​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have continued their diary entry based on 'The Tin Forest'. They have used past tense, personal pronouns and fronted adverbials to improve their writing. In Maths, they have been using their knowledge of place value to build strategies to add and subtract mentally. In PSHE, they have been looking at what rights and responsibilities are both in school and in their local community. In Geography, year 3 explored the UK, looking at the countries, capital cities as well as other physical and human features.
Year 4 – have been continuing to research and write their non-chronological reports about plastic pollution. In Maths, the children have been learning Roman numerals and have been rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. Year 4 have been amazing scientists this week! They investigated how the temperature of water affects the time it takes for water to melt. In Geography, they explored oceans and seas and identified what oceans and seas surround Africa. In French, the children started learning numbers between 1-10.
Year 5 – have been engaged in a diverse range of activities. They have deepened their artistic skills by investigating various imagery to understand how space has been used. In Maths, they’ve practised their mathematical skills by adding and subtracting number with more than 4 digits. The budding writers among them have culminated their writing journey that was based on the thought-provoking video, ‘The Girl and the Fox’ and have published their work. Additionally, they have deepened their knowledge of physical geography learning about the Himalayan mountain range and delved into the world of science by experimenting materials that work best as thermal insulators. It has been exciting week for us in Year 5!
Year 6 – have been finishing their non-chronological reports about climate change and global warming.  In Maths they have continued with their topic on the four operations and have been using factors, multiples, prime numbers and squared and cubed numbers.  In Science, the children have been researching Charles Darwin in order to create a fact file about him. This week in History, they have used their Oracy skills to discuss the reasoning behind King Henry VIII leaving the Catholic church. In Design Technology, the children have looked at which world foods make up a healthy diet.

This Week In School…
Year 3 – have had a very busy week. Everyone enjoyed their first Zoom call with Farmer Nicola, who works in the Scottish Highlands, farming red deer and sheep. The children asked fantastic and very thoughtful questions. In English, they have been writing a diary entry based around 'The Tin Forest' text. They have been focusing on writing in the first person, in the past tense and in chronological order. In Maths, they have come to the end of their place value topic, focusing on counting in ascending and descending order and continuing number patterns. They have used a range of soft pencils to explore shading and tone, working with great care and attention to detail during their Art lesson.
Year 4 – have been working in groups to research plastic pollution. They have been very interested and shocked to find out so many facts about the problems with plastic. Using their research, they have started to write a non-chronological report about plastic pollution. In Maths, children have been working hard to identify numbers to 10000 on a number line. In Science, they used different equipment to take accurate measurements. In History, children explored the differences between Athens and Sparta, they also looked at different historical sources to understand what Sparta and Athens were like. In French, children have been learning how to say their name and ask someone what their name is.
Year 5 – have continued to write their narratives based on the video ' The Girl and The Fox'. They have also deepened their knowledge of coordinating conjunctions and fronted adverbials, which they have managed to weave in to their narratives so well! In Maths, the children have mastered rounding skills by practising rounding up to 1,000,000! They have continued to read their class book - The Adventures of Odysseus - and they exhibited their grasp of the character's emotions by doing freeze frames. In Humanities, the children have started learning about the Viking invasion and they wrote letters as Vikings - they were detailed and descriptive! The children explored more about their rights and responsibilities that children have and their contributions in class discussions were insightful! It has been a busy and productive week in Year 5!
Year 6 – have been researching global warming and climate change so that they can write a non-chronological report on the subject.  This is linked to their class book ‘Floodlands’ by Marcus Sedwick.  In Maths, they have finished the topic on place value and are beginning their new topic of the four operations. In Geography, Year 6 have used their understanding of the location of South America to make predictions about the climate. The children have also worked really hard in Science and have identified the key ideas of the theory of evolution.

