Nursery had a very special visitor this week when four beautiful owls came to see us. The children were fascinated to meet a Barn Owl, a Tawny Owl, a Burrowing Owl, and Midge, a wonderful 15-year-old owl.

We learned lots of interesting facts about each owl, including where they live, what they eat and how they use their feathers and keen senses to help them hunt. The children listened carefully, asked lots of thoughtful questions and enjoyed seeing the owls up close.

Meeting the owls gave us a fantastic opportunity to learn about wildlife and the natural world. The highlight for many of the children was watching the owls spread their wings and seeing just how different each one was.

We would like to say a big thank you to our owl visitors for such a memorable and exciting experience. The children have been talking about the owls all day! 🦉✨

Year 2 have been putting their scientific skills to the test with an egg-citing investigation! 🥚🔬

Our challenge was to find out which material would protect an egg best when dropped. The children explored a range of different materials and made predictions about which one they thought would provide the best protection. 🤔💭

We then put our ideas to the test! The children carefully observed what happened to each egg when it was dropped and compared the results. 👀📋 There were lots of excited faces as we discovered which materials were the most effective at keeping our eggs safe! 🥚🛡️

Year 2 did a fantastic job of predicting, testing, observing and discussing their results. 🌟👏

What egg-cellent scientists you are, Year 2! 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬🥚✨

Year 2 have been busy becoming super scientists this week! 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 We have been exploring sinking and floating, investigating what happens when different objects are placed in water. 💧

Before testing each object, the children made careful predictions about whether they thought it would sink to the bottom or float on the surface. 🤔 We then carried out our investigation and compared our results with our predictions. ✅

We had lots of fun observing, discussing and explaining what we noticed. What fantastic scientific thinking, Year 2! 🌟🔬👏

Our nursery children have been busy helping to care for our outdoor environment by weeding and tidying the planters. The children worked hard to remove weeds and make space for new plants, learning about how gardens need looking after to help flowers grow.

Once the planters were ready, the children planted daffodil and crocus bulbs ready for spring. They carefully dug holes, placed the bulbs into the soil and covered them up, excited to think about the colourful flowers that will appear in the months ahead.

This hands-on activity helped the children learn about the natural world, develop their fine motor skills and understand how plants grow over time. We can't wait to see our beautiful daffodils and crocuses bloom and bring some bright spring colour to our nursery garden! 🌷☀️

🌈 Exploring the Colours of Light! 🔺✨

This week in Science, Year 6 became light investigators as we explored how white light can be separated into the seven colours of the rainbow! 🌈

Using special glass prisms 🔺, we shone light through them and observed what happened. We learned that when white light passes through a prism, it bends, or refracts, causing the different colours within the light to spread out and become visible. 🎨

Many of us were successful in creating our own mini rainbows and were excited to spot the seven colours: ❤️ red, 🧡 orange, 💛 yellow, 💚 green, 💙 blue, 💜 indigo and 💖 violet. Some of us had to experiment with the angle of the prism and the position of the light source before we achieved success, showing great perseverance and problem-solving skills. 💡👏

The lesson helped us understand that white light is actually made up of many different colours, even though we cannot normally see them separately. 🔬🌟

We had lots of fun carrying out this practical investigation and seeing science come to life right before our eyes! 🌈✨

This week in Science, Year 4 began their exciting new topic on the water cycle. We learned about the four key stages: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection, and discussed how water is constantly moving around our planet.

To help us understand the process, we set up our own water cycle experiment using a sandwich bag filled with a small amount of water and placed it in the classroom window. As the sun warmed the water, we observed evaporation taking place. Over time, tiny water droplets formed on the inside of the bag through condensation, just like clouds in the sky. When the droplets became larger and heavier, they trickled back down, representing precipitation, before gathering at the bottom of the bag as collection.

We are looking forward to observing our experiment over the coming weeks and seeing the stages of the water cycle happen right before our eyes! 🌎💦🔬

Using Kahoot! to Strengthen Long-Term Memory in Foundation Subjects

At our school, we are always looking for engaging ways to help children retain and apply the knowledge they learn across the curriculum. One strategy that has proven particularly effective in Foundation subjects such as Science and Religious Education is the use of Kahoot!

Kahoot! provides an exciting and interactive way for pupils to revisit previously taught content through regular retrieval practice. By repeatedly recalling key facts, vocabulary and concepts, children strengthen their long-term memory and become more confident in applying their knowledge in future lessons. Rather than learning information once and moving on, pupils have opportunities to revisit important content over time, helping knowledge to become firmly embedded.

