Reception: Under the Sea
Reception class have launched their under the sea topic this week. They have an under the sea roleplay and have enjoyed exploring the different sea creatures and under the sea treasures. The children have also enjoyed being pirates and roleplaying stories together.
Year 6 - National Parks of the United Kingdom
Today, Year 6 used an atlas to explore the national parks of the UK. The children investigated where the national parks are located and discussed why tourism is such a big industry in these areas. The children also explored how the UK benefits from tourism, including job opportunities, support for local communities and the protection of natural environments.
Year 5 - Geography
In Geography we have explored the physical aspects of mountains including how they are formed and their unique climate. Now we are moving onto the human aspects, studying the lives of people who live on them. We found out about the harsh lives of farmers who live near Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest, and how they have to supplement their income through tourism while dealing with the challenges of their isolated rural existence.
Year 6 - Coastlines and Islands
Today, the children used DigiMaps to locate, explore and compare a range of coastlines across the United Kingdom. The children investigated how the shapes of different coastlines vary and identified key geographical features such as bays, headlands, cliffs and beaches. The children also examined the UK’s surrounding islands, using the zoom tools to study their position, size and distance from the mainland. They showed great curiosity as they navigated the digital maps, asked thoughtful questions and discussed why these coastal landscapes might look the way they do.
Year 5 - Geography
In geography, the children worked in groups to determine the correct features of a mountain before using their artistic skills to draw a labelled diagram in their books. We then went on to explore how mountains are formed by the ever shifting outer crust floating on the liquid rock inside the mantle before describing the different types of mountains that can be found on Earth.
Year 5 - Geography
We started our geography unit on mountains by revisiting past knowledge of the topic. The children’s mind maps included names of famous mountains, their height, their climate and where they are found. Then we moved onto defining a mountain as a steep landform 600m above the ground before using atlases to find the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents (the seven summits).
Year 6 - Geography
In Geography today, Year 6 explored DigiMaps to develop their mapping and geographical skills. Using digital maps, the children navigated towns and cities across the UK, locating and identifying key places. The children compared their human and physical features with those of Darwen, exploring how different environments are shaped by people and nature. The children showed great curiosity and teamwork as they discovered the similarities and differences between urban and rural areas across the country.
Year 3- Geography-Exploring Hemispheres and Weather
In Geography today, the children acted as geographers, beginning by reviewing what they remembered about latitudes before moving on to learn about the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They then labelled seven countries on the map using a globe and an atlas, applying their geographical vocabulary to locate and describe each place. The class compared climates and weather in different countries, thinking about how the Earth’s rotation affects the seasons. For example, while it is late spring in Australia, the weather is often warm and sunny, with temperatures around 28°C in Sydney and occasional showers, whereas in the United Kingdom, it is late autumn, with cooler, drizzly days around 12°C and shorter daylight hours. This helped the children understand why it can be summer in one country while winter in another.
Year 4 - English: Research
It was the start of our new English unit on Monday and the Year 4s were busy conducting research and collecting information about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. Their objective was to take keywords from each question and type them into a safe search engine in order to gather relevant information to answer the question. The children also used a range of primary and secondary sources to support their research. The children will be using this information to support their writing of stories based on a historical setting.
Year 3- Geography- Identifying lines of Latitude and Climate Zones
This afternoon, our amazing geographers have been exploring the concept of lines of latitude, the imaginary lines that run horizontally around the Earth. Using these key lines, the children identified different climate zones across the globe, from the tropical heat near the Equator to the icy cold near the poles. We focused on the extreme environments defined by these lines, learning about the Arctic Circle and Antarctica, and explored the fascinating animals that live there, too.
Reception: Muddy Monday
The children in Reception went to Jacks Key for their Muddy Monday session. They found lots of natural resources to build bonfires in preparation for Bonfire night on Wednesday. The children then went on a rainy walk and showed great perseverance and resilience. The children all worked well together and it is lovely to see them continuing to develop during these sessions.
Year 2 Geography- Continents and Oceans
To conclude our geography unit this half-term, Year 2 pupils created a quiz for the Year 3 children to see how much they could recall from studying the same topic last year. Year 2 wrote three multiple-choice questions each to test their peers’ knowledge. The questions covered topics such as the largest and smallest continents and oceans, as well as the warmest and coolest continents and oceans. They also explored geographical positioning, asking Year 3 to identify locations in relation to the compass points—for example, which ocean lies north, south, east, or west of a particular continent.