Welcome to Hummingbird Class

We hope you enjoy looking at what we have been doing and finding out about what we have learnt. 

Week 2

Whilst the others have been at Flatford, we have been very busy too. Look on the Year group page to see what we have been up to. 

Remember to check out the Flatford blog in the Residential section to see what everyone has been doing. 

Summer Term

Week 1

Even though we only had 4 days at school this week, they have been 4 very busy days! The children have had an excellent start back to Summer Term in Year 5 and we are looking forward to all of our new topics. However, something that tops it all is the fact next week is Flatford!!! There is lots of excited chatter about Flatford and all the activities we will be doing there. 

This week we have also had an action-packed week. We began our Typography topic in Art, creating different letters and words from different shaped pieces of paper. In Science, we have dissected flowers, labelling the different parts and discussing how some plants reproduce sexually whilst others reproduce asexually, making little clones of themselves. We also looked at the results of our 'Rusting' Science experiment (which was set up a week before half term), but we thought we wouldn't disgust you with the pictures of what steel wool placed in milk, oil, pva glue, ketchup, salt water, paint, vinegar and more looked like. We can assure you though, it did not smell nice! We finished the week off by inviting Year 4 to our classes and sharing our Portal Stories with them. We were very proud of our stories and the Year 4s all said how amazing the stories were. 

Week 6

We have had a very busy week. We enjoyed making kites and are looking forward to flying them. We set up an experiment to investigate rusting in Science. We visited the church for an Easter service. We also worked in pairs and threes to solve some perimeter and area word problems and in English we used Google slides to present the Nonets (9 line poem with syllable patterns) we had written in English. 

Week 5

Today, we took part in National Skipping Day. The children had the chance to spend time outside this morning to practise their skipping. As a school, we had many skipping ropes for the children to use. It was fantastic that so many children brought in their own skipping rope as well! We were amazed at the level of skill some children had - crossed arms, double jumps, double loops and some skipping 3-4 at a time with a long rope! Find more photos of us on the Year Group page.

Week 4

In Maths this week we had fun getting active using the outdoor classroom! Twenty problem solving questions were scattered around the field. We worked in pairs or small groups to solve the questions and took it in turns to take on different roles e.g. reading the question, choosing the appropriate method to solve the question, double checking answers etc. The Year 5 teachers were so impressed with our enthusiasm, behaviour and resilience! We cannot wait to do it again.

Week 4

This week, we had a visit from Safer Essex Roads Partnerships (see Year Group page for photos). They taught us of the importance of being safe when using the roads or paths and reminded us of things that WE should do to keep ourselves safe. After a very informative assembly, we went outside of the school gates and learnt how to spot potential dangers when crossing the roads. 
If you would like more advice on using the roads safely, please visit: Safer Essex Roads Partnership

Spring Term 2025

WEEK 3

This week, we have been working hard writing our portal stories. We are looking forward to reading them to Year 4 once they are completed. We have also been exploring reversible and irreversible changes in Science. We also created posters about Adaptation and Change for British Science Week. We ended the week with an inter-house dodgeball competition. Have a look on the Year group page for some action shots. 

WEEK 2

We have had a very busy week. On Monday, we tested our lunar buggies on different terrains. Have a look on the Year group page for the photos. Thank you to all the adults who came in. 

As part of Book Week, we created art work using different media. We drew a setting from a book. 

We have also been over to Year 6 and listened to their ghost stories. 

Spring 2 - Week 1

We had great fun this week when Engineering for Kids came in to visit us for a Lego Robotics session. The children worked in pairs or threes to make a snow vehicle to rescue the polar bears. They used Scratch Icons to code the vehicle to move forwards, backwards, rotate and to make sounds. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning how to code effectively. Thank you Engineering for Kids! 

WEEK 6

In Magic Maths, we played a game using our times table facts. In Geography, we create a poster about a landmark in North America. In Art, we used ink to create landscape pictures. 

Week 5

In PE, we have been creating dances. We explored different movements and performed them to each other. 

In Science, we investigated how to separate different materials. 

WEEK 4

We went to Maisie's Garden and used charcoal to create our art work this week. Back in class, some of us added water to blend the charcoal. 

WEEK 3

As part of our Art unit, we went out into the local area and sketched what we saw. Back in class, we added pen and water colour paints to our sketches. 

WEEK 2

WEEK 1

In Art, we started our new topic and we looked at two artists. One artist explores landscapes and one likes sketching cityscapes. 

Well done Hummingbirds for an amazing Autumn Term! All the adults are very proud of what you have achieved this term and are excited to see what 2025 brings. 

We hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a Happy New Year. Stay safe and see you in 2025!

Take a look at our year group page to see some pictures of our Christmas Event.

Design and Technology

We worked in groups to make a Lunar buggy. We are looking forward to testing them in January. We will let you know how they go!

PE

In Gym, we explored different balances and worked with a partner to perform a sequence. We used matching and mirroring to make our sequences more interesting. 

Maths 

We worked with a partner to solve a range of questions about fractions. We talked about the strategies we would use to solve them. 

Viking Day 2024

We had great fun during our Viking Day. We hope you enjoy looking at the photos. There are more on the Year group section too. 

Autumn 2

We have had a busy week back in Hummingbird class. Calculating equivalent fractions, reading and performing the narrative poem 'Jack and the Dragon', solving clues in Science about forces and learning about King Alfred the Great in History. In RE, we have talked about what the Bible says about God and the words used for him. 

Art

Our finished polar bears!

English

We have been looking at narrative poetry. We read and discussed the poem 'The Walrus and the Carpenter' by Lewis Carroll. We drew a comic strip for the main parts of the poem. 

English

We worked in pairs or threes to write and present a speech. We chose topics which we felt strongly about. For example, protecting animals, not dropping litter and why physical activity is important. 

Science

As part of our unit on forces, we investigated friction. We used Newton meters to see how much friction there was on different surfaces.  

We shared our ghost stories with a Year 6 class. We all felt very proud of our stories. 

Art

This week, we have been continuing our unit and made polar bears. We used newspaper pebbles, twists and sausages to make the basic structure. We then covered them with Modroc. Look out for the final pieces next week and at the Parent Consultation evenings. 

English

We have been learning about how to write and present a speech. We chose a topic, such as 'The Importance of Protecting Endangered Animals' or 'Recycling'. We have been working with a partner or in groups of three to write our speech. We will be presenting them next week. 

Take One Piece and Parent Event

We looked at the work of Franz Marc and created our own pieces. We thought of animals and colours which represent our personalities and used tissue paper and pastels for our pieces. Thank you to all the adults who came in to help. 

PSHE 

We talked about why we have rules and the different types of rules we might have. We worked in pairs and threes to make up a game and decide what rules we would need to follow. 

For Science, we investigated how water resistance acts on different objects. We made shapes using play dough and dropped them into the water. We timed how long it took to drop to the bottom. To make it a fair test, we measured each ball of play dough. 

Art Day

On Monday, we worked with Year 2 to make 3D Colour Monsters. We used paper pebbles to create the 3D parts. Toucan and Meerkat class added colour tissue paper and the details. 

History

In History, we are learning about the Anglo-Saxons. We talked about the different aspects of the social structure. We ordered each one and added facts. 

Art - Exploring art within global issues

We started our new unit and we talked about how artists use their artwork to raise awareness and talk about global issues. We discussed the decline in polar bears and changes in the Arctic. We sketched the polar bears. We also talked about the artist Faith Bebbington. We created visual notes about her work. We especially liked the large polar bear she made with plastic bottles.