Stanford Junior and Infant School
Living together - Learning together
On this page you can see updates over the term of our activities and learning.
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After lunch the children were able to explore the exhibits in the museum in small groups. The children were able to see artefacts from different periods of history from the Stone Age onwards. They were fascinated by them, especially items from the Romans.
We went into the museum and a lady showed us some the different pieces of clothing and armour. She told us the Latin names for the different items and why the soldiers had to use these . She then told us that the soldiers trained for 2 years until they pledged themselves to serving the Emperor in the army. Men served for 20 years and. if they survived that long, they could then retire. We were allowed to try on some pieces of the clothing which were really heavy! The poor soldiers had to march for miles carrying all of their equipment so they ended up being really strong. After we tried on the pieces of armour we were taught how to march, fight and form a defensive formation called Testudo……..we didn’t know it but we were going to be attacked……. by the adults!!!! This was so much fun and most importantly we learnt so much about the Romans.
Today was an exciting day for Poppy Class, we went to The Collection to learn about history, archaeology and the Romans. This was an amazing experience as the children were able to see and handle primary resources in the form of artefacts.
Our task was to be commercial archaeologists. These are asked to inspect a site before building takes place to ensure that there are no historical finds on the site.
First we put on Hi-Viz Jackets then we went off to investigate our site. We carefully looked for historical finds, when we found them we had to mark the spot and put our finds in bags to keep them safe. Then we investigated them closely, measured them, took notes and drew a sketch of the artefact. Some of the finds were quite unusual so we had to research what they were. After this we had to make a display of our artefacts, then be tour guides and talk about the items.
This was a lot of fun and the children found it amazing that they were holding a part of history in their hands.
It's always good to share a book! It’s been such a long time since we have been able to have parents in the school, so we were really excited to invite parents in for a reading breakfast. We were overwhelmed by how many parents were able to make it to this event. It was a great opportunity for parents to look around the classroom and our learning environment, have a chat with the staff and most importantly share a book with the children. Thank you so much for all those who were able to attend and we can't wait until the next event that we can share with you!
Now that we have mastered the Djembe we have moved onto tuned instruments - the steel drums!!
This was our first lesson with the steel drums. We learnt how to set them up and get a feel for them, they sound so great. We even managed to try a song. Watch out for more posts as we get better jammin' to the Caribbean beat.
Poppy class had a great time on their hook day and the children looked amazing in their costumes.
There were lots of fun activities for them to do. The children made laurel wreath headdresses and clay coins where they engraved their profile, their name and their year of birth in Roman numerals.
The children made mosaics which was very fiddly but look amazing. There were also puzzles and games for the children to play, they really liked Rota which is a strategy game like noughts & crosses.
It was a great day and so much fun.
As we are learning about the Romans we are also finding out about Italy .
The children thought it was funny as the country looks like a boot. They labelled the different countries surrounding Italy then identified the Italian regions by using a colour coordinated key.
Today the children enjoyed either dressing in casual clothes or as a superhero of their choice......and they just showed that heroes come in all forms. They are not just those in movies & on the TV.... but people who make a difference to our daily lives.......even teachers or TAs. Miss Perrin is now a little worried that she is going to be replaced by her 'mini-me'.
This week the children have been undertaking tasks linked with growing. This fitted in perfectly with our gardening project in the KS1 playground and our learning about Rocks & Soils. We learnt about how important worms are putting nutrients into the soil and where we would find different types of worms. We then moved some soil into the tyres looking for worms that we could relocate and planted some flowers to make the tyres look pretty. We then went into the nature area to see if we could find worms there. We have put them in a temporary home - our plan is to make a small compost pot so we can observe the worms at work.
In science we have been learning about how fossils are made when creatures die and they are left underground for millions of years. One of the children brought in a lovely example of an ammonite fossil. We learnt that when they die and are buried underground the body of the ammonite rots away leaving a cast fossil. Sometimes this cast is filled with sediment which turns to rock and makes a mould fossil. We used water to show this process adding water to a cast to make an icy 'fossil' of our own.
The children had lots of fun orienteering. It involved working as a team, finding clues and putting them together to solve a puzzle.
As the bike shed has been removed and left a ‘patio’ area we decided to make the most of it. Some of the children helped Miss Perrin to move some tyres from around the school to make a ‘raised bed area’ and we have put some benches there. It’s not finished yet but our plan is to put plants in the tyres to make it look nice and to use this area for the children to read, work and chat to a friend.
