What we are doing this week in Lilac Class for the week beginning 24.2.25

For Maths this week in Lilac Class, we are starting our new block of learning called ‘Decimals and Percentages’.  We will initially work with decimals up to 2 decimal places and consider what is the same and what is different about a tenth and a hundredth, representing numbers using a place value chart. Lilac Class are then moving onto finding equivalent fractions and decimals (tenths and hundredths) using counters, bead strings and number lines to support learning.  We will then be looking at equivalent fractions and decimals, specifically focusing on halves, quarters, fifths and tenths.

In English this week in Lilac Class, we are continuing with our planning of a narrative poem about life in the workhouse. We will be using our Street Child text, other texts, BBC documentaries and photographs for stimulus and ideas. We will then be drafting our poems written in the first person from the perspective of someone who lived in the workhouse during the Victorian period. Lilac Class will be using features of poetry writing such as onomatopoeia, similes, metaphors, expanded noun phrases and personification in their drafts. 

For Whole Class Guided Reading Lilac Class are reading Chapters 11 and 12 of Berlie Doherty’s Street Child, entitled ‘Shrimps’ and ‘The Spitting Crow’. Examples of our inference questions, where we need to read between the lines rather than directly retrieve information from the text are: ‘Can you find evidence that suggests Jim was scared of the grandmother?’ and ‘Why do you think the boys ran away as soon as Jim tried to join in?’  We will also be developing our summarising skills drawing on key events.

For RE in Lilac Class, we are starting our new unit of learning entitled ‘Salvation’.  This week we are answering our Big Question ‘What did Jesus do to save Human beings?’ as formative assessment.  For Time and Place, Lilac Class are finding out about what the main inventions of the Victorian period were and how they have shaped our lives today.  For Science in Lilac Class, we are writing up our investigation where we tested materials for their level of conductivity and will be finding out whether they are electrical insulators or electrical conductors.  In ICT, we are starting our new unit of learning entitled ‘Flat Files’.  We will be explaining how information can be recorded and ordering, sorting and grouping our data cards. 

This term, the Modern Foreign Language (MFL) we are learning is Spanish. This week we will be learning the days of the week and start to familiarise ourselves with some greetings in Spanish.  We will be learning phrases to greet someone and to say goodbye and also to introduce ourselves.   

For Design and the Arts, we are starting to learn about William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement.  We will be creating wallpaper using polyprint tiles based on the designs of William Morris.  This week we are designing a repeated pattern based on the theme of nature. 

For Homework this week, I would like your child to complete any activity on the Wider Learning Curriculum Matrix.  Outstanding efforts will be put onto our class blog!