Happy New Year to you all.
Y3/4 began 2016 in the same style as they ended it. They lead an assembly for the whole school about the Epiphany. With only an afternoon to practise the Y3 children read exceptionally well, with clear and confident voices. The singing was beautiful and their behaviour was outstanding. We were very proud of them. With the Christmas performances we expected nothing less that perfect!
In English and Maths this week we have been recapping topics from last term and the children have been keen to get back into the school routine.
In our topic we have begun to compile a set of class questions that we would like to answer over the next term about World War Two. I can see already how enthusiastic they are about the subject.
Thank you to Daniel Harrison's grandad who has provided us with his first hand experience of the War, even though it was through a toddler's eyes. The information about evacuees was very interesting.

We have begun our new topic called Community in RE.

In English we will be looking at a variety of genres through the World War Two topic such as plays script, recounts, film clips and poetry.

In Maths Y3 will begin with addition and subtraction skills and calculation methods.
Year 4 will begin next week with multiplication and division skills and calculation methods.

For homework we would like all the children to produce a project to present to their class in 2 weeks. This can be similar to their Viking  projects, in the form of a PowerPoint, model, poster, written work or art work. We would like these to be in by Friday 22nd January.

Could the children in Y3 learn their 3 x tables for a text next Friday? Could the children in Y4 learn their 4x and 8x tables for a text on Friday? New spellings will be given out next Friday when they have been introduced in class. 

Thank you for your ongoing support

Totally Talented

The children in Y3/4 certainly did not disappoint us with their Christmas performances.  All four productions, including the dress rehearsal have been amazing. The children remembered all their lines and read them with confidence and expression.  The dancing was in time and full of life, the actors, newsreaders and correspondents were so believable; they really got into character and the singing was beautiful: every audience has laughed clapped and cheered throughout every show.  Well done children you are all stars!  I know they have all thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and have gained many skills in speaking and listening, dance, team work, singing and performance.  The memories I’m sure will stay with them forever.  Thank you for your support and for the fantastic costumes.  Please leave any comments you’d like to make about the show as I’m sure our children would love to hear your thoughts.

RE

 This week the children have also been learning about the meaning of Advent and how they can prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ.  They have learned about the symbolism of the Advent Wreath and the significance of the different coloured candles. 

The children have learnt about the Sacrament of Confirmation and how a person who has been confirmed should behave.  They have written a prayer the Holy Spirit to help guide them.

Next week the children will have their Christmas party; they will need to bring in the item they have said they will bring for their party group.  There will be Christmas luch available to those children who have asked for a hot dinner on that day. All this information is detailed in the newsletter along with other events such as the Advent Mass.

We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Year 3/4 team!

Check out some more pictures from our Play:

We have been very busy for the last few weeks working on our Christmas play, 'Heavenly News.'  The children are all extremely talented.  The acting ability is outstanding.  The children really become their characters speaking clearly with fantastic expression in their voices and faces.  The dancers have worked really hard to perfect their moves.  The singing is beautiful and all the children have obviously worked hard learning all the song words and scripts. All this hard work will all be worth it next week for the performances.  Thank you for your support and for providing the costumes for your children.  We will have our dress rehearsal on Monday afternoon and then the performances will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday evening at 6:30pm.  I'm sure you will enjoy the show and be amazed at what the children have achieved.  It would be wonderful if you could write a comment on the blog to share your thoughts on the play.  On Friday the children took part in a Viking day where they heard Viking tales, they looked at Viking life and traditional Viking clothes. They all took part in a Viking battle using  shields and javelins (made of foam;don't worry!) The children will write a recount about their experiences next week.
The children will continue to work on My maths, reading and spellings for homework.  They can begin to research World War Two and produce a project over the Christmas holidays to present to their class when we begin the Spring term. This can be in a variety of forms such as a poster, a model, a PowerPoint, writing or pictures.

Remembrance Day:

This week the children have shown real maturity and reverence during our discussions about the significance of Remembrance Day.  They observed a two minute silence on Wednesday and took part in the Remembrance mass on Friday.  Their behaviour was fantastic and they made us all feel very proud. 

Swimming:

In their swimming lessons they have made massive progress. (See the newsletter for more information). This week they need to bring in Pjs or a shorts and T-shirt for their survival skills lesson.  The last lesson will take place on Tuesday 24^th November.

Christmas Play:

We are about to embark on some serious rehearsals for the Christmas play.  The children have all received the song sheets on Friday to learn at home.  As part of their homework they need to practise the words as much as they can.  The children in year four will receive their script as well this week and they need to spend homework time learning their lines.  The year 4 children will take all the speaking and acting parts and the Year 3 children will be the choir and dancers.  There may also be some walk on parts for some Year 3s.  The children will also be bringing a letter home about costumes this week.

English:

In English the children have used key features of instructions to help a Victor the Vicious, a Viking that contacted us wanting to learn how to cook some modern meals.  This week we will continue to look at non-fiction through variety of non-chronological reports and the children will identify the key features and then use them in their own report that they will present to the class using ICT.