We have learnt that rocks have different properties: density; permeability; durability and hardness. We had a carousel of activities for the children to undertake to test their properties.
Density - how quickly does the rock sink? The quicker it sinks the more dense the rock is Permeability - does it let water through? We dropped water onto it to see if it soaked into the rock or stayed on top.
Hardness - Can it be marked with a table knife?
Durability - does it easily wear away?
When we had investigated this we looked at the different rocks and what properties they had. We found out that sedimentary rock is less dense, permeable. less durable and softer whereas igneous and metamorphic rock which had been changed by heat were harder, impermeable, durable & had a greater density. The children found this work really interesting and loved trying different investigations.
We have had lots of fun today sharing the enjoyment of our favourite stories and book characters. First we played a game where we had to summarise a story and act it out. The rest of the class had to guess the story.
Then we played another game where we were given words/clues and we had to guess the story. Lastly we looked at the work of Nadia Shireen who has written a book called "Welcome to Grimwood" which is set in a wood which she has made "wonky" by having human things left in the wood.
-"I liked playing guess the book because I got lots of them right"
-"I liked summarising the story because it was funny"
- "I liked writing about Grimwood because we used art to draw a forest and then we added rubbish. It made us think about writing and the environment"
In this lesson we learned that rocks come in 3 types: Igneous; Metamorphic & Sedimentary.
Sedimentary rocks are where rocks are formed by layers/bits of sediment pressed together.
Igneous rocks are formed when rocks are melted in magma or lava and cooled down.
Metamorphic rock is formed when sedimentary rocks or igneous rocks are warmed enough to change but they haven't melted.
To help the children understand this we used Starburst to show these processes. Can you look at the pictures and see which types of rocks we were trying to make?
Over the last few weeks we have been learning about spreadsheets. The children have learnt how to draw pictures by colouring in blocks, use them to calculate additions and how to input data then turn the data into different types of graphs.
A God's eye (in Spanish, Ojo de Dios) is an object made by weaving a design out of yarn upon a wooden cross. We had a go at making them ourselves. It was tricky at first but once they got the hang of it they were really quick at it!
In our Plant Art lessons we looked at paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe who focused on close up work of flowers. We studied how the petals were not one colour but had several tones of colour. We found out that 'Tone' means how colours are made lighter and darker. If we add white it is referred to as Tint/Tinting and if we add black it is referred to as Shade/Shading. The children had a chance to experiment with the tone of colours. We then tried watercolours were the strength of the colour is changed by adding water. The children really enjoyed this lesson.
World Thinking Day is a celebration that has taken place on every 22 February since 1926. It is a day for all Brownies, Guides and Girl Scouts to think of each other around the world. The children came in their uniforms which they were very proud of. In assembly we celebrated this day and the girls talked about all the wonderful things they do when they are at brownies. It sounds like a lot of fun!
On Friday the children were encouraged to express themselves by showing their personality through their clothes.
Pupil Voice – Express yourself day
During this week we have discussed how important our mental health is.
We created our personal support bubble. This shows all the people who can support us when we need help. It’s important to reflect on those who care for us, and how lucky we are to have a network there to support us.
The children had lots of fun making friendship bracelets. They used a cardboard wheel to weave the threads, it was quite tricky but they got the hang of it.
It was a great time for them to relax and socialise with each other whilst making something lovely.
We have learnt that we know so much about history from archaeologists through their discoveries of fossils and artefacts.
Miss Perrin told the children that she had got some special fossils called 'Coprolites' which had been sanitised and hydrated so we could handle them. The children were given the task to look at the fossils and see what they could find inside them.
In one set the children found 'bones', seeds, berries and plant material. In another they found modern vegetables, cerals & fruit.
Miss Perrin then said that Coprolites were actually fossilised poo and archaeologists investigate them to find out what people in the past have eaten..... but...... these weren't real coprolites they were playdough examples which she had made.
From this activity the children were able to deduce that prehistoric people ate what they could hunt and find around them whereas we have a more varied diet as we buy our food at the shops.
On our hook day there were lots of activities for us to do.
One activity was making prehistoric jewellery. The children had to make salt dough and mould them into the shape of teeth and bones. Once they have been baked & painted we will make them into necklaces. On another table we make a cave wall background using watercolours. We researched prehistoric beasts and when the backgrounds were dry we used charcoal to draw our beast pictures on them.
Another table used their hands and chalk to make handprint art which has been found on cave walls around the world.
The last activity was creating a sunset effect using watercolours. When this was dry we added black paper to make the silhouette of Stonehenge. What a busy but productive day we had!
