OUR LEARNING

DT - 11.04.2024

This week we have been planning, designing and making our our own flavoured bread recipes. Our recipe had to be healthy and low-cost in order to help during a food crisis. We also tried to make sure we included foods from a variety of food groups including vegetables, protein and dairy. We planned ideas in groups and then agreed on a final design, choosing which vegetables, cheese, seeds and herbs to include in our recipe. In the DT room we baked our bread which was lots of fun. We learnt how to cut food using the 'claw' technique and had to knead and shape our bread into different shapes, matching our design. After our bread was cooked and cooled, we tasted it and discussed what we liked and didn't like about our bread. Finally, we evaluated our bread, suggested improvements.

UNICEF Week - 08.04.2024

As part our our UNICEF week, we have been looking at how to tackle the hunger crisis in Yemen and focussing on the second Global Goal, 'Zero Hunger'.
To help with this, we have been planning a healthy food item in our Design and Technology lessons and today we were busy tasting different flavoured breads to help us think about what nutritious ingredients we could use. We learnt about the Eat Well plate and how important it is to have a balanced diet including foods from all food groups. 

Science - 15.03.2024

As part of our current unit all about Electricity, we made our own switches to use in a circuit. We also learnt about the difference between open (incomplete) and closed (complete) circuits and how a switch could effect this. We predicited whether or not different circuits would work.

World Book Day - 07.03.2024

We had a fantastic time celebrating World Book Day on Thursday by dressing up as our favourite book characters! There were some fantastic costumes across the year group. Thank you to everyone for making an effort to get involved.

Art - 04.03.2024

In art today we learnt how to create a backwash using anilinky paints and blended the colours using water. We used lighter colours for the Emergent layer as this layers receives the most sunlight and darker tones for the Forest Floor. Before we created a backwash we used masking tape for the tree trunks, which we then removed once the paint had dried and applied brown paint using a pallette knife to create texture to our trees.

Art - 28.02.2024

This week we have explored printing during our art lessons. We used foam to make our own double-sided printed block, creating a different leaf on each side of the printing block. First, we practised sketching a leaf in our sketchbooks before drawing a leaf onto tracing paper. We used this to create the leaf outline on a piece of foam and used a sharp pencil to add detail by making indents in the foam. Then, we experimented with our printing block and tried to create a pattern in our books. We will use our printing blocks to add detail and extra layers of texture to our final piece at the end of the unit. 

Art - 12.02.2024

Today we explored some pieces of art by our two focus artists for this unit: Oenone Hammersley and Henri Rousseau. In particular, we focused on 'Toco Toucans' by Hammersley and 'Tiger in a Tropical Storm' by Rousseau. Both artists take inspiration from rainforests and jungles, creating work focused on the animals and plants that live there. We explored a range of artwork by each artist, comparing the colours, shapes, patterns and focus. Then, we created our own moodboard and experimented with sketching pencils and water colour paints, creating images that reflected the focus artwork. 

Art - 08.02.2024

Today, we had a fantastic art lesson learning about drawing and painting to show perspective. We learnt how to identify the foreground, middle ground and background of an image, recapping the definition for the 'horizon line'. We explored a range of photos and paintings, discussing techniques artists had used to show depth in their work. The use of colour and detail gives the impression that some things are closer and some things are further away. Then, we used our knowledge of tints and shades to create a piece of artwork, using varying colour to show which tree was in the foreground, middle ground and background. We mixed our chosen colour with white to create lighter tints (showing the trees nearer to us) and mixed the same colour with black to create darker shades (showing the trees further away from us). Have a look at our artwork in action, and at different stages of the process.

Geography - 06.02.2024

Today we worked with a partner to answer a geographical question: Should people be allowed to destroy the rainforest? We used our knowledge from the unit so far, as well as our Science unit and drew on the ideas discussed in our debate last week. We completed some additional research as well as creating a graph. We presented our learning in a poster to answer the question and encourage people to save the rainforest.

