2019/20

Home Learning 

Magnificent Mayan Masks

Throughout this experience, the children will be exposed to a range of activities associated with the famous ancient civilisation of the Maya. To begin the experience, children will be immersed in the Mayan culture through a practical workshop, which will give them base knowledge of Mayan life and customs. Following this, the children will explore these concepts in greater detail to create non-chronological reports on Mayan daily life. After this, children will look at Mayan masks and the traditions associated with them; this will then form the basis of their remaining learning, where they will be creating their own Mayan masks, using the materials and techniques similar to those used at the time.

Hands on History visited UKS2 for the day and taught us all about the Maya. We analysed artefacts, learnt about the food they ate and played pok-a-tok (in Maya times the loosing teams had their heads chopped off - luckily we agreed to have a friendly game!). 

Outstanding Orienteering!

The experience will begin by studying the UK and being able to locate each country, major cities and counties. Children will use atlases and maps to hone their mapwork skills and gain an understanding into ordnance survey symbols and gird references. Using this knowledge, they will gain confidence in  identifying points on a map and answering questions about it. After this, we will learn the eight key points of the compass and understand how to use a compass. Using a compass, children will gain increased confidence in following instructions. Once we have gained these key skills, children will have the opportunity to got orienteering at Bedgebury Pinetum! Finally, they will be creating their own course around school!  

Extreme Earth

During this experience, children will gain an understanding into each of the layers of the Earth and how these impact our lives. They will then find out how the Earth is divided into tectonic plates and how these create natural disasters, such as earthquakes and volcanoes. Using their knowledge of tectonic plates, children will learn how earthquakes are creates and the key parts of a volcano. We will use specific examples of recent eruptions and earthquakes to gain an understanding of the impacts these disasters have on  a community. Using this knowledge, children will create videos using pictures and models to support their explanations.

We finished our learning experience by creating informative videos about earthquakes and volcanoes. Click on the link below to check them out!

Christmas Café!

During this learning experience, Elm Trees will be setting up and running their own café! We will begin the learning experience by visiting Arthur's Café in Cranbrook where we will be sampling some of their food and asking the owner questions about running their business! We will use this, and our market research, to make decisions about our own café. The children will gain an understanding into how prices are calculated and how to create a price list and an environment which generates profit. We look forward to inviting the community and our families to visit!

Incredible Insides

This term, we will be learning all about the human body! We will begin by learning about the function of each of the organs and create a non-chronological report. Following this, we will look at the circulatory system and the function of the heart. Using lamb hearts, we will learn the different parts of the heart and how these fit into the cardiovascular system. Next, we will look at how our digestive system works and the main organs which are involved in this process. This will involve us understanding the journey of our food when we eat and how our body uses the nutrients which we need. Finally, we will look at the impact which diet, exercise and lifestyle has on our bodies. 

Accio Artists!

This learning experience will begin with a visit the Warner Bros Studios to gain an insight into the world of Harry Potter! In class we will be studying the Chamber of Secrets and the artwork for our experience will be based around this book. To begin, we will analyse the work of Jim Kay, who has created the illustrated versions of Harry Potter. We will then experiment with different sketching pencils and learn basic sketching skills such as how to create: edges, outlines, shading and creating texture. We will then begin to experiment with coloured pencil. Next, we will look how to create a specific mood within our pictures and how to create movement. Once we have learnt all of these techniques, children will make a decision about which section of the book they would like to illustrate. Using the drawing and feedback skills which they have learnt they will work on a final design!