Willow Newsletter Term 6 – ‘Ancient Greece’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you had a fabulous half-term holiday and are ready for the final term! We are continuing our learning about the Ancient Greeks and have learnt a lot already!  We will be continuing to read ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ by Rick Riordan, and learning more about the myths and legends of that time. We will be doing some persuasive writing about Pandora’s Box and finishing off the term by writing our own myths!  Our topic sessions will focus on the Olympics and the differences between the Athenians and the Spartans and our D.T. will involve getting messy with some clay! In maths, we are revisiting a lot of the areas we have already learnt about to consolidate and deepen the children’s understanding. The MyMaths homework will be based around the week’s learning.

We are really looking forward to our Ancient Greek Day where we will experience hands-on learning and deepen our understanding of a whole range of Ancient Greek information. If you haven’t yet returned your permission slip, please do this asap.

Our PE days are Thursday and Friday; please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; trainers everyday are essential.

Times Tables

By the end of Year 4, all children should know their times tables up to 12 x 12. We are doing at least one session a week focused on these, but please do practice with your children at home, as much as possible. Times Table Rockstars is a really useful website for this as it tests the children on their tables at their own pace. It will start off ensuring they are secure on their 10s, before moving onto 2s, and then 5s. The children also need to be secure on the inverse calculations – e.g. 100 ÷ 10 = 10. There is also a practise multiplication test on Purple Mash that the children can has as many goes it as they like to improve their score.

Termly Project

This project will continue to stretch through Term 6 as we will be continuing our focus on the Ancient Greeks.

For this project, the children can use their imaginations to create a Greek artefact. This could be a pot with paintings on, a Greek head wreath, a model of a Greek warrior, some Greek food to share with the class or anything else that captures their imagination as we learn more about the culture of the Ancient Greeks. So we can display as many of these as possible, please keep in mind what size the projects are. Models that would fit inside a shoe box are the perfect size.

Please have your project in school by no later than Tuesday 25th June so we can share them and put them on display!

Helping to Enrich Our Topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them.

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Miss Axell and Mr Mackarness

Useful Websites

Questions You Could Ask Your Child About Their Learning This Term

  • Which of the words below have you learnt the meaning of?
  • What is the decimal equivalent to ½, ¼ and ¾?
  • What is your prediction for the tooth experiment?
  • What happened in Pandora’s Box?
  • Who are the Spartans and Athenians?
  • Do you know any differences between Spartans and Athenians?
  • Which prefixes have you learnt the meanings of?

Vocabulary We Will Learn This Term

Pandora prediction results conclusion
Athenian Spartan tenth hundredth
Olympics tradition algorithm sequence
prefix suffix clause subordinate

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 5 – ‘Ancient Greece’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you had a fabulous Easter break and are feeling refreshed and ready for another term. Our topic for the next two terms is ‘Ancient Greece’.  We will be reading ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ by Rick Riordan, and writing our own myths based on a selection of Greek myths and legends. Our topic sessions will teach us all about how the Greeks lived, what they ate and how similar/different they were to us today.

In maths, we are learning about shape, money and revisiting fractions. Fractions can be an area that children find particularly difficult so any extra support at home, and with their My Maths homework, would really benefit them.

Our PE day is Thursday; please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; trainers everyday are essential. Swimming is on Wednesdays 24th April and 1st, 8th and 22nd May.

Helping to Enrich Our Topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them.

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Reading Please read with your child regularly. You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in their reading diary, but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments space. A member of staff will be checking reading records during the week and children are expected to have read at least 3 times a week with an adult. Adults at school will not write in the books as we have our own records.
Spellings Spelling tests are every Friday when homework books are expected in. This term’s spellings are focused on the Year 3&4 common exception words list. Additional spelling patterns are also taught in our weekly SPAG sessions with a focus on the apostrophes and the ‘ou’ spelling pattern.
Maths Maths homework will be on MyMaths and should consist of 30 minutes a week. We will also be continuing with Times Table Rock-stars to help support your child’s recall of the tables. . If you do not have access to the internet at home, please let me know and we can arrange a time for your child to complete it at school. If your child has misplaced their login details, let a member of staff know and we can give you a copy.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Miss Axell and Mr Mackarness

