St Oswald's Catholic Primary SchoolOur blogs
Date: 13th May 2022 @ 3:44pm
This week we have really enjoyed learning about sharks. We have looked at the great white shark and the hamme head shark. We made our own shark posters with all the facts we have learned.
In Maths we have been exploring length and height of different objects, looking at comparing lengths and measuring items with cubes.
In Science, this week we talked about the fact that most animals hatch from eggs - birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and even dinosaurs. We looked at some unusual places where animals lay their eggs and how some have hard shells and some have soft shells. The children used brilliant vocabulary - definitely some super scientists here!
We have made under the sea clay models in art using our fingers and tools to create our designs.
Year 6 Blog Friday 13th May 2022
Date: 13th May 2022 @ 3:32pm
This week Year 6 completed an exam week of SATs for Spelling, Grammar, Maths and Reading.
You have all worked incredibly hard with revising, the work in class and all the home learning you completed. You should be so proud of yourselves for getting through this week.
No home learning is set, so please enjoy yourselves and rest this weekend – you deserve it!
Online Safety Update
Age ratings can be used by adults to make an informed choice as to whether a game or platform is suitable for their child.
Year 4 HOME PRACTICE 13th May 2022
Date: 13th May 2022 @ 1:36pm
Year 4
Home Practice 13th May 2022
Welcome to this week’s blog. Here’s what we have been learning this week …
In English, we planned and wrote a formal letter to Grandfather, urging him to support the war effort and move out of his home in Slapton. In addition, we wrote a postcard from Barry, one of the evacuees, to his mother in London planning every word carefully.
In Maths, we learnt how to subtract fractions when they have the same denominator (bottom number). We also refined our mental addition and subtraction skills using the strategy of bridging through 10. Knowing our pairs to 10 and being able to partition numbers confidently helped with these strategies.
In RE, we listened to the story of St Paul and learnt about his conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus. Following this, we made links between the places Paul visited and the names of the people he wrote letters to. We also read a passage from one of St Paul’s letters. We chose our favourite part and explained how we could follow this example in our everyday life.
In Geography, we used ‘Digimaps’ and labelled a map to show the features of our local coastal area.
In French, we had a go at writing a description of our picture in the style of Matisse . There was a lot of grammar to think about - adjectival position and agreement and using conjunctions to help our writing flow. Bon effort, year 4
In Music, we rehearsed the National Anthem and Platinum Jubilee Song. On the glocks, we recapped ‘DEFinitely’, reading and explaining notation for notes D, E and F. We then improvised using notes C, D and E to play ‘Roundabout’. Finally, we started learning how to play ‘What’s up?’ reading semibreves, minims, crotchets and their rests.
In Art, we learnt some sketching and shading skills. We then attempted to use these when sketching a picture of Queen Elizabeth. We will be refining these skills next week and producing a final pencil sketch of the Queen.
This week’s Home Practice ….
Reading
Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home. Make sure you discuss the story and the characters. Find the meaning of any new words too. Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding.
Times tables
You have been given your own individual times table target. Please make sure you continue to practise your times tables in preparation for your test next week, on Thursday (19th May 2022). Ask someone at home to test you on your tables – can you recall them quickly and accurately?
Remember - you can also practise your tables playing ‘Hit the button’ and https://www.timestables.co.uk/
PLEASE REMEMBER – You will be taking part in the Multiplication Tables Check in June. It is crucial that that you learn your tables as they are needed in many maths topics.
Counting
This week, please practise counting in 7’s and 70’s – draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers down as you count up. When you count down, cover the numbers up, say the number, then reveal what you have got written down to check you’ve said the correct number.
Count in sevens
For example, start at 7 and count up to 84 and back again (this will help with your 7 times tables)
7 14 21 84 77 70 etc
Count in seventies
For example, start at 70 and count up to 840 and back again. This is just like counting in your 7 times tables, except each time, the number is 10 times larger.
70 140 210 840 770 700 etc
Spellings
The spellings this week all have the suffix ‘ssion’. A suffix is a group of letters that are added to the end of the word, and which change the meaning or make a new word. ‘Ssion’ is usually used if the root word ends with a double s (express becomes expression) or ‘mit’ (admit becomes admission). You will be tested on them next Thursday (19th May 2022).
expression discussion confession permission admission
impression obsession procession omission succession
profession oppression progression aggression depression
Sumdog challenges
You have been set 3 challenges on Sumdog:
- A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
- A times table challenge based on 7 to 12 division facts
- A maths challenge based on using known facts to multiply and divide
Please make sure you log on and have a go! Many of you are still not accessing Sumdog on a daily basis. Little and often is the key to success!
Number bonds
Number bonds are very important and help with many aspects of maths. The more confident you are with these, the easier you will find addition, subtraction, mental calculations etc. Therefore, please continue practising your number bonds / addition skills playing Hit the Button
The game you will play will help with your number bonds and quick addition skills. For example:
8 + 6 you could partition this into 8 + 2 + 4 = 14
This is because 8 + 2 is a pair to 10, then add the 4 to 10
Click on the link above, then on Play Game.
Click on Number bonds
On the left-hand side you will see the words ‘Up to 20’
Click on Addition within 20
See how many you can get correct in 1 minute. Then have another go and try and beat your score.
Maths and spelling training
Please continue to use the maths and spellings training sections as these are tailored for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult.
Online Safety Update
Age ratings can be used by adults to make an informed choice as to whether a game or platform is suitable for their child.
Below you will find our guide with tips on a number of potential risks including inappropriate content, peer pressure and online spending.
Date: 13th May 2022 @ 10:13am
We have had a brilliant week of learning in Year 2 this week.
The children have created brilliant portraits of the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee in Art using sketching pencils and toning techniques. In Geography the children have compared an Aboriginal family to their own, looking at similarities and differences between the two families.
In French this week, we continued to learn the actions to match French phonics which will help when we start writing some more French in year 3. The children are really good at associating the sound with the action and listening for sounds in words. We continued to learn clothes words through the story Je m'habille et je te croque. They were able to listen to the story and draw the clothes as they heard them - tres bien, year 2!
