🌟 Year 5 Take Over Day – A Brilliant Morning! 🌟

We had a wonderful experience during Take Over Day, when two fantastic Year 5 pupils took on the roles of teacher and teaching assistant in our Reading into Writing lesson.

Our Year 5 teacher confidently introduced a WAGOLL for a balanced argument, guiding the children to identify key features within the text. The class were fully engaged and showed great understanding as they picked out important elements together.

With great teamwork, the Year 5 teaching assistant supported throughout, helping the lesson run smoothly and ensuring everyone stayed on track.

The lesson continued with an engaging guided reading session focusing on prosody, using “Devon Cream Tea”. The “I say, you say” approach encouraged expressive reading, and the classroom was filled with enthusiastic voices.

It was a fabulous morning, and the children thoroughly enjoyed having them lead the class.

A huge thank you to our Year 5 teacher and teaching assistant—you were brilliant! 👏

Year 4 Reading into Writing: Exploring Formal Letters

This week in our Reading into Writing journey, Year 4 pupils began learning about how to write a formal letter. This was our immersion lesson, where children explored a range of example texts to understand the key features of this writing genre.

Pupils carefully read different formal letters and worked with partners to identify what makes them effective. They discussed important features such as a clear structure, polite and formal language, addresses, and the use of paragraphs. Children also compared examples, talking about both effective and less effective elements, which helped deepen their understanding of purpose and audience.

Through these discussions, pupils developed their ability to explain their ideas clearly and learn from one another in a supportive way. This collaborative approach encouraged thoughtful conversation and helped build confidence in recognising what successful writing looks like.

Over the coming lessons, pupils will use this knowledge to plan, draft, and write their own formal letters, applying the features they have identified. We are looking forward to seeing their writing develop as they take on the role of a formal writer!

Our Year 1 children had a wonderful time welcoming some very special visitors this week—our fantastic Year 5 pupils! The older children “took over” the classroom and led some brilliant learning activities.

They helped us practise when to use capital letters and full stops, and supported us in correcting sentences that had mistakes in them. The Year 5s were kind, patient, and great teachers!

We also loved having their help during our continuous provision time, and they did a fantastic job supporting us with our phonics learning too.

It was a fun and inspiring experience for everyone involved—well done to both Year 1 and Year 5!

This week, the children explored the story The Three Little Pigs. We read the story together and focused on developing oracy skills by learning and using new vocabulary from the text. The children practised saying sentences using these new words, showing growing confidence in speaking.

At the storytelling table, the children used puppets to retell the story, demonstrating their understanding of the sequence of events and characters.

In the creative area, the children painted a pig and created their own paper plate pigs using collage techniques. They independently selected and attached different materials, building on their fine motor skills and creativity.

In writing, the children wrote simple sentences about the story, using their phonics knowledge and showed increasing confidence in applying their phonetic skills in meaningful contexts.

Year 4 Art & Design: Storytelling Through Drawing – Final Artwork

To complete our Storytelling Through Drawing art journey, Year 4 pupils created a thoughtful and imaginative final piece inspired by poetry. Pupils began by experimenting with soft sketching pencils in their sketchbooks, practising how to use light and dark tones to create atmosphere, detail, and expression.

The children then listened carefully to readings of the poem Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, discussing the vivid language and unusual imagery used by the poet. Pupils shared their interpretations of the poem and talked about how words can inspire powerful visual ideas, even when meanings are unclear or open to imagination.

Using this inspiration, pupils selected their favourite part of the poem and created a detailed pencil illustration to show the story they imagined. They focused on line, shading, and composition to communicate mood and narrative, drawing on techniques explored earlier in the unit and inspired by artists such as Shaun Tan and Laura Carlin.

The final artworks show fantastic creativity and individuality, with each drawing telling its own story. Year 4 should be incredibly proud of how they used drawing as a tool for storytelling.

Year 4 Reading into Writing: Exploring Narratives with a Dilemma

In our Reading into Writing lessons this half term, Year 4 pupils have been on an exciting learning journey exploring narratives with a dilemma. The children have read and discussed a range of carefully chosen texts, identifying key genre features such as build‑up, tension, character choices, and moments of decision. These discussions have helped pupils understand how authors engage readers and develop meaningful storylines.

To inspire our own writing, pupils watched the Disney short film Paperman, using it as a rich visual stimulus. They explored how the film creates emotion, tension, and a clear dilemma without dialogue, and discussed how these techniques could be translated into written storytelling.

Pupils then observed the class teacher model the opening of the story, focusing on setting, character introduction, and mood. Working collaboratively, the children wrote the middle section together, developing the dilemma and building suspense. This shared approach supported confidence and encouraged thoughtful discussion about vocabulary and sentence choices.

Next, pupils will independently plan, draft, and write a polished version of the story’s climax, applying everything they have learned to create a powerful and engaging ending. We are looking forward to seeing their ideas come to life!

