In science, Year 3 explored force meters, we discussed that force is measured in newtons and has a go measuring pushing and pulling forces around the class room.

Yesterday in PSHE, Year 1 learnt all about facing challenges. We talked about how it can be tricky to try new things but that trying new things helps us to stretch ourselves. We had a go at creating hand flowers which were very challenging and tricky to make. The children did such an amazing job at tackling this challenge!

Please join us in wishing Mrs Nightingale, a very Happy Birthday for today!

We had an enjoyable computing lesson this week, learning more about writing code. Each pair used the LOGO language to write a code that would draw a number. We had a few challenges to start with but everyone made progress with their understanding, even drawing 3 and 4 digit numbers by the end of the lesson

What a fantastic week it has been across school! From creative art projects to scientific discoveries and lots of active outdoor learning, the children have been busy, enthusiastic, and working incredibly hard. Here's a snapshot of what each year group has been getting up to this week: Year R – This week in Maths, we have been exploring the composition of 5. We used the Five Little Speckled Frogs song to help the children understand the different ways numbers can be combined to make 5. The children have loved singing the song and using it to support their understanding of number! Year 1 – This week in Art we have been learning to create different lines and shapes using different pencils. We had to think very carefully about what we wanted to draw. Year 2 – Great computing this week. We searched the classroom for minibeasts, completed a tally chart and then used the laptop to create a pictogram to show the data we collected. Year 3 – Have been working super hard in Kinetic Letters recently. Year 4 – In Science we started our new topic States of Matter. We sorted a variety of pictures into the categories solid, liquid, gas or 'I don't know'. Year 4 were very knowledgeable and will hopefully enjoy exploring this subject further this week. Year 5 – Y5 really challenged themselves in art this week! They explored the work of Pablo Picasso before experimenting with continuous line drawings of a selection of bottles. They embraced the imperfections, recognising that these add character and help create visually engaging pieces Year 6 – More fun in the mud this week, along with fire lighting and using tools. Nearly all the class joined in a very energetic game of capture the flag! We were really impressed with the collaboration and problem-solving skills on display The afternoon ended with a game of Liam Says. Well done to all our children for another brilliant week of learning! We're so proud of the effort, enthusiasm and teamwork shown across the school.

Y5 really challenged themselves in art this week! They explored the work of Pablo Picasso before experimenting with continuous line drawings of a selection of bottles. They embraced the imperfections, recognising that these add character and help create visually engaging pieces

JC Sports Development are holding multi-activity fun days during February half term. Please book directly with them should you wish to sign your little ones up

It has been another busy and exciting week across the school, with lots of hands-on learning, creativity and curiosity on display. From exploring the outdoors to developing new geography and computing skills, the children have thoroughly enjoyed their learning experiences this week. Year R OWL this week was lots of fun! The children loved exploring ice and breaking it into smaller pieces, discovering a "secret den" made from sticks, and splashing about as they jumped in a big muddy puddle. Outdoor learning at its best! Year 1 In Art, Year 1 have been learning about weather symbols. First, they explored everyday weather symbols and identified what type of weather each one represents. Next, they created transient art weather symbols, learning that transient art is moveable, non-permanent and often made using natural objects and materials. Year 3 In Computing, Year 3 took on the role of animators and created their own stop-motion animations. They carefully planned their ideas using a storyboard before making characters and backgrounds, ready for filming. Fantastic teamwork and creativity! Year 4 In Geography, Year 4 have started learning about rivers. They created a giant river using blue (ish!) objects and labelled it using the correct geographical terminology. They also matched tricky definitions to key vocabulary and created a vocabulary loop. Well done, Year 4, for your perseverance and enthusiasm. Year 5 Year 5 had a great time exploring seasonal fruit and vegetables. Working in pairs, one child closed their eyes while their partner selected a mystery bowl. Using clues such as smell, texture and shape, they guessed the contents before tasting. A fun and sensory learning experience! Year 6 Geography started with a bang... literally! Year 6 labelled the key features of Earth onto a balloon. After discussing how the Earth spins on its axis (and that it is not balloon-shaped!), the children used globes and world maps to locate the Equator, Tropics, Hemispheres and Poles. Thankfully, no balloons were harmed in the process! They then compared the polar regionsthe Arctic and Antarcticalooking at summer and winter months, topography, wildlife and the impact of humans. The children produced some excellent geography work. Well done to all our pupils for their hard work and enthusiasm this week. We look forward to another exciting week of learning ahead!

Yesterday, some of the Year R children painted their favourite animal as our topic this term is animals. We had some rabbits, pigs, foxes, an elephant and even a crocodile

Year 3 are currently reading the story Escape from Pompeii in reading. This week we are using the text to find out more information about Pompeii and why people might want to visit.

