Welcome to December! We have arrived at final month of the year and the last few weeks of term are set to be busy with lessons, the Christingle service and lots of festive activities.

We’ve thrown ourselves into our new piece of writing based on the traditional tale of Aladdin. Our own versions entitled ‘A Lad In…(insert place name here)‘ are well underway and the children are relishing retelling this story in the 21^st Century. We’ll keep you update of our process as the last few weeks unfurl.

In maths, we are grappling with fractions in all their various forms. This week, we have been perfecting our skills multiplying factions by integers and by fractions. This has also involved converting improper fractions into mixed number ones and vice versa. We have also been having to find equivalent fractions along the way too. 

Our art lessons have been based on the beautifully detailed manuscripts of the past. We have been carefully illustrating our initial in a manner that would befit an ancient Anglo-Saxon text. We are justifiably proud of the work we have produced.

We have moved on from the early Anglo-Saxon era in history to the invasion of the Vikings. Our lesson this week saw us re-enacting the various struggles for power and rule in these lands over a thousand years ago. We had great fun recreating the battles, coronations, strategic marriages and deaths of the kings.

Coming up next week we have Hunt the Issy, we are visiting the Christmas tree display in Saint Nicholas Church and practising our singing for the Christingle service in the last week of term. Keep an eye on your emails for all of the details about the festive events taking place.

It’s been a week of weeks – Anti-bully Week, Maths Week and a superb visit from the Royal Institute.

Monday began with an exploration of triangles to start off our Maths’ Week activities. We learned how to tesselate triangles (design a pattern using small triangles) and also how to use triangles to create a 3-dimensional shape (tetrahedron). Our ideas developed as we problem solved. We then had a go at creating hexaflexagon – a hexagon that can turn in-on-itself to create another hexagon. We had to be Keep Trying Kangaroo in order to succeed, but succeed we did!

We have finished writing our WWI poems based on sonnet form using the following the rules: focus on one emotion (fear, love, hope, despair etc), write in iambic pentameter (lines 1&3 rhyme, lines 2&4 rhyme, 5&7, 6&8 etc) and have 8 lines in total. We also started our poems with a rhetorical question - often based on the futility of war. They are incredibly powerful, and the children are justifiably proud of their work.

In art, we have been creating beautiful calligraphy surrounding a capital letter. Our inspiration has come from ancient Anglo-Saxon texts that were illustrated in this way.

Our computing lesson saw us learning about data packets and how large pieces of information are transmitted over the internet in smaller, manageable packets. We had a go are replicating this by being ‘ routers’ sending data packets to another router. Let’s just say, in Pendower was the actual internet we would all be receiving some very mixed messages ;)  We had great fun trying though.

Below is an attachment to the weekly spelling booklet that comes home with your child. Spellings are tested every Friday. This week, we are learning the following words: direction, explanation, competition, cautious, especially, appreciate, ancient, delicious, infection, spacious.

We started the week with a weird, witchy brew and ended it with a very poignant Remembrance Assembly, with a cinema trip and lots of lovely lessons in between.

Monday saw Pendower perform their poems based on the famous three witches in MacBeth ‘Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and caldron bubble.’ This spooky spectacular was acted out amidst a sinister backdrop which added drama and atmosphere to Pendower’s already imaginative and unnerving verses.

For the remainder of the week, Year 6 have been learning about the significance of Remembrance Day, its origins and how The Great War impacted so many lives.

This coming week, the children will be studying WWI poetry in order to create their own which will be part of an academy wide project that will take place later in 2024. We were privileged to participate in a Remembrance assembly where Mr Parry played his bagpipes and Mrs Newman’s husband and father came to speak to the school and lead the service.

Maths has seen us working on our fraction skills. We have been grappling with equivalent fractions, fractions on a number line and converting between improper and mixed number fractions. There’s still plenty of fraction work still to come, so making sure the weekly homework is completed for Wednesday will really help with these lessons.

We have been amateur historians this week as we delved into the mysteries and wonders of Sutton Hoo. This Anglo-Saxon burial ground in Suffolk has provided us with a wealth of information about this time period in our nation’s history. The children were intrigued to discover the priceless treasures buried in the largest mound within a full-sized ship and why the remains of a body wasn’t found there.

There’s lots more going on next week including maths week, anti-bully week, the visit from the Royal Institute, the BFA quiz night and Children in Need! 

 It’s fair to say that the whole of Upper Key Stage 2 have had a super first week back starting with making wickedly, weird witches brew in literacy lessons and ending their week with the spectacle that was Viking Day.

Using MacBeth’s 3 witches as inspiration, the children have created their own poem based on the gruesome ingredients that might go into a bubbling cauldron. Ask to see your child’s version at next week’s Parent and Teacher meetings; be warned, some of them are stomach churning.

Pupils (and parents) outdid themselves with the costumes that were on display on Thursday for Viking Day. The children looked amazing if slightly intimidating!

We all had a brilliant day completing a range of activities such as: weaving, drawing detailed pictures of Viking longboats, learning how to be effective raiders and traders and understanding ancient runes.

Sprinkle in a smattering of maths, reading, science, PE and French and you’ve got yourself a jampacked week :)

Key Information

*Parent and Teacher meetings Monday 6^th and Wednesday 8^th November after school.

*Remembrance parade for the school on Friday 11^th. Those who are part of a uniformed organisation such as Cubs, Brownies, Sea Cadets etc can wear their uniforms.

*Thursday 9th November - Y5/6 cinema trip

*PE on Tuesdays – please be in appropriate school PE kit for the weather.

*Reading records to be signed and brought into school on a daily basis

*Maths homework to be complete and in school for marking every Wednesday

*Weekly spelling tests every Friday.

We’ve made it to the end of our first half term together :) Pendower have made an excellent start to the year and we are so pleased with how they are encouraging and supporting one another #Teamworktigers.

The children of Pendower are - rightly so - very proud of the non-chronological reports they have been completing this week. Over the course of the half term, they have studied this particular focus in English lessons, read some good examples of non-chronological reports and then gone on to devise their own.

Their double page spreads are looking stunning and are crammed full of interesting facts and information about their very own mythical creature.

Be sure to see your child’s version when you come along to the Progress Meetings during the week beginning 6th November (please sign against your preferred time on the flipcharts/clipboards on your usual playground or driveway entrance or email).

Key Information:

* Half Term holiday starts on Friday 20^th October – there is no school on this day due to staff training.

*Schools starts Monday 30^th October.

*BFA planning meeting Monday 30th October 6pm – 7pm.

*Dress Bright for Bonfire Night, one of our annual non-uniform days. Friday 3rd November, voluntary donations of £1 which is payable via ParentPay.

*Thursday 9th November - Y5/6 cinema trip

*PE on Tuesdays – please be in appropriate school PE kit for the weather.

*Reading records to be signed and brought into school on a daily basis

*Maths homework to be complete and in school for marking every Wednesday

*Weekly spelling tests every Friday.