Welcome to Hazel Class!

Hazel Class is a fantastic Year 3/4 class taught by Mr. McKenna (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday first lesson), Mrs Collins (the remainder of Wednesday) and Miss Clarke (Thursday and Friday). We are lucky to be supported by the wonderful support staff team Mrs Cressey, Mrs Jackson, Mrs Wray and Mr Ellwood.  

Magic and Mayhem! began the term with a picture book hook called Begu. We then moved on to dragons, fantasy maps and local history. In science we investigated the digestive system and food chains; in geography we used compass points, four-figure grid references and keys to map imaginary worlds; and in art we explored abstract work by Picasso and Delaunay. Writing includes dragon descriptions, an explanation of the digestive system told as a fantasy story, and a (fictitious!) job application.

Chocolate takes us from the Maya civilisation to the chocolate factories of York. We study a non-European society that contrasts with British history, locate Central and South America and the rainforest, and learn about the Equator, the hemispheres and the Tropics. In science we investigate states of matter, and in design and technology the children design, make and package a chocolate product to sell. Highlights include a chocolate tasting and our own factory-in-the-classroom enrichment day.

Also this term: football and tag rugby, then basketball and unihoc in PE; RE exploring why the Bible matters to Christians and what it means to be a Christian in Britain today; computing on connecting computers and programming repetition; PSHE covering It’s My Body and Digital Wellbeing; and the start of our French.

 

Below are some photos of the children creating their own Begu models from clay.

 

Commando Joes

Hazel Class take on the Amazon

This half term, Hazel Class have started a new series of Commando Joe’s missions inspired by the explorer Ed Stafford — the first person to walk the length of the Amazon River.

Their first mission was the river itself. Working in teams, and with only three stepping stones between them, the children had to get every explorer from one bank to the other without a single foot touching the water. If one person slipped, the whole team went back to the start.

Most teams needed several attempts, and that was rather the point. The motto for this mission is “rivers cut through rocks with persistence, not power”, and it was brilliant to watch the children regroup, rethink their plan and cheer one another across.

Commando Joe’s missions are built around seven character traits: Resilience, Empathy, Self-awareness, Positivity, Excellence, Communication and Teamwork. Each week the children reflect on which traits they showed and set themselves a target for the next mission.

No team member left behind!