✨ A Wonderful End to the Spring Term 2026

As we come to the end of a busy and successful half term, we are incredibly proud of all that the children have achieved. Their enthusiasm has continued to shine throughout our topic, “Would You Rather…? Día de los Muertos or Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant?”, and it has been a joy to see their growing understanding as they explored and compared these vibrant celebrations. From creative activities to thoughtful discussions, the children have shown curiosity, respect and a real love of learning.

We have also seen fantastic progress across all areas of the curriculum. The children have worked hard, supported one another, and developed confidence in sharing their ideas. It has been especially lovely to see their teamwork and independence flourish as the term has gone on.

As we now approach the Easter holidays, we hope everyone enjoys a well-deserved rest. This is a wonderful time to relax, recharge and spend time with family and friends.

We look forward to welcoming the children back for the summer term, where more exciting learning and new adventures await!
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📚 Languages, Literacy and Communication

This half term, our Languages, Literacy and Communication focus has been Holes by Louis Sachar, a rich and engaging text that has truly fired the children’s imaginations. Through exploring the story, the children have developed their reading skills by making predictions, discussing characters and uncovering key themes within the novel.

We have placed a strong emphasis on oracy, encouraging the children to share their ideas confidently, justify their opinions and take part in thoughtful discussions. It has been wonderful to see them using evidence from the text to support their thinking.

In writing, the children have produced a range of creative and purposeful pieces inspired by the story, including character descriptions, diary entries and imaginative retellings. They have worked hard to improve their sentence structure, vocabulary and overall presentation, showing great progress and enthusiasm throughout the topic.

The children are also very excited and looking forward to watching the film adaptation on the last day of term, which will be a lovely way to celebrate all their hard work and bring the story to life.

🎨🔬 Science & Technology and Expressive Arts

This half term, the children have thoroughly enjoyed combining their creativity with scientific enquiry through our exciting shadow puppet project. Inspired by Mexican art and storytelling, particularly traditions linked to Día de los Muertos, the children designed and created their own imaginative shadow puppets, including colourful characters such as dancing skeletons, animals and festival figures.

Our Big Question — “How does changing the distance between the light source and our shadow puppet affect the size of its shadow?” — encouraged the children to think and work like scientists. They took part in a hands-on investigation, making predictions, carrying out fair tests and carefully measuring and recording their results. It was fantastic to see them developing their understanding of light and shadow, as well as their ability to present data using tables and graphs.

The project beautifully combined Science and Technology with Expressive Arts, as the children then used their puppets to create and perform their own shadow shows. They explored how to manipulate light to create dramatic effects, bringing their characters and stories to life in imaginative and engaging ways.

This has been a truly memorable project, allowing the children to experiment, create and perform while developing key scientific skills and artistic expression.

In addition, the children have also applied their developing coding skills to create their own interactive Scratch projects based on Día de los Muertos. They designed animated scenes using multiple sprites and backgrounds, and programmed their projects to respond to user input such as key presses and mouse clicks. The children incorporated movement, sound, loops and variables to create engaging and dynamic celebrations, showing great problem-solving skills and creativity as they brought their ideas to life through code.

Finally, as part of our Science and Technology learning, the children have also been developing their cooking skills through an exciting food project. They began by researching traditional Welsh and Mexican foods, exploring different ingredients, cooking methods and cultural influences. This led to discussions about fusion cuisine, where flavours and techniques from different cultures are combined to create something new and unique.

Using this knowledge, the children designed and created their own fusion dishes, carefully considering flavours, ingredients and presentation. They demonstrated fantastic creativity and independence throughout the process, as well as an increasing awareness of food preparation and kitchen safety.

The project will culminate in a special event where parents are invited in to taste and celebrate the children’s creations. The children are incredibly proud of their work and are looking forward to sharing their delicious dishes and learning with their families.