Useful Websites

Vocabulary We Will Learn This Term

ancient democracy myths century
AD / BC chronological Hercules Icarus
Daedalus civilisation sources empire
canines molars incisors digestion
stomach intestines function oesophagus

Questions You Could Ask Your Child About Their Learning This Term

  • Which Gods and Goddesses did the Ancient Greeks believe in?
  • Why do we use paragraphs?
  • How many teeth does the average grown adult have?
  • When did the Ancient Greeks live?
  • How do you calculate the perimeter of a shape?

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 4 – ‘Amazon Adventures’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a wonderful half term break. We are continuing our focus on Geography this term and our topic is based around the Amazon Rainforest! We will be reading ‘The Explorer’ by Katherine Rundell, and doing lots of different styles of non-fiction writing to display our knowledge. Our Geography sessions will focus on comparing our lifestyles to what it might be like to live in the rainforest climate and discussing deforestation.

In maths, we are beginning to tackle fractions and decimals! This can be an area that children find particularly difficult so any extra support at home, and with their My Maths homework, would really benefit them.

We have Forest School on Wednesday afternoons this term starting on Wednesday 6th March. Please ensure your child has their forest school kit in school by this time.

Our PE days are Thursday and Friday; please ensure your child’s kit is always in school.

Times tables

By the end of Year 4, all children should know their times tables up to 12 x 12. We are doing at least one session a week focused on these, but please do practice with your children at home, as much as possible. Times Table Rockstars is a really useful website for this as it tests the children on their tables at their own pace. The children also need to be secure on the inverse calculations – e.g. 100 ÷ 10 = 10.

Termly Project

This term, it would be great to have some models of animals or the rainforest that we could display in the corridor for visitors to see. So we can display as many of these as possible, please keep in mind what size the projects are. Models that would fit inside a shoe box are the perfect size as they will fit into the white units that we use to display work.

Helping to Enrich Our Topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them.

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Miss Axell and Mr Mackarness

Useful Websites

Questions You Could Ask Your Child about Their Learning This Term

  • Where is the Amazon Rainforest?
  • What animals live in the rainforest?
  • How do you add fractions with the same denominator?
  • What is a decimal number?
  • What is the climate like in the rainforest?
  • What is a preposition?

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 3 – ‘Where in the World Are We?’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas break! Our topic for Term 3 is called ‘Where in the world are we?’ and we will be doing lots of (virtual…) exploring of the world! We will be spending two weeks focusing on different continents – Asia, Antarctica and Africa. During each focus, we will read a different book and use them to write our own stories! We will also be learning about Chiddingly and the history of the village. Willow are continuing to do a big focus on times tables and would really appreciate your support in helping them learn these at home too.

Our PE days are Thursday and Friday; please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; trainers everyday are essential.

Termly Project

This term, it would be great if the children could research a country or continent or city of their choice. This could be presented in a variety of ways such as a scrapbook, powerpoint, poster or leaflet. We will have sessions dedicated to sharing these with the rest of the class towards the end of the term.

Please let me know if there are any questions.

Helping to Enrich Our Topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, we would love to see and hear about them.

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks for your support,

Miss Axell and Mr Mackarness

The Homophones We Are Learning

Year 3

brake/break, fair/fare, grate/great, groan/grown, here/hear, heel/heal/he’ll, mail/male, main/mane, meat/meet, peace/piece, plain/plane

Year 4

accept/except, affect/effect, ball/bawl, berry/bury, knot/not, medal/meddle, missed/mist, rain/rein/reign, scene/seen, weather/whether, whose/who’s

Useful Websites

Questions you could ask your child about their learning this term

  • What are the seven continents?
  • Can you name any other counties that are on the same continent as the UK?
  • How did the first church begin?
  • Can you say your 4x and 3x table?
  • How can you classify living things?
  • What has happened in the stories you have read so far?
  • What is a homophone?