We have had a big focus this week in English on our presentation and editing of work to make it better. The children are looking forward to typing up their best edited piece. In Maths the children have been learning subtraction and addition with exchanging 10. It has been quite tricky, but the children have done exceptionally well and shown brilliant resilience to try their best and use the steps to complete the number sentences.
Online Safety Update – This week’s Online Safety Update is all about age ratings. Age ratings can be used by adults to make an informed choice as to whether a game or platform is suitable for their child. Below you will find our guide with tips on a number of potential risks including inappropriate content, peer pressure and online spending.
Reading
In Year 2, children should read for at least 15 minutes every night and discuss the book with an adult or older sibling. This will help with understanding the text and learning new words.
Reading books are changed every Monday and sent home on Tuesday. Please remind your child to put their book bag in the box on Monday morning. However, if you need to change a book another time, we will change it as needed.
Reading resources:
Oxford Owl – This resource has an exciting range of carefully levelled books to help children learn to read and really enjoy it.
If parents and children decide to use this resource, we ask they access phase 5 books. Go to https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ and select ‘my class login’. Scroll down to the ‘eBook Library for Letters & Sounds’. You could also explore the rest of the site and read books from the Oxford Owl eBook library or listen to audio books.
Username: sto2
Password: 1234
Spelling
There will be a spelling quiz on Friday 20th May.
You will have a Sumdog challenge with next week’s spellings to complete by next Friday.
patting humming dropping sadder runner
patted hummed dropped saddest runny
Maths
At home, count in 5s from a number other than O. These become trickier when you get higher up and then try going backwards for an extra challenge. Try Hit The Button for times table practise.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
You will have a division challenge and times table challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday.
Well done to the following children who were all up in Golden Assembly today.
Star – Freddie
Bookworm – Florence
Writer – Agatha
Mathematician - Tommy
Super Learner – Cian
Special Mentions – Maisie and Leo H
Sumdog
Log in at www.sumdog.com
Have a lovely weekend.
Year 2 Team.
Date: 12th May 2022 @ 4:47pm
Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog
This week in year 5
In Maths, we have been working on area and volume. The children have been able to use perimeter measurements to help work out the area. They have used calculations to do this (length x width) and also drawn the shapes in their maths books and counted squares to check their answers. They have used cubes to build 3D shapes and counted the cubes to find the volume and then managed to learn the calculation (length x width x height).
In English we have started to examine narrative poetry, specifically The Highwayman and The Owl and the Pussycat. We have looked at the features of narrative poetry and spent time discussing how to use tone, intonation and pace to get the emotion of the poem across to our audience. The children each learnt a section of The Highwayman and performed it together. Please see video on St Oswalds TV.
In Science, the children continued with their ‘living things’ topic and investigated different types of pollination. They watched video clips showing the different types and then went on a nature walk to try and find plants that used the different types of pollination. They have been looking after their plants and we have a number of sunflowers sprouting and our strawberry plants now each have flowers.
In RE the children completed our topic on transformation. We looked at the scripture of Paul on the road to Damascus in more detail and how he managed to transform the lives of others due to his transformation. We reflected in a lovely collective worship to celebrate out learning during this topic.
This week in French, we learnt how to pronounce an/am/em/en and read some unknown words correctly. Next we recapped -er verbs with the verb jouer - to play. We then used an online dictionary to look up some sports words and talked about the advantages and disadvantages of an online dictionary compared with a book. We talked about cognates - words that look the same or very similar to English but are not pronounced the same. Sports words are all cognates so they're easy to learn.
In Art we sketched portraits of the queen. The children were all given the same photo of the queen and were asked to sketch a picture of her in this likeness. They did an amazing job. They really thought about the placement of her features and sizes. They were able to use light and shade to really make the portraits come alive.
In PE the children began to practise skills for sport’s day. They practised running races, collecting bean bags in a hoop, sack racing, egg and spoon and quoit throwing. They had a great time and were all very competitive, I feel we have a great sport’s day ahead (Dates TBC shortly).
In computing the children were able to develop their coding skills using commands and loops. They really enjoyed the session as the programme used had characters from Minecraft so really engaged the children. Remember they are able to use the coding programme at home, they will feel like they are playing a game but actually they will be developing computing skills.
DON’T FORGET
Common exception words have been sent home and the final test for these will happen before the end of the summer term.
Online Safety Update
Age ratings can be used by adults to make an informed choice as to whether a game or platform is suitable for their child.
Below you will find our guide with tips on a number of potential risks including inappropriate content, peer pressure and online spending.
Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.
Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school. Practise is vital to improve in all areas of English.
You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)
Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.
I’d also encourage you to do a daily count with your child. This week we are counting up in 6 and 0.6. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 6 or 0.6s, either forwards or backwards. It often helps the children if they note down the numbers as they say them, it helps them work out the next number more easily when they can see it. Help them use bridging where appropriate to count on e.g. 4.8 + 0.2 = 5, then add the other 0.4 to get to 5.4. This is bridging.
Spellings words containing the letter string ‘ough’ where the sound is /aw. We will look at these in more detail in school next week, they should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday. 12 spellings this week not 15.
bought fought thought ought thoughtfully sought nought thoughtless brought wrought afterthought thoughtful
Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further. You should all have received a second sheet with these words on by now, I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Easter. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. We will be assessing the children on these words before summer.
Sumdog challenges
PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES, MANY CHILDREN ARE STILL NOT ACCESSING SUMDOG.
Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training. As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school. As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult. Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child. Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling. Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.
Times tables have been set to reflect class targets
Maths the children have been set activities relating to perimeter
Spellings words containing the letter string ‘ough’ where the sound is /aw
Year 1 Blog Friday 13th May 2022
Date: 12th May 2022 @ 10:10am
Welcome to your Friday blog!
English
We have started to read 'The Enormous Crocodile' in English. We are going to be spending two weeks reading this book as it is much longer than the ones we have read recently. We have shown that we can sit and listen to longer stories as we have managed to read 46 pages this week! We highlighted all of the adjectives in the story (there were a lot!), wrote sentences about the clever tricks that the crocodile uses and then used our knowledge to decide whether the story was based on real life - would crocodiles want to eat children?
In phonics we have been looking at different pronunciations of the same grapheme, ea as in meat and ea as in bread.
Maths
This week we have been solving number sentences which include missing numbers. We have had to use our fact family knowledge to relate addition and subtraction to each other.
