WELCOME TO OWLS
We are a Year 5/6 class and our teacher is Mrs Caroline Whiteman
Spring 1 2025 Class News
Owls class have been making the most of the sunshine and taken their science learning outside. The children investigated how the size of a shadow changes depending on how close an object is to the light source. They looked closely at the size and shape of the shadows on the playground and where they were being formed in relation to the light source (the Sun) and the object. They enjoyed creating different shapes using their body similar to 'Attraction' from Britain's Got Talent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Fv98jttYA
Autumn 2 2024 Class News
Owls class have loved their science learning about properties of materials this term.
They have separated and sorted materials that Cinderella accidentally spilt; discovered which materials were soluble and insoluble; dissolved different materials in different liquids to test their solubility; conducted a fair test by dissolving sugar cubes; explored reversible and irreversible changes by inflating balloons using bicarbonate of soda and vinegar and exploding mint, chewy sweets in cola!
Autumn 1 2024 Class News
Owls class have loved their science learning this half term. They have enjoyed investigating how to separate different materials, which materials are soluble and insoluble and how long different materials take to dissolve.
Summer 2 2024 Class News
As part of Owls' learning on Weston-super-Mare, the children have enjoyed learning how to read OS maps. They have learnt how to take a 4 and 6 figure grid reference to describe the location of different landmarks and how to read the key. They also learnt about contour lines and how they show the relief (height) of the land. They will be putting their key skills into practise when we go on our fieldwork trip to Weston-super-Mare on Thursday.
Summer 1 2024 Class News
Pay-to-Play was a huge success today. After a term of preparing, planning and resourcing, it was finally Pay-to-Play! There were a range of events including; penalty shoot-out, face painting, soak the student, lucky dips, guess the name of the teddy and much more.
This annual event is linked to the PSHE and Civic Award work which focuses on giving something back to the school community. This is a great fund raising event and it is always wonderful to see all the children having fun!
Spring 2 2024 Class News
Owls have been busy scientists exploring the Earth and Space with a focus on the moon. They learnt all about the phases of the moon and why we can only see parts of the moon at different times of the month. Using ping-pong balls, the children loved re-enacting the orbit of the earth and moon to prove that we only see one side. Disappointingly, they discovered that the moon isn't actually made of cheese!
Spring 1 2024 Class News
Badgers, Kestrels and Owls all enjoyed a trip to Taunton Museum this week. They stepped back in time to visit Saxon Somerset taking part in a battle re-enactment, making clay runes and building a 'burh' to protect their village. The activities complimented the learning the children have been doing on Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and they impressively showed off their knowledge and skills as historians.
Autumn 2 2023 Class News
Owls are really enjoying learning about Forces in their Science lessons. This week, we were looking in particular at air resistance. We planned our own investigations to find out how we could affect the speed in which a spinner could reach the floor. We found that the smaller the spinner, the more times it spun around whereas the larger spinners span less due to air resistance. We will be using this learning next week to design our own parachutes.
Autumn 1 2023 Class News
Owls class have had an action packed and exciting half-term. We have been so impressed with how well they have settled in to the their new roles and responsibilities and risen to the challenge of being in the upper juniors. The children particularly enjoyed visits from Court Fields staff, the launch of the Civic Award, a History day at Escot and our drama and English enrichment week linked to 'Alice in Wonderland'.
A number of our year 6 pupils wrote inspirational pledges in an attempt to become a House Captain or Vice-Captain. A huge 'well done' to all those who put themselves forward - it takes courage and effort to take part. We look forward to seeing what our Captains and Vice-Captains will achieve for the school over the year ahead.
We were delighted to launch our 'Civic Award' this half term. This award focuses on the children developing themselves over the year to become active members of their community. To be successful and get the most out of the award scheme, the children complete a range of activities, both in and out of school, which develops them personally and contributes towards them becoming an active member of society. We look forward to seeing this work develop.
