Kestrel Class
Teachers: Mrs Evans (Monday and Tuesday) and Mrs Kendall (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday)
Adults in class: Mrs Kite, Mrs Loveridge, Mr Nsio, Ms Davies, Mrs Smith, Miss Matthews, Mr Pellow
Welcome to Kestrel Class. We are a Year 4 and 5 year class and we love learning! Please keep visiting our class website page as we will update it regularly. Our most recent learning will be at the top of the page.
Please see the documents below for our yearly overview and planning pathways.
We have PE on Mondays and Fridays – please make sure your child has the correct PE kit in school on those days.
Kestrel Pathway Planning – Term 1 and 2
Kestrel Pathway Planning – Terms 3 and 4
Kestrel Pathway Planning – Terms 5 and 6
Term 5 and 6
We have started our new History unit about life in Tudor England. It has been fascinating to learn about the similarities and differences between Tudor times and the present day. We have learned about all the Tudor monarchs, including Edward VI and Lady Jane Grey, and the impact they had on England and the world during their reigns. We are looking forward to 9ur visit to the Tithe Barn to find out more about what Nailsea was like 400 years ago, and we have written questions to ask a local historian when we visit.
Over the past 3 weeks we have been working very hard on our DT project. We are learning sewing skills – a great skill that we can use throughout our lives. We started by doing running stitch, then we moved on to the more technical stitches: cross stitch and back stitch. Many children showed incredible perseverance to learn these skills. Some children moved onto creating small designs using a variety of these skills. Next we will be designing and making our very own book marks.
In maths, we have loved Money Week using inspirational resources created by The Beano (Mrs Evans’ personal favourite comic). We learned about how people traded thousands of years ago. To be able to survive, they needed food, shelter and warmth. We then played the Barter Game We travelled back 2000 years. We worked in groups (villages), who only had food, tools, clothing or animals to barter with the other groups/ villages to get enough warmth, shelter and food to survive. Each barter had to be agreed and deemed as a fair exchange. We also looked at how money has evolved. We studied the security features of British Bank notes and even designed our own.
In RE, we have been learning about the Gospels. We have learned how to find bible references using the book, chapter and verse references. We have studied a few different parables and inferred what kind of world Jesus wanted in telling these parables.
We were also able to have an extra session in Forest School, where we used some of the freshly-cut grass to made nests of all sorts of different shapes and sizes out of cut grass.
Term 3
10.2.26
It was lovely to welcome so many parents and carers to our showcase in Kestrel Class the other week. We enjoyed performing songs on the boomwhackers for you, and hope you enjoyed your chance to play along with us!
In Geography we have been learning about where the energy we use comes from. We have been finding out about non-renewable energy sources – gas, oil, coal – and the impact that using these has on our environment, compared to renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power and water power, and the pros and cons of using these sources.
26.1.26
Kestrel and Eagle Visit to Easton Jamila Mosque
Today we went to the Easton Jamia Mosque, Bristol. We had a wonderful time and learned a lot about our current topic of Islam.
We looked at a Qur’an and the Imam explained that Muslims believe that the Qur’an contains the words of Allah. He said that the words have been unchanged for 1,400 years and to prevent them from being changed, Muslims learn passages by heart. Originally, the Qur’an was written in Arabic, this is why it is learned that way, but it has also been translated into many other languages. He showed us the Arabic alphabet, and we all tried saying it with him. The Imam explained that Arabic is read from right to left.
Next, he explained the 5 Pillars of Islam:
- He explained that Muslims believe in one God called Allah. There are no pictures for him as he is incomparable. Instead, they think of him regarding his attributes like love, forgiveness and power. He told us that Muslims believe in other prophets and the holy books which they were written about in for example Moses and the Torah and Jesus in the Gospels. He explained that the Qur’an was written after this, so Muslims believe that it was the final revelation.
- He explained that Muslims are expected to pray 5 times a day, depending on where the sun is in the sky. They prayers are not long, but should be completed. We looked around the Mosque and predicted which way Mecca is. We realised that the carpet looked like many prayer mats and that they must be facing Mecca. He showed us pictures of the ka’ba (cube) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and explained that they pray to Allah, but the Ka’ba is a focal point for the world.
- Zakat is Arabic for ‘charity’. Muslims give 2.5% of their wealth once a year to people who do not have the basic requirements – food, drink, shelter and clothing.
- Sawm means to fast. Muslims fast during the Islamic Calendar month of Ramadan to prioritise Allah over their physical needs and wants and to help them to remember people who are poor and hungry. This year, Ramadan starts in mid-February and will last for 30 days, but this shifts slightly every year. Eid is the end of Ramadan, which is a big celebration.
- Hajj is the final Pillar and it encourages every Muslim to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime. The Imam went 8 years ago and spoke to us about how incredible it was to be able to worship at the Ka’ba, where 5 million people can worship at once. He said that all Muslims only wear 2 pieces of white cloth so one is not judged on their wealth or power.
This was an amazing learning experience as it brought all of our previous learning to life and taught us so much more.
Term 3
We have had a brilliant start to term 3 in Kestrel Class. We have started our new topic about ‘Where does our Energy Come From?’.
In RE, we have been learning about commitment. We have reflected on what we are committed to. We have also started learning about the 5 Pillars of Islam and how Muslims use these Pillars to show commitment to their faith. We are looking forward to learning more about Islam and visiting a Mosque later in the term.
In PE, we have started learning more about fitness. We will be setting benchmark scores for ourselves for different aspects of fitness (speed, stamina, balance, co-ordination), then working to improve them throughout the term.
In art, we have started to learn more about drawing. We were amazed by a piece of art called Presentation, by Sarah Graham. It’s incredible, isn’t it! 
We thought about how she created the image to seem like it is 3D. Then we experimented with light, shade and tone.
We are so excited to carry on learning about these topics throughout this term.
Learning update 24.11.25
Design Technology
In our DT lessons we have been learning about gears. We made sets of gears out of different materials and evaluated them to see which worked the best. The playdough teeth were not rigid enough to work effectively – they just got squished! The paperclip teeth were too thin to interlock. The best material to use for the teeth was corrugated card, although these were the hardest gears to make.
In English, we have just finished writing our own version of story based on the myth of Theseus and the minotaur, and our next text is a set of instructions for heroes, explaining how to defeat a Minotaur.
Learning update 15.9.25
Ancient Greece WOW Day
Last Thursday we had a WOW Day as an introduction to our topic ‘What did the Ancient Greeks do for us?’
We had an amazing day working with Eagle class making and tasting Greek food, learning to write using the Greek alphabet, testing the Archimedes principle and making laurel wreaths to wear.
The Lost Words
We have had a very busy start to the year in Kestrel Class. In our first 3 days we learned a poem called ‘Adder’ from The Lost Words book, and created some amazing artwork to accompany it. We really enjoyed performing the poem to the rest of the school.