The fun and competitive nature of Kahoot! motivates children to participate enthusiastically. Instant feedback allows pupils to recognise misconceptions and celebrate success, while the game-based format creates a positive learning environment where everyone can be involved.

Many Kahoot! activities also promote valuable personal and social skills. Team modes encourage pupils to work collaboratively, discuss possible answers and support one another. Success depends not only on subject knowledge but also on listening carefully to teammates, showing patience while others contribute and respecting different viewpoints. These experiences help pupils develop important communication and teamwork skills alongside their curriculum learning.

Whether reviewing a recent Science topic, revisiting key learning from Religious Education or recalling knowledge from previous units, Kahoot! has become a valuable tool for reinforcing learning in an enjoyable and memorable way. By combining repetitive recall with fun, collaboration and healthy competition, it helps pupils retain important subject knowledge while developing the skills needed to learn successfully together.

We look forward to continuing to use Kahoot! as part of our approach to helping children remember more and achieve more across the curriculum.

Eco Gardening Club Gets Ready for Winter

This week, our Eco Gardening Club has been busy preparing the school garden for the colder months ahead. The children rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into a variety of gardening jobs, showing fantastic enthusiasm and teamwork.

The gardeners carefully weeded the beds, planted seeds and plants ready for future growth, and worked hard to tidy the garden. They helped remove dead leaves, faded flowers, and plants that had reached the end of their growing season, making sure the garden is healthy and ready for winter.

The children loved spending time outdoors and learning how to care for the environment. They were excited to get their hands dirty and certainly demonstrated their growing "green fingers"! Through their gardening activities, they learnt about the importance of looking after plants, the changing seasons, and how gardens need different care throughout the year.

We are very proud of all the hard work the children put in. Their efforts have helped keep our garden looking neat and ready for the months ahead. We cannot wait to see the results of the seeds they have planted and watch the garden come back to life in the spring.

Well done, Eco Gardening Club! 🌱🍂🍁🌿

🌿 Boundary Achieves Green Flag Award for the 7th Time! 🌿

We are absolutely delighted to announce that Boundary Primary School has once again been awarded the prestigious Green Flag Eco-Schools Award, making this our seventh Green Flag achievement. What an incredible accomplishment!

The Green Flag Eco-Schools Award recognises schools for their outstanding commitment to environmental education, sustainability and taking positive action to protect our planet. Achieving this award is a testament to the hard work, dedication and enthusiasm shown by our entire school community.

At Boundary, environmental responsibility is embedded throughout school life. Our dedicated Eco Warriors lead the way, encouraging everyone to think carefully about the impact our actions have on the environment. Through a range of cross-curricular learning opportunities in subjects such as Science and Geography, children develop their understanding of important environmental issues and consider how they can make a difference both locally and globally.

The Eco-Schools programme is a pupil-led initiative that empowers young people to take action on environmental issues within their school, local community and beyond. Following the Eco-Schools framework, our pupils have helped to drive improvements that support sustainability and environmental awareness.

This week during our Always Time reward session, Rowan Class enjoyed taking part in some fun Silly Science and Challenge Games. The children were set two exciting challenges: using centrifugal force to remove an orange from the bottom of a jug without touching it, and using their understanding of Archimedes’ principle to lift a pen out of a cylinder of water. There was lots of discussion, teamwork and laughter as pupils tested their ideas and celebrated their successes. It was fantastic to see everyone engaged, problem-solving and having fun as a reward for making positive choices throughout the week. 🍊🖊️🔬

Year 3 had a wonderful time during their science lesson this week as they explored the fascinating world of animals and their diets. The children learned that animals can be classified into three different groups based on the food they eat: herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

We began by discussing the meaning of each group and looking at examples of animals that belong to them. The children were excited to discover that:

• Herbivores eat only plants. Examples include cows, rabbits, giraffes, and horses.
• Carnivores eat other animals. Examples include lions, tigers, sharks, and eagles.
• Omnivores eat both plants and animals. Examples include bears, foxes, humans, and chickens.

The class enjoyed sharing their own knowledge about different animals and discussing what they thought each animal might eat.

🔦 Investigating Shadows in Science

This week in Science, Year 6 explored the fascinating question: What causes shadows?

To begin our lesson, we recapped our understanding of different types of materials. We discussed opaque, translucent and transparent objects and considered how each one interacts with light. We remembered that opaque materials block light completely, translucent materials allow some light through, and transparent materials let light pass through clearly.

Next, we became scientists and carried out our own investigations using torches. Working collaboratively, we shone light onto different objects to create shadows and observed what happened. We discovered that opaque objects produced the clearest shadows because they blocked the light source.

