Tuesday 5th May

Welcome to this week's blog spot. Thank you to every one who attended the Holy Communion meeting last Wednesday night. There are still sheets available for those who could not make it.


Congratulations to Mrs Joanne Morgan and Anthony Morgan on the birth of their son. James David born last Thursday at 10.50am weighing 8lb 14 ozs. Well done and congratulations. We are all looking forward to meeting him.


ROSARY

Any body wanting to attend the rosary in the hall you are very welcome. This starts every day at 8.30am.

HOMEWORK

The only homework that we will be sending out this week is WEEK TWO of the project homework. We have managed to look at some of the children's inventions but will continue on Tuesday. The children came up with brilliant ideas for their time machines.


WEEK TWO -Where are you going to?

Choose a place to go in your time machine. I might go back to the time of the dinosaurs.....Miss Robinson might go back to World War two.....Mrs Bethell might like Ancient Egypt.....India......

Write about what happens when you get into your time machine.

What is the journey like?

How do you feel travelling through time?

Does it make your head spin?

Does your tummy feel strange?


PLEASE KEEP READING AT HOME AS WE TEST READING LEVELS THIS MONTH.

PAN ART PROJECT

Literacy this week is linked to the PAN ART PROJECT we are involved in. The children will be working on all things magical, writing their own spells and potions and designing their own magical creatures for a very special BOOK OF MAGIC. Alongside this the children will also be looking at the story of Robin Hood and creating some artwork to go with this. Explore the links below to find out more about these:

Magical Stories

http://www.magickeys.com/books/gargoyle/index.html

http://www.magickeys.com/books/lk/index.html

Magical Creatures

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0211580/profiles.htm - everything you need to know about all things magical!

http://www.kidsdomain.com/kids/wizard/creatures.html

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13378353/Drawing-Magical-Creatures - you can learn how to draw magical creatures if you download the document from this site!

Robin Hood

http://www.bbc.co.uk/robinhood/ - try the GAMES section

http://www.saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk/RobinhoodstoryY5.htm - sit back, relax and listen to the story of Robin Hood.

http://boldoutlaw.com/robbeg/

To keep enjoying your art skills you really should also check out:

http://www.show.me.uk/topicpage/teachers/tArt-and-Design.html - it even shows you how to improve your figures and faces, as well as giving you the chance to draw your own imaginary worlds.

NUMERACY

We are all still very busy working our way through our Tables Awards so here are some more games to keep you going:

http://www.coolmath-games.com/Timernator/Timernator-multiplication.html

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/tabletrees.html

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/testtest.html - even more - you'll all be experts if you work your way through this lot!

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/division.htm - now you've got your times tables sorted can you work out the divisions

During this short week in Mrs Harding's group we will be learning about problem word questions and inverse operations in questions. We are still learning any topics that we have been getting wrong in the exams and also topics that we have not covered yet in the curriculum.
To find out more please see:


http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/wordproblems/


http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/activities/problemsolving.shtml

In Miss Robinson's group we are going to be busy looking at WEIGHT and CAPACITY this week as well as continuing to work hard on developing our mental maths skills. Can I remind you to use the REVISION MATS and the test papers that have gone home to work on your Targets too. The first link below is to MATHSZONE and this week the children found how useful it is for covering and practising lots of different topics.

http://www.mathszone.co.uk/

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/weigh/index.htm - weight

http://www.ictgames.com/weight.html - reading scales

http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game15.htm - capacity

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/liquidvolume/liquidvolume.html - capacity

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/measures/index.htm - try the Reading Mass and Reading Volume and Capacity sections to review your skills.

Mrs Bethell's Numeracy
This week we will be working on Addition and Subtraction word problems, Missing number problems and a short review of telling the time. We will also be working on learning the 4x table - which is this week's homework.

http://www.ictgames.com/spitfireufo.html
http://www.ictgames.com/football2.html
http://www.ictgames.com/targettakeaway.html
http://www.ictgames.com/change_eXchanger_v2.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/MathHoops_Z1.html
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/TB_AS/tb_as1.html
http://schooltimegames.com/Mathematics/MP_Seesaw.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/wordproblems/y3math.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/wordproblems/y3mathb.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/wordproblems/y4matha.html

That is all about now for this week.

