Our blogs

Reception 6th May 2022

Date: 6th May 2022 @ 3:36pm

This week we have been exploring under the sea. We have started our book 'Commotion in the Ocean' 

We have really enjoyed looking at different sea animals and watching real life clips of them in their enviroments. 

In Maths, we have been practising doubling and halving numbers. 

We have done lots of practising for our first sports day, we are really good at cheering on our friends as they race. 

Year 3 Friday 6th May 2022

Date: 6th May 2022 @ 1:58pm

Welcome to your Friday Blog

We have had a great week of learning. Everyone is enjoying Harry Potter and we have started a new computing topic.

In our English, the children have written some fantastic pieces using the novel. They are using descriptive words from the story and really developing their writing styles. Everyone is loving their reading and bringing in books on all our topics. Keep it up!

In maths this week we have introduced angles. We identified right angles in shapes and compared the sizes of different angles.

We started our new computing topic on networks and digital devices. We heard lots of good questioning and ideas. 

On Friday, we completed our topic on Antoni Gaudi and collage in art. Check out our gallery. We are very impressed with the effort everyone put in and their creative ideas.

Home Learning

Reading

Continue to read every night for at least 20 minutes. Regular reading improves fluency, understanding and most importantly develops a life long love of reading.

Spelling

This week our spellings are all homophones. It is important that the children also know the different meanings of these words as well as the spelling.

grate     great     grown     groan     main     mane   

meat       meet       mist     missed

Maths

Continue to access the Sumdog platform to practise your number facts, maths concepts and times tables. All previous links and videos are available on our blog by clicking on view all blog items.

Online Safety Update

Lately, we have seen a huge increase in the number of children accessing the Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week's guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.

Year 5 - Friday 6th May 2022

Date: 6th May 2022 @ 1:13pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog

This week in year 5

In Maths, we have concentrated on properties of shape.  The children have a much deeper understanding of angles within triangles and quadrilaterals. They can find missing angles when given limited information.  They are also able to work out perimeters of shapes that have been made by joining 2 different polygons together.

In English we have finished our book The Adventures of Adolphus Tips.  Again, the children were gripped until the end.  I always enjoy their reactions when final pieces of information are given and they cheer or gasp. They have spent this week finalising their extended written piece, including their exciting part or dilemma and their ending.  They have all worked really well on these and should be very proud.

In Science, this week the children were botanists.  They have been learning lot about asexual and sexual reproduction in plants and this week they were able to facilitate plant reproduction through vegetative propagation.  They took cuttings from two different plants and planted them in compost, they planted seeds and one child brought a runner from their spider plant in and we were able to re-pot that.  The plants and seeds are now all in our school greenhouse, along with some strawberry plants that we will be taking care off and hoping to see runners sprout from them.  Mrs Quilliam, our resident science expert, spoke to the class this week and questioned them on their plant knowledge and she was suitably impressed.

In RE the children continued to look at transformation.  We read and discussed the scripture of Paul on the road to Damascus and how this transformed his life.  We also looked into how he went on to transform the lives of others.

In Geography, this week we continued our topic on the UK.  We looked at old maps of Lancashire and how they were set out and then used DigiMaps online to look at maps from the 1800s, up to present day.  We observed the geographical differences in our local area over this time and were able to locate a number of places we recognised, including Chapel Lane and how it may have been given its name.  They then went on to look at OS symbols and their meanings and used coordinates to locate landmarks.

In PE the children continued to develop their cricket skills.  They split into groups of four and practised batting, bowling, fielding and being backstop.  Then two teams joined together to from four teams that played a tournament to apply these skills.

DON’T FORGET

Common exception words have been sent home and the final test for these will happen before the end of the summer term.

Online Safety Update

Lately, we have seen a huge increase in the number of children accessing the Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week's guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.

Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.

Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school.  Practise is vital to improve in all areas of English.

You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)

Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.

I’d also encourage you to do a daily count with your child.  This week we are counting up in 0.4. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 0.4s, either forwards or backwards.  It often helps the children if they note down the numbers as they say them, it helps them work out the next number more easily when they can see it. Help them use bridging where appropriate to count on e.g. 4.8 + 0.2 = 5, then add the other 0.2 to get to 5.2.

Spellings words spelled with ’ie’ after c. We will look at these in more detail in school next week, they should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday. 

deceive conceive receive perceive receipt protein caffeine seize either neither weird seizure heinous being deceit

Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further.  You should all have received a second sheet with these words on by now, I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Easter. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. We will be assessing the children on these words before summer.

Sumdog challenges

PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES, MANY CHILDREN ARE STILL NOT ACCESSING SUMDOG.

Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training.  As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school.  As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult.  Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child.  Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling.  Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.

Times tables have been set to reflect class targets

Maths the children have been set activities relating to properties of shape

Spellings words spelt with ei and pronounced ee

Year 2 Blog Friday 6th May

Date: 6th May 2022 @ 1:10pm

Year 2 have had a fantastic week of learning. The children are working hard to use their manners throughout the day and follow our Golden Rules.

In English the children have continued the novel Journey and looked at expanded noun phrases to make their writing exciting to read. The children have also read the Visitor and started The Night Gardener where they have written descriptions for Topiary. In Maths we have continued learning about multiplication and division including using arrays to share and group. In Geography the children have completed their fact files about Australian animals. In Art we are focussing on the Queens Jubilee and the children have been learning toning skills ready for the Queen portraits next week.  

Online Safety Update – This week’s Online Safety Update is all about a rise in children accessing Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week’s guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.

Reading

In Year 2, children should read for at least 15 minutes every night and discuss the book with an adult or older sibling. This will help with understanding the text and learning new words.

Reading books are changed every Monday and sent home on Tuesday. Please remind your child to put their book bag in the box on Monday morning. However, if you need to change a book another time, we will change it as needed.

Spelling

There will be a spelling quiz on Friday 13^th May.

hiking

hiked 

hiker

nicer

nicest

shiny

being

shining

scary

scaring

You will have a Sumdog challenge with next week’s spellings to complete by next Friday.

Maths

At home, count in 3s from a number other than O. These become trickier when you get higher up and then try going backwards for an extra challenge.

You will have a division challenge and times table challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday.

Well done to the following children who were all up in Golden Assembly today.

Star – Leo Worrall

Bookworm – William

Writer – Imogen

Mathematician - Bella

Super Learner – Zachary Olorenshaw

Special Mentions – Maisie and Willow

Sumdog

Log in at www.sumdog.com

Have a lovely weekend.