Science - 02.02.2024

During our current Science unit, we have been exploring different environmental issues such as air pollution, water pollution and deforestation, as well as the impact that humans have on the environment. As part of this, we have disucssed and researched ways in which we can have a positive impact on the planet. Today we focused on how we can protect animals, particularly those who are endangered and at risk of becoming extinct. We planned and designed a conservation area for an endangered animal species of our choice. First, we researched our animal to find out the sort of place it would be suited to live in. We thought about the climate and vegetation, as well as what it would need to eat and drink. Then, we drew and labelled our animal sanctuary and wrote some rules for visitors to follow.

Geography - 29.01.2024

Today in geography, we carried our observational sketches on the field of vegetation, such as trees and bushes. This helped us without understanding of the four layers of the rainforest (Emergent, Canopy, Understory and Forest Floor). We then used the VR headsets to learn about the impact deforestation has on the environment.

PE - 22.01.2024

We have been looking at street dance during our PE lessons and learning about how to dance in unison and also in canon. Watch our choreography that we have been working on so far:

Walk like an Egyptian Exhbition - 18.01.2024

Today, we held an exhbiition to showcase some of our learning during our most recent unit of work. We had our fantastic Egyptian headresses on display as well as our 3D pyramids. We also included interactive elements in our exhibition including the VR headsets to explore the banks of the River Nile, the iPads to complete a mummification activity and an excavating station to find some artefacts and key vocabulary.

We had a great time sharing our learning with you. Thank you to everyone who came. 

New Walk Museum - 11.01.2024

We had a fantastic time at the museum today, looking at all of the Egyptian displays. We learnt about what life might have been like for the Ancient Egyptians and we got to closely examine and handle real-life artefacts from the past, such as cooking pots, clay bowls, amulets, shabtis and much, much more. During our workshop, we saw inside an sacophogus where Pharaohs' bodies would be preserved through the process of mummification. We also had the opportunity to take part in lots of activities thoughtout the session, including dressing up like an Egyptian pharoah.

History - 10.01.2024

Today we explored how important the pyramids were to the Ancient Egyptians. We learnt about their location, how they were built, what they were used for, who built them and how they help us. We created our own pyramids in groups to display this information.

English - 08.01.2024

For our final English outcome of this unit, we are going to be writing a newspaper article about Howard Carter and the discovery of The Valley of the Kings. Today, we learnt about archaeology is and what an archaeologist, like Carter, does. We excavated and uncovered key vocabulary and worked out the definitions. Then, we found out about the story of Howard Carter and the tomb of Tutankhamun, in preparation for our newspaper article. 

History - 15.12.2023

This week we have learnt about the process of mummification that was used in Ancient Egypt to preserve the bodies of Pharaohs. We wrote instructions for mummification. Later in the week, we took part in a experiment using the steps we had learnt to mummify a fish.

Art - 06.12.2023

Today we created our Egyptian headdresses, taking inspiration from the styles of Alaa Awad and Fathi Hassan. We used a wide range of resources including acrylic paint, brusho paint, fabric crayons and charcoal. We also added texture using gold leaf as well as different paper and card. We added our initials using Egyptian hieroglyphs. We demonstrated excellent creativity and imagination - each one of our headdresses is unique.

Art - 04.12.2023

As part of our Egyptian unit of work, we have been completing some fantastic artwork over the past couple of weeks. We began by exploring the work of Alaa Awad and Fathi Hassan. We then looked at Egyptian headdresses, learning about the different types that were worn by pharaohs. We used a range of resources to explore texture, colour, shape and lines, experimenting with different materials to inspire our final creation. We created a double page spread in our sketch books to show our experimentation and make annotations about what we liked and noted down ideas to use in our final piece. 

Science - 20.11.2023

We had a fantastic science lesson today learning about the importance of keeping our teeth clean. We looked at the results of our egg experiment to see what would happen when placed in different liquids (water, cola, orange juice and vinegar). The egg shells represented the enamel on our teeth. We had a great time getting out the toothbrushes and cleaning our eggs. 

PE - 20.11.2023

During our gymnastics lesson today, we used benches and different sized vaults to practise our jumping skills. We learnt how to mount the vault safely and land in a finishing position.

History - 15.11.2023

Today, we have been learning about the the three different farming seasons in Ancient Egypt and how the River Nile played a central part in the lives of the Egyptians. To help us with our learning, we used the VR headsets to take a closer look at the river and the benefits it provided to the people of Egypt.

