Book Week 2023

EYFS

In Nursery, they learnt about animals. They learnt that dinosaurs are extinct, and there are other animals that are in danger so we need to protect them and care for their homes.

They also learnt about bees and how they are important for the environment. Their favourite day. was when they dressed up as characters.

In reception, they also learn about the importance of bees and made their own bee hotel for our school grounds. 

Year 1

The focus in Year 1 was Minibeasts and local wildlife. They started by reading the book, Mad About Animals then went on a minibeast hunt. 

They then made their own flower pots and planted seeds which would encourage minibeasts to thrive. By the end of the project, they want to develop a green space in school, using their plants to create a haven for these creatures. 

Year 2

In Year 2, they looked at ways in which they could look after our environment. 

Using the book, ‘The Last Wolf’ as inspiration, they thought about what happens to animals who lose their homes due to the development of cities. 

They then thought about how they could look after our forest area in school and spent the week, collecting litter, tidying leaves and planting seeds and bulbs. Finally, they created their own posters to highlight their cause and shared them with the school. 

Year 3

Sapphire class learnt about why water is important. They had a visitor from the Spot project to teach them about the situation around the world and the work the charity is doing to support people without water. Children are supporting the school to save water by having the Water Officers checking and monitoring the taps and ensuring they are all off.

Year 3

Blue Class learnt about Climate Change, the effect that it is having on the world and how they can help to stop the crisis. They explored floods, droughts and melting ice caps and looked at how this is affecting people around the world. They explored many non-fiction texts to gain more knowledge and used these to create our own informational poster to share with the other children in Brentfield Primary School to encourage them to help stop Climate Change. They challenged themselves to walk to school to help reduce their carbon footprint because they want to save our planet.

Year 4

In Orange class, their book week project was all about saving endangered animals, in particular the sea turtle.  During book week they wrote poems, created sea turtles using pebbles, built a sculpture of a sea turtle, wrote a non-chronological report and welcomed some special guests from the Queen Mary University of London to explain more about sea turtles!

Year 5

As part of their book week in Lilac Class, they looked at the topic of endangered species. In particular, they focused on British Hedgehogs and how, due to human behaviour, the habitats of hedgehogs are disappearing from both rural and urban areas. They read various non- fiction texts such as leaflets and the story Hodgeheg by Dick King Smith which deals with the dangers hedgehogs face crossing the busy roads.

The children researched  how modern day life in the UK is having a serious impact on the habitat of British hedgehogs and each child asked their parents if they could do odd jobs around the house to raise £1 each so that they could sponsor a hedgehog.   They also collected twigs and leaves to create their own version of a hedgehog nest. 

Year 5

As part of their book week in Lavender Class, they looked at the topic of hidden/invisible disabilities. In particular, they focused on four types of hidden disabilities: OCD, ADHD, Bipolar and Epilepsy. They read  non- fiction texts and also read The Goldfish Boy which is a fictional narrative about a boy with OCD and how his disorder impacts himself and those around him.

The children researched  about their chosen groups’ hidden disability focus and created their own non-chronological report.  The children also created their own badges and clay sculptures which, to them, showcased the body language that with the hidden disability may go through during an episode. 

Year 6

In Platinum class, they looked at the topic of Visible Disabilities. In particular, they focused on disabled access within different settings. They explored the school to investigate whether we had access for disabled children. They found that we have limited access and therefore wrote a letter to Mrs. Harmer to encourage her to think about how we could rectify this. They also wrote to the Transport Minister of the UK to encourage him to ensure that tube and train stations to have more disabled access as they found out  that only 33% of 272 tube stations in London have step- free access. 

Finally, they were lucky enough to interview a Wheelchair Rugby Paralympian: Ayaz Bhuta, who gave them an insight to how he has shown resilience in his life after all the barriers he faced to achieve a Gold medal at the Paralympics in 2020.  

Year 6

Silver class chose to explore and make a change to animal rights during book week. One of the first discussions we had them to the question: How can we promote the rights of animals if we eat them?

And with the aim of their book week being to bring change, they thought: How can we bring change to others if we do not first accept the change ourselves?

Throughout the week they read lots of fact-files, leaflets and books about the positive changes that can come from changing to a vegan or vegetarian diet. They wrote to Mrs Harmer to persuade her to review the menu and increase the amount of vegan/vegetarian options are available in school. 

Finally, they created their own menus and cooked some vegan recipes, which were delicious!

Year 6

Diamond Class chose to focus on gender inequality in sport. They developed their own campaign, ‘He shoots, she scores,’ to promote equality across all areas of sport. They met Rachel Yankey, who was a trailblazer in women’s football and took part in a coaching session with her. They then used these skills to set up a football coaching club for girls in year 4. 

In addition to this, they wrote their own campaign speeches and created their own speakers’ corner in the playground to spread the word and to promote equal rights for women in girls in all areas of sport.