This half term, the year 4s have started their history topic of the Romans. To start they created their own Roman shields. They have learnt all about the success of the Roman Empire and the effect this had on Britain.

We have already started to see some creative home learning and we look forward to sharing more about the Romans in our sharing assembly!

Shacklewell have been enjoying a whole host of Religious Education topics this term! In Year 2, they have been learning all about Mosques and their features. They have learnt that it is very important for Muslims to wash before they pray!

A Year 2 child said she 'really enjoy RE as they get to learn about lots of different beliefs that are different to my own'. Year 3 are enjoying their topic on Hinduism. They have been learning all about how Hindu’s show their faith and explored puja, arti and bhajn’s and, if you want to know about Christianity in Britain, just ask Year 4!

In Year 5, the children have been exploring the Five Pillars of Islam and their meaning. A child from 5S said that Muslims fast because 'it helps them to empathise with people who are less fortunate than themselves.' Take a look at the wonderful comic strip from a Year 5 child, too!

Lastly, Year 6 have been learning about a whole host of beliefs over the last few weeks from Hinduism to Christianity and the different denominations. Did you know that Baptist's do not baptise? A Year 6 child told me this is because they want the person to be able to make the choice themselves.

The Zero Carbon Schools project and the Eco-Councillors had their first weekly session, developing their understanding of climate change and its impact on the environment. Their goal identify ways to reduce the school's carbon footprint by developing their knowledge of sustainability and the factors that could affect it, whilst identifying the changes we can make as a community to support this. They were then given a task to present their new-found knowledge as a news report which they thoroughly enjoyed.

The Vikings sometimes get a bad rep in the study of history. Their fearsome presence in battle means that they were often presented as beastly and uncivilised. Their initial arrival in Britain in 793 did, after all, lead to plenty of plundering and bloodshed. So to kick off this new topic, 5W embraced their inner Vikings and indulged the wilder side of life in battle. We decorated our own Viking shields, recreated the longboat experience, and practised our battle runs. In the coming weeks, we'll be exploring the more complex aspects of Viking society. But it's always good to start with a bang!

4S have had a great end to a busy half term! They have been fantastic geographers on their two fieldtrips, investigating the noise pollution in Hackney. They have been amazing scientists whilst investigating states of matter. They were able to investigate melting point and freezing point in our hands on experiments. They have also shown their creativity in our art lessons in preparation for our whole year display, it was great to see how excited they were to express themselves with their own portrait. To celebrate all of their hard work they will be having a cinema afternoon as a treat. Well done year 4!