D'Arcy Primary Academy Class Blogs

We have been very busy in Class 4 this week! The children carried out an experiment to investigate a reversible change . They mixed salt and water together, making sure it was a fair test, and their aim is to find out what happens once the water has evaporated. The children have been discussing the scientific vocabulary solute , solvent and solution , and they have written up their experiment. We are very excited to find out the results! In Maths, we have been mastering our multiplication skills. The children have been using the column method to multiply 2- and 3-digit numbers by 1 digit. They are working really hard to make sure they feel confident with the method. They are certainly getting there, and we are very proud of them. In History, we have been learning about the Roman invasion of Britain. Today, we debated the pros and cons of the invasion for the British people and investigated how they might have reacted. It was a lovely debate with some thoughtful ideas shared.

  Year 6 SATs Club We hope this letter finds you well. As your child approaches an important milestone in their education, we want to do everything possible to ensure they feel confident and prepared for their SATs. To support them, we are delighted to offer a  SATs Club  led by Mrs Campbell (Class 5 Teacher) and Mrs Williams (HTLA). Why SATs Club? The SATs are an essential part of your child's educational journey. They provide an opportunity for your child to showcase the progress they have made in key areas such as reading, writing, and mathematics. While SATs are a useful measure of academic achievement, they also help prepare children for future challenges by building resilience and a sense of accomplishment. At SATs Club, we will: Reinforce key skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. Provide targeted support and address individual learning needs. Use engaging activities to build confidence and reduce test-related stress. What’s...

We had lots of fun in Forest School today. The children were back and ready to continue their learning and play after the break. After last week’s rain, it was lovely that we were able to light the fire this week. We successfully lit a warm, welcoming fire (thank you to Mrs Williams for her support and brilliant skills!) and cooked bananas with chocolate buttons for the children to enjoy. Lots of the children tried these, and a few even came back for seconds… and thirds! The children also returned to the whittling area and continued developing their skills using peelers to whittle willow branches. Many of the children love returning to this activity, and it’s fantastic to see their confidence and skills grow each week. We also have several avid builders in the group who continued working on their bug hotel. This activity involved lots of teamwork, with the children working together to organise, plan, and build their structure. Finally, we had some soldiers in the forest! A lovely im...

Class 5 Homework Reading Class 5 students are now using reading journals at home as well as in school. The aim is to strengthen fluency, increase vocabulary, and build confidence through regular practice. Journals help track progress and encourage consistent reading habits. Your support at home is greatly appreciated. Spellings Each week Class 5 will have a new set of 10 spellings that will be posted on the blog. Please support your child with learning these over the week. Thank you! Here are some different ways you can practise the spellings -  Maths Each week there will be Maths homework assigned to the children on Maths.co.uk. The pupils have all received their log in details, but if there are any problems or your child has lost their log in details please speak to Mrs Campbell. These are short and focused quizzes to support the pupils across all areas in Maths.  Have a lovely week! Mrs Campbell 😊

  Year 6 SATs -  Supporting Y our Child Through SATs I want to begin by saying how proud we are of the effort they put into their learning every day. As SATs approach, we know this can be an anxious time for them and families, and our aim is to work in close partnership with you to ensure your child feels confident, supported and ready. SATs are important, but they are only one part of your child’s learning journey. What truly makes a difference is consistent support, encouragement and wellbeing—both in school and at home. Understanding SATs SATs help us understand how well children have grasped key skills in English and Mathematics across primary school. They allow us to identify strengths and areas where further support may be needed as children move forward in their education. Please be reassured: SATs do not define your child or determine their future success. Our focus is on helping every child do their best in a calm and positive environment. Ways you can help at home: P...

 It was a muddy Forest School session this week, and the children absolutely loved it! Although we couldn’t have a fire because of the rain, we had two rope swings, a generous donation of beautiful wood for whittling, and of course, plenty of mud. Some of the boys worked with me to saw off a branch, and we had a thoughtful discussion about whether this was the best thing to do before agreeing to go ahead. The level of thinking, teamwork, and collaboration they showed was really impressive. Well done to all the children for giving it their all and having such a great time.

