Kestrels 2021 - 2022

Around the World in 80 Days!

During Term 1, we will be reading 'Around the World in 80 Days'. We will learn about places such as Brintisi, Suez, Mumbai, Kolkota, San Francisco and New York. We will link our reading to Geography and learn about the physical and human geographical features of some of these areas. During this topic, we will be focusing on extreme weather and climate. In Art, we will be looks at the work of Hokusai and creating art in his style.

Kent Police Open Day 2021

Kestrels has the wonderful opportunity to attend Kent Police Open Day. The event was held at the Kent Police College and was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the work Kent Police does across the county, watch Police teams in action. We also listened to police officers who told us how to keep safe! During the day, we watch displays by the police dogs and horses as well as learning about how the police use finger printing to identify suspects.

Kestrels 2020 - 2021

Amazing Amazon

During term 1 the children explored the tropical world of the Amazon Rainforest.  As well as learning about the different layers and the animals found there, the children compared the rainforest to England and looked at the similarities and differences, including the different climate.  Towards the end of the topic the children learnt about making a collage and what makes it look effective.  The children were trying to be accurate with colour but used recycled materials to try and bring the animals to life with careful layering and using texture. 

Circle of Life

During term 2 the children were learning about the lifecycles of different animals.  When looking at insects, birds and amphibians the children chose animals from the tropical rainforest to make realistic models, from plasticine, of the animals during each of their lifecycle.  Further to learning about the different lifecycles, the children had to use careful observation to look at how the animals changed over time and had to learn the skill of moulding the plasticine and using tools to accuratley join the different colours together.  The outcome was very impressive.

Celebrating Difference

In term 2 the children across the school experienced celebrating difference week.  Kestrels class look at what we called Equality Pioneers.  The children researched different people from history who have made it their goal to ensure people are treated equally when it comes to race, gender, disability, wealth and body shape.  The children did writing and art activities around this during the week and shared them with each other.  

As part of trying to get the children to understand what it is like to be disabled in some way they had the opportunity to play goalball.  During the game the children were blindfolded and then had to roll a ball, which had bells inside to score by hitting the bench.  The children had to listen hard not only for the ball to try and save it but also to each other to try and pass the ball to find gaps in the opposition. 

Virtual Sportshall Athletics

The children have been taking part in a virtual competition with school across Dartford and Kent.  They had various activities to attempt and measure which included:

- shuttle runs

- standing long jump

- standing high jump

- speed bounce

- chest throw

After practicing the different skills required to be successful at the events the children all took part and measured themselves over three attempts at each event.  The data was then submitted to our Kent School Games organiser.  The scores from Years 5 and 6 were combined and in Dartford our school came 2nd, which was an incredible achievement, and 17th in Kent.  Well done to all of the children.

It’s all been about space!

 The children in Kestrels have been extremely busy.  Our topic for the term has been Out of this World, looking in depth at our solar system.  Included within this was our first school trip of the year, visiting the Greenwich Observatory.  All the children loved this experience, especially inside the planetarium where the scale of our solar system truly came to life.  As well as having time to look through the galleries, which gave the children the chance to learn a lot about the moon landings 50 years ago, they also took part in a workshop focusing on understanding how the Earth, Sun and Moon move in relation to each other.  At the end of the day we had the opportunity to stand on the Meridian Line, which we had learnt about in our around the world topic, with half the class standing in the Eastern hemisphere and the remainder of the class in the Western hemisphere.  The children have continued to develop their comments on our class blog and have been practising using the Boolean system in computing to make more precise internet searches.       

The children have started the new school year full of energy and with an eagerness to learn.  They have watched an animation called The Lighthouse, and from that have written setting descriptions full of noun phrases and diary entries from the point of view of the lighthouse keeper packed with emotive language.

 For our topic, Around The World the children made their own globes from paper mache.  This activity really helped the children gain an understanding of where the different continents and oceans are in relation to each other.  At the same time they have had to develop the skill of looking at a 2D map and transferring that information on to a 3D model.  Throughout the topic the children have been discussing weather and have looked at different natural disasters.  From this the children drew tornado pictures using shading to develop a sense of movement.

As a class, Kestrels have been learning about blogging and using edublogs we have set up our own class blog.  The children have been developing their comments to more effectively reflect on their learning and the work of others. 

The children have also started on two exciting musical experiences.  Every Friday the children have been learning to play the ukulele which they will continue throughout the school year.  They have already had an opportunity to compose their own tunes and perform in groups.  Alongside this the class are participating in the Choral Project, which takes place every Thursday.  During these sessions the children are learning the lyrics to and singing a variety of songs.  They need to show an understanding of pitch and dynamics as they learn songs to perform at two concerts later in the year.

Some children have chosen to be play leaders in the school and have received training from an outside company to show them how to play different games with our KS1 children and to ensure they engage positively with our younger children to get as many of them as active as possible. 

Important Information:

PE days are a Mondays and Wednesdays but please ensure your kit is in school on a daily basis!

Please bring in your reading record on a Monday and Friday and ensure you record your home reading.

Your spelling books should be in school every Friday to be updated with the new spelling list for the following week. 

Home learning is set on a 2 weekly basis and will involve Topic work, Maths and spelling. 

Please ensure you have a water bottle in school, which you can fill up during the day!