Luca

Kiera

Cian

Monique

Alisa

Lincoln

Ralphie

Arthur

5 + warrior

6 + dance

5 + Beowulf

4 + Digory

4 + Dance

5

5 + GM

4 + warrior

Anson

Seren

Rufus

Evie

Morgan

Chloe

Kobe

Thomas

5 + Hroth...

6 + Dance

5 + Grendel

5 + Digory

7 + Digory

6 + Digory

5 + warrior

6 + warrior

Child

Script

Actions

Introduction

Thomas – Kobe – Chloe - Morgan

Thomas

Welcome to Oak Class and to our assembly. We would like to share a little bit of what we have been doing so far this year and a little bit about who we are as a class.

Kobe

In Oak Class we are many things.

Thomas

We are hard workers.

[Everyone strike a hard working pose

Kobe

We are deep thinkers.

[Deep thinking pose.]

Thomas

We are mathematicians...

[Mime adding one and one and getting two...]

Kobe

...and philosophers.

[...or ten!]

Chloe

We are astronomers.     

[Mime using a telescope.]

Morgan

We are engineers.

[Mime building.]

Chloe

We are artists.  

[Mime painting.]

Morgan

And we are musicians.   

[Mime singing and playing instruments.]

Chloe

Most of all, we are students, we are friends, and we are children. We love learning.

Biomes

Morgan – Kobe – Arthur – Seren – Kiera – Arthur - Monique

1. Morgan

We have learned to be geographers. Did you know that the world can be divided into biomes? These are areas that share similar landscapes, climates, animals and plants.

2. Kobe

In the far North and South can be found the coldest biome. 20% of land is tundra, home to tough animals such as Arctic foxes and reindeer. No trees grow in the tundra, only mosses and short grasses.

Hold up Tundra

3. Arthur

The Boreal Forest – also called the Taiga – is the largest land biome. This is the coldest forest biome where most trees are evergreen conifers, with needle-shaped leaves. More animals live in the Boreal Forest, but they still have to be tough to endure the long cold winters and short summers. Many hibernate.

Hold up Boreal Forest

4. Seren

Further away from the poles but not yet in the tropics, the Temperate Forest can be found. Here there are more deciduous trees, ones that lose their leaves in winter. There are four seasons and a greater variety of animal and plant life.

Hold up Temperate Forest

5. Kiera

Grasslands can be found over much of the land. They are dominated by grasses, with very few large plants and trees. Grazing animals and their predators like grassland. It is also very good land for farming. Humans like to farm where there is rich, fertile soil.

Hold up Grasslands

6. Arthur

Deserts are dry places. Did you know that deserts don’t have to be hot? Some are very hot, especially during the day, but others are cold all the time. Plants such as cactuses, that conserve water, grow in deserts. Burrowing mammals, reptiles, birds and insects, as well as scorpions, live in deserts.

Hold up Deserts

7. Seren

Rainforests are home to the greatest variety of plants and animals in the world. They have very fertile soil and are almost two worlds in one – the forest floor and the canopy (the tops of the trees). Tropical rainforests are very hot and very wet all year round and don’t have seasons. Rainforests are in great danger from human activity. They produce a lot of the oxygen we breathe.

Hold up Rainforests

8. Monique

The Freshwater biome includes rivers and streams, ponds and lakes, and wetlands. Freshwater has very little salt in it and can be found all over the world.  Creatures such as fish, amphibians and insects make freshwater their home, as do grasses, water lillies, rushes and algae.

Hold up Freshwater

9. Morgan

The world has more ocean than land. Nearly three-quarters of the planet is saltwater. This includes oceans, seas, coral reefs, estuaries and even saltwater lakes. The depths of the ocean are almost like another world. No light from the sun can reach to the bottom. Microscopic life in the ocean gives us much of the oxygen we breathe.

Hold up Salt Water

10. Kiera

Our world is incredible. It gives us everything we need. By learning about it, we can look after it and value it. Our world is also old. We are not only Geographers; we are Historians.

Time Line

Anson – Thomas – Luca – Ralphie – Thomas – Cian – Rufus – Lincoln - Arthur

0 - Anson

We have looked at time line in History that show the Three Age System but also world history and British History. Here are some major events and periods of history from the past to the present day.

