Friday 10^th July

Good morning Hares!

We have finally come to the last post!  You have been fantastic during these last few months.  When I started here in September, I had no idea that what was on the horizon.  However, we have all made changes to our lifestyles and adapted to the new learning environment very well.  I think you have done a fantastic job and deserve a round of applause.

I would also like to thank all the adults who have helped you during the last few months: they deserve a big rest from being a ‘teacher’ over the Summer holidays!

I hope you are getting excited about coming into school next week and are looking forward to meeting your new teachers. I will be around school and hope to catch up and have a chat with anyone I haven’t seen over the last few weeks.

English

I thought I’d give you chance to finish off any of the activities that you have been working on this week and in general throughout your Home Learning book.

However, here is another fun activity for you to do.  ‘Wordles’ are an enjoyable way of displaying different words in a word ‘cloud’. I would like you to think of some words to describe your time in Hares class. You can then create a Wordle!  I have attached an example for you to look at. You can either use the website below or draw one by hand. It’s up to you!

https://wordart.com/create

Here are some key words that you might want to include in your own ‘Wordle’:

• Hares                   VE Day
• Fantastic                 Victorians
• Recorder                 Inventions
• Debate                   Indian in the Cupboard
• Rainforests            Little Bull
• Brilliant                 Boone
• Fun                       Omri
• Ancient Egypt       Lazy Maths
• Roald Dahl           Times Tables
• Vedic squares      Tessellations 

Maths

I have left Mathletics open for all the pages so have a look at it and try some of the activities that you haven’t attempted yet. You can carry on using Mathletics next week as well.

Art

Why don’t you make a card to give to someone in your house who has been helping you with your home learning?  You all have great artistic skills so make them a lovely card with a message explaining how they have helped you and saying a big thank you!

Have a great weekend. I’m really looking forward to seeing you next week!

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Wednesday 9^th July 2020

Good Morning Hares

We have now finished our Victorian topic.  What did you think of the last lesson?  Is there anything you would have liked about being at a Victorian school?  I suppose it was still better than being like Jim, fending for yourself on the street.  Did you ask an elderly relative about their time in school?  I hope you didn’t ask them what life was like in Victorian times!

English

Wednesday – Next week, you will be meeting your new teachers.  Therefore, I thought this would be a good time to write them a letter all about you.

I have included some Pdfs as examples but most importantly you should include: a paragraph about yourself, including hobbies and interests and a paragraph about your favourite subjects and why you like them. You could also include some things you find difficult as this will be helpful for your new teacher. Finally you could include what you are looking forward to next year.  Remember, this is a great opportunity to show how good you are at writing.  You can bring your letter next week when you meet your teachers.

Thursday

LO: To create a montage (mixture of all the best bits!) poster of your home learning experiences.

Today we would like you to look at all the work you have achieved over lockdown. Look through your learning book and think about everything you have done. This may be tasks set by us or anything else that you are really proud of. You may want to spend a little bit of time collating (bringing together) everything you have done.

Discuss what you have achieved with someone on your family: What was really hard? What did you enjoy? Which piece of work are you most proud of? What books did you enjoy reading? After you have spent some time doing this, we would like you to put your ‘highlights’ down on a poster. This could be laid out like a page in an information book with small pictures and captions of your achievements. It could be on the computer (Power point, Word or Publisher)-you can choose!

Things to ensure:

• You have a clear heading
• You label/write explanations for each item
• Try to include: hardest work, most fun work, proudest work, most interesting learning, most enjoyable book read (plus your own ideas!).

We would love to see pictures of these!

Maths

As we have come to the end of Mathletics for this year, I have left open all the activities for you.  Therefore have a look at certain areas and see where you scored the lowest.  Then go back over them and try the tasks again.  See if you can score higher.  I have also reduced the minimum levels for playing around the world, so if you were struggling, have another try.  You might find them easier which should help with acquiring points for your avatar.

P.S.H.C.E.

If you are lucky enough to go on holiday this year, there is a good chance you will be going somewhere in the U.K.  There is also a high probability that you will be visiting a beach during your stay.  Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus, the RNLI have said they will not be able to patrol the beaches and sea as much as they have done so in the past.  They have therefore asked all teachers to send out the attached safety pack for you to read.  So read the Water Smart Leaflet, then have a go at Spot the Dangers.  If you have time, maybe you could create your own Water Safety Poster.

That is all until Friday.  Have a good two days.

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Monday 6^th July 2020

Good Morning Hares.

After so many weeks, this week is your last week of Home learning.  Next week will be a transition week and you will have the opportunity to come into school to meet your new teacher.  I hope you have enjoyed the tasks and that you feel that you have learned a lot despite not being in school.