Have a good week.

Best wishes
The 3 and 4 team.

Monday 27th April

Welcome to this week's blog spot. What a busy week we have had. The children had a great time at Kings wood. Thank you for allowing your children to attend as they have had a great time. I am sure they will spend a lot of time sleeping over the weekend!!

Please remember to attend the PRESENTATION MASS at 4pm on Sunday at St Joseph's for all the Year Three children who are making their Holy Communion in June.


HOLY COMMUNION MEETING

Wednesday 6pm in the hall. You are most welcome to attend. Lots of details and information are given out. Please try to attend. Thank you.


SWIMMING GALA

There are twenty children from years three and four who have volunteered to represent school in a swimming gala at Fordton Leisure centre on Wednesday. The children will leave school at 9.15 am and return at dinnertime. They will be transported there by coach and you should have received a letter if your child is involved with this activity. There are a few letters for the Year Four that will be given out on Monday. Please remember to send the permission slip back and of course the children will need their swimming kits, snack and a drink too for the day.

Thank you to everyone who sent in gold and the total amount of money raised for the playground is £1130. We have decided to extend this and will continue to collect gold. Nothing is too small and it all helps. We will keep you informed with how much we have raised. Keep sending into school thank you.

BAG 2 SCHOOL

The collection of the bags will be this Wednesday and they can be delivered to school from 7.15 am -8.15am and then between 9.15am and 2.30pm. Items can be anything made of cloth. The school will raise 40p for every kilo brought in. Please remember to ask every body you know for more donations.
HOMEWORK

Homework will resume this week.

1 A new project homework sheet on a time machine.

2 Reading every night.

3 Spellings.

4 Numeracy tasks.


Most children have made lots of progress in their reading tests that we did in the three classes last week. It is really important that the children read and can talk about the book they are reading in detail.


TIME MACHINE PROJECT HOMEWORK WEEK ONE

Draw a time machine.
You need to invent a time machine.
Draw a diagram of both inside and outside your time machine.
Use labels on your diagram.
Make it as colourful as you can.
Writing about your machine.
Are there any special buttons on it?
What is the title of your machine?
What types of noises does it make?
Does it have any special features?

LITERACY

Our focus for Literacy this week is POETRY. The children will be looking at a range of poems and learning how poets use humour, rhyming patterns, figurative language, metaphors and onomatopoeia to create effects for the reader to enjoy. They will then use this learning to create poems of their own.If you fancy reading poetry or writing poems of your own check out

http://www.poetry4kids.com/index.php

http://www.poetryzone.ndirect.co.uk/index2.htm

SCIENCE

In Science this week we will be starting a new topic of HABITATS. The children will be reviewing what habitats are and sorting other organisms into groups.

To find out more about what a habitats is please see:


http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/?source=pincl

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

http://go.to/habitats

NUMERACY

Keep plugging away with the times tables. Here are some reminders of the games you may have used over recent weeks. Get in as much practice as you can:

http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/multiples/intro.htm

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/tabletrees.html

http://www.mathplayground.com/Balloon_Invaders.html - a new challenge - choose either multiply or divide and the table you want to improve and pop those balloons!

http://www.sgfl.org.uk/games/games/maths/numbercruncher - can you eat the multiples it tells you to?

In Miss Robinson's group we are concentrating on reviewing addition and subtraction skills and linking this to problem solving. Check out the links below:

http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/assets/Flash%0Studio/cfsmaths/Digitworks/digitmenu.html

http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/assets/Flash%20Studio/cfsmaths/Crazy/crazy.htm

http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/assets/Flash%20Studio/cfsmaths/Pyramid/py3.html

http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/add_sub/3d_3d_3d_add.swf - practise your column addition

http://www.joethedragon.co.uk/maths/addsub.html - column subtraction practice

Mrs Harding's group will be learning about data handling. We will be looking at Venn diagrams, bar charts and line graphs. To get a head start please see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/activities/interpretingdata.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/handlingdata/graphs_and_charts/

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/mathsF1b.htm#carroll

http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/graphs/line.html

Mrs Bethell’s Math’s group will be doing mainly subtraction. Subtracting units from TU and HTU and multiples of 10 from TU and HTU

Subtraction up to 20

www.sums.co.uk/playground/c1a/playground.htm

Subtracting at 3 different levels

www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/sutractiontest.html

Against the clock subtractions-includes a few minus answers

www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Subtraction/urikasub3res.html

100 square - taking 11away from a target number

www.ictgames.com/100huntminus11.html

Have a good week every one!

