Hi, I'm Teacher Sample (they/them) and I teach Year 5 Kestrels. I'm so excited to be a part of this school for a second year.

I have lived and worked in Germany and China prior to working at St John's. This year, I have taken on the role of MFL lead as I have a passion for learning languages. I can speak German, Chinese and Spanish. I'm looking forward to teaching German as our school's MFL and to teach my class some Spanish during our South America topic.

As well as being a teacher, I like coffee, Lego, and dinosaurs! 

 

Other staff working in our class are:

Mrs Miller (Mon-Wed & Fri), Miss Walker (Mon-Thurs), Mrs Bates (Thurs) ​

Important dates for the diary this term for Kestrel Class:

Starting from Tuesday 4th March, Kestrels will be swimming for their PE lessons for 5 weeks. Please send your child to school with their swimming clothes and towel.

Our learning this term:

English: We are reading The Light Jar.

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Maths: We are learning about fractions, decimals and percentages.

Science: We are learning about Living Things and their Habitats, including classifying animals..

Topic: We are continuing to learn about the Amazon Rainforest and deforestation.

RE: We are learning about Salvation and answering the question What did Jesus do to save human beings?

German: We are consolidating the children's learning from year 3 and 4: greetings, numbers, colours, months, days, school subjects.

Computing: We are learning to make music using technology.

Learning at home for Kestrel Class :

• Reading AR books 

• Spelling shed 

• TTS Rockstars 

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Be ready for learning! In Kestrel your child will need to have these items in school: 

• swimming kit and towel
• water bottle (no squash or juice) 
• small rucksack (big enough to hold lunch box and reading books) 
• wellington boots (to leave in school) 
• coat (weather appropriate) 

Please don’t bring other items to school, as we do not have space to store them, and it can cause upset if things are lost or damaged. 

Term 3

Geography hook afternoon: We started off our South America topic by trying lots of different fruits that grow in South America and deciding which was our favourite. The children were brave to try things they had never eaten before!

Flowers and plants: The children took a hands-on approach in some Science lessons when learning about different parts of plants and how they reproduce.

Winter writing week: In Week 4, the children wrote winter poems inspired by a chilly experience in the classroom: ice cubes and fake snow!

Kites: In their Art lessons with Mrs Sanger, the children designed and built their own kites. Maybe you could try flying them at home!

Children's mental health day: We marked this day by learning about our emotions and the physical signs we might feel; learning that we are all different and have different personalities, and by watching Inside Out 2!

Team-building: Kestrels had another team-building afternoon to put into practice lots of the group work and social skills we have been learning this term. It was a lovely way to end the term, and we think the children had a great time!

Term 2

Kings' Breakfast: Kestrels class was invited to the Kings' School for a delicious breakfast! The children were fantastic representatives of our school community and returned to school very full!

Harvest worship: We created a puppet show to tell the story of The Mustard Seed, which was told during our Harvest worship. The children worked hard as a team to create it and were really proud of it!

MFL worship: Kestrels took part in a KS2 MFL worship about German Christmas. The children learnt to sing Stille Nacht ('Silent Night' in German!) Here is a photo of Kestrels and Ravens practising together:

Science experiments: Our Bucket List item for Term 2 was to take part in practical experiments in Science lessons. The children tried a range of practicals across the term, both in groups and as a whole class.

Term 1

Ootbioo workshop: Kestrels took part in an Ootiboo money workshop which taught them about the salaries of various jobs and about budgeting for essentials. 

Team-building: Kestrels took part in some team-building games in the hall. This was a great way to get to know each other better and learn some teamwork skills at the same time.

Hill fort design: Kestrels went over to the field to create their own models of Iron Age hill forts as part of their History topic. The children used natural resources to replicate features of hill forts, such as roundhouses, domestic animal shelters, crop farms, fire pits and a nearby water source. We were so impressed with how creative the children were!

Teacher Sample even found a slug (and was very proud of it!)