This week the lessons will involve finishing off the Victorian topic and thinking about next week.

English/Topic

Monday

LO: To know what life was like in a Victorian school.

School was available for children not on the bottom level of society.  In some ways it was similar to today’s schools but in others it was very different.  Watch this reconstruction of a Victorian class and think about what is the same and what is different to Watlington School.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOmrCi-mh_k

Activity

Read through the attached PowerPoint and then complete the attached Venn diagram with the pictures and words on the first page of the activity sheet.  One has been done for you with ‘slate and chalk’.  You can either print off the Venn diagram or draw your own, but remember to use a compass if you can.

Once finished, show an adult your Venn diagram.  Do they agree with your choices?  Ring up an elderly relative and ask them what school was like when they were young.  Has anything changed since they were young?  My father used to tell me that in the weekly spelling tests at his school, the boy with the lowest score always got the slipper!

Tuesday

LO: To try handwriting in the style of a Victorian child

If you can, download the Victorian Lapbook sampler I have added.  Then practise each letter by writing over the faint letter on the sheet.  If you cannot print it off, try writing directly into your book.

Now look at the school rules sheet.  Try to write them out in the Victorian style on the Victorian copybook page.  Talk about the rules with an adult in the house.  Which ones do you think seem a bit unfair?

Spelling

Monday

This week we are looking at adverbs of manner.  Read through the PowerPoint and look for the words in the word search.

Tuesday

Can you write a sentence beginning with each adverb of manner?  For example,

Reluctantly, he pushed open the unlocked door and peered inside.

Maths

I have added some more tasks that need revision plus two problem solving questions on Mathletics.

P.E

As we can’t all be together to enjoy our annual Sports day at school, why not set up your own at home for you and your family to take part in? You can make up your own events or look at the attachment and use the suggested ideas.  Luckily for you, you will be able to choose any day for your Sports Day.  On the week’s weather forecast Friday looks a good day.

That’s all so far.  Talk to you again on Wednesday.

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Friday 3rd July 2020

Good Morning Hares.

How did you get on with the last set of learning tasks?  Thank you for the letters from Jim that some of you sent in.  When you look back over his life, you realize how much he had to endure.  The sad fact is that Street Child was based on a true story.  Do you think a child would lead a similar life today?

English

You have written a letter from Jim to his sisters and answered a comprehension on the last chapters.  To finish off Street Child, I would like you to fill in the attached book review and then create your own front cover.  I know some of you bought your own copies, but the majority of you haven’t seen the cover, so this should be an interesting exercise.  Please send them in once completed.  The book is called Street Child and the author is called Berlie Doherty.

Spellings

How did you get on writing your paragraphs?  Did your sentences make sense?  Today try to remember them one more time and then ask someone else in the house to test you.

Maths

Roll Dice Activity

I hope when you rolled 2 dice 48 times that you all got similar results.  The most popular numbers should have been 6, 7 and 8.  Can anyone explain why?  Your task is to explain to an adult why these numbers should be more popular when you throw 2 dice.  Try to illustrate your explanation with some numbers.

I have also added some revision Mathletics and work on Properties of Shapes.

Science

Sound: Pitch and Volume

Hopefully, you will have realized from your work that pitch can be changed by making the strings tighter.  Volume can be increased by making the sound box bigger.

PSHCE

I was teaching the Year Fives today and yesterday, and Mrs Doran asked if the class could do the following activity.  It is called the ‘A to Z of well-being after lockdown’.  When you look at the attached Pdf file you will see an alphabet has been written.  Read through these and then scroll down and look at the blank sheet.  Print it off and make one of your own or simply write out an alphabet in your Home Learning book and fill it in.  Try to avoid looking at the previous example.

Finishing Off

If you still have time, look back through your book and see if there is anything which needs finishing off.

That’s all for this week.  Have a good weekend and talk to you again on Monday.

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Wednesday 1^st July 2020

Good Morning Hares.  White Rabbits!

Welcome to the lovely month of July.  I hope you enjoyed the last two days of home learning.  The weather hasn’t been great so hopefully while you were indoors you managed to attempt the science investigation keeping the ice cube cold.  Well done if you managed the tennis exercise.  Of course, Wimbledon isn’t on at the moment, but there are some old matches being played on the television to get you in the mood.

English

How did you get on with reading the last chapters of Street Child?  There were quite a lot of chapters, so if you didn’t finish do that first and then try the comprehension questions.  Once you have finished the questions, you are ready for the next tasks. I have attached the answers to the questions to see how well you did.  Remember, your answers might not necessarily be the same, but just check if you had the same idea.

Wednesday: LO – To plan an informal letter.