Happy New Year! It has been a great first week back, and it has been wonderful to see the children return so positively and enthusiastically. They have settled straight back into routines and have already shown fantastic curiosity and engagement in their learning. We are really excited for the term ahead and all the opportunities it will bring. Year R Our first OWL session went brilliantly! The children loved exploring the OWL area and had so much fun climbing trees, making mud pies, and enjoying their snack outdoors. It was lovely to see them trying new things and embracing the outdoor environment. They also responded really well to the OWL rules, showing great listening skills and teamwork. Year 1 We came in to discover a book and ingredients to make porridge. The children were told they would be making two different types of porridge – one with hot water and one with 'magic water'. First, we made porridge using hot water and added our favourite toppings. Then we added the magic water, and the porridge just kept coming out! Finally, we discovered this was linked to our new story, The Magic Porridge Pot. Year 2 The children made a Menorah using clay to help them remember the number of candles and learn about the story of Hanukkah. Year 3 In RE this week, we started learning about Lent and why Christians make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. We also learned about Ash Wednesday and discussed forgiveness, ranking things we might find harder to forgive. Year 4 It has been lovely to see the excitement around our new book, Flotsam. This wordless picture book has intrigued the children with its detailed illustrations and fascinating storyline. Some fantastic ideas and discussions already! Year 5 For our English hook lesson, we became photographers! Each pair tried to capture landscapes from unusual angles and frame them in ways we don't normally get to see. I was incredibly impressed with the creative thinking and interesting ideas everyone came up with. Year 6 In PE, the children began their new dance topic. To introduce this, they watched and listened to Around the World by Daft Punk, focusing on the consistent beat and rhythm and how different characters were portrayed through movement. The class discussed the characters they noticed and how movement was used to represent them, before working together to compose an 8-step dance routine. In such a short space of time, it was impressive to see how quickly they produced routines, confidently using canon and unison. We are really looking forward to another exciting and successful term ahead and can't wait to see the children continue to grow and thrive.

Back to school this week and Year 1 have been learning to count within 20. We began by counting to 20 and back from 20. We then worked with our partner to spin a three-sided spinner and counted back the number of spaces shown on our number line. We had to make sure we said the numbers not the number of spaces. We then challenged our partner by point at numbers and getting our partner to recognise the number!

What a fantastic end to a busy Christmas week. Some amazing stamina from those who made it twice around Totton Rec on our Santa Run.

KS1 Nativity Performances Yesterday, our KS1 children gave two absolutely amazing Nativity performances at Testwood Baptist Church. The atmosphere was wonderful, and the children truly shone – we are so proud of how hard they have worked to learn their lines, songs, and actions. A huge thank you to all of the children for their enthusiasm and confidence, to the KS1 staff and teachers for their dedication and support, and to our fantastic PTA for their help. Keep an eye out for the Daily Echo on Friday 19th, where photos from the class Nativity will be printed! Well done, KS1 – what a memorable experience for everyone!

We had an absolute blast last week learning about pneumatics! The children used plastic bottles, air pumps and syringes, along with tubing and tape, to try to compress air and blow up our balloons to make an object move. They then recorded their observations and reflections about what had worked well and what we could improve on next time. There was lots of collaboration and thinking outside the box to solve problems. Well done Y5!

What a brilliant week of learning and creativity across the school! The children have impressed us with their curiosity, teamwork and enthusiasm in every classroom. Here's a look at what each year group has been busy exploring: Year R This week we made fruit salad by following our instruction text recipe. We carefully checked each step to make sure we did it correctly. The children did a fantastic job washing, cutting and mixing the fruit to create their own fruit salad! At snack time, we enjoyed eating it together and talked about what it tasted like. Well done everyone! Year 1 In Science, we have been learning about our five senses. We carried out a range of different tests to explore the sense of touch. The children took turns being blindfolded and completed four challenges: building towers, counting objects, sorting objects and organising items. Afterwards, we discussed our results and the properties we exploredsuch as size, mass, length and colourand which of these could be determined from touch alone and which required our other senses. Year 2 We learnt about how animals adapt to survive. We made paper moths and coloured some so they were camouflaged in the classroom. We then challenged our "predators" (Miss Bray and Miss Light-Rowsell) to try and find them. Lots of our camouflaged moths survived! Year 3 In Geography, we explored Ordnance Survey maps using our new knowledge of four-figure grid references to locate physical and human features in the local area. We then used compasses on the playground to find north, south, east and west, and to follow a map. Great work, Year 3! Year 4 We were learning about sound in Science! We used instruments to 'see' vibrations using rice on a drum. We also combined our investigation of musical instruments with our music learning and changed the volume of our instruments as well as playing in the round! Year 5 We finished our decorations this week and hung them proudly on the tree. Year 5 showed fantastic creativity, and it was lovely to hear so many kind and encouraging comments about each other's work. You should all be very proud, Y5!

Year 2 have started learning about shape. We sorted 2D and 3D shapes and tried to describe mystery shapes to each other.

We finished our decorations today and hung them up on the tree. Y5 worked well to show their creativity and I heard lots of kind words about each other's work. You should be very proud Y5

What a wonderful week of learning and creativity across the school! Here's a look at what each year group has been up to... Year R had a fantastic walk to the postbox! The children did so well to listen carefully and walk safely. They each posted their Christmas cards with a big smile on their face! Some children even said it was an "adventure". Well done Year R. Year 1 – This week we have been making Christmas decorations for the school Christmas tree. We used salt dough and cut out different shapes. We baked them and then painted them with bright colours. We added glitter to make them sparkle. Today we put our decorations on the tree. Doesn't it look beautiful! Year 2 – A quick visit to the allotment to check on our plants and do some weeding. Lots of mud kitchen creativity and using the bow saw for cutting in the tool area. Some great dens and shelters. Year 3 – In writing we had our hook lesson for our new text The Teacher Pleaser Machine. The children created their own Stone Age inventions using their history knowledge! Year 4 – In PE, we worked on core strength by holding a balance and passing a cone from side to side. It was tricky but we persevered. We also practised our bending-forward balance, finding it easier to hold a friend's hand when bending so we were less wobbly! Year 5 – During reading lessons we've been reading a book called Cosmic, about a boy who accidentally ends up in space! We've been focusing on how each of the characters are feeling, using evidence from the text to support our answers. Year 5 have really enjoyed reading about this slightly cheeky boy and practising how to use different tones of voice to show different emotions.