Newsletters
Oak
Welcome to Oak Class
The oak tree is a symbol of strength, resistance and knowledge. It is also recognised for its size and stature which is associated with honor and wisdom.
The little acorn needs patience, time and room to grow, much like the children in the class.
Miss Greenwood and I can't wait to see how the children grow and learn over the next year, much like our Oak tree.
Maths - LO: to identify right angles
21st June 2022
In our Maths, we have moved onto shape and today we were looking at what makes an angle a right angle. We ventured outside to explore and identify how many right angles we could find and where they were!
Geography - LO: to explore an ordinance survey map
17th May 2022
In our Geography lesson, we looked at what an ordinance survey map is and what features it comes with. We used these maps to look in more detail at our local area.
Science - LO: to record findings from mummifying a tomato
22nd March 2022
In Science, we have been exploring how mummification works by identifying what ingredients are needed in order to preserve an item. We know that Ancient Egyptian priests would use a white mixture called 'natron' to preserve Pharoahs when they were being mummified. This is a mixture of slat and bicarbonate of soda. So, we thought it would be an interesting experiment to try this out for ourselves!
We followed the same steps as an Ancient Egyptian would by removing the seeds and washing the tomato with soap. Then we filled the tomatoes with natron, placed in into a bag and covered the tomato with natron. It was then left for two weeks. We also had a tomato which hadn't been covered with natron to compare.
Our findings showed that the tomatoes that had been mummified were better preserved than the one that hadn't. For instance, mould had not grown on our test tomatoes but had on the uncovered tomato.
The History Man Workshop on Ancient Egypt
14th March 2022
The year 3’s had a very special visitor: David Cadle, The History Man, who came to do a workshop on Ancient Egypt. He set the hall up with lots of different stations and, in the morning, gave the children information on what life was like in Ancient Egypt from where Egypt is on the map to how they grew crops along to River Nile to why they wore thick, black eyeliner when building the pyramids at Giza. The children (and adults) were captivated from the start with his knowledge and delivery of the content.
In our afternoon session, David let the children have a go at the vast range of activities. These included grinding wheat to make flour, dressing up like an Ancient Egyptian, making their own clay scarab beetle with their initials and playing board games that were around 4000 years ago!
It was an extremely informative, interactive and enjoyable day!
Topic - LO: to explore the process of mummification
7th March 2022
It was our topic launch this afternoon for Ancient Egypt. Mummification was a common occurrence during this time period and to help drive our English work, we decided to explore how mummification works by mummifying a tomato! The children had a tomato and followed a set of instructions to help preserve their piece of fruit.
Art - LO: to record findings
3rd March 2022
In our Art lesson today, the explored the work of French artist Henri Rousseau. His work was called 'post impressionism' which was an abstract style of art work that was based on real life but was made to look different.
We learned that Henri was a self-taught artist, that he never actually went to the rainforest but painted lots of landscape pictures based in other biomes and that his work was heavily criticised by other artists as they were not deemed 'clever' enough!
The children were given different plants to draw, using a sketching pencil, focussing on shape, depth, detail and light.
Maths - LO: to add, subtract and find change
10th February 2022
During this weeks’ Maths lessons, we have started our new topic on money. The children have added and subtracted as well as found how to give change.
To do this, the children have used concrete resources as well as used pictorial and abstract representations.
Maths - LO: to divide with remainders
1st February 2022
As the sun was shining, the children had a practical lesson outside today where the used whiteboards (and themselves!) to divide with remainders.
Maths - LO: to divide 100 by 2, 4, 5 and 10
31st January 2022
For today’s Maths, the children used concrete and pictorial resources to show how we can divide 100 into 2, 4, 5 and 10 equal parts.
We used dienes, counters and place value grids plus part whole models to represent our findings. The children realised they needed to exchange at times and used the best methods to show this.
Computing - LO: to consolidate and practise times tables
26th January 2022
In Computing today, the children used the laptops to play Times Tables Rockstars to consolidate and apply their times tables knowledge. Some of the children even set up a TTR challenge!
