Split into groups of four, the children were handed two recipes:

They were able to choose which they wanted to cook and had to follow the recipe themselves working together with just a bowl and wooden spoon.

All groups produced some edible goods – one managed to combine the two recipes (an interesting combination) and one group did succeed in making both!  It was a hugely enjoyable morning watching the children blend so well together and work so cooperatively.  Comments at the end were, ‘Great fun’, ‘really enjoyed working independently in a group’, ‘easier than expected’.

In February, Year 5 attended the ‘Explore the Orchestra: Four Elements’ event with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at The Great Hall in Exeter. They had a wonderful time listening to the orchestra perform pieces such as The Flight of the Bumblebee and The Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium. The children were even able to join in by using body percussion to perform Space Sandwich alongside the orchestra.

Ella particularly enjoyed joining in with the orchestra using body percussion, while Alfie loved listening to the orchestra play and hearing the different instruments. It was a fantastic musical experience for everyone involved.

We were successful in applying for a grant from the Devon Music Hub and we used this to employ one of our peripatetic music teachers, Mrs Gail Denning, to come and teach 6 one hour lessons to all of Oak Class (26 children).  One of the areas on the curriculum is for children to play in an ensemble context, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency control and expression.

Over the six lessons we absolutely met that goal.  The majority of the class had never played a recorder, or any musical instrument, before so it was amazing to see how quickly they picked up the notation and the fingering under Mrs Denning’s expert instruction.

At the end of the sessions,  we gave a small concert to the rest of the school giving a spirited rendition of Hot Cross Recorders and Mamma Mia which included singing and playing.

The class loved the sessions so it was an extremely positive experience.

As part of our Evolution and Inheritance topic, we took part in a finches investigation, testing different “beaks” to see which could collect the most food items in a given time.