Year 6: Science

Year 6 have been twitching - and not because they are nervous about their upcoming SATs! Oh no! Instead they have been collecting images of birds to develop their understanding of adaptation and evolution within a species. 

They have studied Darwin and Wallace’s approach to scientific research into the origins and evolution of living species on earth and have also considered Mary Anning’s paleontological contribution.

Thoroughly engaged, the children were challenged to capture images of as many different species of birds as they could and asked to consider why the species may have evolved to be the colour they are, why their beaks might be the shape they are and why their body may have developed to be the way it is. 

Challenge: see if you can spot and identify some of the species they managed to capture.

Interesting Buildings Challenge

Thank you to everyone for all of your fantastic entries during the Easter challenge. They have made a great display along the corridor towards the hall!

There were so many fantastic entries that we had to use a lucky dip to select the winners. Here they are...

Achievements of the Week (w/c 25th April)

Congratulations to our Times Table winners this week! 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. 

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 Achievements of the Week winners should be very proud of their success! 

Reception: Art

To link in with our new reading book, ‘The Enormous Turnip’, Reception have been learning about Giuseppe Arcimboldo. He was an Italian artist who created images using fruits, vegetables and other living things.  

We have been inspired by Arcimboldo to create portraits using different fruits and vegetables.  

E for Effort and WOW! Winners (w/c 25th April)

In order to reward our pupils who have gone above and beyond in their learning each week and put in 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 - we are very proud of you all!

TTRS Winners (w/c 25th April)

To run alongside our Times Table Journey, we have introduced Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) to help our children to develop a secure understanding and quick recall of their times table and division facts. 

Each week, class teachers will select a child in their class to enter the TTRS draw. At random, one child in KS1 and one child in KS2 will be chosen to win a prize. 

To be in with a chance, you need to be regularly using Times Tables Rock Stars: Play (ttrockstars.com). Good luck! 

Here are this week's winners!

Year 6: Forest School

6EH enjoyed another wonderful afternoon in Forest School. We had some very excited children playing in the mud kitchen; you really are never too old to play with mud! We got the tools out this week to make a reading nook out of recycled pallets which we will continue next week. Super den building and team work skills were shown again, along with tree climbing and seeing how high the rope swing would go!

Year 3: PE

On Monday, Year 3 started their new indoor PE topic: Gymnastics. 

In the first lesson, the children were introduced to some jumps and leaps. For example: pike jump, straddle jump, cat leap and a straight jump half turn. Whilst demonstrating the jumps and leaps, we also discussed how to perform the moves accurately and safely. After exploring the jumps, the children had a great time performing them! 

Well done Year 3! We can’t wait to do more gymnastics as this half term continues!

Year 2: Music

Using their skill of knowledge retention, Year 2 recalled their knowledge on composition (when an original piece of vocal or instrumental music is written) to create a vocal composition. 

First, we sang 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' together. The teachers then sang it again but with entirely different lyrics showing the children how you can take the same tune but compose new lyrics about something totally different. The children were then set the task of creating new lyrics about their most recent Science topic...Plants! 

Year 2 did a fabulous job - well done! If you would like to have a go at doing this at home about a different topic that interests you, please write it down and remember to share it with your teacher! 

Example: 

Blossom, blossom on the trees,

It can make some people sneeze! 

In the spring the blossom blooms,

And floats gently through the breeze,

Blossom, blossom on the trees,

It can make some people sneeze! 

Awesome Attendance Winners (w/c 18th April)

At Hacton, we have introduced a celebration of our attendance. Each week, as part of our assembly, we will announce who the Awesome Attendance winners are. They will get to have our Attendance cup for the week and will be rewarded with a treat in recognition of their fabulous attendance. 

See below for last week’s figures:

Easter Bonnet Competition Winners

Well done to everyone who entered the Easter bonnet competition. It was a tough decision but the winners have been decided...

Everyone who took part has been awarded a certificate and a chocolate treat for their hard work! 

TTRS Winners (w/c 18th April)

To run alongside our Times Table Journey, we have introduced Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) to help our children to develop a secure understanding and quick recall of their times table and division facts. 

Each week, class teachers will select a child in their class to enter the TTRS draw. At random, one child in KS1 and one child in KS2 will be chosen to win a prize. 

To be in with a chance, you need to be regularly using Times Tables Rock Stars: Play (ttrockstars.com). Good luck! 

Here are this week's winners!

Achievements of the Week (w/c 18th April)

Congratulations to our Times Table winners this week! 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. 

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 Achievements of the Week winners should be very proud of their success! 

E for Effort and WOW! Winners (w/c 18th April)

In order to reward our pupils who have gone above and beyond in their learning each week and put in 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 - we are very proud of you all!

Year 6: Forest School

What a wonderful start to our Forest School experience! The sun was shining, the sky was blue and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as 6EH explored the Forest School site. We saw some very confident tree climbing (and swinging) as well as tremendous team work for building dens and helping each other on the rope swing. 

