Rowan Class

Welcome to Rowan Class

Classteacher:  Mr. T. Hewitt

Week beginning Monday 10rd July 2023

It's been an incredibly busy week in Rowan, with several late nights! We had the Year 6 production on Tuesday and Wednesday evening and everyone did an absolutely amazing job! I am so, so proud of everyone and I hope you all are too! On Thursday evening, we opened our classroom to parents and I was so happy to see and talk to so many of you. It was also great to see how proud you all were of your children and their work this year. It's been an absolute pleasure, so it was wonderful to share that with everyone. Everyone also completed some fantastic POP Tasks this week in Geography and Science. They were absoultely amazing and were a fantastic way of showcasing everything they had learned in the subjects this term.

One week to go! I'll see you all on Monday!

Week beginning Monday 3rd July 2023

It's been another wonderful week in Rowan class and it was lovely to have everyone back in our classroom after class swap week. I felt like I hadn't seen everyone in years! It was great to hear how excited everyone was about their new schools and classes. It was a great atmosphere! I was so pleased with how well everyone acted in our English lessons translating Shakespeare to modern English this week. 

Everyone also had a fantastic time in their Shakespeare workshop on Friday and I was so happy to hear how well Rowan class represetned the school and themselves. Well done, everyone!

Week beginning Monday 26th June 2023

Although I haven't seen too much of Rowan class this week, due to the Year 6 children visiting their secondary schools and the Year 5 children seeing what it's going to be like for them in Maple class next year, I've been very pleased with what we've managed to do together. We were able to finish our fantastic sculptures of human heads with some fantastic use of modrock and steady hands. We also did some additional research on South America in Geography.

Week beginning Monday 19th June 2023

Even thought it's been incredibly hot this week, everyone has made sure to work their hardest. We've had a fantastic sports day, with the Year 6 children helping to make sure everyone got to where they needed to be all morning. I was so proud of all of you! Everyone did a fantastic job in their races too; I couldn't believe how fast some of you can run!

The Year 5 children have been doing some assessments this week and they have shown just how ready they are for Year 6! Meanwhile, Year 6 have continued to work on some rehearsals for their production. I can't wait to see it!

I have you all have a wonderful weekend.

Week beginning Monday 12th June 2023

We've had another great week this week in Rowan class. Everyone has worked hard through the heat and we've shown some excellent outcomes. The Year 6 children have been rehearsing dilligently and are showing some excellent acting skills in the mornings and then we're all learning more and more about Romeo and Juliet afterwards as a class. Everyone has started to write their discussion texts comparing two adaptations of the story and I've seen some very impressive arguments!

We've also learned more about longditude and latitude in Geography, with everyone showing me how the world is split into 24 different time zones. 

It's been a fantastic week, so have a restful and relaxing weekend!

Week beginning Monday 5th June 2023

It was fantastic to come back after a relaxing half term and see so many children excited to be back in school. We're on the home stretch now: the last half term. We're going to have a lot of fun over the next few weeks and hoepfully we'll start to see some sunshine too. We've started to look at Romeo and Juliet in English and it's been fantastic to see how much everyone has enjoyed learning the story and debating the themes. We've also started programming with Crumbles in DT. We'll be making some very interesting things with them over the next 6 weeks. 

We also had our Shared Learning morning, where the children were able to teach you all about the process through which they complete their writing in English. It was so fantastic to see how well everyone interacted with the children and I've been relaibly informed you were all on your best behaviour! Thank you so much to everyone who was able to attend, it was a fantastic morning.

Week beginning Monday 22nd May 2023

What a fantastic end to the term we've had in Rowan class. So much work has been completed in such a short space of time. I am so, so impressed with the focus I've seen this week from everyone. Everyone wrote a fantastic discussion text on whether or not children should have to do SATs tests and I saw some fantastic arguments for and against. In fact, I liked them so much, I just had to get copies of them into Topic books, so they can come home at the end of the year. It was also POP Task week and everyone showed a truly fantastic receollection of all of their learning about medicine through history. There was so much attention to detail in the timelines that I thought I'd share a few on our class page too. 

I hope everyone has a well deserved and restful half term break and I will see you all soon for the last half term of the school year!

