#WakeUpWednesday

This week's guide contains 12 online safety tips of Christmas for children with new devices. For some of them, it will be the first time they’ve owned a device that connects them to the online world. Even for older children, a new device means new corners of the digital landscape to explore – and unfortunately, new risks to be aware of. We’ve put together our top tips so that you can guide your young ones in enjoying their new digital gifts safely and responsibly throughout the year to come. Merry Christmas!

E for Effort Winners

To acknowledge pupils who have gone above and beyond in their learning each week, putting in that extra effort, each class teacher chooses one pupil to receive the E for Effort cup and certificate. 

Here are this week’s winners. Well done to you all!

Times Tables Superstars

These pupils have hopped aboard the Times Table train to continue their journey to becoming a Times Table Champion. They have worked exceptionally hard to learn and master their multiplication and division facts. Well Done!

Reading and Poetry Superst★rs

Congratulations to our Reading and Poetry Superst★rs this week! To achieve this award, all of these children have either read poems or books by their year group authors (Bronze is 5, Silver is 10 and Gold is 15). A big well done to this week's winners who have demonstrated great commitment and dedication to reading. Our new Reading and Poetry Superst★rs should be very proud of their achievement! 

Merry Christmas from Hacton Primary

We couldn’t celebrate Christmas with our usual concerts this year; however, we couldn’t let the season pass without sending out a huge Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Hacton. Roll on 2021 - Hacton is ready for you!​

Year 5 DT: Mechanical Toys

Over the last 6 weeks, year 5 have been looking at mechanical cams and how they are used to create a moving toy. Here are our finished products.

Christmas @ Hacton 2020

This week, Christmas has arrived at Hacton. There has been glitter galore, Christmas cheer, tantalising tinsel and even a visit from the big man himself. Every year group has visited Santa's grotto and received an early present for their hard work and resilience this term.

Here's a snapshot of our Christmas week:

Here’s a picture of each class visiting Father Christmas:

To finish, we have a Christmas poem written by one of our year one children:

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Year 2 DT: Sleighs

In Year 2, our DT project has been to design and make a sleigh for Father Christmas to enable him to deliver presents to all the local children. We designed our sleighs thinking about what Father Christmas would need​ and as it does not always snow at Christmas, we decided to put wheels on our sleighs so that he had the option to use wheels as well as the traditional sleigh runners. When we made our prototypes we made the chassis and then attached the axels and the wheels to it. For the body of the sleigh we used a cuboid net which we then added sides to and other embellishments including a large area for the presents, a huge, comfy seat for Father Christmas and some children even added 'boosters' so that he could make his deliveries quicker. We think that Father Christmas would love to ride in all of the sleighs that the children designed!

Year 1 Geography: Elf Town

Over the last half term, Year 1 have been looking at our local area. The children have learnt that we go to school in a town called Hornchurch in a country called England. They have learnt what a map is and explored things from an aerial view. They have also learnt some of the things that make up our town of Hornchurch, such as jobs, houses, parks, roads, shops and other things to do. 

This week, the children have created their own 'elf-town' using all the key features of a town. They thought about the jobs the elves might do, where they might live and the importance of having a hospital for elves and a veterinary practice for the reindeer. The elves have been well catered for with 'Elfridges', 'Santabury's', 'McElf', 'Elfbury's' and even an 'Elfmark!'

Here are some pictures of them working hard!

Year 6: PSHE

This term, year 6 have been learning about the Very Important People (V.I.Ps) in their own lives including friends, family and trusted adults such as teachers and policemen/women.  Throughout this topic we have looked at issues such as peer pressure and how they can and should handle it, the qualities that makes a good friend and how we can show respect to the V.I.Ps in our own lives.  We discussed a range of ideas, from helping out at home, listening to adults and providing a pair of listening ears for a friend who needs a chat.  We also looked at the concept of secrets.  We talked about why it is sometimes important to keep secrets (surprise parties, birthday gifts etc.), but more importantly, when it is safe to keep them.  We also discussed who we can talk to if they are told a secret that makes them feel uncomfortable and why this is the right choice.

Our next topic is safety first where we will be looking at what we should do in an emergency, how to assess risks and how to stay safe online.

Here are some quotes from our children:

“Our V.I.Ps are people we can trust.”

“My friends and family are my V.I.Ps.”

“Trusted adults are people we can go to if we need help – family members, teachers and policemen.”

“Peer pressure is when someone tries to make you do the wrong thing.”

“Good secrets are normally things like surprises for other people.”

Year 6: French

Comment ça va?

Year 6 have played games, listened to songs and had lots of fun conversing in French this week.  Their knowledge of the language has certainly grown and their accents are magnifique.  Having revised the colours and numbers, the children moved onto learning the days of the week, linking them to planetary bodies and the months of the year.  Finally, it was time to introduce themselves to and ask questions about others.  

Year 3 Science: Fantastic Fossils

This term in Science, Year 3 have been learning all about rocks. Towards the end of the topic, we learnt about how fossils are formed and the children were amazed at how long the process actually takes! Did you know that it takes approximately 10,000 years for a fossil to form? As a special treat, the children created their very own fossils; however, luckily this did not take thousands of years! 

Firstly, the children used clay to act as the soil and then they imprinted their own choice of animal/shell firmly into the clay. We gently pulled out the animals and shells and generously covered the remains with plaster of Paris! Overnight, the plaster set and left us with some amazing fossils! We hope you enjoy looking at the children's impressive work, it is clear that we have some palaeontologists among us!

#WakeUpWednesday

 

This week's guide is on Instagram, offering parents and carers advice and guidance on one of the world's most popular social media platforms.

National Online Safety has also released their own FREE app to educate parents about Online Safety. Click here to find out more.

WOW! Winners

We're introducing a new way to celebrate achievements in the Early Years classes. 

At the end of every week, Reception and Nursery teachers will choose a pupil from each class to receive a special WOW! certificate for outstanding achievement.This may include working hard, excellent behaviour, being a helpful member of the class or simply being kind.

Here are this week's winners! Well done to everyone.

Reception: Santa Fun Run

This week Reception children enjoyed putting on their Christmas hats, wrapping up warm and heading outside to take part in a Santa fun run on the playground.  Children had the extra challenge of writing their name after completing a lap!  We then had to work together to count all the names so we could find a winner for each class.  Well done to everyone for taking part!

'I kept going and going and I went all the way round 12 times so I'm the winner!'

'I tried so hard to write my name with red because red is my favourite colour and I did it 7 times.'

E for Effort Winners

To acknowledge pupils who have gone above and beyond in their learning each week, putting in that extra effort, each class teacher chooses one pupil to receive the E for Effort cup and certificate. 

Here are this week’s winners. Well done to you all!