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 2 – ‘Energising Engineers’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a fantastic half term break! Our topic for term 2 is ‘Energising Engineers’ and we will be reading ‘Rosie Revere, Engineer’ to help us learn about what it means to be an engineer. We are also looking forward to celebrating 100 years since the end of WW1 on the second week of term, with a whole week focused on WW1. We will be using a book called ‘Archie’s War’ to help us with writing our own diaries and creating scrap books about what it would be like to be a school child during this time. Excitingly, we have booked a trip for Wednesday 28th November to visit the iconic British Airways i360 in Brighton and then onto the Pavillion to visit the Brighton Museum. A letter with further information will be sent out next week.

Our PE days are Thursday and Friday; please ensure your child’s kit is always in school.

Reading Please read with your child regularly. You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in their reading diary, but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments space. A member of staff will be checking reading records during the week and children are expected to have read at least 3 times a week with an adult. Adults at school will not write in the books as we have our own records.
Spellings Spelling tests are every Friday and Spelling workbooks are taken in on Thursday and returned on Friday. This term’s spellings are focused on the Year 3&4 common exception words list. Additional spelling patterns are also taught in our weekly SPAG sessions with a focus on the ‘shun’ sound e.g. tion, cion, sion…
Times Tables This term there will be a large focus on times tables. The expectation is that children should know all their tables up to 12×12 by the end of year 4. In term 2, we will be especially focusing on the 3x, 4x, 6x and 8x tables. Please do as much as you can at home to learn these as they make many areas of maths so much easier.
Maths Maths homework will be on MyMaths and should consist of 30 minutes per fortnight, there will be a letter going out during the first week back with login information. We will also be continuing with Times Table Rock-stars to help support your child’s recall of the tables. . If you do not have access to the internet at home, please let me know and we can arrange a time for your child to complete it at school. If your child has misplaced their login details, let a member of staff know and we can give you a copy.

Helping to Enrich Our Topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work we are doing this term, we would love to see and hear about them.

Parent Readers

We are always looking for extra parent helpers to hear readers, please let me know if you are available, even if it’s a one off!

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks, and I hope you have a great term!

Miss Axell

Reading at School and at Home

Useful Websites

Questions You Could Ask Your Child About Their Learning This Term

  • Why are we celebrating WW1?
  • Which famous inventors have you learnt about?
  • Who discovered gravity and how?
  • What is friction?
  • Which formal methods for multiplication and division do you know?

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 1 – ‘Exploring Roald Dahl’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a wonderful summer holiday! The children have settled really well into the new Willow Class and we have enjoyed getting to know each other this week. Our topic for term 1 is ‘Roald Dahl’ and we will be reading a few of his books over the tem – including ‘The Twits’, ‘The Magic Finger’  and ‘The Giraffe, Pelly and me’. Our topic work this term will be based on Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake and how to create our own stories. Our PE days are Thursdays and Fridays, please ensure your child’s kit is always in school; as the timetable can sometimes change – trainers and coats everyday are essential.  Children can change into trainers at lunchtime to play games.

The way we are sending out homework has slightly changed for this year – please see the attached letter for further information and please don’t hesitate to come and see me if there are any questions about it. A copy of this will also be stuck into your child’s homework book which will be sent out on Friday.

Reading Please read with your child regularly. Their books and book bags will need to be in every day.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in their reading diary, but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments space. A member of staff will be checking reading records on Friday and children are expected to have read at least 3 times a week with an adult. Adults at school will not write in the books as we have our own records. A letter about your new reading records has been sent out about how reading at home is celebrated at school.
Spellings Spelling quizzes are every Friday and the homework books are taken in on Friday and returned on Friday. This term’s spellings are focused on the spelling patterns are taught in our weekly SPAG sessions.  The spellings for the term will sent out on Friday 20th September. Spellings for week 3 will be sent out on Friday 13th September.
Times Tables It is expected that by the end of KS2 all children will know their times tables up to x12s. In Willow class we have timetables challenge league where the more timestables they learn, the higher the level they can get to! Please practise the timestable they have currently working on at home with them.
Maths Maths homework will be on Mathletics and should consist of 30 minutes per week, the children can compete against each other or complete their own timed skills trials – I will be able to see clearly areas in which they need more focus and how many minutes they spend online. If you do not have access to the internet at home, please let me know and we can arrange a time for your child to complete it at school. We are currently setting up the children’s log in details so the maths homework will be coming out as soon as possible. Thereafter, if your child has misplaced their login details, let a member of staff know and we can give you a copy.

