Year 1 Blog- Friday 23rd February 2024

Date: 23rd Feb 2024 @ 12:32pm

Home Practice

Phonics - split digraph a_e OR ie (ee sound) OR ur words

Maths -  Measurement

Counting - Count in 10s starting at different numbers, 12,22,32 and so on.

Reading - Please try to read each night, it makes a big difference!

English

We have been learning through the story of Scaredy Squirrel. He is scared of everything outside his nut tree. We drew pictures of what he is scared of and we labelled them. We wrote his new and improved daily routine. We also wrote an exit plan for him. We are trying so hard to write in full sentences.

Phonics

Some of us have been revising ie as in tie and learning ie as in chief.

Some of us have been learning some of the different ai spellings - ai, ay, ey and a_e.

Maths

We have been focusing on using the balance scales to measure mass. We used cubes and 10g weights to weigh different classroom objects.

R.E.

First we read the story of Zacchaeus. We talked about how meeting Jesus changed his life and how he decided to give back what he had taken.

Then we read the story of Jesus being tempted in the desert. We talked about how Jesus did not listen to the Devil and how he did not eat for 40 days. Miss Fisher tempted us with marshmallows but nobody gave in!

We also wrote our Lenten promises.

Art

We had so much fun making our own medals! We used our plan to see what we would need and then chose how to decorate it.

See some of our pictures here.

D.T.

We have started to think about the flavour smoothie that we are going to make. We talked about the differences between fruit and vegetables and sorted lots of different objects.

See some of our pictures here.

Forest School

We learnt how to use hammers safely. We used them to knock nails in to wood.

We also went intp the very muddy nature area. The child-initiated learning was briliant-floating and sinking, mixing up mud and water, making a stream, cooking and building dams.

We also explored our new shelters.

Reception Blog - Friday 23rd February 2024

Date: 23rd Feb 2024 @ 10:43am

Phonics

This week we have been revisiting all of the sounds we have learnt so far.

Maths

We have been learning about one more than a number and playing bingo to find one more.

Drawing Club

This week, we read the story; Oliver's Vegetables.

We discussed what happens in the beginning, middle and end of the story. Then we designed our own character to come and steal some vegetables in the night.

R.E.

We started our week learning all about Lent. We listened to the bible story about Jesus in the desert. We then talked about what we would promise to do in Lent.

We learnt about the Great Commandment, Loving God. We discussed how we show love to one another.

Understanding the World

We have explored different fruits and vegetables.

We started our new topic about Africa. To begin this we listened to the story Handa's Surprise. We looked at a map to find Africa and talked about its size compared to England.

Expressive Arts and Design

In Art, we have been using foods to make face pictures.

Forest School

We went into our very muddy nature area. Our learning was brilliant, we cooked, mixed up the mud, investigated the puddles, looked at the flowers and played games.

We also enjoyed exploring our new shelters.

Year 3 Friday 23rd February 2024

Date: 23rd Feb 2024 @ 8:02am

Welcome to your Friday Blog

We have had a lovely time in Year 3 this week starting lots of new topics and making our Lenten promises.

Home Practice

It has been lovely catching up with you all on parents evening and hearing about all the great reading at home. Keep it up. We've added some top tips below to help you support your child at home.

We have set 3 challenges on Sumdog for you to complete. You can also access the training to improve number and spelling fluency.

Your spellings this week come from the statuatory spelling list for year 3. 

actually   strange    forward     promise     possess     favourite      women     minute     straight    special     breathe     guard

This week in Year 3

We are loving our new novel Journey to Jo'burg! We have been looking carefully at our presentation this week as well as using vocabulary to up level our writing.  Have a look in our galleries for some of your writing. We will be sharing more in the coming weeks.

In maths we have learnt how to use the compensation strategy to multiply by 19. We also solved word problems using the grid method. Super maths this week Year 3!

In Art we started our new topic of Cloth, Thread and Paint by exploring the work of the artist Alice Kettle. We watched her create some pieces and sketchbooked some ideas of our own. Check out our gallery! We have also added a gallery showing our clay models. Click the picture to learn more about Alice Kettle and her fabulous artwork!

In Science we started a new topic about Light. We sorted light sources and discussed what we already knew about the topic. Check out our posters below to see what we will be covering in this topic.

Have a great weekend

The Year 3 team

Year 4 Blog Friday 23rd February 2024

Date: 22nd Feb 2024 @ 1:18pm

Welcome to your Friday blog

Home practice

Reading

Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home.  Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding.

See if you can spot any apostrophes when you are reading. Why are they used? Is it because the word is a contraction / has missing letters (eg didn’t / I’m / couldn’t), or because the apostrophe shows possession?