Year 2 Team.

Year 1 Blog- Friday 6th May 2022

Date: 5th May 2022 @ 10:01am

Welcome to your first Friday blog of May!

English

We started a new book this week. We compared it to 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and 'Handa's Surprise'. We remembered so many things about these stories and had a great discussion. We talked about where the story is set and even wrote our own version.

In phonics we have been looking at alternative pronunciations- a as in hat and a as in water.

Maths

This week we have been adding and subtracting using our 10 frames to help us. We are trying really hard to write our numbers the correct way round.

P.E.

We have continued to practise for sports day! This week we focused on throwing and catching and improving our jumping for distance from last week.

R.E.

We have finished our Easter topic and are ready to learn about the lead up to Pentecost. We talked about how we can be more like Jesus, by making small, positive changes to our actions. 

P.S.H.E.

We continued to learn about being safe. We discussed different scenarios and what the best choices would be.

History

We have been very busy this week! First, we looked at the current seaside clothing that we wear and compared them to the past clothing that we looked at last week. We all loved trying on the sunglasses and flip flops!

We also looked at events from the 2000s. This is the decade we are learning about as part of our celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Art

We drew a picture of the Queen which will be part of a class collage looking at 2000 to 2009. The Queen had her 80th birthday in 2006.

French

We recapped numbers to 12 and weather phrases, then we began to learn the words for some items of clothing with a story and song.

Outdoor Learning

This week we played some warm up games in our nature area. We used the hammers again to hammer nails into the wood blocks. We also leant how to use a saw safely and had a go at sawing a log.

Home Practice

Read for at least 10 minutes every night. This is so important. We are encouraging the children to organise their own reading books and to make sure they are in their green school bag every day.Please sign the diary so we can change the books. Keep practicing reading the Tricky Words on sight. Please just write a note in the diary if you need the next set.

Sumdog challenges

Phonics - Long vowel words

Maths - One step problems

Count on and back in 2s, 5s and 10s. Start on different numbers. Talk about whether the numbers are getting bigger or smaller.

See if your child can recall the halves we have been learning, half of 2 is 1, half of 4 is 2 and so on.

Year 2 Blog Friday 29th April

Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 4:49pm

Year 2 have had a great week of learning. We have enjoyed the lovely weather and getting outside for some of our learning.

In English the children have continued the novel Journey and written a brilliant story about their own adventure using paragraphs and great adjectives. In Maths we have learnt about multiplication and division. In Science this week the children have had a great lesson about plants and growing. They used their ‘Working Scientifically Skills’ to carry out an investigation into how well seeds grow in different light conditions. The children have planted some lettuce and radishes and are keeping a close eye to see how they are getting on in our polytunnel. The beans on their table are showing slight differences from last week. We will keep you updated on these! In French the children have continued learning the actions to match the French phonic sounds and also practised the weather phrases through games, songs and a story. The children acted out the story of the Resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit in RE this week. They loved acting out the story on our outdoor stage.

Online Safety Update – This week’s Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube Videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts.

Reading

In Year 2, children should read for at least 15 minutes every night and discuss the book with an adult or older sibling. This will help with understanding the text and learning new words. VIPERS are available on the school wesite to help with questioning. 

Reading books are changed every Monday and sent home on Tuesday. Please remind your child to put their book bag in the box on Monday morning. However, if you need to change a book another time, we will change it as needed.

Spelling

There will be a spelling quiz on Friday 6^th May.  

copying

crying

replying

marrying

carrying

flying

tried

trying

drying

skiing

taxiing

You will have a Sumdog challenge with next week’s spellings to complete by next Friday.

Maths

At home, count in 2s from a number other than O. These become more tricky when you get higher up and then try going backwards for an extra challenge.

You will have a multiplication challenge and times table challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday.

Sumdog

Log in at www.sumdog.com

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend - See you all Tuesday.

Year 2 Team.

Year 3 Friday Blog - 29th April 2022

Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 4:21pm

Welcome to your Friday Blog

This week we have started reading Harry Potter. The children are very excited and have enjoyed the first two chapters. We have writeen some amazing character descriptions and looked at Harry's room under the stairs. Everyone is continuing to try hard in their English learning, improving their writing and coming up with some great questions in our lessons.

In our maths this week we have been exploring measure, looking at estimating and reminding ourselves of the column addition written method. The children used their number skills to read scales and even had a go at filling their own measuring cylinders to check their estimates. Have a look below.

In science we continued our topic on animals, investigating vertebrates and invertebrates. The children were very interested and produced some great work!

We also have looked at healthy eating in PSHE as part of our health and wellbeing topic. Our question this half term is Why should we eat well and look after our teeth?

Home Practice

Reading

Read out loud to somebody every night for 20 minutes. Talk about your favourite parts and why you like them.

Spellings

Your spellings this week are words ending with -ly.

Make sure you practise a little bit every day. 

barely           calmly           exactly         deadly       bravely     

 boldly       gladly       clearly       quickly       Deeply

Times Tables

It is important that the children know their times tables fluently. Practise these at home. (x2, x5,x10, x3, x4 and x8) 

Sumdog

Go onto Sumdog and complete the challenges and training.

You will be tested on your spellings and times tables next Tuesday.

Have an amazing and happy weekend! 

From the Year 3 team

Year 6 Blog Friday 29th April 2022

Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 3:41pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog. This week we worked in groups to create our own sporting activities to help us prepare to become mini coaches to the infants. Year 3 were kind enough to let us test each one out, with some giving great feedback to help us make them even better. At golden assembly, Mrs Stone’s dance crew performed their routine for the competition brilliantly, and although they did not get through to the finals, they showed they were a credit to St Oswald’s.

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we have been improving our learning of 2D shapes and used that knowledge to help with perimeter, area and coordinates. One main area we have been improving is fractions of numbers and percentages of numbers.
• In English, we have focused on our descriptive writing, and learnt how to better use similes and personification to create a more detailed image for the reader.
• In PE, we learnt how to improve the accuracy of throwing and catching within cricket and how to perform the basics of batting. Also, as mentioned above, we designed our own sporting activity to help improve the fundamental movements of the infants, during future lunch times.
• In Music, we learnt the National Anthem and the platinum jubilee song. We sang and performed two action songs. We also played ukuleles revising the chords A and C from last lesson, and now starting to learn chord G.
• In French, we learnt les points cardinaux – the compass points. Then we used the map of France to find places or features that are in each part of France and wrote sentences about them in a hexagon-shaped book, because France is known as l’hexagone.
• In Science, as part of our topic on Evolution and Inheritance, we practised the ‘working scientifically’ skill of explaining the method used to test the strength of egg shells. If the egg shells aren’t strong enough, the species may not survive. Then we evaluated our investigation to decide how reliable our results were. After this, we did some research about how birds have survived while other dinosaurs have died out.