Week beginning Monday 15th May 2023

It's been another fantastic week in Rowan class. We've been really busy getting back into routine after the SATs but year 6 have also started their rehearsals for the production. Unfortunately, I've not been personally involved in casting, but I've heard some fantastic auditions and I know it's going to be amazing! We've all worked on preparing a discussion text about whether or not children should have to do SATs tests and I've seen some excellent arguments for and against. We've finished our work on pie charts in Maths and year 5 did an excellent job of not only reading them, but also creating them! 

Have a restful weekend. One week to go!

Week beginning Monday 8th May 2023

What an intense week we've had across the board! Year 6 were absolutely amazing this week, completing their SATs papers with so much confidence. It was fantastic to see everyone in early for breakfast club too. I can't remember the last time I saw so much toast get eaten!

I really can't stress enough how very, very proud I am of everyone. I know it was a lot of work, but it really paid off and everyone in year 6 deserves a well earned weekend!

In year 5, we wrote our final action stories with everyone picking a different setting. I was so pleased to see how well everyone was able to follow the structure of an action story and had a great time reading them! Everyone was also excellently behaved when working in Chestnut class, so well done for representing yourselves so brilliantly. We also carried on with some very interesting self-portraits in Art. Some of the sketching was fantastic!

I hope you all enjoy your weekends and I will see you all on Monday morning!

Week beginning Monday 1st May 2023

It's been a short, but very eventful week in Rowan class. All of the Year 6 children have finished all of their SATs revision and now we only have the papers themselves left! I've been so, so proud of all of the work they have put in over the past term in particular to prepare themselves for next week. I know they're all going to do brilliantly!

We've continued to write action stories in Year 5 and I've been very impressed with the first 3 paragraphs that everyone has written. I'm looking forward to seeing how they end!

On Friday, we all dressed up for the coronation of King Charles. Although I was robbed of best dressed teacher in Star Assembly, I was so happy to see all the the children in their outfits fit for a King! Well done, everyone!

Week beginning Monday 24th April 2023

Once again, everyone has been hard at work this week, producing some fantastic reults! Everyone has really been joying our class book, "Not My Fault" and we've had a great time discussing which character we think is in the right (personally, I can see both sides). The year 6 children wrote a wonderful set of short suspense narratives based on the first chapter and it was great to see how confident some of them have become when working independently. The year 5 children have continued to work on their action stories, carefully layering in new features and I think the final results are going to be amazing! 

Everyone also painted some excellent emotional characters based on the work of Keith Haring. I think they came out brilliantly! 

Enjoy your weekends, everyone!

Week beginning Monday 17th April 2023

It's been lovely to have everyone back in the classroom this week. The sun has made a return (of sorts) too, which has really made the classroom feel even brighter this week. We've all been working hard on some interesting learning this week. In History, we looked at medicine throughout the ages. We started over 5000 years ago and didn't even make it to the modern day in one lesson. There's a lot to go through and it was all fascinating. Everyone made some fantastic timelines to explain how things have changed and I was very impressed with the different takes on presentation. Year 6 are still revising for their SATs, which is very impressive. Their work in Maths in particular has been fantastic. Even I've had to stop and double check my working on a few questions! Year 5 have written some wonderful progressive clauses into short action stories and I've really enjoyed reading them. I can't wait to see what they do next!

Enjoy your weekends everyone and I will see you on Monday!

Week beginning Monday 27th March 2023

We've done it, Rowan class. Another whole term behind us! I am so immensely proud of how hard everyone has worked over the last 12 weeks. I've given you lots of challenging work and you've all risen to the challenge every time. I was so pleased with how well everyone did on their assessments this week. You should all be so proud of yourselves. You've all deserved a good rest, so I hope that you all put your feet up and enjoy your time off. I can't wait to see everyone after the holidays and get some more fantastic work done.

Well done everyone! See you in two weeks!

Week beginning Monday 20th March 2023

We’re so close to the end of term now and everyone is Rowan has really impressed me once again with their attitude. There’s been so much to do, but the class has really come together to all push towards the finish line. In English, the year 5s wrote some wonderful diary entries, which they’ve now published because they belong on display. The year 6s have written some fabulous emotive poems which have really impressed me! In Maths, everyone has been looking at shape in one way or another and I was very pleased to see how well everyone knew how to use a protractor! We’ve also completed our History POP tasks with some fantastic results.

