Author: Scott Grason-Taylor

Marvellous Maths

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners Class have been working really hard on addition and subtraction in maths over the last few weeks..

This week, Learners have been using many strategies to aid their learning and are able to select the resource or manipulative that supports their learning the best. For some this is using ten frames, for others this is using a number line and for others this is using a place value chart or rekenrek.

Learners have access to all of these resources during each maths lesson. Using different practical resources is definitely deepening understanding. This week Learners have been adding and subtracting across ten.

Our history morning on Monday was a great success. We welcomed many families into Learners class to share in our history learning about Whitby now and then. Families were able to contribute and share their own knowledge with us and could reflect on the how Whitby had changed over time. Thank you to all who could join us. 

Learners have decided to hold a Christmas Movie Night, to raise money for the Zambezi Sunrise Trust. Look out for more details on this in this week’s newsletter.

Christmas is approaching and this week we have begun to practise the songs for our Christmas performance. Keep your eye on the newsletters and on Tapestry for any information around this!

The weather is starting to turn colder, so please make sure your Learner has a warm coat in school each day.

Learners are maths marvels this week. Well done Learners, you are awesome!

A Colourful Week in Learners Class

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners have enjoyed art this week. Building on the skills we developed last half-term, Learners have been looking closely at primary and secondary colours. This week, we enjoyed mixing primary colours to match the colours of autumn leaves. We thought carefully about how to mix just the right amount and ratio of each colour. In some cases, we needed to add a little bit of white to make the shade lighter. There was a lot of concentration and Learners kept checking their c colours until they were happy with the match. Just like our focus artist Wasilly Kandinsky, we listened to some classical music as we painted.

In history this week, Learners have been comparing the changes over time of Whitby fish quay. We looked at old photographs taken by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe and recognised that there was less fishing in the town these days, but more fish and chip shops.

In maths we have been learning different strategies that will help us with addition and subtraction. We are becoming great problem solvers and are able to transfer our knowledge to answer reasoning type questions in maths lessons.

After writing letters to families in English before the half-term, we are excited to welcome our families into the classroom on Monday to share in our history learning. 

 

Lend Your Ears and Open Your Eyes

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers were very interested in the work of Kandinsky the abstract artist and on his approach to creating the images. We have had the most wonderful week full of energy and intense focus exploring line and colour and shape. We did this on a large scale on the playground and on a smaller scale back in the classroom, at the table and then moving onto the floor. We played Wagner on the Boom Box and experimented with painting to a variety of other pieces familiar to us – Firebird by Stravinsky and Greig’s Hall of the Mountain King.

An artist’s work is never done and the Pioneers are keen to continue their work. They are unstoppable. One Pioneer was heard to say, “Well this is actually art,” as they left the classroom with their larger pieces to take home to parents. 

The process and the art produced were inspirational.

Friday 25th October 2024

Scott Grason-Taylor

This week, Leaders learned more about black history through drama activities. Leaders considered segregation and apartheid and had thoughtful discussions around this before creating different scenes to represent these themes. Throughout the afternoon, Leaders enjoyed demonstrating their excellent knowledge of the content we have covered so far and were able to learn so much more through the activities covered in the session.
In maths, Leaders have been learning to use methods for long division and have done incredibly well tackling this challenging topic. They can now use two different methods for long division and have used these methods to solve problems. Well done everyone!
In PE this term, Leaders have been focusing on their tag rugby skills. On Friday, a team of Leaders visited Whitby Rugby Club to take part in a rugby tournament. Throughout the afternoon, Leaders demonstrated excellent rugby skills and teamwork and were thrilled to top their group and make it all the way to the semi-finals. A huge well done to the rugby team for their amazing efforts!

Cricket in the Sun

Scott Grason-Taylor

We had a visit from Owen our marvelous Cricket Coach. The sun shone and everyone was very happy to throw and catch and play as a team.

After a quick and happy warm up we played a game with rules and we managed to follow the rules without the need for a video referee!

The Pioneers all got to bat, hitting the big ball from a big tee.

A thoroughly wonderful session of precision teaching and great learning.

Wonderful Whitby!

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners have had the MOST wonderful week of history learning.

On Monday we kicked off the week with a drama session with Louise from Red House Theatre. The session supported our history topic of Whitby now and then wonderfully. We used our imagination to visit Whitby in the past. Through movement, we turned ourselves into the steam train, the Abbey and we even became sellers in the old marketplace. 

