Art: Boys in Lower and Upper School are finishing their projects, with new ventures starting after half term. A slight hiccup with the laser cutter needing a replacement part, so Year 7 are now moving on to a self portrait project, while their lighting assignment is put on pause. Year 8 will be starting their eco-house project after they have completed their oil paints. Year 4, 5 and 6 will be starting their DT projects when they come back from half term.
Computing: In Computing we’ve been studying Safer Internet Week’s theme of “Change in Technology”. Across the year groups we’ve looked at influencers and whether they can be good or bad; persuasive design techniques and how they affect our behaviours; changes and how we react to them and how tech can change in the future. This is on top of our regular curriculum ranging from coding to animation and various stops in between.
English: The boys have rounded off the term with such great effort in English. Year 3 have been using inspiration from Roald Dahl’s poetry 'Dirty Beasts' to write their own, using a character they created. Year 4 identified the success criteria for writing and reading comprehensions and applied these to some extended tasks. Year 5 have analysed characters and poetic techniques in the narrative poem of ‘The Highway Man.’ Year 6 have reflected on the vast array of poetic techniques that have been introduced, analysed and applied in context throughout their War Poetry module. Year 7 have been concentrating on descriptive writing techniques. Finally, Year 8 have been refining their exam technique in preparation for the forthcoming mock exams.
French: Over the last two weeks, boys In Upper School have been working hard towards their mid-year assessments. Congratulations to all on their hard work with revision, you can be very proud of your efforts! In the meantime, Lower School have been continuing to develop their vocabulary with Year 1 working on different types of animals and Year 2 learning about the items in their pencil case. Lessons have been full of games and interactive work to help embed their writing and pronunciation skills.
Geography: It’s been an inspirational couple of weeks in geography with lots of discussion, questioning, creating and learning. Year 3 have been planning a fieldwork investigation to compare human and physical features in their local area as well as observing how cities have changed over time. Year 4 have been focusing on different settlements and their function. The boys have designed and created some outstanding settlements of their own. Year 5 and Year 7 have been having some inspiring discussions on migration and sharing their own incredible experiences with the class. Year 6 have been learning about the ever changing weather, the climate and the water cycle. Year 8 have been reinforcing their map reading skills as well as revisiting all aspects of development which has led to some thought- provoking discussions.
History: History classrooms have been busy this week at Homefield as we have been analysing photographic evidence of the Blitz in Year 5. The boys were shocked by pictures of mannequins scattered across Oxford Street after one particularly powerful blast. I've been really impressed with the effort that the boys have put into their homework this week and have given a crest to Veer and Leo in Year 5 for their interactive posters about The Battle of Britain. Finally, Year 6 have been dancing (Tudor style!) to experience life at Elizabeth I's court. Kamran in 6S was a superstar when it came to executing some of the trickier moves!
Maths: There has been a buzz of excitement this week in the Upper School as 38 boys across Years 5 and 6 competed in the bonus round of the Primary Mathematical Challenge. Our boys performed incredibly well and put their critical thinking skills to the test. Well done boys! As a department, we look forward to awarding you with your maths badges after the half-term. Year 3 have continued to delve deeper into multiplication and division, exploring the relationship between the 3 and the 6 times tables and division facts. Year 4 have consolidated their understanding of adding and subtracting fractions including converting fluently between mixed number and improper fractions. Year 6 have been calculating percentage increase and decrease with percentage change, and converting between fractions and decimals. Year 7 have investigated the four operations with fractions and Year 8 have been revisiting key topics in preparation for their mock assessments.
P.E. & Games: On Monday 5th February, the U13 played their final rugby game of the season away at Cumnor House. For the Year 8 boys it was their last rugby fixture for the school and they came back with a win for the 1st 2nd and 3rd teams. First team Captain, Oscar, was outstanding and Petro put in a valiant performance. Super tackling from Keller and try scoring by Damon, rounded off a perfect afternoon. On Tuesday, the U8 boys all played tag rugby at home against Chinthurst. The Red team were fantastic. In a very close contest, Harin scored no less than 8 tries. The Blue team narrowly lost 8-9 with great tries by Arish and Aaron. The Yellow and Green teams combined and played out a super match just losing in the last minutes 13-15. Yohaan was outstanding, scoring 6 tries. Well done, boys.
Science: It has been another busy couple of weeks in the science labs with the boys learning new scientific skills along with their course content. Year 3 are learning about different types of teeth, Year 4 have either been experimenting with sound or using their new Bunsen burner licenses to carry out heating investigations, and Year 5 have either been researching renewable energy resources or carrying out a parachute investigation. Year 6 have just started their acids and alkalis topic and have enjoyed using universal indicator to test pH values. Year 7 have been getting to grips with the properties of light, and Year 8 have just started forces.
STEAM: Years 4, 5 and 6 have continued work perfecting their entries to the Leader's Award competition while Year 3 have been introduced to their next project - making working fairground models which will link together their circuits work in science and test their precision in engineering skills. In the Lower School, Reception and Year 2 have continued towards their CREST awards while Year 1 have spent time reflecting and evaluating their vehicles project prior to moving onto their next project.