We have also been learning about halving and doubling.
P.E.
We have continued to practise for sports day. We practised a long jump, balancing a quiot and the egg and spoon race. We cannot wait for sports day! It's on Tuesday 24th May at 2.15 p.m.
R.E.
We learnt about the Ascension story in R.E. this week. We recapped the Easter story and then drew pictures of Jesus ascending to Heaven. We answered some great 'why' questions, especially 'why do you think Jesus returned to his Father?'
P.S.H.E.
We continued to learn about being safe. This week we learned about being safe on the roads.
History
We had a look back at the pictures of us wearing the seaside clothes. We wrote about how they were similar and different and wrote our own sentences about what we did.
We also continued to look at events from the 2000s. We have sketched pictures of each event ready for the school display. We looked at and talked about photographs of The Queen and her family.
D.T.
Now that we have practised joining fabrics together, we have been able to start planning our own puppet. We talked about how our puppets could be similar to Punch and Judy, or even The Enormous Crocodile! We took our time to sketch our ideas, ready to begin making the puppets next week.
A note has been sent home with your child regarding bringing in an sock for our D.T. lessons. Please could they be as plain as possible so that the children can add their own decorations to it.
French
In French this week, we continued to learn clothes words through the story Je m'habille et je te croque.
Outdoor Learning
This week we had our warm up in the Nature Area-we collected sticks and played hide and seek.
We decorated one side of our wood cookie and practised tying simple knots. We love our outdoor learning and we are showing real resilience and great teamwork.
Home Practice
Read for at least 10 minutes every night. This is so important. We are encouraging the children to organise their own reading books and to make sure they are in their green school bag every day.Please sign the diary so we can change the books. Keep practicing reading the Tricky Words on sight. Please just write a note in the diary if you need the next set.
Sumdog challenges
Phonics - Tricky words
Maths - halving
Count on and back in 2s, 5s and 10s. Start on different numbers. Talk about whether the numbers are getting bigger or smaller.
See if your child can recall the halves we have been learning, half of 2 is 1, half of 4 is 2 and so on.
Date: 11th May 2022 @ 10:32am
Happy Friday everybody.
We have had another amazing week in Year 3.
On Monday we were lucky enough to watch and support Reception on their first ever sports day. We were very proud of them all. We also did some practice for our own sports day in PE on Tuesday.
In English we have continued reading Harry Potter. Harry now knows he is a wizard and has bought his supplies from Diagon Alley ready for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. How exciting! For our writing, we have written a letter from Harry to Hogwarts including questions, a list of what is needed at Hogwarts using sub-headings, and some descriptive pieces about Diagon Alley.
In French, we practised reading our own Ours Brun story aloud then we recorded some. Some excellent pronunciation - well done, year 3. We listened to the story of La chenille qui fait des trous (hungry Caterpillar). We will use the food vocabulary to help us understand more about le and la next week.
Online Safety Update
Age ratings can be used by adults to make an informed choice as to whether a game or platform is suitable for their child.
Below you will find our guide with tips on a number of potential risks including inappropriate content, peer pressure and online spending.
Home Practice
Reading
Please read out loud to somebody every night for 20 minutes. Talk about the words the author has used, why have they used them?
Counting
Count out loud in 1s from 995 to 1020.
Count out loud in 10s from 903 to 1003.
Count out loud in 8s from 0 to 96.
Spellings
Here are your spellings this week. They are homophones again. It is important that you know the meaning of the words as well as how to spell them.
there their they're to too two break brake bury berry
Sumdog
Logon to Sumdog and complete the challenges.
Times Tables
Practise your times tables every night.
You will be tested on your spellings and times tables on Tuesday 17th May.
Have an amazing weekend!
Year 6 Blog Friday 6th May 2022
Date: 6th May 2022 @ 4:21pm
Welcome to our Year 6 blog. This week, we have been lucky enough to watch Romeo and Juliet play by Manacto, who are a theatre company from Manchester. Our rugby team did a fantastic job in the first of a three week tournament, in which we won all three games!
Also, Year 6’s learning this week:
- In Maths, we have learnt how to answer questions on volume, converted various measurements, and improved our learning of time (especially with 24 hour clocks).
- In English, we learnt the story of Romeo and Juliet and the important themes that run throughout it. We also improved ways of answering reading questions with retrieval and inference being our main focus.
- In French, we used dictionaries to look up the vocabulary for various landscape features and then used the words to construct sentences about the geography of France, e.g. Marseille est une grande ville au bord de la mer.
- In Science, we researched plant adaptations and how these features help the plant survive in its habitat. We then presented our research to others who had researched different plants.
- In PSHE, we discussed ways of improving our memory by playing a few games. Then we developed ways of keeping calm under pressure.
No Home Practice this week.
But make sure you spend the weekend doing at least one or a number of the following things:
- Rest and enjoy doing something you love
- Do something active
- Spend time with your family
- Read a good book
- Watch a film
Online Safety update
Lately, we have seen a huge increase in the number of children accessing the Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week's guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.
Year 4 Home Practice 6th May 2022
Date: 6th May 2022 @ 4:14pm
Year 4
Home Practice 6th May 2022
Welcome to this week’s blog. Here’s what we have been learning this week …
In English, we wrote down the similarities between ‘The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips’ and ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’, and then made a prediction about our new novel. In addition, we wrote a diary from Lily’s point of view using lots of feelings and emotions, and a variety of sentence openers.
In Maths, we learnt how to find fractions of numbers using a bar model. We also learnt how to compare fractions, and how to add fractions when they have the same denominator (bottom number).
In RE, we read the story of Philip (a follower of Jesus) and the Ethiopian Official. Philip spoke of the Good News of Jesus everywhere he went and baptised the Ethiopian in the river before continuing on his journey. Following this story, we hot-seated both Philip and the Ethiopian – Year 4 asked some very thought-provoking questions, well done.
In Geography, we looked at a map of the UK and located our local coastline (Lancashire and Merseyside). We then investiged the local coastline using ‘Digimaps’.
In French, we cut out shapes from coloured paper and stuck then onto our painted backgrounds to finish our picture in the style of Henri Matisse. We were able to read some sentences and decide if they were true or false for some if his art works eg Il y a des formes jaunes; Il y a un fond bleu.