Spellings

The spellings you will be tested on next week all involve the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns. Therefore, there will be no spellings to learn. Instead, we will practise this spelling rule each day in class. You will be tested on this rule next Wednesday. 

Counting

This week, please practise counting in 1000’s. 

For example, start at 0 and count up to 10 000 and back again

0     1 000   2 000   etc                                 10 000    9 000   etc

Start at 694 and count up to 10 694 and back again

694    1 694       etc                                     10 694     9 694    etc

Times tables and Number facts

Please practise your individual tables target for your test next week. 

You can practise your tables on Hit the Button and timestables.co.uk

Please also practise your number facts. 

You can practise your number facts on Hit the Button

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

Sumdog challenges

• A counting in hundredths challenge
• A times tables challenge based on the 3, 4 and 8 times tables
• A negative numbers challenge

In English, we learnt how to use an apostrophe when a noun is plural. In addition, we learnt what an adverbial phrase is and how to identify one in a sentence. We then learnt how to write and correctly punctuate sentences which included fronted adverbials.

In Maths, we correctly placed numbers on a number line with multiples of 1000 marked but not labelled. We also labelled positive and negative numbers on a number line and counted backwards through zero. Our learning this week also included building on our understanding of the number system, extending it further into hundredths.

In RE, we wrote our Lenten Promise which we are going to try and do our best to keep. In addition, we learnt what happens at the gathering of the Eucharist and during the Introductory Rite. We wrote our own verse to a hymn and explained how we could apply the words of Matthew 5: 45-48 in our daily lives.

In History, we started our new topic – Ancient Greeks. We learnt where and when the Ancient Greeks lived.

In Computing, we continued our photo editing topic by learning how to clone and retouch images.

In Art, we started a new topic – Exploring still life. We began by looking at the art work of Paul Cezanne. Then we used the ‘Four Colour Gestural Drawing Exercise’. This involved using only 4 colours to help us appreciate how seeing simple shapes can help improve drawing skills.

Have a lovely weekend

The Year 4 team

Year 6 Friday 23rd February 2024

Date: 20th Feb 2024 @ 8:16am

A great week back, well done Year 6.

Fabulous effort at completing your home practice over half term.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (23.02.24 – 01.03.24):

hindrance                 interfere

identity                      interrupt

immediate                 language

immediately              leisure

individual                  lightning

Maths

Counting/Number Games

https://nrich.maths.org/5865 

Have a go at this interactive game!

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Friday 01.03.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Remember to sign up for Parents' Evening on Tuesday 27th February.

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Get your costumes ready!

In English, we have written for different audiences and purposes. We rewrote a piece in third person about a young boy receiving a present. We tried to include excellent description and some dialogue. We also wrote a first person flashback in the role of Jacqueline Auriol, the first european woman to break the sound barrier in 1953. In addition, we reported on high diving giraffes and wrote a beautiful poem based on a poem by Peter Vacz, using personification.

In Maths, we have been comparing, ordering, adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers and finding differences.

In RE, we wrote letters in the style of St Paul for the children in Y2. This advised the Year 2 children how to grow up as members of our school community.

In PE, we worked on our tag rugby skills and played mini games.

In French, we learned a range of clothing vocabulary.

Year 6 Team.

Year 3 Thursday 8th February 2024

Date: 8th Feb 2024 @ 4:35pm

Welcome to your final blog of this half term

We have had a brilliant 5 weeks.

Please continue to read every night over half term. The Sumdog training features and all games will still be open over the holidays.

This week we started our new novel, Journey to Jo'burg by Beverly Naidoo. We met the main characters and learnt a little about South Africa in the process.

In maths this week we learnt to tell the time to 5 minutes. We will revisit this after half term.

If your child can't accurately tell time to 5 minutes, there is a great app on the AppStore called 'What's the time Mr Wolf' that they can use to practise time.

We finished our story telling art topic this week by painting our clay models - these models showed scenes from our favourite Roald Dahl books. They look great!

We also completed our history topic about The Stone Age to the Iron Age. We thoroughly enjoyed this topic and learnt lots about Stone Age Britain. We will test our knowledge with a Kahoot Quiz next Monday! Next half term we will begin our geography topic about North America.

Have a brilliant half term with your families and we will see you all soon

The Year 3 Team.

Year 2 Blog Thursday 8th February

Date: 8th Feb 2024 @ 3:50pm

Happy Half Term!

Home practice

Please read when you can during the holiday even if it's just for 5 minutes each day.

There is a SUMDOG maths and spelling challenge.