We can't wait to see what the next few weeks will bring!

Easter Bonnet Competition

The last of our Easter bonnet competition entries are in and Miss Peters now has the tough job of deciding who the winners are going to be! 

Well done! The winners will be announced in Friday's E for Effort assembly. 

Year 3: DT

In the last week of term, Year 3 created their very own photo frames. Leading up to this day, the children looked at different photo frames and thought about ways to make them stand, different designs and how to present a picture. Using corrugated card, the children followed steps to create a back board, frame and stand. They had to follow their brief carefully, keeping in mind who they were making their frame for. 

Well done, Year 3! You have created some marvellous photo frames! 

Easter Bonnet Competition

A huge thank you and well done to all of the children that have taken part in the Easter bonnet challenge so far. We have been so impressed by your imaginative creations and it has been lovely to see all of your smiling faces modelling your super designs! 

There is still time to enter! All you have to do is email a picture of you wearing your bonnet to hps-re@elatschools.co.uk to be in with the chance of winning a prize when we return back to school! 

Literacy Week: Dear Zoo

This year, Literacy week at Hacton has been a 'roaring' sucess! An assembly full of awe and wonder kicked off the special week with a reading of 'Dear Zoo' and some very special guests acting out the role of each animal that the zoo sent us. 

Throughout the week, our pupils have been immersed into the animal world, learning through animal themed activities, producing some excellent writing, incredible artwork and much more! The library was transformed into a jungle and we even had some real-life reptiles pay us a visit. We learnt about zoos, watched live feeds of some incredible animals in their natural habitats and even held debates on whether animals should be kept in captivity. 

Our week ended with pupils and staff clearly relishing in the opportunity to dress as their favourite animal, filling the day with a joyful energy! Thank you to parents for sending your children to school in such brilliant costumes. We hope you and your family have a very Happy Easter!

Readers' Treat: Spring Term

The Readers' Treat for the spring term has finally arrived and luckily the rain held off so that all of our superstar readers could fully enjoy their golfing experience! 

For those children who missed out this time, don't give up! The preparations for the summer treat are already underway and we're so excited to see even more of our pupils participating in the next round! 

Achievements of the Week (w/c 28th March)

Congratulations to our Times Table winners this week! 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. 

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 Achievements of the Week winners should be very proud of their success! 

TTRS Winners (w/c 28th March)

To run alongside our Times Table Journey, we have introduced Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) to help our children to develop a secure understanding and quick recall of their times table and division facts. 

Each week, class teachers will select a child in their class to enter the TTRS draw. At random, one child in KS1 and one child in KS2 will be chosen to win a prize. 

To be in with a chance, you need to be regularly using Times Tables Rock Stars: Play (ttrockstars.com). Good luck! 

Here are this week's winners!

Spring Term Sporting Events

Over the last few weeks, a number of our KS2 pupils have represented Hacton in different sporting events.   

Both our boys' and girls' football teams have participated in football tournaments. We may not have won but a few of our children scored their first goals for Hacton during the games. Well done to our Hacton footballers! 

Our Year 4 athletes had a very successful morning competing against 9 other schools at the Havering Sportshall Athletics. Each pupil took part in two relay races and two field events, earning points towards Hacton's total. After some superb throwing, jumping and running (and impressively smooth baton changeovers) we were thrilled to find out that we had won! Well done to all of our talented children for representing the school so well.  

Our Year 5 and 6 athletes have also had the opportunity to participate in the Havering Sportshall Athletics. From running, to throwing, to catching, all of our athletes performed incredibly well. 

                                       

Year 2: DT

During Literacy week, the children in Year 2 have been designing and creating their own creatures. Firstly, they made a model of their creatures using plasticine and to ensure their unique creature had a safe habitat to live in, the children produced a diorama habitat using a wide range of materials. 

Year 2 have thoroughly enjoyed getting creative and exploring different materials! 

Year 2: Science Club

From October 2021 until February 2022, Mrs Stephenson has led a science club full of budding scientists of the future to complete their UK STEM Crest Award. The children have taken part in eight experiments including making their own lava lamp and oobleck. They have investigated forces, looked at how bubbles are made and have carried out focused observations. 

Each week, Mrs Stephenson has recorded their progress and the children have received their certificates and badges as a reward for their completion of the award.  

Well done, science club! I am very proud of your achievement!

E for Effort and WOW! Winners (w/c 28th March)

In order to reward our pupils who have gone above and beyond in their learning each week and put in 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 - we are very proud of you all!

Year 5: Geography Fieldwork

Year 5 had a wonderful afternoon in Hornchurch where we took our Geography lessons out of the classroom. In the town centre, we asked the public a range of questions including their purpose of visiting Hornchurch and the means in which they travelled to the town centre. We also had time to conduct a traffic count (at three separate locations) before walking back to school. 

All of our fieldwork was then combined with the information and statistics that we had previously researched to create these informative posters comparing Tokyo and Hornchurch.