Willow wb 10.11.25

This half term, Willow class has been busy exploring the wonderful world of plants. We learned all about the different parts of a plant and their important functions. To help us understand better, we even dissected a flower to see its parts up close. It was fascinating to spot the petals, stamens, and tiny seeds for ourselves! One of our favourite experiments was learning about the role of the stem. We placed flowers in coloured water and watched as the food dye travelled up the stem, changing the colour of the petals. It was amazing to see how plants transport water! Next half term, we’ll be moving on to an exciting new science topic, States of Matter. We’ll be learning about solids, liquids, and gases, and discovering how materials can change from one state to another. 

This week in our topic lessons we have been learning all about the River Nile — one of the most important rivers in the world! We discovered why it was known as “The Gift of the Nile” and explored how it helped the Ancient Egyptians to survive and thrive. We thought carefully about different reasons why the Nile was so special, such as providing water for crops, helping people travel and trade, and giving fertile soil after it flooded. We then had to rank the reasons based on different people’s jobs — for example, what might be most important to a farmer compared to a builder or a fisherman. This helped us understand just how many ways the Nile supported daily life in Ancient Egypt. To finish the week we had a fun Design and Technology challenge! We designed and created our very own Shadufs — a clever tool the Ancient Egyptians used to lift water from the river. We worked brilliantly in teams, using our creativity and problem-solving skills to make sure our Shadufs met the design criteria. 

In English, we have been reading the fantastic text ‘How to Care for a Dragon’. The children have loved using their imaginations to think about what dragons might need! Soon, they’ll be writing their own information reports on how to look after a dragon. Along the way, we’ve also been learning about subordinating conjunctions and determiners, which are helping us make our writing even more interesting and detailed. In Maths, we’ve been busy learning our times tables and have been exploring the multiples of 4 and 8 this week. We have done a variety of practical activities to help us recall these and to spot patterns and we’ve even been applying them in problem solving contexts.

 We've also been busy in other areas of the curriculum and have enjoyed our swimming lessons so far. A great start to the half term!