We have been having fun creating 3D symmetrical creations. We worked in small teams to use any bits and pieces from our classroom to create patterns and models that had one or two lines of symmetry. We looked carefully at as many of the details as we could – writing and patterns on things made it really tricky but we made it as symmetrical as we could!
If you did happen to pass Heaves woods this afternoon, you may well have seen Reception having super fun at their forest school session! The rain did not put us off, especially as we had one of Miss Butler’s brilliant shelters to hide underneath when we got there! We all enjoyed having a scavenger hunt to see what we could see and hear, we thought about why we might not have found certain things on our list and created our own magical wands from nature’s treasures. Mrs Haslam was also very proud of her newly acquired fire making skills, which were put to good use for us to toast marshmallows on to complete our afternoon!
Skiddaw class have been learning all about rocks in Science recently. There is nothing better than chocolate to show the ways of making different types of rocks! The Rock Cycle goes round and round and rocks are changed into other types over millions of years. We started with layers of grated milk and white chocolate to represent the sedimentary rocks like limestone and chalk. We pressed these little bits down just like the sea presses the layers down to make these rocks.
We then applied a bit of heat from our hands and twisted the chocolate sediment to form metamorphic rocks like marble and slate.
Then we put some of the chocolate into a cup of hot water and melted it and cooled it, like the igneous rocks that are formed underground and then erupted out of a volcano like granite and basalt. We know that rocks are weathered and eroded into little bits that flow into rivers and into the sea and the whole cycle starts again!
Of course, we stopped and ate our chocolate which tasted pretty good even though we had changed it to much!
The benefits of learning to play a musical instrument are very well researched and understood. So with this in mind, Year 2 have been ‘adding a new string to their bow’ and learning to play the violin with the wonderful Mrs Hurley, kindly supported by a bequest from Guy and Maggie Paton, local residents, in memory of their son Jamie.
As a showcase for their new skills they performed a concert to the rest of Skiddaw class and our VIP guest Mrs Coker. They demonstrated how to hold the violin in rest position, how to position it to play, pluck the strings and use the bow. So much thinking and fine movement is involved; it is a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time! Superb listening, following of instructions and great enjoyment from everyone.
Well done to all Year 2 pupils, and Mrs Matheson who learnt too, saying learning this new skill was a highlight of her week! Each week, Mrs Hurley played great solo tunes to the group on her violin, while they tidied away, and Year 3 and 4 often stopped to listen too – a real treat for the ears! We are looking forward to continuing violin lessons again for those in Year 2 who wish to carry on in September. Please see the letter that has come home for more details.