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have been working really hard on their character description in English. They have taken the protagonist from the Tin Forest and used the images in the book to develop wonderful sentences to describe the character. They have used adjectives, paragraphs and other grammar features to enable the reader to fully imagine the character in their heads. In Maths, they have continued their investigation into place value by looking at number lines to 1000. They have their knowledge of number lines and place value to both accurately place numbers as well as estimate where they think the numbers should go. In Geography, they have looked at their maps skills by drawing their very own map of Iver using OS symbols. In Science, they have continued to work scientifically in their investigation to see which seed will grow the best and have looked at the functions of different scientific equipment. In French, they have recapped different greetings and have learnt to how to tell people what their name is in French.
Year 4 – have continued learning about place value, they have found 1, 10, 100 and a 1000 more or less of a number and have been learning how to flexibly partition numbers up to 1000. In English, children have been writing instructions about how to make their own recycled robot. In Science, they have been learning how water can change state and that temperature can affect the state of water. In PSHE, they explored the Right of the Child and what that means as well as learning all about plastic pollution in Guided Reading as part of their book this term 'One Plastic Bag'.
Year 5 – have begun to write a narrative based on the video 'The Girl and the Fox' - the ambitious vocabulary and powerful adjectives they have used have been remarkable! In Maths, children have delved more in to place value by applying their mathematical skills working with numbers up to a million. The children have continued reading the class book 'The Adventures of Odysseus' and their enthusiastic contributions have been inspiring. The children also applied the knowledge they have learnt about materials to design an item to protect egg! Their designs were creative and they managed to protect 4 eggs! In Humanities, the children continued to explore China, learning more about its landscapes. It has been a busy week in Year 5!
Year 6 – have been finishing their stories about a dragon slayer - they have been using some great descriptive vocabulary for setting and character descriptions. In Maths, the children have been looking at place value and have also had a focus on arithmetic. The children have continued their science topic on Evolution and Inheritance and have been looking at the ways organisms have adapted to suit their environment. In History, they have been finding out more about Henry VIII and in pairs, did some research and created PowerPoints about the Tudor monarch before deciding if they thought he had been a good king or a bad king. The children have worked with charcoal in Art this week and have produced some Maya-inspired word art using the technique of chiaroscuro - using light and dark to create form and impact.

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have settled into life at IVJS really well and we are very proud of them! The have been using a range of adjectives and similes to describe the setting of 'The Tin Forest', using their senses as a focus. In Maths, they have been learning about place value and the use of number lines. In Art, they have demonstrated their fantastic observational skills completing still life drawings, exploring the use of different pencils to give increased depth to their sketches. The children enjoyed exploring pulse and rhythm in their music lesson and learnt their first 4 notes on the ocarina. What a great start to the year, well done Year 3!
Year 4 – have had a brilliant start to the school year. They have settled into their new classes seamlessly, have worked hard on recapping key punctuation rules and have been practising using coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. In English, children have written a setting description about their own forbidden forest. In Maths, they have started their place value topic by partitioning numbers up to 1000 and worked hard on a Year 4 arithmetic paper. They discussed different religious communities in RE. In Geography, they have explored Africa and labelled the different countries of Africa. In History, they learnt about Greece and placed the ancient Greek civilisation in time. Year 4 had lots of fun in Science this week, they identified solids, liquids and gasses that are more difficult to classify. Children investigated the properties of oobleck by making it. All of the children have impressed us with their positive attitude to learning and we look forward to a great year ahead!
Year 5 – have written some remarkable letters to their future selves. It was impressive to see the effort and interest that all the children took in doing so. They also worked hard at editing them and their handwriting. In Maths, the children explored Roman numerals up to 1,000 and have begun to explore numbers up to a million! Their contribution and enthusiasm have been exceptional! The children have also begun reading a book based on Greek mythology - 'The Adventures of Odysseus'. In Geography, the children have begun learning about China and in History, they have started exploring the Anglo-Saxon era. It was amazing to see how well the children have settled back into routines and how hard they have worked!
Year 6 – have had an excellent start to the new school year and have settled well in their classes.  They are already working hard and have impressed us with their engagement and enthusiasm in all topics.  In English, they have begun writing a fantasy story based on a short video about a dragon slayer.  In Geography they are studying South America and have found out lots of interesting facts.  They are now able to locate South America, its countries and capital cities on a map of the world.  In History, Year 6 have been introduced to the Tudors and have created a timeline to show when they existed in history.  In Science, the children have started the topic ‘Evolution and inheritance’.  They thoroughly enjoyed looking at inherited characteristics they share with their parents.  Mrs Bowden and Miss Short are looking forward to a great year ahead with all the Year 6 children!

