The children in year 4 had a lovely time at Warwick Castle on Thursday 17th November. Despite a very wet start to the day, it was pleasantly dry for the duration of their trip. They enjoyed walking the castle grounds; seeing and naming various parts of a castle, they watched a birds of prey display and climbed some very tall towers with numerous steps! The children visited the Great Hall and had a snoop around the beautiful rooms within the stately home. As a treat, the children were put in ‘gaol’ to experience what it may have been like to have been kept in such cramped and unpleasant conditions.
This week we have continued our work on celebrations, this week focussing on The Christmas Story. We have used this story to create our Nativity performance and we now have roles to play. We are still practising our songs, getting our voices pitch perfect for our performance to our grown ups in the next couple of weeks. Just a reminder not to worry about costumes as we try very hard to use what we currently already have in reception.
The children are continuing to progress well with their sounds and are now starting to blend these sounds together to make words. This week they have been reviewing the sounds taught and will be continuing learning their ‘special friends’ (two letters that make one sound). Please watch the videos below with your child to review some of these sounds and support the work in class. Just like last week, please follow the log in instructions for Oxford owl to read the online book and quiz as well as reading the book bag book or ditty sheets that your child brings home in their diary. Those children with QR codes should have a go at the activities in the video. Remember to sign your child’s diary every time they read with you (this includes the online videos). We are very impressed with how well the children are doing with their phonics! Well done!
In maths this week we haver been focussing on the numbers 4 and 5. We have been experimenting with showing these numbers in lots of different ways, as well as being introduced to five frames to help us see how many of an object we have. We have also had as go at estimating this week. We are really enjoying our maths lessons, and each week we are getting stronger with our counting.
Miss Masterson will continue the after school library session on Monday 29th November. This week it is RMT’s turn. Please come to the main school Reception once you have picked up your child and you will be invited in once the session begins. Your child can then choose a book and listen to a story telling session. Bring your book back to school on your next library session (every two weeks).
Now the weather is getting colder and wetter, please feel free to send your child in with a named hat, scarf and pair of gloves for them to wear outside. Make sure to remind the children to pop their things in their bags/pockets to keep them safe when they are not using them. If you notice its raining outside your child cab also bring in a pair of named wellies to stop the from getting soggy socks.
Thanks again for all of your support, have a lovely week!
Year 4 used oil pastels to draw out and colour poppy quarters. Once these were complete, we put four of the quarters together to create a whole poppy. The children worked really hard on these and made a beautiful, eye-catching display.
Last week a selection of children from year six were invited to take part in an organised bike ride on the Coundon Cycleway. The ride was organised by the council and British Cycling. The guided ride, of about 3 miles, led down to Naul’s Mill Park and back, along the newly created segregated cycleway in Coundon. The children were also lucky enough to meet Chris Boardman MBE as he joined them for part of the ride to promote the benefits of using the cycleway.
This week we are continuing to work on celebrations. We are looking at our school value of ‘Kindness’ and how we celebrate this. We are learning how to be a kind friend and are celebrating the ways in which people demonstrate kindness. We are also starting to think about the celebration of Christmas. The children are being introduced to the Nativity and we are stating to learn the songs. Next week the children will be learning more about the Nativity and will be given a role for the performance in December (more details to follow in the Friday Focus). Please do not worry about costumes we will let you know if we need anything but we do try to use the costumes we have in school.
The children are progressing well with their sounds and working hard to blend sounds together. This week they have been reviewing the sounds taught and will be beginning their ‘special friends’ (two letters that make one sound). Please watch the videos below with your child to review some of these sounds and support the work in class. From Friday, your child will come home with a reading diary, please follow the log in instructions for Oxford owl to read the online book and quiz as well as reading the book bag book or ditty sheets that your child brings home in their diary. Those children with QR codes should have a go at the activities in the video. Remember to sign your child’s diary every time they read with you (this includes the online videos).
This week in |Maths we are consolidating our understanding of 1,2,3. We have been looking at shapes – triangles and circles and recognising the number of properties in these shapes e.g. a triangle has 3 vertices and 3 straight sides, a circle has one continuous curved edge. We have been making shape pictures using these shapes and have looked at orientating the shapes in different ways and have looked for shapes in the environment. We are also looking at positional language with a focus on ‘on top, in front, behind, to the side and under.
Miss Masterson will start the after school library session on Monday 21st November. She will begin with RKM. Please come to the main school Reception once you have picked up your child and you will be invited in once the session begins. Your child can then choose a book and listen to a story telling session. Bring your book back to school on your next library session (every two weeks). RMT’s library session will begin on Monday 28th November and carry on every two weeks after.
Don’t forget that Friday is ‘Children in Need’. Children can come to school in their pyjamas or in something spotty for a donation of £1.
This week we are continuing on with our work on celebrations with a focus on celebrating ourselves and others. We will be talking about our similarities and differences and will be talking about the things we like and are good at. We will focus on finding what we can celebrate about each other with reference to our school value of ‘Kindness’. We think it is important to find the good in everyone and to celebrate differences. The children will be thinking about others and will be talking kindly about each other.
The children are all working well with their phonics. They have settled in their new group and are progressing with their sounds. Please continue to go over all phoneme cards that we have sent home and put the cards together to make CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words. If your child is confident with these then start to look at CCVC words such as t-r-a-p or CVCC words such as s-e-n-t. Please aim to spend at least 5 minutes every day doing this. If your child has brought a book or ditty sheet home please hear them read every night and sign the diary to show your child has read. We will collect the reading diaries and books on a Wednesday so that reading teachers can collect the books in and administer the book for the next week. These will go home on a Friday. Please do not worry if your child is not on a reading book yet as they need to be confidently blending before they move on to the next stage.
In Maths this week we are continuing with ‘It’s me 1, 2, 3’. The children are gaining a deep understanding of the numbers to 3 knowing how the numbers are made up and being able to subitise (recognising the amount without the need to count in a variety of forms). We have been looking at more and less and being able to identify what is 1 more or 1 less than 1, 2, 3. We will have a big focus on the children looking at amounts and saying what they see, Looking for groups of 1, 2 and 3.
Please remember to bring back library books on a Friday so that the children can choose a new book to take home and share with you throughout the week. Reading to your child with expression and enthusiasm will help develop a love of reading and will be something they want to be able to do themselves. It has been lovely hearing all of the lovely comments from parents at our parents consultation meetings about how your children are using their phonics at home and are keen to read and write.
On Friday this week we will be having a minutes silence to commemorate all those that have died in war. We will discuss with the children in a simple way about why this is remembered and link it to our work on celebrations and how we often celebrate things we want to remember.
Year 4 were very lucky to be visited by Canley White Watch from the West Midlands Fire Service. The children learnt about the dangers of fire in the home, the importance of smoke alarms and how to call 999 in an emergency. The children also practised how to STOP, DROP and ROLL if any of their clothing caught on fire.
