Kestrel 

Class teacher: Katy Weston

Despite the appalling weather, Kestrel had a fantastic day out in London. Tramping bravely through the pouring rain, they set off, feeling like Shackleton's explorers in the Arctic, to visit some of London's favourite landmarks. Having waved to the Queen, they continued past the horse guards, waved at the police at Downing Street and made their way onto Westminster Bridge. Soaked but happy, they arrived finally at the Royal Festival Hall for a warm up and nice lunch. After a well deserved rest, they joined the queue for the London Eye, and following in the footsteps of Salim from the London Eye Mystery, they boarded their pods. The view was spectacular, if a little grey. 

On their return to school, the children have been learning about London's history and geography whilst continuing to follow the exciting London Eye Mystery in the class novel. 

Most recently, we have had a day dedicated to science. We investigated the unique quality of our fingerprints and had an amazing opportunity to dissect a heart. The children were really interested in how this vital organ works and were excited to see and touch it for themselves.  We also listened to a fascinating talk by a neurologist about his work with premature babies and how he became a scientist. The day was great fun and really brought to life our science learning. 

 Kestrel class have explored some exciting topics, kicking off with micro-organisms and the challenge of who could create the mouldiest bread. Alongside this exploration of the world's tiniest creatures, we studied the Earth's mega-beasts: the dinosaurs. In history, we've been time travelling to the Stone Age and we had a great immersion day which included an archaeological dig and creating art in caves. In the first half term, we read Journey to Jo'Burg and explored life in South Africa under apartheid. To show our anger at the unfair system, we created protest speeches and some amazing narrative writing. 

We had some great trips linked to our topic this term, including coming face to face with the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum and recreating natural selection through evolution games at the Natural History Museum. 

The standard of writing the children have produced already is very impressive. From stories to scientific explanations, they are working hard to master their skills. They are showing amazing maturity and taking great pride in the progress they are making. Well done Kestrels!