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

• Reading – Continue to read every night for 30 minutes. It is important to keep reading, right up until the end for the year.

• NO SPELLING LIST THIS WEEK (We will be recapping our knowledge of the Year 5/6 spellings). Next week’s test will be on a random 15 spellings from this list so please look through those which you need to practise on.

• Sumdog challenges:

• Coordinates
  • This challenge will help you notice coordinates in all four quadrants. We have looked at these in detail on Friday so this will help to cement that learning.
• Simple and Progressive Verbs
  • This challenge will help you practise the simple and progressive verbs that we have been learning about this week.

Online Safety Update

This week's Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts.

Year 4 Home Practice 29th April 2022

Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 2:59pm

Year 4

Home Practice 29^th April 2022

Welcome to this week’s blog. Another busy week in Year 4 – here’s what we have been learning …

In English, we wrote a book review of Kensuke’s Kingdom.  In addition, we started our new novel ‘The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips’. We studied the cover of the book and read the blurb to find out what the novel would be about, then discussed some of the similarities with Kensuke’s Kingdom.

In Maths, we learnt how to mentally divide numbers using partitioning.  We then learnt the written method of division, called chunking.  Some of our answers had remainders and some didn’t.  We found this tricky, but so much easier if we are confident with our times tables.

In RE, we read the story of Peter and John who were given the courage to speak out about the Good News of Jesus, even when they were threatened. Following this, we worked in groups to prepare and present a short drama about an aspect of life today when we might be afraid to speak out.

In Science, we made and evaluated a model of the water cycle.  We drew and labelled a diagram and then provided an explanation of our model.

This week in French we practised reading short texts in French and finding information. Then we painted a background for our Matisse-style picture that we will add collage shapes to next week.

In Music, we enjoyed singing outside to ‘Crazy Moose’ (composing our own verses) and ‘Hands on my head’.  We then improved our glock playing by listening and copying the notes D and F. We finished the session by learning our Platinum Jubilee Song and recapping the ‘Mambo Cup’ rhythm from last half term.

In PE, we practised and developed our throwing and catching skills.  We then used these skills to play mini games of cricket. Well done Year 4 – you worked well to improve these skills and you have worked brilliantly in your groups.

In PSHE, we discussed the importance of feelings and how they can be expressed in different ways, for example: colours – such as feeling blue, tickled pink etc, temperature – such as cool as a cucumber and images – over the moon and shaking like a leaf. 

This week’s Home Practice ….

Reading

Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home.  Make sure you discuss the story and the characters.  Find the meaning of any new words too.  Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding. 

Times tables

You have been given your own individual times table target.  Please make sure you continue to practise your times tables in preparation for your test next week, on Thursday (5^th May 2022). Ask someone at home to test you on your tables – can you recall them quickly and accurately?  

Remember - you can also practise your tables playing ‘Hit the button’ and https://www.timestables.co.uk/

It is crucial that you learn all of your table facts as this will help you with many aspects of maths.

Counting

This week, please practise counting in hundredths (0.01’s) – draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers down as you count up.  When you count down, cover the numbers up, say the number, then reveal what you have got written down to check you’ve said the correct number.

Count in hundredths

For example, start at 4.23 and count up to 4.35 and back again

4.23   4.24   4.25             4.35  4.34   4.33     etc

Start at 17.94 and count up to 18.11 and back again

17.94   17.95   17.96         18.11   18.10   18.09  etc

Spellings

The spellings this week all have the suffix ‘cian’. A suffix is a group of letters that are added to the end of the word, and which change the meaning or make a new word.  ‘Cian’ is usually used if the root word ends in a ‘c’ or ‘cs’.   You will be tested on them next Thursday (5^th May 2022).

magician       musician       mathematician       electrician   politician

physician      optician       technician              beautician    dietician

statistician  clinician       magicians               musicians     paediatrician

Sumdog challenges

You have been set 3 challenges on Sumdog:

• A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
• A times table challenge based on the 3, 6 and 9 times tables
• A maths challenge based on using place value and known facts to multiply and divide mentally.

Please make sure you log on and have a go! Many of you are still not accessing Sumdog on a daily basis. Little and often is the key to success!

Number bonds

Number bonds are very important and help with many aspects of maths. The more confident you are with these, the easier you will find addition, subtraction, mental calculations etc.  Therefore, please continue practising your number bonds / addition skills playing Hit the Button

The game you will play will help with your number bonds and quick addition skills. For example:

8 + 6               you could partition this into         8 + 2 + 4 = 14

This is because 8 + 2 is a pair to 10, then add the 4 to 10

Click on the link above, then on Play Game.

Click on Number bonds

On the left-hand side you will see the words ‘Up to 20’

Click on Addition within 20

See how many you can get correct in 1 minute. Then have another go and try and beat your score.

Maths and spelling training

Please continue to use the maths and spellings training sections as these are tailored for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult.

Online Safety Update

This week's Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts.

Reception 29th April 2022

Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 12:40pm

This week we have been reading 'The Dinosaur Department Store', we have loved finding out about different types of dinosaurs and writing our own descriptions for them. 

In Maths, we have been practising our addition and making teen numbers. 

We had really enjoyed our learning about dinosaurs! Next week, we will be going under the sea. 

Year 5 - Friday 29th April 2022

Date: 28th Apr 2022 @ 5:09pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog

The children have had a busy week, working hard and trying their best.

This week in year 5

In Maths, we have investigated properties of polygons, both regular and irregular.  We have looked at rules that make them polygons or irregular polygons including length of sides and size of angles.  We have looked at how to work out the size of missing angles when we are given some information.  It is vital that the children are aware of the names of different shapes and their properties.  Please encourage your children to name a range of shapes and their properties e.g. a square is a regular polygon that has 4 equal sides and 4 equal angles, the total of its angles will equal 360° or an irregular hexagon has 6 sides of different lengths and different size angles, the total of all the angles will equal 720°.

In English the children are working hard on an extended piece of work.  They are writing about what happens to Tips when she goes missing.  They have planned their story and have completed their opening and build up and edited them.  They will continue and complete the story next week.  There are some great stories emerging.

