Welcome to the Unit 2 web page 

Here you will find copies of our unit newsletters and dates for your diaries! We also hope you enjoy looking at what the children have been learning about each term.

Unit Leader - Mrs Collins & Mrs Watts

Class Teachers 

Mr Morgan & Mrs King - Powderham Yr 3

Mrs Collins & Mrs Watts - Shaldon Yr 3

Miss Maggs - Ashcombe Yr 4

Mr Panteli - Mamhead Yr 4

Contact us via Seesaw, School Gateway app or

📧 admin@westcliff.org.uk

Summer Term 2

What a fantastic year we've had in Unit 2, I can't believe how fast it's flown by!

The children have been enjoying their Art lessons in which we have learnt about the amazing British artist, Stephen Wiltshire. We have tried to create our own cityscapes of London using fine liner pens. Some of the children chose to use the hatching and cross hatching techniques; others decided to create silhouettes. In PE this half term, we have been learning athletics skills such as sprinting, javelin throwing, hurdles and relay racing. It has been lovely for both Year 3 classes to join together on the field to practise their athletics skills. In French, we have been learning about items we have in our pencil case and also how many. For example: J’ai deux gommes dans ma trousse. This means ‘I have 2 rubbers in my pencil case’. In DT, we designed our own packaging using nets of shapes. We really enjoyed decorating little cupcakes to put in our 3D packaging.

All of the classes enjoyed the 'Proud to be Me' week where we celebrated why we are thankful to all be different. During this week, each class held a Play Project and it was wonderful to watch the children play and become engrossed in junk modelling activities. The Year 4's Play Project was entitled 'Why am I Famous?' and they created trophies that the children would win for future achievements and created inventions. The Year 3's focused on 'What is Special to Me' with Play Projects consisting of a wide range of hobbies and skills.

The Unit 2 children have enjoyed a range of opportunities this term including: a Year 4 Plastic Fantastic workshop at Torquay Boy's Grammar; PE festivals; Year 3/4 girl's football in Newton Abbot; Year 3 swimming lessons; Year 4 workshop at Trinity School; a visit from the Dogs Trust charity; Year 4 tag rugby sessions led by Exeter Chiefs and the trip to Paignton Zoo at the start of term. It has been amazing to share these experiences with the children across the term. Amongst all of these exciting visits and trips the Year 4 children have completed their Multiplication Tables Checks and should all be proud of their progress and achievements in this area across the year.

Have a wonderful summer break! We look forward to seeing everyone in September, ready and refreshed for Year 4 and 5.

Summer Term 1

What a busy half term we've had in Unit 2 and it's lovely to see the sun out in time for our half term break!

This half term started with our whole Unit 2 trip to Paignton Zoo, which the children enjoyed and were amazed by so many of the animals. This trip linked to our learning about skeletons and movement in Science and how people try to make the world a better place in RE. We'd like to thank Paignton Zoo for putting on the schools go free event this year.

At the beginning of the half term, in English, both Year 3 and Year 4 were learning about explanation texts linked to the book 'Until I met Dudley' and they created some fantastic explanation texts about how every day objects work. We have been focusing on using inverted commas for speech more recently in our Horrid Henry writing as the children have been creating their own ending to the story Horrid Henry and the Haunted House. During Maths this half term, Year 3 have learnt how to exchange through column subtraction before learning about fractions being a part of the whole. Year 4 have been keenly practising their timetables and it has been so lovely to see so many children appearing at my classroom door waiting to share their scores, keep up the hard work Year 4! Year 4 have also been learning about fractions that are greater than one whole during Maths lessons.

In other areas of the curriculum, the Year 3 children have finished their sewing unit in D.T. having created their own beanbags by using a range of stitches and Year 4 have learnt about electrical circuits with switches by creating lamps as their final product. The Year 4s have been lucky enough this half term to have Exeter Chiefs in for their P.E. to teach them tag rugby which has included both theory and practical sessions at the field.

Spring 💐 Term 2
We have had another really busy but fantastic half term in unit 2!

During English lessons, the children have been working on creating their own story, based on a short animation called ‘Ruin’. The children became really immersed in this stimulus and have produced some imaginative and well- structured stories.

Within design and technology lessons, the children in year 4 have developed their understanding of levers and linkages and enjoyed designing their own moving card from a design brief. The year 3 children have continued to create their own sea creature beanbags as a part of their learning in textiles. Hopefully the children will be able to bring these home to share with you at the Easter break.

We have had lots of positive feedback from the children linking to their science learning linking to ‘Rocks and Fossils’ this half term. Lots of the children have been keen to share their own knowledge linking to dinosaurs around this topic. We have also had lots of fossils brought in from home to look at. The pupils gained greater knowledge about how fossils are made and studied the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning.

Both year 4 classes have visited Exeter Recycling Centre, during which the children had the opportunity to visit two separate recycling centres and learnt about where their rubbish gets taken as well as the machinery used to move it around. The children also thought scientifically about the properties of some of the materials which could be recycled.

There was fantastic participation in World Book day across the unit. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone’s costumes and all classes enjoyed participating in a range of practical reading activities, including drawing famous story settings using our imagination.

Spring 💐 Term 1

During the first few weeks of the Spring term, years 3 and 4 have been focussing on writing their own ‘meeting tale’ fictional story, based around the book ‘How To Train Your Dragon’. They have enjoyed a range of practical ‘hook’ activities including a ‘dragon Olympics’ to immerse them in their learning. Over the first three weeks, the children developed their creative writing skills and put together some impressive stories!

