The adults in Excalibur Class are:
Mrs Trusson - Class Teacher Monday-Wednesday
Mrs Russo - Class Teacher Thursday-Friday
Mrs Elsworth - TA Monday - Wednesday
Mrs Feierabend - HLTA Wednesday- Friday

 

Sports Day

We had a fantastic morning of sports to end our school year.  Like previous years, we started with the carouselof activities, which included the obstacle course, tug of war, egg and spoon race, water relay and javelin.  

We then went to relay races which the parents and teachers also got involved with.

All photos with Excalibur class participating in Sports Day can be viewed below.

We the Curious

The Year 4 and Year 5 pupils had an amazing trip to We the Curious in Bristol! There were so many exciting, hands-on exhibits to explore and interact with, and everyone loved discovering something new. The Earth, Sun and Moon workshop was fantastic and helped to bring our learning to life, reinforcing everything we have been learning about how day and night occur, the planets in our Solar System, and the phases of the Moon. We finished our visit with an unforgettable trip to the planetarium, where we enjoyed an incredible 3D journey through the Solar System, surrounded by planets, stars, and moons. It was a fantastic way to round off a memorable day!

Online Safety

A representative from the police joined Excalibur and Lancelot children to talk about keeping safe whilst online. We were given some useful tips and guidance, as well as the opportunity to ask questions about some of our personal experiences relating to the many online platforms we access.

Careers Week

During Careers week, we had a range of visitors in school telling us a little more about their jobs. 

Mr Dan Gilmour, a certified surveyor in structural waterproofing, joined us to share photos and talk a little about his role.  The children were fascinated by watching the chemical reactions which Mr Gilmour demonstrated during the afternoon, giving our children a great insight into what his job actually involved.

Lee Newbery - Author Visit 

Today we joined a live Zoom author event with Lee Newbery, organised by Waterstones, to hear about his new series Holomonsters.

The interactive session introduced the book as “Pokémon meets Jumanji” and explored imagination, gaming, AI, teamwork and self-belief. Children enjoyed a live card battle, learned about the author’s inspiration, and had the chance to ask questions.

It was an exciting, engaging event that inspired a love of reading and showed how stories can come to life in powerful ways.

Y5 Maths Workshop

Our Year 5's took part in a maths workshop led by Year 9 students from Ansford school. 

The children completed four fun maths activities led by the Ansford students, including a calculator task, using compasses to draw circles, measuring angles with a protractor, and a ratio-colouring challenge.

Once the activities were completed, the Year 5 pupils took part in a maths relay challenge. They fully engaged with the questions and demonstrated their competitive spirit throughout. 

SCARF Workshop

We had a workshop linked to our PSHE lessons on the topic of friendships.  We looked at scenarios which may be typical between friends considering the best action to take.  This led to us considering assertiveness skills which we could use to help us navigate certain issues which may arise. Excalibur class engaged with role-play, problem-solving activities, discussions and movement breaks...but most of all they enjoyed saying 'hello' to the giraffe Harold.

Field to Food Trip

Excalibur and King Arthur class had a great trip to the Bath and West showground to learn more about the relationship between farming and food.  We had the opportunity to explore a range of zones throughout the day, including petting a range of farm animals, sheep shearing, modern farm machinery, hedge laying and making butter and buttermilk from shaking small pots of cream.

Stem Workshop – Magnets

This week we had a Stem workshop focussing on magnets. We learnt so much about how and where magnets are used in everyday life and the children were very inquisitive, asking lots of questions to develop their understanding.  The children really enjoyed the challenge of moving the toy train without allowing the magnet to touch – therefore, they could only use the repel of the magnet.

Gymnastics

Excalibur class are exploring their gymnastics skills in PE this half-term.  We have been performing jumps with rotations or creating shapes as well as combining these with other actions with a partner. 

Sound Vibrations

We have been investigating sound vibrations in science.  We took a drum and placed grains of rice on the skin of the drum.  We observed what happened when we used a drumstick to tap the drum gently, with medium force and finally, very hard.

Art

We have been developing our 'fine art' skills by drawing a dragon's eye with the help of step-to-step instructions.

British Science Week

We have had great fun this week celebrating British Science week.  Excalibur class watched a programme on BBC Bitesize launching Science week by exploring the solar system and included the astronaut Tim Peakes. We have launched rockets we brought in from home and have entered a poster competition exploring the theme... What will a positive childhood look like in the future for children your age? 