​Year 3 – have been combining their learning in History and English by writing a newspaper report about Howard Carter finding Tutankhamun's tomb. They used their success criteria to write and edit their work. In Maths, they represented data in both pictograms and bar charts. In DT, they planned and designed a sandwich that they will make next week. In PSHE, they wrote a letter to their new teacher so that they could tell them all about themselves. 
Year 4 – have been very imaginative in English this week! They have been writing a story about their lost toy using many features from the year 4 success criteria. In Maths, children have been learning how to convert between an analogue and digital clock. They have also been converting to a 12 hour and 24-hour clock. In Science, they explored the role of different living things in a food web – producer, predator and prey. In History, the children researched Hadrian’s wall and why it was built.
Year 5 – have begun writing a narrative based on the book they have finished reading - 'The Journey'. The children impressed the teachers by their creative thoughts and success criteria that they managed to weave in to their writing. The similes, metaphors they used to describe characters and settings were fantastic! In Maths, they started to apply mathematical skills to solve conversions. The IRock concert was a highlight of the week, in which some of our Year 5 children performed in brilliantly - it was amazing to witness their remarkable performing skills. It has been a busy but fun week in Year 5!
Year 6 – have spent most of the week putting the finishing touches to their production, 'Cinderella & Rockerfella', which they are due to perform next week.  They have worked hard learning their lines, getting used to using their props, getting in and out of various costume changes and singing - it has been hard work, but they are almost ready! Most of the children had a day out at their new secondary schools this week and it was nice to hear how much they enjoyed this on their return. The whole year group also had a PE session together this week as a rehearsal for some of the races ready for Sports Day, ready for when the weather lets it happen!

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have continued to develop their statistics knowledge focusing on pictograms and bar charts focusing on interpreting and presenting different types of data. They have also used this new knowledge to support them in creating a class food preference bar chart in DT! In English, they have been using research they gathered on Mary Anning to write their own biographies on her amazing discoveries. In History, they have continued looking at the Ancient Egyptians focusing on The River Nile and its importance which they summarised in engaging posters. The Year 3s also hosted their parents after school this week and showcased their hard-work in both Music and Art, it was a wonderful afternoon - Well done Year 3!
Year 4 – have been learning the time in their maths lessons. They have learnt the time to 5 minutes and the time to a minute. In Geography, the children explored trade in Ghana and identified the major imports and exports. In Science, they discovered and created their own food chains and food webs. In DT, the children used their cutting and assembling skills to design their own packaging for a cereal box. In English, Year 4 started planning their own lost toy story. They are very excited to start writing this next week!
Year 5 – have been working extremely hard at doing their assessments. The teachers were very impressed by their positive attitude and perseverance. The children continued to read the class book 'The Journey' and wrote some very impressive persuasive speeches. In English, the children finished writing a character description of 'The Kraken' and their use of features and descriptive language was so good that it was terrifying even just to read them! The children also conducted a traffic survey of Iver to understand the effects of pollution on Iver. In Science, the children explored gestation periods and their insights and contributions were remarkable! It has been a productive week in Year 5!
Year 6 – have finished writing their narrative based on the Three Little Pigs.  They have impressed us with their imaginative stories from the perspective of the wolf.  In Maths, Year 6 have continued to work on their bakery project and have created some beautiful packaging for their cupcakes which they will make in the coming weeks.  In Humanities, the children are enjoying the topic: Crime and Punishment from the Roman era to the 21st century. Rehearsals continue for the end of year production and the children are impressing us with their amazing singing voices.  They are becoming more and more familiar with their characters and are hoping to go script free next week!

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have been working really hard on their assessments. They have focused brilliantly and should be proud of themselves. In Maths, they have been continuing to look at shapes. This week, they have developed their understanding by looking at 3-d shapes. Later on in the week, they moved onto looking at interpreting graphs such as pictograms and bar charts. In History, they looked at the Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Year 4 – have completed their end of term assessments - well done year 4! In English, the children have been writing a character description about a character from Leon and the Place Between. In Science, they went on a mini beast hunt, exploring different invertebrates. They also discovered that different animals have different diets and animals have different teeth depending on their diets. In History, children explored the impact of the Roman invasion on Britain.
Year 5 – have been learning all about negative numbers, honing in their skills of counting through zero on a number line, comparing and ordering them. In English, the children recorded and edited their news reports on the Ukrainian war. The teachers were impressed by the children's performance - their presentation skills were remarkable! Rev. Rob and Rev. Sarah spoke to the children about how the teachings of the Bible can shape the life of a Christian. In Science, the children learnt more about stages of development (babies and old age) and applied their data analysing skills to produce line graphs. It has been a busy but an energetic week in Year 5!
Year 6 – have been working very hard on rehearsals for their production.  We have been very impressed with their singing and how they are all starting to act in role as their characters. Behind the scenes, props and costumes are also being sorted. Back in the classroom, the children have been reaching the end of their real story of the three little pigs which they have enjoyed writing in English. In Maths they have been making a box using a net they have created, ready to put some cakes in towards the end of term. They are continuing with their topic in Science about the circulatory system and have been having some very useful discussions and sessions on transition in PSHE to help the children get ready for their move to secondary school.

