Reception have truly embraced autumn by writing lists of ingredients for an apple cake, using sound mats to help support spelling and phonics skills. The children worked together to weigh the ingredients carefully, learning about measurements and following instructions. After all their hard work in the kitchen, they were delighted to taste the delicious apple cake they made, celebrating both their teamwork and culinary skills!

Rosie Snagge, Reception Class Teacher

Year 1 have been learning about materials in science this term. The children tested the strength of various types of paper during their lessons before half term and used that knowledge in a bridge-building exercise this week. Using paper to span a gap between two classroom tables, the bridges had to be strong enough to hold a cup of water. Working in pairs, the children considered how strong the bridge would need to be to take the weight of the cup before construction began. And before the bridges were tested, the young engineers of tomorrow explained the thinking behind their particular designs.

Kathleen Salusbury, Year 1 Class Teacher

In maths this week, Year 2 used a range of resources to tackle more complex sums. The children were tasked with making patterns and connections for finding number facts to 100 and they discovered that counters, blocks and bead strings could help them achieve their aim. The children also discovered that their prior knowledge of the number bonds to 10 could help them solve trickier sums.

Charlie Millsom, Head of Year 2

Year 3 embarked on an intrepid adventure to Gilbert White’s House in Selborne, delving deeper into the lives of Antarctic explorers past and present as part of their autumn term topic. After learning more about Captain Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole courtesy of their knowledgeable museum guide, the children got to see the crucial things that the explorers had to take with them on their quest, such as warm clothing, sledges, tents and food. Having taken time out to hone their observational drawing skills to produce excellent likenesses of the penguins found in Antarctica, Year 3 got to try on clothes typically worn by scientists and researchers in such harsh environments as the South Pole, clamber in and out of canvas tents and work together to pull a heavy, wooden sledge. The children came away with a much greater understanding of exploration in such an extreme climate.

Rosie Statham, Head of Year 3

Having learnt how to say their names in Mandarin, Year 5 discussed the meaning and significance of names in Chinese culture. The children then had the opportunity to practise writing their names using Mandarin characters, which required patience and perseverance as the Chinese alphabet differs greatly to its western counterpart and follows a very specific pattern. Year 5 discovered that they must begin with strokes at the top of a character and move downward, that strokes on the left are drawn before strokes on the right, and that when a character is composed of both horizontal and vertical strokes, the horizontal strokes are written first.

Annabel Keville, Year 5 Mandarin Teacher

This term, Year 7 have been getting their teeth into a unit of work on gothic literature. The children have explored short stories, poems and extracts from a range of authors, including Neil Gaiman, Susan Hill, Walter de la Mare and WW Jacobs. They have focused on the key features of the genre, using the various texts to complete a range of creative pieces, the most recent being a creepy character description, which demonstrated a strong understanding of the topic.

Lucy Hendry, Year 7 English Teacher

In science, Year 8 have begun looking at chemical reactions and their appearance in everyday life. This week, the children considered the effects of oxidation and discovered two common examples – rotting food and corrosion, the result of edible oils and metals respectively reacting with oxygen. Working in pairs, Year 8 experimented by adding a heat source to metal to discover what physical changes occurred during the oxidation process.

Oli Backhouse, Year 8 Science Teacher