Spelling Quiz will be on Monday 19th February.

butterfly      cry      dry       try     baby      stories     bunnies      strawberries      spies     berries

This week in Year 2

English

 We performed some emotional writing and wrote our own speech bubble about the Snowman and how he felt.

Math

We continued to learn about time. 

Art

In art this week we finished our architect project to build a structure which could stand up. 

PSHE

This week has been 'Children's Mental Health week' and the focus has been 'my voice matters'. We have discussed how we can use our voice to get our opinions and worries across. We also learned the importance of sharing our thoughts and feelings with a trusted adult.

Reminders

Please remember to sign up to parents evening which is after half term. The folders are outside the office.

Have a happy Half Term.

Year 5 Blog Thursday 8th February 2024

Date: 8th Feb 2024 @ 3:27pm

Happy Half Term and welcome to your weekly blog

Please spend this half term:

Resting

Relaxing

Having fun

Spending time with loved ones

Try to keep up with the reading – you can do all of the above whilst reading.

If you would like to go on Sumdog, there will be challenges available to practise times tables and the Year 5 and 6 spellings.

We have had a wonderful week this week.

On Monday, we finished our set designs for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They all look amazing! Take a look at our gallery to see us in action and our finished pieces.

This week has been Children’s Mental Health Week. The theme this year is My Voice Matters. This theme was chosen to help us develop the skills we need to express our opinions, beliefs, values and feelings. We spoke about ways we can express ourselves including:

• Making choices
• Talking to a trusted adult
• Writing a letter or note to ourself or somebody else
• Voting on decisions
• Drawing a picture
• Creating a journal or diary
• Writing a song
• Having a check in system with somebody

We also celebrated our achievements and spoke about these proudly. We then came up with some positive affirmations all about My Voice Matters.

• I have important contributions to make
• When I speak, people listen
• I take time to listen and learn from others
• I feel empowered when I share my thoughts and feelings
• MY VOICE MATTERS

Have a happy Half Term.

Year 4 Blog Thursday 8th February 2024

Date: 8th Feb 2024 @ 2:39pm

Welcome to your Friday blog

Home practice

As it’s half term, there is no home practice. However, please keep reading every day as it really is the key to unlocking your learning.

Please also try and practise your times tables - either your target or something you find tricky. This will help you in many areas of maths.

In English, we retold an extract of the novel and attempted to use different openers for our sentences. We found this tricky, but made a brilliant attempt.

In Maths, we started our new topic – place value. We started by revising rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100. We then extended this learning to rounding numbers to the nearest 1000. 

We started a new topic in RE – Giving and receiving. We listened to ‘The Sharing Song' by Jack Johnson and then discussed both the joys and demands of giving and receiving.

We hope you all have a brilliant half term holiday and look forward to seeing you all on Monday 19^th February.

The Year 4 Team

Year 1 Blog - Thursday 8th February 2024

Date: 8th Feb 2024 @ 12:44pm

Home Practice

Phonics - ue words OR ow (grow) words OR high-frequency words

Maths - read and write numbers

Counting - Count in 10s starting at different numbers, 12,22,32 and so on.

Reading - Please try to read each night, it makes a big difference!

English

We continued to read both the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk and the twisted version of Jack and the Baked Beanstalk.

We talked about what can grow tall into the sky and came up with answers such as a sunflower, a fruit tree, and a palm tree. We then planned and wrote our version of Jack and the Beanstalk with a different object being planted.

Phonics

Some of us have been revising ie in tie and chief and ow in grow and brown.

Some of us have been learning the different oo spellings - oo, ew, u_e, and ue.

Maths

We have been learning to count in 2s, 5s and 10s. We have practically made the numbers and then positioned them on a number line.

R.E.

We read the story of The Call of the Disciples. We made a fish collage and acted out being in the boat with Jesus.

Science

We tested different objects to see if they were absorbent. This was tricky as we had to see if the water soaked into the material or not.

Thank you to everyone who came to our phonics meeting. The PowerPoint is attached below for those who could not make it.

Have a lovely half term!

Year 6 Blog Thursday 8th February 2024

Date: 7th Feb 2024 @ 3:33pm

A great week of learning, well done Year 6.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

We managed to do the spelling test today, fantastic effort everyone. This means we can take new spellings home for the half term holiday. Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on the first Friday back after half term. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (08.02.24 – 23.02.24):

excellent                      forty

existence                     frequently

explanation                  government

familiar                         guarantee

foreign                          harass

Maths

Counting

Which of these numbers would you come to when counting in sixes from zero?
How do you know?

