Last week, Reception visited the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, finding out about some of the endangered animals.

The weather this week tried its hardest to disrupt our PE lesson on Wednesday afternoon, but the use of the Hall enabled us to participate in some fun team building/strategy activities.

We have been feeding The Shush (our creature who lives under the carpet) some delicious words and phrases!

It is the New Year and Year 6 are back ready for the new term!

This week we have used money to practise buying items from a ‘shop’. Maybe the children could practise counting up the loose change at home.

Reception have been enjoying exploring seasonal pumpkins. One morning, we discovered some pumpkins, dots and a picture of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. We read a story about how she loves dots and has created lots of famous art work using dots!

This term in Year 6 we are looking in fractions. We started the week by re-visiting our previous learning of common factors.

This week we have been learning about the Earth and the solar system, working hard on building understanding and resilience in our times tables work through our Maths Sense programme, and in our Guided Reading work, we have reached an exciting chapter in our class book, Thief by Malorie Blackman!

Last week, in Ellen MacArthur, we wrote poems for our Harvest festival.

Tanni-Grey Thompson class have shown all of our school values of Love, Courage and Friendship since they have started in Year 2.

We’ve settled in to Year 1, exploring new learning and having fun.

Reception have had a fantastic start to the new academic year! The children have settled in quickly and have been busy making new friends and exploring their new classroom.

Year 3 have been deepening their understanding of fractions by using concrete resources.

Ellen MacArthur class proved themselves to be potential members for MI5 to consider!

Whilst the weather has been pretty grim, it hasn’t deterred or affected our attitude to learning.

Over this half-term Year 6 have been given many opportunities to try something new.

This week Ellen MacArthur celebrated the Feast of St Francis Day on October 4th.

Tim Peake have been showing an excellent understanding of 3 digit numbers and have been representing them in different ways.

What a fun start we’ve had to Year 1, Getting ready to learn and having lots of fun.

We've had a crocodile infestation in our car and vehicle factory, to go alongside the lava flow which struck our playground 😲

In Mary Ellis, we have been starting our new topics for this term.

Mary Ellis have had a busy week of learning this week and they were keen to share what they’ve been up to.

What a half term it has been. I personally can't believe it has already been 7 weeks since those first nervous steps were taken into school by our amazing new Beatrix Potter Class.

This week we have been finding out about what Britain was like before Roman Britain. Did you know that in the Iron Age the Celts lived in round houses. These were made from mud and straw.

Ellen MacArthur have had a very busy week from our Library session on Monday morning until Tag Rugby on Friday afternoon!

This week Malala have been busy completing lots of maths challenges, working in groups we had to prove that 8 X 8 is the same as 4 X 16.

We went to Little Canada in Wootton for an amazing 3-day residential trip.

An incredibly busy but exciting time, and that’s before we even mention the small matter of a football game next Tuesday – did someone say it’s coming home?

Stephen Hawking Class has had a colourful ‘welcome back’ to the Summer Term as children have been greeted by these beautiful blossoms outside our classroom.

In English, the children have learnt The Papaya that Spoke story off by heart and are using it to create and write their very own versions.

Tim Peake have had a busy few weeks in class.

Ellen MacArthur have had another busy and exciting week.

We hope you enjoy our Nativity, the children really enjoyed taking part in what was a different to normal performance.

Tanni Grey-Thompson class have excelled themselves during our “Chance to Shine” week. The children should be super proud of themselves and the resilience they have shown. We began the week with our mental health lesson from Miss Crane exploring ways to relax. In music the children have continued to practise their glockenspiel skills learning songs for Zootime. Well done to Tanni Grey-Thompson as we achieved our “St Francis” letters for attendance and will shortly be deciding on our reward.

Look at our amazing story boxes of The Three Little Pigs:

What a busy half term we have had!!! Beatrix Potter Class started the new year learning about the Tiger Who Came To Tea story. We made tiger masks, retold the story and learnt about tigers during our trip to the Isle of Wight Zoo. We also learnt about the Chinese New Year and we finished the half term with a ‘Science Day’. Police Office Peter also came to talk to us about keeping safe. Look below for our super learning …

This week, we have been learning about equivalent fractions and how to compare fractions that have different denominators. Our multiplication and divisions facts have helped hugely with this and are now so sharp, that we have some members of our class who can answer 20 questions quicker than Usain Bolt can run 100m (9.58 seconds)!!

