Randwick Church of England Primary
School
Kestrel Class 2025 - 2026
Miss Newbould
Welcome to Kestrel Class
The Kestrel Class team
Class Teacher: Miss Newbould
Class Teaching Assistant in mornings: Mrs Bird
Class Teaching Assistant in afternoons: Mrs Aristotelous
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.
Spring Term 1 2025-26
What have the Romans ever done for us?
This term, much of our learning will be connected to our History topic.
In English and Guided Reading, we will be reading the book Escape from Pompeii (a historical fiction text). This will inspire our own historical fiction writing set in Roman Britain. Later in the term, we will write non-chronological reports about the impact of the Roman invasion on Britain.
In History, we are finding out about the Roman invasion and the legacy tbhis had on the development of Britain.
In our art lessons, we will be looking at the art of Antoni Gaudi and comparing his mosaic pieces to Roman mosaics.
In Science, we will be studying and investigating states of matter and the changes between solids, liquids and gases.
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 Science and History 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 children 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 Christina Balit
Join Tranio, the son of an actor, and his friend Livia, the baker's daughter, in witnessing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. Tranio, like most Roman boys, likes to watch whatever is going on: tradesmen selling their goods, ships unloading their exotic cargoes, politicians making speeches in the forum. But one hot August day a very different scene unfolds. The ground begins to shake, the sky to darken. People run gasping for air. Heading for the harbor, Tranio and his friend Livia hide on a boat and witness one of the most terrifying moments in recorded history-the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of their beloved city, Pompeii.
Although this book handles the sensitive subject of a tragic natural disaster, this book perfectly pitched for years 2 and 3 (and 4!). It is great in explaining the daily life of Romans from a child's point of view.
By
From the same author and artist team as The Orchard Book of Greek Myths, this book of Roman myths includes the story of how Romulus and Remus founded Rome, how the guardian geese of Juno''s temple saved Rome and why Rome was blessed with vines.'
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]