An unforgettable experience!

This week, Year 4 enjoyed a visit from The Mimika Theatre Group.

We were transported through a non verbal exploration of four contrasting areas of the natural world.

Landscapes is a unique show featuring puppets, mime, lights and sound which was designed to communicate through atmosphere.

We witnessed remarkable visual effects and transformations all set inside a beautiful  dome.

Throughout the 45 minute session we enjoyed atmosphere, movements, rhythms, and sounds of four contrasting areas of the natural world.

The Sun rises over a buzzing desert, a chick hatches.

The Eagle leaves the nest in search of food.

Below, the Meerkats are alert.

The journey begins…..

Desert

Where the meerkats,lizards, snakes and scorpions battle each other but all live under the constant threat of danger from above…

…the ever circling Eagle searching for prey.

Rainforest

Where Apes and even the butterflies,spiders and birds are all drawn to a clutch of eggs on the riverbank but, the Crocodile is always on guard.

Sea

A crowded kaleidoscope of constant movement, the large and the small, the speedy and the slow, the beautiful and the ugly, the familiar and the bizarre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antarctic

Where the snow and the wind, the cold and the ice provide a harsh but beautiful background for the setting sun at  journey’s end.

What did we learn?

At the end of the performance, Year 4 went back to class and discussed the amazing experience we had just been a part of. Not only had this show enriched each child’s knowledge of life, it had also opened up some new and exciting vocabulary. We will be sure to use this in our current report writing. The children were able to say how this show has helped them to learn more about things like:

• environments
• habitats
• different species
• adaptation
• predators and prey
• life cylces
• food chains

We also discussed how using music in the production created an atmosphere for each environment.

“You can tell by the change in the music when a predator is nearby,” said Poppy, hiding behind her hands!

I really enjoyed the show and didn’t want it to end,” Henry said.

“We can honestly say that we found Landscapes to be one the most exciting, moving, educational performances we have ever seen. All the staff witnessed  an awe of wonder on every child’s face as they watched this incredible show.  Indeed, we were all very privileged to be a part of this journey through different lands.  All this without a word being spoken,”  discussed Mrs Freeman, Mrs Charlesworth (who was none to keen on the snakes) and Mrs Pearson. 

Below, there are some images from the Mikika Theatre website for you to enjoy with your child. Ask them to describe each picture and which creatures inhabit the environment shown.

Mimika Theatre

Magical thought Emily

Imaginative said Jemima

Mesmerising whispered Will

Incredible shouted Hifza

Kashif loved it

Albie’s allotment friends

Talha stated it was amazing

Harris loved the lifelike flamingo

Excited were Liam and Sakina

Astonishing scenes blew Leo away

Terrific and thrilling explained Parth

Rayn loved the monkey even though it made us jump

Educational entertainment about the world around us

• written by Year 3

Our newest class member

To fit in with our topic of Life Forces, Year 4 have adopted a gorilla in support of the WWF charity.This incredible charity works to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable animals.    ADOPT A GORILLA The powerful mountain gorilla, now critically endangered with only around 880 left in the wild. The mountain gorilla is one of four surviving gorilla subspecies. They’re found in just two isolated populations – in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, and the Virunga volcanoes – which span the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We will be looking very closely at all aspects that are affecting and causing the decline in population. The adoption and support will to do many things. Such as: train rangers to detect and safely remove snares set for other animals, which can often servery hurt or kill gorillas help to train rangers to protect the gorillas against poaching of babies for the illegal pet trade work with local governments to improve the management of the national parks where gorillas live help to protect vital gorilla habitat help reduce conflict between mountain gorillas and humans when gorillas enter villages and farmland Today, in class, the children were very excited to begin learning about these magnificent creatures. Lots of question were asked and we hope, in time, we will be able to answer them. The children received their first Gorilla update from the charity. This is The Year 4’s first Gorilla update. HOW YOU’RE HELPING With WWF’s help a 10 year trans-boundary strategic plan has been agreed to allow the authorities of Uganda, Rwanda and DRC to work together to help protect mountain gorillas. The plan will help the three countries come together, share knowledge and best practices, and manage the Virunga Massif and its diverse ecosystems in a more coordinated way. Your adoption helps pay for cameras to be put in remote locations – so we can check on wildlife numbers and health. Take a look at this amazing footage of a beautiful gorilla family. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AggPUKh6Z6Y Thank you for making The Year 4’s a Gorilla adopter. Your adoption is really vital to us. Together we can be a truly effective partnership for protecting the natural world. Thank you! WWF Year 4 will keep you posted on all the updates received from the charity.

What is a safe risk?

