Welcome back to the Hive! It’s been lovely to see our Year 5 and 6 children return with such enthusiasm, and we’re thrilled to welcome our new Year 4s. After a busy summer, everyone has settled in brilliantly and made a fantastic start to the year. We’re excited for all the learning and adventures ahead!

We began the year by revisiting our Behaviour Boost and taking time to settle in together. The children reminded themselves of our school rules and talked about the importance of setting clear boundaries and expectations. We also looked ahead, sharing some of our future hopes and aspirations for the year.

We also explored our British Values, with a special focus on democracy. The class elected their new school council representatives along with our Head Boy and Head Girl, who wasted no time getting started! Their very first event — the Macmillan Cake Sale — was a huge success, raising an incredible £109.30 for charity.

In English, we’ve been reading Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo. The children have written two fantastic contrasting setting descriptions — one of a lush beach in Thailand, and another of the ruined landscape left behind after a tsunami. Their descriptive language really brought the scenes to life and captured the reader’s imagination. They have also been writing reports on a natural disaster of their choice, producing some brilliant fact files on earthquakes, volcanoes, and tornadoes!

In Maths, the children have also made a fantastic start. We began by exploring place value and working confidently with numbers up to six digits — ordering, comparing, and rounding with accuracy. We then moved on to addition and subtraction problems, where the children showed real determination and resilience. It’s been wonderful to see how eager they are to learn and how well they’ve supported each other through the challenges.

We are really enjoying our topic “What Makes the Earth Angry?” and have spent lots of time researching natural disasters. In Geography, the children have loved learning about tsunamis, including an in-depth case study of the Boxing Day tsunami tragedy. They produced some fantastic diary entries written from the perspective of a survivor, showing great empathy and understanding of the events.

In Science, we’ve had a hands-on, messy start to the term! The children explored the different types of teeth by making their own sets from playdough. They then carried out a fun experiment using eggs to see how sugar affects teeth – the results certainly got everyone talking (and stinking!). Finally, we learned all about the digestive system, asking the question, “What happens to the food we eat?” The children even created their own working models of the digestive system, complete with ‘poo!’

PE has been a real highlight for many of us this term! Mrs Sporty Brown has been helping the children build their fitness through the weekly 2K run. Everyone has shown fantastic determination, beating previous times and cheering each other on with great sportsmanship. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence and team spirit grow with every session.  

What a fantastic start to the year it has been! Everyone has settled in brilliantly, shown such enthusiasm for learning and embraced every challenge with energy and curiosity. We can’t wait to see all the exciting adventures and achievements still to come this year!