We have been focusing on multiplication in Y3 this week, making links to addition and using arrays to help us solve tricky word problems. The children have created a wonderful ‘array city’ display – Maybe over the weekend you could look for arrays on buildings or in everyday life.

The children have also been working hard to develop their mental fluency – maybe they could help estimate a shopping bill or challenge you to a 4 timetables race!

In English we have been learning about and identifying similes, metaphors and personification. Next week we are going to be using these writing techniques in our own stories.

I have seen a real improvement in the children’s fitness levels over the year and they have really impressed me in P.E. swimming and our fitter future sessions – well done Y3.

In RE we are focusing on the Exodus story. The children are now able to navigate the Bible and have sequenced the events of Exodus.

We also had a visit from the NSPCC this week, which the children found very interesting – thank you Mrs McNamara for organizing it.

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Pringle

What a busy week it has been! The children have been learning all about the Exodus story in Religion. Firstly, we looked at the features of an epic story and located Egypt on the map. Then the children created some beautiful artwork for our R.E. display and sequenced the Exodus story.

In maths, we have continued work on measurements. The children have been working very hard on their mental fluency as well as solving word problems.  The caption of the week in maths has been ‘Prove it!’ Year 2 are understanding the importance of showing their workings out. We have seen lots of different strategies employed… partitioning as well as drawing dienes and number lines!

In P.E. this week this week the children have been concentrating on indoor games. It was a lot of fun! 

This week Year 2 led the school in an assembly about friendship. As part of their assembly the children performed the story – Stone soup. This story highlighted the importance of working together and sharing with others. The children were amazing and they all delivered their lines with great confidence! Well done Year 2!

Since being back from the Christmas holidays, Year 6 have started the new year full of energy and with refreshed minds.

Our maths has been focused on fractions, decimals and percentages, and the children have really strengthened their ability to convert between them.

In English, the class has been producing lots of writing based around The Spiderwick Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. They have been pushing themselves to use more precise and interesting vocabulary and have been producing thoroughly engaging pieces.

We began our new Science topic called Evolution and Inheritance by creating a timeline of life on Earth. Our minds were blown when we learnt that humans have only been around for 10,000 of the 5 billion years that the Earth has existed (Weekend Challenge: Can you tell me what that is as a fraction, decimal and percentage?! Post answers below). To try and visualise the scale, the children worked as a team to map the timeline on a roll of toilet paper.

Some of the children were wondering how we knew which animals lived before us when we’ve only been around relatively recently. Therefore, the children discovered the process of fossilisation, and had a go at being paleontogists by identifying some fossils.

On Thursday, we had the treat of visiting Pizza Express, where the children enjoyed making their own pizzas and subsequently eating them for lunch. We even had a mini maths lesson whilst they ate their pizzas in the classroom by discussing what fractions, decimals and percentages different children had eaten or had left!

This term in PE, we are focusing on Dance. On Thursday, the children worked in groups to choreograph a dance to Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. I was impressed with the way they thought about symmetry, synchronisation and individual strengths within their groups, and I look forward to seeing how they develop this dance in the coming weeks!

This week’s Home Learning letter is here.

The spelling links to which I refer can be accessed here and here.

Please remember the family photo for Monday’s Science lesson.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Donatantonio

Happy New Year and Welcome back! I hope you all had a joyful break. Thank you for all your kindness and generosity last term. We have another busy and exciting term ahead of us. Year 2 have already thrown themselves into their learning.

Dublin, Ireland, has been chosen by Pope Francis to host the next World Meeting of Families 2018, guided by the theme “The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World”. In R.E. this week we launched The Year of the Family. We discussed belonging to a family and how even though families are all different and live in many different places, they share one thing: love.

In Maths we have been looking at capacity and measure. The children used their reasoning skills to solve a thirsty problem. The children had to put 7 glasses in the correct order. Some of the clues were tricky – The two full glasses of orange juice are next to each other.

In Computing we have been learning about algorithms and repetition. There were lots of great examples of what you could program a robot to do.

Joseph – ‘I will program my robot to do my homework.’

Phoebe – ‘I will program my robot to sing a song.’

William – ‘I will program my robot to clean my bedroom.’

The children discovered that giving precise instructions is very important!