1 - Thomas

The ‘Three Age System’ divides early human history into three periods of time. The Stone Age lasted the longest. Very early in human history, in the Stone Age, we started using fire.

Hold up Fire

2 - Luca

The Stone Age ended at different times around the world, depending on when people started using bronze as a material. In Britain, Stonehenge was built towards the end of the Stone Age.

Hold up Stonehenge

3 - Ralphie

The Bronze Age followed on from the Stone Age. People learned how to create weapons and tools out of bronze for the first time. Stone tools and weapons took a lot of effort to make and were easy to break.

Hold up Bronze Age

4 - Thomas

While Stonehenge was being built in Britain, the Ancient Egyptians had moved into the Bronze Age. This advanced civilisation lasted for thousands of years, passing through all three ages.

Hold up Ancient Egypt

5 - Anson

Another civilisation that overlapped the Ancient Egyptians started around four thousand years ago. The Maya – in modern day Mexico – lasted until the sixteen-hundreds.

Hold up Maya

6 - Luca

In China, the Shang Dynasty developed around three thousand six hundred years ago. The Shang was a Bronze Age civilisation and one of the earliest examples of Chinese culture.

Hold up Shang Dynasty

7 - Ralphie

The Iron Age started at very different times in different parts of the world. The beginnings of Ancient Rome started towards the beginning of the Iron Age.

Hold up Ancient Rome

8 - Anson

In Ancient Rome, technology we take for granted – including iron nails for holding wood together – was invented.

Hold up iron and screws.

9 - Luca

Another simple machine – the screw – was probably invented by the Ancient Greeks. Ancient Greece overlapped with Ancient Rome but didn’t last as long. Both civilisations had a big impact on European culture.

Hold up Ancient Greece

X2

10 - Thomas

Early British history suddenly changed in AD43 when the powerful Roman Empire invaded, dominating the land for nearly four hundred years.

Hold up Roman Britain

X2

11 - Ralphie

When Roman power in Britain finally faded, settlers from mainland Europe gradually made the island their home, creating England for the first time. These people became known as the Anglo-Saxons.

Hold up Anglo-Saxons

12 - Anson

While the Anglo-Saxons mark the beginning of England, the island of Britain was also invaded and settled, nearly 400 years later, by the Vikings. The Vikings and Anglo-Saxons had a big impact on the country for a few hundred years.

Hold up Vikings

13 - Luca

Anglo-Saxon and Viking dominance was ended in ‘ten sixty-six’ when the Normans invaded, starting a new period in British history.

Hold up Normans

14 - Ralphie

From 1485 to 1603, the Tudors ruled the country, led by famous monarchs including King Henry the Eighth and Elizabeth the First. It was a time of exploration.

Hold up Tudors

X2

15 - Cian

During this time of exploration, European sailors went to America, where they found the Aztec civilisation in Mexico at the time of the Tudors.

Hold up Aztecs

16 - Rufus

Periods of British history from the Tudor times are mostly named after the ruling family of kings and queens. The Stuarts followed the Tudors. For a short period of a few years, there was no queen or king, while a Civil War took place in England.

Hold up Civil War

17 - Lincoln

Not long after the Civil War had ended and a king was back on the throne, the Great Fire of London took place, an event you will still learn about to this day in Key Stage One.

Hold up Great Fire

18 - Cian

The next period of British history is named after the Georgians. It was a time when Britain had more and more impact on the world, a time when Britain had more and more impact on the sea.

Hold up Georgians

19 – Rufus

One of the most famous periods of British history was named after one monarch – Queen Victoria. It lasted from 1837 to 1901 and was a time of great change.

Hold up Victorians

20 – Lincoln

This takes us into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, when the rate of change in the world kept speeding up. A lot of our modern technology didn’t exist at the start of this time.

Hold up 20^th-21^st Century

X2

21 - Cian

World War II took place between 1939 and 1945, only 21 years after World War I had finished. The world had become a much more ‘global’ place.

Hold up WWII

22 - Rufus

Although there have been wars, the modern world also has many positive events. For England, there was world cup victory in 1966.

Hold up World Cup Win 1966

23 - Lincoln

Human beings landed and walked on the Moon for the very first time in 1969 (fifty-five years ago). It is likely that we will be going back there again soon.

Hold up Moon Landing

24 – Cian

The internet and World Wide Web have been invented and developed since then, changing the way we communicate and learn. The World Wide Web was created by an English computer scientist.