Now we have finished Street Child, you are going to pretend to be Jim and write a letter to his sisters about his experiences on the streets and to let them know that he is now living somewhere safe and that he is well. As the letter is from Jim to his sisters, it is an informal letter, meaning it is a friendly, personal letter. Today you are going to think about what you will include in your letter and create a plan. Remember you might like to include some of the facts you learned yesterday about Dr Barnardo and the Ragged schools to describe what his life is like at the end of the story.

 We have attached an example plan for you to look at. You can either print out our planning format or draw one into your books.

Thursday: LO – To compose an informal letter based on events in a story.

It is time to write! Use your plan to write your letter. Attached is an example letter to give you some ideas, but it would be lovely to see you thinking about what experiences Jim had that you think are important to talk about. Remember that you are writing about events that have already happened so you must stay in the past tense. The ONLY time you will write in the present tense is if you are describing what life is like for him at the time he writes the letter; if you describe life in the Ragged school this may be in the present tense.

 Try to write your letter out as neatly as possible and check it carefully for any little mistakes. Tomorrow you will have time to edit and make any changes to your letter. We will then look forward to seeing some of these letters if you send them in-we will share them on the star learning page here!

Spellings

Wednesday and Thursday

Try to test yourself, using the ‘look, cover, write, check’ method.  Then, I would like you to write a paragraph describing your typical day using your spellings.  With your adverbs of frequency and possibility, describe what definitely happened and what might happen.  Try to use all the words but also try to make sure they make sense.

Maths

Roll Dice Activity

On Monday and Tuesday, I asked you to roll a dice 48 times and to make a bar graph of your results.  If we were in class now, I would ask you all which was the most popular number that was rolled.  I am pretty sure that overall, you would all have different numbers which would show that there was an equal chance of throwing any number from 1 to 6.

Today, I would like you to throw TWO dice 48 times.  Record your results on a tally chart and then turn them into a bar graph.  Once again, I have included a Pdf of squared paper if you need it to create a bar graph.  The numbers you could throw will range from 2 to 12 which you will put on the horizontal axis.  The number of throws will be on the vertical axis.

Will some numbers be more regular than others?  What do you predict?

If you don’t have dice, click below, then click on the wheel to give yourself two dice.  You will need to click the cup, then click it again to throw two dice.

https://www.online-stopwatch.com/chance-games/dice-shaker-cup/

I have also added some more Mathletics for you to try.

Science

Sound: Pitch and Volume

During Victorian times, a scientist invented a way of recording human voices for the first time. Some famous people had their voices recorded, and it is thought this recording could be Queen Victoria.  Listen right to the end as some of the crackle is taken out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EPifjQJYGA

What differences can we notice between different people’s voices? Can we find a way to make a louder or quieter sound? Can we find a way to make a higher or lower pitched sound?  Try and find various cardboard boxes, cut a hole in them and stretch an elastic band around the box.  Watch this video for an idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqY9JqKdvBU

How can you make change pitch which means higher or lower?

Apart from the way you pluck the elastic band, what else affects the volume of the note?

Value of the Month

The value of the month is TOLERANCE.

This is such an important value for us all to understand and make part of our daily lives.

Look at the attached power point. Think about how you are tolerant in your daily life-how could we all be more tolerant? The key words used are in the table below. If you are unsure of their meaning, you could use a dictionary to find out what they mean.

That’s all.  Have a good two days and don’t forget to send in work. 

Talk to you on Friday.

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Monday 29^th June 2020

Morning Hares and welcome back to your on line learning!  How did you get on with the Learning Grids?  Did you enjoy making the toys?  I saw one example of a William Morris trellis picture which was lovely.  Did anyone attempt the jelly?

For the next two weeks we will be back to the familiar routine of uploading activities for Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Then the final week will be Transition week when you will have the opportunity to be with your new teacher.  Now for your next instalment of learning!

English

I have uploaded the rest of Street Child for you to read over the week. This will help you with some of the activities we set. We are going to be finishing the story this week and thinking about the whole book ready to write a comprehensive book review towards the end of the week.

Monday and Tuesday

I have spread this reading and comprehension exercise over Monday and Tuesday.

LO To understand the reasons for some of the characters actions.

Read through Chapters 23 to 27 and have a chat with someone in your house about what has happened so far.  Hopefully, you still appreciate how much better living in 2020 is to living in Victorian times.  If you want to help with the number of pages, you could ask an adult to read every other page with you.  I really enjoy doing the voices from ‘Indian in the Cupboard’.  You could try some of the Cockney accents from Street Child which is set in London.  If in doubt have a look at this video for fun. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjGNJ5JL8w

Next time I see you, tell me what you think of maths! (Clue- the answer is in the video).