In Music, we started to learn the National Anthem and YMCA for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We also continued learning ‘The Platinum Jubilee Song’. On the glocks, we recapped ‘DEFinitely’ using notes D, E and F. We then learnt to play ‘Roundabout’ improvising using notes C, D and E. Finally, we learnt to play ‘Strictly D’ using notes and rests. What a busy lesson – well done Year 4.
In PE, we continued practising and developing our throwing, catching and batting skills. We then used these skills to play mini games of cricket. Again, Year 4 worked well to improve these skills, supporting and coaching others within their team.
This week’s Home Practice ….
Reading
Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home. Make sure you discuss the story and the characters. Find the meaning of any new words too. Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding.
Times tables
You have been given your own individual times table target. Please make sure you continue to practise your times tables in preparation for your test next week, on Thursday (12th May 2022). Ask someone at home to test you on your tables – can you recall them quickly and accurately?
Remember - you can also practise your tables playing ‘Hit the button’ and https://www.timestables.co.uk/
PLEASE REMEMBER – You will be taking part in the Multiplication Tables Check in June. It is crucial that that you learn your tables as they are needed in many maths topics.
Counting
This week, please practise counting in 9’s – draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers down as you count up. When you count down, cover the numbers up, say the number, then reveal what you have got written down to check you’ve said the correct number.
Count in nines
For example, start at 9 and count up to 108 and back again (this will help with your 9 times tables)
9 18 27 108 99 90 etc
Start at 25 and count up to 142 and back again. Remember, in most cases, it is easier to add 10 then subtract 1 when counting up. When counting down, in most cases, it is easier to subtract 10 then add 1 back on. Counting like this will help with your mental maths skills.
25 34 43 142 133 124 etc
Spellings
The spellings this week all have the suffix ‘cian’. A suffix is a group of letters that are added to the end of the word, and which change the meaning or make a new word. ‘Cian’ is usually used if the root word ends in a ‘c’ or ‘cs’. You will be tested on them next Thursday (12th May 2022).
action fraction creation election evaluation
subtraction invention injection illustration demonstration
completion hesitation narration section digestion
Sumdog challenges
You have been set 3 challenges on Sumdog:
- A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
- A times table challenge based on all tables from x2 to x12
- A maths challenge based decimal equivalents of tenths and hundredths
Please make sure you log on and have a go! Many of you are still not accessing Sumdog on a daily basis. Little and often is the key to success!
Number bonds
Number bonds are very important and help with many aspects of maths. The more confident you are with these, the easier you will find addition, subtraction, mental calculations etc. Therefore, please continue practising your number bonds / addition skills playing Hit the Button
The game you will play will help with your number bonds and quick addition skills. For example:
8 + 6 you could partition this into 8 + 2 + 4 = 14
This is because 8 + 2 is a pair to 10, then add the 4 to 10
Click on the link above, then on Play Game.
Click on Number bonds
On the left-hand side you will see the words ‘Up to 20’
Click on Addition within 20
See how many you can get correct in 1 minute. Then have another go and try and beat your score.
Maths and spelling training
Please continue to use the maths and spellings training sections as these are tailored for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult.
Online Safety Update
Lately, we have seen a huge increase in the number of children accessing the Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week's guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.
Date: 6th May 2022 @ 3:36pm
This week we have been exploring under the sea. We have started our book 'Commotion in the Ocean'
We have really enjoyed looking at different sea animals and watching real life clips of them in their enviroments.
In Maths, we have been practising doubling and halving numbers.
We have done lots of practising for our first sports day, we are really good at cheering on our friends as they race.
Date: 6th May 2022 @ 1:58pm
Welcome to your Friday Blog
We have had a great week of learning. Everyone is enjoying Harry Potter and we have started a new computing topic.
In our English, the children have written some fantastic pieces using the novel. They are using descriptive words from the story and really developing their writing styles. Everyone is loving their reading and bringing in books on all our topics. Keep it up!
In maths this week we have introduced angles. We identified right angles in shapes and compared the sizes of different angles.
We started our new computing topic on networks and digital devices. We heard lots of good questioning and ideas.
On Friday, we completed our topic on Antoni Gaudi and collage in art. Check out our gallery. We are very impressed with the effort everyone put in and their creative ideas.
Home Learning
Reading
Continue to read every night for at least 20 minutes. Regular reading improves fluency, understanding and most importantly develops a life long love of reading.
Spelling
This week our spellings are all homophones. It is important that the children also know the different meanings of these words as well as the spelling.
grate great grown groan main mane
meat meet mist missed
Maths
Continue to access the Sumdog platform to practise your number facts, maths concepts and times tables. All previous links and videos are available on our blog by clicking on view all blog items.
Online Safety Update
Lately, we have seen a huge increase in the number of children accessing the Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week's guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.
Date: 6th May 2022 @ 1:13pm
Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog
This week in year 5
In Maths, we have concentrated on properties of shape. The children have a much deeper understanding of angles within triangles and quadrilaterals. They can find missing angles when given limited information. They are also able to work out perimeters of shapes that have been made by joining 2 different polygons together.
In English we have finished our book The Adventures of Adolphus Tips. Again, the children were gripped until the end. I always enjoy their reactions when final pieces of information are given and they cheer or gasp. They have spent this week finalising their extended written piece, including their exciting part or dilemma and their ending. They have all worked really well on these and should be very proud.
In Science, this week the children were botanists. They have been learning lot about asexual and sexual reproduction in plants and this week they were able to facilitate plant reproduction through vegetative propagation. They took cuttings from two different plants and planted them in compost, they planted seeds and one child brought a runner from their spider plant in and we were able to re-pot that. The plants and seeds are now all in our school greenhouse, along with some strawberry plants that we will be taking care off and hoping to see runners sprout from them. Mrs Quilliam, our resident science expert, spoke to the class this week and questioned them on their plant knowledge and she was suitably impressed.
In RE the children continued to look at transformation. We read and discussed the scripture of Paul on the road to Damascus and how this transformed his life. We also looked into how he went on to transform the lives of others.