Would you get to some of these numbers if you were counting in sevens from zero? Which ones?
Can you explain how you arrived at your answers?

Could some of these numbers be reached if you were counting in nines from zero? Which ones?
Again, how do you know?

Would your answers be the same if you counted in the same step sizes but down from 350 in each case?
How do you know?

Looking at the image above and this time counting in 25s from zero, which numbers will you land on?  
If you were counting in 25s from 10, which numbers would you land on this time?  How can you work this out without actually counting?

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Friday 23.02.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Remember to sign up for Parents' Evening on Tuesday 20th February or Tuesday 27th February.

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Get your costumes ready!

Year 6 have been given a revision pack to work through over the half term holiday. 

In English, we continued typing up our stories and spent valuable time proof-reading and editing our work. We also enjoyed reading a few of the stories out loud to the class.  Another great session by Gareth from Literacy Kicks about live blogging. Unfortunately, it was the last session, but Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed being sports journalists and their writing has been fantastic!

In Maths, we worked hard on arithmetic and place value. We learnt about partitioning large numbers up to 10 000 000 and numbers with up to three decimal places. We also practised rounding whole numbers and decimal numbers. Other maths work included: solving calculation problems, simplifying and ordering fractions and adding/subtracting fractions.

In RE, we researched and prepared a presentation about The Dead Sea Scrolls and The Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

In PE, we worked on our hockey skills and played mini games.

In French, we described ourselves and a friend using the correct french vocabulary for height, age, hair/eye colour and accessories.

In Music, KS2 had a lovely afternoon sharing all the things they had been learning in a special Music Showcase.

Year 6 Team.

Reception Blog - Thursday 8th February 2024

Date: 7th Feb 2024 @ 1:00pm

Phonics

This week Mrs Stone's group have been learning the ng and th sounds. Mrs Robinson's group have revised all of the digraphs we have learned this half term.

Maths

We have been learning about weight, using the vocabulary heavy and light.

We have also been learning about teen numbers using tens and ones.

Drawing Club

This week, we read the story; The Paper Dolls.

We designed our own paper dolls and created an adventure for them to go on.

R.E.

We continued our discussions about people around the world not having enough food and drink and how they might feel. We talked about what others can do to help them.

Understanding the World

We finished our topic about China. This week we have been learning about Chinese New Year. Then we celebrated with our own China themed afternoon!

Expressive Arts and Design

In Art, we have been making lots of crafts for valentines day!

We also made our own chinese lanterns.

Year 2 Blog Friday 2nd February

Date: 2nd Feb 2024 @ 3:48pm

Home Practice

Reading - Please try to read each night, it makes a big difference! 

Spellings – .Spelling quiz will be on MONDAY 5th February.

pencil      fossil     nostril     evil      April      pedal      local     animal      hospital      medal

Times Tables –  A times tables sheet will be sent home every Wednesday. Please learn these like the spellings for a quiz on Wednesday 7th February.

Counting - Practise counting in 5s from any given number.  Challenge – count in fives from 10 to 100. 

Sumdog Challenges Maths – x2 times tables practice and Time Challenge

Sumdog Challenge Spellings –  il     al 

This week in Year 2

English

This week we have been writing in the past tense. We used the book 'Five Little Fiends' by Sarah Dyer to help us with ideas.

Maths

This week we have been telling the time to an hour, half past, quarter past and quarter to. 

Geography

In geography this week we researched the location of the continents compared to the oceans. We enjoyed singing the continents and ocean songs.

Art

In art this week we started our architect project which requires building a structure that can stand up.

Forest School

We discussed the changes we have noticed as we reach the end of January. We looked at a birds nest and talked about the materials it was made from. We had a go at making a nest.

Reminders

Please remember to sign up to parents evening which is after half term. The folders are outside the office for you to sign up.

Valentines disco is Thursday 8th February. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Year 5 Blog Friday 2nd February 2024

Date: 2nd Feb 2024 @ 1:19pm

Happy Friday and welcome to your Friday Blog

Home Practice

Reading

Read out loud every day for 20 minutes. Talk to somebody at home about the punctuation used in speech and look out for it when you are reading.

Spelling

Here are your spellings this week. Most of the words have double letters, try to remember where the double letters are. These are tricky spellings; you will need to practise every day.

accommodate          attached          apparent          appreciate          community          communicate          especially          exaggerate          conscience          conscious          government          environment          equipped          according          excellent

Shape Practice

Next week in maths we will be learning about perimeter and area. Visit the following websites to recap your learning from Year 4.

Perimeter

Area

Times Tables

Please practise a mixture of times tables including squared and cubed numbers.