DT - 03.11.2023

This week we made our water turbines, after researching and designing them. We carefully selected the materials we wanted to use. Then, we used scissors and junior hacksaws to cut the materials to size. We made sure our turbine blades were all an equal size and spaced an equal distance apart, before gluing them down. We then tested our water trubines using a motor and a battery, suggesting improvements. These included, making our water turbine stronger, waterproof or more balanced.

Maths - 02.11.2023

This week, we used our knowledge of place value to take part in a maths investigation lesson.

Science - 01.11.2023

As part of our current Science unit, we have really been enjoying learning about the digestive system. Today, we created a model of the digestive system, using everyday objects, to help us describe the functions of the different organs. It was so much fun (and a bit messy)!

PE - WB 30.10.2023

This term, our indoor PE lessons are focused on Gymnastics. We have been enjoying learning different skills such as making shapes, balancing and jumping.

Trip to Moorland Discovery Centre - 10.10.2023

We had a fantastic time during our trip to the Longshaw Estate in the Peak District this week. It was a full on day with lots of hands on learning experiences. We completed a labelled field sketch of a river including vocabulary such as the source, tributary, confluence and current. We also learnt about erosion and deposition. After that, we worked in groups to measure the depth, width and current of the river. During the day, we also walked around the moorland and learnt about the water cycle whilst taking in the sights of the beautiful scenery and identifying streams as we went. We learnt lots of interesting information during our walk. For example, the River Derwent flows into the Humber Estuary. We really impressed the group leaders with our knowledge of both rivers and the water cycle, recalling information we've learnt at school this term. We all had a brilliant day and represented Rendell superbly.

The following day, we created information leaflets about our trip to share information with other schools about the trip. 

Science - 27.09.2023

Today, we took part in a Science experiment to investigate the melting points of different food. We melted butter, jelly and chocolate to find out which had the highest melting point. We wrote a prediciton before carrying out our experiment. We also considered ways that we could make sure it was a fair test. We changed one variable and kept everything else the same. We discovered that chocolate had the highest melting point and took the longest to melt out of the three food items. We wrote down our results and a conclusion.

Geography - 20.09.2023

We worked in pairs to create a labelled diagram of the journey of a river. We identified key features, separating the upper, middle and lower courses. We used the definitions from our orienteering activity to help us. We also explored the journey of a river using the VR headsets.

Geography/Orienteering - 18.09.203

Today we learnt about the journey of a river. We learnt about the upper, middle and lower course of a river, discovering where it starts and where it ends. We used an orienteering activity to learn key definitions about the features of a river.

Science - 13.09.2023

This week, as part of our 'Rolling on a River' unit, we have explored the Water Cycle which also links to our current Science unit. We learnt about the different stages of the water cycle: evaportation, condensation, precipitation and collection, understanding what happens at each stage. We used the VR headsets to view a water cycle scene and identify where each stage of the cylce was happening in the scene. After that, we created our own 'water cycle in a bag' with a partner. We used marker pens to draw and label each stage before putting some blue water in the bottom of the bag to act as the sea. We used our creations to confidently talk through the water cycle, practising our oracy skills.

English - 07.09.203

This week, in English, we started our new text: The Rhythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-Smith. We have focused on using exciting vocabulary and expanded noun phrases to describe an image from the book. In groups, we worked together to write a free verse poem about the water. First, we planned our poem and brainstormed different vocabulary to use in our poems including adjectives, nouns and verbs. We also tried to include alliteration in our poems. We each wrote a line of a poem on a strip of paper before deciding how to arrange them to create a group free verse poem.

Geography - 04.09.203

This week, we have embarked on our first unit of work 'Rolling on a River' which begins with a Geography focus. We have explored different maps throughout the week. First, we identified the four countries that make up the UK before creating a map showing some of the physical features of the UK. We created a key which uses symbols to help identify different features. We added rivers, lakes, mountains and forests to our map, as well as the capital cities of each country. 

We then learnt what lines of longitude and latitude are, as well as how to find the longitude and latitude of different places in the world using a map. We used our existing knowledge of the equator and the prime meridian to help us.