We have loved our learning in school and have told our family and friends about what we have been doing. Here is some of the lovely things we have been doing at home!

Before we could write an information text to help the local people stop climbers, we need to look at the features we would need to include in our writing.

To find out more about the Uluru to help us with our information text, we went on a virtual tour of the Uluru and surrounding area using Google earth.

Mrs Edwards came to talk to us about her trip to the Uluru. We were so lucky to be able to hold a piece of the Uluru which Mrs Edwards had brought back. She told us about how she was able to climb the Uluru, but now this is not allowed because it is a protected site.

The team were required to write some information for climbers to help them to understand why the Uluru is so sacred. We were asked by the local people to help them. Here are some of our fantastic information texts.

Our writing in Daffodils is wonderful and we are really working hard on our presentation and handwriting. Mrs Chapman has awarded our first two pen licenses - Wow well done!

What happens when i mix a solid and a liquid?
We used beads, sugar, salt and sand. We discussed what we already knew and made predictions about what might happen when they were mixed with water.
Ask your child how we made the test a fair test - what stayed the same and what changed?

We mixed each of the solids into the warm water for 1 minute and observed what was happening. What do you think our conclusions will be?

Morda Forest School "Friends" (birds, fairies, teachers?) had left some pretty wool on our willow branches for us to make some very special Friendship bracelets. We made the bracelet for our partner. We had to work with our partner cooperatively to twist and tie the wool. Our lovely friend Mrs Lesley Edwards joined us for hot chocolate and mini eggs. 
 
We saw some signs of spring, primroses, primulas, blossom and buds.
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It was cold and wet though so we enjoyed our tasty 'chocolate button burgers' back in class!
 

After learning our space song the children were interested to find out what it is like to be a spaceman. So we looked at the food they eat and even tried a little space ice-cream. We decided we preferred the frozen variety! This afternoon we recounted the story for our ballad, ready to write our own song. We had to make sure the verses had 4 lines and had two rhyming words on lines 2 and 4. Next week we hope to finish it.

This afternoon the children in Daffodils have been singing a ballad - Space Oddity by David Bowie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lEwLAfL2xQ). We looked at how the song is written with verses and choruses in preparation for writing our very own ballad. We then watched a cartoon of the story we need to write a song for.  Recounting the song, we used words such as soaring above the clouds, sparkling stars, happiness and success. Next week we will move onto thinking about the lyrics using these words!  

To celebrate world book day, we took part in 2 online workshops with the author Helen Rutter, who talked about her book 'How to be funny' and George Webster talking about his book 'This is me!' We also enjoyed sharing our favourite books with our friends.

Andy Bradbury, from Shropshire fire and rescue, came to talk to us today about how to keep safe in the event of a fire. He told us the best place to put smoke alarms in our homes and when to check them. We learnt the safest way to escape. Some of us even got to try on his kit!

Can you use the maps and globes to locate the main cities in Australia? You will need to look closely! 

We hope that you have had a fun and busy half term holiday. We are all looking forward to our new geography topic - Australia! We will be learning about the natural geographical features and important cities and landmarks.
Or mantel story this half term, explores the story of the Anangu people who don’t want people climbing Uluru. Signs were put up at the base of the climb which asked visitors on behalf of Anangu people, 'Please Don’t Climb'. A rule was put in place to stop people from climbing and walking there. The Anangu people are the traditional landowners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Uluru is an important and sacred site for them and has existed since the beginning of time. A group of climbers say "It's difficult to see what the importance and significance is". "It's a rock. It's supposed to be climbed." We explore the questions what makes an important landmark?
How should we treat important places? Who are the Anangu people? Where is the Uluru? 
Science
This half term we will be continuing to investigate the properties of materials. We will be finding out how to separate a simple solid mixture, how to separate a solid from a liquid and what happens when a material is warmed and cooled.
Art
This half term we will be continuing our Aboriginal dot paintings, using symbols. 
Outdoor learning
We will continue to visit the forest school area every other Tuesday afternoon. We will be going out in all weather, so please make sure kits include plenty of layers (Water proof coats and trousers, jogging bottoms, jumper, gloves and hat. Please no jeans, as these can be uncomfortable if they get wet) Again, make sure kits are clearly labelled. Remember to check weekly reminders on the website for any changes.
PE 
PE will continue to be on alternate Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please check weekly reminders on the website. It is important children bring into school the correct kit. They should have in their kit: A white or navy blue t shirt, a navy blue jumper or zip up hoodie, navy jog suit bottoms or shorts, trainers and spare socks. 
Reading.
We will change books once a week and children can take home a book to enjoy. Please make sure book bags are in school every day. It is lovely to read your comments in reading diaries, please make sure you fill in reading diaries every time you read, as we are continuing our reading challenge in class – the more you read the more chance of winning a class treat!
TT Rocks
Please continue to log in to TT Rocks. This is a really fun way to learn multiplication tables. Keep having a go as much as you can, the more times you play the more rewards you get and the better you become at your multiplication tables! 

We love seeing any work you have done at home, or if there is anything you would like to share with us about our topic about Australia.
As always, if you have any worries or questions, please let us know.

Mrs Kavannah, Mrs Humphreys, Mrs McTweed and Mrs Ryan

On a large piece of paper there were the words “No walking or Climbing”
I wonder what can this mean? Have you seen a sign like this before? Where did you see it?

The local Anangu people have long been calling for visitors to stop climbing the sacred rock. And up until the ban, hundreds of thousands of tourists scaled and climbed Uluru every year, against the express wishes of the traditional owners, the Anangu people. This played a part in the decision of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board to ban the climb. But just why is it wrong to climb Uluru?

We saw a picture of Rene, an Anangu person living in the Uluru park. They were wearing headband is worn to mark the closure of the Uluru to climbers.
They talk about the importance of the inma – not to show the world that their culture is strong – but to show the Anangu children.
 We meet Rene, they explained,
“The dances they will be doing as small children today, are the ones that they will carry with them and continue to dance throughout their lives.These are the inma that our grandfathers and grandmothers entrusted to us to hold and pass on.“We hold this inma in our minds and in our sprit, so that we can sing, we can dance, we can give them to the children of the future. So it is for our children that we are most excited. We are going to be dancing for them, for the children. We need the rock to rest and heal”

A group of climbers are arguing against the closure of the Uluru, and are wanting to climb the old climbing route.  There are several signs at the base of Uluru that urge tourists not to climb because of the site's sacred value.
 
We split into two groups. One group of children acted out standing at the base of the rock to try to stop the climbers, The second group acted as the climbers.

This afternoon the children in Daffodils learnt all about ballads. We learnt a ballad is a song which tells a story. We listened to a range of songs and talked about the stories that were told. Then we watched the story and song; Space Oddity by David Bowie. After talking about the story, we also noticed how a ballad was a bit like a poem, and even had some rhyming words.