To enrich the learning across the curriculum, but especially within history, the children enjoyed a Living History day at Wildwood Escot. The focus was on bringing their Anglo-Saxon learning to life by exploring the daily life at that time. The children really relished seeing the wild animals that the Anglo-Saxons would have hunted, eaten and used for clothing and different materials. They enjoyed handling a range of artefacts and experiencing life in an Anglo-Saxon village making bread, working in the forge and as a wood carver.
As writers, we have delved into the world of myths, legends and monsters and written our own ‘defeat the monster’ story based on the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. The focus was on description and the children really brought the character and the setting to life by using personification of the weather and seeing the setting through the character’s actions and senses.
As mathematicians, the children have shown great resilience and stamina with the Year 6 curriculum. We have built on our existing place value knowledge and moved into much bigger numbers including millions and begun to secure our strategies when adding and subtracting. The children’s arithmetic and times table knowledge are also improving and they are becoming much more efficient in their approach to tackling calculations, estimating their answers and looking for patterns.
Well done, Owls for such a great start to the year!
2022/23 Class News
Summer 2 2023 Class News
Wow, what a busy half term we have had. Year 6 feel like they have been going non-stop, back into the time of World War 2, preparing for their end of year production 'Edith's Wartime Scrapbook'. The children are acting and singing well and can't wait to showcase their talents to you all.
A huge 'thank you' to all you parents for the incredible support you have given the children in helping them to learn their lines, providing excellent costumes and putting up with the constant singing at home!
The other big highlight of the last few weeks has been taking the children on our residential. We must admit, we think it was probably one of the best residentials we have ever been on. We all had an amazing time.
We were so pleased with the SATs results which reflected the hard work everyone has put in this year. The children deserve to feel very proud of themselves. We have achieved above the national averages in a number of areas. Well done everyone!
Summer 1 2023 Class News
Owls Class - what a half term you've had! Every member of Owls Class should be incredibly proud of all the work and effort they put into their SATs tests - you all concentrated fantastically well and gave 100% effort.
As scientists, we have been learning about living things and their habitats. The children have enjoyed our weekly walks around Wellington where we have looked for fungi, studied flowering plants, and identified trees.
As geographers, we have been looking at the Amazon Rainforest. We have studied the different layers within the rainforest and looked at how the animals and plants depend upon each other as a community.
We also learnt lots attending the Drugs Bus, thoroughly enjoyed celebrating the King's Coronation, and auditioned for our roles for our up-and-coming play!
Well done on a great, and busy, half term Owls!
Spring 2 2023 Class News
Owls Class have achieved so much this half-term: Science Day, World Book Day, Easter Raffle fundraising and Pay-to-Play.
As historians, the children have continued their learning about the Maya and enjoyed delving further into this fascinating civilisation. They learnt how Maya society was organised with a King and High Priest in charge and then slaves and farmers at the bottom of the hierarchy. They learnt about Maya art, writing, maths and their calendar, about their religion and the gods they believed in and what they ate and how they hunted. The children were especially taken by the human sacrifice element of the Maya’s religion and the accuracy of their calendar. The unit of work culminated in two creative experiences: using clay to create Maya pottery and a Maya Feast. We have continued reading ‘The Curse of the Maya’, by Jonny Pearce and Andy Loneragan, as our class read.
As writers, the children have been captivated by Alfred Noyes’ classic narrative poem, The Highwayman. Once again, the children have excelled in their descriptive writing and have challenged themselves to write from a different character’s point of view. They have relished listening to the poem being read, as well as sung aloud, and have really been swept away by the beautiful, lyrical style it is written in. They have continued to develop their skills of using ‘show not tell’, metaphors and adventurous vocabulary and have really persevered in finding exactly the right word to describe their character. Their writing is on display in the classroom, so please come in and have a read – you will be impressed.
As mathematicians, the children have continued to work their way through the demanding Year 6 curriculum, showing great resilience and stamina. They have continued to revise and consolidate the four operations (add, subtract, multiply and divide), explored the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages and learnt about ratio and proportion.
