Welcome to Red Kites 2023-2024 with Mrs Burridge

Here you will discover more about our learning in Red Kites. 

Topic Web - Summer Term 2023-2024 'We are the Champions!'

In the summer term, Red Kites are learning all about Ancient Greece under the topic 'We are the champions!'. Please see the topic map below for further details of our curriculum offer for the summer term in Year 3/4. 

Topic Web - Spring Term 2023-2024 'The Titanic'

In the Spring term, Red Kites are learning all about the Titanic! Please see the topic map below for further information. 

Trip to Southampton 'Sea City' museum

Red Kites enjoyed a trip to Southampton at the start of the spring term to kick-start their learning about the Titanic. They took part in a workshop where they learnt about the different types of people onboard, how the Titanic's water-tight compartments flooded, the allocation of lifeboats, and they were also able to handle historical artefacts.

Science Day!

The children were lucky participants in a brilliant day of science, with many guest scientists visiting from local research and industry, including Oxford University. They took part in a number of workshops, including; the study of volcanoes in Earth Science, the study of the mind, investigations into viruses and antibodies, and a practical session on DNA. We are thankful to the wonderful scientists who so generously gave their time. 

'Wind in the Willows' performance

The children in Red Kites rehearsed very hard and performed in 'The Wind in the Willows', demonstrating creativity and enthusiasm in abundance! Our solo singers shone over their two final performances and we are so proud of the hard work everyone put in to the performance. Well done!  

Welcome to Red Kites 2022-2023 with Miss Kelly!

Here you will find out what the children have been learning about in class. 

This term our topic is ‘What a Wonderful World’ and we will be studying Rainforests.

Topic Web

PE

On Friday in PE we learnt how to orientate a map and navigate a grid. We practised looking carefully at maps and following directions. The children communicated well with their teams, showed resilience when they became stuck and were able to reflect on their tactics. We then had a go at creating our own maps to share with others. 

News Reporting

In English, we have been looking at the book 'If Polar Bears Disappeared'.  We will be rewriting the story about a different animal in a different habitat. The children have researched their own endangered animal to understand what would happen if they disappeared. Today the children became News Reporters to inform the class what would happen if their animal disappeared and what we could do to prevent this happening. I was really impressed with the facts the children had found out and their presenting skills. 

Liddington 

Year 4 children enjoyed a fantastic residential at PGL Liddington. On arrival, we were greeted by our group leader who showed us our lovely rooms. Once we had settled in and eaten some lunch we got stuck into our first activities, which were the Challenge Course and Zip Wire. After a yummy dinner we took part in Balloon Splash, where we completed challenges to earn money that we could then spend on materials to protect our water balloons. We were then treated to a delicious hot chocolate before bedtime. The next day we had a big breakfast before heading outside for our activities for the day, which included: Archery, Micro Scootering, Climbing and the Sensory Trail.  After dinner, we enjoyed visiting the shop followed  by a campfire where we sang lots of songs and ate toasted marshmallows. On the final day we had to pack up our rooms by 7:30 before breakfast. We enjoyed a morning of playing Aeroball and swinging on the Giant Swing.  After lunch, we collected our luggage and got on the coach to go back to school.

Science Day 

Today we were lucky enough to be joined by lots of Scientists from Oxford University. We were able to take part in lots of amazing activities. We made DNA bracelets, designed our own vaccine, created neurones from glitter, investigated our fingerprints and explored the concept of density by making a sugar rainbow in a test tube.

World Book Day

Today we celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as our favourite book characters. All of the children looked fabulous in their costumes. We enjoyed some shared reading in class, created our own book character, listened to adults favourite books and took part in a whole school quiz. Well done to the competition winners!

Dance Workshop

This morning we took part in a dance workshop at Bartholomew School led by Step 2 Dance. We learnt some breakdancing moves and a dance routine which was based on an American Football match. I was really impressed with the children's listening skills and their enthusiasm to try something new. The final performance was fantastic. Thank you to the Sports Leaders at Bartholomew for your support. 

Shakespeare Rocks

The children in both Red Kites and Kingfishers classes have worked extremely hard to put together the show Shakespeare Rocks. Both Miss Kelly and Mrs Baigent are very proud of the children's dedication to learning their lines and focus in rehearsals. The children pulled off three fantastic performances and we hope everyone who came to watch enjoyed the show.

Wonder Dome 

This morning we were lucky enough to go inside the Wonder Dome. We learnt lots of interesting facts about our solar system and star constellations. We then looked at how astronauts survive in Space and saw how astronaut Tim Peake lives in the International Space Station. Thank you to Freeland School Society for this  wonderful experience. 

