: Blog items
Date: 14th Jun 2024 @ 9:59am
On Tuesday we worked with Mrs McAffer to start our next art project with her. This time we linked it with our science learning all about animals. Our project is inspired by the work of an artist called Clare Youngs.
This week we created some mark making skills using different tools such as oil pastels, pens, printing and paint dashes on large sheets of paper. Next week we will choose an animal and draw around and cut the different animal parts using our paper with the different marks we created this week to create a collage of an animal.
Date: 14th Jun 2024 @ 9:42am
On Tuesday a group of Year 3 and 4 children attended an event called the 'Great Science Share' at the University of Salford. It was an opportunity for 34 school's around Greater Manchester to gather and share their science investigations to each other. Each school had a stall which they used to share their investigation to the visitiors walking around the hall. We also got an opportunity to go and visit the other schools' stalls to listen and learn about their science investigations. The Lord Mayor of Salford attended as well as some professors from the University of Salford and Manchester who were going around the stalls quizzing the children about their investigations.
Ferdows and Ayaan in Year 4 even got chosen to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the event! It such an amazing opportunity for the children who were in awe of the actual building! I am hoping to attend this event each year!
Enjoy looking at the photographs and video!
Mrs Iqbal
Date: 13th Jun 2024 @ 11:17am
Today we have been creating some very special cards. Some of us live with our Dads. Some of us don't live with our Dads. Some of us don't have a Daddy but we all have one special man who we love and this is a song for them. Click the link to hear us sing
Date: 10th Jun 2024 @ 5:11am
What a busy start to the final half term in Year 1!
Our last topic question is called 'What is in the United Kingdom?' To begin this topic we started to think about our new text that we will be using for our reading and writing sessions for the next few weeks. The story is called Katie in London who visits lots of the famous landmarks around the city on top of one of the lions in Trafalgar Square. After reading the story and learning the names of the landmarks Katie visited, we started to explore them by doing activities like:
*creating some of the landmarks using construction and small world toys.
*reading some non-fiction books about London in the reading area.
*finding the landmark names on a wordsearch.
*cutting and sticking the landmarks on a map of London.
*using our drawing skills to draw some of the landmarks thinking about the use of lines and shapes.
Our writing outcome for this story will be writing a recount of the places that Katie went to visit in London.
Here is a link to the story Katie in London to listen to at home: Katie in London 🦁 (youtube.com)
Date: 7th Jun 2024 @ 3:38pm
We have been pleasantly surprised in Reception this week with some very special stories! Some friends had the brilliant idea to bring in some of their favourite books from home to share with the class. What started as one book being brought in each day has quickly turned into three books brought in to read on Friday! It is great to see everyone excited to share their books from home. Looking forward to seeing some more soon!
Date: 3rd Jun 2024 @ 2:52pm
Today in Nursery Mrs Ganner's class were learning about journeys and transport. This morning we explored lots of enhancements to our environment that had a transport theme or linked to an amazing book called 'The Flying Bath'.
This afternoon we experimented with different junk modelling bottles and boxes, to find out what would happen if we used them as boats. We discovered that some materials aren't very good to use as boats. "Cardboard breaks and it goes squishy." We liked the plastic containers because they all floated but we found out that if you fill a bottle up with water it sinks because it's so heavy. Can you experiment at home to find things from around the house that would float? If you do, send a photo in to nursery@ravensbury.manchester.sch.uk
We also tried to find as many ways as possible to move around the outdoor area - can you see us pushing pedals, sliding, bouncing and walking? How do you travel to school? Do you transport yourself on your legs or do you come to school in a different way?
Have fun being scientists and finding out about transport at home!
Date: 25th May 2024 @ 2:11pm
On Monday, year 3 had an exciting, Roman visitor!
At first, we were all very confused as the Roman was speaking to us in Latin and we had no idea what was going on. He even thought we were barbarians!
But we soon learnt that he had travelled from Rome with his tent and materials, and was here to teach us all about Ancient Rome. We were able to try on Roman armour, wash our arms with olive oil, taste soup and bread as well as touch real artefacts that were over 2,000 years old.
Our favourite part of the day, was trying the marching exercises, where we worked as a team to link our shields and defend ourselves against the year 3 adults as well as the other year 3 class.
It was an amazing, educational day that we are sure to never forget!