In science, the children carried out a number of investigations linked to electricity. They made circuits, learnt the correct symbols for the different components and used them in their circuit diagrams and made predictions and drew conclusions about what would happen to the brightness of a bulb if more than one component was added.
Year 6 have finished the term off with two great fundraising events: the Easter Raffle and Pay-to-Play. Both events have been extremely successful and greatly enjoyed by all the children. Thank you, as always, for supporting your child to be successful and in helping them to contribute positively to the wider community of Beech Grove.
Spring 1 2023 Class News
We have had a busy half term in Owls Class!
As writers, the children have begun reading and exploring explanation texts and have really enjoyed watching 'Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions' for inspiration. They have read and analysed 'The Monster-Tamer' which is a machine designed to keep your village monster happy. Using the grammar and sentence types within this text, we have had a go at writing our own explanation texts. Some children wrote about Dwarf-hamster dispensers and one about a machine which will look after your guinea pig for you!
In topic, our focus this half term is back on History and, more specifically, the Maya. We looked at the Maya Creation Story, where the Maya's came from and where they still live today! We created our own timelines to show what happened within the Maya era. We will continue to look at the Maya people next half term.
As mathematicians, the children have continued to show great resilience and stamina with the Year 6 curriculum. We have had a real focus on fractions this half term, learning how to convert improper fractions into mixed numbers, and looking at adding and subtracting fractions. We have then moved on to multiplying and dividing them. The children’s arithmetic and times table knowledge are also improving and they are becoming much more efficient in their approach to tackling calculations, estimating their answers and looking for patterns.
In science, the children have enjoyed our topic of light. We have looked at how light travels, including what causes shadows and reflections. We have refined our skills with writing up our experiments, recording our results and even planning our own experiments.
Autumn 2 2022 Class News
Another fantastic half term for Owls' Class! They have all worked incredibly hard this half term and we are very proud of their achievements and the progress they have made.
As writers, all three classes have continued developing their characters for a quest story where the main character has to defeat a monster. The children have really delved into the 'back story' of their monster to explore why they became the way they were and researched their personality. Using Medusa as an example, they have used adjectives, show not tell, similes and metaphors and the senses to create a complete description of their terrible beasts.
In science, the children have continued investigating the properties of different materials. They have carried out experiments that prove that materials can undergo changes which can be either reversible or irreversible. This involved burning, dissolving and evaporation. The children made predictions, observed what happened, recorded their results and drew conclusions.
In geography, the children have looked at the physical and human features found in the South West of England and have studied a variety of maps, images and data. They have realised that the South West is a major tourist destination with farming and agriculture as its main employment. They used their maths skills and knowledge of percentages to make comparisons with other parts of the UK.
Year 6 have impressed us yet again with their dedication, behaviour for learning and resilience as they have had a go at some SATs practice papers. All the children have made progress this term and we are very proud of them. Please encourage the children to keep coming to their booster sessions right up until May!
Autumn 1 2022 Class News
What a busy, exciting first half term Owls Class have had: settling into Year 6, applying for and getting various roles and responsibilities, visits from Court Fields staff, the launch of the Civic Award with the mayor, a history workshop, trip to Nothe Fort, playground politics and the harvest festival!
The children came back to school after the summer holidays, eager to fulfill the roles and responsibilities of being in Year 6. They wrote amazing pledges in an attempt to become a house captain or vice-captain, attended training to become peer mediators and playground leaders and volunteered for a range of other jobs which benefit every child at Beech Grove. It has been really inspiring to see their dedication to their new roles.
During the third week, the Mayor of Wellington, Councillor Mark Lithgow, arrived to launch the Civic Award. He explained that the award focuses on the children developing themselves over the year to become active members within the Wellington community. To be successful and get the most out of the award scheme, the children need to take part in a range of activities, both in and out of school, which develops them personally and contributes towards them becoming an active member of society. The launch was met with great enthusiasm and determination and already some of the folders are looking amazing!
