Year 1: Computing

In Literacy, Year 1 have been reading 'Commotion in the Ocean'. They have been looking at non-fiction and have been on a fact-finding mission.

The children have been inspired by the illustrator's style to draw underwater pictures. They learnt how to use an iPad app called 'Drawing Pad', exploring the different painting tools to create their masterpieces. Year 1 enjoyed this task and became quite adept at using the app to create a range of artistic effects.

Reception Visitors: The Police

It was an exciting day when PC Craig and PC Rob visited Reception classes to support the start of the new topic, 'People Who Help Us'. The officers came in full uniform and went to each class to ask children questions, to answer questions and to give children an overview of the work that they do.

The helpful police officers discussed what the word 'emergency' meant, using the example, "If McDonald's run out of chicken nuggets, would this be a real emergency?" "No!" The children found this very funny.

The police talked about how they are here to help us in a range of situations including car crashes, burglaries, missing or lost people, and people caught up in fights. The children enjoyed learning about the modes of transport used by the police and the different animals used alongside them. They also now know that number to call in real emergencies for a police officer, a fireman, or a paramedic.

At the end of the visit, lots of the children mentioned they wanted to be police officers when they grew up. It was a great way to introduce our topic. Reception classes answered and asked some thoughtful questions. When the police officers left, lots of children were involved in police role play.

Early Years RE: Chinese New Year

Early Years children celebrated Chinese New Year with a vibrant dance workshop. As part of their 'celebrating different festivals' topic, they learnt dance routines that incorporated Chinese umbrellas and martial arts. The children were very excited to join together to make a fierce Chinese dragon. To complete their celebrations, Early Years enjoyed making Chinese lanterns and eating Chinese food.

Year 5 RE: Islam

To coincide with their RE unit on Islam, Year 5 were visited by Sidra Naeem from the Havering Islamic Cultural Centre. The children held artefacts, tried on traditional clothing worn by Muslims in different parts of the world and had a range of questions answered by an expert.

The session was extremely informative. It helped to dispel some common misconceptions about Muslims and greatly improved the children's understanding of the world's second-largest religion. Our guest was very keen to convey a central message: like other major religions, Islam teaches the importance of generosity and peace​.

 

E for Effort

Every week, teachers recognise pupils in their class who have made an extra effort. These pupils are presented with the E for Effort cup during our whole school assembly.

Congratulations to all of the wonderful children who made an extra effort last week.

Year 3: Literacy Treat

As a treat for all their hard work, Mrs Neville’s Year 3 reading and writing groups took a trip to Cookies Café Italia, Hornchurch, where they enjoyed tall glasses of comforting hot chocolate with cream on top. Of course, the trip was also educational. The children read and discussed each other's stories as they tucked into cookies and a savoured their delicious drinks.

Oxford Reading Buddy

We're introducing a new way to support and encourage children's reading: Oxford Reading Buddy.

This online service can be used at home to improve your child's enjoyment and understanding of the books they read. We will give login details to our pupils in the next couple of days.

We look forward to hearing your feedback about this exciting new addition to the range of resources used to support teaching and learning in our school.

E for Effort

Every week, teachers recognise pupils in their class who have made an extra effort. These pupils are presented with the E for Effort cup during our whole school assembly.

Congratulations to all of the wonderful children who made an extra effort this week.

Music: Composer of the Half Term

In singing assembly, we launched 'Composer of the Half Term'. Our composer this half-term is the Italian, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). He wrote over 500 concertos during the baroque period; a time when bananas were first introduced to Britain, the population was around 4 million and pianos were invented.

Our pupils listened to 'Spring' to try to spot the key features in Vivaldi's music: quick changes to the dynamics (loud and soft), a fast-slow-fast tempo and solo sections. Across this half-term, the children will listen to all of Vivaldi's four seasons. Pupils have been challenged to find out the most interesting fact they can about the composer to tell Miss Blunt before next week's assembly.

Our goal with 'Composer of the Half Term' is to help children appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality music from different traditions, great composers and respected musicians.

Key Stage 1: Road Safety

Key Stage 1 participated in a play that highlighted the importance of the Green Cross Code. Despite being kept highly entertained by the 'Road Wise Rangers' with witty jokes and the road safety dance, every child left with the clear message of using the Green Cross Code when crossing the road: stop, look and listen.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the performance and were awarded their own Road Wise Ranger sticker for being truly superb.

Year 6 Maths: Hey Diddle Diddle.

Mr Marshall and Mrs Standen's maths set have been learning about averages: calculating the mean, median, mode and range. Instead of using existing data, they created their own by counting the number of balls they could throw into a bin within 30 seconds. The marvellous mathematicians created a table that included a tally chart and the total for each person. This data was then used to analyse and create questions, for example, did the boys or girls have the highest average total?

To better understand averages, Year 6 have learnt a mnemonic that they have been chanting all week:

Hey diddle diddle, the Median's the middle;
you add and divide for the Mean.
The Mode is the one that appears the most,
and the Range is the difference between.

The children learned how to collect, organise and analyse data as well as learning how to calculate the mean, median, mode and range.

E for Effort

Every week, teachers recognise pupils in their class who have made an extra effort. These pupils are presented with the E for Effort cup during our whole school assembly.

Congratulations to all of the wonderful children who made a great start to 2020.

Welcome Back

Happy New Year to all our pupils, parents, staff and governors and welcome back to another exciting term at Hacton. We hope that you had a restful break and are looking forward to 2020 as much as we are. Another action-packed term is planned so please check the School Calendar for details of events and activities in our school. ​