In Science, we looked at sexual and asexual reproduction in plants.  We recapped sexual reproduction of plants and how seeds are made. We then went on to look at the life cycle of that plant from germination, to shoot, to an adult plant that is able to reproduce and another seed is formed.  We looked at asexual plants such as daffodils and potatoes and how they reproduce by themselves.  We also dissected fruit and conducted a pattern seeking investigation with the hypothesis, ‘If the fruit is bigger, it will have more seeds.’  We were able to disprove this theory through our investigation.

In RE, we have continued our topic on transformation, around the feast of Pentecost.  The children discussed scripture where Jesus appeared to the disciples and how this made them feel.  We discussed how their energy was transformed by their faith in Jesus and how they went to spread the Good News in order to transform others’ energy also.

This week in French, we practised listening and reading skills. Then we recapped food words with a game of bingo and a song.

In PE, the children completed their train run warm up and then split into groups for cricket skills.  We started developing an overarm throwing technique and catching a small ball.  After this they went on to develop their aim and fielding by either throwing at a wicket or acting as backstop to retrieve the ball and return to the bowler.  They then practised, in rotation, in groups of 4, at bowling, batting, fielding and being backstop.  This then enabled them to join another group for a cricket match.  They showed some great promise, we have some great batters (real sloggers), some amazing throwing and catching and the makings of a great cricket team developing.

 In DT, the children have now completed their design stage of their cams and followers mechanism.  They have work hard on their designs and completed a list of the resources required.  They will have an afternoon in the coming weeks to use their knowledge gained from teaching sessions and making their prototype to make their working mechanisms.

In PSHE, the children looked at different types of drugs in society – socially acceptable drugs (that still have negative effects), prescription drugs, over the counter drugs and illegal drugs.  They were very sensible in the discussion work and were able to ask questions relating to information they had heard that wasn’t necessarily true.  We will continue with this topic this term, looking at healthy habits and how to avoid unhealthy life choices.

DON’T FORGET

Common exception words have been sent home and the final test for these will happen before the end of the summer term.

ONLINE SAFETY UPDATE

This week's Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts. See link.

Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.

Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school.  Practise is vital to improve in all areas of the curriculum.

You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)

Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.

I would also encourage you to do a daily count with your child.  This week they can count up in 6s and 0.6s. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 6s or 0.6s, either forwards or backwards.  A strategy we use is bridging e.g. if the number is 45 and we are adding 6 we would use 5 to bridge it to the next 10 first – 50 and then add the remaining 1.  If subtracting we would again subtract to the nearest 10 – this time subtracting 5 to get to 40 and then subtracting the leftover 1.

Spellings words spelled with ’ie’ after c. We will look at these in more detail in school next week. They should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday. 

ancient science species efficient deficient glacier scientists sufficient emergencies inefficient fanciest  conscience society scientifically bounciest

Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further.  You should all have received a second sheet with these words on by now. I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Easter. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. We will be assessing the children on these words before summer.

Sumdog challenges

PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES. 

Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training.  As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school.  As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult.  Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child.  Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling.  Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.

Times tables have been set to reflect class targets

Maths the children have been set activities relating to regular and irregular polygons

Spellings words with ie after c

Year 1-Friday Blog-29th April 2022

Date: 28th Apr 2022 @ 10:08am

Welcome to your Friday blog!

English

This week our learning was through the story of 'I Want My Hat Back'. The bear goes through the forest and asks every animal he meets if they have seen his hat. We predicted how the story might develop. We designed our own hats-they were really imaginative.

In phonics we have been looking at how some sounds are pronounced differently, ow as in snow and ow as in cow.

Maths

In Maths we have been sharing amounts in equal groups.

We have also been learning about 3D shapes-spheres,pyramids,cubes and cuboids.

We have also been doing some timed number fact challenges which we are getting better at as we recall our facts more quickly.

Science

This week we had a walk up to our beautiful pond. We looked out for what was growing and talked about what was the same or different compared to the nature area.

R.E.

We learnt about the Easter story. We ordered pictures and talked about them.

P.E.

We practised throwing a bean bag into a target. We ran relay races and we did a standing jump.

Outdoor Learning

This week we played a warm up game on the field. We used the hammers again to put nails into the wood blocks. Then we experimented with elastic bands and wool to make different patterns. We remembered all the things we need to do to stay safe.

History

We started our new topic of 'The Seaside'. We compared holidays now and in the recent past. We tried on some clothes from the past too!

Music

We are getting really good at singing the Jubilee song. We have also got a class song with a dance that we are learning.

French

This week in French, we have learnt some weather phrases through games, a song and a story.

P.S.H.E.

The Nursing Team visited us to show us how to wash our hands properly. They had a special box which showed us where all the germs were on our hands. We listened very attentively.

Home Practice

Read for at least 10 minutes every night. This is so important. We are encouraging the children to organise their own reading books and to make sure they are in their green school bag every day.Please sign the diary so we can change the books. Keep practicing reading the Tricky Words on sight. Please just write a note in the diary if you need the next set.

Sumdog challenges

Phonics - ew and oo

Maths - Recognise 2D and 3D shapes.

Count on and back in 2s, 5s and 10s. Start on different numbers. Talk about whether the numbers are getting bigger or smaller.

See if your child can recall the halves we have been learning, half of 2 is 1, half of 4 is 2 and so on.

YEAR 4 SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME

Date: 25th Apr 2022 @ 4:31pm

Sacramental Programme – Session 4

Year 4 had an interesting and informative session in church on Monday. The children listened respectfully and asked some very thoughtful questions. 

This week, the children learnt more about the celebration of Mass and the people who help to prepare for each Mass.

There are many people who work together to prepare for our celebration of Mass.  All these people have a variety of skills and talents and they help to make each Mass special.  These people are usually volunteers who take turns so that everyone has a chance to help.

During the session, the children met some of the people who help with Mass and learnt what their job and responsibilities are.  These people included: the Sacristan, Altar Server, Eucharistic Minister, Priest, Reader and Welcomer.

The session finished with the children saying a prayer together whilst stood on the altar.

Your children will have brought home a sheet they completed during their time in church and a discussion in school. Please have a look at the sheets your child has brought home and discuss these with them. 

We appreciate your time and support in helping your children understand the significance of the work they are completing as part of their Faith Journey.

Year 5 - Friday 22nd April

Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 3:43pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog

The children have settled back into the summer term and have been working hard this week.