Helping to enrich our topics

It is always great to have items or visitors that support our topic, so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work we are doing this term, we would love to see and hear about them.

Topics coming up this year!

Term 1 Roald Dahl
Term 2 Energising Engineers
Term 3 Where in the world are we?
Term 4 Amazon Adventures
Term 5 Ancient Greece
Term 6

Parent Readers

We are always looking for extra parent helpers to hear readers, please let me know if you are available, even if it’s a one off!

Reminders

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for any wet weather.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Miss Axell

Reading at School and at Home

Useful Websites 

Questions you could ask your child about their learning this term:

  • Who was Roald Dahl and why do you think he was so important?
  • Why do you think so many people like how Quentin Blake draws?
  • How can we help protect our planet in our everyday lives?
  • What can we do to help protect our local wildlife?

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 5 – ‘Romans’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you had a lovely Easter break. This term the children will be learning about the life of Romans, focusing on their daily life, school life, the story of Romulus and Remus and Pompeii. The topic will continue throughout term 6 where the children will then learn about the Roman Empire and the impact on Britain. We will be planning a school trip in term 6 to Fishbourne Roman Palace- look out for the letter! This term we will be holding a Roman dress up day.

Reading Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just one page.  Their books and book bags will need to be in everyday for 1:1 reading.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book.
Spellings Weekly spellings will be sent out and please keep trying to learn them.
Maths Please continue to work with your child with Mathletics, a task will be set weekly. The children are continuing to learn their times tables and are tested each Friday.

Helping to enrich our topics

It has been really great to have books from home that relate to our topic so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, they would be gratefully received.

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for the wet weather.

Roman Dress Up Day

This will be held on Wednesday 23rd May- look out for a letter with more details.

Home Learning

We are looking at how Romans used to live and comparing this to our own lives. Can you find out some interesting facts about the Romans and present it in a creative way? You could use some of the websites below to help you.

For example: A PowerPoint about the fashion of the Romans, the sports they enjoyed, the food they ate or the daily life of a child your age.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Miss Axell and Mr Mackarness

Reading at School and at Home

Fossil Websites

Roman Websites

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 4 – ‘Around the World with Stories’

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Dear Parents,

I hope you had a lovely half term break. Our topic this term is called ‘Around the World with Stories’. This term, we will be learning about rivers, fossils and find out about our local area. The children will be learning about rivers across the world and comparing them to local rivers.  We will be making some exciting models and artefacts to help us with our learning this term; starting off with making mini rafts, making our own clay fossils and creating our own rivers and valleys to show the water cycle!

Reading Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just one page.  Their books and book bags will need to be in everyday for 1:1 reading.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book.
Spellings Weekly spellings will be sent out and please keep trying to learn them.
Maths We will be focusing on learning our times tables this term. On the Pioneer website are ‘Singing Tables’ which we will be using to help us remember the pattern of each times table. Please do have a look and learn them at home with your child.

Helping to enrich our topics

It has been really great to have books from home that relate to our topic so if anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, they would be gratefully received.

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water; ensure all jumpers are labelled and bring a coat for the wet weather.

Home Learning

We are learning about rivers and the water cycle during the first part of the term. Could you make your own 3D model to show your learning or find out facts about other rivers in the world? You could choose to research fossils! Can you find out any interesting facts about fossils or even make your own?  Due after Easter holidays – Friday 20th April.

