Welcome to Moon Class!

Hooke Court Day 1 - 

Well, the day has finally arrived, and we all woke up excited at the prospect of Year 4 Camp! Only to draw back the curtains and see the rain!  After getting all our bags to school in the rain, we are pleased to announce that that was the last of the rain for the whole day! 

We packed the coach, waved goodbye to our crying parents and headed west! Our coach driver was fab. And with clear traffic, we arrived at Hooke Court in record time!

We found our dwellings and whilst North Wing was getting prepared, we moved in to Greenleaf, our home for the next two and a half days.  Dorms were allocated and everyone is happy with their roommates!

After lunch, we met Michael, our instructor for the low ropes. Sun class took this activity first, whilst Moon orientated themselves following clues to locate letters on the orienteering course. A number on the clue identified a location on a map of the site. A plaque was located and letters retrieved. Then came the hard bit – to unscramble the letters and answer the question. It was great fun and allowed us to run off some steam from sitting on the coach. Most teams collect between 4–6 words. But our champions collected a staggering 11 words in an hour and a quarter! 

At the low ropes, Michael had us stretching and taking the safety stance, prior to entering the lava-filled area! We were swinging across ravines, walking tight ropes and balancing on ropes that hung over shark-infested waters! (or a load of mulch and mud!)  We used our teamwork skills and supported our peers to complete the circuit as well as moving 24 children from one island to another with only enough space for half of us really! Huddled penguins sprang to mind! Then ten pin bowling skittles when Mr Wilson swung on to the island and sent us flying in all directions!

6:30pm – Dinner time! Pasta and tomato sauce, with cheese, cucumber, carrots and garlic bread – three portions for some!!!! Followed by ice cream in a cone! Delicious!

After clearing the tables and finding our dorms again, we quickly got ready of the evening activities. We met Chris, who wanted us to make the tallest tower from some newspaper, card, masking tape (his favourite thing!) and a lollipop stick. There were many attempts to stack paper and fold it, scrunch it up and then some started to roll it. The winning team of boys – Owen, Oliver, Max and crew manage a height of 50 cm!  Then came the real challenge! Making a cushion for an egg to land on that will prevent it from cracking when it is dropped through the eggsterminator!

Sadly, the Eggsterminator claimed 6 out of 11 eggs, but a great time was had constructing a range of designs from again, some paper, newspaper, bubble wrap, masking tape and some card. We had an eggcellent time!

Then it was back to our dorms for drinks and bed! Bedtime started in Greenlead at 9:30, and it is now 10:52pm and Mr Wilson is still sitting on the floor outside some rooms waiting for the chat to stop! But stopping it is, and toilet runs are slowing so we hope come 11pm all will be quiet!

So from the glamorous floor of Greenleaf halls, I bid you good night and look forward to a quiet night and a fun-packed day tomorrow. 

The children have been amazing, throwing themselves into each challenge and activity asked of them, with amazing support and good cheer seen by all. What a great group they are. 

Night night!

 

Hooke Court Day 2 –

With the early risers at 5:45 am the day started a little premature! By 6:30am the majority were up and eager to start the day – We look forward to that happening on Monday 2^nd Nov!

We got up, dressed and went to the common room to write our diary entries for Day 1. There had been a lot of rain overnight, but the site looked beautiful in the morning sun rays and mist clearing.  Diaries completed, we started to look at what was needed for our busy day.

With all the supplies ready, we entered breakfast and sat down in two bowls of cereal, beans on toast and jam/marmite toast until it came out of our ears!

Rising with very full bellies, we walked to meet Simon and Alan, our instructors for the day.

We had a session with each of them:

Alan taught us how to be an archaeologist where we used techniques used by the Time Team crew who came and revealed a Saxon settlement at Hooke Court 20 years ago. The children uncovered many items and used their knowledge to work out what had been on the land previously. We ended up uncovering the foundations of an old dwelling with quarry tiles and flint walls that had shells sandwiched in between the courses of stone.  The range of other historical findings was vast, encompassing items from a Tudor coin to 1960s replica stoneware – it was amazing to see how much was in the ground. We even discovered a grass snake skin in the area we were working and had a spontaneous information session about grass snakes too! 

Simon took us back to Saxon times, primarily to see how they used to live. As many were farmers, the focus soon turned to food. We learnt about the vegetables they ate, the dinners they would make (Potage – Pot food – everything in one pot on the fire – basically a type of stew. Saxon sausages using beef steak and two types of bread. Savoury bread with leek and rosemary and sweet bread with dates, honey and cinnamon (bit like a hot cross bun!)

Whilst this all cooked, we learnt how the Romans introduced arches and cement to the world. Given a set of blocks, the children were tasked to create an archway using trial and error. An amazing group of engineers figured it out and, with a little alteration, were able to influence each other’s construction abilities!

With our bellies diminishing after a large sandwich lunch, fruit yoghurt and biscuits! We tucked in to our Saxon feast. Many loved the potage of cabbage, leeks, onions, carrots and herbs – so don’t believe them when they say they don’t like vegetables! Sausages were a big hit along with the bread.  Happy historians all round. All completed under the blazing autumnal sun!

Showers were next on the agenda after digging in the soil for half the day, followed by diaries and a game of Bingo! Sweet prizes all round!

Back to the dining hall for even more food! Sausage, yorkies, veg and potatoes with gravy, followed by chocolate sponge and chocolate sauce. Honestly, we have not gone hungry!

This evening has been very apt – as we have been learning about electrical circuits and building lighthouses in our teams. We completed the task with 10 flashing lighthouses as outside the winds of storm Austin began to brew.

It is now 10:30pm and there is not a sound coming from the rooms! We have a crew of very tired yet happy children who have thrown themselves into every aspect of the day. The joy on their faces as they excavated archaeological finds, was just a delight to see.  Again, great teamwork throughout the day and I believe some are recognising that sleep is really needed by all!

With that being said – we will sign off and bid you goodnight.  We look forward to seeing you tomorrow afternoon on the South Street playground at 2:45pm.

Best wishes,

The Hooke Court Campers!

Curriculum Newsletter

Welcome Year 4. 

The adults that work in this class are Mrs Marshall (Class Teacher), Mrs Perry (HLTA) and Mrs Blunt (1:1 LSA) 

Your new learning experience is:  Bake Off 

For more information please see the Curriculum Newsletter above. 

This term our PE days will be on Tuesday and Thursday. Please ensure children come to school in the correct kit on this day and that long hair is tied back. Children are allowed to bring daps to wear in the hall which can be left in a named bag on your child's cloakroom peg. We do not allow the children to wear earrings for PE so please can they be removed or taped over on these days.

Thank you.

Spellings

The children will recap spelling patterns learnt in Key Stage 1 and Year 3 . Additionally, they will be taught prefixes and suffixes from the Year 4 National Curriculum and Year 4 Common Exception Words. Emphasis will be on adding these patterns to root words to change the meaning, and applying this knowledge to spell unknown words.

Maths

In this section you will find booklets to support units of learning.  

Please learn your multiplication facts. (x3, x4, x6, x7, x8, x9, x11 and x12)