The children had lots of fun dressing up in our Prehistoric costumes. What a fantastic effort you have made. Don't they look great?
Of course we all know that dinosaurs and humans didn’t exist at the same time (as they died out long before humans existed), but as Stanford believes in being inclusive we let them join the humans and all the fun. What’s 65 million years between friends?
Pumpkin and Poppy Classes visited Cloverdale Care Home and sang Christmas songs to the residents outside. Despite the cold weather, everyone enjoyed singing the songs and bringing a smile to the residents faces. The children wished everyone at Cloverdale ‘Merry Christmas’ and presented them with some lovely craft gifts.
Our little 'elves' have been working hard in the Poppy workshop to make some wonderful items to sell.
Cartouches - this is your ticket for the 'Afterlife'. Handmaid by 'Egyptian craftsmen' using the finest gold (.....paint). Each child has drawn their name or initials using hieroglyphics. (£3)
Christmas angels (£2) and crochet Christmas wreaths (£1) - a perfect addition to any Christmas tree. Orders to be made on Scopay
For our Hindu experience, starting with Miss Perrin, we all had to dress up in costumes suitable for Bollywood. Sunita them showed us several dance moves. It was really fun!
O - I liked using the sticks in our dance.
M - I like that we got to meet a new person today.
W - I liked dressing up
T - I liked the dancing
We were really lucky today as Sunita came to our school to teach us about how Hindus live their life, pray and celebrate, The morning started with an assembly where she told us about the story of Rama & Sita. The children loved listening to this story and taking part with actions & sound effects.
Odd Socks day was chosen to kick start anti-bullying week as it’s an opportunity to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique! The children enjoyed being a little different and showing off their odd socks. We then designed our own pair of odd socks to show how unique we are.
In our RE lesson we went to look at this displays of religious artefacts for Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism & Islam. We looked at the different items for each table then we noticed how these different religions have many similarities. Several religions use candles, prayer beads, prayer mats, skull caps and special books. A lot of them share the same stories from the Old Testament.
The children found it fascinating handling these items and looking at the similarities and difference between these religions.
We were shocked and stunned to find a 'corpse' in the classroom. Cleopatra had been bitten by an asp and needed our help to get her ready for the afterlife!!! First we cleaned the body then we stuck a hook up her nose to remove the brains (yuk!) and throw them in the bin. A cut was made in her side to remove her internal organs (I know they look like balloons but let's use our imagination here!!!). She was left tilted at an angle so the liquids could drain out and then given a salt bath to dry her body out. Her internal organs were put in canopic jars to keep them safe for the afterlife and we put her heart back in her body. She was then stuffed with linen to retain her shape then painted with tar to preserve her skin. Next over to hair & make up to keep her looking good for the afterlife. She was then wrapped in linen while we all said prayers. We added good luck amulets as we wrapped her then we added a scroll with prayers & a map to find the afterlife. Her death mask was the finishing touch so her soul could recognise her body when they are finally reunited.
Rest in peace Cleopatra we were glad we could help!
As it was Transgender Awareness week we looked at our perception of males & females. The children were asked to draw what they thought several people would look like - a builder, a florist, a car mechanic, a magician, a make-up artist & a ballet dancer and the majority of the children drew stereotypical images of these career choices. We then looked at pictures of people who do not follow these stereotypical choices. We looked at stereotypical behaviour of males & females and the toys children are given to play with to conform with these opinions.
The children then concluded that people should be able to make their own choices in their behaviours, toy choices and careers and that they should be allowed to be whatever they want to be.
Today we have looked at reflection and that it involves light bouncing off surfaces. We investigated different materials to find out which are the most reflective. We concluded that materials which are smooth and shiny are the best at reflecting light.
Today we started our new topic of Light. We looked at different items which produced light, side-tracked slightly as Miss Perrin described why the moon does not produce light but reflects the sun, and thought about what darkness is.
We then played a game where we had to feel things & try to figure out what things are - we realised how much we rely on light and our sight to make sense of our surroundings.
A cartouche is an Egyptian nameplace which the Egyptians would put on a sarchophagus so a person's soul would recognise their body when they reached the afterlife. To make this the children used clay to make their shape. They had to figure out how to write their name in hieroglyphics and carefully etch their name into the clay. Our next step is to wait for them to dry, then paint them to look authentic. Watch out for the finished products!!
The children have learnt that magnets have a north & a south pole. They were asked to predict whether magnets would attract or repel each others depending on which poles were put together.