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It was wonderful to see so many adults at our class sharing assembly on Wednesday. We are incredibly proud of the children and how confidently they delivered their lines, as well as their commitment to all of our rehearsals. Thank you for your continued support. In English this week, we published our newspaper reports and they look brilliant! The children came up with their own ideas for newspaper names and headlines, and wrote engaging photo captions. Next week, we will be moving on to our new writing unit: Persuasive Travel Leaflets . In RE , we researched Hindu deities and created posters explaining the Hindu gods and goddesses, what they are responsible for, and why a Hindu person might pray to them. The posters are really eye-catching, and the children worked hard on drawing detailed pictures of the deities. In History , we learned about the reasons for the Ancient Roman invasion of Britain. We discussed the valuable resources Britain had and why the Romans were keen to make t...

  We’ve had a wonderfully busy and creative week in class! We continued our writing inspired by the book Rapunzel by Bethan Woollvin , and the children had great fun designing WANTED! posters for the witch. They confidently used questions and commands such as, “Have you seen this bad witch?” and, “You must capture her!” The whole class produced some fantastic writing. In R.E., the children explored similarities and differences between the Bible and the Torah , and asked some thoughtful and interesting questions. In history, we continued learning about aeroplanes, focusing on the inspiring Bessie Coleman this week! As the children move on with their phonics learning, I have added new online Rhino Reader books. Please check the app for more home reading opportunities. 

  🌟 Reception Weekly Learning Update 🌟 We’ve had a very busy and exciting week in Reception! Here’s a snapshot of what the children have been learning across the curriculum: 🔤 Phonics This week we have been learning the trigraphs ear and air . The children have been practising blending and reading words containing these sounds. We have also been learning to read our tricky words all and are , and revisiting how to spell the tricky words the, to, I, no and go . ✍️ Handwriting The children have been practising correct letter formation for the letter h and working on writing Level 2 tricky words , focusing on careful letter formation and starting points. 🔢 Maths In maths, we have been learning all about the number 5 . We sang 5 Little Speckled Frogs and used cubes and our fingers to explore numbers practically. We began introducing the 5-frame and the Hungarian 5-frame/dice pattern . The children continued to practise subitising and played games such as Fast Fingers...

  Class 5 Homework Reading Class 5 students are now using reading journals at home as well as in school. The aim is to strengthen fluency, increase vocabulary, and build confidence through regular practice. Journals help track progress and encourage consistent reading habits. Your support at home is greatly appreciated. Spellings Each week Class 5 will have a new set of 10 spellings that will be posted on the blog. Please support your child with learning these over the week. Thank you! Here are some different ways you can practise the spellings -  Maths Each week there will be Maths homework assigned to the children on Maths.co.uk. The pupils have all received their log in details, but if there are any problems or your child has lost their log in details please speak to Mrs Campbell. These are short and focused quizzes to support the pupils across all areas in Maths.  Have a lovely week! Mrs Campbell 😊

  Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home Reading regularly at home plays a vital role in helping children become confident, fluent, and enthusiastic readers. While we support reading every day at school, the time children spend reading at home—especially with an adult—has a powerful impact on their progress. When children read at home, they: Practice and reinforce the skills they are learning in class Build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension Grow in confidence and develop a love of books As a school, we aim for children to read at home at least four times a week . Even short, regular reading sessions make a big difference. How We Support Reading at School Daily reading practice developing their reading skills and comprehension Teachers regularly check reading logs to see how often children are reading at home Children are encouraged to change their home reading books frequently to keep reading enjoyable We make sure children are reading books that are s...

 We have had a fantastic time in class this week and have really enjoyed writing about our class book, Rapunzel by Bethan Woollvin. The children have been using lots of exciting adjectives to describe the characters and the settings within the story, and their ideas have been wonderful. In Maths, we have been learning useful facts to help when we are adding numbers together, which has helped us become quicker and more confident. In PE, we learned some dance moves to African music and the children did really well following the foot work. In Science, we have been learning about microhabitats, and thinking about the mini beasts and fungi that live and grow. We had a great time bug hunting: rolling back logs and searching through piles of leaves to find creepy crawlies! To complete a busy week, we learned about the Wright brothers' first flight in our history lesson. The children made their own presentations about how the Wright brothers' invention has changed our lives today and ...

