RECENT PHOTOGRAPHS
Drama, hiding from the border guards
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Drama, hiding from the border guards
2/13
Drama, looking for a free lift
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Drama, the train to freedom
4/13
Drama, hiding, frightened
5/13
Drama, hiding in the fruit van
6/13
Drama, the journey to freedom
7/13
Drama, emerging from the forest
8/13
Drama, cycling into the night
9/13
Drama, hiding in the fruit van
10/13
Drama, cycling under the cover of darkness
11/13
Drama, the train to freedom
12/13
Drama, hiding from the angry guard
13/13
WELCOME TO ROWAN CLASS
2024 TO 2025
I am very pleased to welcome the Rowan class pupils back to school and I am very much looking forward to teaching them again this academic year. There is a lot to look forward to, with many interesting areas of learning planned.
The adults working in Rowan class this year are myself, Mrs Fielder and our wonderful teaching assistant Miss Gillbard. On Tuesdays my leadership time will be covered by Mrs Forward and on Wednesdays the class will have an hour of PE with Mr Gardener and an hour of science with Mrs Fourie.
SUMMER TERM TWO
Our topic area of learning this half term has a historical focus - we will continue learning about the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. In Science the unit of work for year three is Light and for year four is Sound.
Please refer to the Knowledge Organisers below for more detail on both these subjects as well as the Curriculum Map which outlines the units of work for the remaining subjects.
Week ending June 6th
This first week back after the half term break has been extremely busy with Sports Day on Wednesday and the final swimming lesson for the year four children on Thursday morning. Both Miss Gillbard and I were very proud of the encouragement and support Rowan class gave each other and other team members across the school.
In English we finished our final piece of writing based on 'The Journey'. The children produced well written and interesting diary entries written in the first person based on a choice of three characters. We practiced rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000 in maths as well as recited our times tables in preparation for the multiplication check taking place next week. We continued our learning about the Anglo Saxons focussing on Christianity and Paganism. We completed our three dimensional representation of food in art ready for the exhibition later this term. All I will say at the moment is that I try not to look at their work when I am feeling hungry as it is so life like! In RE we discussed what we remembered after our visit from Reverend Holland and wrote key points in our books. We ended the week with a game of rounders, with both Miss Gillbard and I managing to score a rounder each.
Week ending May 16th
The last three weeks have absolutely whizzed past. As usual the children have worked hard and hopefully learned a lot. The children are enjoying the core text, 'The Journey' and this week finished writing their refugee narratives. The task was to write about the journey which the family took in order to escape the war. They were asked to include the sentence accuracy from the previous weeks learning and to include the feelings and emotions of the family as they travelled towards the border. Rowan class are always engaged when they write and quite often you can hear a pin drop. This week was no exception and the quality of writing was excellent. Well done to everyone. On Tuesday we started preparing for our second write which is a diary entry as one of the characters. This has included looking at new vocabulary and acting together rehearsing these new phrases. The photographs above, show the children taking part in these drama activities which they really enjoyed.
In maths, year four concentrated well to understand the unit on decimals as did the year three on their unit on fractions. This week, for a bit of a contrast, we have been learning about angles; I wonder if they can remember the names for the a quarter turn angle, less than a quarter turn angle and more than a quarter turn angle?
In art, with Mrs Forward, the children have been creating a 3D replica of a 2D image. When I came into school on Wednesday I was surrounded by very realistic doughnuts. I can't wait to see the finished products which are going to be ready very soon.
In history we have started to learn about the Anglo-Saxons; the why, the where and the how. We have looked at where they come in the time-line, why they came to Britain, how they travelled here. We have also investigated what a Saxon settlement looked like and what daily life was like.
In PE we have been practicing the skills to play rounders. Today the children took turns being the batter, backstop and bowler. Wow! We had balls flying all over the place, in the hedges, over the roof, across the field. The children can certainly hit the ball! Next week I think we will be ready to practice with a rounders bat.
In computing the children have been learning how to insert a picture from the web and how to edit it. They have also been adding text and changing the font and colours.