In Geography, this week we continued our topic on the UK. We looked at old maps of Lancashire and how they were set out and then used DigiMaps online to look at maps from the 1800s, up to present day. We observed the geographical differences in our local area over this time and were able to locate a number of places we recognised, including Chapel Lane and how it may have been given its name. They then went on to look at OS symbols and their meanings and used coordinates to locate landmarks.
In PE the children continued to develop their cricket skills. They split into groups of four and practised batting, bowling, fielding and being backstop. Then two teams joined together to from four teams that played a tournament to apply these skills.
DON’T FORGET
Common exception words have been sent home and the final test for these will happen before the end of the summer term.
Online Safety Update
Lately, we have seen a huge increase in the number of children accessing the Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week's guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.
Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.
Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school. Practise is vital to improve in all areas of English.
You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)
Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.
I’d also encourage you to do a daily count with your child. This week we are counting up in 0.4. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 0.4s, either forwards or backwards. It often helps the children if they note down the numbers as they say them, it helps them work out the next number more easily when they can see it. Help them use bridging where appropriate to count on e.g. 4.8 + 0.2 = 5, then add the other 0.2 to get to 5.2.
Spellings words spelled with ’ie’ after c. We will look at these in more detail in school next week, they should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday.
deceive conceive receive perceive receipt protein caffeine seize either neither weird seizure heinous being deceit
Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further. You should all have received a second sheet with these words on by now, I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Easter. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. We will be assessing the children on these words before summer.
Sumdog challenges
PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES, MANY CHILDREN ARE STILL NOT ACCESSING SUMDOG.
Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training. As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school. As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult. Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child. Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling. Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.
Times tables have been set to reflect class targets
Maths the children have been set activities relating to properties of shape
Spellings words spelt with ei and pronounced ee
Date: 6th May 2022 @ 1:10pm
Year 2 have had a fantastic week of learning. The children are working hard to use their manners throughout the day and follow our Golden Rules.
In English the children have continued the novel Journey and looked at expanded noun phrases to make their writing exciting to read. The children have also read the Visitor and started The Night Gardener where they have written descriptions for Topiary. In Maths we have continued learning about multiplication and division including using arrays to share and group. In Geography the children have completed their fact files about Australian animals. In Art we are focussing on the Queens Jubilee and the children have been learning toning skills ready for the Queen portraits next week.
Online Safety Update – This week’s Online Safety Update is all about a rise in children accessing Roblox gaming platform. This includes children in our infant classes. This week’s guide dives into what to expect your children to find when they use Roblox including any potential risks they may meet. These risks include in-app purchases and chatting to strangers online.
Reading
In Year 2, children should read for at least 15 minutes every night and discuss the book with an adult or older sibling. This will help with understanding the text and learning new words.
Reading books are changed every Monday and sent home on Tuesday. Please remind your child to put their book bag in the box on Monday morning. However, if you need to change a book another time, we will change it as needed.
Spelling
There will be a spelling quiz on Friday 13th May.
hiking
hiked
hiker
nicer
nicest
shiny
being
shining
scary
scaring
You will have a Sumdog challenge with next week’s spellings to complete by next Friday.
Maths
At home, count in 3s from a number other than O. These become trickier when you get higher up and then try going backwards for an extra challenge.
You will have a division challenge and times table challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday.
Well done to the following children who were all up in Golden Assembly today.
Star – Leo Worrall
Bookworm – William
Writer – Imogen
Mathematician - Bella
Super Learner – Zachary Olorenshaw
Special Mentions – Maisie and Willow
Sumdog
Log in at www.sumdog.com
Have a lovely weekend.
Year 2 Team.
Year 1 Blog- Friday 6th May 2022
Date: 5th May 2022 @ 10:01am
Welcome to your first Friday blog of May!
English
We started a new book this week. We compared it to 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and 'Handa's Surprise'. We remembered so many things about these stories and had a great discussion. We talked about where the story is set and even wrote our own version.
In phonics we have been looking at alternative pronunciations- a as in hat and a as in water.
Maths
This week we have been adding and subtracting using our 10 frames to help us. We are trying really hard to write our numbers the correct way round.
P.E.
We have continued to practise for sports day! This week we focused on throwing and catching and improving our jumping for distance from last week.
R.E.
We have finished our Easter topic and are ready to learn about the lead up to Pentecost. We talked about how we can be more like Jesus, by making small, positive changes to our actions.
P.S.H.E.
We continued to learn about being safe. We discussed different scenarios and what the best choices would be.
History
We have been very busy this week! First, we looked at the current seaside clothing that we wear and compared them to the past clothing that we looked at last week. We all loved trying on the sunglasses and flip flops!
We also looked at events from the 2000s. This is the decade we are learning about as part of our celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
Art
We drew a picture of the Queen which will be part of a class collage looking at 2000 to 2009. The Queen had her 80th birthday in 2006.
French
We recapped numbers to 12 and weather phrases, then we began to learn the words for some items of clothing with a story and song.
Outdoor Learning
This week we played some warm up games in our nature area. We used the hammers again to hammer nails into the wood blocks. We also leant how to use a saw safely and had a go at sawing a log.
Home Practice
Read for at least 10 minutes every night. This is so important. We are encouraging the children to organise their own reading books and to make sure they are in their green school bag every day.Please sign the diary so we can change the books. Keep practicing reading the Tricky Words on sight. Please just write a note in the diary if you need the next set.
Sumdog challenges
Phonics - Long vowel words
Maths - One step problems
Count on and back in 2s, 5s and 10s. Start on different numbers. Talk about whether the numbers are getting bigger or smaller.
See if your child can recall the halves we have been learning, half of 2 is 1, half of 4 is 2 and so on.
Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 4:49pm
Year 2 have had a great week of learning. We have enjoyed the lovely weather and getting outside for some of our learning.
In English the children have continued the novel Journey and written a brilliant story about their own adventure using paragraphs and great adjectives. In Maths we have learnt about multiplication and division. In Science this week the children have had a great lesson about plants and growing. They used their ‘Working Scientifically Skills’ to carry out an investigation into how well seeds grow in different light conditions. The children have planted some lettuce and radishes and are keeping a close eye to see how they are getting on in our polytunnel. The beans on their table are showing slight differences from last week. We will keep you updated on these! In French the children have continued learning the actions to match the French phonic sounds and also practised the weather phrases through games, songs and a story. The children acted out the story of the Resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit in RE this week. They loved acting out the story on our outdoor stage.