Sumdog

Maths Competition: Boys v Girls

Times Tables Challenge

Spelling Challenge

This week in maths we ordered and simplified fractions. This was tricky but everybody embraced the challenge and did an amazing job!

In English we wrote stories all about time travel. Everybody decided where in time their character would travel to and decided how to make their stories interesting to the reader.

In RE we spoke about different Christian communities. We discussed some of the differences between the different denominations, but we focussed on the similarities, especially that we all share Jesus’ mission. Christians believe that we should love one another.

In art we started our set design for the chocolate room in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was amazing to see everybody use their imagination. We can’t wait to see the finished pieces!

Have a happy weekend. 

Year 4 Blog Friday 2nd February 2024

Date: 2nd Feb 2024 @ 1:14pm

Welcome to your Friday blog

Home practice

Reading

Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home.  Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding.

See if you can spot any adverbs when you are reading. An adverb is a word which modifies the verb – it tells us how, where or when it was done.

Spellings

The spellings this week are all homophones

scene           seen            mail             male             bawl

ball              waist           waste          guest           guessed

new              knew            to                too              two

Counting

This week, please practise counting in 10’s. 

For example, start at 0 and count up to 120 and back again

0     10     20   etc                               120     110      100   etc

Start at 57 and count up to 237 and back again

57    67    77    etc                             237   227    217    etc

Times tables and Number facts

Please practise your individual tables target for your test next week. 

You can practise your tables on Hit the Button and timestables.co.uk

Please also practise your number facts. 

You can practise your number facts on Hit the Button

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

Sumdog challenges

• A spelling challenge
• A times tables challenge based on the 2, 5 and 10 times tables
• A 3D shape challenge

In English, we have been learning about verbs and adverbs this week. We tried to include adverbs in our writing and made sure that they were appropriate to the verb they were describing.

We learnt that adverbs:

• describe or modify verbs
• can come before or after a verb
• can be used at the beginning of a sentence
• can tell us how, when or where the verb was done

HOW – Barry tiptoed silently. (silently is the adverb)

WHERE – Jane ran downstairs. (downstairs is the adverb)

WHEN – Tom played football yesterday. (yesterday is the adverb)

In Maths, we finished our 3D shape topic. We identified and described 3D shapes, researching carefully their properties.

In RE, we continued our topic, Community. We read St Paul’s letter to the Romans 12:8-11 and discussed the words. We then chose our favourite sentence and explained how we would live this out in action in our daily lives. 

In Art we finished making our boxes for our ‘pocket gallery’ and mounting our pictures on to card. Then we created our ‘pocket gallery’ ensuring that our mounted figures were looking at our artwork. Have a look at our creations in the gallery.  

In History, we learnt how and why Britain became part of the Roman Empire. In addition, we learnt about the legacies left behind by the Romans. We then made either a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation to explain our learning.

This week, we also enjoyed yoga. Have a look at the pictures in our gallery.   

The Year 4 Team

Year 3 Friday Blog 2nd February 2024

Date: 2nd Feb 2024 @ 8:13am

Welcome to your Friday Blog

Home Practice

Continue with all your brilliant home reading. Everyone has made excellent progress in their reading this year and this is down to your regular reading at home. Keep it up!

Your Sumdog challenges are on x8, shape and your home spellings. This week we have been learning about homophones and how to remember them in context.

Here are your spellings for this week.

This week in Year 3

This week we finished our novel 'The Butterfly Lion' by Michael Morpurgo. Next half term we have organised a live lesson with Michael Morpurgo who will talk about The Butterfly Lion and how he finds inspiration for his novels. We can't wait!!

In maths we learnt some new strategies to multiply. We also learnt how to use our x10 method to multiply 2digit numbers by 3,4,5,and 8. Super work Year 3!

On Tuesday we had a yoga session with Amy who showed us some great poses and how to breathe for relaxation.

We also retold some Roald Dahl scenes through the medium of clay in our art lesson.   Check out our gallery.

This Friday we were introduced to Keynote to create some presentations on the Stone Age. We have used Adobe express and Seesaw so far in this topic and now will use our skills to create a presentation in Keynote. 

Have a fantastic weekend

The Year 3 Team

Reception Blog - Friday 2nd February 2024

Date: 1st Feb 2024 @ 8:36am

Phonics

This week Mrs Stone's group learnt the qu, ch and sh sounds. Mrs Robinson's group learnt the ng and th sounds.

Maths

We learnt about 3D shapes, we found them in class and sorted them into groups.

Drawing Club

This week, we read the story; The Smeds and the Smoos.

We drew the setting of the story and designed our own adventure.

R.E.

