WELCOME TO MALALA CLASS!

Here, you can find out a little more about what we are learning and getting up to during our very busy days at school...

Spring Term 2023

Have a look at the documents in our learning folder to see what we'll be focusing on over the coming weeks...

For the perfect end to Aspirations Week this week, the children were invited to come dressed as what they would like to be when they grow up. We have footballers, zoo keepers, vets, doctors, actors, scientists, hairdressers, estate agents, mechanics and a whole host of other wonderful hopes and aspirations represented in Malala Class today! 

What an incredible week it has been! The children have had visits from several people who have shared fascinating insights into the work that they do. From firefighting to finance; from music and massage therapy to cardiac physiology - there has been so much to learn and a world of opportunities has been opened up for our children!

Following on from our Islam focus week earlier this term, Malala Class enjoyed a fascinating visit to Gloucester Mosque on Monday! The children learnt about prayer times and practises and had the opportunity to try on traditional clothing as well as to perform the special washing that Muslim people carry out each time they pray. What a wonderful learning experience in our quest to find out more about other faiths!

The children worked hard during their Write Stuff unit based on Valerie Bloom's poem, 'The River'. They learnt many techniques for poetry but focused especially on rhyme, metaphor and personification.

For NSPCC Number Day, the children were all invited to design, make and wear a hat with a number theme. Don't they look amazing?

During the day, we'll be having a go at solving some number problems; playing some number-themed games and also watching Attenborough Class' assembly all about Number Day!

During 'Speak Out, Stay Safe' week, we have explored the NSPCC advice to children about what they should do if they have a worry or concern or feel unhappy. The children took part in an interactive assembly where they learnt techniques for remembering key slogans and facts and then also carried out some activities in class.

Here, the children are showing the hands that they have illustrated to demonstrate the five people they know they could trust with a worry or concern.

What an amazing day! The children sang their hearts out and loved every second of this truly magical experience - singing as part of a choir of over 6000 children in the arena in Birmingham!

We already can't wait for next year...

Our School Council children planned a really exciting start to the new term: Crazy Hair Day! The children made such a fantastic effort with this and there were lots of fabulous styles, colours and creations to admire!

The children learnt about the different roles that people can take on in situations where bullying is happening. They learnt that we all have an important role to play in putting an end to bullying.

The children also expressed their ideas and feelings about bullying in poems.

We started Anti-Bullying Week off with Odd Sock Day! The children all came to school wearing odd socks as a way of celebrating difference. We talked about how important it is that we recognise that the differences between us are things to be enjoyed. We discussed the fact that bullying very often comes from highlighting differences as negative things and that this is what we can work to stand up against.

The children will continue to discuss these issues throughout the week and to complete a range of different activities that will help enhance their understanding.

The children were invited to attend the Remembrance service at The Prospect in Ross-on-Wye. They listened carefully to some interesting information about the people being remembered and sang their hymn beautifully.

The children took part in Drama workshops to investigate some aspects of Black History. They worked on improvisations of key moments in the lives of some historical Black people and explored the achievements made and challenges faced by some significant players from the past. The children are learning about the injustices and prejudice that have impacted on the lives of Black people throughout history (and today) and about ways that we can actively fight against these things in our everyday lives.

The children have developed their spy dances this week, adding new sequences of movements in cannon. They worked hard on their timing as well as on making sure that their movements were as identical as possible.

The children love our new English approach - The Write Stuff. At the end of their unit of work on legacy stories, Year 4 and 5 children had a go at independently writing a legacy story of their own, from the perspective of a different character. Here they are editing their independent work after it has been marked by the teacher. They did their editing in teams, working their way around five different editing stations, each one focusing on a different aspect of the improvement process. Fantastic work, Malala Class!

The children celebrated World Teacher's Day by dressing up as teachers and spending some time interviewing the staff in school about the paths they had taken to become teachers. The teachers also had the chance to be pupils for the day!

Every child was able to put themselves forward as a potential School Council representative for Malala Class this term. They each prepared a short speech about their personal manifesto and delivered it to the class before a vote took place to select the two class reps. Through this experience, the children learnt about democracy as well as about public speaking.

The children have been working on producing strong and poised freeze-frame images to represent the poses and movements of spies like James Bond. They have also explored a range of ways to travel that are in-keeping with this theme and they are now beginning to link these motifs in dance sequences.

The children took part in a workshop based around the career of Egyptologist, Amelia Edwards. They read extracts from her diary and then used this evidence to help them understand and contextualise a range of artefacts - matching each collection with a specific location in Ancient Egypt. This focused enquiry work gave the children an excellent insight at the start of their Ancient  Egypt topic this term.

Additionally, the children were able to explore the Egyptology section of the museum; sketch the fascinating artefacts that they saw and then experience the other exhibits as well.