Birstwith Primary School

Please have a look at what we are learning this term - 

This term, we will be preparing the Year 6's for their SATs which will be in May.  To support this, we will be doing a range of cross-curricular learning to enable and engage the children in their writing progress.  Our topics this term will be Earth and Space as well as the continent of North America.  We will also be looking at careers and life choices in PSHCE.  We will visit the James Herriot museum to sample life of a vet/author local to us.  In maths, further work on number confidence will be undertaken.  The children should be in a place where their times tables knowledge is secure and they can apply all their mental calculation strengths in answering more complex number questions.  

We will be taking part in a range of competitions that mainly revolve around sport but will also include writing and maths. Mr Whitford will be supporting our PE sessions through the well established Sporting Influence company and Mrs Turvey will be helping the Year 6 children consolidate their reading and inferential skills. 

PE will now be on a Tuesday and a Thursday but please make sure your children have the full PE kit in school at all times to help with the flexibility of the classes.   Please ensure all items are clearly marked and named.  

Parents evening and a Year 6 SATS evening for parents will occur this term, dates will be released via text or The Link. 

If you would like to speak to me regarding your child, please make an appointment via the office for either Wednesday or Thursday after school or catch me in the playground for a quick heads up. 

Looking forward to the Spring! 

Mr Roy

Please have a look at what we are learning this term - 

Volcanoes of North America... The class have progressed with their science learning about Earth and Space; their topic learning about North America and they are now focussing their attention on the geological structures of volcanoes, especially those that can be found in the North American continent.  Each child had a different volcano to research and they are in the midst of presenting their findings to the class.  The children then have an opportunity to critique the presentation and give constructive criticism to help the child make adjustments for future presentations. 

The whole class visited the James Herriot museum.  The only vet's museum in the country.  It's in Thirsk.  The children had a super time exploring WWII memorabilia, learning how to use film equipment- using the set of 'All creatures great and small'. They also immersed themselves in the life of James Herriot/ Jim Wight which opened their eyes to the life of a vet, life in the 1940's, life as an author and how things have developed in the last 80 years. 

Welcome to Class 4 if you are new, and welcome back to class 4 if you're not! This term is full of a range of interesting events to keep the mind engaged and entertained.  Soon, we will be going on our residential - Robinwood- 26th September.  Make sure all your payments and paperwork are in soon! 

Also this term, we will be learning about the Vikings... if any of you have any tales or paraphenalia to share with the class, please do.  Most of our Literacy, art and possible some science and maths will have Viking links to enable us to learn as much as possible about the Viking lifestyle.  

PE will mostly be on Tuesdays and Fridays, but please make sure you have your PE kit in school everyday as the PE sessions may change due to weather or other commitments.  We also have a number of sporting competitions to attend this term so look out for the information letter and get it returned asap...

We will also be going on a couple of off site trips to enhance our Viking understanding.  Details will be given out soon. 

Please ensure all clothing and water bottles are labelled clearly with your child's name- either in indelible ink or a sewn on name tag. 

I will endeavour to keep this page posted with pictures and tales of the class as they progress through the year- pop back again soon for further information...

Mr Roy  

Please have a look at what we are learning this term - 

Check out some of our fantastic experiences! 

The children took worked in small groups to experience all different areas of physical science.  They brought their own knowledge and learnt a lot from the fabulous Mr Purvis who came laden with all sorts of devices to demonstrate forces, currents and light. 

They worked either individually or in pairs to produce vibrant pieces demonstrating the beauty of nature and the array of colours that are already in evidence as autumn starts to reveal itself.

This is an opportunity for our children to have a bit of time with some familiar faces to Birstwith school.  It allows the children to learn a fantastic and useful life skill as well as develop their patience, creativity and fine motor skills.  The big plan is to create knitted poppies to commemorate the centenary of the end of the 1st World War. Lets see how it goes! 

This term, we are looking forward to lots of sunshine and the option to do some outdoor learning.  Watch this space for fun-filled, sun-filled pictures of our learning journey...

The Year 6 children will be getting prepped for their end of KS2 tests which begin on the 14th May - wish them well.  Year 5 will be getting themselves ready to step into the Year 6 shoes.   

Forest School has started for Year 6 and they are getting their first taste of the wonderful woods we have the use of.  All sorts of ideas have been discussed - so watch this space and visit the Forest School pages to see what happens! 

This term, we have been looking at debates and how to manage a team within one.  The children debated a variety of topics and from their merits, a selection of the children were entered into a formal debating competition.  This was held at the Council Chambers and the Birstwith team won!! We will go on to the County Finals later in the year... lets see what happens! Well done everyone - Fantastic result!!

Year 5 have started their Forest School experience to see them up to Christmas.  They have taken to it well and I look forward to sharing more of their adventures on the Forest School pages.  Take a look! 

The children have been hard at work over half term researching China.  They produced some excellent presentations- some models and some powerpoints. An excellent array of work which was a pleasure to listen to. 

In PE, we have had the pleasure of Sporting Influence for the start of the term where we worked on our football skills. We also paid a lot of attention to our social skills when it comes to sports and we were given stickers and commendations for our excellent work. 

We were also really lucky to be given a 'jianzi' each by Lola's very generous dad!  They are a Chinese style shuttle-cock and they have helped link PE with out Chinese topic this term.

Summer Term 2017

Curriculum Chronicle - click here to see what we are learning this term

Following on from the art investigation into different architects, the children investigated different forms to work out which structures could support the most weight. 

The class spent some time working with clay and creating their own rune stone that matched their initials. 

During October, the class has been investigating separating, filtering and reducing in science.  They have spent time dissolving different substances and making a range of solutions to try and separate again. 

In September, Class 4 went to Robinwood.  They spent 3 days and 2 nights challenging themselves in all sorts of activities.  From the trapeze to the piranha pool and weaseling through rocks to alien conspiracy investigations; everybody had a fabulous time and I hope the photos will capture some of the fantastic memories I am sure the children have shared with you!

During the first half of the autumn term, the class have been researching different architects like: Zaha Hadid, I.M. Pei, Le Corbusier, Moshe Safdie, Rem Koolhaas Renzo Piano and Lord Norman Foster.  The children produced informative powerpoint presentations to demonstrate their learning then used paper and card to create 3D shapes and designs that put their learning into practice.