This week in year 5

In Maths, we have been working on equivalent fractions, adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators and converting improper fractions into mixed numbers.  This is a difficult concept for some of the children and will require some practising at home.  We discussed the rules with equivalent fractions – we can only use divide and multiplication and whatever we do to the top we do to the bottom.  When adding and subtracting fractions the denominator needs to be the same and we only add the numerator NOT the denominator. 

In English we are getting towards the end of Adlophus Tips.  Things are now getting a little exciting.  We have been practising different openers this week for our writing.  We have planned an extended piece of writing today that we will develop, edit and complete next week.

In Science, we have started a new topic about living things and their habitat.  We started off looking at plants and how they reproduce.  We looked at botanical illustrations and discussed how these have help botanist understand plants and their reproduction and we were also able to dissect a number of flowers.  We looked inside the flowers and were able to find the male and female parts of the flower.  If you have any old tulips or daffodils that your children can dissect at home, you could ask your children to show you the different parts of the flower and how it reproduces.

In RE, we have started our new topic on transformation, around the feast of Pentecost.  The children first looked at energy and how this can be made and changed.  We then looked at scripture relating to Jesus appearing to the disciples and how this energy affected them.

In French, we started with a quiz. The children had to read some paragraphs in French, trying to get the gist rather than understanding every word, in order to answer some questions. It was tricky, but everything is first time!  Then we recapped some food vocabulary.

In PE, the children ran their orienteering course again, as a warm up and they were able to complete the course in a much better time, due to developing effective techniques.  They then went on to practise skills needed for cricket.  They practised over arm throwing at a target, they practised catching an over arm bowl and then they were able to practise batting, in teams of 4, with 1 being the bowler, 1 the batter, 1 the back stop and 1 the fielder.  They were able to shoe great promise. I hope to see some real skills emerging over the next few weeks.

 In Geography the children developed map reading skills.  They were asked to identify human and physical geographical features within the UK.  They used knowledge of counties and use of the index to find where these landmarks would be and plot a point on a map.  They were very good and worked well in groups to find many locations.

DON’T FORGET

Common exception words have been sent home and the final test for these will happen before the end of the summer term.

Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.

Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school.  Practise is vital to improve in all areas of English.

You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)

Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.

I’d also encourage you to do a daily count with your child.  This week they can count up in 6s and 0.6s. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 6s or 0.6s, either forwards or backwards.  A strategy we use is bridging e.g. if the number is 45 and we are adding 6 we would use 5 to bridge it to the next 10 first – 50 and then add the remaining 1.  If subtracting we would again subtract to the nearest 10 – this time subtracting 5 to get to 40 and then subtracting the leftover 1.

Spellings words Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer. We will look at these in more detail in school next week, they should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday. 

referring preferred transferring reference referee preference transference difference inference conferring offering conference preferable different transferred

Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further.  You should all have received a second sheet with these words on by now, I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Easter. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. We will be assessing the children on these words before summer.

Sumdog challenges

PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES, MANY CHILDREN ARE STILL NOT ACCESSING SUMDOG.

Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training.  As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school.  As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult.  Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child.  Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling.  Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.

Times tables have been set to reflect class targets

Maths the children have been set activities relating to fractions and mixed numbers

Spellings words adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer

Year 4 Home Practice 22nd April 2022

Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 3:32pm

Year 4

Home Practice 22^nd April 2022

What lovely weather for our first week back after the Easter break.  Well done for working so hard Year 4 – you all looked very smart in your summer uniforms too.

This is what we’ve been learning this week …

In English, we finished our class novel ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’.  We wrote a character description of Kensuke, including information about his appearance, his hobbies, and his emotions and feelings.  In addition, we planned a book review which we will be writing next week. 

In our Maths lessons, we used factors to help with more tricky multiplications. We also learnt how to use the grid method to multiply a 3 digit number by a 1 digit number.  In addition, we started our division topic which involved halving some quite tricky numbers. During these topics, Year 4 have realised how important it is to know their times tables!

In RE, we started our new topic of Pentecost and ‘New Life’.  First, we discussed how good news brings life and responded to our own experiences of how when good things happen, it brings us new life and happiness. Then, we discussed the meaning of Pentecost and described the actions, symbols and colour in a painting depicting Pentecost.

In Science, we carried out an experiment to investigate whether the amount of water affected the time taken for it to evaporate completely.  Following this, we discussed whether our experiment was fair and how we could improve it. Well done Year 4, you are becoming experts on carrying out experiments and recording results.

In French, we looked at some examples of Henri Matisse’s art works, some of which we preferred to others! The children had some great, individual ideas of what the artist might have been trying to portray. We recapped the vocabulary needed to describe them, ready to write about our chosen picture next week.

We practised and developed our throwing and catching skills in PE.  We then used these skills to play mini games of cricket. Well done Year 4 – you worked well to improve these skills.

We enjoyed our outdoor learning making shelters outside.  We made some fantastic and very imaginative shelters and showed some great team working skills.  We are looking forward to making shelters again and improving our designs.

This week’s Home Practice ….

Reading

Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home.  Make sure you discuss the story and the characters.  Find the meaning of any new words too.  Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding. 

Times tables

You have been given your own individual times table target.  Please make sure you continue to practise your times tables in preparation for your test next week, on Thursday (28^th April 2022). Ask someone at home to test you on your tables – can you recall them quickly and accurately?  

Remember - you can also practise your tables playing ‘Hit the button’ and https://www.timestables.co.uk/

It is crucial that you learn all of your table facts as this will help you with many aspects of maths.

Counting

This week, please practise counting in 2’s and 0.2’s – draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers down as you count up.  When you count down, cover the numbers up, say the number, then reveal what you have got written down to check you’ve said the correct number.

Count in 2’s

For example, start at 0 and count up to 24 and back again (this will help with your 2 times table)

0   2   4   6                       24   22   20     etc

Start at 85 and count up to 105 and back again

85   87   89                      105   103   101  etc

Count in 0.2’s

Start at 0.2 and count up to 2.4 and back again

0.2   0.4   0.6                 2.4   2.2   2.0  etc

Start at 23.2 and count up to 25.2 and back again

23.2   23.4   23.6           25.2    25.0    24.8  etc

Spellings

The spellings this week all have the prefix ‘anti’.  A prefix is a group of letters that are added to the beginning of a word, and which change the meaning or make a new word.  ‘Anti’ means against.  You will be tested on them next Thursday (28^th April 2022).

antiwrinkle            antibody                antifreeze             antidote

anticlimax              antisocial               antiseptic              anti-aircraft

anti-aging              antihero                antivirus                anticlockwise

antiperspirant       antibodies             antihistamine

Sumdog challenges

You have been set 3 challenges on Sumdog:

• A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
• A times table challenge based on the 2, 4 and 8 times tables
• A maths challenge based on recognising and using factor pairs

Please make sure you log on and have a go! Many of you are still not accessing Sumdog on a daily basis. Little and often is the key to success!

