Starships

Welcome to Starships!

The adults in our class are Mrs Payne, Mrs Harris and Mrs Hickman. 

This page contains news about our learning. Please see the other pages for information about curriculum, homework and timetables. 

For information about our curriculum and timetable, click here

If you need to know about homework and hand in days, click here

For anything else you might need to know, click here.

Contact me on our class email: starships@albrightonprimary.com

Christmas Production - Lights, Camel, Action!

Please support your children in learning the words to the songs. The documents below are attached to a PDF of each song. 

Name
 Disco Star.pdfDownload
 Funky Camels.pdfDownload
 Inkeepers Tango.pdfDownload
 Life Has Changed.pdfDownload
 Spread The Word.pdfDownload
 The Shepherds' Hey.pdfDownload
 We Must Travel Home.pdfDownload
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LAST ACADEMIC YEAR

We took our new maths topic of coordinates outside today. We drew a grid on the playground in chalk then practiced moving across x axis then up the y axis to find the coordinates. 

We practiced our perimeter skills by making a zoo for predators out of the classroom! We had to carefully measure and covert between cm and m. 

Here you can see us enjoying the library books about our new topic 'Predator'. 

Wow! What an exciting morning we had to introduce our new topic 'Predators'! When we arrived in the classroom, we were shocked to find it had been destroyed! The clues (scratches, fur) led us to believe a bear had sabotaged our room! We spent the day learning survival techniques in the event of another potential predator attack. 

These photos show some of work towards our D&T project - juggling balls! We hope you saw our finished juggling balls at the jubilee summer fayre. 

In computing we have been learning about branching databases! Here you can see us making our own! 

In Science, we have been learning about rocks. Here you can see us making edible soil to learn about all the different layers! 

In Science, we have been learning about forces and magnets. Today, we used our magnets knowledge to create our own magnet games! We had fishing, football and races - all using magnets! 

Bursting through the cupboard door, we were visited by Archibald the Anglo-Saxon! He told us all about his treacherous journey to Britain which we will write about in the coming weeks. 

Take a look at our memorable experience for our new topic 'Traders and Raiders' all about the Anglo-Saxons! We went on a walk into the village to collect supplies to make our very own Anglo-Saxon village! It was a messy team creation! 

We celebrated World Book Day! Which characters can you spot?

In RE, we are learning about Islam. In this lesson we learned about the key principles of the religion and the 5 pillars of Islam. We used actions and drama to help us remember the key knowledge. 

In maths, we have been recapping subtraction. We found this quite tricky in our test just before Christmas. We completed a variety of fun activities that practiced these key calculation skills. 

This half term our geography and history are linked. We are thinking about our local heritage, specifically thinking about the transport links in and out of Albrighton. We practiced our map symbol skills then dove into comparing a modern day map of Albrighton to one from 1890! This led to some fantastic comparisons and observations between the two maps. 

For anti-bullying week, we learned about what bullying is and the different types of bullying. On post-it notes we thought about how we could deal with situations where we witness bullying. Then, we thought about the qualities that make a good friend. We ranked what we thought was most important quality to least important and had to justify our answers. Finally, we filled in our own 'recipe for a good friend' which are now displayed in our classroom! 

To introduce our new topic 'Burps, Bottoms and Bile', we started with our memorable experience - making a model digestive system! Using some biscuits, bananas and old tights, we 'digested' the food in our stomach and followed the process until it came out as waste! 

CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION

Keep your eyes peeled for a video link to our Christmas production.

We know its not the same, but we hope you enjoy it! 

We are thinking about the nativity this week. In RE, we are learning the Christmas story then we are showing our literacy skills by producing lots of fantastic writing! 

This week has been a Design and Technology week for us at school. We were presented with a problem: Mrs Short would like an educational, topic-related (because she misses school!) item that would help her new baby sleep. As a class, we mindmapped some solutions and thought we could make some Ancient Greek inspired mobiles! After carefully designing and planning, we created our own mobiles. We think they look fantastic! Hopefully, Mrs Short will love them too. 

Take a look at the delicious treats we made for the Christmas fayre! Sold for 50p each, they proved very popular! 