Well done, everyone!

Week beginning Monday 13th March 2023

We've managed to pack a lot in this week, including our fantastic outfits for Comic Relief. I've never seen so many people dressed in red in one place! 

All of the children have continued to work incredibly hard across the curriculum and we've made some great progress on some Topic work. Everyone has managed to create a wonderful watercolour painted cover for their Topic books. We based these on the cover of Wonder and they've come out brilliantly! In English, the year 5s have been writing diary entries and the year 6 children are getting ready to write some poetry next week! I can't wait to read it. 

Well done this week, enjoy your weekends, everyone!

Week beginning Monday 6th March 2023

Everyone has continued to work their hardest this week and I'm once again very pleased with everyone. We've continued to work on shape in year 5 and in year 6, everyone has really gotten stuck in to their revision. I'm really impressed with the children who are finishing up their work at home and coming in to show me what they've done. We also had a very enjoyable lesson looking at daily life in Ancient Egypt. Everyone got to even try writing something using hieroglyphics! Luckily, they all translated their work for me too!

Well done this week, enjoy your weekends!

Week beginning Monday 27th February 2023

Once again, everyone has shown that they are capable of great things in Rowan class. The year 5 children have written some of the best pieces of work I've seen from them all year in their persuasive write Hot Tasks. I couldn't believe what I was reading! The way that they have put their ideas on the page is fantastic. In Maths, we've continued to look at area and perimeter and everyone has shown me that they can accurately find the areas of even compound shapes! The year 6 children have been powering away on their SATs revision and have really shown how far they've come since September. I've been so proud of them and I know they're looking forward to showing me what they can do next! 

Everyone has earned a break this weekend. Enjoy it and I'll see you all again next week!

Week beginning Monday 20th February 2023

It's been so fantastic to have everyone back to school with such a good attitude! I say it after every break, but it's as if we've never been away. The year 6 children have adapted well to their new learning setup and really known a lot of initiative with finishing their revision work and remembering their books. Well done! The year 5 children have been working in a much smaller group and have also been really enjoying the atmosphere in the mornings. They've written some fantastic persuasive pieces in English. In Maths, we've looked at area and perimeter and I've been so proud of how quickly everyone picked it up! 

A great start to the half term. Let's keep it up!

Week beginning Monday 6th February 2023

We've made it the end of the half term and everyone has worked incredibly hard! It's been a short half term but everyone in Rowan has created so much work, you'd think we'd been back for 10 weeks! I'm so, so impressed with everyone's ongoing attitude towards their work and the fantastic outcomes I get to see every day as a result.

In Maths, we've looked at the "rules" of mathematics and used them to solve and create our own problems. In English, we've started to look at persuasive writing and I can't wait to see what everyone tries to get me to buy after half term. We also finished our fantastic book, Stitch Head, which was very fun!

I hope you all enjoy a relaxing and well earned week off. 

Week beginning Monday 30th January 2023

We've had another fantastic week in Rowan class and everyone has maintained a fantastic energy as we move quickly toward the end of the half term. In Maths, we've looked at proportional relationship and ratio, with everyone seeing how important it is to scale both sides of a scale to keep it relevant. In English, I was so impressed with everyone's independent Hot Tasks. Everyone did a fantastic job of taking their own setting and creating an original suspense narrative. 

The children were able to successfully use the Chromebooks to research and create fact files on Egyptian Gods and I was so impressed with their work. It was easily some of the most impressive work everyone has produced all year! We're all making progress with our Stitch Head cushions too, with everyone managing to use several types of stich correctly. Well done, everyone!

Week beginning Monday 23rd January 2023

I have to recognise the excellent effort put in by everyone who came along to Young Voices this week. The children were beautifully behaved, sang wonderfully and knew all of their choreography. They were so helpful during rehearsals while I was trying to remember which order the King of China did everything. Well done to everyone who came, I'm very proud of you!

We've also been doing more suspense writing, with some fantastic work being published and put on our displays. We've looked at bullying and how to be kind to people, as well as continuing to work on percentages and decimals in Maths.

Everyone has worked incredibly hard this week and has deserved a restful weekend. See you all on Monday!

