WELCOME TO OTTERS
We are a Year 3/4 class and our teacher is Mrs Emma Hinchliffe and
Mrs Amy Warren (Maternity leave)
Autumn 1 2024 Class News
Otters enjoyed a visit to 'The Museum of Somerset' to take part in a Roman workshop. This was a great way to develop their knowledge of Ancient Roman times and it enabled the children to focus on the impact of the Romans in our local communities.
During the workshop, children became archaeologists and studied a range of artefacts which had been found in Somerset. We looked for clues about what they may have been and used our historical knowledge to make some excellent, well informed choices.
After the workshop, we were able to look around the whole museum and develop our understanding of how people lived and survived during ancient and historical times in Somerset.
The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and came back to school excited and inquisitive to deepen their historical knowledge.
2023/24 Class News
Summer 2 2024 Class News
Year 3 and 4 had a great Archie celebration day yesterday, to raise awareness of dementia, with Reminiscence Learning. They completed a variety of activities linked to scarecrows whilst learning Archie's story and how dementia can affect people. We were really impressed with the effort put into costumes!
Summer 1 2024 Class News
Otters, Foxes and Robins have had a busy week exploring areas of Wellington for their science and history topics. They started the week with a visit to Wellington Park, to support their science learning, where they looked at plants and identified the different types of stems and leaves. The week ended with a visit to St John's Church, for their history learning, where the children saw the monument which was built for Sir John Popham and discovered how he was connected to Wellington.
Spring 2 2024 Class News
Otters have loved celebrating World Book Day. Some children dressed up as their favourite book character and others wore their comfy clothes. We had a visit from Archie the scarecrow (from The Archie Project), who shared a story about his day trip to the zoo. We then shared our favourite books with children from Badgers class. The morning was finished by drawing the front cover of our favourite books.
Spring 1 2024 Class News
Otters have loved participating in their Egyptian day. Their costumes were amazing, and we appreciate the time and effort that has gone into sorting them. Each class took part in a guided workshop which supported their current learning about Ancient Egypt. They looked at artefacts, painted their own Scarab beetles, made bread and became archaeologists; searching in the sand for artefacts that might have been discovered from Ancient Egyptian times. Each class have also created their own pieces of art and have had a go at dancing like an Egyptian. What an amazing day of learning it has been!
Autumn 2 2023 Class News
Otters class have had a fun, successful half term with lots of exciting opportunities to enhance their learning.
The children really enjoyed their visit to the Methodist Church to find out the true meaning of Christmas for Christians.
In DT, the children have enjoyed designing and creating their own 3D boxes.
In Science, we have been learning about forces and magnets and have loved our practical lessons.
We have finished off the term with a visit from a volunteer from church, who kindly brought in a handmade donkey to stay in our class. The children enjoyed thinking about how a donkey is used in the Christmas story and around the world today.
Autumn 1 2023 Class News
What a busy start to the new academic year Otters have had!
As historians, we have been learning about prehistoric times. We have ventured millions of years back on our timeline to learn about life throughout the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. We discovered that there were not written records from these times, so lots of artefacts are used to help us learn about this time in history. We also had a visit to ‘The Museum of Somerset’ where we were able to handle artefacts from the Stone Age.
As scientists, we have been investigating rocks and now know the difference between sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. We loved finding out which rocks are permeable and have enjoyed doing a different investigation each week.
In art, we have been studying the illustrator Quentin Blake and have been creating our own sketches following his style of drawing.
This half term has also given us our first enrichment week. We were first treated to an amazing performance of 'Alice in Wonderland' and then we used the week to create our own settings for Alice to explore. We had a go at making origami roses and sketched our own pictures linked to this topic. We really loved being able to share our learning from the week with our parents and carers when they came in to see what we had done.
In addition, Otters took part in: European languages day (singing a song in Dutch), an athletics morning at Court Fields, the launch of the Archie Project, the Harvest service and welcoming a visitor to support us with our RE topic.
2022/23 Class News
Summer 2 2023 Class News
What an amazing end to the summer term. As writers, we started the half-term by creating our own non-chronological reports about mythical creatures. We then moved on to creating portal tales, which allowed our imaginations to create new worlds for our stories.
As geographers, we have been learning about Greece, including which continent it is in, the weather and climate and areas of natural beauty. We have loved comparing similarities and differences between Greece and The United Kingdom.
As scientists, we have been learning about living things and their habitats. A walk around the school grounds supported our learning as we were able to identify animals and their habitats.
In art, we have been painting with scissors. We started by experimenting with colours and then we painted pieces of paper. Using the painted pieces of paper, we cut out different shapes and stuck them together to create new pieces of art.
