In history we have been learning about the Stuarts. We have learnt about the Cavaliers and the Roundheads in the English Civil War. The Roundheads were on Parliament’s side and the Cavaliers fought for King Charles 1st, Parliament thought the country didn't need a King anymore so they wanted to overthrow him. After lots of fighting the Roundheads took King Charles 1st as their prisoner and won the English Civil War. I have learnt at home that he escaped and later there was a second Civil War, after that second war he was sentenced to death by beheading because he thought he could do whatever he liked to people. He was executed in 1649 in London.

By Magnus

In PE we’ve been learning about the haka. The haka is a dance in Ruby which is used by New Zealand to scare their opponents. So we’ve been making our own haka and performing them.

By Gabriel

This term I really enjoy the Haka in PE. I enjoyed making our own Haka and watching others. It was funny and loud. I also liked practising and acting like warriors. I loved it!

By Max

In History this term we have been learning about the English Civil War and who started it. Was it King Charles I or parliament? The war would decide who would be in charge of the country. The war was between the Cavaliers (the King’s supporters) and the Roundheads (the parliamentarians). My favourite part of learning about the Civil War was when we researched the political problems, the belief in the divine right of kings (where people believed the king was chosen by God) and the religious problems (Charles I married a Catholic when the country was protestant and let her attend Catholic mass). We could then decide who’s fault it was. I think it was the King’s fault because he was raising taxes and he kicked out parliament for eleven years – and only brought them back to ask them for money. (They said no.) In the end, the Roundheads won, but one tenth of the men in the country died.

In geography we have been learning about the island of St Lucia in the Caribbean. We learnt about the weather – those parts of the Caribbean and southern America get hit by lots of hurricanes (around one each year). In St Lucia there are two seasons: dry and wet. The hurricanes and strong winds come in the wet season. Rainwater can cause floods as high as 30cm. In St Lucia the temperature is 25-35 degrees Celsius all year round. St Lucia makes its money from tourists. We looked at satellite pictures and made a sort of pop-up book with the island’s landmarks. We included: The Pitons which are two giant mountains; Pigeon Island (a marine national park) and Soufrière, which is a small town near the Pitons. The island is covered in lush, tropical jungle. I’d love to go on holiday there, but my mum says it’s too expensive!

By Daniel

In our DT lessons, we’ve been learning about freestanding structures and building them using various materials such as Lego or knex sticks. On our first try, we had to summarise our experience first using 5 sentences, then down to five words and finally narrowing it down to just one word. We learnt various layering tips and techniques such as learning how triangles are sturdier than squares. On our second try, we all picked Lego to use! We have learnt about famous freestanding monuments and towers (eg the Eiffel Tower, the Shard, etc) and how tall they are in comparison to others whilst also observing what techniques were used to make them. Even though it is very stressful building, DT is really fun this term!

Benny