 In English lessons, the children in Unit 2 have been developing their persuasive letter writing techniques in creating a letter to Mr Webb. This was as a response to a pretend letter which the teachers (sneakily) drafted to the children – within which Mr Webb allegedly wanted to lengthen the school day! The children felt very passionately about preventing this and have created some incredible letters! We have reassured the children that the initial letter wasn’t real!

The children in year 3 have been lucky enough to receive weekly recorder lessons from our vey own music lead, Mrs Harvey. Within these sessions, children have developed their understanding of time signature, bar lines and use a range of note values, we have been really impressed with the progress that they have made and their enthusiasm! Year 4 are looking forward to their djembe drumming lessons with Mrs Harvey after half term!

In year 3 children have been working hard to design and create their own sea creature bean bag in design technology. Within these lessons, children have improved their understanding of materials, designing and cutting techniques, as well as using both running stich and back stitch to create the final piece – these are still ongoing and we look forward to sharing the final result with you after half term!

Across years 3 and 4, we have been developing our understanding of forces and magnets within science lessons, the children have thoroughly enjoyed practical investigation and developed their understanding of the effects of friction upon a moving vehicle, as well as testing magnet strength.

The year 4 children represented the school amazingly well during their Heatree residential stay. During their time away, pupils had the opportunity to participate in a range of team building activities, as well as those which developed their perseverance, determination and skill. We were so impressed that children worked so hard to overcome any challenges during these activities. They particularly enjoyed the low-level adventure obstacle course, where they had the chance to get really wet and muddy, the high ropes and the archery sessions. A huge thank you to the staff who supported the children during their stay away too! A fantastic time had by all! Well done year 4 – we are really proud of you.

Thursday 23th February - GROUP 1 - Year 4 Visit to Exeter Energy from Waste Facility & Pinbrook Recycling Centre

Thursday 23th March - GROUP 2 - Year 4 Visit to Exeter Energy from Waste Facility & Pinbrook Recycling Centre

Wednesday 19th April - Unit 2 Paignton Zoo Trip - Trip form

Year 3 Swimming – Thursday 20th April, 27th April, 4th May Swimming Booking Form

1st – 3rd February 2023. 

Heatree House is run by a team of fully qualified staff, who are experienced in outdoor educational activities.  The programme which the schools follow will be led by members of this team, as well as the teachers who will accompany each party.

The centre has a very warm and welcoming atmosphere and is equipped to the highest standard.  There are a number of dormitories in the section of the complex we will be using and these are all en-suite and cater for four to six children in each dormitory.  In addition there is a dining hall, lounge and teaching room.  These rooms are equipped with a wide range of toys and games for the children’s use in the evenings and there is also an extensive range of outdoor games equipment that the children can use.

During their three day residential, pupils will undertake a full and varied programme.  
https://www.heatree.org/

Autumn 🍂 Term 2

What a busy half term we've had in Unit 2! The highlight for both children and staff was the two Dartmoor days at the end of November where we looked at myths and legends, Haytor rocks, botanical art, creating historical jewellery, Dartmoor collages, roundhouses, letterboxing and habitats across Dartmoor. Thank you to all of the parents/carers who enthusiastically took part and helped make these days a fantastic practical learning opportunity for the children.

Our English this half term has linked to our Dartmoor myths and legends session, in which everyone has planned and written their own Dartmoor legend linked to the legend of Bowerman. We will be seeing some examples of these legends on our Dartmoor display, outside Powderham class, very soon! In Year 3 Maths, we have been continuing our learning of numbers up to 1,000 which has involved lots of practical learning using part-whole models. The Year 4's Maths this half term has been focused on understanding perimeter as well as timetables. The children have been very excited to share some fantastic TTRS scores with Mrs Watts and Mrs Collins, this is brilliant! Keep up the great work Year 4!

In Unit 2, we have also been learning about pitch in Music, using different percussion instruments and creating our own graphic scores to perform. In D.T the children enjoyed designing and making their own sandwiches, most of which got a thumbs up! Recently, we had a secondary PE teacher in to lead an alternative PE festival alongside our Year 6 playleaders. During this session the children experienced a range of new skills, including boccia, golf and archery.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year from all of the Unit 2 team!

Autumn 🍂 Term 1

What a super start to the year we have had in Unit 2! In English, we have been working incredibly hard on creating our own story books based around 'a losing tale'. The children edited, redrafted and illustrated their story books before sharing them with the children in Unit 1. Both year groups have learnt a great deal about how to stay healthy through their learning about nutrition in Science. This learning also has supported our leaning in Design and Technology this term, within which the children have enjoyed sampling, designing and making their own healthy sandwiches or biscuits. Groups of children from both year groups have represented the school brilliantly at local PE 'Personal Challenge' events this half term.

In Music, the children have developed their understanding of the words: pitch, tone, tempo and rhythm. They have learnt that graphic scores are a way of writing and recording music, and had a go at writing and playing their very own graphic scores! The children have been learning about the Christian story of 'Creation' in RE and have developed their skills in both netball and gymnastics during PE sessions.

Don’t forget to check your Family Seesaw account for class activities and announcements. If you need a new family/home learning QR code or would like to add another family member please contact the school office.

📧 admin@westcliff.org.uk