Every day the children are read to from our class read, which is called 'Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf'. Mrs Fowler-Bennet suggested this book after visiting us during one of our English lessons. It has been a hit not only with the children but with the teachers too.
Week ending April 25th
We have had a lovely first week back after the Easter break. It started with the sponsored bunny run where all of Rowan class were determined to run the 20 laps. What an achievement, especially, as in our maths lesson today we worked out that 20 laps is equivalent to 2.9km! Well done to all the Harting children.
In English we have started our new text, called 'The Journey' by Francesca Sanna. We have discussed new vocabulary and described two of the illustrations. With these ideas the children created a poem focussing on comparisons. I was very impressed by their contributions and confidence in exploring the language.
In maths we have revised, measuring length, capacity and mass, ensuring we can recall how many grams are equivalent to a kg and how many millilitres are equivalent to a litre.
On Wednesday the year threes enjoyed exploring mud! They found out what mud is made from and how to determine whether the soil is sandy, clay or loam. They also set up an experiment to see what would happen after pouring water on a layer of soil. We are currently watching and waiting. Next week we will compare the results with our predictions.
In RE we discussed what it might have felt like for the disciples to follow Jesus; what sacrifices did they initially have to make? To help us understand we ripped up paper covered with drawings of our most treasured possessions and daily routines.
We ended the week with a PE lesson focussed on team building. There were quite a few activities, but I think their favourite was where they had to get from one end of the benches to the other without knocking anyone off. What fun!
Week Ending February 28th
The children have returned after the half term break with lots of energy and enthusiasm. As always we started the term with recounts of their holiday activities which we all enjoy listening to.
We have started our learning from our core text, 'The Lost Happy Endings'. The children have already written a poem about the main character Jub which will be displayed over the coming week. As there are some very detailed and captivating illustrations in the book we went slightly off plan so we could draw and paint our own illustrations to display with the poems.
In maths we have started our work on fractions and I was very impressed with how much they had remembered.
This Friday the children finally made it to the forest school sight. My morning group were very excited and kept asking me when it was time to leave; the forest school morning group clambered on the bus with the usual wood smoke smell, their faces covered in ash, smiling and happy after a busy but enjoyable morning. Miss Gillbard has taken plenty of photos which I will add in due course.
Week Ending February 7th
What an amazing couple of weeks. The children have continued to work hard but have also had some fun along the way!
Last week, in English the children finished writing their myth narratives. The vocabulary, turns of phrases and sentence structures continue to impress; the focus and determination, the sharing of ideas, helping each other to think of alternative nouns or fronted adverbials is such a pleasure to see. Well Done.
This week we have started to plan our mythical information guide, a guide to help a warrior defeat a mythical beast!
In maths we have been measuring in millimetres, centimetres, metres and kilometres. We have also been comparing lengths as well as converting measures.
In Geography we have used Google maps to compare West Sussex and Hampshire with the Costa Blanca in Spain. We have looked at how the land is used as well as the weather patterns for both regions. The children were really interested in how many days of sunshine there is in Spain compared with here and how many days of rain we get per month in comparison with Spain. Unfortunately the UK is quite a bit wetter than Spain!
The children have continued to enjoy the coding that we have been learning in computing. They can now write a code using 'repeat' to create different regular 2D shapes as well as shapes of different sizes.
The art work that they have been creating with Mrs Forward looks very impressive too.
The highlight of the week for many, was when the hedgehogs came to school. Graeme brought in Henry, who entertained the class rather well, knocking over his water bowl as well as trying to climb out of his pen. The children answered many of Graeme's questions correctly as well as asked many interesting questions too. Well Done everyone for being so quiet and sensible during Henry's visit to school.
Week Ending January 24th
We have had another jammed pack couple of weeks. In English we have continued reading Arthur and the Golden Rope. We have written abstract noun poems, setting descriptions and character descriptions. These incidental writes as they are called have allowed the children to practice elements of grammar as well as become really familiar with the vocabulary which will help them when they write their own myth narratives in the next couple of weeks. The children are becoming more and more confident at exploring and experimenting with turns of phrases and sentence structures which is a delight to see.