These photos show us learning how to use a scale bar to measure distances between Greek cities. 

Our science lessons this half term have been about electricity. Here you can see us testing materials to determine whether they are conductors or insulators. 

In music, we have been thinking of our voice as an instrument. We considered previously how emotion can be conveyed using our voices and listened to some war songs which captured different feelings. Today, we continued to work on singing with correct pitch but also included singing in a round. Here you can see us split into Y3s and Y4s to complete a round based on a Greek myth about Echo! 

We took maths outside! Continuing our learning about perimeter, we measured various parts of the playground and tricky leaf perimeters using string. We had to consider which unit of measurement was most appropriate for our answers. 

In English, we are going to be writing our own myths! We started by really reading and enjoying them all. We discussed our favourites and the best parts of each bit. Then, we chose our favourite myth to act out and perform. 

We had a slightly different day in maths today! When we arrived in class, we were told that Zeus wanted a zoo layout for all his mythical creatures. Unfortunately, every mythical creature had their own criteria for their enclosure! We had to consider length and perimeter carefully to make everyone happy. 

This term we have started thinking about map work! So far we have used atlases and four figure grid references. 

What a treat! We enjoyed watching 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' with a bag of tasty popcorn! 

These photos show us completing a 'knowledge dump' at the start of our latest history lesson. We had to write down everything we could remember about the royal monarchs we'd learned about so far: William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, King John and Queen Anne. As you can see, there is lots of information on our sheets! 

We have continued to practice our coding skills, trying to complete multi-step codes. We then had to 'debug' some existing code so that it completed the given task. Finally, Miss Evans set us a challenge to write the word 'HI' using code. But then she said..."Can you do it in one long piece of code?!" Take a look at Makenna's GIANT piece of code where she achieved this - well done! 

In PSHE this term we have been learning about Chiwa, a young girl in rural Malawi whose life is very different to ours. We learned about inequality and sterotypes that have a negative effect on her life. In our most recent lesson, we learned that Chiwa's family are sugar cane farmers and they are not paid a fair price. In these photos, you can see us looking at situations where we are deciding if it is an example of fair trade. We thought about what we could do to make the world a fairer place. 

In our history topic so far, we have learned about William the Conqueror, King John, King Henry VIII and now Queen Anne. She is important to remember as she was the first to create a union between England, Scotland and Wales to make the United Kingdom. Not everyone wanted this at the time! Take a look at our debate.  

In English, we have been practicing carefully punctuating direct speech. "I love it when you use synonyms for said!" exclaimed Miss Evans. 

In English, we first practiced expanded noun phrases to write descriptions. We wrote a setting description of Charlie Bucket's house and then a description about Charlie himself! Now, we have moved on to think about writing a diary entry about the day Charlie finds the elusive golden ticket! Take a look at our drama photos, where we acted out the main events. 

In Computing this half term, we are focusing on programming. At first, we practiced logging on using the tricky password with capital letters and an exclamation mark! Then, we've used the software 'Purple Mash' to start our coding. 

In our first ever maths lesson, the children were challenged to represent various numbers using playdough! The children were very inventive and used Diennes, place value charts and part-whole models. Well done, Year 4! 

To mark our new topic 'Scrumdiddlyumptious' we started with a royal banquet! This will help us feel just like the kings and queens we will learn about over this half term. 

Previous academic year 

Come on, England!! Fingers crossed for the match on Sunday. This is how we celebrated reaching the finals in school today. Below you can see a video of us Makaton signing, 'it's coming home!' 

This term in French we are thinking about the weather. To introduce the new vocabulary we played a matching game. 

In maths, we have been thinking about decimals. In this activity, we had to roll the dice to form a decimal number between 1 and 2. We had to then record it on a numberline. If we beat our pair to get 3 numbers in a row, we won! 

Take a look at our memorable experience day to kick start our new topic 'Allotments'! 

Well, what a glorious VE day we had! To celebrate the end of the war - the end of our topic - we had a celebration. We made decorations and flags; sampled all the food we tasted from the week; sang wartime songs; and played wartime games. Starships were especially impressive in the afternoon, where they demonstrated fantastic team spirit. 