We revisited the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. 

We had a discussion about people around the world not having food and drink and how they might feel.

Understanding the World

We learnt more about space. This week we focussed on rockets. We investigated our ideas through an experiment with paper mice and bottles, seeing how far they travel.

We continued our topic about China. We learnt about their schools and about the language they speak.

Expressive Arts and Design

In Art, we made our own planets using pipettes, watered down paint and food colouring. We watched how the colours mixed together and soaked into the paper.

In PE we practised throwing and catching in pairs.

Year 6 Blog Friday 2nd February 2024

Date: 31st Jan 2024 @ 5:40pm

Amazing effort this week, everyone has worked so hard!

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on the first Friday back after half term. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. This is for home practice only and can be kept with you.

Spellings (02.02.24 – 23.02.24):

develop                      equip

dictionary                    equipped 

disastrous                   equipment

embarrass                   especially

environment                exaggerate

Maths

Counting

Which is quicker, counting up to 30 in ones or counting up to 300 in tens? Why?

Which is quicker, counting up to 40 in ones or counting up to 4,000 in hundreds?

Which is quicker, counting up to 10 in ones or counting up to 1,000,000 in hundred-thousands?

Which is quicker, counting up to 20 in ones or counting up to 140 in sevens?

Which is quicker, counting up to 25 in French or in English?

Maybe you could work on this with a partner!

When you have timed yourselves and decided on the reasons for your results, you could invent some other examples for yourselves.

You can predict which you think will be quicker, then try them out to test your prediction.

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Thursday 08.02.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Remember to sign up for Parents' Evening on Tuesay 20th February or Tuesday 27th February.

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Get your costumes ready!

In English, we planned and are in the process of writing our own 'outsider' stories, which we have been editing and improving in Word on the lap-tops. I am really looking forward to reading your finished versions. Another great session by Gareth from Literacy Kicks about opinion writing. We have strong opinions about whether sports personalities should get involved in politics.

In Maths, we learnt to understand and interpret data contained in more complex bar charts. Other maths work included: BODMAS, factors, multiples and prime numbers, mental maths, estimating and checking. 

In Science, we started our light topic. We thought about different light sources, categorised them and explained how light travels.

In PE, we worked on our hockey skills and enjoyed a much needed yoga session.

In French, we learnt the necessary vocabulary to give a physical description. 

Mrs Winter was very pleased in Music, we played the ukuleles very well and listened to Enigma Variations by Elgar.

Year 6 Team.

Year 1 Blog - Friday 2nd February 2024

Date: 30th Jan 2024 @ 11:13am

Home Practice

Phonics -  ey (ee sound) words OR c (s sound) words OR ar words

Maths - counting

Counting - Count in 10s starting at different numbers, 12,22,32 and so on.

Reading - Please try to read each night, it makes a big difference!

English

We read the traditional tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. We drew some story maps and wrote expanded noun phrases to describe parts of the story.

We even had our own beanstalk growing in the outdoor area!

Then, we read our twisted version - Jack and the Baked Beanstalk. We couldn't believe that a beanstalk grew from a can of baked beans. We compared the twisted version to the traditional version and wrote about the moral of the story - don't judge a book by its cover!

Phonics

Some of us have been revising c as in coat and learning c as in race. We have also been revising o as in cot and learning o as in mother.

Some of us have been continuing to learn all of the spellings for the ee sound - ee, ea, ie, e_e, y, e and ey.

Maths

We have been learning to add 10 to a number. We have been using base 10 equipment to make the numbers.

We have been learning how to subtract 10 from a number.

We have also been learning all the number bonds which make 10, 0 + 10, 1 + 9 and so on.

R.E.

We talked about how Jesus announced His mission - to bring good news to the poor. We discussed how we could be like Jesus and wrote sentences to say how we can help those who are in need.

Science

We conducted our next experiment - testing to see if different objects were waterproof or not. We used our fine motor skills to squeeze water out of a pipette and observed what happened. If the water did not absorb, the object was waterproof! 

Forest School

We discussed the changes we have noticed as we reach the end of January. We looked at a birds nest and talked about the materials it was made from. We had a go at making a nest.

Year 3 Friday Blog 26th January 2024

Date: 26th Jan 2024 @ 3:32pm

Welcome to your Friday Blog

Home Practice

Continue to read every night and remember to change your books with Mrs Lancaster and Mrs Woof! We have loads of great books to read!

We have set 2 maths challenges on Sumdog. Addition and Subtraction and the 8 times table. A little practice every night does the trick!

