This week the children have worked extremely hard and impressed us all with their talent and commitment to learning.
Leaning their spellings and X tables is really paying off.  Test marks are definitely improving for many of the children.

In Maths the children in Year 3 have experienced a practical week where they have solved problems with measure.  In Year 4 the children have worked on improving their mental maths skills and skills in using short column multiplication.

In English we have been improving our knowledge of spelling groups.  The children are working hard to earn their pen licences. Some of there will be announced on Tuesday.  They acted as Grammar Gurus to identify common grammar mistakes and create an explanation to help younger pupils to use apostrophes correctly and verbs in the past tense.

The rugby training has finished and all the children will receive a certificate in a special assembly on Monday.  They all did so well.  The children who were selected for the tournament will go on Friday and return to school at 1:30pm.  There were lots of children who played very well but out of all the children the coach selected we had to pick out 10 names from a hat for Y3 and ten names for Y4. They will need their rugby kit and a packed lunch.

We have been bowled over by the projects that have come into school.  It is clear that the children have learned so much and had lots of support form home.  They have presented their projects with pride and confidence.  This has really been a priceless experience for them all; improving their speaking and listening skills, creativity and working with their families.  Thank you so much for your help and support.

More pictures to follow from all three classes. Well done all of you!

What an amazing and varied week!

We have had three wonderful visits this week that have given all the children experiences they will never forget.

On Monday Mrs Belshaw Sam's mum came in to talk to each class in Y3/4 about a family relative who was a soldier in World War Two.  She spoke about his experiences and even brought in some of his possessions from the war.  The children were fascinated and asked lots of questions.  His hobbies after the war were particularly interesting.  Thank you so much Mrs Belshaw for giving up your time and coming in to talk to the children.  They really enjoyed it and so did the teachers!

On Wednesday Bishop Tom Williams came to visit the school.  He came into every class and spend time talking to the children and answering questions.  The children had prepared for this visit by learning about his role and all the names and symbolism for the special clothing he wears.  They wrote very mature and thoughtful questions.

He was very impressed with all of them.

Then on Thursday George Sampson, who won Britain's Got Talent in 2008, came in and dedicated a whole morning of his time to talk to the whole school about his journey.  How he entered the competition in 2007 but didn't get to the live shows, through determination and hard work he not only came back and entered the competition again a year later, but he went on to win it, aged only 14.  He was truly inspiring to the children.  He told them that they should never give up and work hard to follow their dreams.  He is also an excellent role model to boys who are interested in taking up dance.

All the children took part in a dance work shop where they learnt to 'wave', 'pop and 'free style'.  The children in Y3/4 showed confidence and smiled throughout the whole morning.  Thank you George for giving up your time for us.  Thank you to Miss Sampson too for working hard alongside her brother to help the children and teachers learn some new dance skills.

Well done to all the children who presented their projects this week there have been some very professional Power point presentations.  We learnt loads about gas masks from Philip who made his own and the box to carry it it in! And Harvey who brought in a genuine gas mask to share with his peers, well done boys.

This week we will continue with Rugby, please remember your kits.
Mrs Morgan's class have been practising their assembly on our Come and See topic, 'Community'  This will take place on Wednesday morning at 9.15am in the hall for parents of children in Mrs Morgan's class.

Week beginning 18th January

Last week the children took part in rugby training on Monday afternoon. This will continue up until half term.  Some children may be selected to take part in a tag rugby competition. All the children enjoyed the session and worked hard. They must remember to bring their PE kits in, including trainers and tracksuit bottoms if they wish as it will take place outside of the weather is suitable.

In English we have been learning about character emotions, flashbacks, camera angles and mood changes through scenes and music. The children are sequencing the story and using role play to convey emotions.

In Maths Y3 are continuing to learn written methods of addition and subtraction and apply this to problem solving.

Y4 children have been working on short division and will continue with this this week and move on to short multiplication. These methods are in line with our calculation policy which can be found on the maths section of our website. This can help you guide them with their homework. 

In topic the children learned about the outbreak of World War Two and are producing a radio broadcast similar to Chamberlain. 

The projects on WW2 that have come in so far have been incredible. It is wonderful to hear children talking about their great grandparents with pride. This attitude will ensure that their bravery will never be forgotten. 

Thank you for your support 

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.