Elm Class 2020-2021

In English this half term, we will be reading Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian.

When the Second World War breaks out, young Willie Beech is evacuated to the countryside. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of kind old Tom Oakley. But then his cruel mother summons him back to war-torn London...

Will he ever see Mister Tom again?

Lockdown Learning

Here is a selection of the amazing work that was produced as part of our Normans topic last half term, during the period of lockdown. The effort that has gone into producing such fantastic work during such a challenging time is astounding and is an absolute credit to positive work ethic of the pupils of Elm class. 

In art, we looked at how the story of the Norman Conquest was told through the Bayeux Tapestry. Pupils were then given a picture stimulus and asked to imagine a story surrounding the image and tell it through pictures.

Next, pupils looked at different ways of creating images using a range of textiles and techniques - adding embellishments, securing different shapes of material together and embroidering designs onto fabric.

Finally, we looked at work by the artist Faith Ringgold, who is famed for her narrative quilts, which  focus on civil rights and gender equality, African American life and culture, family joys and hardships, and the education of children.

As part of our English work, Elm class read the novel Anglo-saxon Boy, by Tony Bradman, which tells the story of Magnus Haroldson, son of Harold Godwinson, who was one of the contenders to the English throne in 1066. The story is based on historical events that surround the Battle of Hastings, told through the adventures of the character Magnus. 

Using the events of the story and information learned during our Topic History lessons, pupils wrote a newspaper report about the Battle of Hastings, using a variety of reporting techniques.

As part of our Topic this term, and also linked to the Science we have been learning about, we made bread. Bread has been a s5taple part of humans' diet for hundreds of thousands of years and as our topic has been looking at illness and medicine through the ages, it seemed fitting to investigate this ageless classic.

First, we tasted different breads that are currently on the market and saw how bread is mass-produced. Next, we thought about what ingredients would have been available to people in Tudor times (where our Topic started), to see what we could add to our dough to make it more appealing. Finally, we each made and shaped bread dough, adding in an extra ingredient or two.

Once the bread had baked, we tasted and evaluated what we had produced - MOST of the class really enjoyed their bread!

As part of our Topic investigation into how medicines have advanced through the ages, we found out about Alexander Flemming and his discovery of penicillin - a mould based medicine which destroys many different bacteria.

In groups, pupils were asked to perform a freeze to show which point in the discovery timeline they felt was the most significant to the production of the medicine that we know and use today.

To kick-off our new Topic, Elm class took part in a carousel of activities to explore Tudor medicine, the weird and wonderful remedies used and 'medical' roles that were undertaken by society at the time. Pupils had the opportunity to:

      - Make a Plague Doctor mask

      - Create natural 'healing positions' like the Apothecaries at the time

      - Research remedies and useful information like Monks

      - Use picture sources to explore Barber Surgeon tools

      - Investigate the healing properties of herbs that Herbwives prescribed