Back in the classroom, we used iPads to research how Whitby marketplace had changed overtime. We discovered that Elizabeth Botham had sold her bread from a basket in the marketplace before opening her first shop. We also found out that whale blubber had been sold to make oil. Most shockingly we learned that urine was sold at the marketplace, which was used as a cleaning and dyeing aid – we were certainly glad to live in Whitby ‘now’ rather than ‘then’.

On Wednesday we visited Whitby and were able to being all our learning to life. We visited Fortune’s Kipper shop, a shop that we had seen on Frank Meadow Sutcliffe’s photographs of old Whitby. We stopped at the marketplace and were able to use our imagination to become market traders again – this time in the actual same place. We spotted many Whitby Heritage Sculptures around the town, which gave us an insight into Whitby from the past – we particularly liked the ‘Herring Girls’ sculpture near the bandstand. We walked up to the park, where we visited Whitby Museum. The Museum was fascinating, we saw Frank Meadow Sutcliffe’s gallery of photos and delighted in seeing many local artefacts.

Learners class have had the MOST fabulous week and history this week has been awesome!

Learners love to learn 🙂

A Wonderful Day in Whitby

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers took a daytrip to Whitby. For many it was their first school trip and their first trip on a coach and what a trip it was. There is so much to learn and so much to do. The Pioneers carried their own lunches and water bottles and looked after all their own kit. This is quite an achievement considering the many locations we visited.

Walking around Whitby is fill of risks and we assessed them before, during and after our trip, The  Pioneers did a great job negotiating the narrow pavements and the pedestrians.

We talked about fishing and boat building before crossing the bridge for story and a snack in the Little Fox Bookshop which was fantastic. 

Whitby Catch answered all our questions about what was for sale on the fish counter.

We spotted the new lifeboat in the water before visiting the old lifeboat in the museum.

Lunch was eaten in the Fisherman’s Mission which added to our learning.

We walked up the hill to the wonderful Whitby Museum where the awe and wonder was palpable. There was so much to see and we were made very welcome.

This was a very wonderful day out – Eight very happy kilometres together!

A busy start to the school year!

Scott Grason-Taylor

It has been a busy start to the school year for Leaders. 

In history, our focus is Black History. We have learned that the first recorded Africans living in Britain were recorded in the Roman period and explored evidence of the Aurelian Moors from Hadrian’s Wall, and the ‘Bangle Lady’, who was found buried in a sarcophagus in York. We have also explored the lives of black people in the Tudor period through exploring art work and letters from the time to learn about John Blanke. 

In art, our focus is painting. We have explored the work of Esther Mahlangu, mixed colours with acrylic paint and used painting techniques to block in geometric shapes. We are looking forward to creating our final pieces very soon. 

In geography, we have been focussing on plastic waste. We have learned about what it is and why it is a problem. Following this, we explored what can be done to reduce plastic waste and considered what could be refused, reduced, recycled or repurposed. Using the ideas from our discussions, Leaders created plastic pledges. Earlier in the half term, we also conducted litter fieldwork in Stewart Park in Middlesbrough. 

Inspired by our work on plastic and our theme of ‘Small Steps, Big Change’ Leaders have written free verse poems about plastic waste in the sea, using a range of similes, adjectives and personification. The published poems are amazing!

 

Learning Outdoors

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners spent the day in the forest this week. The sun was shining and the experience was delightful. It was a beautiful autumn day, the leaves were falling around us and we were able to spot signs of autumn and colour match the leaves we found. This consolidated our science topic around seasons wonderfully. 

Also in the forest, we were able to collect some descriptive language to inspire our poetry writing. We used our senses and recorded the things we saw, felt, heard and touched. Our poems are about our wonderful Earth, so being outside in the forest was the perfect place to gather inspiration. We are excited to write our poems and will keep you posted once they have been published.

We were delighted to attend Church on Friday to celebrate our Harvest Festival with families. Learners performed a song ‘Thank you for everything’. We sang confidently and it was clear how much we enjoyed the words in the song, it was lots of fun!

We are looking forward to our trip to Whitby next week, which will be consolide our history learning in class. We will be visiting Whitby Museum, the marketplace and spotting the sculptures around the town. The weather looks settled and we are excited to go.

We are looking forward to welcoming families into school this week for a reading workshop/event, to share the important aspects that make up reading. We will also have some resources from our Little Wandle, Catch-Up and Fluency programmes too.

Learners will also have a drama session next week, which we always really enjoy!

Learners are such enthusiastic learners!