To enrich the learning across the curriculum, but especially within history, the children enjoyed two experiences; a Somerset in wartime workshop and a trip to Nothe Fort. The children relished learning about what life was like in Somerset during World War 2. They enjoyed exploring artefacts and learning how rationing impacted on everyone. They tried on an air raid warden’s uniform, put out an imaginary incendiary bomb and become historical detectives to work out who a suitcase belonged to and who had been evacuated. As their interpretation skills have developed, so has their ability to think like a historian. The discussions they had to decide who the suitcase belonged to, based on the artefacts and evidence, was lovely to hear. Their knowledge of how cause and consequence are entwined throughout World War 2 is impressive, as is their deepening understanding of government and society.
The trip to Nothe Fort really brought our World War 2 topic to life. The children experienced what it was like to go to school, be in an Anderson shelter during the Blitz and to ‘make do and mend’ in the laundry and kitchen of a typical home. Whilst they enjoyed using the dolly and mangle to wash and press their clothes, they did appreciate the hard work that was involved and how lucky they are today to have a washing machine at home. They were also shocked to realise how strict schooling was and how children were treated. To increase the children’s knowledge of the war and to give them a different perspective on it we have also read the story ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’. What the children have enjoyed most about their World War 2 topic, however, has been Mrs Bayfield’s many tales of her families experiences during the war!
As writers, we have delved into the world of portal stories and written exciting narratives where the main character is transported to another place. We based our writing on ‘The Gas Mask’, where the main character is transported back to World War 2 when they try on their grandma’s old gas mask. The focus was on the setting and really bringing it to life through the use of description, personification of the weather and seeing the setting through the character’s actions and senses. For their final write we had characters disappearing from boot fairs, museums and attics and reappearing in different stages of World War 2. Using a range of sentence structures, ambitious vocabulary and imaginative descriptions the children really showed how they were thinking about the reader and the impact they wanted their story to have. The more the children read their writing out loud to each other, the more they were able to edit and improve their work, showing what great authors they are becoming.
As mathematicians, the children have shown great resilience and stamina with the Year 6 curriculum. We have learnt about statistics and have gathered and represented data in a variety of different ways, refined our place value knowledge and moved into much bigger numbers including millions. We have also secured our strategies when adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. The children’s arithmetic and times table knowledge are also improving and they are becoming much more efficient in their approach to tackling calculations, estimating their answers and looking for patterns.
As scientists, we have focused on the properties and changes of materials. The children have experimented with the best materials for keeping drinks warm, dissolving sugar, separating and filtering materials and insulators and conductors within an electrical circuit. We will be concluding our learning on this topic this term.
Well done on a really productive, rewarding and jam-packed half term!
2021/22 Class News
Summer 2 2022 Class News
Summer 1 2022 Class News
What a busy half term it has been in Owls!
We had a very successful Pay to Play event, raising over £400 for the Ukraine crisis appeal. It was a fantastic day, with cake stalls, games and face painting sessions. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the playground and lots of happy faces, as we had fun in the sunshine. This linked well to the children's Civic award target of making a wider contribution to the community.
After the Easter holidays, we were back to hard work straight away with the SATs tests. So many children continued to attend extra booster sessions in reading and maths and we are so proud of their attitude and determination to do well.
The SATs week went by in a flash! Everyone tried their best and showed great perseverance in all the papers. The children enjoyed breakfast treats every morning. On the Friday, they finished with a delicious bacon butty and had a well-earned rest day; lots of fun in the park, films and popcorn was the order of the day. Since then, Owls have been working hard on their writing; practising their sentence variation, punctuation accuracy and editing skills ready for secondary school.
A couple of weeks ago, all the Year 6 enjoyed a fantastic day in London, visiting the Houses of Parliament and learning more about the British values and Democracy. This linked with our learning about the changing power of Monarchy and brought our classroom studies to life. We even got to view a live debate in the House of Commons which was amazing to see. On returning to school, we have used this experience to inspire our written discussion texts.