Many thanks

Miss Axell and Mrs Mackarness and Mrs Pattenden

Useful Websites

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 3 – ‘Around The World With Awesome Authors’

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Dear Parents,

Welcome back, we hope you had a lovely Christmas and enjoyable break. Thank you for the cards and presents the staff received. This term we will be learning about countries and cities around the world and a local study of our village. We will also be studying different authors and comparing their style of writing and their lives as an author.

Helping to enrich our topics

If anyone has artefacts or knows of anybody who would like to talk to the class about the local area, please get in contact with us!

Reminders

The children are allowed to bring pencil cases to school, please remind them to not bring valuable, precious items that they don’t want to lose into school. Also, as the children have similar stationary, please encourage them to name their property.

Home Learning

The children worked hard on their homework last term and it has been great to see the links they have made to it within their learning in the classroom. Homework is an expectation and a requirement for all children. For the whole school, all homework will be released and due in on the same day for each year group: new homework* will be given out on a Friday and due in on a Thursday. Homework club is run every week (at lunchtime) to allow children to have a space in school to complete their homework if they were unable to complete it at home.

Reading Please read with your child 3 times a week and record this in their reading record.  Reading records will be checked weekly.
Spellings* Spellings: Spelling words will focus on phonics sounds learned in class and words from the Y2 or Y3/4 spelling list. New spellings will be recorded in the front spelling books each Friday, those words will be tested on Thursday. The result of this test can be found in the back of the child’s spelling book.
Maths* Maths homework will be given and is completed on Mathletics. Maths homework will be differentiated for your child. It should be completed independently.

Times Tables: All children should know 2s, 5s, 10, 3s, 4s and 8s and inverse rules by the end of Year 3 and should know all tables and their inverse by end of Year 4. Times tables challenges will occur in class weekly.

Grammar* Grammar and Punctuation: It will be sent home fortnightly on Fridays and due in on the Thursday a fortnight later.  Grammar and punctuation homework will be based on learning from the previous week/s.

Project Based Home Learning (optional)

  • Make a PowerPoint about a country or city you have visited
  • Create an author study of your favourite author
  • Create a landscape picture
  • Find out about a place around the world you would like to visit

Many thanks for your continued support,

Miss Axell and Mrs Mackarness and Mrs Pattenden

Useful websites

Questions to ask your child

  • What is happening in Kensuke’s Kingdom?
  • Tell me about how magnets work. What attracts what?
  • How do forces work?
  • Tell me about David Walliams!

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 2 – “Winter Festivals: This Little Light of Mine”

Welcome back we hope you had a lovely break, the children worked so hard last term and we hope you enjoyed sharing their learning with them before we broke up, it was great to see so many of you and see the children's enthusiasm when sharing their work. Our new topic is 'This little light of mine!'  In this topic, we will be looking at festivals from around the world including: Diwali, Chinese Moon Festival, Hanukkah and Christmas. Within this the children will engage in stories, traditions, artefacts and crafts of the different light festivals. Science will also continue along this theme focusing on light and sound.

Helping to enrich our topics

If anyone has artefacts or knows of anybody who would like to talk to the class about the festivals, please get in contact with us!

Reminders

Please make sure you read at least 3 times a week with your child and record it in their yellow reading record books. This helps us monitor their reading and keep track of any extra support they may need. The children are rewarded for every home reading session they do with monster points! Reading frequently encourages their fluency and enjoyment of reading and feeds their imagination for creative writing.

Home Learning

The children  worked hard on their homework last term and it has been great to see how they make links they make to it within their learning in the classroom. Homework is an expectation and a requirement for all children. For the whole school, all homework will be released and due in on the same day for each year group: new homework* will be given out on a Friday and due in on a Thursday. Homework club is run every week (at lunchtime) to allow children to have a space in school to complete their homework if they were unable to complete it at home.

Reading Please read with your child 3 times a week and record this in their reading record.  Reading records will be checked weekly.
Spellings* Spellings: Spelling words will focus on phonics sounds learned in class and words from the Y2 or Y3/4 spelling list. New spellings will be recorded in the front spelling books each Friday, those words will be tested on Thursday. The result of this test can be found in the back of the child’s spelling book.
Maths*

Maths homework will be given and is completed on Mathletics. Maths homework will be differentiated for your child. It should be completed independently.