The Three and Four Team.

Monday 20th April

Welcome to this week's blog. We hope that you are all refreshed and raring to go!!! We welcome back Mrs Narraway after her maternity leave and are sad that Mrs Morgan is not with us. We hope to hear some baby news very soon.

Please remember your swimming kits for the first Monday.

Please remember that there is a Presentation Mass for the year three children next Sunday - 26th at St Joseph's at 4pm. This will be the start of their official planning for their First Holy Communion. We have been doing the Communion books since last December. There will be tea and cakes afterwards at the Loretto centre.

On Wednesday there is a theatre company coming into school to teach the children about the Victorians. The children will be allowed to dress up as a Victorian for the day to celebrate the occasion. Obviously this does not mean the Year Four have to dress up as they are off on their trip after the performance.

http://worldhistory.pppst.com/victorian.html

The Year four children will leave to go to Kings wood this Wednesday dinnertime until 2.30pm on Friday . You should have already received a letter about what they need to take and the arrangements.

Children need to arrive at school at the normal time and bring their bags into the hall just before the bell. They can wear their own clothes but please make sure that they are wearing long sleeves. Children will not be allowed to ring home or take a mobile with them. School will be contacted once they have arrived at the centre. In case of emergency the number of the centre is 01745 817629. Please do not send good clothing especially if it has been raining . Long sleeves need to be worn all the time.

Please remember to send a coat as it could go chilly.The children are not allowed to bring expensive electronic equipment. Only a few pounds in a purse/wallet. Some snacks can be brought in a named bag please. Let's hope that the year 4 have a lovely time. Our children love going to Kingswood.



Here is a list of the clothing just in case:

LONG TOPS ONLY!!!
Nightdress/PJs,
dressing gown,
toothpaste, toothbrush,
soap in a box,
towels - large and small,
hairbrush or comb,
trousers, tracksuits,
shirts, blouses,
jumpers
underwear and socks,
coat,pumps, slippers, shoes, trainers with gripping soles,
small rucksack/bag,
plastic bag for dirty washing,
set of clothes for disco.

Please remember that there are no clubs the first week back and there will be no homework. The only club on is boy's rugby on Friday 24th.

Please remember that we will be doing our end of year assessments in the week of the 18th of May and the 8th June. Please remember that children who do the tests by themselves don't always get the results that they deserve.

SUMMER UNIFORM

Thankfully the weather has improved and the children will be warm enough to change into their summer uniform.

Girls - blue gingham dress

blue/white bobbles/head bands only.

Boys - short sleeved shirt and tie or blue polo shirt with the school logo on, grey trousers/shorts.

SWIMMING DATES

20/27 April

11/18 May

8/15/22/29 June

6/13 July

PLEASE REMEMBER THE KITS FOR THE FIRST DAY BACK THANK YOU.

NUMERACY

In Numeracy this week there won't be much time for much work with Kingswood but Mrs Harding's group will be going over a few topics that the children struggled with in the recent tests. These include the four rules, brackets and rounding.

To find out more please see:

http://www.kidsnumbers.com/

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2numeracy.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/number.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/shape_space_measures.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/handling_data.shtml

Year Three will be learning all about symmetry later on in the week. Here are a few sites to help them with the topic.

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=Symm

http://www.innovationslearning.co.uk/subjects/maths/activities/year3/symmetry/shape_game.asp

http://www.adrianbruce.com/Symmetry/index.html#symindex

http://www.mystery-productions.info/hyper/Hypermedia_1999/BENTON/page1.htm

http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/nonmembers/gamesroom/transform/rotation.html

That is all for now and we look forward to hearing about the stories from Kingswood. Thank you to all the staff who take the children who are leaving their own families for the duration of the trip. These trips could not take place without their commitment.