Alongside all of our classroom learning, we have also taken part in sports day and the summer concert, which we all enjoyed. We also loved our visits from a story teller and Pastor Sam, who helped us with our learning in RE.
What a fabulous, fun and busy year it has been in Otters Class. We have all achieved so much and bonded so well as a team.
Summer 1 2023 Class News
Otters class have had a great start to the Summer term.
It started with a celebration day for the Coronation of King Charles III. We really enjoyed learning about the British Monarchy and what would happen on the Coronation day.
Otters class have also enjoyed taking part in the ‘Dance for Dementia Day’ and Greek day, where we learnt about healthy eating and made our own Greek salads with feta cheese, olives and a flatbread which we all thoroughly enjoyed.
As historians, we have been learning about ancient Greece. We have been comparing life between Athens and Sparta and how the two city states were ruled differently. We also enjoyed learning about some famous Greek people who still have an impact of society today as a result of their achievements during ancient Greek times.
As writers, we have been creating our own tales of fear. We have learnt how to create suspense and how to keep our readers hooked to our stories, without giving them too many clues about the mysterious things happening in the stories.
As scientists, we have been learning about humans, including animals. We began by learning about the digestive system and what our bodies do with the food we eat. We also looked at how important our teeth are and ways to keep them clean and healthy. We then moved on to learning about food chains and what consumers, predators and prey were.
The Year 4’s have enjoyed their swimming lessons so far and are excited about continuing them after half term. They also loved taking part in a solar workshop in school, where they experimented with solar panel toys and built upon their knowledge gained from the solar panel farm trip.
To end the half term, Year 3s had an action packed 2 day sleepover at school which included a walk to monument, games at school, roasting marshmallows and a Flip Out session!
Spring 2 2023 Class News
Otters have had a great, fun-filled term!
To celebrate World Book Day, we all came dressed as a book character. We wrote character descriptions of our characters and enjoyed a book swap with kestrels Class. The children’s outfits were incredible!
As scientists, we took part in British Science Week where we explored the theme ‘Connections’. We looked at how different body parts are connected to the digestive system and explored the types of teeth we have and how these are connected to how we eat. We carried out an experiment with crackers and orange juice to show how the food in our stomach is broken down and digested.
As geographers, we have studied the features of rivers. We have learnt lots of new vocabulary such as; meander, source, mouth, delta and tributaries. On the last day of term, we enjoyed our trip to Simonsbath where we took part in a river study investigating the speed of the river flow and the depth of the river in different areas. We all got very wet!
We have also enjoyed having some cricket coaching where we explored the game of cricket and learnt to throw, bat and field. In addition to this, Year 4s attended the Net and wall PE festival at Wellington School.
Spring 1 2023 Class News
We have had a very busy half term! The 'Scarecrow Day' was a great day and we had so much fun learning about and raising awareness of dementia. We all walked up to Wellington House dressed as scarecrows and sang a song to the residents.
As scientists, we have learnt about sound. We have found out that sound travels in waves and the bigger the vibrations, the louder the sound. We have explored ways of changing the pitch of different sounds and learnt about the journey the sound makes from the source to the ear.
In writing, we have learnt 'Cinquain poetry.' The children have learnt the features of a cinquain poem and have started to write their own! After half term, we will be exploring performance poetry by Michael Rosen.
In RE, we have been learning about Judaism. Our key question has been 'How important is it for Jewish people to do what God asks them to do? We have explored the story of Exodus and how the most important festival of the Jewish calendar, 'The Passover', is celebrated with a seder meal. We all thought of special meals that we have and designed our very own!
Autumn 2 2022 Class News
This half term, we have looked at a region within Italy: Naples and Campania. The children have learnt about volcanoes and found out about Mount Vesuvius which linked back to our Roman learning from before half term. The children listened to the story, ‘Escape from Pompei,’ and compared how science has changed since the eruption during the Roman times. They then explored reasons for why so many people live near volcanoes.
As scientists, we have been learning about states of matter and exploring solids, liquids and gases. The children have investigated the three states of matter and observed how states can change through heating and cooling. The unit linked nicely to our learning about the water cycle, where children found out that the amount of water on earth stays the same.
In addition, children have enjoyed: trying a variety of foods as part of our diversity week; visits to Wellington House as part of our ‘Archie Project’ topic; a trip to the church to investigate: ‘What is the true meaning of Christmas?’, and lots of Christmas fun, with a ukulele performance bringing the term to a fabulous end.