Today, we prepared for our wartime street party by baking some tasty treats! Applying our DT skills, we made rock cakes and shortbreads. We had full responsibility in measuring, sieving, combining and adding ingredients - so let's hope they taste great! 

In Art, we have been looking at the work of artist Henry Moore, who depicted people sheltering in the London Underground during the Blitz. We explored using two media (charcoal on white paper and chalk on black paper), attempting to capture the same texture and tone as in his artwork. 

As part of our World War II topic, we have been studying world maps with specific consideration to the countries involved. We also thought about the movement of people after the war - for example refugees and those returning from prison camps - and therefore the interconnectivity between different countries. 

In science, we completed an 'escape room'. In the scenario, we were on a school trip to a wind turbine then managed to get stuck inside! We had to solve the electricity based clues to find the code to escape. This had a variety of topics and a great way to sum up all our electricity knowledge. 

Below you can see some recent Geography/History work. We identified on a map of Europe (from 1940s) which countries were axis, allied or neutral during WW2. We then discussed why Germany invaded the countries it did and the geographical significance of these actions. Applying the same reasoning, we discussed which countries Japan could have invaded. 

For the last two weeks, we have been focusing on discussion texts in English. We started by looking at key features of a discussion text, annotating with a partner. We then worked together to create a discussion on 'should children be evacuated?' The following week we used the skills we'd learnt to write another discussion more independently: 'should children wear school uniform?' It was a heated debate! 

In music, we have been developing our appreciation of music found during World War II. We've used the musical terminology we've learnt earlier in the year to discuss. Within this, we particularly focused on identifying what instrument was being played. Also, we learned C Jam Blues on the glockenspiels. 

This week in maths we have focused on angles. As part of this, we went outside to follow instructions on various turns (e.g. 90 degrees clockwise, 360 degrees anticlockwise etc). Later in the week, we practiced measuring angles with protractors. We worked in partners on a large sheet of angles then had to find the angles that were scattered around the class like a treasure hunt! 

In French, we have been revising clothing and colours. As the French language differs to English, we were focusing today on matching the adjective to the noun—is it masculine, feminine, singular or plural? The answers to each of these questions change the way the adjective is written!

Take a look of our photos exploring how to create a simple circuit. We were challenged to also draw this scientifically using recognised symbols. 

Last week, we looked at Churchill's speech announcing the end of war in Europe. We tried to use this idea to write our own speeches to celebrate the end of the COVID pandemic. These videos are what we made (apologies for the poor sound quality). Transcripts of our speeches are also available in our theme books. 

In maths, we have been thinking about decimals. We used base 10 to represent decimals (wholes, tenths, hundreths and thousandths). 

To kick-start our Science topic of 'Electricity', we worked in groups to mind map everything we could remember about it. We look forward to being able to add more information as we learn! 

Since returning to school, we have been using the book 'Here We Are' by Oliver Jeffers to reflect on our lockdown experience. We've done a number of activities around this including: creating our own class poem; drawing our favourite people and things; writing a persuasive letter to a MP to continue the positive gains during lockdown. Please enjoy our display of our work. Below you can also see the children writing paragraphs about people who inspired them over lockdown. 

On Thursday, we had belated World Book Day celebrations. We spent the day doing activities to celebrate reading, including some tricky maths to solve a costume contest mystery! 

Our fantastic home learning !

As well as making models, we have written informative leaflets about Anderson shelters. We imagined that we were government officials writing at the time of WWII, encouraging people to buy and construct shelters. Take a look at a few examples below. 

Name
 Freya N Anderson Shelter Leaflet.docxDownload
 Rose_andersonshelterinformationleaflet.docxDownload
 tobi leaflet.docxDownload
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Some fantastic examples of the Anderson Shelters we have made at home, including an edible version by Freya! 

As part of our new topic 'A Child's War', we imagined we were evacuees writing a letter back home. Here you can see some very thoughtful examples, considering how it must have felt to be an evacuee. Can you spot the historical clues within the writing too?

Thanks to Willow, Reanna, Kacey, Ellen, Ben, Tobi, Zach and Rose whose work is displayed below. Please click to enlarge. 

