Rudhall Class Gallery and Events
English - We started this half term with a poetry focus, exploring palindrome poetry. We looked at controversial subjects which spark debate as inspiration for our poems. We are all very proud of them. Read the poems in our anthology, then read them again backwards!
Egyptian Extravaganza - Rudhall had the best day to end our topic. We packed a lot in, including mummifying tomatoes, virtually visiting the great pyramid of Giza, the tomb of Ramses II in the valley of the kings and the Cairo museum as well as making our own paper in the style of papyrus.
Christmas lunch 2024 - Rudhall loved getting into the festive spirit with a whole school Christmas lunch, they loved being served by all the teachers and staff and pulling their Christmas crackers!
Shaduf in action
Walk like an Egyptian - We made shadufs in science to understand levers and learn more about how the ancient Egyptians retrieved water from the river Nile. We were really impressed to use our shadufs, we found that a smaller lever was less effective and required more effort.
Art - This week we had artist, Anna Lancaster join GGS. She met with all classes and taught them mosaic techniques ahead of her return in the Spring to complete some new artwork for the hall. The children really enjoyed their session and can’t wait to get started in the New year.
Maths - We have been understanding fractions this term, today we used numicon and counters to explore improper fractions and mixed numbers. Using the manipulatives really helped to consolidate our learning.
Science - We investigated how air resistance works by making our own parachutes and testing how the size of a parachute affects the time it takes to fall. We found that the smaller the parachute, the quicker it falls because there is less surface area for air resistance to act on.
Geography - We used atlases to locate Egypt and find out interesting features about the country. We then worked in partners to creatively display our information in the form of a poster, we discussed how our posters needed to be eye catching, informative and factual. Our finished posters have been proudly on display in the hall for all to see!
Science - As part of our forces topic, we investigated friction. We looked at how different surfaces affect a cars ability to move, the children designed their investigation to explore different surfaces around school and predicted how this would affect the cars distance travelled.
PE - Dance. This half term Rudhall have been enjoying dance inspired by our topic of the ancient Egyptians. We have focused on group work, canon, unison and choreography to music.
Maths - Today, Rudhall got creative in Maths. We used cubes to physically show our cubed numbers and understand why they are called cubed numbers.
PE - some fantastic skills have been developed this half term in hockey including how to control the ball, accurately pass and safely intercept.
Whizz Bang Science Show - Rudhall and Wye enjoyed a fantastic morning out at The Blake Theatre in Monmouth. We were kindly invited to attend the show by Haberdashers’ Monmouth School where we had demonstrations of the colourful and explosive nature of air. There were plenty of whizzes, flashes and bangs, and we learnt the effects of liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen and dry-ice. In the words of the children "This was the best morning ever!"
We ended our ‘To infinity and beyond!’ topic by exploring space through dance and imagining we were astronauts by testing some space food. We got to try some freeze dried strawberries and finished it off with some dehydrated ice cream, delicious!
Science - Day and night. To end our science unit on Earth and Space, the children learnt why we have day and night. Using globes and a torch to act as the Sun, the children demonstrated how the Earth takes 24 hours to rotate on it's axis whilst orbiting the Sun. They worked in small groups to explain that the part of Earth facing the Sun is in daylight, whilst the part of Earth facing away from the Sun will be experiencing night time.
DT - Today the classroom was turned into a toy workshop! We set to work to create our final designs of our cam toys. The brief was to make an educational toy to show how a planet rotates on its own axis and had to include a cam mechanism. The children worked tenaciously, overcoming many challenges and each persevering to complete a working model. The results were out of this world!
Last week of half term - What a busy first few weeks we have had!
Art - The children took part in a competition for NASA where we had to create a piece of artwork that depicted what we thought may be below the icy surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. We used graphite pencils with a watercolour wash overlay to create the illusion of icy water.
