Dates for your Diary

Monday 3rd June  - Summer Term 2

Tuesday 9th July  - Summer Spectacular

Class 8 deliver their final presentations - Apprentice style- to Nexus and NTLP.

Mrs Giles would like to thank all of Class 8 for not only their hard work and commitment, but for their sheer determination and maturity shown during this afternoon’s presentation for Nexus and NTLP. Congratulations to you all, you blew us all away and touched our hearts with your fantastic work.

Mrs Giles is so proud of you!

Visit to The Word to see Michael Rosen

On Monday 13th May will be be going to The Word to visit Michael Rosen. We will be amongst other schools listening to him speak about his books and delivering some of his poetry. We will leave school at 1pm to arrive for a 1.30pm start and return to school for the end of the school day. 

This is is an exciting opportunity for Class 8 to meet an author, listen to his works and ask him questions about his life as an author and poet. 

‘Michael Rosen is one of Britain’s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. His first degree was from Wadham College, Oxford and he went on to study for an MA and a PhD. He is currently Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London where he co-devised and teaches an MA in Children’s Literature.

Michael is also a popular broadcaster and has presented BBC Radio 4’s acclaimed programme about language, “Word of Mouth” since 1998, as well as regularly presenting documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3, including the Sony Gold Award-winning “On Saying Goodbye”.

He has published in the region of 200 books for children and adults'.

https://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/

Forthcoming Multiplication Test

The national pilot for the forthcoming multiplication test starts in June this year, and we, as a class have been asked to be part of the pilot. Today children received their PIN numbers to practise the tests at home and should continue to work on their knowledge of the times tables on a regular basis, focussing on the 7,8,9 and 12 times table. 

Please practise this this with your child at home as much as possible between now and the test. 

If you have any questions regarding this please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Giles. 

Welcome to the Toothpaste Factory!

On Friday, class 8 transformed their classroom into a science lab/toothpaste factory and were challenged to invent their own toothpaste and investigate how it’s properties compare to that of a branded toothpaste when removing stains. 

They conducted a fair test, developed their knowledge of scientific enquiry and developed some key team work skills. 

What at a super afternoon!

Nexus DT Project in partnership with NTLP

Class 8 were privileged to welcome Nexus alongside their partners NTLP into school to launch a new DT project to design a new metro station and a new metro train. 

The children were excited to take on their roles as project manager, health and safety manager and engineer, to name but a few, and get working alongside their class mates on this exciting project. 

They have been been given until the 10th May to complete 3D designs and deliver a pitch to Nexus when they return to Judge the best project. 

The competition is on! 

World Book Day 2019

We had the pleasure and the privilege of Tony Wilson in school today, who helped us celebrate World Book Day through a creative and inspiring story making workshop. We sang songs which helped us to remember the key elements of a story - the who, what, where, why and when and also used a story bag and our imaginations to create a story to music. 

Thanks Tony!

Monday 28th January 2019

Science workshop with Green Shift Education

Today, class 8 were privileged to have Green Shift Education deliver a Science workshop all about sound. They learned about how sound is produced and how it travels through various different materials. They conducted their own experiment to investigate how sound travels though air, cotton wool, kitchen roll and bubble wrap using a small buzzer which they had to connect to a battery operated circuit. 

Before they began their experiment, they needed to make a prediction about which material would allow sound to travel through it the easiest. They then set up their experiement and conducted the investigation. Following the experiment they discussed their findings and decided as a group the material through which sound travels best. 

Monday 14th January 2019

Visit to The Open Zone @ The Word

Today class 8 visited the Open Zone @The Word. The focus of the day was to spend time developing our knowledge and learning new skills in Computing. The day began with an introduction to the various tasks we would be doing along with expectations of the day. We were all given our own laptop on which we created a design for a coaster using the software, Paint. The coasters are a gift to our family and friends for Valentine’s Day (we'll be hiding them in school until then). We used different elements of Paint to create our design which we saved to be engraved onto our wooden coasters during the afternoon.

The next session was really exciting. We worked with Mr Roberts to grow our knowledge of programming and used a piece of software called ‘WeDo’ to make Lego models move via computer programming. Some of us were able to build and make birds dance. Some of us programmed a number of different models including a clapping monkey, a goal keeper and a boat.

We worked super efficient and super smart. We were a credit to our school today. We left with a big smile on our faces and would like to thank Mr Roberts and Mrs Hayward for all of their help and support today. We look forward to our next visit to The Open Zone @The Word.

Happy New Year 2019!

Dates for your diary - Spring term 1

• 07/01/19 - return from Christmas Break
• 14/01/19 - visit to The Word
• 04/02/19 - Parents Evening 
• 07/02/19 - attendance assemblies 
• 15/02/19 - In-service day and break up for half term 

Our topics for Spring Term.

• History: The Railways including Local Study
• Science: Sound
• RE: Pilgrimages 
• Geography: A Village in India
• Art: Sonia Delaunay
• D&T: Electronics
• Music: Charanga
• PSHE:  To be me 
• French:  Hobbies 
• PE - Swimming
• ICT - Using Microsoft Word 

Welcome to Class 8!

I’d like to extend a huge welcome to my class as we begin our learning journey together in Year 4. This we will be, as usual, working extremely hard broadening our knowledge and skills. Our children will be continuing to work hard on all areas of Maths using embedding problem solving and reasoning throughout their learning. We expect all our Year 4 children to work hard but to have fun in their learning!

I will be regularly outside school at the start and end of the day. If you have any concerns or questions regarding your child’s progress or wellbeing please get in touch.

Dates for your diary

4/9/18- Back to school

13/9/18- Thurston meeting 3.30pm

28/9/19- Macmillan Coffee morning

1/10/18- Thurston week

8/10/18- Parents Evening

12/10/18- Poetry Slam

18/10/18- Movie Night

19/10-Break up for half term

PE

Our PE day is Wednesday. PE for Autumn will be Dance. Children must ensure they have their PE kit with them to partake. Footwear for Dance is optional (bare feet or trainers) and I am happy for children to wear grip (slipper socks) socks too.

Homework

Homework is given out on Thursdays and usually consists of a mymaths task or times tables rockstars and weekly spellings. It must be returned no later than the following Tuesday. On occasion, children may also bring any unfinished work home to complete.

Reading

Children are asked to bring reading books into school every day. Children who bring in reading books everyday will have more opportunities to read in school and change their books. We also ask that as parents, you encourage daily reading at home with your children. Lunchtime clubs and weekly helpers will also be organised to provide extra reading opportunities and to encourage a positive attitude towards reading.

Daily Reading

The Pearson Website explains,

'Daily reading is essential to your child's development in all curriculum areas. Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. Reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.

What difference can YOU make as a parent?

You can make a huge difference! Parents are the most important educators in a child’s life – even more important than their teachers – and it’s never too early or too late to start reading together.'

This link takes you to a guide to helping your child read.

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/uk/documents/Learner/Primary/Primary%20parents/Pearson_EnjoyReading_03.pdf

This video shows how you can support your child with reading at home.