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have had a wonderful time. They were so excited to complete the activity days on adventure day. They showed great resilience and have started to build up their teamwork skills. In English, they have been creating their very own superhero stories. They have been incorporating paragraphs into their stories as well as fronted adverbials. In Maths, they looked at different angles (right angle, acute and obtuse) as well as different types of lines (parallel and perpendicular). In Science they have been looking at the different types of fossils.
Year 4 – have been working very hard over the year on their times table. Over the past two weeks, year 4 have undertaken their multiplication check. Well done to everyone in year 4! In maths, children have come to the end of position and direction, where they were describing translations. In science, children were learning how to use a classification key. They understood that they need to use the characteristics of a species to sort them into a classification key. In Geography, year 4 discovered that the most common natural disaster in Ghana is a drought. They were able to compare the impact of the drought that happened in the UK to the impact drought has on Ghana.
Year 5 – have practised their mathematical skills of multiplying and dividing by 10, 100, and 1000. In English, the students completed a challenging task – writing a news report on the Ukrainian and Russian war. Their subject knowledge has been impressive and they are very excited to record their news broadcast next week! The focus in RE has been on making good choices, guided by the principles of Hinduism. A special highlight was the visit from DHL, who brought in a truck to teach the students about safety around large vehicles. It was a hands-on learning experience that emphasised the importance of being aware and cautious around trucks. Year 5 continues to amaze us with their enthusiasm and dedication to learning across all subjects - well done Year 5!
Year 6 – have continued writing their alternative narrative based on the traditional tale of ‘The 3 Little Pigs’.  They are working hard to include as many features from the Year 6 writing success criteria as they can. In Maths, Year 6 are continuing to work on the bakery project and this week they have used mathematical skills to design packaging for cakes such as: nets, area, perimeter, volume, 2d and 3d shapes.  In Science, the children have researched and created a leaflet describing how diet and exercise impact the body.

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have continued to build their knowledge of time focusing on calculating different durations of time and converting minutes into seconds. In English, they have been working hard on developing their poetry skills by creating their own poem using the film 'Toy Story' as inspiration. They have produced some fantastic poems using their creative writing skills! Year 3 also finished their Science topic of rocks this week by making their very own fossils to demonstrate the process of fossilation. Well done Year 3 for another productive week, we hope you enjoy your half term break!
Year 4 – have been writing a diary entry imagining that they are Tranio, experiencing Mount Vesuvius erupting. In Maths, the children have been interpreting charts. In Geography, they have been learning about the climate zone in Ghana and comparing it to Iver. They have been able to apply their learning in maths to draw a line graph to show the temperature and rainfall each month in Ghana and Iver. In Science, children explored the threats to their local environment and identified different causes of damages to air quality in the local area. Year 4 have been busy with art this week, exploring different printmaking techniques, they look amazing!
Year 5 – have written a formal letter to Usain Bolt and they managed to include a lot of success criteria and a variety of questions to Mr. Bolt - the teachers were really impressed! In Maths, the children learnt about symmetry and reflections on vertical and horizontal mirror lines and worked really hard to solve some challenging problems. They also produced a fantastic poster on anger in Guided reading and managed to include lots of information on coping strategies and ways to support others. In science, they learnt about metamorphoses; their contributions and engagement in this lesson was remarkable! Finally, the children applied their creativity to produce some magnificent artworks using henna, which they thoroughly enjoyed!
Year 6 – have welcomed employees from Heathrow Airport and took part in the Heathrow Young Explorers session.  They thoroughly enjoyed coming up with a design idea for a transport solution that will make travel throughout the airport even more sustainable.  They were extremely creative and came up with some interesting transport suggestions!  In Humanities, the children researched inventions invented by the Victorians and created a PowerPoint to present their findings.  In Science, Year 6 have delved into the functions of the heart, lungs and blood vessels.  We were also extremely impressed with the children’s acting abilities following their amazing auditions for the Year 6 end of year production ‘Cinderella & Rockerfella’. This made our casting selection extremely difficult.