Welcome to Willow Class 2023-2024

Hello and welcome to Willow Class webpage. Willow's teachers are Miss Raheem and Mrs Fairbairn. 

Mrs Fairbairn will teach Willow Class every Monday.

Willow's wonderful teaching assistants are Mrs Johansen and Ms Coverdale

This page will be updated termly with information that may be of interest to you regarding projects, timetables, the curriculum, videos, pictures and more. It will be useful to keep checking this page for any helpful documents that will keep you informed about this year. You will also find some useful resources that can be used to help your child with their learning. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch using the contact box below.  

PE days - Term 5 is on Monday and Tuesday each week. 

Useful Information and Links

"Really, really, great fun!"  Sienna

"It was such good fun when I did beatboxing and I loved breakdancing too!"  Hudson

"I liked it when we did the dance routines!" Isabel

"I liked it when they showed us how to beat box and breakdance!" Leila

"I loved it - it was a WOW lesson!" Emilia

"I enjoyed it when I went up to do beatboxing!" Yoma

Here are some of their wonderful reflections:

"I've loved EVERYTHING!" Eliott

"I enjoyed the assembly and drawing the angry hedgehog. It was fun!" Marley

"I've never met an author before!" Isabelle

"I enjoyed it when he showed us how to draw a cartoon. He was fun when he was being silly!" Leila

"I really liked the assembly and how he taught us how to draw a character." Alex

"I've loved everything about today, especially getting to draw a character attacking Julius!" George

"I liked the assembly and learning about how he became a writer." Mia 

"I enjoyed the assembly and learning how to draw cartoons." James 

Here are some of their thoughts about they enjoy about reading:

"When you read, you are in a completely different world. It transports you to different parts of the world, places you have never been to." Yoma 

"I like turning the page to find out what will happen next." Sienna 

"Reading takes you to different places, like on the train in Harry Potter." George 

"It's really exciting when you read something and can picture it in your mind" James 

"I like reading because you don't know what will on happen on the next page." Leila

"I love reading! When a book is so good I want to keep reading and don't want to put it down." Rory Bailey 

"I get taken to a different world and don't want to leave. I love reading books on my comfy rug." Emily

"I love books. I get sucked into it and don't want to stop reading!" Eliott 

Here are some of their learning reflections:

"It starts off easy then it gets harder. I like the challenge! It's really fun and I don't want it to end!!" Emily 

"I'm totally enjoying doing this." Yoma 

"It's complicated but I am always up for a challenge!" Eliott 

"I think it's really good fun!" Hudson

"It's really tricky, I was stuck on a challenge for ages. I had to do a lot of debugging!" Ellie

"It's really fun once you get the hang of it!" Maisie 

Here are some of their wonderful reflections about their Romans project:

"My favourite bit was designing and making the Roman chariots." Rory Bailey

"I liked writing the army letter." Hudson

"I loved visiting the museum." Sienna

"I enjoyed learning about Roman coins and getting to make my own coin out of clay." Imogen

"Everything we've done is my favourite." Eliott

"I've loved learning about Roman numerals." Minnie

"I've really enjoyed doing the project homework. I've learnt so much!" William 

"I liked everything about this project." Noah

"Writing the Kenning about Roman soldiers was my favourite part." George

"My favourite part of the project was learning about Romulus and Remus and Boudicca. " Ellie 

"I enjoyed the visit from expert Clare and writing the letter to join the Roman army. " Marley 

I've loved everything about the project!" James

Here are some of their reflections on the day:

"I've learnt about how quickly a forest fire can spread." Harry

"I've learnt how to light a fire using flint and steel."

"I had to persevere to light the fire, it was hard." Isaac

"We worked as a team trying to light the cotton wool." Emilia

"I learnt how to toast over a fire." Leo

Here are some of our reflections:

"It could be a Roman bracelet" Rory Bailey 

"I think it's a collar for a little dog." Cora 

"It could be an earing that rich people used to wear." Maisie 

"I think it has fallen off a statue because the object is black and I've seen black statues before." Ellie

"It might be a type of pottery as I can see marks on it." Eliott

"I think it's made from iron." Emily  

"The pattern could be from the flooring of a building in Roman times." Leila 

We have written letters to pupils at a school in Uganda who Fir Tree are going to be linked with. We told them a bit about ourselves and asked them some questions about themselves. It will be brilliant when we get replies back! 

Willow class have been learning different positions and balances in gymnastics. 

"I learnt an egg roll." Connie

"It was hard trying some of these positions but I persevered." Eliott

"I've learnt how to do a straddle." Alex

"It was fun showing the others how to do the front support." Maisie

"I've been learning how to do a pike balance." Leo

"I've learnt how to do a back support safely." Evie

Willow class enjoyed listening to Liz tell the story of 'The Christmas Pine' by Julia Donaldson, and hearing about the tradition of the Norwegian Spruce in London. They loved singing 'The 12 Days of Christmas' round the camp fire.

Here are some of their reflections:

"It was fun singing round the fire." Leila

"I enjoyed the hot squash, people in cold countries drink it." Winston 

"The Christmas tree in London comes from Norway." Eliott

"I learnt that the tradition started in 1946 as a thank you for helping in the Second World War." Cora

"We got to have marshmallows!" Connie

"It was the best morning ever!" Rory Backhouse 

This term in PE, Willow class having been developing tag rugby skills. Here are some of their learning reflections:

"I've learned how to hold the ball correctly." Cora

"I now know how to dodge people." Alex

"It's been fun getting muddy!" George

"I've learnt a lot from others." Rory

"Tag rugby is hard, but I've persevered." Maisie 

As part of the project, we have been discussing what light is, and which objects around us are sources of light and which reflect light. We learned that light sources allow us to see objects in the dark. As well as this, we learned we can see the world around us because of reflected light. Some children were surprised to learn that the moon is not a light source, it reflects the light from the sun.

