Hotspur
Hotspur Book Club: We have selected a small group of Hotspur pupils to join our book club. The first book they will be reading and discussing will be ‘The Legend of Podkin One-Ear’ by Kieran Larwood.
Charcoal drawings inspired by Joel Daniel Phillips.
Getting ready for the Big Sing 2020!
Improving our badminton skills!
Enjoying learning how to play badminton!
Freeze Framing: Here we are using freeze framing to develop a deeper understanding of the plot of ‘Street Child’ by Berlie Doherty.
A great start to the term: winning the last attendance award of 2019!
Spring Term Forecast
Happy New Year!! Welcome to the Spring term. We hope you’ve enjoyed a lovely festive break and are ready to hit the ground running in our new term. Our main topic this term will be the
Industrial Revolution and the Flaxmill. We will be studying: the technological breakthroughs that led to the Industrial Revolution; famous inventors; how Britain changed as a result of increased industry and its legacy is still evident in Britain today. In the second half term we will be studying the science topics of ‘Animals and Humans: Growing up and growing old’, and ‘Habitats’.
During Literacy lessons we shall be looking at a number of genres, including: Historical fiction - Street Child; Poetry - The Highwayman ; Discussion texts - linked to our history topic; Big feelings – Anger and Happiness.
We shall focus, in Maths, on developing skills in place value, the four operations, statistics, and
perimeter and area. The Year 5 and 6 pupils will be attempting ‘Fluent in Five’ maths activities every morning and will continue to develop their ‘Mastery’ and reasoning to gain an in depth understanding of number and problem solving.
Our Darwin Values focus this term will be ‘’Bouncebackability’ and ‘Growthability’, and we will be
focusing on the big feelings of ’Anger’ and ’Happiness’. We want all of our pupils to resourceful and able to understand the best ways they can grow and adapt, so they can be cope with failure.
In Science, our focus will be on the topics of ‘Animal and humans: Growing up and growing old’ and ’habitats’.
We will do this through research, as well as a number of exciting and interesting experiments.
PE will be on a Monday and a Wednesday. Children will be developing skills in dance, target games, badminton and orienteering. Please ensure pupils have the correct PE kit on those days.
In ICT we will be building upon our coding skills. The children will using a number of coding programs to develop understanding of how programs are written and the process of debugging written code. We will also continue to educate the children about E safety.
In RE, we will be studying: Hinduism and their concept of omnipresence, as well as the ‘Crucifixion’ in Christianity.
Spellings and times tables tests will still take place on a weekly basis, so please help your child to learn these at home. Reading at home is very important. We expect children to read daily at home and that they are heard read by an adult at home at least twice a week. Each time a child reads, please remember to make a record in their reading diary. Home learning tasks will be sent home along with knowledge organisers for this term’s history and science topics soon. It would be great if you could complete these tasks with your child and return them to school so that they can be put on display for all to see.
We always warmly welcome extra support in class, so please do not be afraid to offer to come in if you think there is something you could help with. Questions and queries about your child’s learning are also welcomed so please don’t hesitate to ask.
Mr Thomas Mrs Schwarz Mrs Bates Mrs Pritchard
The Big Winner! Congratulations to Sophie for winning the UKS2 Christmas paper plate competition.
D&T: Here we are making our own Christmas decorations that light up and move!
Today we had a fantastic tour of Shrewsbury fire station. We learnt so much about what fire fighters have to do as well how the station operates.
Just a shot of some Hotspur pupils relaxing and enjoying a read on our new reading area bean bags! Lovely to see!
Parent Information Event - It was so nice to see some of our parents popping in to develop their knowledge of reading skills and to understand our new reading focus.
Well done all the Year 5s who went to Laches Wood! Photos now available in the ‘Latest News’ section of our website.
Art: Sculptures
Pupil Spotlight
This week, we find Mollie under our spotlight.
Mollie started with us in the Nursery. She loves English because she likes writing in a creative style, and allowing her imagination to run wild.
She also loves singing, so it's no wonder that her favourite Mount Pleasant days involve the whole school singing as one.