Online safety update

Please read our guide for TikTok below.

In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as age inappropriate content, addiction and in app spending.

Number bonds

Number bonds are very important and help with many aspects of maths. The more confident you are with these, the easier you will find addition, subtraction, mental calculations etc.  Therefore, please continue practising your number bonds / addition skills playing Hit the Button

The game you will play will help with your number bonds and quick addition skills. For example:

8 + 6               you could partition this into         8 + 2 + 4 = 14

This is because 8 + 2 is a pair to 10, then add the 4 to 10

Click on the link above, then on Play Game.

Click on Number bonds

On the left-hand side you will see the words ‘Up to 20’

Click on Addition within 20

See how many you can get correct in 1 minute. Then have another go and try and beat your score.

Maths and spelling training

Please continue to use the maths and spellings training sections as these are tailored for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult.

Year 6 Blog Friday 22nd April 2022

Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 1:09pm

Welcome to our first Year 6 blog of the Summer Term. It has been great to see the children back in their summer uniforms. They have all come back with a super attitude after having two weeks off and have done brilliantly with all the tricky tasks set this week. Keep up the hard work Year 6!

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we have been learning how to solve problems with our place value knowledge by making sure we underline the important parts of the question and to check our answers. We have also learnt about ratio (the relation of one quantity to another) and proportion (which is a number, a share or a part of something in relation to a whole – like portions).
• In English, we have written an explanation text, a story and a poem using a range of conjunctions and noun phrases. We have also been improving our grammar knowledge by revisiting the names of all the word classes.
• In History, we completed our topic of the Mayans by presenting what we had learnt about the discovery of the Chichen Itza and how it shows how life was like back then.
• In Music, we completed our final performance of ‘Sailor, Sailor’ on the recorders, created an action song called, ‘Hands on my head’, and used the ukuleles to learn the C and A minor chords.
• In French, we labelled a map of France with the important cities, rivers, mountains and seas. We talked about why France is called l’hexagone and what each of the places is famous for. We learned how to say the points of the compass so that next week, we can describe where places and features are in France.
• In Science, we began our new topic of Evolution and Inheritance by looking at animals’ adaptations to their habitats and what would happen if, for example, the polar bear did not have white fur or large feet. The children researched an animal of their choice and how it is adapted to its environment.
• In Computing, we used code.org to learn how to use sprites, variables and loops in coding.

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

• Reading – Continue to read every night for 30 minutes. It is important to keep reading, right up until the end for the year.

• NO SPELLING LIST THIS WEEK (We will be recapping our knowledge of the Year 5/6 spellings). Next week’s test will be on a random 15 spellings from this list so please look through those which you need to practise on.

• Maths challenges:
  • Counting:
    • This week we have been counting in 60s and 600s
    • Start with 225 or 850 or 575
    • Then count up in 60s ten times and back again
      • 225, 285, 345, 405, 465, 525, 585, etc
    • Then count up and back in 600s
      • 850, 1450, 2005, 2650, 3250, 3850, etc
    • Number facts:
      • To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 17 – 9 = 6, 15 – 8 = 7.
      • The best way to do this is to simply have someone in your home quiz you with questions like (13 – 5, 18 – 9, 16 – 8, 15 - 9, etc)
      • Then get them to change the place value of these digits (1.3 – 0.5, 1.8 – 0.9, 1.6 – 0.8, 1.5 – 0.9, etc)

• Sumdog (Multiples and Factors)
  • This challenge will be great to apply your multiplication knowledge to practice revising multiples and factors.
• Sumdog (Antonyms and Synonyms)
  • This challenge will help you become more familiar with words that are the same (synonyms) and words that are opposites (antonyms).

Maths and Spelling Training.

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise. 

This feature is great for anyone wanting to challenge themselves further.

Year 3 Blog Friday 22nd April 2022

Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 12:57pm

Happy Earth Day. Please think about ways to look after our planet, today and every day.

What a great start to Summer Term we have had. It has been lovely to see everybody come back happy in their summer uniforms. 

We have really enjoyed our English this week, we have used pictures to write our own story. Each day we have added to our story, they are amazing. We are looking forward to Monday when we are going to record ourselves on the iPad reading out our work. 

In maths we have been practising halving numbers and dividing. We have found this tricky, but much easier if we know our times tables. Everybody has tried really hard. 

We loved our PE lesson in the sunshine on Tuesday afternoon. We did some orienteering where we practised reading a map with symbols. We also practised some cricket skills including throwing and batting. 

We have started our new PSHE and science topics this week. They are both about being healthy. We are looking forward to learning about the human body and how to make sure we look after ourselves. 

Home Practice 

Reading:

Read at home every night for 20 minutes. 

Times Tables:

Practise your times tables. Everybody has their own target based on how accurate they have been on Sumdog practice. 

Spellings:

Your spellings this week have the suffixes -ing, -ed, -en. When these suffixes are added, the last letter of the root word needs to be doubled. 

forget -  forgetting

forgot - forgotten

begin - beginning

prefer - preferred

permit - permitted

regret - regretting

commit - committed

forbid - forbidden

propel - propelled

equip - equipped

There is a challenge on Sumdog to practise these spellings. 

Tests:

You will be tested on your spellings and times tables on Tuesday 26th April 2022. 

Have an amazing weekend everybody :) 

Reception 22nd April 2022

Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 11:36am

What a week we have had! 

We found some giant eggs in our outdoor area, with a message asking us to look after them. We then had phone call from a dinosaur to help them crack the code by writing a sentence for them and we checked our cameras and we had some dinosaurs visit school early in the morning to see how the eggs were doing. 

In French, We started to learn the words for the days of the week and revised some fruit words, ready for reading La Chenille qui fait des trous (The Hungry Caterpillar)  soon. We also had time to read a book about France and learn a new song!

In Science: we observed some fossils and talked about what the animal or plant might have been like millions of years ago. We talked about how fossils are made and made a model to illustrate this process using different layers of bread and foam shrimps all squashed down with big rocks! We’ll see how our ‘fossils’ are doing next week.