Autumn 1 2022 Class News
What a busy start to the year! Year 4 went away on their first residential to Kilve Court. What an amazing time they had! The children got to experience mountain biking, archery, grass sledging, the climbing wall, shelter building, scavenger hunts on Kilve beach and Quantock walks. This opportunity builds self-esteem and confidence as well as challenging the children to 'step out of their comfort zone'. The photos show just how much fun they had!
Year 3 had a great time taking part in a sports festival at Court Fields. This opportunity enabled the children to practice their physical skills, learn new skills and use equipment they had not encountered before. Staff were really impressed with the children's positive attitudes and enthusiasm in all activities.
2021/22 Class News
Summer 2 2022 Class News
As geographers, we continued our field work study of Wellington with a walk around different areas of the town. This visit supported our learning by helping us identify and record physical and human features of our town, use a compass to locate North and name some of the hills which surround Wellington.
This last week has been the perfect end to a great year of learning with a real focus on art. Our theme was 'Together, we are strong.' We have improved our portrait skills from the autumn term using different techniques and media. We focused on pointillism and collage to create some fantastic pieces of art that you will see displayed around the school.
Summer 1 2022 Class News
What a busy 5 weeks we have had!
We started off the half term with science week where, as scientists, we explored the sustainability of our world. We enjoyed visits from Somerset Waste Partnership, Nissan, Fibreboard and the RSPCA. We have thought about mental health and the benefits exercise can have on our overall health. We enjoyed a yoga lesson, cricket on the cricket ground and a visit from the Archie Project where we danced the afternoon away.
As historians, we have looked at the history of Wellington. We found out about Sir John Popham and his influence on our town. A visit to St John's Church enabled us to interview an expert and visit Sir John Popham's memorial. We then focused on the company the Fox Brothers, and had a visitor to school who explained the history of the company and the impact it had on the town. We learnt that Fox Brothers built our school and gave the park to the people of Wellington.
As scientists, we have been developing our knowledge about plants. We visited Wellington Park to identify different plants and revisit the key knowledge we had learnt. We found out the function of each part of a plant and observed insects carrying pollen from one plant to another.
Finally, we finished off the half term with a fun filled two days which involved a sleepover at school. The two days were about having fun, team building, developing independence and creating memories. Walking all the way to Wellington Monument and back was a great achievement for all and Flip Out was so much fun.
Spring 2 2022 Class News
Otters class have had a fun and busy second half of the spring term.
As scientists, we have continued to explore light. The planetarium visit really supported our science learning by allowing us to investigate why we have night and day. The children were able to explain what happens when the UK faces the sun and what happens when the UK faces away from the sun.
In RE, we have looked at the question ‘What is good about Good Friday?’ We have learnt the Easter story, found out about Maundy Thursday and discovered how Christians feel about Jesus' death. On our visit to Wellington Methodist Church, the children took part in four different workshops focused on the Easter story; this helped to reinforce the key knowledge the children had been taught.
As geographers, we have been learning about 'Modern Egypt'. During this unit, we looked at the climate of this country, the location of towns and cities, the importance of the River Nile and the advantages of tourism. We made links with our history learning last term on 'Ancient Egypt'.
Spring 1 2022 Class News
Our Year 3/4 Egyptian day was a great success! Somerset Heritage learning spent the day with us allowing us to do an archaeological dig and make a scarab amulet as well as holding an Egyptian bake off where we made date bread.
As designers, we also spent time working on our Egyptian toy project, learning to write using hieroglyphs and making papyrus. This inspiring day helped to reinforce the key knowledge the children have been learning as part of this topic. Well done everyone!
Autumn 2 2021 Class News
We have had such a busy half term in Otters Class with so many amazing learning opportunities. We started the half term with a virtual geography experience where we wore a pair of wireless headphones to take part in an exciting story telling experience. The story took us on a journey to explore the four countries of the United Kingdom. Our geography learning followed this with learning about South Wales.
In science, we have looked at forces and magnets and ended the term by making our very own Christmas tree magnet. In DT, we have learnt to use Computer Aided Design (CAD) to create a Christmas gift box. We also enjoyed our visit to Wellington Methodist church to support our RE learning, where we worked closely with Shane from the Archie Project. We all thoroughly enjoyed the ice-cream van visit to school too - thank you to our FOBG for this lovely treat!
Autumn 1 2021 Class News
What a busy start to the year!
As scientists, we have started investigating rocks and now know the difference between sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. We loved finding out which rocks are permeable and which are not and have enjoyed doing a different investigation each week.
Our history topic is 'The Stone Age to Iron Age’. As historians, we have used the internet and non-fiction books to find out about life during these periods of time.
Every Thursday afternoon, Somerset Music have been in to teach us the ukulele. We can now play some notes and are looking forward to performing in front of the school during our harvest assembly in October.
