The Gates Primary SchoolOur blogs
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 2:01pm
This afternoon, we looked at the features of the Titanic. We discussed the building of the Titanic, where we learnt that The Titanic was the largest man made object to enter the sea and 15,000 people worked to build the Titanic!
We then delved deeper into the different types of rooms, looking at the differences between 1st, 2nd and 3rd class passengers. Based on our knowledge of this, we created rooms in a shoe box to demonstrate what it might have looked like.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 2:00pm
Today, we designed a piece of wallpaper in the style of William Morris. We analysed a range of his artwork, before discussing and creating a success criteria. As a class we agreed that our drawings must include: a nature theme, symmetrical or repeated pattern and contrasting colours.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:59pm
In P.E, we were learning to develop a range of skills through a competitive game of Bench Ball. We applied our existing knowledge of skills such as throwing and catching, whilst continuing to develop other skills such as agility, tactics, communication and teamwork.
The day the crayons came home :)
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:58pm
On Friday, we finished our letters to the crayons to try and persuade them to come back. We read our letters to Puffins class and also listened to theirs. Both classes produced amazing pieces of writing, surely the crayons have to come back now!
Big Question – How do we do things at the Gates?
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:57pm
This morning in class, we discussed the value and ethos of our School: Growth, Achievement, Teamwork, Enjoyment and Success. We discussed our thoughts, experiences and memories of how The Gates has helped to promote each of those aspects. We compiled a long, long list of amazing things we do for each area! Have a look 😊
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:56pm
To further understand how our Crayons were feeling and their reasons behind resigning from their job, we held a chat show called ‘Loose Crayons’. This gave us the opportunity to understand the thoughts and feelings of the crayons, by stepping into their shoes, but also gave us an insight of what Duncan needed to do to earn their trust back! We had a great time using drama and role play.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:55pm
As part of our whole school writing focus, we have been reading ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Daywalt. Doves class got together with Puffins class to read the story, we even had some brilliant volunteers who read the book and did an amazing job!
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:54pm
Our new blog will be updated regularly with information about school events, examples of children’s learning and also additional work and support for children at home.
Our class blogs provide our children with a real audience and purpose for writing.
Please feel free to comment and give us feedback on any of our posts.
Your comments will be monitored before going live and then will be shared with the children.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:52pm
Today in Science, we created a scale model of the Solar System. We began by recapping our knowledge of the planets from the previous week including their distances and sizes, before choosing which fruit represented the planet and comparing it with our peers.
Following on from this, we then worked in groups to work out a scale model – applying our mathematical knowledge.
Once we had accumulated all of the information, we began to create a scale model of the solar system demonstrating the distances.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:50pm
In science, we conducted some research into all the planets using a range of sources off the internet and through a range of non-fiction books. We also learned about the background information as to why Pluto was declassified and demoted to a dwarf planet.
Here are some of the interesting facts we learnt today:
– Jupiter has poisonous clouds with drops of acid that would burn your skin.
– Mars has the largest volcano in the Solar System (three times as high as Mount Everest) – Venus is the hottest planet despite Mercury being the closest to the Sun. – Neptune is sometimes further away from the Sun than Pluto
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:47pm
Kingfishers have worked brilliantly on their bridges in DT this term. The finished articles look great. Well done to everyone for working so sensibly and safely throughout the unit.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:46pm
Our river walk didn’t exactly go to plan today! We saw lots of water but unfortunately not in the river. As we set off, we were greeted by torrential rain which led to us seeking shelter in the playground pavilions. A group decision was made between us all that we would at least try and see some places of worship in Westhoughton but that a trip to the river was not a sensible idea. The children coped brilliantly with this disappointment and we were happy to to be able to show them Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church and St Bartholomew’s church.
Mr Griffiths also pointed out the memorial to the 344 men and boys who lost their lives in the 1910 Pretoria Pit disaster and the children were also delighted to see a wreath from The Gates alongside many others at the war memorial. Whilst it didn’t go exactly to plan, the children had a nice afternoon and we finished the day making Christmas decorations for the children to take home and hang on their trees.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:44pm
As part of our Healthy Lifestyles French topic, we learnt about activities we do to stay healthy. We then went round to the classroom asking people ‘Qu’est-ce tu fais pour maintenir ta santé (What do you do to maintain your health?). Recording this on a sheet.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:42pm
Kingfisher class spent the afternoon researching the properties of a range of different materials. We tested for magnetism, flexibility, permeability, transparency and hardness. The children worked brilliantly together in teams of two and conducted the activity safely and sensibly. We finished the lesson with a really interesting discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of glass bottles versus plastic bottles. We agreed in the end that if a drink comes in a glass bottle it might look more appealing, but is likely to cost us more money that it would have done in a plastic bottle!