In maths we have continued our work on multiplication and division. The year threes have used base 10, place value counters and partitioning to multiply a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number, learning how to solve calculations where exchange is required. For example 4 x 4 = 16, so ten ones can be exchanged for one ten. The year fours have been using place value counters to help understand how to multiply by 10 and 100. They have also been learning how to set out their calculations vertically and the importance of writing one digit per square so that the numbers are one above the other.
In science the year threes have started their work on plants and the year fours have been learning about vertebrates and invertebrates.
We have enjoyed using the atlases to locate European countries, capital cities as well as mountains and rivers. We have also used Google Maps to begin our comparison of Harting and the Costa Blanca in Spain.
Yesterday in RE we worked in small groups to think about when WATER is cleansing, or beautiful, or dangerous, or life-giving, or thirst-quenching. The children came up with some super ideas which they were allowed to write on the tables. They then had to decide which five of their ideas were the most important and wash off those they didn't want. This created a discussion with lots of reasoning as to what should stay and what should be 'washed' away.
Over the past few PE sessions the children have been practicing balancing on their own and with a partner. Last week they created a sequence of balances with moves to join these together, so that the performance would flow. Today they performed these to each other and we were all very impressed with how different they were.
Week Ending January 10th
It was lovely seeing all the children's smiling faces and confidence when entering Rowan class after the Christmas break. I enjoyed hearing about their amazing presents, their trips away and their visits with families and friends.
I want to congratulate Rowan class for a super first week back. They have settled back into the routines well and have produced some good pieces of work. In maths we have been looking at multiples of 10 and multiplying by 10. In English we have started our new core text, Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd-Stanton. It is a mythical text, one which I think we are going to enjoy studying. We have also spent time trying to complete our pneumatic systems in D.T. The children have shown resilience, determination and team work in order for them to function as effectively as they can.
Week Ending December 6th
Yesterday we visited The Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton to experience what it was like to be a child in Victorian times. The children used the dolly to wash the clothes, then turned the wheel of the mangle to squeeze out the excess water. They then had a go at using the heavy iron, sweeping the floor and beating a rug to remove the dust. We then visited the Victorian house where we learned how cramped the conditions were; two bedrooms for a family with eight children; an outside toilet or a chamber pot if you didn't fancy using the candle light to show you the way outside; one open fire upstairs to heat both rooms; the bathroom, not a room but a jug and bowl in the bedroom with water obtained from the pump outside. Two rooms downstairs, one the kitchen the other for food storage and washing up. Parents sat on chairs, the children on the floor. The cast iron range boiled water and cooked food with the parents and children who worked having the better food, the younger children the scraps. After our visit the children decided that living in the 21st century is definitely preferable to living in the Victorian era.
I just want to say a HUGE well done to Rowan class as they were fantastic, enthusiastic, and engaged all day. Well Done Everyone.
Week Ending November 22nd
News Flash!
On Thursday 21st November we had ...............SNOW. As the children walked into the classroom there was an air of excitement about them as the first few snow flakes fell. All they could talk about was snow and instead of colouring or reading they stood by the windows wishing. It was all I could do to get them quiet for the register and the order of the day. Eventually there was quiet and the snow stopped. Miss Gillbard and I couldn't decide, do we let the children have a play now or wait? We decided on the latter and thank goodness we did. How did we manage to learn the possessive apostrophe as the snow flakes grew larger and the landscape whiter? At 9:20, we could be mean no longer! Dressed in coats, hats, scarves and gloves the children ran into the playground leaving footprints where they went. It was so lovely watching them enjoying the snow, trying to build snowmen and throwing snow balls at whoever they could. Eventually, a little on the cold and wet side, we called the children in. Now we had the problem of how to warm their fingers and toes. Miss Gillbard and I decided that they could snuggle together under old duvet covers and blankets to help them warm up. Below are some super photographs of Rowan class having fun and warming up whilst watching a little something snowy!
