Year 3

Such a wonderful visit from the author Gareth P. Jones on Tuesday to celebrate World Book Week.  The children were so engaged and it was the perfect way for them to demonstrate their creativity, oracy and performance skills.  Excellent detective work too to solve the terrible crime!

There has also been a lot of excitement over George’s Marvelous Medicine.  Ridiculous remedies, powerful potions and luxurious lotions to cure illnesses, stop growth and even make you follow commands, have been imagined, created and written about.  This gave everyone the chance to demonstrate their knowledge of writing instructions and the features of a recipe.

In maths, we have been looking at fractions and revisiting learning about what numerators and denominators represent.  Do you know why ½ is bigger than ⅕ yet ⅙ is smaller than ⅚? This understanding has enabled children to compare fractions with either the same numerator or the same denominator and will build up to being able to find equivalent fractions.

It’s back to the Tudors in history.  This time we are exploring the incredible wealth of explorers during this time and how the world seemed so different back then. Competition with the Spanish and Portuguese and the desire to build trade and accumulate land was very important.  We noticed how much communities benefit from other cultures and what we can learn from them.

In DT we looked at pop up books and the different effective mechanisms that can be used.  We were lucky enough to be lent some beautiful books that use levers, pop up objects, windows, concertinas and rotating wheels to make an impact for the reader and, although tricky, the children showed great determination to try out their own versions.  It has been lovely to see how this has been practised at home too.

    

   

This week: 03.03.25

Spelling rule: Homophones and near homophones eg: plane/plain
 

Key words: 

Maths: equal parts, numerator, denominator, whole, vinculum

English: instructions, imperative verbs, adverbs

Science: flower, leaves, stem, roots, function, nutrients, water, absorb, photosynthesis

History: Tudors, timeline, lifestyle, transport

 

Maths facts: 4 x tables

 

Next week: 10.03.25

Spelling rule: Homophones and near homophones eg:rode/road

 

Key words:

Maths: fractions, numerator, denominator, vinculum, non/unit fractions, mass, scale, volume,capacity, grams, kilograms, millilitres, litres 

English: apostrophes, expanded noun phrases, past tense, prepositions

Science: survival, oxygen, photosynthesis, air, water, nutrients, light,

temperature

History: lifestyle, scurvy, galleons

 

Maths facts: 4 x tables

 

Key dates: 

11 & 13th March - Family teacher meetings

4th April - End of term. School closes at 1.30pm

 

Year 4

We were lucky enough to have Gareth P Jones visit the school on Tuesday to talk about his experiences as an author.  What amazing costumes the children wore today to celebrate World Book Day.

In English, children completed their written instructions on how to build a wolf proof house.  They showed a lot of creativity, particularly in terms of designing the defences around the house.  We have just started reading our new text, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes and the children are already intrigued to learn from where the Iron Man has come.

We have been continuing to learn about fractions in maths, comparing and ordering 

mixed numbers and starting to look at the differences between mixed numbers and  improper fractions.

It was lovely to see so many parents at the MTC meeting last week.  Please continue to support your child/children with Times Tables Rock Stars and encourage them to ‘go green’.  As Mr Jackson mentioned, the key to success is little and often.  Practise does not always need to be online, for example, it can be done verbally whilst walking to school.

Our returning swimmers continue their swimming lessons on Fridays whilst the remaining children have their indoor PE and library lessons. If your child is swimming this half term, please encourage them to visit the library during lunchtime to borrow and return books.

We began our new topic of sound by listening for the different sounds we could hear around the school and thinking about how loud or quiet those sounds were.  As part of our investigation about how sound travels, we made telephones out of cups and string and talked to each other across the classroom/playground. 

Thank you to all those parents and carers who helped out on the trip to the British Museum which supported our Ancient Egyptian topic.  The children enjoyed the Mummies’ workshop, particularly learning all the gory details of embalming and mummification.

In RE this term, we are focussing on the religions of Christianity and Islam and exploring why traditions are important.  So far, we have considered the Easter story and Lent.  The children have been exploring greenhouses and how they might construct a stable one in their DT lessons.

   

   

                           

This week: 03.03.25

Spelling rule - Words with a ‘soft c’ spelt with ‘ce’:

centre

century

certain

recent

experience

sentence

notice

celebrate

ceremony

certificate

Key words: 

Maths: improper fractions, mixed numbers, part, whole

English: pronouns, determiners

Science: volume, soundwaves, vibrations

History : Ancient Egypt, Iron Age, pharaoh, tribe

 

Maths facts: Times tables (1-12)

 

Next week: 10.03.25

Spelling rule - Words with a ‘soft c’ spelt with ‘ci’:

circle

decide

medicine

exercise

special

cinema

decimal

accident

city

citizen

Key words: 

Maths: mixed numbers, fractions, adding, subtracting

English: paragraphs around a theme, fronted adverbials, possessive pronouns

Science: pitch, soundwaves, vibrations

History: significant advances, technology, artefacts

 

Maths facts: Times tables (1-12)

 

Key dates: 

Parents’ evenings 3.30pm - 7.00pm  - Tuesday 11th and Thursday 13th March

Anglo-Saxon workshop - Thursday 20th March

Tuesday 29th April - Onyx class assembly

Wednesday 30th April - Zircon class assembly

Thursday 1st May - Carnelian class assembly