Beach park visit

To celebrate the end of the summer term Descartes enjoyed a trip to the beach park. We built dens, ran around and played in the glorious sunshine. To end our day we had a fun swim at the YMCA. As you can see from our pictures below, a truly fabulous time was had by all!

Berries on the benches

As a change from the usual toast during Wednesday playtime, this week the children enjoyed strawberries and ice-cream. It was really was a delicious summer time treat and, as if that wasn't enough, the sun was shining too!

First Holy Communion 2017

Sunday 18th June 2017 was a lovely day for Alex, Natalie and Lucas who made their first Holy Communion at St. Mary's Parish Church.  Here are a few photos of their special day.

New tastes

The books we have been looking at in our phonics sessions recently have mentioned some foods that the children had never heard of or found unusual. With this in mind we held a taster session so that the children could experience these new foods for themselves. Goats milk (mentioned in Gregory Cool) and mandarins (from The Three of Us) were on the menu.

Order, order!

This week Descartes have been practising their debating skills. We looked at a political debate then held our own mini parliament in the hall to debate whether school holidays should be shorter.

Speedy Stacking

Descartes tried their hand at speed stacking this week. Steady hands and nerves were needed, as well as super team work.  

May The Force Be With You

Our Science focus for this half term is forces. This week we experimented with magnets and various objects to explore the concept that forces can attract and repel. The children loved trying different strength magnets on an assortment of surfaces and objects.

Playscripts 

Descartes have gone all theatrical this week for our new English topic, playscripts. The children are exploring a variety of playscripts to examine their features and understand the different ways that they are presented. As you can see from our pictures below, the children are really enjoying bringing the scripts to life and starring in their own performances. 

Stations of the Cross

Descartes class looked at the first and third station. For the first station, Jesus is condemned to death, we thought about the concept of justice. The children were encouraged to think about a time when a wrong or unfair decision was made. For the third station, Jesus falls for the first time, we tried to empathise with how Jesus must have felt and we filled in an accident form for him.  

Easter Maths

Descartes entered into the Easter spirit this week with an outdoor mathematical challenge. The children worked in pairs to solve various Easter themed maths problems. It was very egg-citing and the children loved applying their methods in a different context.

Mummies Galore!

Descartes are studying all things Ancient Egyptian at the moment. Amongst other things we have looked at Egyptian homes and artefacts. We The children are especially fascinated by the mummification process, particularly the fact that the brain was removed with a long stick and hook prior to the mummification process. 

World Book Day 2017

Descartes celebrated World Book Day by creating a hat based on their favourite book or by dressing up as a book character. As you can see from our pictures below the children made a huge effort and looked absolutely fabulous. A big thank you to all our parents for their support !

Descartes Delicious Chocolate

As a reward for working so hard in our English topic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Descartes made their own delicious chocolate this week. The children researched a recipe, thought about equipment and wrote their own instructions. A lovely chocolatey aroma filled the room as the children worked, which made the process even more delightful. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Descartes class have developed green fingers this week.

They have been planting different sorts of seeds to see how they grow.

We will be looking at our plants each week to check on their progress .Let's  hope we have a beanstalk by the end of half-term!

Outdoor Maths

This week Descartes class experienced a maths lesson with a difference. We took our learning into the playground where the children were set a column addition and subtraction challenge to complete. They enjoyed every minute.

Healthy Humans 

Our topic for this term is Healthy Humans. This week we have looked at the nutritional information on food packaging, in particular the traffic light labelling system. We also had a think about what sorts of foods might be on the menu for different types of athletes.

Internet Safety

Descartes had a visit from a PCSO this week. The children were given advice about how to keep themselves safe online. We had an in-depth discussion and the children gained a lot from it.

Learning about local history

As part of our topic, ‘No place like home’, Descartes have been learning all about the history of Fleetwood. We were even lucky enough to have a special talk from two ladies who attended St. Mary’s School in the last century! Mrs Daniels (a member of the Civic Society) and Mrs Jackson (a former pupil and long serving staff member of the school) talked about the old school building as it was then. The children were intrigued to hear that swimming lessons took place in an outdoor pool and that the toilets were also outside.  

Working our muscles in science

This half term we are looking at the human body. This week Descartes enjoyed an energetic science lesson during which they performed various physical exercises. The aim was for the children to carefully consider and name which body parts they used during each exercise.

Volcanoes

Descartes are looking at explanation texts in English at the moment. We are focusing on books relating to volcanoes and the children are loving learning about this fascinating topic. This week we have been looking at the features of explanation texts and creating our own information posters.  

Working hard in PE

Descartes got their hearts pumping in PE this week. The focus was on aiming and throwing and the children did remarkably well. They are future olympic shot-putters in the making!

Science Week

Descartes have had an amazing week enjoying the wonders of science. We have researched Alexander Graham Bell and made posters using the interesting facts we discovered about him. We carried out an investigation in science based on his work and we made kites to reflect his fascination of flying. As if this wasn’t enough, we also enjoyed a super trip to Eureka! Wow. Take a look at our pictures to see how much fun we have had.    

Sum Sprint

This week Descartes took part in a maths lesson with a difference. The children were split into teams and had to correctly solve various number sentences before racing for the next. It was fast, energetic and fun learning. We enjoyed it so much we're going to do it again, once we've recovered!   

Our Amazing Bodies

As part of our Science topic, Descartes have been looking at what humans need to be healthy. So far we have looked at what makes a healthy diet and what certain food groups do for our bodies. This week we have been looking at the anatomy of the human body and we enjoyed drawing around each other and labelling our different body parts.

All About Me

We have been busy getting to know one another in Descartes this week. The children were asked to bring in an 'all about me bag' in which they were asked to pack some of their favourite things. The children loved talking about their special things and we have taken pictures which will be made into a book so that the children can learn about what is special to their peers.     

Walk For Water

To begin our RE topic Descartes went on a 'Walk for Water' . The task was designed to help the children imagine what it must be like to have go in search of clean drinking water. We walked up, down and around The Mount grounds for over an hour in search of buckets of clean water. We experienced desperation on finding empty buckets or those filled with dirty water but also elation on finally finding a bucket of clean water.