School learners visited Albrighton's local nature reserve. They made a lasting impact on the community here by helping to plant trees. Also, they completed an orienteering activity. It looked like great fun with beautiful weather! 

We had to put our term's hard work and knowledge to the test during our 'Innovate' week. Please watch the video to see some examples of our egg-cellent egg drop rides. 

Here are some lovely examples of our PSHE work, illustrating a chosen human right. 

These are two lovely examples of the handwriting/PSHE task from last week during Children's Mental Health Week. The children had to consider good things that were happening now. Ellen and Freya also chose to colour in the border for a little mindfulness practice. Please click on the photographs to enlarge.

It's not just the home learners working hard - they are in school too! Take a look at the school learners' favourite parts of their little boat stories. 

Wow! After two weeks of hard work, our little boat stories are really quite fantastic. I'm so proud of the hard work you've put into writing these stories. For the stories with red writing on, you can see where the children have 'think pinked' their work and edited it. Please click on the images below to enlarge. Well done all Starships, but especially the home learners who have their work displayed here: Zach, Freya N, Freya R, Reanna, Tobi, Rose, Phoebe, Kacey, Ben and Ellen. 

It's Children's Mental Health week! As part of this, our class call we shared something that was special to us. This varied from pets, teddies, medals and tiny dancers shoes! This fit with our work reflecting on the good things happening now, despite these strange circumstances.

Within this half term, our science work has been focused around forces. We've completed lots of exciting experiments. However, possibly the biggest challenge was to create our own Rube Goldberg inspired machine. We had to consider which forces were at play with our objects. Take a look at fantastic examples from Reanna, Ellen and Matthew. 

In PSHE, we have been thinking about rules and responsibilities. In this lesson, we considered our responsibility towards the planet. We made anti-littering posters to try and promote this. 

Here are some examples of flip/flick books made by school learners. This terms art has focused on how to capture movement, fitting with our 'Scream Machine' topic. 

Thank you to the Starships that finished all their two weeks of hard work by writing their newspaper report in best. Here you can see some fantastic examples from Ben, Ellen, Rose, Tobi and Poppie. 

Scroll through the document below to see some beautiful interpretations of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'. Notice the different ways movement have been captured! Fantastic!

I'm so proud of you all, Starships - look how much fantastic work I received this week! Keep up all the hard work.

Below you will find work completed before Christmas

Take a look at our Frida Kahlo - a Mexican painter who is famous for her self-portraits - inspired artwork! We started with greyscale photos of ourselves as a base, then worked in media of colouring pens to add to them. Some of us also used tissue paper to create flowers. We hoped to recreate the same style as Kahlo's work. 

In upper KS2, we have so much grammar vocabulary we have to remember. This fun activity was a way to try and remember the different meanings of each. Take a look! 

Please take a look at our Geography work from this term! We have looked at latitude and longitude, marked key locations on the map and explored Mexico in more depth. 

In maths, we are now thinking about fractions. We started by sorting fractions and non-fractions, asking ourselves: what makes a fraction anyway? Since then, we have looked at how different fractions can be represented. We have worked on finding equivalent fractions and will soon move onto ordering and comparing fractions (including fractions larger than 1). 

In Music, we were inspired by an incredible body percussion performance. We created our own 4 beat rhythm grids with a variety of sounds then performed them to the class. We later chose one rhythm grid and tried to perform whole class in canon (like on the first performance we watched!). Take a look at our attempt below. 

In English, we have been writing epilogues to our class reader, 'Pig Heart Boy'. Due to Miss Evans's limited IT skills, unfortunately the clips couldn't be combined as planned. Here are two examples of our favourite parts of our epilogues, in the form of a video diary. 

These are our final write ups of our non-chronological reports. They are all about the heart and circulatory system, which we have been also learning about in science. 

This is what we have been getting up to in Maths so far. We've learned about place value, addition and subtraction. Next week we'll be moving on to rounding, multi-step problems then multiplication. 

Take a look at our French greeting Mexican wave! Some of us also demonstrated our drama skills with a very dramatic greeting! Bonjour!

Check out the photos from our pig heart dissection. What a fantastic experience!