Week beginning Monday 16th January 2023

It's been another busy week in Rowan class! We've been preparing for our Young Voices concert next week and everyone is sounding fantastic. We've continued our work with decimals and everyone was able to see how they could relate their understanding of decimals to fractions and vice versa. In English, everyone wrote their first independent suspense narrative after learning about new writing techniques and they were even scarier than the first set! I think I'm going to need to mark the final set before the sun sets next week! In Science, we experimented with reversible and irreversible changes and everyone was very sensible when working independently. I was very impressed!

Enjoy your weekends, everyone. Well done!

Week beginning Monday 9th January 2023

Everyone has done a fantastic job this week and should be really proud of themselves. We looked at decimals all week in Maths and I was so pleased with how well everyone took to working with values less than 1... or in between 2 and 3... or 21 and 22! Everyone was using the new vocabulary brilliantly and I enjoyed telling everyone who'd listen about how happy I was.

In English, everyone wrote a spooky suspense narrative and I had to calm myself down in between each one. Lots of rusty pipes, collapsing staircases, ominous howls and and all sorts of other bone chilling descriptions waiting for me on every page!

In Geography, we looked at how rivers are formed and end and in Science we did some experiments to work out how to separate materials that had accidentally been mixed together. 

I've been really proud of everyone this week, well done!

Week beginning Monday 2nd January 2023

It was so nice to see everyone back in the classroom this week, even if it was only for two days! Everyone has come back with a fantastic attitude and dove straight into their learning. 

We've started to look at our new book, Stitch Head, and everyone seems to be enjoying how bizarre it is! Everyone created their own version of the cover and they were so fantastic that I'm going to put them on display!

We've had a fantastic start to the year, so I'm looking forward to the rest of the term!

Week beginning Monday 12th December 2022

We've come to the end our last full week in Rowan and I couldn't be prouder of everyone! We've had such a busy week that it's hard to think that it's been five whole days! On Tuesday, we had our carol concert at the church and everyone did an absolutely amazing job. So many people had volunteered to speak, or stepped in to do so at the last minute and I was so proud of everyone. The singing (and the sound mixing) was absolutely spectacular. We've also done a lot of writing and editing this week, writing explanation texts for how the heart works and for how a magic carpet works. Everyone did a great job of that and should be very proud of themselves. 

We've only got two days left and I can't wait to work on some Christmassy Art with everyone next week. Have a restful weekend!

Week beginning Monday 5th December 2022

It might be getting colder outside, but that hasn't slowed us down in Rowan. We've spent a lot of our week rehearsing for our carol concert in the church next week and everyone sounds amazing. We've got all of the lyrics locked in and everyone knows their part in the script. We can't wait for everyone to come and see it! We've also finished week one of our arithmetic focus in Maths with an eye to challenge ourselves even more next week. Everyone has also written the first two paragraphs of their explanation text about the heart and they're very impressive! 

There's only a week and a few days left before we break up for Christmas, so enjoy your weekends and get ready for the final push to the end of term!

Week beginning Monday 28th November 2022

Everyone has pushed themselves really hard this week. We've had so much to do and everyone has really risen to the challenge. From Science and History POP Tasks to finding fractions of amounts, everyone has really given everything their all. We've started to use topic sentences in our writing and we've found ourselves reading the most interesting parts of the story of Aladdin. There's been a lot of complex language in our reading this week and everyone has done well to follow it as closely as they have. Next week, we're going to look back across all of the Maths we've focused on this year in an arithmetic week to show off everything we know. We're also ramping up rehearsals for our upcoming performance in the church!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Week beginning Monday 21st November 2022

We've had an incredibly busy week in Rowan this week, filled with assessments, lots of writing and even more independent work! I've been so proud of how hard everyone has worked this week: it's not been easy! Even though we've all had to push ourselves, not one person (myself included) complained and we made it through. We're coming to the end of our work on fractions and this week, we learned how to add and subtract fractions, including mixed numbers. In English, we wrote our own independent stories about Aladdin stealing the magical lamp. We've also worked on putting all of our knowledge about the human body on one piece of paper! 

Well done this week, Rowan!

