Fire! Fire!

We are becoming historians this term and stepping back in time to 1666, using a range of sources and texts to investigate the events of the Great Fire of London. We will be looking at how it started, why it spread so quickly and how it was stopped. Along the way, we will learn of individuals that played a significant role at the time, such as King Charles II and Samuel Pepys, and those who have shaped the rebuild of London, into the city we know today.

As part of our history lessons, we are using an educational game developed by the Museum of London and partner organisations, to follow the story of the Great Fire and view primary evidence and artefacts from the time. If you would like to explore further at home, it can be found at The Great Fire Of London - The Great Fire of London. 

Linking to our history topic, we will be using fiction and non-fiction narratives to inform and inspire our writing of poetry describing the fire, and then a news report, retelling the events of the four days as they developed.

In design and technology, we will be using our knowledge from our Fire of London research and information gained during a trip to the RAF Fire Station, to design and build a fire engine of our own. Some junk modelling will be needed for this! (small boxes, cotton reels, straws, small yoghurt pots, cardboard tubes). Thank you in advance for your support!

Finally in science, we will be looking at uses of everyday materials, and how some solids can be manipulated. We will be applying our knowledge of the features of different materials, to compare their suitability for building houses and making firefighting equipment.

At the end of term, we will be presenting an assembly on our topic and would love to invite parents to attend, so that we can share some of what we have learnt about the Great Fire of London. This is likely to be the last Thursday of term but will be confirmed nearer the time.

This is going to be another great term. We can’t wait to get going!

RAF Fire Service visit - Gazelle went over to the base tech side this term, to see how a modern fire brigade works and to inspect the fire engines very carefully, inside and out. We took lots of pictures and asked a lot of questions, to inspire and inform our own model designs in design and technology, to solve the problem of how to get a lot of water to a fire quickly, linked to our Great Fire of London theme. 

Axels and wheels - How do you attach wheels to a vehicle and make sure they still turn? This was the challenge set to our fire vehicle designers this week in Design and Technology. They use all their knowledge and skills of tabs, flanges and appropriate materials and tools, to figure out a spectrum of solutions. 

Invite to our class assembly!

Dear parents/guardians, 

Gazelle Class would love to invite you to our end of term assembly on this term's topic, the Great Fire of London. We will be sharing a selection of our work and would love to see you there! Our assembly will be on Thursday, 25^th May at 2:40pm.