Science - LO: identify and explain the function of the different parts of a plant
14th January 2022
Our new Science topic is 'Plants' so in today's lesson, we explored what we already knew by writing down facts and drawing diagrams. We then moved on and dissected a flower, carefully labelling the different parts including the leaves, stem, petals and stamen. The children identified what each part of the flower does and labelled it by their flower.
Rainforests
Our new topic is Rainforests and our student teacher, Miss Bateman, and Miss Greenwood have created our beautiful display which will be added to throughout our topic. The children made the animals you can see and have already written down facts they already know about the rainforests.
We can’t wait to show you what we learn along our Rainforests journey!
Science - LO: to investigate what we need in order to see objects in the dark
19th November 2021
Our latest topic in Science is 'Light' and we started to look at what we actually need in order to see items. In groups, the children looked through the hole in a box to see what was in there. The children discussed what we might need and predicted how many holes they would need before they could identify the items. They worked collaboratively and wrote down items when they thought they recognised them.
Topic Homework Celebration
8th November 2021
Wow - what an amazing collection of topic homework we could celebrate yesterday on The Stone Age! The children designed their own clothing, created scrumptious meals, produced sculptures of Stonehenge and much much more!
A massive well done to all the children - we are so impressed!
2nd November 2021
Today we conducted an experiment on soil to see what was similar and different about three soil samples. We looked at the senses: see, smell, feel and hear.
BBC Live Lesson on Fossils
21st October 2021
Steve Backshall who presents Deadly 60 on BBC provided the children with a live lesson focussing on fossils. We have been learning all about the three rock types in Science as well as how fossils are made and thought this would be an exciting lesson for them! Steve needed the childrens' help to locate a very special artefact that his cousin had stolen at the Natural History Museum in London. Oak and Mulberry classes became detectives to decipher the clues to help him find a crucial part of history!
Forest School - LO: to create Andy Goldsworthy designs
15th October 2021
We took are out into Forest School today where we recreated our Andy Goldsworthy inspired designs using natural resources, just like he does! We think you'll agree that the children have created some beautiful pieces of art!
Science - LO: to make systematic and careful observations
8th October 2021
In Science, we have been classifying rocks by exploring each rock type and its properties. We know there are igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks and how they are formed. Today, we wanted to explore whether the rock would crumble when sandpaper is rubbed over the rock, whether the rock is tough enough to withstand scratches from a nail and if the rock was permeable. We went outside to conduct our experiments!
Computing - LO: to use timers
29th September 2021
In computing, we have been using timers when coding. The children have created their own backgrounds and placed characters within the setting. They then used actions, speech and timers to code their own programme.
A visit from a Paralympian!
Friday 27th September 2021
Today, we had a very special visitor in school. Becky Redfern, the Paralympic silver medalist came in to join in for our Celebration Assembly and went round the classes to talk about being a Paralympian, the obstacles she faced and how she overcame them as well as the importance of dedication, perseverance and belief in yourself. She even brought round her medals!
Forest School - LO: to explore and identify eating and living habits of a Stone Age person
20th September 2021
Today we took Year 3 down to Forest School. We showed the children the types of houses that Stone Age people would live in and gave them the task of building their own. We then had a surprise for them: we discovered Stone Age poo! The children worked in groups to explore and identify what Stone Age people might eat.
Science - LO: to explore and compare rocks
17th September 2021
During our Science lesson today, we started to explore what we already know about rocks. We then handed rocks to each table and asked them to look at what they could see as well as what looked the same and different.
English - LO: to present our work
15th September 2021
We have been reading 'Sometimes I Feel...' by Sarah Maycock which focuses on exploring emotions. Here are some examples of our own sentences based on the style of the book.
Art - LO: to apply painting techniques
14th September 2021
Today we sketched pictures of animals and created a watercolour painting in the style of Sarah Maycock who wrote the book 'Sometimes I Feel...'.