We developed our observation skills and deepened our thinking with this odd one out activity. We were shown three sources of light and asked to discuss which image is the odd one out.

We looked at the similarities and differences, what each image does and where they might be found. This led to a very interesting discussion. Here are some of Willow Class’ wonderful observations:

“The sun is a light in the sky, the other two are something you get down below.” Alex

“You can hold the candle you can’t hold the others.” Marley

“The lamp post is manmade and the other two is natural light.” Emily

 “The candle is made out of wax but not the others.” Noah

“You can hold the candle but not the others.”  Sienna

“You have to do something to get the candle and lamp lit but nothing with the sun.” George

“The candle is the only one that can be blown out.” Maisie

 “I think the sun is the odd one out because you can’t touch it.” Dominic

 “When you look at the sun your eyes burn you it doesn’t with the others.” Dexter

 “The sun is different because you can’t touch it like the others. The sun lights   everywhere, but the other two only light the things around it.” Leo

 “The lamp post can go off automatically and is electric.” Eliott

“The sun is the biggest compared to the others.” Leila

 “Only one has man made material. The candle is made out of wax, but wax is     natural so it doesn’t count. The sun does not have any man-made material it is completely natural.” Yoma

Here are some of their reflections:

"We made a big den." George

"We made chocolate cake using mud!" Imogen 

"We watched Lizzy make a fire it was cool." Hudson

"They used a flint and stone to start a fire." Rory Bailey 

"I've learnt that I have to kneel down when near the fire." Rory Backhouse 

"It was fun learning how to make toast over the fire." Winston

"I was scared but I did it." Isabel

"We worked well as a team moving a log." Noah

In RE, we learnt about Diwali, The Festival of Light, and the children enjoyed creating their own Rangoli patterns.

We began by exploring equal groups. We used maths equipment and images to help support our understanding. We learned that there is a link between addition and multiplication. Multiplication is repeated addition. For example, 3 x 5 = 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 +3 . We then moved on to using arrays. An array is a rectangular arrangement of counters in rows and columns. The number of counters in each row (or column) multiplied by the column (or row) gives the total number of counters. As well as this we have explored the principle of commutativity. It does not matter which way round the numbers are the answer is always the same. For example, 3 lots (or groups) of 5 is equal to 5 lots (or groups) of 3. Later this week we will be exploring the 3 times table.

In order to test the different materials, we made a reflection tester. We cut a hole in the centre of a piece of card and pushed our torch through so it fit snugly. We had to shine the torch at the material we were testing. In our investigation we used fabric (different types) bubble wrap, black paper, tin foil and our tables. If the object reflects light well we can see the reflected light shine through the white card. We noticed that the objects that reflected the most light were smooth, shiny surfaces. Dull and dark surfaces such as the dark paper and darker fabrics did not reflect light well. 

We have started a new unit in PSHE which is all about Celebrating Differences. We talked about how families are all different, but everyone's is important to them. The children enjoyed drawing pictures of their own families. 

Willow Class loved their first experience of Fir Tree forest. At the beginning of the session, Lizzie, the forest leader, went through the steps to a successful forest session. They must follow these three golden rules:

• Look after each other
• Look after ourselves
• Look after the trees and the environment

After a tour of the forest Willow Class were free to explore. They can’t wait for their next session! Here are some of their reflections:

“I think the mud kitchen is the most exciting thing for me!” Alex

“We are building a den.” Harry

“I love being with the trees and nature. Trees give us oxygen.” Natasha

“Forest school is so much fun!” Leo

“We are making a hide, it’s like a bird watching den.” James

“In our den we can spy.” George

“Mrs Coverdale come and taste my carrot stew.” Isaac

“It was fun making music!” Yoma

“We learnt how to stay safe in the forest.” Noah

“We explored the forest it was fun!” Minnie

“We built a hedgehog house!” Rory

Children were asked to consider each time we zoomed out the following questions:

What do they think the image is? 

What does it remind them of and why?

What colours and shapes can they see?

How does it feel?

How would you describe the texture?

After every zoom out they are asked what the image is now and whether they have change their minds. 

Here are some of their reflections:

"We worked as a team planting wildflowers for the King." Minnie

"The food from the garden goes into the kitchen and in our food." Cora

"We grow lots of fruit and vegetables." Alex

"We used different sized seeds for different flowers." Isaac

"I've learnt that we compost the grass for it to go back in the garden."

We celebrated Roald Dahl's birthday this week  by exploring some of his wonderful work. Roald Dahl is famous for his children's books, but he is also famous for his poems. We started the week by exploring the poem, The Dentist and the Crocodile. Later on in the week, we looked at Fantastic Mr Fox and The BFG. We have been developing our retrieval skills through a quick quiz, seeing how much we can remember from what has been read. 

There are four zones that can be used to describe how your brain and body feel:

Blue Zone - Your body is running slow, you may feel tired, sick, sad or bored. 

Green Zone - This is when you are "good to go." You may feel happy, calm, and focused.

 Yellow Zone - This is when you start to lose control. You need to proceed with caution and slow down. You may feel overwhelmed, frustrated, silly, wiggly, excited, worried, anxious or surprised. 

Red Zone - This is when you might feel out of control. It is for extreme emotions such as anger, aggression, terror and elation. It's important to stop to regulate your emotions when you are in this zone.