Once you have finished reading, try to answer the comprehension questions.  As there are so many pages, I have given you the page number for each question so that you can find the paragraph to help you answer it.  Also remember, you have two days to complete this activity.  I hope you enjoy the ending of the book.

Reading

You have a lot of reading to do from Street Child, but if you feel like doing another task from the Reading Journal list, I have attached it again. 

Spelling

Your spellings this week are all adverbs of frequency and possibility.

Monday

Read through the attached PowerPoint and find the words in the word search

Tuesday

All these words are linked to the possibility of something happening.  For example,

“West Ham are a Premier League football team who occasionally lose football matches”.

Using all your words, write ten sentences in your Home Learning book about the probability of something happening.  Read them to an adult in your house and see if they agree.  For instance, someone might disagree with my sentence and write instead,

“West Ham are a Premier League football team who regularly lose football matches”.

This may be true, but I can’t bear to admit it!

“Maybe, West Ham will be one of the teams relegated this season.” L

Maths

For this week, I have gone through the Place Value activities you tried early on, and have assigned tasks that you individually had a certain difficulty with.  I would like you to try these again.  I have also added a problem called ‘Water, Water, Everywhere’.  The activity mentions the unit of volume called centilitres abbreviated to cl which is often found on bottles.  You must find out how big they are before you can attempt the activity.

Dice Roll Activity

I would like you to attempt the attached activity about rolling dice.  However, I would like you to actually investigate rolling the dice 48 times using a tally chart.  Then I would like you to turn your information into a bar chart.  I have attached a Pdf of some squared paper if you need some.  Remember to write the number of the dice on the horizontal axis and the number of throws the number appears on the vertical axis.

MathsFrame TimesTable Checker

I have been writing your reports these last few weeks and for many of you, I have set you a target of learning all your table by the beginning of next term.  Why not start now?  Get practising here!

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

Science/Topic

Rich Victorians were able to have ice in their drinks and make ice-cream with it despite not having fridges – even in the summer.  Unbelievable, yet true!  Read the Pdf called ‘Ice Without Fridges’ to see how they did it.

With an adult, I would now like you to read this web page where different materials are investigated to see how good they are at keeping objects cold.

https://frugalfun4boys.com/ice-melting-science-experiment/

Now try and have a go at this experiment.  I actually think, summer is a better time of year to see how good your material is.  I have attached the Pdf that is mentioned on the web page.  I would love to see some photographs of your work if possible.  Send them to this email address:

office.2459@watlington.oxon.sch.uk

P.E.

Sadly, Wimbledon should have started today but like all the big sporting events, it has been cancelled.  But don’t despair, if you have a tennis racquet or any sort of flat bat and a ball, try these exercises to get you on the road to becoming tomorrow’s tennis champions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znbpWMuORa4

Of course, Joe Wickes is still going although I think you have worn him out as he has reduced his live shows to three times a week!

Have a great two days.  Talk to you again on Wednesday.

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

WB 22.06.2020

Good Morning Hares

Welcome to another week of learning.  Attached is your new Home Learning grid.  Those who came in last week might recognise some of the subjects which are mentioned such as The British Empire and William Morris.  However, if you are still at home, don't worry, as everything is explained.

Here is a quick summary of the activities.

English

Continue with your time capsule letter.

Maths

Activities linked to weight and volume.  I have also assigned some Mathletics tasks.

Art

Looking at the work of the Victorian artist William Morris.  I drew a trellis and turned it into a pdf for you to try and recreate your own William Morris wallpaper at home.

Topic

Read the British Empire pdf and have a good look at the map. The activity is to help you think about the size of the Empire and to see if it is true that the sun never set on it. (Apparently, there was always somewhere in the British Empire where it was daylight).

I am writing this on Sunday 21st June 2020.  Thinking about the sun and when it sets, why is this day significant?

Science

Only make the jelly if your parents have time to help you.  This activity is to make you think about the differences in thickness of objects (density).  If you can make two jellies, can they be the same size but have different weights?

Design and Technology

This is linked to learning about Victorian toys.  In class, some children made a Thaumatrope.  I thought I would give everyone a chance to make one in addition to looking at some other toy activities.

That is all for this week.  I think everything else is self-explanatory.  If you come in, make sure you bring a bottle of water, a sunhat and wear lots of sun cream - the weather is forecast to be hot!  If you are not coming in, do the same anyway and also,  - stay safe!

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Week Beginning 15^th June 2020

Good Morning Hares

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and are looking forward to another week of learning.

How did you get on designing a statue for Lord Shaftesbury?  Well here is some news for you.  There is an actual statue in London which celebrates his life!  It is in Piccadilly Circus in London.  I have attached the final page of the PowerPoint about the life of Lord Shaftesbury for you to read about it.  I would then like you to tell your parents all about it.  When people know about his life, I’m sure there is no-one who would want to take his statue down!