Week beginning Monday 14th November 2022

It's been a long week filled with lots and lots of work in Rowan class. We've finished our first week on fractions and everyone has done a fantastic job! Everyone was able to use their multiplication and division knowledge to make fractions more complex, simplify them, compare them and convert them to have the same denominator. I've been very impressed! In English, everyone wrote a fantastic wish story with a focus on character. When I was marking them, I experienced a full spectrum of emotions, from being shocked by twists to laughing out loud at the events. I love reading such different narratives, so it was a very fun afternoon for me! We've also created posters advertising desert biomes to tourists which include information from all of our Geography lessons so far, as well as advice sheets for people to have a good diet and lifestyle in Science. 

Enjoy the weekend, Rowan. You've earned it!

Week beginning Monday 7th November 2022

Everyone has worked really hard this week, which has meant that we've done a fantastic job of finishing off our work on division. We've all shown how to partition, present remainders as fractions AND present remainders as decimals! I've been so, so impressed with everyone's attitude this week. In English, we've completed another piece of wonderful writing to describe a character, with some incredibly moving pieces. In Geography, we learned about desert flora and fauna and everyone created a fantastic fact file on a desert animal and plant of their choosing. 

I hope everyone enjoys a relaxing weekend.

Week beginning Monday 31st October 2022

Once again, we've had a wonderful week in Rowan class. Everyone has come back from the half term break with a fantastic attitude and I've been so proud of everyone! We've text mapped our next narrative in English and we're looking forward to writing a character description. In Maths, everyone has done a brilliant job of showing their understanding of division, including short division, which was brand new learning for some people! Our PSHE lesson this week had every discussing their rights and responsibilities very sensibly, which was so lovely to see. We've also learned about the origins on houmous to prepare for making our own later this half term!

Week beginning Monday 17th October 2022

We've come to the end of the first half term and I couldn't be prouder of the work that Rowan have done over the last seven weeks! Everyone has worked so hard on their information texts about lizards this week and they've come out amazingly! We've also finished our work on long multiplication and everyone should be very proud of themselves.

It was so nice to meet so many parents this week to discuss how your children are doing. Don't forget you can always come along to our At Home meetings on a Monday after school too. 

I hope everyone has a fun and restful half term: you've earned it!

Week beginning Monday 10th October 2022

Everyone has worked very hard again this week, leading to some fantastic outcomes. We've learned all about multiplication using factors and partitioning in Maths, with everyone showing excellent perseverance. In English, we text mapped our information text about the yellow-spotted lizard and we've planned some writing using our own creative takes on the creature. We talked about responsibility in PSHE and drew some fantastic cubist pictures in Art. 

We were also lucky enough to visit the garrison to play squash and everyone had a fantastic time and represented the school brilliantly. Well done, Rowan!

Week beginning Monday 3rd October 2022

We've had another great week of learning in Rowan. In Maths, we've been looking at factors, multiples, prime numbers and square numbers. Everyone has really shown a fantastic understanding of these concepts and has demonstrated that in their work. In English, we have finished our unit on narrative setting descriptions with some truly wonderful final pieces of writing. Our class book, "Holes", has taken a dramatic turn and we're all excited to learn what happens next! We've also learned about the structure of early Baghdad, the features of a Mosque and continued to work on our football skills in P.E.

Week beginning Monday 26th September 2022

After an eventful week of either a residential trip, or writing some fantastic poems, Rowan class are back together again!

In Maths this week, we have been working on calculations - deciding whether to complete them mentally, using column methods or adjusting them to simplify. Everyone did a great job. In English, we have been planning and writing narratives with a focus on setting description. Everyone wrote a unique and engaging story with a different threat! 

We have also learned more about the original structure of the city of Baghdad and how the heart works. 

Week beginning Monday 5th September 2022

The children in Rowan class have returned to school and settled in wonderfully.

Everyone has been working hard in English, creating text maps of our model text and practicing them with each other. Everyone has given good feedback to their talk partners and shown fantastic respect for their peers. We’re looking forward to writing a setting description soon!

In Maths, the children have shown a fantastic understanding of place value, reading, writing and recording numbers. They have also begun to round numbers to the nearest 1000, 10,000, 100,000 and even million! Everyone has shown themselves to be inquisitive and focused in Maths, writing excellent STEM sentences to go with their calculations.

The children have been learning about the circulatory system in Science and have created some wonderfully presented work detailing the roles of its various parts. There have been some incredibly detailed diagrams of the heart, as well as fascinating explanations of how veins, arteries and capillaries work.