Online Safety Update – This week’s Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube Videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts.
Reading
In Year 2, children should read for at least 15 minutes every night and discuss the book with an adult or older sibling. This will help with understanding the text and learning new words. VIPERS are available on the school wesite to help with questioning.
Reading books are changed every Monday and sent home on Tuesday. Please remind your child to put their book bag in the box on Monday morning. However, if you need to change a book another time, we will change it as needed.
Spelling
There will be a spelling quiz on Friday 6th May.
copying
crying
replying
marrying
carrying
flying
tried
trying
drying
skiing
taxiing
You will have a Sumdog challenge with next week’s spellings to complete by next Friday.
Maths
At home, count in 2s from a number other than O. These become more tricky when you get higher up and then try going backwards for an extra challenge.
You will have a multiplication challenge and times table challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday.
Sumdog
Log in at www.sumdog.com
Have a lovely bank holiday weekend - See you all Tuesday.
Year 2 Team.
Year 3 Friday Blog - 29th April 2022
Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 4:21pm
Welcome to your Friday Blog
This week we have started reading Harry Potter. The children are very excited and have enjoyed the first two chapters. We have writeen some amazing character descriptions and looked at Harry's room under the stairs. Everyone is continuing to try hard in their English learning, improving their writing and coming up with some great questions in our lessons.
In our maths this week we have been exploring measure, looking at estimating and reminding ourselves of the column addition written method. The children used their number skills to read scales and even had a go at filling their own measuring cylinders to check their estimates. Have a look below.
In science we continued our topic on animals, investigating vertebrates and invertebrates. The children were very interested and produced some great work!
We also have looked at healthy eating in PSHE as part of our health and wellbeing topic. Our question this half term is Why should we eat well and look after our teeth?
Home Practice
Reading
Read out loud to somebody every night for 20 minutes. Talk about your favourite parts and why you like them.
Spellings
Your spellings this week are words ending with -ly.
Make sure you practise a little bit every day.
barely calmly exactly deadly bravely
boldly gladly clearly quickly Deeply
Times Tables
It is important that the children know their times tables fluently. Practise these at home. (x2, x5,x10, x3, x4 and x8)
Sumdog
Go onto Sumdog and complete the challenges and training.
You will be tested on your spellings and times tables next Tuesday.
Have an amazing and happy weekend!
From the Year 3 team
Year 6 Blog Friday 29th April 2022
Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 3:41pm
Welcome to our Year 6 blog. This week we worked in groups to create our own sporting activities to help us prepare to become mini coaches to the infants. Year 3 were kind enough to let us test each one out, with some giving great feedback to help us make them even better. At golden assembly, Mrs Stone’s dance crew performed their routine for the competition brilliantly, and although they did not get through to the finals, they showed they were a credit to St Oswald’s.
Also, Year 6’s learning this week:
- In Maths, we have been improving our learning of 2D shapes and used that knowledge to help with perimeter, area and coordinates. One main area we have been improving is fractions of numbers and percentages of numbers.
- In English, we have focused on our descriptive writing, and learnt how to better use similes and personification to create a more detailed image for the reader.
- In PE, we learnt how to improve the accuracy of throwing and catching within cricket and how to perform the basics of batting. Also, as mentioned above, we designed our own sporting activity to help improve the fundamental movements of the infants, during future lunch times.
- In Music, we learnt the National Anthem and the platinum jubilee song. We sang and performed two action songs. We also played ukuleles revising the chords A and C from last lesson, and now starting to learn chord G.
- In French, we learnt les points cardinaux – the compass points. Then we used the map of France to find places or features that are in each part of France and wrote sentences about them in a hexagon-shaped book, because France is known as l’hexagone.
- In Science, as part of our topic on Evolution and Inheritance, we practised the ‘working scientifically’ skill of explaining the method used to test the strength of egg shells. If the egg shells aren’t strong enough, the species may not survive. Then we evaluated our investigation to decide how reliable our results were. After this, we did some research about how birds have survived while other dinosaurs have died out.
Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:
- Reading – Continue to read every night for 30 minutes. It is important to keep reading, right up until the end for the year.
- NO SPELLING LIST THIS WEEK (We will be recapping our knowledge of the Year 5/6 spellings). Next week’s test will be on a random 15 spellings from this list so please look through those which you need to practise on.
- Sumdog challenges:
- Coordinates
- This challenge will help you notice coordinates in all four quadrants. We have looked at these in detail on Friday so this will help to cement that learning.
- Simple and Progressive Verbs
- This challenge will help you practise the simple and progressive verbs that we have been learning about this week.
Online Safety Update
This week's Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts.
Year 4 Home Practice 29th April 2022
Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 2:59pm
Year 4
Home Practice 29th April 2022
Welcome to this week’s blog. Another busy week in Year 4 – here’s what we have been learning …
In English, we wrote a book review of Kensuke’s Kingdom. In addition, we started our new novel ‘The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips’. We studied the cover of the book and read the blurb to find out what the novel would be about, then discussed some of the similarities with Kensuke’s Kingdom.
In Maths, we learnt how to mentally divide numbers using partitioning. We then learnt the written method of division, called chunking. Some of our answers had remainders and some didn’t. We found this tricky, but so much easier if we are confident with our times tables.
In RE, we read the story of Peter and John who were given the courage to speak out about the Good News of Jesus, even when they were threatened. Following this, we worked in groups to prepare and present a short drama about an aspect of life today when we might be afraid to speak out.
In Science, we made and evaluated a model of the water cycle. We drew and labelled a diagram and then provided an explanation of our model.
This week in French we practised reading short texts in French and finding information. Then we painted a background for our Matisse-style picture that we will add collage shapes to next week.
In Music, we enjoyed singing outside to ‘Crazy Moose’ (composing our own verses) and ‘Hands on my head’. We then improved our glock playing by listening and copying the notes D and F. We finished the session by learning our Platinum Jubilee Song and recapping the ‘Mambo Cup’ rhythm from last half term.
In PE, we practised and developed our throwing and catching skills. We then used these skills to play mini games of cricket. Well done Year 4 – you worked well to improve these skills and you have worked brilliantly in your groups.