They discovered that if the same poles were put together they would repel each other but opposite poles would attract.
The children are really enjoying playing on the drums and are getting really good at repeating the patterns. We hope you enjoy the clip, it was kindly recorded by a child as I was busy keeping the beat.
The children really enjoyed the Halloween activities provided. There were biscuits to decorate, lots of craft activities for them to try and most of all a dancefloor where they could party away and show their spooky dance moves. To end the session there were scrummy hot dogs... yum, yum!!!!
The children had lots of fun today. First they worked in small groups passing a rugby ball between them. They had to see how many times they could pass the ball without dropping it. Then they played Tag Rugby. They each had a belt with ‘tags’ on them. The aim of the game was to stop people taking their tags and to get tags off other people. They really enjoyed this game!
As a part of our learning about mental health & equality we thought about what we can do to make ourselves happy and what we can to do make the world a fairer and nicer place.
The children had lots of fun making stickers with positive messages and lovely illustrations on them.
First we thought about how our school was structured from the head teacher downwards. We then looked at some pictures of Egyptian people and tried to put them in order of importance. Miss Perrin told us about the structure of the Egyptian Society then we acted this out so we understood it better. We had lots of fun doing this as you can see by the video clip…….All hail the Pharaoh!!!!!
The children were introduced to different types of magnets: bar magnets; button magnets; ring magnets; horseshoe magnets & cylindrical magnets. They were asked to make a prediction about which type of magnet would be the strongest then we investigated this by seeing how many paper clips the magnet could hold in a chain. The children found this really tricky but they kept persevering. We found that the size of the magnet does not indicate the strength of the magnet.
First we looked at a magnet and Miss Perrin used iron filings to show its magnetic field. The children found this really fascinating. The children were then asked to predict which materials would be attracted to magnets and which ones wouldn't. They then used magnets to see if their prediction was correct. The children were really surprised to find out that not all metals are attracted to magnets and that some coins are and others are not. The children decided that they must be made from different types of metal.
Today we learnt that ‘coding’ is another work for instructions and an ‘algorithm’ is a list of instructions. We pretended to be computers and coders giving each other instructions. After this we started designing a page for us to practice coding on in another lesson. We managed to add characters to our design & change the background. The children really enjoyed the designing process.
Poppy Class helped to raise money for this worthwhile charity today. They really enjoyed their cakes and juice. Many thanks to all the parents and carers for their kind donations.
Here is our McMillan song which the children chose. We hope it brings you a little sunshine.
To greet each child in a unique way the children were asked to come up with ways that we can greet each other in a socially distanced manner. It always makes the children smile and it’s a good way to start the day!
To celebrate this Year 3 looked at how they should call for assistance in case of emergencies, how to care for burns & scalds and treatment for bites & stings. In addition to this Miss Perrin showed the children how to place someone in the recovery position if they were unconscious. Some people had a chance to try this for themselves by 'helping' Mrs Lawson who we found on the floor! What great skills to have!
In Science we were learning about friction. This is a force between two surfaces that are sliding, or trying to slide, across each other. Friction always slows a moving object down. We chose different surfaces to investigate: bubble wrap, thick carpet, thin carpet, the polished hall floor and lino flooring and thought about how we could investigate this and make it a fair test. Which surface do you think would have the most friction and slow the car down? Watch the clips and see if you were right.
On our hook day we learnt that the Egyptians were one of the first civilisations to create ‘paper’ which they called papyrus. They used parts of the papyrus plan which they wove together. We used strips of paper which we laid out in strips and glued together. When they are dry we are going to use them to make Egyptians drawings.
On our hook day we researched Egyptian jewellery. We found out that they were big, had lots of blues & golds in them and a lot had eagles on them. We used a paper plate to make the base of our necklace, created a design and started to paint them. We can’t wait to show you them when we’ve finished.
The children had lots of fun dressing up on hook day. The costumes were amazing and we would like to thank the families at home who made such an effort with these. Don’t the children look amazing?
Today we learnt that ‘coding’ is another work for instructions and an ‘algorithm’ is a list of instructions. We pretended to be computers and coders giving each other instructions. After this we started designing a page for us to practice coding on in another lesson. We managed to add characters to our design & change the background. The children really enjoyed the designing process.
To start our work in maths we played games where the children had to represent numbers using different materials - diennes, place value counters and arrow cards. The children had lots of fun and got lots of team points for being so clever!!
It has been lovely having my 'perfect poppies' back at school. We have had so much fun and (as you can see from the pictures) we couldn't stop smiling!
Miss Perrin
