Hot cross buns

We have been learning about hot cross buns and why we eat them at Easter. We looked at the top of them and we discovered that they have a cross over the top of them. This is because Jesus died on the cross. We also learnt that they are round to represent the stone that was put in front of the tomb that Jesus was placed in. A cross is an important symbol for Christians as it represents that Jesus died on the cross and took our sins. 

Map work!

During this half term, we have been learning about sowing and growing. As part of this, we have been learning about farming and the important part that they play in our everyday lives. We have explored Geography and looked at both physical and human Geography. We have been looking at the local areas and maps. We found East Brent school on a map and on google! We saw the difference between a map and a satellite image. We explored symbols and a compass. We remember north, east, south and west by saying two rhymes. Naughty elephants squirt water or even Never eat soggy waffles. Which one do you use?

We played 'can you find games' using maps and then we drew our own. To end our map work, we finished with a treasure hunt! We had to use a map of our outside play area and fill in the missing symbols and follow the instructions using the map. At the end of the instructions we found some treasure (some sweets!) we then marked our map with a cross. 

Class assembly

We were asked to lead our own class assembly. The children chose what they wanted to tell the rest of the school about. We decided to share our learning on farms. The children selected which pictures to draw and paint and they decided what they wanted to say. We shared ideas for our class prayer. 

Lunar New Year

We learnt about Lunar New Year! We discovered that it is the year of the dragon! We tried some Chinese food. Mr Barber brought in some of his Chinese things that he has at home. He had a banner, some Chinese bowls, chopsticks and a beautiful bell. The children were really excited to see the special things. 

Spring Term Curriculum Overview - sowing and growing

Multifaith Week

This week, the children have been learning about different religions as part of our multifaith week. We learnt about Christenings as part of the Christian religion, we made barfi which is a Sikh traditional sweet, we learnt about prayer mats that Muslims use when they are praying and made our own paper ones. We also learnt about Judiasm and the importance of the star symbol in their religion. We then made our own stained glass windows with the Star of David. 

History workshop

This week, we had Taunton and Somerset Heritage Museum come in and visit the children in Ladybird class and Bumble bee class. We had an opportunity to dress up in Victorian clothes and we explored lots of different toys. We looked at old and new toys and we talked about the differences. We also looked at what the toys were made of. We found out that lots of old toys were handmade, made of metal, fabric, wood or china. We discovered that new toys were usually manufactured. (made in a factory and lots were made at once) and that lots of them are made with plastic. 

STEM Week 

The children had a fabulous time during STEM week. We explored different ways of making paper stronger, then we used these skills to help us make some bridges. We made some parachute rockets, our own marble run mazes, cardboard dogs that we got to walk down a ramp, spaghetti and marshmallow towers.

Little Red Hen workshop

This week, Farmlink came to visit us. They brought in a hen to show us. We read the story of the little red hen. Whilst we were reading the story, we were able to look at some wheat, we explored the corn that is on the wheat, we ground the corn into flour and we were able to feed the chicken. Afterwards, we were able to tell the story of the Little Red Hen without even looking at the book! We even made our own bread, just like the Little Red Hen