Last week, we all enjoyed celebrating the Jubilee day and Owls class treated everyone to a May pole demonstration. After lots of practice in the hall, we performed in rather windy conditions in front of the school. It was so good to see everyone in red, white and blue and we all enjoyed celebrating together, in true British fashion, in the pouring rain! After a slight mix up with our ribbons, we had another go and succeeded in weaving the ribbons in a traditional fashion. I’m sure the Queen would have been proud to see us! Afterwards, a lovely tea party was enjoyed by all, we even had corgi napkins to top the day off!
Spring 2 2022 Class News
What a fantastic half term we have just had, so much has been going on!
We were so lucky to have the chance to visit Pinkery in early March, the whole class loved the experience even though the weather on Exmoor was not too kind to us! After arriving at lunchtime, we explored our surroundings, including staggering through bogs, diving in ditches and feeling our way through pitch black tunnels, up to our knees in water! We learned how to start fires safely, played team games and even learned how to put a duvet cover on our beds!
All of Year 6 took part in a 'Stand against Violence' workshop where we examined the effects of violence on society. It was a very emotional but informative day where we all learned so much about how to solve problems and deal with emotions.
We have been working hard on our SATS practise and have watched our scores go up and up. We really feel well prepared for the real tests which start on May 9th. It has been such hard work, but the children have put in so much effort; we are really proud of them.
This Friday, we shall be hosting the 'Pay to Play' day with the money raised going to the Ukraine appeal. The children have worked on their stalls and are excited to share them with the school. Their work on Pay to Play, links well with our Jigsaw targets and school values, as well as their Civic Award. Owls have shown so much determination, resilience and kindness to others. What a team!
Spring 1 2022 Class News
This week, Owls class have been working really hard and had a go at completing a practise SATs paper. We are so proud of the way so many have applied themselves, come to booster group and we are thrilled to see the progress they are making. Their confidence is improving every day and we feel they will be ready and prepared when the real tests start in May. Well done, Owls!
In total contrast, we received a wonderful visit from Kashmir Flint who came to tell us all about our impending residential at Pinkery. She showed us wonderful slides of Exmoor, the beautiful surroundings and the activities we shall be doing. We can't wait to go and are very excited about our stay. We shared some ideas about nature and spent a lovely session in the sunshine, looking at the variation of natural forms.
Autumn 2 2021 Class News
Our week started with an unforgettable Monday! Despite the weather, a very happy and informative day was enjoyed at Escot Wildwood Anglo Saxon village.
Arriving at 10am, we first defeated the Beech Wood maze although it took some of us quite a while to find our way out!!
During the day, we met a fantastic variety of animals such as wolves, wildcats and wild boars, learning lots of incredible facts and how the Anglo Saxons lived alongside these beautiful creatures.
Did you know plants were used for medicine, such as yarrow, comfrey, sorrel and nettles? We were even brave enough to taste all of them!
After a quick play on the rope swing, it was back to the village to learn Anglo Saxon skills of pole lathing, metal bending in the forge and baking bread on the open fire. Of course, that meant grinding the corn in the Cweorn first!
It was such an exciting day, trying new skills and tastes and it really helped us to understand how an Anglo Saxon might have lived.
Autumn 1 2021 Class News
As scientists, we have had great fun investigating forces. We tested gyrocopters to see whether the difference in design or surface area would affect the time taken to fall. We were looking for the forces that would help it fly and noticed that the larger the surface area, the longer it flew. Wiktoria’s design stayed in the air the longest.
We then tested it three times to get an accurate speed of descent and worked out the average speed which was 1.55 sec!
We also investigated how the shape of an object affects how it floats in water. We tested a variety of designs using play dough to explore the effects of up thrust and buoyancy on the objects.
We discovered that flat shapes did not float at all and that hollow shapes floated for the longest which surprised us. We were able to use our scientific knowledge and vocabulary to try and explain our results. After working as a team and adjusting our designs, we managed to float the play dough successfully. We tested our designs and checked if our results were accurate. One of the boats managed to float for the whole lesson!
Take a look at some of our fantastic character descriptions using 'show not tell':