Week Ending November 8th
Miss Gillbard and I want to say a huge WELL DONE and THANK YOU to all of Rowan Class for such a great start to the second half of the Autumn term. They have listened well, tried hard and are really beginning to show independence and resilience in their day to day learning. It is for these reasons that this week's STAR OF THE WEEK was given to the class.
We started our new core text in English, called Leaf written by Sandra Dieckmann. It is not often that the planning allows the whole text to be read in one session, but this week I had the great pleasure of reading the story to the class. You could have heard a pin drop, with every child hanging off my every word. The illustrations are beautiful too and have already been used to write prepositional phrases and poetry.
In maths year 4 have been learning how to calculate the area of simple 2-D shapes while year 3 have been continuing with addition and subtraction.
In Friday's PE lessons we will be participating in activities that focus around fitness. Rowan class had great fun today trying to balance with bean bags and hoops as well as working in teams of three to develop coordination.
Week Ending September 20th
What a super week we have had this week. Both Miss Gillbard and I noticed how the children have got back into the 'learning rhythm.'
On Tuesday afternoon, the children who wanted to be a school councillor read their speeches to the class. I was so impressed and touched by their commitment. Several children had remembered to write them at home or had spent some of their break time preparing them. Although only one pupil from each year group was voted in ( I was glad that I did not have that responsibility) I just wanted to say how proud I was of them all. Clearly some of the children were disappointed but at the same time were able to be happy for those who were successful. It was a special moment. Well Done.
Yesterday in maths we explored number sequences using a counting stick. The buzz from the children as they tried to work out what number the sequence would end with if we started at 2 and counted in fives, or what number the sequence would start with if it ended in 101 and we counted in twos or fives. Today each child had their own counting stick and had to set problems for their partners to solve. The children used many reasoning and proving strategies which was a delight to see and hear.
The children had their second French lesson on Monday, where we were learning to say car, bus, taxi, scooter and bicycle. They are so keen and confident at participating making it a fun lesson for all.
Well Done Rowan Class for this week. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as both myself and Miss Gillbard have.
KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS
SUMMER TWO 2025
SUMMER ONE 2025
SPRING TWO 2025
SPRING ONE 2025
AUTUMN TWO 2024
AUTUMN ONE 2024
CURRICULUM MAPS
LEARNING CONVERSATIONS
NOT SO RECENT PHOTOGRAPHS
RE
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Year 3 soil investigation
2/14
Year 3 soil investigation
3/14
RE
4/14
RE
5/14
RE
6/14
RE
7/14
Capacity and volume in maths
8/14
Capacity and volume in maths
9/14
Capacity and volume in maths
10/14
Capacity and volume in maths
11/14
Capacity and volume in maths
12/14
Capacity and volume in maths
13/14
Capacity and volume in maths
14/14
Measuring
1/15
More Measuring
2/15
Even more measuring
3/15
Gymnastics
4/15
Where's Henry?
5/15
Hoglets
6/15
Here's Henry
7/15
What is Henry doing now?
8/15
There goes the water bowl!
11/15
Don't climb out!
12/15
Oh no!
13/15
Oh no!
15/15
Ideas for the abstract noun poem
1/23
Ideas for the abstract noun poem
2/23
Setting multiplication challenges for each other
3/23
Representing multiplication using counters
4/23
Look what we can solve!
5/23
Preparation for our character descriptions
6/23
Using partitioning to solve multiplication
7/23
Representing multiplication using counters
8/23
Bug hunting in science
9/23
More bug hunting
10/23
Even more bug hunting!
11/23
When is water cleansing or dangerous?
12/23
When is water life-giving or beautiful?
13/23
Which five shall we keep and which do we 'wash' away?
14/23
Balancing
15/23
More balancing
16/23
Balances
17/23
Paired balances
18/23
Hold on tight.....
19/23
Balancing
20/23
Paired balancing
21/23
More paired balancing
22/23
Don't let go......
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