I have attached a home learning grid which has activities for you to complete while you are at home.  I have also attached any resources that you will need to help you.   I have also assigned you some more Mathletics tasks.

Have a good week!

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Friday 12th June 2020

Good Morning Hares

Welcome to Friday!  I hope you are all well.  I’m really looking forward to this weekend as it is my birthday.  However, like many of you have experienced, it will be a strange day because of lock down.

Topic

I hope you were happy with your letter to Prime Minister William Gladstone.  (I once met Gladstone’s grandson at a Scout’s award ceremony many years ago – he was Chief Scout at the time.)

Thank you for the letters I received. Guess what?  You were successful.  It has been agreed that a memorial can be put up to celebrate Lord Shaftesbury’s life.  Your task now is to design a statue with an inscription underneath.  Don’t worry, he is praised by everyone for what he did in his lifetime.  One biographer called Georgina Battiscombe wrote,

“No man has in fact ever done more to lessen the extent of human misery or to add to the sum total of human happiness".

Before you design your statue and think about what you will write underneath it, I would like you to complete the time line exercise of his life, to remind you of his achievements.

You can print the timeline, cut it out and stick it in your book or you can simply make your own timeline.

Art

Think about what symbol would best celebrate Lord Shaftesbury.  Would it be him? A child or children?  Or something else – you decide. But try to put it on a plinth with something memorable written below it.  Now draw it in your Home Learning book. You can use any type of media you wish.  Again it would be great to see your pictures.  If you are coming in on Monday, bring them in.

Reading

Read chapters 16 and 17 from Street Child and discuss with an adult what has happened.

Spelling

How have you got on with your ‘ous’ spellings?  Check through them again and then ask an adult to test you.

Maths

I hope you enjoyed the maths problems.  Today all your assigned activities are about problem solving so I haven’t added any extra ones.  It is open until Sunday night.

Keep practising your tables.  I am writing your reports at the moment and for many of you, I am setting a target to know all your tables by the end of the summer holidays.  So get practising!  Google MathsFrame Table Checker.

Returning to school

As some of you are returning to school next week, things on here will change a bit and work will not be set the same way. If you are not attending school, each Monday we will post a grid of activities for you to complete throughout the week. This is similar to the home learning grids. Feel free to add in other activities that you think will be beneficial to you. We will continue to assign Mathletics tasks for all of you to complete and we are happy for you to try different topics that you haven’t finished yet, maybe looking at particular areas of the maths curriculum that you sometimes find slightly trickier.

So, whether you are in school learning or learning at home we are all still one class and you are all Super Stars!

Have a great weekend Hares.

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Wednesday 10th June 2020

Good Morning Hares

How are you all today?  I hope you really appreciate now how lucky you are not to be a child working in a Victorian factory or mine.  Today you are going to find out about someone who decided to do something about child labour – Lord Shaftesbury.

English

Wednesday

LO: To write a letter expressing a point of view with facts and evidence.

Well done for writing a letter to your MP demanding the end of child labour.  It worked!  Your letter was passed on to Lord Shaftesbury who has decided to do everything he can to stop child labour. 

• Watch this BBC video where Lord Shaftesbury is interviewed by Charles Dickens.  It would be a good idea to take some notes on his achievements.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011lqq9

• Now read through the attached PowerPoint about the life of Lord Shaftesbury.  Again note down how he helped stop child labour as well as other injustices in Victorian times.
• Using the attached writing frame, plan out a letter to the famous Victorian Prime Minister, William Gladstone, on why a statue should be erected to commemorate and celebrate Shaftesbury’s life.  Remember to look at the persuasive writing checklist to remind yourself of the features.

Thursday

LO: To write a letter expressing a point of view with facts and evidence

Look at the plan you wrote yesterday and watch the video and PowerPoint again if you like.

Now imagine that Shaftesbury has recently died.  You think it is really important that such a great man should have a statue built in his honour.  Using your plan, write a letter to the Prime Minister demanding this is done.  Don’t forget to follow the structure, but to also use lots of passionate and emotional language.

You could print off another writing frame and write your letter in rough on it and then write it neatly in your book or you could write straight into your book.  The choice is yours. 

I look forward to reading some powerful persuasive writing.  If in doubt, refer to the Banning Chips letter for some guidance.

Reading

Read chapters 14 and 15 from Street Child

Spelling

Try to find all the ‘ous’ words in the word search.

Maths

I hope you enjoyed the maths problems.  The Flutterbye activity looked quite hard so don’t worry if you didn’t complete it.  Today, I would like you to try more Position and Direction questions.  Then try the two problems – Reflection of an R and Mighty Maze.