Mollie is a keen swimmer, and spends a lot of her spare time in the pool trying to improve on her personal best times.She also likes running and watching Netflix when she gets the chance.
Her perfect day would involve lots of different elements - she'd start by waking up to a hot chocolate in bed, followed by opening some presents (not sure where they'd have come from). Then she would have a disco with all her family and friends before spending her evening playing with the cutest puppy in the world.
When she's all grown up, Mollie would like to be a swimming coach, and then a teacher - just like her mum!
Big Feelings: Sadness. This week we have be looking into the big felling of sadness. We have discuss and worked through activities about how to deal with this emotion and how we can help each other to get through difficult times.
Darwin Values Afternoon: Empathy - Walking in someone else’s shoes
Darwin Value: Empathability. This half term, our Darwin Value focus is empathy. Through discussion and activities we will develop pupil understanding of what it is like to ‘walk in someone else’s shoes’.
A football trophy, Anglo Saxon armour and a letter from the Queen! Just a few things that happened to Hotspur pupils over half term. Well done guys!
Pupil Spotlight
Joining us underneath our spotlight this week is Jasmine.
Jasmine has been attending our school for three years. She has a younger sister, and her favourite subject is P.E. This is mainly due to the fact that she enjoys playing dodgeball so much.
Jasmine loves gymnastics. She does it in her spare time as one of her hobbies, she wants to be a gymnastics coach when she grows up and if she could, she would do gymnastics all day, every day! Jasmine's other hobbies are reading and playing tennis.
Jasmine has had a very good day today! She has been selected to have hot chocolate with Mrs. Benge in recognition of her excellent home learning. She baked an Anglo-Saxon house in cake form, and we all got to sample a piece. Not one single piece was left, so that tells you all you need to know..... yummy!
Home Learning Tasks: We’ve had some delightful home learning tasks handed in by children in Hotspur, including models, tapestries, diaries, research projects and even a cake!
Pupil Spotlight
Joel is under our pupil spotlight this week.
Joel has been with us for six years now. He has four brothers, all of which love sport, so it's a good job that Joel does too.
It'll come as no surprise to anyone then, that Joel's favourite school subject is P.E. He just loves to be active and on his feet all day. Other than being sporty, he enjoys cuddling up to his pet rabbit in his spare time. Belive it or not, he also loves doing the washing up!
Joel has one ambition in life - to be a police officer. Even his perfect day would involve going out with the police and learning more about what they do. Although he would like it if he could have a long lunch break so he could enjoy his favourite foods - pizza and burgers!
Buddy Reading: Today we started buddy reading with Porthill class. We are helping them to learn reading skills through modelling reading, talking about the texts and asking them questions.
Promoting Reading: We love a bit of reading in Hotspur class. Here you can see some of us in our new ‘Reading Area’.
Pupil Spotlight
This week, we find Ruby under our spotlight.
Mount Pleasant is the only school Ruby has ever attended - she has been with us for six years and is currently in year 5.
Ruby's favourite school subject is art because she finds it both peaceful and fun all at the same time. So far, her favourite MPPS day ever was our PJ day - maybe she likes her sleep a bit too much?
In her spare time, Ruby enjoys, playing 'Roblox', dancing, acting and singing - she loves to sing along to Taylor Swift's 'You belong to me'.
Ruby's perfect day would simply be a day spent chilling on the sofa with her phone, as part of a family day. In the future, she aspires to be a performer, and one day hopes to step into the bright lights of Theatre Severn.
French: Today we started to learn the french words for different parts of the body.
Today we were visited by a Planetarium. It really helped us to understand our ‘Earth and Space’ science unit.
Pupil Spotlight
This week, we find Joe under the Hotspur spotlight.
Joe has been attending our school for six years in total, starting all the way back in early years. He has two younger siblings; a younger brother and sister. Joe's favourite subject is P.E because he thinks it's nice to do different things and be active. I bet he'd like to do PE in his pyjamas, just like he did on our Children in Need Pyjama day (Joe's favourite ever school day).
