Randwick Church of England Primary
School
Kestrel Class 2024 - 2025
Miss Newbould
Welcome to Kestrel Class
The Kestrel Class team
Class Teacher: Miss Newbould
Class Teaching Assistant: Mrs Bird
PPA Cover Teacher: Mrs Chastney on Tuesday afternoons
Together, we work hard to create a classroom environment which inspires confidence and a love of learning. Our learning is theme-based and this is reflected in the look and feel of our classroom. From surviving Prehistory to flying over France, we use our Geography, History and Art topics to draw together our other learning.
We are passionate about creativity and are always thinking about the next artistic project we can do as a class. We believe that learning should be fun and that the new skills learnt should be applied in real life situations and challenges.
How we learn in Kestrel Class
- We focus on building their independence and the children will be taught how to use different resources to help themselves (word banks, dictionaries, maths resources).
- Much of our learning involves teamwork and children having the opportunity to discuss their thinking.
- We will be supporting the children to develop confidence and resilience. We talk a lot about Growth Mindset and the importance of believing that everyone can improve with effort and practice.
- We love feedback in Kestrel Class and children are encouraged to give each other helpful feedback, improve their own work and listen to the feedback from adults.
Summer Term 6 2024-25
Mountain adventures!
This term, much of our learning will be connected to our Geography and Science topics.
In English and Guided Reading, we will be reading the book 'King of Quizzical Island Digs Through the Earth' which presents some fantastic questions and surreal answers about the scientific makeup of the World. We will also be finding out about Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary who werre the first to reach the peak of Everest.
In Geography, we are finding out how mountains are created. We will lean what causes earthquakes and volcanoes as well as exploring the features of a mountain and the different ways they are formed.
In our Design Technology lessons, we will be designing explorer bars by researching and evaluating existing products on the market and then designing a nutritional but energy-packed bar.
In Science, we are being Geologists and using our scientific enquiry skills to investigate the properties of differnt kinds of rocks.
Our RE work will explore how and why people mark the significant events of life. We will compare some different religions and find out about the commitment ceremonies people take place in.
Knowledge Organiser
These Knowledge Organisers show all of the sticky knowledge (facts that we want to stick in the children's heads) and vocabulary that we want children to be able to know by the end of the topic. You might like to ask your child about some of these words or ideas at home. Find this term's knowledge organisers for RE, Science and Geography by scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Reading in Kestrel Class
When children first join us, we assess their reading and support them to choose books from a selection that closely match their reading level. Adults in class regularly talk to children about their reading and support them to find books that they are interested in and motivated to read. Over their time in Kestrel Class, the children will move up through these reading stages. We call these books 'Daily Readers' as we expect the chidlren to be reading at home a little every day.
Reading Passport
Kestrel Class Padlet Reading Passport
Our reading passport books in Year 3 and 4 have such a range of exciting fiction and non-fiction texts. These will always be available for your child to read and borrow from class. Once your child has read seven of these books themselves, they can bring their passport into school to be awarded a £5 book token.
Our texts this term
By Gordon Snell and David McKee
The King of Quizzical Island
To prove the world is round,
Made a singular spade with a diamond blade
And began to dig in the ground.
The resolute King of Quizzical Island begins to dig a tunnel so deep that it will take him to the other side of the world. His quest leads him right down into the heart of the earth where he encounters all kinds of mysterious and mythical creatures, including the Monarch of Calcium, a huge Giant and a Dinosaur and Dragon perched in two large armchairs. Will he make it to the other side? What treasures of wisdom will he discover?
By Alexandra Stewart and Joe Todd-Stanton
By David Long and Kerry Hyndman
Important information
PE Days
Kestrel Class will have PE (swimming this term) with Mrs Chastney every Tuesday afternoon. Please send your child into school in their PE kit on this day. On weeks with no Forest School, Kestrels will also have PE on a Friday. Please can children also come into school in their PE kits on these days.
Uniform
General uniform:
Dark blue sweatshirt/cardigan, light blue polo shirt, grey trousers/skirt/shorts, grey/navy/white socks or tights, dark coloured school shoes or boots in winter. Your child also needs to have a waterbottle in school every day.
PE kit:
Randwick PE Shirt, navy shorts/cycling shorts/skirt, trainers, change of socks (white/grey)
In cold weather, navy blue joggers/leggings and a school sweatshirt are recommended
Forest school kit:
Navy blue joggers, usual t-shirt and school jumper. They can wear their shoes/trainers to school and bring their wellies with them in a bag. Don’t forget a waterproof coat!
- Please clearly name everything -
Helpful Websites
These are websites that we use to support your child's learning in school. Your child might like to build on thier learning at home and complete thier own projects. Do get in touch with me if you would like a copy of the children's school log in details. Most of these websites will also allow you to set up free accounts for projects at home.
On Scratch, children can use coding to build a whole range of creations: https://scratch.mit.edu/
Book creator allows children to make thier own eBooks: https://bookcreator.com/
Brush Ninja is brilliant for creating animations: https://brush.ninja/
Chrome Music Lab allows children to explore music and compose thier own pieces. We particularly use the Song Maker app: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/
DK Find out is an online encyclopedia for children. We often use it to complete research for science, history and geography topics: https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/
Spelling frame supports children with learning the spellings for their year group and has a range of games that the children enjoy: https://spellingframe.co.uk/
Doodle Maths and Tables
All children from Year 1 upwards have a Doodle Maths and Doodle Tables account set up. We ask children to practise doodling regularly at home to build on their maths learning in school. Each week, one class will be awarded the trophy for 'Top Doodling Class' for the most number of children in the 'Green Zone'. There is also a certificate and small prize for the child who has impressed us with regular practice at home.
You might like to download the apps at home if you have a device your child regularly uses. Please get in touch if you need another copy of your child's password.
Guardians - Defenders of Mathematica is a brilliant gamified maths program created by BBC bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/games/embed/guardians-mathematica?exitGameUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fbbc.com%2Fbitesize%2Farticles%2Fzn2y7nb
Get in touch
If you wish to contact me, please use this email address: [email protected]