…was this week’s homework task. In our review, we discussed lots of different safe and unsafe risks. It was evident that children had engaged brilliantly with adults at home – well done.

We linked taking risks to challenge, and talked about how both made us feel. Miss Wilson introduced us to the learning zone model which describes three different stages of learning – the comfort zone (where you feel safe and no risks are taken), the stretch zone (sometimes called the learning zone, where you are challenged and you grow and learn) and the panic zone (where the risk is too great and there is fear and anxiety). We placed each of our risks onto the learning zone model.

It was an interesting discussion as answers varied across the class and answers varied depending on the situation…

“Challenge is when you might be scared or emotional. I wouldn’t ever give up and I would keep trying.” – Musa

“Division has been challenging for me because we used some tricky numbers.” – Ethan C

“Using a number line to subtract was hard. It made me feel a bit panicked because I didn’t like getting them wrong. When I worked with Mrs Burgess I got the hang of it and felt calm.”  – Safiya-Mishal

A special visitor…

We want to say a massive thank you to Mrs Khan who came in to talk to us about Muslim birth ceremonies.

The children loved finding out about a different religion or more about their own as part of this week’s RE learning.

“It was very interesting because I didn’t know that when a baby was born, they got someone special to sing.” – Harris

“I enjoyed learning more about my religion.” – Hifza

“I enjoyed learning about when people have to shave off their hair. They weighed the hair and they paid that amount of gold or silver to the poor.” – Leo

What is ‘8’?

We’ve been learning about the number 8. Can your child explain what’s happening in one of the pictures? Can your child spot eight things at home?

New school dinner menu

After half term, our school dinner menu will be changing.  This menu, provided by our school meals provider Catering Leeds, will be served until the end of the summer term.

Our School Council have recently repeated a vegetable survey to find out children’s favourite choices.  These preferences have now been incorporated into the new menu.

As well as on our website, the three week cyclical menu is also displayed on our dining room window for you to discuss with your child.   If you would like a printed copy, please ask at the office.

Have a look for the days ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.  Following pupil and parent feedback, children now make their main meal choice at the start of the day.  This ensures they get their first choice of meal.

School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals. (It’s important to check for eligibility for younger children, too, because school receives additional funding for each child who is eligible for a free meal, even when they’re free in Reception and Year 1 and Year 2!)

If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.

Children are consulted on school meals through our regular School Council meetings.  Feedback may also be given by speaking to an adult in school or completing a suggestions/comments slip and posting it in their class I want to say box.  We have a few new dishes on the menu which we encourage the children to try.

Thank you to parents who also raise questions and give feedback.  We can then ensure this is passed on to the kitchen staff.

Safer Internet Day 2018

Pupils will be taking part in different activities to support their learning of this important subject. As well as in class learning, children will have the opportunity to work with the following external visitors.

We welcome ‘Splats Entertainment’ who will be delivering e-safety drama workshops for pupils from Year 3 to 6. Children will be learning and performing a show in a day. Please see your child’s letter to request tickets to watch this show at 2:30pm on 06 February.

D:side, an online safety charity, will be visiting classes Y1-Y6 on 01 and 02 February to deliver internet safety sessions with the following focus:

• What we use the Internet for (KS1)
• What is / is not safe to share online (KS1)
• What to do if we are not sure about the internet (KS1)
• Using emails safely (KS2)
• Social networking and safe profiling – including use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat, Oovoo, etc. (KS2)
• ‘Chatting’ with care (KS2)
• Responsible and safe use of the internet (logins, email, photography, password protection, personal information and self-protection). (KS2)
• Using text and picture messaging (KS2)
• Behaving responsibly (KS2)

Dave Hill, from d:side, will also be delivering an online safety workshop for parents/carers on Thursday 01 February at 2:30pm-3:15pm.  There will be chance to find out what your child has been learning in this area, to give you some skills and knowledge to keep your child safe online and to ask questions on this subject. There will be limited places for this workshop so please complete and return the response slip, on your child’s letter, if you would like to attend.

If you are unable to attend the workshop, please refer to the guidance that will be sent home with your child published by the NSPCC/O2. Further guidance can be found on our website.  There will also be a workshop for parents of older children later in the term, specifically looking at the use of social media.

Investigating ice

Oh no! The polar animals are frozen in the ice. How can we free them?

Make-a-wish

This year, we’re supporting Make-a-wish as our school charity, chosen by the School Council.

Today, we welcomed John Russo, a volunteer from Make-a-wish, who told us about the charity, the kind of wishes they make happen and how the money we raise might be spent.

Children were asked to consider how we can support the charity over this year.  They could either write a suggestion for their ‘I want to say’ box or pass on their ideas to their class school councillors.