Knighton Church in Wales Primary School
Caru Duw, Caru Pawb, Caru Dysgu
Today we (space cadets from the European Space Agency!) were given details of a competition that we could enter.
Why didn’t the asteroid belt form a planet? What would the planet have been like if it did?
The children completed their PowerPoint presentations about the tribes who live in the Borneo rainforests- they decided they wanted to stand in front of the class to deliver these presentations too! They peer-assessed each other and gave feedback about how to improve them. We then learned about how deforestation affects the people who live in the rainforests; they class was very concerned. We learned about Human Rights and thought about which of their human rights were violated when their habitats were destroyed. It was decided that we would have more luck persuading Mr Thomas to change the way his business works by writing to him and considering the pros and cons of deforestation, instead of just telling him it was bad. The children completed a cold-write, with no help at all, then we studied discussion texts to see what else we needed to include before completing a ‘hot write’! This really helped the children to see how their writing had improved. This week the children have designed and made their own tribal masks.
In Maths we have been studying data in graphs; comparing the information available, considering how it could be improved and thinking of questions to ask about it.
Today, the children wanted the spend time drawing and painting, and playing football and basketball! Everyone had a great time!
Heddiw, mae plant yn dewis celf, ac i chwarae pel-droed a pel fasged! Cafodd pawb hwyl!
We recently applied for and received 2 apple trees and 2 pear trees, from The Conservation Volunteers. We planted them on Friday!
It was interesting digging the hole; there were so many discussions about how to hold the spade, what to do with your feet, is the hole big enough? Hopefully we’ve done the job correctly!
Whilst we were on the field some children collected litter from hedgerows and gather broken equipment. We also measured the fence lines that hadn’t got hedgerows…that might be our next project!!
Here is some useful Welsh Vocabulary that you can use at home.
Our Welsh Dictionary – Ein Geiriadur Cymraeg
Now that we have a rescue centre and a plenty of case studies to prove we are up to the job, we have worked to put together a quote for the job. The quote included; vehicle hire, staff, medication, camping equipment etc. The children worked hard to use the information available to them and used a spreadsheet on Hwb to input their costs and calculate a total using a formula.
We then decided we were ready to email Mr Thomas to give him the information he wanted. We practised using formal language and looked at the features of emails, and information and persuasion texts. We also attached our case studies and quotes to the emails.
Good news…we got the job!!
Next we had to consider how we would get ready for the job. The children organised them into the different teams Wild Save would have and thought about some of the responsibilities.
Office staff- messages to the transport team & CCTV to keep the animals safe
Drivers- transporting staff, vehicles, cargo (equipment) & animals
Rescue team- track the animals, find them and take them to the rescue centre
Vets- checking and treating the animals, equipment & medication
Receptionist- booking the animals into the centre
Support team- setting up camp and organising food & drink for staff & animals
In amongst these discussions the idea of dangers arose; what could go wrong and what we could do about it. It was agreed that risk assessments would need to be completed before we started the job to make sure it would be safe.
This week the children have been working on floor plans for their rescue centre. They agreed they would use a scale to draw their plans which would be annotated with dimensions and the area of the space. They also worked in groups to create a junk model of one of the enclosures from their rescue centre!
Today Year 3 & 4 were visited by Elin from The Size of Wales to deliver a workshop about rainforests and climate change. We have been working on rainforests within our mantle so a lot of the information felt familiar to us. We learnt more about the issues with the ingredient ‘palm oil’ and how our day-to-day lives can impact of the tropical rainforests.
Did you know that tropical rainforests that equal 9 times the size of Wales are cut down every year? We can make small changes to help with this, such as buying a Fairtrade product once a week, baking at home (who knew baking could save lives?) using sustainable ingredients etc. And if you see this symbol on the products, even better! Let us know if you find one, it is apparently quite elusive!