Hold up Internet/WWW

25 - Arthur

Another World Cup was to follow in 2003. This time it came in Rugby. England have added to this with a cricket world cup more recently.

Hold up Rugby World Cup 2003

26 - Lincoln

Two years ago, the Lionesses added to our sporting trophy cabinet with more football glory, winning the European Championshops.

Hold up Euros 2022

27 - Anson

Our ride through world and British history has taken us right up to the present now and perhaps the best time of all – Oak Class 2024.

Oak Class wave and take bows!

Beowulf

Grendel: Rufus    Grendel’s Mother: Ralphie    Beowulf: Cian    Hrothgar: Anson

Warriors: Kobe, Thomas, Arthur, Luca

Evie

As part of History, we have been studying the Anglo-Saxons. We are writers, story-tellers and actors. Like us, the Anglo-Saxons loved a good story. Here is a version of one of their favourite – Beowulf.

Alisa

In a far away land, where Angles, Saxons or Jutes might roam, the noble king Hrothgar decided to build a hall.

Hrothgar stands tall.

Evie

It would be the most beautiful place ever seen. It would be a great hall built from towering wood, the biggest hall encountered. Not since the Romans had anything of its like been constructed.

Hrothgar looks up, imagining his hal being made.

Alisa

Hrothgar was rich and Hrothgar was wise, but even such a mighty king could not build it alone. He had an army to do his bidding. Nor could even the king predict what was going to happen next.

Hrothgar looks wise. He nods in approval at the hall that he sees in front of him.

Kiera

To celebrate the building of the hall – Heorot – Hrothgar said, “Let’s have a party” and so they ate, drank and told stories until late into the night. The sounds of fun and laughter rang out across the moors.

Hrothgar invites his warriors in. The warriors mime eating meat with their hands, drinking and telling/listening to stories.

Seren

However, a great shadow was cast out there in the moonlight night. It was in the form of a creature who hated the laughter. He hated the sound of joy and happiness.

Grendel stalks out. He looks cross.

Kiera

This colossal, menacing creature, in ogre form, had teeth that dripped with blood, claws as sharp as obsidian and eyes filled with treacherous fire. His name was Grendel.

Grendel bares his teeth. He shows his talons. He glares at the audience.

Seren

His massive feet squelched in the mud. Even the earth beneath his feet crumbled and trembled in fear as he stalked his way across the moor to the great hall.

Grendel stamps across the moor.

Lincoln

As he stood outside the  great wooden doors of Heorot, a piercing roar echoed around the sleeping warriors inside. Some woke to that terrifying sound, others to the shattered, splintered wood that showered them as Grendel burst in.

Grendel pauses at the iamgined door. The warriors are sleeping inside. He mimes letting out a roar.

Chloe

Candles went out suddenly – a trick of the wind. In darkness, one by one he clutched the warriors in his inescapable grip and – one by one – they perished. Thirty men were lost that night and Grendel tramped back across the moors, vowing to return.

In slow motion, the warriors get up to fight and are defeated.

Lincoln

When Hrothgar saw the devastation, he was dismayed. How could his great hall, the wonder of the world, have been ransacked by this monster?

Hrothgar steps out to see his warriors lying on the floor.

Chloe

That night, Grendel came again. And again, even though they were ready with swords and shields, the warriors of Heorot were defeated. They paid a heavy price. Again and again, each night that followed, Grendel returned to cause havoc.

Repeat the scene of warriors being slain by Grendel.

Morgan

Across the seas in the land of the Geats*, a brave warrior named Beowulf heard of the devastation Grendel was causing at Heorot.    [pronounced: Geets]

Beowulf stands looking proud and tough.

Monique

Beowulf said that he would sail over the sea from Geatland* to fight the great monster.  [pronounced: Geetland]

Beowulf sails over to Heorot, shakes hands with the warriors and waits.

Morgan

At Heorot, Beowulf lay in wait for the coming of the monster and, sure enough, that night he burst in once more, ready to destroy and devour anyone he found there.

Grendel bursts through and glares at Beowulf.

Monique

But in Beowful, Grendel met something he had never known before – he met fear, for the first time in his life. For when Beowulf took hold of Grendel’s arm, no matter how had he tried, he could not break free.

