ancient country.


In English, we just finished a unit on story settings, looking at mood and atmosphere and how to show that with good positive and negative descriptive words. Many of the children really had a try at writing some good similes, metaphors and personification. After the break we will do three weeks on persuasive writing, which again will help them with their homework project.


In RE we will focus on the holiday of Easter and what that means for Christians, as well the importance of sharing food in different communities.


We will also continue our gymnastics unit in PE. I would like to remind everyone that we do PE on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we require a complete PE kit. Quite a few children have been missing shirts or shorts and have had to wear their uniform.


In Maths we are beginning our cycle of teaching again, so we will revisit many of the concepts we did before, this time combining some together or delving more deeply into them.


It was lovely to see so many of you again in the parent conferences. My voice was starting to sound like Chewbacca near the end due to the cold I'm getting over, but it was great to update all of you.


Enjoy the week of respite, and I will see the class again in a week and a half.