In his spare time, Joe enjoys playing rugby and football, and playing out with his friends.His perfrect day would include taking in a rugby match, before visiting an ancient castle, then it would be off to the cinema to watch a film, and to round it all off he'd love nothing more than supper at the 'all you can eat' chinese buffet - apparently he loves their soup.
When he's older, Joe hopes to become a professional rugby player, and spend his time visiting Ghana with his dad.
I think you'll all agree, that with a winning smile like Joe has, he can go on to achieve great things!
Introducing our Hotspur School Council representative - Weronika
Music workshop with Jack Pearce: Today we enjoyed an hour with Mr. Pearce - we focused on rhythm and reading music.
Pupil Spotlight
Introducing Hotspur’s first pupil spotlighter of the year.... Jay.
Jay has been attending our school for six years. He has three sisters, and a dog.
Jay's favourite subject is P.E because he is very sporty, so it's no surpsrise to find out that his favourite school day of the year is Sports Day.
In his spare time,Jay loves playing for his local football team and practising his guitar. He is a keen singer/songer writer who has entertained the whole school on numerous occassions with his musical talent.
Jay's perfect day would include: a trip to Elland Road to watch his beloved Leeds United; going to a Courteeners gig; listening to the Stereophonics; as well as meeting the Leeds manager and Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown.
Jay has very clear ambitions: he wants to be a professional footballer, before creating and performing in a famous band after his retirement.
Let's hope Jay can achieve his dreams, and that he has a great year in Hotspur class.
Darwin Values: Changeability. This half term we will be focusing on how to cope with change and strategies for dealing with negatIve thoughts associated with changes in our lives.
Autumn Term 2019
Welcome to the Autumn term. We hope you’ve had a relaxing Summer holiday, and are ready to hit the ground running in our new academic year. Our main topic this term will be the Anglo-Saxons and Scots. We will be studying: how these invaders settled and battled for dominance across our land; how they lived their lives; what they believed in; and how their legacy is still evident in Britain today. We will also be kicking off our science topic of ‘Earth and Space’ with an exciting visit from a planetarium at the start of the term.
During Literacy lessons we shall be looking at a number of genres, including:
Science fiction - Jumanji
Biographies - linked to ‘Earth and Space’ in science
Explanation texts - linked to our history topic
Poetry– Poetry appreciation.
We shall focus, in Maths, on developing skills in place value, the four operations, statistics, and perimeter and area. The Year 5 pupils will be attempting ‘Fluent in Five’ maths activities every morning and will continue to develop their ‘Mastery’ and reasoning to gain an in depth understanding of number and problem solving.
In Science, our focus will be on the topics of ‘Earth and Space’ and ’Electricity’.
We will do this through research, as well as a number of exciting and interesting experiments.
In ICT we will be investigating technologies in our lives as well as multi media software. The children will then use this multi media software to create presentations linked to science and geography. We will also continue to educate the children about E safety.
PE will be on a Monday and a Thurday. Children will be developing skills in multi-skills activities, gymnastics, tag rugby and lacrosse.
Please ensure pupils have the correct PE kit on those days.
Our Darwin Values focus this term will be ‘’Changeability’ and ‘Empathability’, and we will be focusing on the big feelings of ’Fear’ and ’Sadness’. We want all of our pupils to become adaptable to change and understanding of how others feel, so they can be good friends.
In RE, we will be studying: the commitment that Sikhs show through their religion, and asking ‘Is the Christmas story true?’journeys around the world.
Spellings will be given out on a weekly basis. Please help your child to learn their spellings and support your child with home learning tasks where needed. Reading at home is very important. We expect children to read daily at home and that they are heard read by an adult at home at least twice a week. Each time a child reads, please remember to make a record in their reading diary.
We always warmly welcome extra support in class, so please do not be afraid to offer to come in if you think there is something you could help with. Questions and queries about your child’s learning are also welcomed so please don’t hesitate to ask.
Mr Thomas Mrs Schwarz Mrs Bates Mrs Pritchard
Parent Information Event - Keeping your child safe online
It's important to have an awareness of what your child is doing online, how to check their activity and what to do if you have concerns.
The following websites provide some useful information:
Childnet International
http://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers
NSPCC
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
Net aware