We then took our investigation a step further by exploring how the length and size of shadows can change. Using our torches, we moved the light source closer to and further away from objects and carefully observed the effects. We found that when the light source was closer, the shadows became larger, and when it was moved further away, the shadows became smaller. This helped us understand how the position of a light source affects the shadow that is formed.

It was a practical and engaging lesson that allowed us to test our ideas, make observations and draw conclusions from our findings. We are looking forward to building on our knowledge of light and continuing our scientific investigations in the coming weeks! 🌞🔦🕶️

Science Vocabulary: Opaque • Translucent • Transparent • Light Source • Shadow • Reflection • Observation • Prediction

Year 4 Science: Investigating Gases

This week in Science, Year 4 pupils explored the fascinating properties of gases through a series of exciting investigations.

First, we investigated whether air has mass. We carefully weighed an empty balloon and found that it had a mass of 8g. We then filled the balloon with air and weighed it again. This time, it measured 9g! This simple experiment helped pupils understand that, although we cannot see air, it is made of particles and has mass.

Next, pupils combined vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to observe a chemical reaction. We knew a reaction was taking place because the mixture began fizzing and bubbling, producing a gas called carbon dioxide (CO₂).

To finish our investigation, we collected some of the carbon dioxide produced and used it to extinguish a candle flame. Pupils were amazed to see that the gas could put out the fire and discussed why this happened.

Throughout the lesson, pupils made predictions, carried out observations, and drew conclusions from the evidence they collected. It was a fantastic hands-on lesson that helped bring the science of gases to life! 🔬🎈🕯️

This week, Year 2 became scientists as we carried out an exciting investigation to find out which materials absorb water best and would therefore be the most suitable to use in our school dinner hall. 🔬👩‍🔬👨‍🔬

We began by discussing why absorbent materials are important. We thought about what might happen if drinks were spilled during lunchtime and how different materials could help to clean up the mess quickly and effectively. 🍽️🥛

Working in groups, we tested a variety of materials, including paper towels, cloth, sponge and other fabric samples. We carefully poured the same amount of water onto each material and observed what happened. 💦👀

We made predictions before carrying out our tests and recorded our results like real scientists. 📋✏️ We looked closely at which materials soaked up the most water and which materials allowed water to remain on the surface.

Some of our results surprised us! 😲 We discovered that certain materials were much more absorbent than others, while some hardly soaked up any water at all. By comparing our findings, we were able to decide which material would be the best choice for cleaning up spills in the dinner hall. 🧽✨

Throughout the investigation, we used important scientific skills such as observing, predicting, testing and recording results. We also discussed how scientists use evidence to make decisions. 🔍📊

Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed putting their scientific thinking to the test and learning how science can help solve everyday problems. We were very proud of the excellent teamwork and thoughtful discussions that took place during the lesson. 🌟👏

📸 Take a look at our photos to see our young scientists hard at work! 😊🧪💧

Today, Year 5 had the exciting opportunity to take part in a live online event hearing directly from NASA engineers Howard Hu and Branelle Rodriguez. This linked perfectly with our current learning in science, where we have been exploring the Solar System, the planets, and the evidence that helps us know the Earth is round.

The session also connected with our guided reading lessons. Recently, the children studied an interview with British astronaut Tim Peake, and they have been learning about the crew who will take part in the Artemis missions. During the event, the children learned more about the Orion spacecraft and the Artemis II mission, gaining an insight into the work of the engineers and teams who make human space exploration possible.

The event inspired curiosity, deepened the children's understanding of space travel, and helped them make meaningful links between their science and reading learning.

Year 4 Science: Investigating the Properties of Liquids

This week in Science, Year 4 pupils explored the fascinating properties of liquids through a series of practical investigations.

To begin, we created a lava lamp using oil and water. Pupils observed that the two liquids did not mix and discussed why different liquids behave in different ways. The colourful experiment sparked lots of curiosity and scientific discussion!

The children then investigated viscosity, which is a measure of how easily a liquid flows. They compared water, shampoo, washing-up liquid, and vegetable oil, making predictions before testing and observing each liquid carefully. Pupils discovered that some liquids flow much more slowly than others because they have a higher viscosity.

To deepen their understanding, pupils also explored how the particles in liquids might be arranged. They discussed how particles in more viscous liquids may have stronger attractions between them, making it harder for the liquid to flow freely.

Throughout the lesson, pupils worked scientifically by predicting, observing, recording results, and drawing conclusions from their investigations. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm as they developed their understanding of the amazing properties of everyday liquids.