Marwell

On Tuesday 15th March, Year 3 and Year 4 visited Marwell to support our science topic on minibeasts and habitats as well as our literacy topic on monsters.

We had a fascinating time in the workshop learning how animals adapt to their habitats and how Marwell works hard to recreate these habitats for the animals in their care.

These rats like to climb and have somewhere up high to feel safe.

Can you spot the frog using camouflage to keep safe? 

The lady explained that customs have donated some animal skins that they have seized from hunters. Marwell has these so that we can learn more about these animals and why we must work hard to protect them in the wild

How do we know that this animal lived in a cold climate?

 We also met an amazing hissing cockroach and a snake, which all the children were very happy to touch!

We must have been very gentle and quiet as we didn't hear any hissing.

After our workshop we went out to explore the wide range of animals and plants that Marwell looks after. We saw some very small, well hidden insects as well as much larger animals.

 The tropical house was great for exploring plants and some tiny creatures in a very different habitat. We were surprised to learn that lots of these plants have many uses in cooking and other everyday products.

Of course Year 3 were very keen to say hello to Indeever, our class snow leopard, and luckily he was out and about. His camouflage did make him a little difficult to spot at times though! 

The children all behaved really well and did their best to make sure that the animals felt relaxed and happy to have us visiting them in their different habitats.

A huge thank you to all the parents who supported us on the day and made the trip possible.

Thank you

We had a very successful Fairtrade fortnight at Kings Copse Primary.

Our 'Bring a Fairtrade snack to school' day was very popular and it was lovely to see such a variety of Fairtrade products in the playground. Our Fairtrade committee members were on hand to give out stickers to all those who could show the Fairtrade logo on their snack.

We also launched our 90kg Rice Challenge. Buying 90 bags of rice would mean we would have raised enough money to help a farmer send their child to school for a whole year. In one week we sold an incredible 55 bags of rice! Many schools have set the challenge to last a year so the fact that we sold over half in one week is amazing. We will be continuing to sell bags of rice through the office and again at the summer fair so we can reach our target of 90.

Classes also took part in a wide variety of activities to raise awareness of Fairtrade issues across the school. These included chocolate tasting in KS1, banana maths in Year 6 and a breakfast bar challenge using only Fairtrade ingredients in Year 3. 

Our breakfast plate challenge was won by Lucy in Year 4 and Jenson in Year 2. Congratulations to them and we hope you enjoy your Fairtrade chocolate egg prizes!

There has been a real buzz around school and it is great to hear so many children talking about Fairtrade and thinking about the choices we can all make to support the farmers.

Thank you to all the children and parents who have supported our Fairtrade activities. A big thank you also to the Fairtrade committee who worked so hard, and with such enthusiasm, to make the fortnight a success.

Portchester Castle

We had a great time at Portchester Castle! The children learned all about the castle and who used to live there.

The children dressed up as Kings and Queens.

They leant about different weapons used to protect the castle.

The children did some medieval dancing.

Think Safe

On Thursday, we took part in a Think Safe event which taught us how to be good junior citizens. We heard from different people about different ways to keep safe - have a look on the website to see some of the ways you can be keeping safe! 

 Eastleigh Borough council spoke to us about how to stay safe when approaching dogs in public places.  

 We built on our work with the PCSOs when we learnt about 'stranger dangers.'  After speaking with the PCSO, we understood how important it is not to go anywhere with people we don't know.

The Hampshire fire and rescue service taught us some important lessons about fires in the home. We even had a go at calling the fire service to report a fire! We were also taught about fire alarms and how important they are in protecting us in our homes.

The RNLI discussed with us how to keep safe on the beach and what to do if we find ourselves in trouble. We also learnt what to do if we see someone else struggling at sea or on the beach.

From the trading standards institute we learnt all about how to check if items are genuine or not using the labels. We also learnt about 'use-by' and 'sell-by' dates and how to check the food we have is safe to eat.

Another activity we took part in was a handwashing activity - we were shocked to see how many germs were on our hands under a UV light! We were given a special foam to put on our hands before shaking hands with people - we could then see the germs under the UV light. After we had washed our hands we expected the germs to go, but it was surprising how many we could still see! We soon realised how important it is to wash our hands thoroughly.

We also participated in a First Aid activity where we learnt some basic skills such as the recovery position, helping in a safe environment and raising the alarm if we need.

Overall, we learnt some really helpful skills throughout the day. If you would like to know more, have a look on the website! Think safe website:  http://www.juniorcitizen.org.uk/kids/ 

Capacity

Capacity

This week in maths we have been learning about capacity.  We had great fun measuring different amounts of green liquid.  There were two challenges for us which helped us with estimating and measuring.  Why not have a go at home?!

Task 1: Pour out an estimate of 100ml into an unmarked beaker.  How close can you get?

 

Task 2: Ask someone to pour out an amount in an unmarked beaker.  Estimate the amount before measuring it out.  How close were you?

Gardening Club commenced again at the beginning of March.  We started by thinking about crop rotation and which borders our; alliums, roots, brassicas and legumes were to be grown. 

And then we .......

cleared last years leeks before planting peas in the legume border,  

Tidied the shed and working areas,

planted shallots, red and white onion sets in the allium border and then hung CD's to protect them from birds! 

We sowed lettuce, broad beans, sweet peas .... (but to name a few)

Moved compost ...

 cleaned out the chicken coop and had hugs!

which everyone had helped make, by composting your left over fruit, grass cutting and chicken straw.   

But we have bigger and bolder plans......

over the coming months we plan to  .........                     

1.  plant a herb garden on the strip of ground in front of years 6, 5 and 4.

2.  build a fruit cage alongside the raised borders by the chicken coop.

3.  and take part in the Rocket Science experiment.  This involves schools across the UK growing rocket seeds.  These seeds have been in space, with Tim Peake at the International Space Station.  And by us growing, watching and recording how they grow we will help inform scientists about growing food in space.  

To see Tim Peake's message to schools copy and paste the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OgSJKqDRFk