Topic

For an on-going topic, I would like you to have a think about and choose a well-known Victorian figure to research and write a report about.  People you could research might include Charles Dickens, Dr Barnardo, Queen Victoria, Isambard Kingdom Brunel or Florence Nightingale.  Or you could choose someone else – maybe a writer, inventor or artist.

Have a look around any books you might have or research the internet to find someone suitable.

I will give you more details on Friday.

P.E.

We are going to look at athletics for the rest of the term.  To start, I would like you to practise standing jumps.  Have a look at this video and see if you can learn the technique of jumping far from a stand still.  Get someone to record your furthest jump and write it in metres and centimetres.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO57oC3Cw14

That is all for Wednesday and Thursday.  Have a fun two days and don’t forget to send in some work!

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Monday 8^th June 2020

Good Morning Hares

Welcome to a new week of learning.  I hope you are all well and still coping with lock down.  This week we are going to continue learning about the working conditions of children in Victorian times.

English

Monday

LO: To write a letter expressing a point of view with facts and evidence.

How did you get on with the points of view activity?  Were you able to back up each point of view with some facts and evidence?

Today, I would like you to revisit your notes about children working in Victorian times.  Have a look at the attached PowerPoint.  Is there anything you could add?

The task today is to plan a letter to your MP demanding that children under the age of 12 are banned from working in factories.

• Have a look at the boxed up chips letter where the text is blank.  Think about how it is structured and see if you agree with the features I have mentioned.  Did I miss any?
• Now read the letter where hints and features have been added.
• Now go back to the blank sheet and plan and write in rough what you would say in a letter asking for child labour to stop.  You can use the first paragraph I wote

or plan your own.

Tuesday

How did you get on planning your letter?  Do you think you included some strong points of view?  Did you agree with the features I found?

LO: To write a letter expressing a point of view with facts and evidence.

Today, I would like you to look at your plans for the child labour letter and try to write out a letter in full in your Home Learning book.

TIP

Remember, a persuasion letter has three parts.

Part One

Introduction explaining why you are writing the letter and what is upsetting you.

Part Two

Write in about three paragraphs, three different points of view with each one being supported by facts and evidence.

Part Three

Finish with a conclusion stating why you are so upset again and what you want the person reading the letter to do about it.

Good luck and keep referring to the boxed up letter with hints on it and the checklist.

Reading

Carry on with activities from your Reading Journal.  If you chose a drawing activity last, try a writing one today.  Remember, the best writers are the ones who read the most.  So keep reading at least 20 minutes a day.

Spelling

This week’s spellings are ‘ous’ words again.  However, the word they are attached to is not a root word.  Look at the PowerPoint and then try the crossword.  This will help you understand the meaning of the words.

Maths

Thank you Katie for your lovely video of Bryony’s flower

Today I have given you some assignments from position and direction plus two problems – A Day on a Farm and Flutterbye which is a symmetry question

Science

Thank you to Josephine and Yasmin for sending in the lovely dental care work.  This week we are going to think about night and day.

Night and Day

During the Victorian era, Britain ruled many countries around the world. The British Empire went right around the globe. People said ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’, because it was always daytime somewhere in the British Empire. Why do you think we have day and night? Can we use a model of the Earth to explain to an adult in your house why it is daytime in Australia and New Zealand when it is night time in Britain?  This video is quite useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr-CRKsTYGs

That is all for Monday and Tuesday.  Just try to have a go at the activities and remember to have fun!

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Friday 5^th June 2020

Good Morning Hares !

Welcome to Friday and your last day of learning before the weekend.  How did you get on reading the persuasive argument for banning chips?  Did it change your mind or would you prefer chips every day?  Yesterday, it took me much longer to get home because there was a big traffic jam outside Benson.  It turned out it was the queue for McDonalds which had just re-opened.  Lots of people were desperate for their burgers and CHIPS!

English

Friday

LO: To understand how to support a point of view with facts and evidence.

When writing an argument, it is very important to support your point of view with real facts and evidence.  This can be quite hard for children, so I am going to give you an activity to help re-inforce this idea.

Point of View Activity

When writing a persuasive text, you should always include a few points of view and then say why they are important by supporting them with facts and evidence.  If you look at the activity sheet attached, you can see a list of sentences which express a point of view.  With the sentence about sweet eating, I have said, as an example, that it is important not to because your teeth will decay.

Now you have a go with the rest of the sentences. But remember, you are expected to write a new sentence and NOT start it with because.  Once you have written them on the sheet, write it out neatly in your book.  If you don’t have a printer, go straight into the book.

Extension

Can you express some more points of view and then back them up with facts and evidence?  Try to write at least three more examples.

Reading

Carry on with activities from your Reading Journal.  If you chose a writing activity last, try a drawing one today.