In PSHE, we discussed the importance of feelings and how they can be expressed in different ways, for example: colours – such as feeling blue, tickled pink etc, temperature – such as cool as a cucumber and images – over the moon and shaking like a leaf.
This week’s Home Practice ….
Reading
Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home. Make sure you discuss the story and the characters. Find the meaning of any new words too. Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding.
Times tables
You have been given your own individual times table target. Please make sure you continue to practise your times tables in preparation for your test next week, on Thursday (5th May 2022). Ask someone at home to test you on your tables – can you recall them quickly and accurately?
Remember - you can also practise your tables playing ‘Hit the button’ and https://www.timestables.co.uk/
It is crucial that you learn all of your table facts as this will help you with many aspects of maths.
Counting
This week, please practise counting in hundredths (0.01’s) – draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers down as you count up. When you count down, cover the numbers up, say the number, then reveal what you have got written down to check you’ve said the correct number.
Count in hundredths
For example, start at 4.23 and count up to 4.35 and back again
4.23 4.24 4.25 4.35 4.34 4.33 etc
Start at 17.94 and count up to 18.11 and back again
17.94 17.95 17.96 18.11 18.10 18.09 etc
Spellings
The spellings this week all have the suffix ‘cian’. A suffix is a group of letters that are added to the end of the word, and which change the meaning or make a new word. ‘Cian’ is usually used if the root word ends in a ‘c’ or ‘cs’. You will be tested on them next Thursday (5th May 2022).
magician musician mathematician electrician politician
physician optician technician beautician dietician
statistician clinician magicians musicians paediatrician
Sumdog challenges
You have been set 3 challenges on Sumdog:
- A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
- A times table challenge based on the 3, 6 and 9 times tables
- A maths challenge based on using place value and known facts to multiply and divide mentally.
Please make sure you log on and have a go! Many of you are still not accessing Sumdog on a daily basis. Little and often is the key to success!
Number bonds
Number bonds are very important and help with many aspects of maths. The more confident you are with these, the easier you will find addition, subtraction, mental calculations etc. Therefore, please continue practising your number bonds / addition skills playing Hit the Button
The game you will play will help with your number bonds and quick addition skills. For example:
8 + 6 you could partition this into 8 + 2 + 4 = 14
This is because 8 + 2 is a pair to 10, then add the 4 to 10
Click on the link above, then on Play Game.
Click on Number bonds
On the left-hand side you will see the words ‘Up to 20’
Click on Addition within 20
See how many you can get correct in 1 minute. Then have another go and try and beat your score.
Maths and spelling training
Please continue to use the maths and spellings training sections as these are tailored for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult.
Online Safety Update
This week's Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts.
Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 12:40pm
This week we have been reading 'The Dinosaur Department Store', we have loved finding out about different types of dinosaurs and writing our own descriptions for them.
In Maths, we have been practising our addition and making teen numbers.
We had really enjoyed our learning about dinosaurs! Next week, we will be going under the sea.
Year 5 - Friday 29th April 2022
Date: 28th Apr 2022 @ 5:09pm
Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog
The children have had a busy week, working hard and trying their best.
This week in year 5
In Maths, we have investigated properties of polygons, both regular and irregular. We have looked at rules that make them polygons or irregular polygons including length of sides and size of angles. We have looked at how to work out the size of missing angles when we are given some information. It is vital that the children are aware of the names of different shapes and their properties. Please encourage your children to name a range of shapes and their properties e.g. a square is a regular polygon that has 4 equal sides and 4 equal angles, the total of its angles will equal 360° or an irregular hexagon has 6 sides of different lengths and different size angles, the total of all the angles will equal 720°.
In English the children are working hard on an extended piece of work. They are writing about what happens to Tips when she goes missing. They have planned their story and have completed their opening and build up and edited them. They will continue and complete the story next week. There are some great stories emerging.
In Science, we looked at sexual and asexual reproduction in plants. We recapped sexual reproduction of plants and how seeds are made. We then went on to look at the life cycle of that plant from germination, to shoot, to an adult plant that is able to reproduce and another seed is formed. We looked at asexual plants such as daffodils and potatoes and how they reproduce by themselves. We also dissected fruit and conducted a pattern seeking investigation with the hypothesis, ‘If the fruit is bigger, it will have more seeds.’ We were able to disprove this theory through our investigation.
In RE, we have continued our topic on transformation, around the feast of Pentecost. The children discussed scripture where Jesus appeared to the disciples and how this made them feel. We discussed how their energy was transformed by their faith in Jesus and how they went to spread the Good News in order to transform others’ energy also.
This week in French, we practised listening and reading skills. Then we recapped food words with a game of bingo and a song.
In PE, the children completed their train run warm up and then split into groups for cricket skills. We started developing an overarm throwing technique and catching a small ball. After this they went on to develop their aim and fielding by either throwing at a wicket or acting as backstop to retrieve the ball and return to the bowler. They then practised, in rotation, in groups of 4, at bowling, batting, fielding and being backstop. This then enabled them to join another group for a cricket match. They showed some great promise, we have some great batters (real sloggers), some amazing throwing and catching and the makings of a great cricket team developing.
In DT, the children have now completed their design stage of their cams and followers mechanism. They have work hard on their designs and completed a list of the resources required. They will have an afternoon in the coming weeks to use their knowledge gained from teaching sessions and making their prototype to make their working mechanisms.
In PSHE, the children looked at different types of drugs in society – socially acceptable drugs (that still have negative effects), prescription drugs, over the counter drugs and illegal drugs. They were very sensible in the discussion work and were able to ask questions relating to information they had heard that wasn’t necessarily true. We will continue with this topic this term, looking at healthy habits and how to avoid unhealthy life choices.
DON’T FORGET
Common exception words have been sent home and the final test for these will happen before the end of the summer term.
ONLINE SAFETY UPDATE
This week's Online Safety Update is all about age-appropriate content online. Children can chance upon inappropriate content in various ways, from pop up ads to TikTok or YouTube videos. In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as social media, gaming and adverts. See link.
Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.
Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school. Practise is vital to improve in all areas of the curriculum.
You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)
Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.