Beowulf mimes holding Grendel’s arm and pulling (Grendel has taken his arm inside his jumper, leaving just the sleeve).

Rufus

Until finally, his arm was ripped right out of its socket. With a howl of pain, the monster fled Heorot, returning to the moors to meet with his end.

Grendel mimes pain and limps away. The warriors celebrate with Beowulf.

Evie

That night the people of Heorot celebrated with Bewulf and his men. They thought there had been an end to their suffering. They could not be more wrong.

Celebration as before.

Rufus

A second monster, older, tougher, wiser, stronger, was coming across the moors, with teeth like razors, claws like barbed wire and eyes of darkness. It was Grendel’s mother.

Grendel’s mother shows off her fangs, her claws and glares at the audience.

Evie

Again, the door was thrown in and the warriors inside were taken by surprise. Grendel’s mother lashed out, defeating any who tried to stop her.

Grendel’s mother defeats the warriors in slow motion. When they try to get to her, she brushes them aside.

Alisa

In revenge for the death of her son, Grendel’s mother took one of the warriors prisoner, stalking back across the grim moor to the lake in which she lived.

Grendel takes a warrior with her.

Seren

Poor king Hrothgrar was devastated. The warrior who had been taken was his closest friend. He pleaded with Beowulf to go to the rescue.

Hrothgar is sad. He begs Beowulf.

Alisa

The noble hero Beowulf, having already defeated Grendel, showed his courage again. He followed the tracks of Grendel’s mother to the edge of her lake where they disappeared into the water.

Beowulf stands proud and then follows tracks.

Seren

Even the water could not stop Bewulf. Armed with a great sword, he dived down deep under water until he found the lair where Grendel’s mother hid. There she dragged him in, trying to kill him.

Beowulf mimes swimming.

Kiera

Beowulf’s sword could do no harm to Grendel’s mother and it looked like this would be his end, but then he spotted another sword – an enormous weapon once used by a giant – and used it to defeat her.

Grendel’s mother fights with Beowulf. Beowulf mimes losing his sword, finding another and chopping Grendel’s mother down with it.

Kiera

The hero returned in victory to the people of Heorot, who lived in peace for many years to come. And Beowulf himself became a good and wise king until one day he met with a dragon... but that is another story.

Beowulf takes the applause and congratulations from Hrothgar, then all actors bow to the audience.

Digory

Evie, Monique, Morgan, Chloe (if back) – Thomas and Luca wanted to be warriors

Evie

We are engineers and scientists in Oak Class. We have explored how things fly, we have built with construction sets and we have welcomed a new member into the class this year. Please meet Digory.

One child drives Digory into view – probably on a table set up at the front.

Monique

Digory is a radio controlled excavator. Inside Digory is a receiver that picks up signals sent to it by a transmitter. The receiver controls servos, machines that make things turn.

One child controls Digory, making him move in different ways.

Morgan

We have used Digory to find ways to shift rice from one place to another as quickly as possible and as much as possible.

One child drives Digory to the rice to pick it up.

Chloe

We have had fun developing skill with the controls, dealing with lots of different types of movement and seeing motion from different angles.

One child drives Digory with the rice in the bucket to deposit it.

Dance

Ralphie

As well as scientists, engineers, historians, story-tellers and geographers, we are dancers.

Cian

We are multi-talented here in Oak Class. We have had opportunities to show these talents in class and also for homework. When Mr Oliver-Dean gave us optional dance homework, more than half of the class took on the challenge. Here is one of the results, performed for you by Kiera and Seren.

Kiera and Seren (and Alisa if back) perform their dance.

Music

Arthur

We are creative here in Oak, in many ways. We think creatively and we use our imaginations. As well as art work, story telling, thinking and dancing, we have been creative in music. We wrote two new songs from scratch earlier in the year – one for Harvest and one for Christmas.

Luca

We wrote them by learning about the notes in a major scale and the chords they form. Chords are made by combining notes. We chose the chords we wanted and put them in a sequence. We then came up with new melodies (tunes) and words to go with them.

Kobe

After Chloe had an idea, Monique, Morgan, Evie and Anson wrote a third song for the class just for this assembly. Monique wrote a riff. Morgan wrote a vocal melody. Anson and Evie joined them to take these ideas further and write lyrics. We would like to sing this song for you now, to end our assembly.

Perform the three songs:

Choruses of the first two songs. Full version of the third.