Sheldonian

This afternoon we went to the Sheldonian in Oxford to see The Oxfordshire County Music Service School's Concert. We learnt about the instruments that make up an orchestra and even had a go at conducting. We listened to various pieces of music, including Frere Jacques, Jupiter from The Planets and the theme tune to How to Train Your Dragon. We then listened to a Bassoon ensemble who played The Muppets theme tune.

Skateboarding

Today we had an amazing skateboarding workshop which the Red Kites loved! We learnt how to get on a skateboard, move, turn and even some tricks! The children showed brilliant teamwork skills and should be very proud of themselves!

Owl Cushions

In DT the children have been making owl cushions. They have all worked really hard and should be very proud of their cushions. The children learned about Minerva the Roman Goddess of Wisdom who was associated with the symbol of an owl which represents knowledge, culture and discernment.

Hot Seating in English

In English we are writing a diary entry from the point of view of Arthur. Today we used hot seating to explore how Arthur was feeling and what he was thinking at different points during his adventure. The children had the opportunity to ask Arthur questions and put themselves in Arthur’s shoes. I was really impressed with the children’s questioning and acting skills. 

Athlete in School

Today we were very lucky to have heptathlete Katie Stainton in school. This morning we had an assembly and this afternoon we enjoyed a PE lesson with her. We learned about what it takes to be an athlete competing at the top level. Bravery, courage and commitment were just a few of the themes mentioned. The children were extremely competitive in their PE lesson, where they competed in a relay race and received some top tips on their javelin throwing technique. We will look out for Katie at the next Olympics!

Roman Workshop

The children thoroughly enjoyed our Roman Workshop this morning. We learned about how the Romans socialised, what they wore and how they fought. I was really impressed with how much the children have learned this term.

Be Space

We had a fantastic morning at St Mary's Church taking part in reflective activities organised by Be Space. The children particularly enjoyed the 'fizzy forgiveness' activity and making pipe cleaner people. We thought about our dreams and ambitions, hopes for different countries, forgiving others and great people we know.

Violin and Cello

The children are extremely excited to be taking part in violin and cello lessons in school each week with a specialist teacher from the Oxfordshire County Music Service. I look forward to hearing their progress!

Hinduism

We were very lucky to have a special visitor who came to teach us more about Hinduism. We enjoyed looking at a variety of interesting objects and making bookmarks.

This week we walked from school to North Leigh Roman Villa. We were very lucky to be met there by knowledgeable volunteers from English Heritage. We enjoyed a guided tour of the of the villa, where we were able to see the remains of the bath suites and under-floor heating. Then we looked at some interesting Roman artefacts from local museums. Finally, we went into the mosaic house where we were able to see the fine mosaic tile floor which dates back to the early 4th century!

Welcome to Red Kites 2021-2022 with Miss Waters!

We have had lots of fun and worked hard in Red Kites this year! It has been a pleasure to teach you all and I wish you all the best of luck. Have a lovely summer holiday and hope you all enjoy your new classes in September! 

Didcot Railway Centre

We were lucky enough to have a class trip to Didcot Railway Centre! We visited the centre as we are learning about Inventions in the Victorian era. There were lots of fun activities to do and lots of steam engines to see. It was a lovely hot day so being in the engine shed kept us nice and cool when we were learning about how they all worked. It was wonderful to see what we had been learning about in class in real life - some of us were smaller than one of the wheels of an engine! 

Art and Design Technology based on the book 'The Iron Man'

We based our art and design technology on the book 'The Iron Man'. We made individual models using clay and added details with equipment we could find in the classroom. We then created an Iron Man out of junk modelling, working in groups to create a different part so we could add details. Miss Waters helped to put all the pieces together so he could protect our classroom. 

Science Day!

Gymnastics

In our gymnastics, we have been thinking about how to use different parts of our body to balance. We tried various different balances and added some equipment to make things more challenging.

Design and technology - Food preparation

We have really enjoyed design technology learning how to prepare food correctly. We began the topic with learning how to prepare fruit for a Japanese fruit skewer - some of us were even brave and tried lychee! After the skewers, we learnt how to make an apple crumble and our final project was to design and make our own savoury tart. This involved a lot of food preparation and making sure there was a good amount of each ingredient when putting the tart together.

Music - African Drumming

We were very lucky by having a visitor come to school to talk about Africa and give us an introduction to African drumming. We all got to have a go at playing the drums and learning about the history. Red Kites loved learning about African music and the listening to other instruments as well as the drums.

Autumn Term Topic Web

• Red Kites Topic Web Autumn Term

Sketching Styles

SPELLING SUPPORT FOR PARENTS AT FREELAND

Have you seen the Kids’ Zone? Play games and visit some cool websites. You can vote for your favourites.

• Blue Peter
  Can you kit out Barney, Lindsey or Radzi in the right outfit to face a Blue Peter challenge?

• Newsround
  Keep up to date with the latest news.