West Leigh Juniors Weekly News 24th May 2024

Year 3

Year 3 have thoroughly enjoyed bringing together all they have learnt about legends to create their own, based on the local legend of Sarah Moore. They created a story plan, ensuring they included lots of descriptive language, and then used this to write fantastic legends based in Leigh-on-Sea.

In maths, the children have been learning how to use short division with evidence and how to multiply whole numbers by ones. They applied these methods to solve problems. Please refer to ‘Maths with a Mouse’ for guidance on how to help your child with these methods at home.

Old Father Thames has lead us to learning more about the history of Leigh-on-Sea by the River Thames. The children have learnt all about the smuggling that used to happen and how this impacted the local area.

This was our last week of learning all about plants in science. This meant we concluded the investigation which has been ongoing throughout this topic. The children have taken great responsibility in ensuring that the investigation was fair by giving the plants the correct amount of water on certain days and measuring the height of the tallest flower. Each class' results differed slightly but we all learnt that plants need water, sunlight and nutrient-rich soil to survive. We are looking forward to learning all about light during our final science topic of Year 3.

Year 4

It certainly seems that we have had two seasons in one week. On Monday, 4G and 4E experienced lots of sunshine when the children took off on their geography field study. After a fast paced walk down to the station, the children were excited to travel to Southend by train. They carried out a variety of activities including sketching the pier and imagining what it might look like in 100 years’ time, carrying out a litter survey in 3 different places along the seafront and interviewing visitors about how and why they were visiting Southend. The weather on Tuesday for 4B and 4S was unfortunately not as kind but they still managed to enjoy themselves and gather plenty of useful information. As always, the children were extremely well-behaved and a credit to the school. Many of the people we spoke to commented on their politeness and the mature way they conducted themselves. As always, we would like to thank all of the parents who gave up their time to help on the trip.

In English lessons we have moved onto the study of biographies. We began by reviewing the children’s understanding of pronouns and their different uses.The children enjoyed the idea that they were the stunt people of grammar, standing in for nouns! They showed enthusiasm, reading a range of biographies of famous people, finding their common features and allowing them to demonstrate their comprehension abilities. They concluded the week by reviewing how to use relative clauses. Based on the life of Michael Morpurgo - the author of their layered reading text “The Butterfly Lion” -  they sorted information into categories before writing a simple biography.

Maths lessons this week have focused on the children's understanding of multiplication and division, with a particular emphasis on the upcoming MTC test after half term.

In our final science lesson of this half term, the children have demonstrated their understanding of electricity by participating in class discussions, answering questions and taking part in practical activities.

We wish you and the children an exciting but restful half term but would ask that they continue to work hard practising their times tables on TT Rockstars, read regularly – including on Showbie - and practise this half term's spellings in Spelling Shed.

Year 5

Well, what an amazing half term! The children have worked so very hard and certainly deserve a restful half term holiday.

It’s been another busy and energetic week in Year 5 with the children performing their presentations which were delightful to watch. Speaking with clarity and in unison, the children displayed a wide and varied range of speaking and listening skills. We are very proud of the children and all of their hard work; we hope you enjoyed watching them perform as much as we did!

We have concluded our science and PSHE learning by exploring the stages of human development and how we grow and change. The children actively engaged with their learning by asking pertinent and sensible questions, showcasing their growing maturity. Next term, as scientists, we will move on to exploring the properties of materials.

The children designed their own Anglo-Saxon shields in Connected Curriculum, in readiness to weave a Saxon shield after half term. If you have any spare, unwanted wool, we would appreciate donations to support our forthcoming design and technology unit.

As mathematicians, the children have continued to develop and progress their understanding of a range of topics. Across all maths classes, the teachers have been impressed with the children’s resilience to tackle the challenges that have been set in order to stretch their mathematical thinking.

As readers, the children have been consolidating a range of reading strategies as well as continuing to enjoy our layered text, The Firework Maker’s Daughter. When we return after half term, we are looking forward to using this text as a stimulus for story writing.

We wish you all a restful half term and look forward to seeing the children on Tuesday 4th June; the final term holds lots of exciting learning and activities.

Year 6

Our final week of this half term has been rather unusual in that, due to 2 classes participating in Bikeability, not all four classes have been working on parallel learning. Therefore, it’s probably best to share with you some of the activities that your child might have done this week, and if they haven’t, it is quite likely that this learning will be followed up after half term when the other two classes participate in their Bikeability sessions.

As writers, they might have been creating a new section of an unwritten chapter of The Explorer, attempting to develop the characters in keeping with those created by the highly talented Catherine Rundell. It is possible that they might also have been writing news articles inspired by some rather unique images of animals in unexpected situations.

In Connected Curriculum, it is likely that they have continued to write and finalise their knowledge organiser, but it is also possible that they have taken on several design challenges using Lego Wedo kits, combining their understanding of algorithms, their creativity and making links to the flanimals that they designed earlier in the term.

As artists, many of the children have embarked on a study of Monet’s iconic painting of the Houses of Parliament as an introduction to their Awesome Art topic. They have subsequently analysed his artistic style and applied aspects of this in their own artwork, linked to their newly-found knowledge of significant landmarks within the region of their Connected Curriculum independent topic choice.

Online Safety

A fitness tracker is a wrist-worn device that can measure your level of physical activity during the day. Each fitness tracker focuses on different things but in general, they tend to count steps taken, record sleep patterns and enable activity goals. They can also monitor heart rate, running distance and more. The first fitness tracker was created by Garmin in 2016 but Fitbit popularised fitness trackers for children by introducing the Fitbit Ace in 2018. Now they can be synched to children’s smartphones and used to make physical activity fun for children by giving out virtual badges or encouraging family challenges.

In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as unhealthy obsessions, unrealistic expectations and data leaks.

The National College and Online Safety

If you still need to sign up to the Online Safety portal, please follow the link https://nationalcollege.com/enrol/west-leigh-junior-school and add yourself as a parent.

Key Notices this Week

Lost Property: Please check the lost property box for missing items.

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