Your Spellings this week are based on the double the consonant rule when adding suffixes.

begged   swimming    wrapping    snapped      splitting     grabbing      sitting

shopping    dripped    topped    skipped    skipping

Reminders

Online Safety

Year 2 Blog Friday 26th January

Date: 26th Jan 2024 @ 1:53pm

Reading - Please try to read each night, it makes a big difference! 

Spellings – Please see spelling sheet taken home on MONDAY.              

Spelling quiz will be on MONDAY 29^th January.

table     apple     bottle     little     puddle    camel     tinsel    travel     towel    hazel

Times Tables –  A times tables sheet will be sent home every Wednesday. Please learn these like the spellings for a quiz on Wednesday 31^st January.

Counting - Practise counting in 3s from any given number.  Challenge – count in threes from 63 to 100. 

 Sumdog Challenges Maths – x3 times tables practice and Money Challenge

Sumdog Challenge Spellings –  le and el

This week in Year 2

English

This week we wrote about Flat Stanley – the boy who was flattened by a picture! We focused on using adjectives and similes to make our sentences more exciting.

Maths

In maths, we learnt about money. We made different amounts using different coins, and added two amounts together to make a total.

RE

In RE, we discussed how we should be thankful to God for all he does for us. We then wrote a beautiful prayer about thanking and praising God.

History

We learnt about explorers in history this week focusing on Charles Darwin and Neil Armstrong. We ‘hot seated’ different children and came up with super questions for these two explorers.

Forest School

All of have now boiled water in the Kelly Kettle to make noodles.

We have also participated in imaginative play showing great teamwork, resilience and perseverance.

We also practised our knotting skills when making a forest eye and other items using sticks, wool, pipe cleaners, wire and ribbon.

Have a lovely weekend.

Year 5 Blog Friday 26th January 2024

Date: 26th Jan 2024 @ 1:03pm

Happy Friday and welcome to your Friday blog. 

Home Practice

Reading

Read out loud every day for 20 minutes. Look out for speech, see if the books follow the rules that we came up with in class. 

1. Opening speech marks before the spoken words.
2. Capital letter for the first spoken word. 
3. Punctuation after the spoken words. 
4. Closing speech marks after punctuation. 
5. Use a comma to separate the speech and the rest of the sentence. 

Spelling

Here are your spellings this week. 

science          mischief          quiet          medieval          ancient          glacier          weigh          neither          height          restaurant          vegetable          cemetery          temperature 

Times Tables

Please practise cubed numbers or your own individual target. 

Counting

Count out loud in square numbers from 1 to 144 and back again. 

1, 4, 9, ...

144, 121, 100, ...

Sumdog

Spelling Challenge

Times Tables Challenge

Fractions Challenge

Reminders

Online Safety

Please try to find a cardboard box for art over the next couple of weeks. A shoe box would be perfect. 

Remember to bring in anything else you want for our model set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's chocolate room. 

Here are some ideas you came up with in class:

Plastic cup

Paper cup

Cellophane

Bottle caps

Fabric

Pom poms

Lollipop sticks

Maths

In maths we learnt how to find equivalent fractions. We also compared fractions by finding a common denominator. 

English

We revised the rules for speech and wrote our own conversations. 

We came up with some funny conversations between the teachers in the staff room. 

We also became sub-editors by reading sports reports and checking them carefully for spellling, punctuation and grammar mistakes. 

PE

We enjoyed learning some hockey skills and playing little matches to put our new skills into practice. Everybody played fairly and had a great time! 

Computing and Science

We made PowerPoint presentations all about Earth and Space. 

This week we recapped our skills and managed to:

Add new slides

Change the background

Insert wordart and textboxes

Change the font

Import, move, rotate and resize an image

We also learnt how to:

Add bullet points

Add outlines and fill colours to our text boxes

Have a very happy weekend! 

Year 6 Blog Friday 26th January 2024

Date: 26th Jan 2024 @ 9:02am

Super learning this week, well done to everyone!

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test next Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. This is for home practice only and can be kept with you.

Spellings (26.01.24 – 02.02.24):

conscience                      criticise

conscious                        curiosity 

controversy                      definite

convenience                     desperate

correspond                       determined

Maths

Counting

In class, we worked on negative numbers and number lines. Have a go at the game below.

This game is for two players.
You will need to draw a number line from -13 to 13 on a piece of paper, and find a counter and two 1-6 dice to use. 

Decide who is Positive and who is Negative.
Positive moves the counter from left to right and Negative moves the counter from right to left. (Why do you think we have suggested this way round?)

Place the counter on 0.

Take it in turns to throw the two dice and add the scores then move the counter that number of places in your direction.
If the counter reaches -13, Negative has won. If the counter reaches 13, Positive has won.