Have a good week every one!

The three and four team.

Monday 6th April

Goodness! What a busy term we've had. It's hard to believe that it's almost Easter but we've made it! The children all worked very hard last week during their Test and Assessment Week and definitely deserve a week off (so do the teachers too!). This week has lots going on and below are just a few of them.

HOMEWORK
There will be no homework this week as it is a short week for us. Please remember that we will be assessing the children's reading ages when we get back so please READ, READ, READ over the holidays.

SWIMMING

There is no swimming this week but there is swimming the first Monday back after the break.

EASTER GARDENS

The children can start to bring their Easter Gardens in from Monday onwards ready for them to be exhibited and admired on Wednesday. There will be prizes given out for each class. Use a shoe box and decorate in the theme of Easter. Last year the Easter gardens were amazing and we were all overwhelmed with the quality of them. The children all enjoy looking at each others work and we are all very impressed with the time and effort that always goes into their production.

EASTER SERVICE

Our Easter Service is on Thursday this week. There will be limited space available in the hall for those of you who would like to join in our celebration.

FOSV

Thank you to those who have sent items in for the Go 4 Gold scheme. Just to remind you that the closing date has now been extended to 7th April to allow you to ask friends and grandparents if they have any 'old gold.'

The Friends have now organised the Bag 2 School scheme. You will have received a blue plastic bag on Friday, which we would like you to fill with clothing, bedding, curtains, soft toys, shoes, belts, handbags etc. Please could we ask that the bag DOES NOT contain any BRIC-A-BRAC. The bags then need to be returned to school ON WEDNESDAY 29TH APRIL. As we have no storage space for these in school, please could we ask that they are not returned before this day.

FUNDRAISING

On Tuesday the children in Year 5 and 6 will be fundraising for the Good Shepherd Appeal so remember to bring some pennies in so you can join in.

KINGSWOOD

I'm sure the Year Four children haven't forgotten that they off to Kingswood just after the Easter holidays, leaving at dinnertime on Wednesday 22nd April until 2.30pm on Friday 24th April. You will receive a letter this week reminding you about what they need to take and the arrangements.

Don't forget to make sure you pack these important items:
Nightdress/PJs,
dressing gown,
toothpaste,
toothbrush,
soap in a box,
towels - large and small,
hairbrush or comb,
trousers,
tracksuits,
shirts,
blouses,
jumpers
underwear and socks,
coat,
pumps,
slippers,
shoes,
trainers with gripping soles,
small rucksack/bag,
plastic bag for dirty washing,
set of clothes for disco.

Children need to arrive at school at the normal time and bring their bags into the hall just before the bell. They can wear their own clothes but please make sure that they are wearing long sleeves.

Children will not be allowed to ring home or take a mobile with them. School will be contacted once they have arrived at the centre. In case of emergency the number of the centre is 01745 817629.

Please do not send good clothing especially if it has been raining . Long sleeves need to be worn all the time. Please remember to send a coat as it could go chilly.

The children are not allowed to bring expensive electronic equipment. Only a few pounds in a purse/wallet. Some snacks can be brought in a named bag please.

Please see below to remember the true meaning of Easter in our school and to remember it is the most important part of the Church's year. We will be spending time in class exploring this special time.

http://www.loyolapress.com/assets/lp/stations-of-the-cross-powerpoint.swf - a fantastic site that takes the children through the Stations of the Cross. (It's the one that wouldn't work in my room so do check it out!)

http://www.ainglkiss.com/stations4kids/

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/christianity/easter/easter.htm

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/re/b-dag/ngfl-container/re-unit2-en.html - a really interactive sites that encourages children to think and talk about the events at this time of year.

http://www.reonline.org.uk/allre/tt_nframe.php?http://www.whyeaster.com/ - my class had lots of questions about the customs we now follow to do with Easter. This site explains many - eggs, chicks, food alongside the Easter story.

That's all for this term - many thanks to all for your continued support. It just remains to wish you a HAPPY and HOLY EASTER and have a good rest!!!

Take care

The Year 3 and 4 Team
xxx