In art, we made our own volcanos out of clay and we made them explode. It was really good fun. 

 We also learnt all about St Georges Day and Earth day too! 

Year 2 Blog Friday 22nd April 2022

Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 9:55am

We hope you all had a lovey Easter Break and are ready for the next 6 weeks of term. We cannot believe it is the Summer term already! The children have had a great first week back and it’s lovely to see them again.

In English the children have started a new novel called 'Journey' by Aaron Becker. The children have explored the beginning of the story and looked at what the pictures are showing us, using inference to detect what is happening. In Maths we have finished our unit on Money and started looking at Multiplication and using arrays. In Art this week we have explored the Blossom trees and drawn them in our sketch books whilst looking at all the details from the tree. In PE the children have started practising for sports day - they are all very excited for this. In Science the children have started a new topic all about Plants. They have planted a bean and are waiting to see what happens to it. In French the children are learning letters through phonics with actions.

Reading

In Year 2, children should read for at least 15 minutes every night and discuss the book with an adult or older sibling. This will help with understanding the text and learning new words.

You could write down these new words in a word book and find out what they mean. It is amazing to see the list grow, something to be very proud of, especially when children realise how many more words they understand and can use!

Please sign and leave a small comment when you have read with your child and make it clear that you have finished a book, then we know we can change it.

Reading books are changed every Monday and sent home on Tuesday. Please remind your child to put their book bag in the box on Monday morning. However, if you need to change a book another time, we will change it as needed.

Reading resources:

Oxford Owl – This resource has an exciting range of carefully levelled books to help children learn to read and really enjoy it.

If parents and children decide to use this resource, we ask they access phase 5 books. Go to https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ and select ‘my class login’. Scroll down to the ‘eBook Library for Letters & Sounds’. You could also explore the rest of the site and read books from the Oxford Owl eBook library or listen to audio books.

Username: sto2

Password: 1234

Resources for questioning your child while they are reading - https://www.literacyshedblog.com/uploads/1/2/5/7/12572836/ks1_reading_vipers.pdf

In addition to this, reading a good bed time story to your child is so worthwhile and really helps towards a lifelong love of reading.

Spelling

There will be a spelling quiz on Friday 29^th April.  

copier

copied

happier

happiest

cried

replied

tried

dried

driest

funnier

You will have a Sumdog challenge with this week’s spellings to complete by next Friday.

Maths

At home, count forwards and backwards in 4s to 48. Start at different numbers each time. For example, start counting forwards from a number other than 4. What patterns do you see? What numbers do you say each time?

Practise 2-, 5-, 10- and 3-times tables on a game called Hit the Button. Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

You will have a money and times table challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday.

Sumdog

Log in at www.sumdog.com

Online Safety Update – Please read our guide for TikTok below. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as age appropriate content, addiction and in app sending.  

Have a lovely weekend.

Year 2 Team.

Year 1 Blog-Friday 22nd April

Date: 21st Apr 2022 @ 3:59pm

Welcome to the first blog of the Summer Term. Everyone looked so smart in their uniform. We hope you had a lovely Easter, all the children shared what they've been up to!

English

This week we have been talking about what good writing looks like and how we can improve our writing. We looked through our English books to remind ourselves what our writing looked like in September compared to now. We found our favourite piece of writing and said why we liked it. We also found a piece of writing and improved it. We even looked at each others writing. We love talking about how we can get even better at our writing- we know what we need to do!

Have a look at Karate Cats.Click here.

In Phonics we have been looking at Phase 5 sounds, ea is in leaf, ph as in dolphin, aw as in saw.

Maths

This week we have been finding halves of shapes and amounts. We used the word equal when we shared the amounts. We used part whole models and equipment to check our answers. We also had some good discussions about odd and even numbers.

Play Coconut Odd or Even. Click here. 

Science

We explored our school grounds to look at the changes. We noticed that the daffodils and snowdrops have died away. We found bluebells, daisies and forget-me-nots. We also noticed it was warmer than the last time we looked at what was growing.

R.E.

We acted out the Last Supper with bread and juice.

Music

We started learning a song for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

P.E.

This week we practised some of the skills we will be using on Sports Day. We did some running races. Our Sports Day is on Tuesday May 24th.

History

We learnt about Nick Park. He is the creator of Wallace and Gromit as well as many other characters. He came to St. Oswald's when he was a boy.

P.S.H.E

We started a new theme about how to keep ouselves safe. We talked about all the people in our community who keep us safe. We also had a discussion about people who we can trust.

Outdoor Learning

This week we went outside in small groups. First we played a warm up game in the Nature Area. Then we gathered in our log circle to learn how to use hammers safely. We made patterns in a wood block by hammering different screws and nails in. We also hammered nails into the wood blocks. Everyone listened so attentively and really developed their woodworking skills as well as their perseverance.

Art

We started our textiles topic. We looked at different materials and sketched them.

Earth Day

We celebrated Earth Day by singing 'I am the Earth'.Click here.

Online Safety Update

Year 2 Easter Blog Friday 1st April 2022

Date: 1st Apr 2022 @ 4:32pm

Spring Term has been really good in Year 2, the children have been working so hard and making a lot of progress. They looked amazing in their World Book Day costumes today and shared their love of books and reading. In Maths, we have been working on adding and subtracting money, finding change and problem solving. The investigation in Science was great, the children looked at what materials were waterproof or not, and decided which would be the best material to make a raincoat for teddy. They enjoyed ball skills and tennis outside during PE and in RE, we read all about what happened to Jesus during Holy Week.

Reading

Over the holidays please try to read for at least 15 minutes every night and discuss the book with an adult or older sibling. This should be enjoyable, and help with understanding the text and learning new words.

Please sign and leave a small comment when you have read with your child and make it clear that you have finished a book, then we know we can change it.

Reading books are changed every Monday and sent home on Tuesday. However, if you need to change a book another time, we will change it as needed.

Reading resources:

Oxford Owl – This resource has an exciting range of carefully levelled books to help children learn to read and really enjoy it.

If parents and children decide to use this resource, we ask they access phase 5 books. Go to https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ and select ‘my class login’. Scroll down to the ‘eBook Library for Letters & Sounds’. You could also explore the rest of the site and read books from the Oxford Owl eBook library or listen to audio books.