We had so much fun and were super busy in Forest School this week! 🔥🌲 We had the fire going and made delicious s’mores. The children were safe around the fire and carefully held their marshmallows while toasting them. Many of the children also practised fire lighting in small bowls, using flint and steel to light cotton wool. We were so impressed with their perseverance, patience and concentration. They really embraced the Forest School ethos of enjoying the process, not worrying too much about the end result, and keeping on trying even when things were tricky. There was also mud, mud and more mud! The children were digging, sliding, moving mud around and generally getting stuck in and having lots of fun. The children also enjoyed den building, tree climbing, whittling, and some relaxing (and swinging!) time in the hammock. What a fantastic week of learning, teamwork and outdoor adventure! 🌿✨

This week in Class 4, we have been busy learning and rehearsing! In English, we interviewed Mrs Fowler for our newspaper report to gather information about a mysterious event in the school library. Using this evidence, we will be writing our own newspaper reports and focusing on the key features of a newspaper. We can’t wait to read the children’s finished reports! In Science , we continued our learning about changes in materials. We explored evaporation and learned how it can be used to remove a solvent. In Computing , we have started planning a three-frame video that we will record using the school iPads. We are really looking forward to seeing the finished videos! We have also been practising hard for our class sharing assembly and are excited to show you our learning and presentation skills very soon.

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  🌟 Reception Class Weekly Learning Update 🌟 We’ve had a busy and exciting week in Reception, full of fantastic learning across all areas of the curriculum. Here’s a snapshot of what the children have been exploring: 🔤 Phonics In phonics this week, we focused on blending and segmenting sounds to help with reading. The children practised recognising and reading tricky words, including: I, the, he, she, we, was, my, you, all, are, here, and they . They are becoming more confident using these words in their reading and writing. ✍️ Handwriting We practised forming the letter u , concentrating on correct letter shape and pencil control. The children worked hard and showed great focus. 📖 English We continued working on our “I like” booklets. The children had a go at writing headings and labels, and then challenged themselves to write a sentence to describe their drawings. We also enjoyed reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff . The children made their own puppets and acted out...

  Class 5 Homework Reading Class 5 students are now using reading journals at home as well as in school. The aim is to strengthen fluency, increase vocabulary, and build confidence through regular practice. Journals help track progress and encourage consistent reading habits. Your support at home is greatly appreciated. Spellings Each week Class 5 will have a new set of 10 spellings that will be posted on the blog. Please support your child with learning these over the week. Thank you! Here are some different ways you can practise the spellings -  Maths Each week there will be Maths homework assigned to the children on Maths.co.uk. The pupils have all received their log in details, but if there are any problems or your child has lost their log in details please speak to Mrs Campbell. These are short and focused quizzes to support the pupils across all areas in Maths.  Have a lovely week! Mrs Campbell 😊

 Class 3 Ocean Dance The children explored an ‘Amazing Ocean Dance’ during PE, using descriptive adjectives to inspire their movements. They used their bodies to create a range of shapes and actions, including high and low levels, leaps, and spins. After practicing the movements, they performed them to music. It was wonderful to see their growing confidence and expressive abilities, and they felt proud to share their dance with others! Well done Class 3!

Year 5 and 6 WW1 Day Year 5 and 6 spent an inspiring and memorable day learning about the First World War through a range of hands-on and creative activities. The children explored history in an exciting, immersive way by using flight simulators and virtual reality, giving them a powerful insight into what it may have felt like to fly aircraft during the war. They learned about key events, people and the importance of aviation in WW1, asking thoughtful questions and showing great enthusiasm throughout the day. Alongside the technology, pupils expressed their learning creatively by writing poems about war, remembrance and hope on special seed paper, which will be sent to France as a lasting message of peace and reflection. They also enjoyed drawing detailed fighter planes, inspired by what they had learned. A huge thank you to the visitors who made this experience possible. Their time, knowledge and interactive resources made history come alive for everyone involved. Mrs Campbell 😊