Date: 24th May 2024 @ 3:37pm
For our Science topic this term 'Living things and their habitats' the children have grouped living things, classified a vertebrate, classified invertebrates, created classification keys recognised positive and negative changes in the local environment and researched endangered species. Throughout this time, the caterpillars have slowly turned into butterflies that we have released in the school garden. Have a look at the attached pictures!
Have a good rest over the holidays but don't forget to practice your times tables for the upcoming MTC.
What would you pack for a hot and cold climate?
Date: 24th May 2024 @ 1:39pm
In our Connected Curriculum this half term we have been answering the question 'Why is weather so wonderful?' During this topic we have been learning about weather in different seasons, tried to understand the meaning of different weather symbols, learnt about what and where the Equator, North and South poles are.
We learnt about what and where the Equator line was. We used an atlas and globe to locate it along with the North and South poles. We used small polystrene balls to mark on the Equator, North and South poles and told our friends some facts that we could remember.
We had a fantastic discussion about what climate is and what the weather conditions were in hot and cold places. The children were very confident and knowleageable about what would happen in dangerous weather conditions such as too much rain, sun or snow. Even Mr Jones was impressed who came to see the lesson! At the end of the discussion we chose a climate that we would prefer to visit by playing Go and Stand using two suitcases labelled hot and cold climates. Most of the children chose to visit a hot climate, including Miss Timmins!
We decided to pack our suitcases with things we would need to take with us if we were going to a hot or cold climate. The drawings and labels were very detailed. It was lots of fun and the suitcase pictures looked amazing!
Date: 24th May 2024 @ 1:17pm
In our reading and writing sessions for the past few weeks we have been looking at the features of a non-fiction book and reading lots of information about plants, how they grow and what happens in the lifecycle of a sunflower.
We read information and generated ideas about each stage of the lifecycle of a sunflower. We put all our ideas together to create a factfile of information about how a sunflower grows.
I think you will agree they look amazing!!
Date: 24th May 2024 @ 11:38am
To finish off our focus text The Extraordinary Gardener, we learned all about the importance of bees for planting beautiful flowers and plants. Bees are very important because they pollinate the plants. Without them, we wouldn't have any plants!
To spread our important message, we made lots of posters that tell people how they can help to save the bees. Then we put our posters up around school for everyone to see and so that they can learn about how important bees are!
Date: 24th May 2024 @ 11:09am
Today we celebrated the end of a busy half term by making some fruit kebabs. They were for us to eat, not for minibeasts!
First we cut the fruit (we cut it lengthways so it's safe to eat). Then we pushed it onto the kebab stick. After that most of us put two chocolate chips onto the minibeast, so it could see lol. Finally we ate our yummy fruit snacks. We held the kebab sticks safely so we didn't get hurt.
Most of the children had never eaten a blackberry. All of the children tried all of the fruit. They know it's good to try new things.
"It was very tasty." "It was very juicy." The banana is soft." "Blackberries are so yummy and they're healthy."I want to make kebabs with my Mummy." " Tomorrow I will make one at my house." "It was delicious!"
Date: 20th May 2024 @ 7:47am
For our CC this week, we learned about the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh and his famous painting of sunflowers. We discussed the different parts of a sunflower and where they get their name from: because they look like the sun! Then we completed a guided drawing of our own sunflowers and coloured them in with oil pastels. Now we are working on making an art display of our creations!
Date: 19th May 2024 @ 1:30pm
Another busy week in Year 3!
In history, we have learning about the legacy of the Romans. We were very surprised to learn just how much the Romans had given us - roads, language, Government, money and much more! We can't wait to meet our Roman visitor on Monday. Don't forget - you can come to school in your Roman outfit, school uniform or P.E kit.
In our English lessons, we have been learning all about the warrior, Queen Boudicca. We were amazed to learn how she rallied Celt tribes in an attempt to defeat Roman legions. We have begun to practice different skills - such as formal writing, past tense and adverbials - in preparation of writing a biography all about Boudicca next week.
In maths, we have been focusing on multiplication - specifically, our four times tables. We have practising recognising our four times tables, and explored the relationship between the 2 and 4 times tables.
In music and dance, we have been practising for the KS2 end of year performance. 3JH have been practising their makaton skills whilst 3CB have been trying to perfect their ukulele talents.
Next week, we hope to visit Phillip's Park to carry out a science experiment about friction - hopefully the weather will stay sunny for us!