Times Tables: All children should know 2s, 5s, 10, 3s, 4s and 8s and inverse rules by the end of Year 3 and should know all tables and their inverse by end of Year 4. Times tables challenges will occur in class weekly.

Grammar* Grammar and Punctuation: It will be sent home fortnightly on Fridays and due in on the Thursday a fortnight later.  Grammar and punctuation homework will be based on learning from the previous week/s.

Project Based Home Learning (optional)

  • Research about another light festival
  • Make a powerpoint about a festival of your choice
  • Make an artefact you are learning about from a festival
  • Using our creative writing sessions, write a powerful description of a festival
  • Make your own video showing stories and traditions of a festival
  • Make your own creative ideas based on festivals of light.

We will be sharing these during the week of the 20th November. We can’t wait to see how creative you are!

Many thanks for your continued support,

Miss Axell and Mrs Mackarness and Mrs Pattenden

Useful Websites

‘This Little Light of Mine' Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 1 – “Awesome Inventors”

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Dear Parents,

Welcome back, we hope you have had a lovely and relaxing summer holiday! We are excited to start our new school year with the topic ‘Awesome Inventors’, the children will become inventors themselves and will share their creations in a Class Super Show Piece at the end of term!

We will be using the story ‘The Lost Thing, by Shaun Tan to inspire their learning across the curriculum. We are asking each child to bring in a large white shirt to help them turn into Inventors for the term- please make sure it is labelled.

Helping to enrich our topics

It would be really great to have books or artefacts from home that relate to our topic and for the children to share. If anyone knows of any friends or relatives who might work within a scientific context or engineering/inventing and would like to visit the class, please let us know!

Reminders

Please remember your PE kit needs to be in school for Mondays and Wednesdays and ensure your child has a named water bottle in school daily.

Home Learning

Reading Please read with your child 3 times a week and record this in their reading record.  Reading records will be checked weekly.
Spellings* Spellings: Spelling words will focus on phonics sounds learned in class and words from the Y2 or Y3/4 spelling list. New spellings will be recorded in the front spelling books each Friday, those words will be tested on Thursday. The result of this test can be found in the back of the child’s spelling book for parents to be aware of.
Maths* Maths homework will be given and is completed on Mathletics (this will start as soon as possible).  Maths homework will be differentiated for your child. It should be completed independently.

Times Tables: All children should know 2s, 5s, 10, 3s, 4s and 8s and inverse rules by the end of Year 3 and should know all tables and their inverse by end of Year 4. Times tables challenges will occur in class weekly.

Grammar* Grammar and Punctuation: It will be sent home fortnightly on Fridays and due in on the Thursday a fortnight later.  Grammar and punctuation homework will be based on learning from the previous week/s.

Homework is an expectation and a requirement for all children. For the whole school, all homework will be released and due in on the same day for each year group: new homework* will be given out on a Friday and due in on a Thursday. Homework club is run every week (at lunchtime) to allow children to have a space in school to complete their homework if they were unable to complete it at home.  Rewards for completion of homework are available!

Project Based Home Learning (optional)

This term, being inventors, we would like you to choose a task from the following:

  • Create your own creator character profile.
  • Create a new invention.
  • Research an inventor.
  • Research an invention

We will be sharing these during the week of the 9th October, we can’t wait to see how creative you are!

Many thanks for your continued support,

Miss Axell and Mr Mackarness

Reading at School and at Home

Useful websites

Awesome Inventors Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 6 – “Let’s Explore… Animals!”

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Dear Parents,

This term, Willow Class’ topic is called ‘Let’s Explore… Animals!’  We are looking animals across the ages and how animals have become extinct, food chains and conservation of animals.  In science, we will be looking at the human digestive system and conducting an experiment about teeth! In literacy, we are going to be creating a biography of a famous animal explorer and creating a journal of animals and their characteristics. In Art, we will be designing and sketching an animal to mould into clay!