Spelling

How did you get on with writing a paragraph using all the words?  Thanks for your copy Yasmin, and thanks Ben for the recording of yours!

I have included a look, cover, write, check sheet for you all to test yourselves.

Maths

Today your assignments are all do to with decimals.  There are quite a few, so I have only included one problem solver called ‘Code Breaker’.  I will leave these tasks open until Sunday 7pm.

Science

Did you find out why plants produce flowers?  Do you think the sweeter the smell the more insects?  I remember watching a David Attenborough film where he showed a plant flower that smelled of rotting flesh – it attracted thousands of insects! Yuck!  Did you manage to find some plants that don’t produce flowers?  Did you work out how they made more plants?

Continuing the Victorian link - In 1874, William Gladstone, the prime minister, removed the tax on sugar. This made sugar more affordable and led to more people having tooth decay. In early Victorian times, anyone could be a dentist and the most common treatment was tooth extraction. What can we find out about how sugar affects teeth? Can you make a poster to show how we can care for our teeth today?

That is it for today.  Have a lovely weekend – talk to you again on Monday.

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Wednesday 3^rd June 2020

Good Morning Hares !

I have been back in school for the last two days working with the key worker children.  It was strange when I walked into the classroom, as there was a picture I had drawn on the whiteboard of a daffodil dated Friday 20^th March.  It was like I had walked into a time capsule. 

Yesterday, I put up a display of some of the work you had sent in.  I have added it to this web page.  As you can see, there is still room for more – so keep sending your work in.

I bet after reading about some children working in Victorian times, that you are glad you are alive in 2020 – despite the lockdown!  What was your favourite and least favourite job?  I think I would quite like walking around fields scaring birds – at least you would have lots of fresh air!  I think the worst job would be collecting poo – imagine being so desperate to have to do that.  To continue our studies into expressing a point of view or argument, I would like you to do the following.

English

Wednesday: LO – To read and respond to a text and using evidence to demonstrate understanding.

• Look at the answer sheet to the comprehension questions.  How many did you answer correctly?  I think some of them were quite tough, so well done for trying.
• Read through your notes from Monday and Tuesday and write a list of the top five reasons why children working is a bad idea.

Thursday: LO:  To write a text expressing an argument or point of view

• Now read through the text about banning chips.  This is a really good example of a persuasive text expressing a point of view.  The writer is very keen that the school stops serving chips every day in the canteen.  Read through it and think why it works so well.  Then look at the attached checklist and see if you can find any of the features in the text.  Discuss this with an adult if you can.
• Now read through the boxed up version and write in the middle column any features you have found.  You could write the feature and draw an arrow to it in the text column.

Reading

For the chapter book you are currently reading, pick one of the activities from your Reading Journal list.  Remember the rule that if your last activity involved drawing, your next one should involve writing.

Spelling

How did you get on with the word chart activity?  Did you find all the meanings of the words?  Did you have to look at the clues on the PowerPoint?

Today, I would like you to write a paragraph which involves all the words in this week’s spellings.  Try your hardest to write something that makes sense – it will be quite difficult, but give it a go.

Maths

How did you get on with the fraction work?  Did you remember some of the things you learned in class about equivalent fractions?  Have a look at the solution to the Four by Four problem.  How did you get on?

For this week, the focus is still fractions.  I would like you to complete the assigned tasks.  When you have to point to the fraction on the number line, remember that 1/5 is the same as 2/10. After you have tried the assigned tasks, try the problem below called Bryony's Flower. It reminds me of the paper boats you all started making in class.  If you want, you could colour your flower.

https://nrich.maths.org/7392&part=

Science

The streets of Victorian London would have smelt horrible. Flower girls were a familiar sight on the streets. They made posies of sweet smelling flowers, such as violets and roses, to sell to rich ladies and gentlemen.  Here are some questions for you to think about.  Why do you think some plants have flowers?  How can we find out if sweet smelling flowers attract more insects? Finally, have a look in your garden or a nearby park and try to find plants which don’t have flowers.  How do they make seeds?  Or if they don’t, how do they make new plants?  Do you know any plants on which you have never seen a flower?  Don’t write anything down,  just think what the answers might be.

That is everything to date.  I will be back on Friday so until then have a good two days of learning.

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Monday 1^st June 2020

Good Morning Hares and welcome back!

It was lovely talking to most of you on Thursday and Friday.  I hope you all had a lovely half term break.  Did you manage to get out and enjoy the weather?  I don’t think I can remember a holiday at this time of year being so hot.  My lawn is already going brown!

I am back at school from today and am looking forward to displaying some of the work you have sent into me.  If you have any other examples, please send them in and I will try to put them up.  This includes flower pounding pictures, your inventions and anything else you wish me to see.