Is it better to play a game where you have to reach the end exactly, or where you can go over the end? What do you think and why?

Now change the game. This time, when you throw the dice, you can decide whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers on the dice. You must reach -13 or 13 exactly to win.

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday 02.02.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Wednesday 31st January - Meeting for Year 6 parents regarding the End of Key Stage 2 Assessments and Tests, at 6.30 pm in school.

The athletics team are at a competition next Tuesday afternoon.

Online Safety

In English, we produced some great pieces of writing from the persepective of the character. We also wrote a summary of the book using adverbials to link paragraphs and help with cohesion. Focuses this week were; cohesion, joined handwriting, good vocab choices, relative clauses, adverbs/adverbials and suffixes. Another great session by Gareth from Literacy Kicks about editing. He was really impressed with the editing skills in Y6. 

In Maths, we needed to understand and interpret data contained within simple pie charts and use this to solve problems. Other maths work included: place value, rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10 000, negative numbers, written multiplication/ division and problem solving.

In RE, we spent time exploring the Bible and finding references. This gave them a better understanding of the contents of the Bible so we could note down books within it, genres of those books and opening sentences.

During P.E,  we worked on our in-door athletic skills.

Year 6 Team.

Year 4 Blog Friday 26th January 2024

Date: 25th Jan 2024 @ 4:35pm

Welcome to your Friday blog

Home practice

Reading

Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home.  Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding.

See if you can spot any verbs when you are reading (a verb is an action or a doing word). It can also show what something has or is.

eg The boy is tall. (is is the verb) 

The tree has green leaves. (has is the verb).

Spellings

The spellings this week all have the ending -ture.

mixture       capture        feature        moisture      adventure

nature         picture        vulture         future         torture

sculpture     creature      fracture      furniture     temperature

Counting

This week, please practise counting in 7’s. 

For example, start at 0 and count up to 84 and back again

0   7     14     21     etc                         84    77      70   etc

Times tables and Number facts

Please practise your individual tables target for your test next week. 

You can practise your tables on Hit the Button and timestables.co.uk

Please also practise your number facts. 

You can practise your number facts on Hit the Button

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

Sumdog challenges

• A spelling challenge
• A times tables challenge based on the 7 times tables
• A 3D shapes and their properties challenge

Reminders

Online Safety

In English, we wrote a formal letter to Mr Tregenza (grandfather in the novel) to persuade him to leave his home in Slapton Sands. We tried our best to use vocabulary which was both formal and persuasive, and enjoyed using our ‘posh’ voice to rehearse our sentences as we were writing as Lord Somethingorother.

In Maths, we started a new topic – shape. First, we identified, named and described 2D shapes according to their properties.

Following this, we identified and named prisms according to their properties. 

Prisms are 3D shapes, made up of two identical (congruent) polygons at opposite ends and joined up by parallel lines called edges.

This week, we also identified and named pyramids according to their properties.

Pyramids are 3D shapes with a polygon as a base and straight lines called edges that go from the vertex on the base and meet at one point called an apex.

In RE, we continued our topic, 'Community'. We discussed where our local parish is as well as members of the clergy. In addition, we thought about the links between the parish and the school, and the lay people who help in church. A lay person is someone who is not a member of the clergy, but helps as church eg a flower arranger or catechist.

In Art we continued making our boxes for our ‘pocket gallery’. We also cut out the pictures of ourselves and mounted them on to card. Next week, we will set up our gallery, including some pieces of art.  

In Science, we classified materials as solids, liquids and gases. We used a Venn diagram to help us sort these as some of them were quite tricky (eg jam, honey and hair spray).

We continued our new topic ‘photo editing’ in Computing. We learnt how to recolour pictures as well as clone and retouch them.

Enjoy your weekend

The Year 4 Team

Reception Blog - Friday 26th January 2024

Date: 25th Jan 2024 @ 3:59pm

Phonics

This week Mrs Stone's group learnt the x, y, z and zz sounds. Mrs Robinson's group learnt the qu, ch and sh sounds.

Maths

We learnt numbers from 11-20, specifically 11, 12 and 13. We then made these with numicon.

Drawing Club

This week, we read the story; Zog

We designed our own dragon and we drew what we would do to save the princess locked in the tower.

R.E.

We read the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. We then role played the story and made our own baskets of food.

Understanding the World

We learnt more about space. This week we focussed on astronauts. 

We continued our topic about China. We learnt what a map was and then explored different maps of China.

Expressive Arts and Design

In PE we practised balancing and rolling. We used large balls and attempted to roll them through a target.