During this half term, Cedars have been very busy with their Let The Games Begin rehearsals making sure they knew the words and actions for the songs as well as their cues for entering and exiting the stage. Their hard work paid off as they received a huge applause at the end of the two performances with many positive comments made by the audience members about these incredible shows.

In our Computing lessons, we have completed a mini project using our PowerPoint presentation skills. The children have planned their own branching stories, which are interactive, that change slides when certain text boxes are clicked on. We have had fun choosing different animations and transitions for the stories we have created and learning how to add pictures from the internet. In our lesson next week, the children will have the opportunity to share their mini projects with each other.

Our Art lessons this half term have seen us learning about botanical art. Cedars have been able to produce detailed drawings of different fruits and flowers before using watercolour paints to add colour to them. The children used their paints thoughtfully to reflect the shading of their fruits therefore creating almost 3D looking artwork. 

Cedars have been enjoying their topic, Emperors and Empires, where they have been learning about the Romans and their invasion of Britain. In the first few weeks of this term, the children created some excellent storyboards about the ancient legend of Romulus and Remus who the Romans believe founded Rome. During our Topic lessons, we have had many discussions about different aspects of Roman life and whether we would like to have been alive at this time in history under the rule of the various emperors. 

Our Languages lessons have also linked with our topic where we have been learning some ancient Latin. The children have been able to use their new Latin vocabulary to read short comic strips about family members, animals and chores we do around the house. Our final lesson of this half term will see us consolidating all of our Latin skills into an information poster about one of the areas we have learnt about.

In a recent Computing lesson, Cedars were using their word processing skills to create a plan for a VE day celebration. They had to write an event proposal for a music concert saying: where it was going to be held, the food they would serve, who would perform and how they would keep everyone safe who attended. The children had fun finding pictures to add to their posters in order to advertise their event.

In our Topic lessons, we have completed our Misty Mountain, Winding River unit of work where we have learnt about the different altitudinal zones found on a mountain, the water cycle and how the world’s habitats are changing around us. The children particularly enjoyed their lesson about contour lines where they were able to use a range of coloured card to create their own contour maps in their books. All of this new knowledge has inspired some lovely written work from Cedars where we have created an information leaflet for a mountaineer as well as a podcast script between a host and an ecologist.

As part of our Art work this half term, we have been learning about animals in art. We took part in a sketching masterclass where we learnt to accurately draw a horse, dog and puffin by using circles to guide the proportions of their bodies. This unit ending with the children using clay to create their own Bankura horse. We learnt about the importance of these creatures in West Bengali art work and how they represent energy, strength and loyalty. The children worked hard, carefully following the instructions to create their Bankura horses which gained many compliments whenever someone entered the classroom.

Cedars recently went on a trip to Hazard Alley where the children were faced with real life situations which could put themselves or others in danger. They enjoyed learning how to keep themselves safe and practised making phone calls to 999 and correctly giving all of the information needed to the dispatcher. It was particularly fun learning the recovery position and working in partners to practise how to do this correctly.