This week in Sir David Attenborough Class, we have been inspired by the great man himself to take a closer look at insect life on earth... but from a fictional point of view.

Over the last two weeks we have looked at Aboriginal Art. So far we’ve learnt that Aboriginal Art is centred on storytelling, using symbols and icons. Jack said “Aborigines first settled in Australia and communicated through these symbols and icons.” “They used sticks and the tips of their fingers to create the symbols,” added Lewis. We had a go at creating our own symbols and icons for this in our everyday life. Here are a few examples…

We have story mapped ‘The Unknown Forest’ in English and looked at fractions in both Maths and Geography.

In Tanni Grey-Thompson class we have been studying the Great Fire of London. We have made Tudor houses to show the type of houses that were burnt in 1666. In Maths we have been looking at fractions and can now find a half and a quarter of a shape and an amount. We have been extremely busy practising for Hey Ewe which you can come and watch next Tuesday at 9.30. We look forward to seeing you there.

The whole of Year 5 and 6 enjoyed a thoroughly informative and thought provoking trip to the D-Day museum last week. Myself, and the other teachers were very impressed with how the children conducted themselves during the Home Front workshop and they were a credit to the academy.

‘Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye Cheerio, here I go, on my way.’ By the time this newsletter is published, Sir David Attenborough class will have returned from their visit to the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth. I am sure that we will have brought back lots of new information to enhance our learning in history. How lucky were we to have a private sailing to the mainland.

I was immensely proud of Hawking Class during our Speech Day yesterday. They were asked to persuade people about what era in which it was better to live – World War 2 or today. First of all the students had great discussions about the positives and negatives of each of these times – they showed fantastic maturity in their debates and came up with very insightful ideas, showing an impressive understanding of their learning of history, and of their knowledge of current affairs! The pupils then wrote their speeches, and I was delighted to see that they were employing their writing targets into this independent work. In the afternoon, we were treated to hearing their speeches. I know that many adults would find it nerve-wracking to speak in front of 25 of their peers, so they must congratulate themselves on the courage that they displayed – they did a fantastic job!

St Francis Academy, Ventnor. Blog update from Tanni Grey-Thompson class

The St Francis Academy Wren class half term update, May 2019

Hi everyone, It has been my pleasure this week to have been part of Year 6 SATs week at St Francis. Yet again the Year 6 children have been super stars, in the way they have participated in all aspects of what can be a ‘testing’ week in more ways than one. Their behaviour has been a credit to them and their effort and attitude deserves the highest praise. The children have worked hard all year to prepare themselves and now need time to chill-out with some hard earned R&R! (Rest and Relaxation). On behalf of St Francis, I would like to take this opportunity to firstly thank all of the dedicated staff, who arrived early each morning, to make each ‘SATs breakfast’ such a success. In particular I would especially like to thank Miss Richardson for her conscientious work in ensuring the highest standards of Hygiene were maintained in the kitchen, Mrs Sparrow who has no equal when buttering bread at supersonic speed, Mrs Bone and Mrs Rooney who seemed to be everywhere when needed, and of course Mrs Sharp who provide a range of breakfast goodies, helping to give all the children the best start to the day. I would also like to all of you parents, guardians and relatives because your help in preparing and supporting the children throughout the year and by ensuring that they were in school on time every day, has been vital towards the children’s success this week – thank you all! Finally, even though SATs is over, Year 6 isn’t and there are a lot more exciting experiences to come this year. Look out for more information in the school newsletter and let’s all continue to ensure that your child continues to experience a great year. We are still rocking at St Francis – Booyakasha … Best wishes, The Year 6 Team

This afternoon, Year 2 welcomed Incredible Eggs to St Francis. We're very excited to announce that we're expecting...8 little chicks! We have two varieties of egg, Bluebell and Black Rock. At the moment the eggs are sat comfortably inside the incubator, at 37.5°C. Over the next few days, the little chicks will start to hatch, cracking the eggs with their egg tooth, and then they will be moved into the brooding cage. The children are very excited and can't wait to calmly welcome the new additions to our classes.

I am continuing to be immensely proud of the brilliant students in Heron Class. This week, they have been extremely busy with their NFER tests for Grammar and Punctuation, Reading and Maths. They have risen to the challenge admirably and have shown great resilience and maturity in doing so. I am also very pleased with the progress that they have made since our last set of tests in October - truly a testament to the hard work and perseverance that they demonstrate each week.