Date: 18th May 2024 @ 9:09am
This week we have been exploring globes as part of our connected curriculum topic Why is the weather wonderful? We have been learning the definition of the word climate and how the places around the globe have hotter and colder climates. We could identify the North and South Pole on the globe and discovered that they are the coldest climates due to their positions and distance from the sun. We also learned what the equator is and how countries close to the equator have a hotter climate because they are the closest to the sun. Afterwards we made models of the globes and presented our facts to the Reception Class. They were very impressed with our knowledge about the climate around the globe.
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Wear green for Mental Health Awareness!
Date: 17th May 2024 @ 1:53pm
This week in school it was Mental Health Awareness Week. We discussed what mental health was and how we can keep our feelings and emotions in check by doing lots of different things. In class we discussed what we would do to feel good - keep active, do yoga, learn a new skill, spend time with our friends and family, eat something nice and do some colouring or crafts. On Friday we came to school wearing something green to finish off the week and voted for an activity that we wanted to do in the morning. Our class voted for a craft activity where we made some plants using paper, straws and masking tape.
Date: 17th May 2024 @ 1:47pm
In science this week we have been learning about the different parts of a tree. We used some non-fiction text to support our learning and went outside into the playground to look at some of the trees. We used our observational skills to sketch some trees and label the different parts of the tree using the correct vocabulary - roots, trunk, bark, branches, leaves and crown.
Next time you are walking outside or going to the park, why not have a look at some of the different trees and see if you can recognise the parts...
Date: 17th May 2024 @ 8:02am
What a week filled with transformation. Our caterpillars are in the midst of their transformation and have become chrysalises! Hopefully next week, there will be an even greater transformation...check in next week. Have a look at the pictures to see the changes so far.
Sunflower update and garden fun!
Date: 16th May 2024 @ 6:26pm
The children have worked hard caring for their sunflower and have enjoyed watching the stem and the shoot appear. They have also had a wonderful time exploring the garden with Stuart the gardener planting peas and smelling the herbs!
Date: 12th May 2024 @ 5:38pm
In science last week we were learning about the different parts of a plant and what their function was. We read some information about each part and then took our learning outside. We found some natural materials on the adventure playground. We used these materials to create some plant artwork with a partner. We told our partners the different parts of a plant. It was lots of fun!
Learning about the Lifecycle of a Sunflower!
Date: 12th May 2024 @ 5:34pm
In English reading and writing we have started our non-fiction unit. We started by learning about the lifecycle of a sunflower and learning new vocabulary linked to the different stages. We put together some actions to go alongside the words and pictures for each word - seed, seedling, shoot, budding, fully grown plant and withering plant. We performed the lifestyle using the words and actions with a partner. Next week we will start learning facts about each stage in our reading sessions and begin to write our factfile.
Date: 12th May 2024 @ 9:27am
This week we have been very busy in year 1!
In Maths, we have been learning about halving and doubling numbers up to 20! We have learned that doubling means adding the same number to find what they are equal to and that halving means sharing between two. We have enjoyed using the Numicon and the ten frames to explore doubling and halving. We have also completed challenges were we have to spot the mistakes where we have found quantities have not been shared or doubled equally. We have also discovered that we can count the equal amounts of doubles by counting in 2s!
Goodbye Painted Lady Butterflies!
Date: 10th May 2024 @ 2:54pm
Over the last 3 weeks in Reception, we have been carefully watching our tiny black caterpillars get bigger and bigger! Last week they each made a cocoon. They hung at the top of their pot and we could see them wiggling. This week, each cocoon opened up and beautiful painted lady butterflies flew out!
They each had 2 wings that were white, orange and black. They had long antennae on their head and six legs on their bodies. They were very quiet friends to have in our classroom! They liked to fly around in their new home. We fed the butterflies sugary water called nectar.
Why don't you have a look when you are outside this weekend and see if you can spot any of our butterflies having an adventure near you?
Date: 10th May 2024 @ 11:32am
As part of our Friday challenges, the children went on a minibeast hunt in our school garden. The children used a photo checklist to encourage them to record the minibeasts they found during the minibeast hunt. The children did a great job at finding the different minibeasts, including a woodlouse, worm, snail, ladybirds and more! They also found a beattle which was not on our checklist - well spotted Nursery!
Date: 8th May 2024 @ 4:47pm
We spent the day exploring how Castleton is different from Clayton. We conducted a traffic survey and completed a field sketch of Castleton! Have a look at the attached pictures.
