What we are learning this week in Lilac Class for the week beginning 30.6.25

For Maths this week in Lilac Class, we are starting our new block of learning entitled ‘Decimals’.  This week we are using known facts to add and subtract decimals within 1 and finding compliments to 1.  Lilac Class will be using ten frames and hundred squares to support learning.  We will then be adding and subtracting decimals across 1 using partitioning and part-whole models to demonstrate our learning.  After this, we will be adding numbers with the same number of decimal places. 

In English this week in Lilac Class, we are continuing with our drafting of a dual narrative based on our reading of our supplementary text Ice Trap!  Shackleton’s Incredible Expedition by Meredith Hooper.  The part of the text we are focusing on is where Endurance is trapped in the ice and is sinking.  During our planning stage, we discussed the question ‘What should Shackleton and his men do now that the ship is sinking?’  In groups, we acted out this situation and what the men did, e.g. pulling lifeboats across the ice and carrying provisions from the sinking ship.  We will also draw on our ‘Hot Seating’ activity  from the viewpoint of the men and then from the perspective of Ernest Shackleton, their leader. 

For our Guided Reading text, Shackleton’s Journey by William Grill this week, we are reading pages 55-60. Lilac Class are discussing what the author means when he says the crew ‘were reaching their limit’ and why the men shook each other’s hands when they saw the harbour.  We will also be exploring the mood conveyed in the text and summarising it in less than 15 words. 

For RE in Lilac Class, we are learning about Sawm, the Fourth Pillar of Islam.  We finding out about Ramadan and Eid al Fitr and thinking about what it is like to give up something for a length of time.  For Time and Place in Lilac Class, we are continuing with our work on mountain ranges in India and identifying where they are situated on a map.  We are learning how different types of mountains are formed and finding out facts about different mountain ranges. For Science in Lilac Class, we are learning about the life cycle of insects and amphibians and the differences between complete and incomplete metamorphosis.  For Design and the Arts, we are starting to create our seascapes (based on our plans) using a range of different materials to create a variety of effects and textures.  We are drawing on Arnold Bax’s Symphonic Poem ‘Tintagel’ for inspiration and examining the mixed media design ‘Colourful Fish Swirl’ by the artist Nikki B who lives in Tintagel in Cornwall.

In ICT, we are explaining how selection is used in computer programs.  Lilac Class will be using the Scratch programming environment.  In Spanish this week we are continuing our revision of greetings in Spanish and learning to write in Spanish the following: Hello, Goodbye, What is your name? Good morning, See you later, My name is …, Good night, See you tomorrow, How old are you? and I am …years old.