Tooth Decay Experiment

In science, we are investigating which liquids are most likely to cause tooth decay.  We have placed 5 eggs...yes eggs... as the shell of an egg is most like the enamel on a tooth into the liquids; water, apple juice, coke, orange juice and milk.  We are observing each day the impact these liquids are having on the shells of the eggs...

We have the results from our tooth decay experiment...they were quite conclusive!!

Guitar 

This half-term we are incredibly lucky to be having guitar lessons for music.  So far we have learnt to play 'Happy Birthday' and 'Three little birds'...we actually sounded really good!

Safer Internet Day

We celebrated Safer Internet Day by exploring what constitutes safe and responsible use of AI, as well as what does not. The children carefully considered different scenarios and judged each as either ‘okay’, ‘not okay’ or ‘it depends’. They demonstrated a great deal of understanding about the safe and responsible use of AI.

French

In French lessons we have been learning about the singular and plural of nouns.  In this lesson we were looking at items of clothing and practising speaking in French to describe the clothes.

 

PE - Dance

This Spring half-term we are exploring Dance in our PE lessons. We are learning to perform dance movements at the same time with good co-ordination and control. Excalibur class particularly demonstrated their good rhythm when following along to 'Just Dance'.

 

Father Christmas visit

We had a surprise visitor...I bet you can't guess who it was? We were very excited to hand over the letters we had written to Father Christmas, sharing some of our favourite presents we were wishing for.  We also made sure to tell him how good we have been this year!!

Thales Stem visit

Excalibur class took part in a science workshop exploring four topics.

Float or sink

Structures

Light & Shadow

Engineering

Christingle

We were joined by helpers from the church to make our Christingles in readiness for our  church service.  The children really enjoyed creating their Christingle and were confident to tell others what each of the parts of the Christingle represented.

Later in the week, we attended our church service where we lit the Christingles...

 

Then some of Excalibur class read extracts from the Bible which linked to the Christingle...

Whilst other members of Excalibur class helped Julie in her address to the congregation.

Decorating the Christmas tree

Excalibur class helped to decorate the school Christmas tree.  The children had to describe their bauble in French before placing it on the tree. 

Ancient Greek Day

We had an amazing day experiencing first-hand what life may have been like during the Ancient Greek civilisation....

We learnt about the Greek alphabet and attempted to write our name and Greek gods using Greek symbols.   We sampled foods which would typically be part of an ancient Greek diet.  The children really challenged themselves to taste and explore those foods, which were sometimes new experiences.

 

We created our own Ancient Greek designs for a vase...

 

After spending some time during the day comparing the modern Olympics to that of the Ancient Greek Olympics, we held our own 'Mini Olympics', including the events discus, javelin and sprinting.

 

Children in Need

We had a very special visitor at our school, after our successful fundraising for Children in Need...have you guessed who?  As you can see by the children's faces, they were very excited to spend time with Pudsey and were particularly keen to get a 'high-five' from him before he left!

Circuit Training (PE)

This term we are having a focus on circuit training in our PE lessons.  During these sessions we complete a range of exercises to support and improve our muscular strength and endurance.  We are really enjoying the challenge!

 

Harvest Festival

To celebrate Harvest this year, we gathered at our local church and shared a range of readings, poems, artwork and prayers.  Excalibur class shared how Harvest is celebrated around the world including information about The Fruit Fair, Lammas Day, Portuguese Flower Festival and the Moon Festival.

 

This week for our carnival project, we added fins and tails to our fish using our willow. Additionally, we added LED lights across the centre and around the outside. Some of us even started to add tissue paper to our structures to form the fish's body.

Conducting Materials

We have been testing materials to discover which materials conduct electricity and which were insulating material and did not allow electricity to pass through it.  We used a simple electrical circuit to insert materials to see if the bulb lit up.  If it did, we knew the material conducted electricity.

 

On Friday, we celebrated International Day of Languages. This year our focus country was Greece due to its link with our topic work. We studied Greece on Google Maps, wore the colours of the Greek flag and listened to Greek music and spoken words. For our project, we even created some amazing posters all about Greece using fact files and the iPads to research the country. 

Continuing our carnival project this week, we strengthened our structures using willow as support. We made willow rings to go on the interior of our fish to help them keep their shape. 

Insulating Materials

Whilst the Year 5s were swimming, the Year 4s conducted an experiment on
insulating materials. In intervals of 2 minutes, the children took temperature
readings from thermometers which had been placed in containers of hot water.
Each container was made from a different material including tin, plastic, steel,
glass and cardboard.

 

This week, we began our carnival project work. As a class, we were taught how to work with our willow and how to bend and attach it together. Following this, we worked in groups to begin to create a structure for our fish.