Year 5 were delighted to welcome Nathan Parker, a Blackpool-based performance poet, author and spoken word artist, into school. Nathan, who is proud of his northern roots, shared his journey from growing up in Blackpool to becoming a successful writer and performer, explaining how his experiences, challenges and surroundings have shaped his work. 12

During the session, Nathan spoke openly about his upbringing and how he discovered a love for writing, using poetry as a way to express real-life thoughts and emotions. He performed some of his own poems, showing the children how spoken word poetry brings writing to life through rhythm, voice and performance. 3

A key part of his visit was challenging the children’s ideas about what a poet ‘should’ look like. Nathan encouraged them to think beyond stereotypes and introduced them to a wider world of poets, including influential voices such as Maya Angelou and Benjamin Zephaniah, helping pupils see that poetry comes from many different backgrounds, styles and experiences.

The session was highly interactive, with Nathan leading fun and engaging writing activities that inspired creativity and confidence. The highlight of the visit was a whole-class collaborative poem, where every child contributed their own ideas and lines. Guided by Nathan, the class worked together to shape their thoughts into a powerful shared piece of writing, celebrating their voices and imagination. 4

Nathan’s energy, honesty and relatable approach made a lasting impact on the children, leaving them inspired to continue writing and to see themselves as poets in their own right.

Year 5 pupils have been developing their application letter writing skills while working collaboratively to create a letter applying for the role of a veterinarian. Through discussion and shared ideas, the children explored the responsibilities of the role, the key skills and qualities required, and how these should be presented effectively.

 

The class looked at a video of a real vet talk about their day as a vet!

 

The pupils also revisited and applied the key features of a formal letter, including layout, persuasive language, and appropriate tone, building on prior learning to produce a well-structured and purposeful piece of writing.

This week in Year One, we are excited to share that our latest story focus is Zog! The children have thoroughly enjoyed diving into this much-loved story.

Today, we worked together to sequence the key events in the story, helping the children build their understanding of how the story unfolds. We also discussed the main characters, explored where the story is set, and talked about what the story is all about. There were lots of great ideas and thoughtful contributions during our discussions.

Over the next few weeks, we will continue to explore Zog through a range of engaging activities. The children will be practicing important skills such as retelling the story, creating speech for the characters, and describing the main characters in more detail.

We’re looking forward to seeing the children’s confidence and creativity grow as we continue working with this wonderful story!

In our Reading into Writing lesson, linked to our GPS focus and non‑chronological report genre, we explored the purpose and use of sub‑headings. Pupils took part in a carousel of activities designed to deepen their understanding. They arranged a non‑chronological report using the correct sub‑headings, added appropriate sub‑headings to an existing report, and matched sentences to the correct sub‑headings. Two further table activities focused on creating effective sub‑headings for given topics, using examples based on Our School and Space. This supported pupils in recognising how sub‑headings help organise information and guide the reader.

This week in Year 4, pupils took part in a focused oracy lesson, using strategies from the Voice 21 framework to help them become more confident and effective speakers. The lesson emphasised the importance of listening carefully, speaking clearly, and building on the ideas of others.

Pupils practised key oracy skills such as turn‑taking, speaking in full sentences, and using sentence stems to structure their responses. They worked collaboratively in pairs and small groups, learning how to respectfully agree or disagree and how to explain their thinking in a clear and thoughtful way. A strong focus was placed on body language, eye contact, and vocal clarity to help pupils communicate with confidence.

The children showed great enthusiasm and resilience, especially when presenting their ideas aloud to the class. These oracy strategies support learning across the curriculum and help pupils develop essential life skills, including confidence, respect, and teamwork.

Year 4 are becoming increasingly confident communicators, and it was wonderful to see them using their voices thoughtfully and positively during the lesson.

As part of our Reading into Writing journey, we focused on the Immersion in Reading phase using the genre of non‑chronological reports. We previously explored a WAGOLL to identify and discuss the key features of this text type. Today, we examined a different non‑chronological report and used Post‑it notes to identify its features. We discussed how many features can be recognised without reading the text in full, such as the title, subheadings, images with captions or labelled diagrams, paragraphs and fact boxes. We then skimmed and scanned the text to identify technical vocabulary related to the specific subject of the report. Finally, we cut out the features and organised them onto a sheet to deepen our understanding of how non‑chronological reports are structured.

Year 5 have finished their hot write of a cinquain poem, choosing to write about either cats or Boundary Primary School. Pupils applied the features of a cinquain poem carefully, selecting precise vocabulary and focusing on structure and word choice. The completed pieces showcase their creativity and improving confidence as independent writers.

This half term in Year One, we have begun reading How to Catch a Star. The children have already shown great enjoyment and enthusiasm for the story.

So far, we have been retelling the story in our storytelling corner, using props and role play to help bring it to life. We have also been sequencing the story by matching sentences to the correct parts, helping the children to develop their understanding of beginning, middle and end. The children have enjoyed retelling the story in their own words, sharing their ideas and interpretations with confidence.

We are looking forward to continuing our learning and exploring the story further over the coming weeks.

As part of their work on cinquain poetry, Year 5 brought maths to life today! Working in teams, the children planned poems about mathematics, with some exploring maths as a whole and others diving into topics like BIDMAS. It was wonderful to see such creativity, collaboration, and confident use of mathematical language.