Latest news and events
Key Stage 1 (5-7 years) – Coral Class
School Year 2021-2022
The Year Ahead in Coral Class
Here is a little insight into the teaching and learning that has taken place so far with the topic in Coral class.
What has been happening in our class in Term 1?
Coral Class has been learning about coral reefs. We started our topic by reading stories about fish and ocean life. We read “The Rainbow Fish” and a story called “Starry-Eyed Stan”, focusing on friendship and kindness. We also wrote about “What makes a good friend?”
We learned the names of the 5 oceans through a song and explored the names of some animals who live in the ocean, learning interesting facts about them. We watched a video about how coral is formed and saw some amazing creatures that inhabit the coral reefs. There is so much to learn!
We coloured some beautiful pictures in our Topic book and we did a great team building exercise: every team made a model of a coral reef on a tray, using sand, colourful pebbles, pasta and small sea-themed toys. A busy and fun afternoon!
What has been happening in our class in Term 2?
Coral Class has been very excited to learn about Grace Darling, the brave Victorian heroine who risked her life to rescue the nine survivors of a wrecked steamship. The children recognised the differences between their own lives and Grace Darling’s life. We reflected upon questions such as: “How would it be to live long ago in a lighthouse, on an island?”, “What can we learn from Grace Darling’s example of bravery?”, “How would it have been for her to become suddenly so famous?” We also explored the feelings of the different people involved in the rescue story. We sequenced the order of events and acted the story out, using the technique of “Freeze frame”.
Next, we learned about the history of lighthouses and looked at photographs of lighthouses from now and in the past. There were many interesting facts to study, and the children came up with some great questions! It inspired the children to make wonderful drawings and, together as a team, build a model of an island with a lighthouse, boats and people. During the next weeks, we will continue to learn more about the Victorian age and talk about similarities and differences between people’s everyday lives today and then. We will have a virtual peek into a Victorian kitchen and talk about transport and the difference between schools in the past and now. We will also describe clothes worn in Grace’s time. It will be fun to dress up in Victorian clothes for Drama Day!
Class Teacher: Caroline Verle
Drama Day – The Victorians
On our Drama day, Coral Class pupils travelled back in time for a taste of school life during Victorian times. They looked amazing in their outfits, dressed as Victorian school children with flat caps, aprons and mob caps. There were also chimney sweeps, rich lords and ladies and even a pretty flower girl! The children enjoyed role play, playing school and loved pretending to be very strict teachers from the past! Coral Class did their spelling practice, writing with chalk on slates. The children were fascinated by the forms of punishment from that era, and even queued up for turns to wear the Dunce Cap and get the cane (not literally!) The children were also very proud to show off their Victorian lunches in lovely baskets, paper bags or tied up in cloth. There was delicious food, including tasty roast meat and homemade strawberry cake! At playtime some of them played old fashioned games such as skipping rope.
In the afternoon, the children were very excited to go on a trip to Torre, where they visited the small school building from the past, preserved as a museum. They remained in character lining up in separate lines: the girls in one line and the boys in another. They sat on wooden bench desks asking and answering questions and were captivated by the many artefacts from the past displayed inside the school building and in the garden. What a fantastic afternoon we had. Well done to Coral Class for being impeccably behaved – they were a credit to our school! A wonderful day for us all!
Timetable (click to zoom):
