Welcome to Woodpeckers

Enchanted Waters!

In term 3, during lockdown, we have been learning about the human and physical features of The Lake District. Woodpeckers have enjoyed using maps and research to explore The Lake District and have had a very thoughtful debate on Zoom about the impact of tourism there. We have also used this topic as an opportunity to explore how nature can inspire art and we have learned about different artists inspired by the beautiful landscape of The Lake District. For example, Woodpeckers have learned about the life of Beatrix Potter, her stories and her illustrations as well as poetry by William Wordsworth and landscape painting by Heaton Cooper. Woodpeckers used this learning to create their own stories, poems, illustrations and paintings linked to The Lake District.

Mamma Mia-We can sign!

In Term 2, Woodpeckers have enjoyed Abba's music, developing their listening and appraisal skills as well as using musical vocabulary to explore and discuss their ideas. They have chosen the song 'Mamma Mia' to learn to sing using sign language, making links to our 'Celebrating Differences' theme this term. Please watch their video below to enjoy their stunning performance!

Celebrating Differences

In term 2, Woodpeckers learned all about a range of different religions and celebrated the importance of different people’s beliefs and the celebrations that take place throughout the year through sharing books and experiences.  The children took pride in sharing special artefacts from home that they felt represented their beliefs and values, and they all demonstrated excellent values of respect and understanding towards each other's beliefs and faiths. They then worked in groups to make amazing  greeting cards that people could send to help the celebrations they had been learning about.  Woodpeckers also created a stunning window display depicting the different symbols in a stained glass window style linked to the religions they had been learning about.  An inspiring class poem was created where everyone’s ideas were included and appreciated about how we are all different and how this should be celebrated.​

Varjak Paw!

In term 2, Woodpeckers have started reading and listening to the story of Varjak Paw-an incredible story full of adventure, mystery and action told from a cat's points of view! Woodpeckers have enjoyed making inferences, predictions and exploring the rich language used by the author to fully engage the reader. Woodpeckers have used this, to help them write their own chapters for the story and they have used the unique illustrations of the book to inspire them to create their own 'cat' art, in the same style, using fine liner pens.

The Vikings are Coming!

In term 1, Woodpeckers have enjoyed learning all about the Viking raids on Britain. They have found out about who the Vikings were as warriors and as settlers and have been learning about the impact they had on life in Britain. Woodpeckers particularly enjoyed using their art and DT skills to make Viking brooches and pendants as well as their sewing skills to make purses out of hessian for their pieces of jewellery.

Roots to Food

 Woodpeckers were thrilled to be joined by Roots to Food for a practical and interactive cooking session.

In small groups, the children constructed a chilli con carne from scratch. They learnt about all the different food groups and gained an understanding of what makes a healthy, nutritious meal. One group made a vegetarian chilli con carne using chickpeas. All of the children were taught how to prepare the food safely. For example, they were taught to use the bridge and claw techniques for chopping vegetables.  

The children thoroughly enjoyed their time learning how to make the popular Mexican dish. 

Just Different Workshop

As part of our Health and Wellbeing Week, the children were visited by Helen who was born with cerebral palsy. Helen uses a speech synthesiser and an electric wheelchair.

The children were eager to learn about Helen’s life and asked some very insightful questions about her childhood, how she lives her daily life and how she remains optimistic.  A few of the children were given the opportunity to operate Helen’s wheelchair to appreciate how Helen moves around.  They found that operating a wheelchair is a lot more difficult than it looks!

Woodpeckers enjoyed learning about people with disabilities and showed a great level of respect for our visitor.

A Viking Raid at The Gateway!

This term, Woodpeckers have been learning all about the Vikings. We were lucky enough to visit Kent Life and participate in a number of workshops to learn about the lifestyle of the people in the Viking era.

We learnt a number of battle tactics, played a strategy game called Tafl, made a Viking brooch, learnt about Viking trade and listened to stories about how the Vikings used boats to cover large distances. We also listened to stories about how the Vikings lived and learnt about how different their lives were to ours.

We thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the Vikings and being immersed into their way of life.

TASC Day

Woodpeckers have been working in small groups to design and build a mountain rescue vehicle that could be used in the Lake District.  They have been learning new skills such as using saws and wire cutters and combining the knowledge they had gained from their electricity topic with the geographical knowledge about mountains.  Once they had been built the children tested them on different surfaces around the school.

Sound and Electricity

As me moved through term 2 the children have learnt about many aspects of sound and electricity.  They answered their own questions such as,how is sound made? How does sound travel? Why does sound get quieter the further away we travel?  Whilst exploring these questions the children were able to use a data logger for the first time and were challenged to make very careful observations.  They all took part in various investigations to enable them to think about sound in detail.

Vicious Vikings

During term 1 the children were all learning about Vikings and what life was like in England during this period of our history.  Throughout the topic the children learnt about where the Vikings came from and why they came to the United Kingdom.  They looked at different sources of information and their reliability about the raid at Lindisfarne.  As part of the topic we went to the Museum of Kent Life for a Viking day.  The children heard about Viking beliefs, made a Viking brooch, experienced a Viking raid and looked at how the Vikings traded with others.  All the children really enjoyed the experience and helped them develop their understanding of Vikings away from just vicious warriors.  Following on from this the children all made a Viking purse, with most of them learning to sew for the first time.   

Electric Cars!

Woodpeckers were incredibly fortunate to have a qualified engineer, Mrs Kennedy, join us for the day to put what we had learnt during our electricity topic in to practice.  Each group of children needed to build a chassis, attach axels and wheels, build the gears to turn the wheels and then finally complete an electric circuit, using a switch to turn the motor.  During the day all the children had the opportunity to safely use a saw, wire cutters and glue guns.  They all worked well in their groups to problem solve, measure accurately and construct their cars.  Well done to all the groups. 

E-Safety Workshop 

Keeping the children safe in the digital world is becoming increasingly difficult so we try hard to keep the children as informed as possible through our computing lessons, but also through drama workshops that can help put what we say into context.  This workshop for the whole of key stage two and looked at the problems with commenting on online posts and sharing images of others without permission. 

Electricity and Sound

During this topic the children all had an opportunity to carry out investigations designed to help them understand how sound and electricity travel.  The children have been trying really hard to make predictions and conclusions, specific scientific observations, to take accurate readings using data loggers, recording their results and finally generating more questions.     

Viking Trip to the Museum of Kent Life

As an important part of our Viking Topic the children took part in a number of workshops designed to enhance their knowledge of the Viking era.  The children looked at how the Vikings used boats to cover large distances, they listened to stories about their culture and how they believed the earth was formed, they played a typical Viking strategy game, became Viking traders and warriors and had the opportunity to attempt to make a Viking brooch.