Username: sto2

Password: 1234

Resources for questioning your child while they are reading - https://www.literacyshedblog.com/uploads/1/2/5/7/12572836/ks1_reading_vipers.pdf

In addition to this, reading a good bed time story to your child is so worthwhile and really helps towards a lifelong love of reading.

Maths

Practise 2-, 5-, 10- and 3-times tables on a game called Hit the Button. Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Sumdog

There are no challenges set, however if you would like to play some games, you can continue to access the Maths and Spelling Training sections.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

Have a lovely Easter Holiday.

Year 2 Team.

Year 6 Easter Blog 1st April 2022

Date: 1st Apr 2022 @ 3:33pm

Welcome to the last Year 6 blog this spring term. We are so pleased with everyone’s effort throughout the term! This week the juniors attended Mass together, along with the parishioners. We also had a visit from Eileen McNamara who is a volunteer for CAFOD to deliver a workshop on Catholic social teaching. We learnt that we all see good and bad things daily and with Catholic social teaching we think about it and choose how to act, using the terms: human dignity, common good, solidarity, stewardship and participation.

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we learnt that algebra means ‘the reunion of broken parts’, what algebra symbols mean and how to solve them. We also improved our learning on how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.
• In English, we wrote a letter to Tower Wood to thank them for our amazing time there. We also learnt the difference between informal and formal writing.
• In PE, we completed our orienteering unit with an intra competition of pairs trying to find the points hidden around the school grounds. The children did an amazing job with most completing the course in under 10 minutes.
• In History, we completed our Mayans topic through researching Chichen Itza, a historic site that was discovered in 1841. We used the information that we gathered, and our knowledge of the past 6 weeks to explain what life was like during the Mayan civilisation.
• In French we practised conjugating regular ER verbs – we are get much more confident with now. We then wrote Easter sentences using the pronoun ‘on’ which is used a lot in France as an informal way of saying we.
• In Science, we completed the last lessons in the topic of Healthy Lifestyles. We discussed the dangers of smoking and the ill effects it has on the body. We recapped the messages from the last few weeks – eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, taking medicines properly and avoiding those things which are bad for us, are all ways for us to live long, healthy lives.

For the Easter holidays, I have included a few revision documents that are printed and also attached to this blog. They include:

• Easter letter from Mr Mears
• Easter Home Practice Log
• Easter Revision Guide 2022
• Easter Reading Diet

The Easter holidays are to rest, relax and enjoy time with your family. The documents I have included above (as explained in the letter attached) are for those who wish to do some extra practice during the two weeks, for just a small amount of time each day. It is not a requirement to complete everything but little and often of reading, maths revision and spellings will go a huge way when you return on Tuesday 19^th April. Please bring in your timetables and logs on this Tuesday.

Enjoy your Easter break!

Year 3 Half Term Blog - 1st April

Date: 1st Apr 2022 @ 1:09pm

HAPPY HALF TERM EVERYBODY! We hope you have a happy half term and a wondeful Easter. 

This half term everybody has really grown up and worked hard every single day.

As a class, we have been focussing on being kind - making sure everybody feels loved and accepted. 

We loved dressing up as our favourite book characters for our very own World Book Day. We even wrote stories as our character. 

We finished reading our novel Journey to Jo'burg. We really enjoyed learning lots of new words and also learning about the history of apartheid in South Africa. 

In maths we finished our learning about fractions. At first we thought fractions were really tricky, but after lots of practice we are now experts. We realised that our times tables and division facts can really help - it is so important to know our number facts. 

We really enjoyed our geography learning this half term. We have been learning about the continent of Africa. We learned that it is a very diverse continent. Next time we have a chocolate bar, we will wonder if it came from Ghana - they are the second largest producer of cocoa beans in the world! 

In art we have been learning about the artist Antoni Gaudi. We love that he uses lots of different colours and shapes. 

Have a fantastic half term everybody! You deserve to have a rest, have lots of fun and be very very happy every day! 

Year 5 - 1st April 2022

Date: 1st Apr 2022 @ 12:23pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog

The end of another great term, how time flies!

This week in year 5

In Maths, we have been working on fractions.  The children have been building up their skills on changing improper fractions into mixed numbers and vice versa.  This can prove very tricky at times but they have worked well.  They have also calculated equivalent fractions and finding the lowest possible term. 

In English we have continued with The Amazing Adventures of Adolphus Tips by Michael Murpurgo.  The children have written a persuasive letter using modal verbs and they have written another diary entry but this time from a different characters opinion.  They worked really hard on using various types of sentences and different types of starters.

In RE, we continued with the story of Easter.  The children read scripture about Jesus being condemned to death and the story of the Stations of the Cross.  They reflected on the sacrifice that Jesus made for them and how that made them feel and how this may help Christians live in the way Jesus taught us.

In French, we learnt Easter vocabulary and used this to make a card.  Joyeuses Paques!

In PE, the children took part in a timed orienteering challenge.  They had to follow a map and find 25 different locations around our school grounds.  They worked in pairs and all completed the course.  We will revisit this on their return and see if they can beat their score on a different 25 stations. 

In DT, the children learnt all about different types of cams and how they affect the followers in a mechanism.  They then made a prototype cam and follower mechanism and evaluated the resources they used and how effective they were.  This will then inform their design for their final product that will be made in the new term.

On Tuesday we had a visit from CAFOD where the children learned all about Catholic Social Teaching.  They were very good during the sessions.  They gave very carefully thought out answers and participated really well.  Eileen, who led the workshop, was very impressed with all the work the children put into the session.

The children attended church on Thursday and made little packages for the church community.  They decorated an envelope and then filled it with items for a cup of tea and a biscuit.  This will be passed onto the catechists who will distribute them to members of our Parish.  The children really enjoyed this and saw the good deed that they were doing and how this linked to teachings in RE.

The children have been working hard during the daily mile. We had our sponsored run for Barnardo’s and this has spurred us on to run further.  We have challenged ourselves to run to Madrid before the summer; this is over 900 miles.  So far this term we have run just over 550 miles, this takes just past Nantes in France.  We still have a way to go but I think with the same hard work and dedication they have shown we will make it to Madrid by the summer!

We had a great day on World Book day.  Please see the photo below of all our costumes.  Thank you for your support. 

Have a super Easter Holiday!

World Book Day 2022

Date: 1st Apr 2022 @ 11:15am

We have had an amazing Spring term, all the children have made great progress and really grown up this term. 

Our last week at school has been a busy one, writing all about how our caterpillars have changed. Learning about the life cycle of a frog and making some lovely Easter cards for our families.