Black History month - Over the course of the month, Rudhall class learnt about some inspiring people from all around the world who have contributed in different ways to making our world a better place. We had some great discussions around the importance of black history month and why we should learn about the oppression and segregation that has been faced by many. We also explored inspirational black men and women that have contributed to our knowledge of Space, including scientists, astronauts and mathematicians
Whole school reward - For collectively earning 5,000 house points, the children were treated to a round of mini golf. The children thoroughly loved getting to grips with putting and it was lovely to see them all encouraging each other.
English - Our published leaflets taking pride of place in our library. Don’t they look professional?
Science - Moon phases. The children worked hard in science to learn about the 8 different phases of the lunar cycle, we learnt that a full cycle is called a lunation and understood why we see the moon as different shapes throughout the month. We then got to recreate the moon phases using Oreo biscuits - yummy!
Visit from JKHS - We were excited to receive a visit from Mr Salway, he spoke to us about our Year 5 visit next year and got us thinking about some of the subjects we would like to take part in. The children also had the opportunity to ask questions and they put Mr Salway to the test! We can’t wait to go and visit the school next summer.
RE - Walking the Bible. We were sad to say goodbye to Mrs Newton after our last session of walking through the Bible. The children have all really enjoyed taking part, dressing up and joining in the retelling of some of the Bible stories.
PE - Gymnastics. Rudhall have really enjoyed their gymnastics sessions, practising their jumps and landings using the apparatus was a particular highlight!
English - We put our IT skills to the test by typing up our finished persuasive leaflets. Look out for our leaflets coming to the Gorsley Goffs library very soon! Which planet will you choose to visit first?
Black History Month - After reminding ourselves about the importance of Black History Month and the history behind it, Rudhall class spent time researching influential scientists. To coincide with our topic, we focused on those who had contributed to Space exploration. We then worked in pairs to create a poster to share the amazing work and legacies that these men and women have left behind
Science - We carried out an investigation to find out which planet orbits the Sun the fastest. We found that there was lots of scope for human error as it involved counting, spinning and timing. Accuracy, consistency and cooperation were critical for us to ensure fair and reliable results.
Science - To learn about the distances between the planets and the size of our solar system, Rudhall class initially drew where they thought each component of the solar system was starting with the Sun and ending at the Kuiper Belt. Through the use of a few clever folds, we then used our purple polisher pens to draw where the planets should be (on a much smaller scale!). We were really surprised to find out how close together the inner planets are to each other.
Art - Rudhall class entered NASA’s Art competition this week by creating a picture of what they thought might be lurking beneath the icy depth of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. We first practiced using watercolours over graphite and then sketched our pictures before adding a watercolour wash to mimic the icy water.
DT - After being introduced to our design brief, we began our unit on Cam mechanisms by conducting some product research.
Science - We ventured outside to demonstrate the heliocentric model of our solar system. We learnt the order of the planets in relation to the Sun and created some of our own mnemonics to help us remember their order.
English - This week Rudhall have been working extremely diligently on publishing their non-chronological reports based on one of the planets within our solar system. We can’t wait to share our finished book!
PE - This half term our indoor PE sessions are focusing on Gymnastics. After 3 weeks, we are already noticing a difference in our stretching ability. So far we have learnt stretches, balances and jumps.
Oliver Twist - Rudhall Class absolutely loved the performance of Oliver Twist by the talented M and M Productions. Please Sir, we want some more!
Science - Rudhall explored different evidence for and against Earth being flat. We then created informative videos to explain why Earth is a spherical body.
Is Earth flat?
Spherical Earth
Spherical or flat?
Earth is not flat!
RE - Walk through the Bible with Mrs Newton. This half term Mrs Newton is bringing the Bible to life for Rudhall class, we have loved our interactive sessions received so far!
The Planet in a Pickle Jar - Rudhall class have all settled into their new classroom well, the first week back went by so quickly! We used the fabulous book, 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar' by Martin Stanev as inspiration for our writing and artwork. We spent time reconnecting as a class by completing tasks in small groups and pairs, as well as some independently. We were all really proud of our own pickle jars, we hope you like them too!