Home Learning

Please bring in your projects throughout term 6!

The children can bring in home learning projects about growing this term.  This can be in any form – a PowerPoint, a dance, a song, a poster. It needs to be something that shows what they have learnt about animals. This is voluntary for the children to do.

Reading Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just one page.  Their books and reading records need to be in everyday for 1:1 reading.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book.  Your child will be working towards a reward in class for reading 3 times a week.
Spellings We will be sending home weekly spelling investigations.  They will bring home activities to complete linked to the pattern that they are learning. The homework will be sent out on a Friday and due in the following Thursday. This learning will be followed up during literacy lesson and through discrete spelling sessions.
Mathematics Maths homework will now be set on a Friday and due in the following Thursday.
Grammar and Punctuation Grammar and Punctuation practice will be sent home on a fortnightly basis (also on a Friday) children will have 2 weeks to complete this task.  This is also due in on Thursday.

Helping to enrich our topics

If anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, they would be gratefully received.

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water.

Useful websites during this topic

PE

Our PE lessons are on a Wednesday and Thursday, it is essential that children have their PE kits in school on these days.

Thank you for your continued support.

Please ensure that the correct kit is in school on that day.

Miss Axell

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 4 – ‘Reduce Reuse Recycle’

Click here to download a printable copy of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

This term, Willow class’s topic is called ‘Reduce Reuse Recycle’!  We are looking at all the different ways we can do just that!  The children will be exploring what can be recycled and then how it is sorted to be made into new objects!  In science, we will be investigating how compost heaps work!  In literacy, we are seeking inspiration from a variety of books, such as: George Saves the World by Lunchtime; Dear Greenpeace and The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. We are using recycled materials to create our own clothes in DT!

Home Learning

Please bring in your projects throughout term 4!

The children can bring in home learning projects about recycling this term.  This can be in any forms – a scrap book of the recycling done at home; a powerpoint about recycling or a DT project using recycled items.

Reading Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just one page.  Their books and reading records need to be in everyday for 1:1 reading.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book.  Your child will be working towards a reward in class for reading 3 times a week.
Spellings We will be sending home weekly spelling investigations.  They will bring home activities to complete linked to the pattern that they are learning. The homework will be sent out on a Friday and due in the following Thursday. This learning will be followed up during literacy lesson and through discrete spelling sessions.
Mathematics Maths homework will be sent out on a Friday and will be due in the following Thursday. This should be completed in the children’s Maths Homework book.
Grammar and Punctuation Grammar and Punctuation practice will be sent home on a fortnightly basis (also on a Friday) children will have 2 weeks to complete this task.  This is also due in on Thursday.

Homework is now due in on Thursday so it gives us time to mark the homework.

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water.

PE

Our PE lesson is on a Thursday, it is essential that children have their PE kits in school on these days.

Useful websites during this topic

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Axell

Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 3 – ‘Viva America!’

Click here to download a printable copy of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

In term 3, Willow class are learning about America in our topic called ‘Viva America’!  We will be looking at both North and South America in turn in literacy.  We will be looking at the Geography of the Americas as well as some American history.  In music, we will look to use the percussion instruments to create pieces of music.  In art we will be looking at perspective drawing.

Home Learning

Please bring in your projects throughout term 3!

Projects on current news – politics, weather, sport – electronic or written; write a newspaper about the current news; art pieces.

Reading Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just one page.  Their books and reading records need to be in everyday for 1:1 reading.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book.  Your child will be working towards a reward in class for reading 3 times a week.
Spellings We will be sending home weekly spelling investigations.  They will bring home activities to complete linked to the pattern that they are learning. The homework will be sent out on a Friday and due in the following Friday. This learning will be followed up during literacy lesson and through discrete spelling sessions.
Mathematics Maths homework will be sent out on a Friday and will be due in the following Friday. This should be completed in the children’s Maths Homework book.
Grammar and Punctuation Grammar and Punctuation practice will be sent home on a fortnightly basis (also on a Friday) children will have 2 weeks to complete this task.

