Monday 16th July

Well...here we go.
Take a deep breath and let's all finish the school year in style!
It's hard to imagine that a whole year has past.
I'm sure you are all looking forward to your summer holidays with eager anticipation (let's hope it all dries up a bit!).

There's lots going on this week and the children will be busy putting the finishing touches to their work ready to bring home to share with you. Here's some highlights from this week's diary:

We wish all the children in Year 5 and 6 good luck with their 'Musical Medley' this week. I can't wait to see the finished product - I've been itching to join in with them everytime I've been through the hall. They all sound fantastic and I am sure they will finish the year off with a bang! (or a song!).

Our thoughts and prayers should also go out to those children in Year 6 who will leave us at the end of this week to move onto being very grown-up Year 7's as they start St. Greg's in September.

Sport's Day has had to be cancelled - the weather is still not showing signs of breaking into a heatwave any day soon either. We will be trying to get the children out whenever there is a glimmer of sun or blue sky...we'd even settle for a break in the rain and a dry playground! So keep making sure you've got your P.E. kit in school.

On Wednesday we're all let loose for the day - watch out Gulliver's World - here we come...! Please check the letter for what the children need for the day. Obvious things include packed lunch and water-proofs. I know, I hate to say it but with the way the weather has been, I don't really think shorts and sandals will be the order of the day, unfortunately. The children will be back at school for 3 o'clock and it would be easier if you could collect them from their classrooms as normal. It is very hard to keep track of where children go when there are so many getting off the coaches.

You have all had the chance to read the reports sent out and we would be grateful if you could fill in and return the comments sheets a.s.a.p.

On Friday it is a sad day for everyone - our Leaver's day. The most important part of today, will be our Leaver's Celebration Mass, taking place at 10.30am. You are most welcome to join us in the school hall, although please note that space is at a premium for this Mass. It is a very special occasion and a very fitting end to the school year.

All that is left is to say a thank you to parents for supporting us through the year. And finally:

WELL DONE CHILDREN! You have all been FANTASTIC!

Have a brilliant summer and we look forward to seeing you all safe and sound again in September.

Take care and keep happy!

The Year 3/4 Team

xxx

p.s. keep an eye on the blog - I may do one or two fun blogs over the summer to keep you busy on those sunny(?) days.

Monday 9th July

Hello! Our Sport's Day preparations started last week but a final decision about whether it will happen or not will be made later this week. Don't forget the date is set for Tuesday 17th July - but only if we lose the winter weather we seem to be having! Just in case we get any dry days can you please make sure that your child has their P.E. kit in school - we'll be trying to get the children out as much as the weather will allow.

Apologies for the late school reports that were supposed to go out last Friday. We are still waiting for some of the Year Six results. Hopefully we can send them out this week.

Please make sure that you have returned the reply slip for the Gulliver's World trip on Wednesday the 18th of July. All the children are very excited about it and it should be a brilliant day out.

Staffing

You will have read in the newsletter about the staffing changes for September. Just to clarify, the teachers will be:

Foundation Stage - Mrs Narraway
Year 1/2 - Mrs Worrall, Mrs Pinto-Edwards, Mrs Malone
Year 3/4 - Mrs Harding, Mrs Bethell, Miss Robinson
Year 5/6 - Mrs Morgan (nee Wilson), Mrs Millington, Miss Wright

Mr McGreal will continue to be the floating teacher, until Mrs Morgan returns from her maternity leave in February 2008.
Miss Wright has been into school to meet the children and staff, and she is delighted to be joining the team from September. I am sure she will be a great asset to the Year 5/6 team and we are looking forward to welcoming her to St.Vincent's.

Spanish

Here is a good site for reviewing greetings in Spanish and also extending the children's knowledge of other things too. There are videos to listen to too!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/talk/greetings/

http://www.spanish.bz/greetings.htm

http://www.lingolex.com/61wordhangman.htm

Everything else will be ticking along as normal(ish!). The children are busy reflecting on their work and their progress this year as they choose work to show you at home at the end of term. We are incredibly pleased with how far they have come this year and we are sure you will be very proud of them!

Have a safe and happy week.

Take care

The Year 3/4 Team
xxx

Monday 2nd July

What an exciting and interesting week we all had last week. You won't be surprised to learn that we didn't get through half of what we would have liked to so the Africa theme will be continuing through the course of this week too. Have a look back at last week's blog to refresh your memories.

Please could you send in your slips for the Gullivers world trip on the 18th Of July. The teachers will let you know nearer the time if your help is needed. Sport's day has now been cancelled and placed on the 17th of July which gives the field a little time to dry out and for the children to go out to practise when it stops raining. Please make sure your child has their PE kit as we do it in the hall. In the event that the weather does pick up please send your child with a hat and a high factor sun tan cream. Thank you.

Literacy will be a continuation of the work started last week - so best story writing skills at the ready.

NUMERACY

Don't forget to keep letting me know what your favourite times tables games have been this year. Miss Robinson's group will definitely be working hard on their tables with their bumper test at the end of this week to look forward to! Other than that we will be exploring chance and probability this week. Have an explore of the games below to get an idea fo what it is all about:

http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/nonmembers/resource/prob/chaseme1.html - can you get the tortoise to catch the hare?

http://www.e-gfl.org/e-gfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/other/spark/playcards/gamelaunch.html

http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/nonmembers/resource/prob/coins.html - what are the odds of throwing heads or tails?

http://teacher.scholastic.com/maven/loudlou/index.htm
http://teacher.scholastic.com/maven/disguise/index.htm - can you solve the mysteries?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/shockwave/games/fish.html - catch the fish.

Mrs Harding's group will continue with percentages of amounts and be reviewing fractions of quantities and cancelling down fractions and equivalent fractions.

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/fractions/index.htm

http://www.freewebs.com/weddell/Equiv%20Fractions%20Contents.html

http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/decimals/fraction%20of%20amount.swf

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/fractions/index.htm

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/percentages/index.htm

The children really enjoyed the Science show last week and learnt a lot about FORCES. The children watched and participated in lots of unusual and fun activities. To find out more and learn some facts see the web sites below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/forces_movement.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/forces_action.shtml

http://www.firstschoolyears.com/science/forces/forces.html

http://www.powerdiscoveryzone.com/home.html

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/Science/electricity.htm#6

Spanish

We will be continuing to learn about how to tell the time in Spanish and it could even help children who need to practise in English too!

http://www.spanishdaddy.com/learnspanish/spanishtime.aspx

We will be carrying on learning the numbers as well.

http://www.jvlnet.com/~liliana/Spanish_Numbers.html

That's all I can think of for now.

Take care.
Have a safe and happy week.

The Year 3/4 Team
xxx