And now for your next installment of learning!

English

In the next few lessons, we are going study how to express a point of view or an argument in writing.  And our subject will be the working conditions for Victorian children.  Many children who came from poor families were not lucky enough to go to school and had to work instead. 

Monday

LO – To read and respond to a text and using evidence to demonstrate understanding.

So as an introduction to this subject, I would like you to read chapters 12 and 13 from Street Child.  While doing this jot down some notes about the terrible conditions Jim experiences whilst working for Grimy Nick.  Once you have done this, answer the comprehension questions in your Home Learning book.  I will give you the answers to the comprehension on Wednesday. 

Tuesday

LO: To understand the working conditions of poor children in Victorian times

Unlike now, many children had to work in the Victorian times in order that their families did not starve.  Some of the jobs they did would not be acceptable now.  Watch this video and think about the three jobs described.  Which one is the worst one by far?  Jot down some notes about the unacceptable conditions you see the children working in.

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011l1k1

The UK became very rich with the coming of the Industrial Revolution as there was a great demand for coal and textiles.  However, young children often had to work in the factories or down mines.  Watch these two clips about working conditions in coal mines and take notes of the terrible conditions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0115g6d

and textile factories

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01157jx

Children also worked as domestic servants and bird scarers.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01145qm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0113tgj

Now watch the attached PowerPoint about children working in Victorian times. (Take notes on the poor working conditions you read about).

At the end, discuss with someone in your house, if you had to, which job you would prefer to do and why and which one would be worse and why.

Reading

You have a lot of reading to do for the lessons, but if you feel like doing another task from the Reading Journal list, I have attached it again. 

Spelling

Monday

It’s a new half term, so you have a new list of spellings for the term which I have included.  This week your spellings are words which have the suffix ‘ous’ which you add to the root word without changing it.  Read through the PowerPoint and try the word search. 

Tuesday

Look at the Word Chart Activity sheet and fill it in or write it out in your books.  Here is some help – some of the definitions are in the PowerPoint when you click on clues in the hangman/bowling game from Monday.

Maths

For this week, the focus will be fractions.  I have assigned you five tasks on Mathletics and given you a fraction problem as a pdf file called Four by Four. Don’t forget to play live and go on the MathsFrame times table checker website.

Music

Have you picked up your recorder during the break?  Now is the time to entertain members of your household with your playing skills.  Pick one of the pieces and play it as a performance to someone.  Maybe you could do two pieces.

P.E.

Is it time to visit Joe Wickes again?  He is still going and doing great work outs for children.

That is all so far.  I will be back on Wednesday with the comprehension answers and more learning linked to children working in Victorian times.

Remember to send work in for me.

Best wishes

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour

Friday 22^nd May 2020

Good Morning Hares and welcome to Friday!

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the half term holiday.  Have you been doing any of the social distancing grid?  If not try some more of the activities over the next few days.  They are very good for getting you into the frame of mind for being in school after lockdown.  It was great speaking to so many of you on the phone and hearing what you have been up to.  I will try to contact the rest of you today.

Friday

English/Topic

LO:  To write an explanation piece of text

I hope you all finished creating your own invention.  Today you are going to write an explanation of how your invention works.

If you struggled coming up with something or you feel there is not much that you can write about your own invention, I am quite happy for you to choose one of the Wallace & Gromit videos and explain how it works.  My favourite is the Snoozatron – I would love to hear how that works.

To help you, I have boxed up The Bedroom Tidier.  Read each paragraph and see what comments I have written in the middle box.  Once you have read it through, I would like you to write your explanation of your own invention in the third box.  Try to follow the pattern of the writing, but also try to be original as possible.  Also don’t forget to keep referring to the Explanation writing checklist. Once you have finished, check through it and write it out neatly in your home learning book.  If possible, you could also email it to the school office so I could put it into the Hares Book of Cracking Inventions!

Maths

I hope you enjoyed the Mathletics and managed the Straw Squares problem.  Here is the solution from the answer book.  Sorry I couldn't get it any smaller!

In Mathletics, I have given quite a few tasks in Properties of Shapes for you to finish by the end of the holidays.  Of course you could get them all done by the end of Friday.  However, there are no problems today so just focus on the tasks.

Reading

Try to read a chapter from your book and then tackle one of the tasks from your Reading Journal.  Remember to read through the holiday – reading isn’t homework, it is fun!

Spellings

Ask an adult to test you on the ‘ar’ and ‘er’ words.  You could also go back over the term’s spellings and see what you can remember.

That’s all folks.  Have a good break and keep slapping on that sun cream!

Best wishes and talk to you a week on Monday if I don’t talk to you today!.

Mr Burchill and Mrs Seymour