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:41pm
In Music, we continued to learn the song ‘Make you feel my love’. We learnt about the terms: pulse, rhythm and pitch and found these by clapping the rhythm and copying the riffs on the Glockenspiel.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 1:40pm
Kingfisher class are really enjoying their computing unit about digital literacy. The children have been set a challenge to create an information leaflet for Year 4 children about how to stay safe online. They have conducted research into the SMART rules of internet safety, taken quizzes about staying safe online and practised their typing skills through the Purple Mash online platform. Over the next couple of weeks they will use their word processing skills to create the information leaflet on the computers in the ICT suite before writing a blog post all about their work.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:59am
Kingfisher class have already produced some stunning pieces of topic homework for this term. As the school target this week is based on taking pride in your own work and the work of others, we spent the first part of our morning hearing all about the work that has already been undertaken. All the children who have brought homework in already spoke confidently to the rest of the class about their projects whilst their peers listened attentively and with good grace. Everyone was proud of the work they had undertaken and were wholeheartedly congratulated by their peers. I am sure the children that spoke this morning have inspired their classmates to produce some equally brilliant work over the remaining 4.5 weeks of term.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:58am
Kingfisher class spent the first 15 minutes of our day making poppies, which we will place in the Chinese Garden on Remembrance Day. We have discussed the significance of this special day in class and are looking forward to paying our own respects at our special Remembrance Day assembly on Monday. The class listened and contributed sensitively and sensibly during our discussion and this is an absolute credit to them.
Science experiment – soluble or insoluble?
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:57am
Kingfishers spent yesterday afternoon trying to identify whether a range of materials were soluble (they dissolve in liquid) or insoluble (they don’t dissolve in liquid). The children were really sensible as always and we managed to avoid any major spillages! The children were great at predicting which materials would be soluble or insoluble, but they were surprised to discover that all of our experiments yesterday afternoon produced changes that were reversible. Next week we will discuss this concept further as we talk about filtering and evaporation as a means of separating (reversing) our materials.
Triangulation – Design Technology
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:56am
As part of our Design Technology unit on bridges, today we investigated the power of triangles! First we tried to create our own mini-bridges in class and discovered that when we concertinaed (I had to check the spelling on that one!) A4 paper it made it much stronger. Then we created some 2d triangles, squares and rectangles to to try and discover which were strongest. When we held our triangles flat we noticed they kept their shape and were firm and strong. The rectangles and squares were flimsy and floppy by comparison. We discovered that such is the strength of triangles, they have become common in the design of many structures, including lots of bridges, such are their load-bearing properties. This is called ‘triangulation’, which is the use of triangles to strengthen and solidify structures. Really interesting stuff for pupils and grown-ups alike!
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:55am
I wanted to share some pictures of the class working brilliantly together in our English learning this morning. The children were asked to work to identify missing time conjunctions in sentences that had been given to them. As the pictures demonstrate, the children did this wonderfully and there was lots of amazing teamwork on display.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:52am
The class had a fabulous trip to the Titanic Museum in Liverpool on Tuesday. They had a great time looking at all the displays and absolutely loved the workshop that the museum ran for us. The children behaved themselves brilliantly as always and represented the school fabulously. Well done Kingfishers!
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:52am
Ahead of our trip to the Maritime museum in Liverpool tomorrow, it was great to be able to showcase some more great Titanic homework from members of our class. The children really are putting in a great effort with their topic homework, and it’s super to see them all so proud of their efforts.
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:51am
A huge well done to everyone in Year 5 for contributing so brilliantly in our Harvest assembly today. The children sang brilliantly and everyone spoke their lines clearly and confidently in front of the whole school. Thank you also to all the parents who attended and for all the generous donations we received. All the items will be passed on to Urban Outreach who will distribute them to those in need in our local communities.
Negative numbers- tug of war game
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 11:50am
We played tug of war in maths on Wednesday to help us with our understanding of negative numbers. Starting at 0, the children took it in turn to roll a dice to generate a number. One person was subtracting and trying to get to -15, one person was adding and trying to get to +15. The children played the game brilliantly as they always do in activities like this one.