Helping to enrich our topics

If anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, they would be gratefully received.  If there are any artefacts from North and South America that the children can bring in from home, they are welcome to share them.

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water.

PE – Our PE lesson is on a Thursday, it is essential that children have their PE kits in school on these days.

Forest School  is on Wednesdays, please make sure kit is in this term.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Axell

Useful websites during this topic

Viva America! – Learning Map

Willow Newsletter Term 2 – ‘The Ancient Greeks’

Click here to download a printable copy of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

This term, Willow class is studying ‘The Ancient Greeks!’  The children will look at history, geography and myths and legends of Ancient Greece.  The myths and legends we are focusing on are ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’, ‘Pandora’s box’ and ‘Troy’.  In history, we will look at sources that show us evidence that Ancient Greece existed.  Art and DT will explore patterns and pottery related to our topic.  The company ‘Hands on History’ are coming in to give the children a taste of being historians around Ancient Greece!

Home Learning

Due after Christmas break – Friday 9th December 2017.

The children can create 3D artefacts, PowerPoint information presentations about anything to do with Ancient Greece, design their own fact file or make up a song about our current topic!

Reading Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just one page.  Their books and reading records need to be in everyday for 1:1 reading.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book.  Your child will be working towards a reward in class for reading 3 times a week.
Spellings We will be sending home weekly spelling investigations.  They will bring home activities to complete linked to the pattern that they are learning. The homework will be sent out on a Friday and due in the following Thursday. This learning will be followed up during literacy lesson and through discrete spelling sessions.
Mathematics Maths homework will be sent out on a Friday and will be due in the following Thursday. This should be completed in the children’s Maths Homework book.
Grammar and Punctuation Grammar and Punctuation practice will be sent home on a fortnightly basis (also on a Friday) children will have 2 weeks to complete this task.

Helping to enrich our topics

If anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, they would be gratefully received.  If there are any artefacts from Greece that the children can bring in from home, they are welcome to share them.

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water.

PE

Our PE lesson is on a Thursday, it is essential that children have their PE kits in school on these days.

Useful websites during this topic

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Axell

term-2-newsletter

Willow Newsletter Term 1 – ‘Wonderful World of Roald Dahl!’

Click here to download a printable copy of this newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome back – we hope you enjoyed the sunny summer break.  This term Willow class are exploring Roald Dahl and a variety of his magical stories! We will investigate many of Dahl’s different characters, settings and plots in order to create stories. In DT, the children will be making their own scarf which is inspired by Roald Dahl’s time in the RAF. In music, they will be singing some of the fantastic songs from the film of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Science will be exploring States of Matter where the children will make their own 3D diagram of the water cycle!

Home Learning

Due after half term break – Friday 4th November 2016.

Choose one of the texts we have explored and create a story, piece of artwork or animation!

Reading Please read with your child regularly, even if it is just one page.  Their books and reading records need to be in everyday for 1:1 reading.  You may like to add a positive or helpful comment in the reading diary but please acknowledge the fact that the book has been read by signing and dating in the comments book. Your child will be working towards a reward in class for reading 3 times a week.
Spellings We will be sending home weekly spelling investigations.  They will bring home activities to complete linked to the pattern that they are learning. The homework will be sent out on a Friday and due in the following Thursday. This learning will be followed up during literacy lesson and through discrete spelling sessions.
Mathematics Maths homework will be sent out on a Friday and will be due in the following Thursday. This should be completed in the children’s Maths Homework book.
Grammar and Punctuation Grammar and Punctuation practice will be sent home on a fortnightly basis (also on a Friday) children will have 2 weeks to complete this task.

Helping to enrich our topics

If anyone has any experience or items that may help us with any of the work above that we could hear about or borrow, they would be gratefully received.

Reminders

Please can you make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day with fresh water.

PE

Our PE lessons are on a Monday and a Thursday, it is essential that children have their PE kits in school on these days.

Useful websites during this topic

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Axell

Learning Map

learning-map