Maths:

The children have enjoyed investigation work this week in maths will take part in problem solving challenges every Friday.  Year 4 were looking a fractions and year 3 were solving problems using money.

Reconciliation Preparation:

The children produced excellent role plays to demonstrate the right and wrong way to behave in three scenarios.  They understood that we have to be sorry for our actions to receive forgiveness just like the story of The Prodigal Son.  The children performed their plays with confidence and creativity in church on Thursday. On Wednesday 18^th November at 6pm they will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They must attend this service to ensure they can take part in making their First Holy Communion.

Week beginning 18th October

Welcome to our final week of the Autumn 1st Half term...it has gone so quickly and has been wonderful as we have got to know our pupils and settle in for the year ahead.

The children all looked fantastic at the disco and partied hard!

They have worked extremely hard this week...

English:

This week the children's creativity really stepped up a level.  We looked closely at descriptions of characters and the children developed their own dragon that can be used in the myth they will write this week.  The ideas they had were very impressive.  This week we will model together each stage of a myth from the introduction to the climax, then the children will produce some independent writing and complete the resolution to their myths.  These will be displayed in our English wall.  This week's spelling will be Summer 1st half.

Maths:

The children have been working very hard on their x table knowledge and this is really paying of in tests and lessons.  They need to continue to learn them and practice the associated division facts.  My Maths has been set up and all the children have a password.  Could you ensure they keep it safe and complete any set tasks?

Topic:

The children have produced beautiful Viking brooches.  This week they will paint and decorate them. They will also make shields for our displays,  They have Viking Runes to paint and a carousel of art and DT tasks to transform our classrooms into a piece of history.

Science:

The children will be learning more about sound this week through our music sessions on Friday.  They music experts that come have agreed to teach the children more about vibration and pitch through a practical approach using instruments.

Parent's Night:

Please make sure you have received your forms back with the appointment times on.  The meetings are 10 minutes each.  You will receive key assessment objectives as mentioned in the assessment meetings last week and non negotiables targets highlighted for your child.


We are looking forward to meeting with you all this week.  Thank you again for all your continued support.

Y3/4 Team

Week beginning 12th October

 A busy week ahead in Y3/4

Thank you for your parent's night forms, times slots will be sent home this week.

This week is the KS2 disco in Tuesday.  During the disco there is an opportunity for parents to receive some information on the new assessment system.  Please come along, staff will be available to answer any questions you may have regarding assessment.

English

Last week the children continued to develop their descriptive language with a focus on settings.  They worked in groups to create a description of the Viking land in 'How To Train Your Dragon'.  This week they will develop this further and look at character descriptions.  They will use a variety of descriptive sentence types to develop their characters, such as similes, metaphors, repetition, two adjectives sentences and punctuation to create an atmosphere such a dash and an ellipsis.  

Maths 

This week in maths we have been focusing on multiplication.  We used number lines to understand that multiplication is repeated addition.  We looked for patterns and discovered there are many and these can help us to learn our tables; there's even a trick with our fingers to help us with our 9 x tables.  This week we will look at written methods of multiplication and begin looking at measure. The children will write the time to the minute on analogue and digital clocks; calculate time intervals; measure in metres, centimetres and millimetres; convert lengths between units and record using decimal notation.

Science

We looked very closely at the ear this week and labelled the parts of the inside of the ear.  This week we learn more about the workings of the ear and what the ear does with that sound.  We will investigate the question, Can you change the pitch and volume of a sound?

Topic

The children have looked at a variety of Viking brooch designs.  They will sketch their own and then decide what materials and colours they will use to make it.  The children will make their brooches using a variety of materials such as clay, wood, card, paint, beads etc.  They will also look at the Viking alphabet - Runes.  They will  make their own viking name using straws.  

Thank you for all your support

Y3/4 Team

Week beginning 5th October

We have had a fabulous week of learning this week in Y3/4. From making telephones to drumming skills and descriptive writing that would give JK Rowling a run for her money! We are very proud of the children's efforts.

English

The children have studied a variety of descriptive text and highlighted the relevant sections that create atmosphere, tension and vivid scenes. They were then able to steal these ideas and up level other pieces of text. The final paragraphs they produced were of a very high standard. This week they will develop this further with their work on adverbs they will produce their own descriptive text. These will be shared with their peers. Children will then be able to up level their work and make it even better.

Maths

The children have looked at systematic approaches when recording answers to ensure they don't miss one. They have used number lines to explore rounding to the nearest 100 and 1000. They have added the correct missing sign in number stories. This week we will look at the patterns in numbers with a focus on multiplication. We will tackle investigations to give the children the confidence to approach a problem and try various approaches to solve it.

Science

We had a fantastic investigation outside in the glorious sunshine. The children had to make a cup telephone and make observations about how the sound traveled from one cop to the other. The groups worked very well as a team and noticed that when the string was tight the sound was higher than when the string was loose. We compared this to a guitar and a ruler on the desk. They also noticed that when someone held the string the sound stopped travelling. We also looked at how sound travels through different objects such as water.

Looking forward to another week on  learning journey in Y3/4.