We have been learning about Jack and the Beanstalk

This year so far has been an exciting adventure in Kites Class. We have been fortunate to eventually welcome a new member, Madison, I say eventually because she was supposed to arrive at the beginning of September but she didn’t arrive until the end of the month! We had almost given up but it was worth the wait. In the mornings, as we are a mixed class of Year 5 and Year 6 children, we go our separate ways for our English and Mathematics lessons. Some of our Year 5 pupils are enjoying some exciting work with Mr Clark; the others with some of our Year 6 pupils are enjoying their work with Mrs Ridett. The rest of our Year 6 pupils are joined by the majority of other Year 6 pupils from Kestrels and Buzzards and we are working hard to meet the challenging targets for this year – so bring it on! As this year has progressed we in Kites have taken part in many extracurricular activities. Some of us have learnt to ride a bike (some of us knew how to already but we can do it better now!). Our Year 6 children had an exciting day at UKSA learning to sail. It will be a long time before many of us will forget the sight of Mrs Rann and Mrs Sparrow (wearing their sporty wet-suits) sailing-off majestically into the Solent, before being rounded-up by the rescue boats! We have also engaged in Academy events such as the Harvest Festival for parents and we are looking for- ward to celebrating the forthcoming festive season this year. All in all it has been a great start to the year.

This week we finished the truly excellent and spectacular “Beetle Boy,” by M.G Leonard and we have started our next class text, the fabulously titled “Wed Wabbit.” We have studied how authors bring characters to life through dialogue and description, and we are now able to do the same in our own writing. In Maths, we have been looking at factors, multiples and prime numbers. We’ve played games, completed investigations and had a lot of fun doing them. Our P.E lessons have been really enjoyable – we’ve been incorporating ball mastery skills with gymnastics to create some really cool routines. Below are some of the top books around at the moment that we are hoping we might unwrap on Christmas day…

Buzzards have been really busy this week as always. In guided reading they have been looking at how authors use figurative language to create atmosphere in texts such as the Iron Man and Kensuke's Kingdom. They are also learning to precis text.

Heron Class have been amazing in their learning this week. I have noticed a wonderful sense of pride in their work and a positive attitude from all children. In English, the children have enjoyed writing and editing their first drafts for information leaflets about imaginary animals, whilst in maths they have been honing their number skills when adding numbers.

In Egret class this week the children have been up to their wrists in dough, learning how to make bread. As part of their Design Technology and Science studies they have discovered how to combine ingredients which will react with each other (such as yeast and warm water), why flour is sifted to add air and how that can make a smoother dough. The children were able to identify how the bread recipe needed solids, liquid and gases to combine effectively.

Goldfinch Class have been programming BeeBots in ICT and making WANTED posters for the Evil Peas from our Supertato story in English. They have explored lots of descriptive language and shown empathetic inferences towards the vegetables who were captured and trapped.

It has been a very exciting week in Chaffinch class. On Wednesday The Evil Pea from Supertato had been very mean to the vegetables! Look out for the interesting stories we will write about their adventures. In Maths we have been learning about 3D shapes. We have been making them using polydron and from nets.

We’ve had such a busy week. We performed in front of two audiences on Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon. We’ve also been busy making calendars and Christmas cards. We had a lovely afternoon with Wren class, as we invited parents to come and join us in a Christmas Decoration afternoon. We made Father Christmas lists, Angels, Beaded Wreaths, Wooden Baubles, Christmas Trees with stickers, Stencilling pictures and lots more! The children continue to work hard but have lots of fun! We will end our term off with a class party, full of party games!

Cormorant have been investigating how different items react when frozen and created a science experiment placing different liquids (such as water, oil, toothpaste, chocolate sauce, shampoo, orange juice, salt water, tomato sauce) into a mould and placed it into the freezer. The results were that most of the liquids froze apart from the oil, toothpaste and chocolate sauce, but we think the sauce may have if it was left in the freezer for longer. We used a lot of what we knew already to predict what may happen; we knew salt was used in icy weather, we knew you have oil in a car and that the car wouldn't work if the oil froze in cold weather, and we knew orange juice and water froze as we eat ice pops! We were surprised that the shampoo froze and the toothpaste didn't! Next we would like to investigate what happens to things when they are heated - the opposite to what we have learnt!