I would also encourage you to do a daily count with your child. This week they can count up in 6s and 0.6s. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 6s or 0.6s, either forwards or backwards. A strategy we use is bridging e.g. if the number is 45 and we are adding 6 we would use 5 to bridge it to the next 10 first – 50 and then add the remaining 1. If subtracting we would again subtract to the nearest 10 – this time subtracting 5 to get to 40 and then subtracting the leftover 1.
Spellings words spelled with ’ie’ after c. We will look at these in more detail in school next week. They should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday.
ancient science species efficient deficient glacier scientists sufficient emergencies inefficient fanciest conscience society scientifically bounciest
Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further. You should all have received a second sheet with these words on by now. I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Easter. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. We will be assessing the children on these words before summer.
Sumdog challenges
PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES.
Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training. As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school. As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult. Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child. Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling. Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.
Times tables have been set to reflect class targets
Maths the children have been set activities relating to regular and irregular polygons
Spellings words with ie after c
Year 1-Friday Blog-29th April 2022
Date: 28th Apr 2022 @ 10:08am
Welcome to your Friday blog!
English
This week our learning was through the story of 'I Want My Hat Back'. The bear goes through the forest and asks every animal he meets if they have seen his hat. We predicted how the story might develop. We designed our own hats-they were really imaginative.
In phonics we have been looking at how some sounds are pronounced differently, ow as in snow and ow as in cow.
Maths
In Maths we have been sharing amounts in equal groups.
We have also been learning about 3D shapes-spheres,pyramids,cubes and cuboids.
We have also been doing some timed number fact challenges which we are getting better at as we recall our facts more quickly.
Science
This week we had a walk up to our beautiful pond. We looked out for what was growing and talked about what was the same or different compared to the nature area.
R.E.
We learnt about the Easter story. We ordered pictures and talked about them.
P.E.
We practised throwing a bean bag into a target. We ran relay races and we did a standing jump.
Outdoor Learning
This week we played a warm up game on the field. We used the hammers again to put nails into the wood blocks. Then we experimented with elastic bands and wool to make different patterns. We remembered all the things we need to do to stay safe.
History
We started our new topic of 'The Seaside'. We compared holidays now and in the recent past. We tried on some clothes from the past too!
Music
We are getting really good at singing the Jubilee song. We have also got a class song with a dance that we are learning.
French
This week in French, we have learnt some weather phrases through games, a song and a story.
P.S.H.E.
The Nursing Team visited us to show us how to wash our hands properly. They had a special box which showed us where all the germs were on our hands. We listened very attentively.
Home Practice
Read for at least 10 minutes every night. This is so important. We are encouraging the children to organise their own reading books and to make sure they are in their green school bag every day.Please sign the diary so we can change the books. Keep practicing reading the Tricky Words on sight. Please just write a note in the diary if you need the next set.
Sumdog challenges
Phonics - ew and oo
Maths - Recognise 2D and 3D shapes.
Count on and back in 2s, 5s and 10s. Start on different numbers. Talk about whether the numbers are getting bigger or smaller.
See if your child can recall the halves we have been learning, half of 2 is 1, half of 4 is 2 and so on.
Date: 25th Apr 2022 @ 4:31pm
Sacramental Programme – Session 4
Year 4 had an interesting and informative session in church on Monday. The children listened respectfully and asked some very thoughtful questions.
This week, the children learnt more about the celebration of Mass and the people who help to prepare for each Mass.
There are many people who work together to prepare for our celebration of Mass. All these people have a variety of skills and talents and they help to make each Mass special. These people are usually volunteers who take turns so that everyone has a chance to help.
During the session, the children met some of the people who help with Mass and learnt what their job and responsibilities are. These people included: the Sacristan, Altar Server, Eucharistic Minister, Priest, Reader and Welcomer.
The session finished with the children saying a prayer together whilst stood on the altar.
Your children will have brought home a sheet they completed during their time in church and a discussion in school. Please have a look at the sheets your child has brought home and discuss these with them.
We appreciate your time and support in helping your children understand the significance of the work they are completing as part of their Faith Journey.
Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 3:43pm
Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog
The children have settled back into the summer term and have been working hard this week.
This week in year 5
In Maths, we have been working on equivalent fractions, adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators and converting improper fractions into mixed numbers. This is a difficult concept for some of the children and will require some practising at home. We discussed the rules with equivalent fractions – we can only use divide and multiplication and whatever we do to the top we do to the bottom. When adding and subtracting fractions the denominator needs to be the same and we only add the numerator NOT the denominator.
In English we are getting towards the end of Adlophus Tips. Things are now getting a little exciting. We have been practising different openers this week for our writing. We have planned an extended piece of writing today that we will develop, edit and complete next week.
In Science, we have started a new topic about living things and their habitat. We started off looking at plants and how they reproduce. We looked at botanical illustrations and discussed how these have help botanist understand plants and their reproduction and we were also able to dissect a number of flowers. We looked inside the flowers and were able to find the male and female parts of the flower. If you have any old tulips or daffodils that your children can dissect at home, you could ask your children to show you the different parts of the flower and how it reproduces.
In RE, we have started our new topic on transformation, around the feast of Pentecost. The children first looked at energy and how this can be made and changed. We then looked at scripture relating to Jesus appearing to the disciples and how this energy affected them.
In French, we started with a quiz. The children had to read some paragraphs in French, trying to get the gist rather than understanding every word, in order to answer some questions. It was tricky, but everything is first time! Then we recapped some food vocabulary.
In PE, the children ran their orienteering course again, as a warm up and they were able to complete the course in a much better time, due to developing effective techniques. They then went on to practise skills needed for cricket. They practised over arm throwing at a target, they practised catching an over arm bowl and then they were able to practise batting, in teams of 4, with 1 being the bowler, 1 the batter, 1 the back stop and 1 the fielder. They were able to shoe great promise. I hope to see some real skills emerging over the next few weeks.
In Geography the children developed map reading skills. They were asked to identify human and physical geographical features within the UK. They used knowledge of counties and use of the index to find where these landmarks would be and plot a point on a map. They were very good and worked well in groups to find many locations.
DON’T FORGET
Common exception words have been sent home and the final test for these will happen before the end of the summer term.
Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.
Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school. Practise is vital to improve in all areas of English.
You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)
Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.
I’d also encourage you to do a daily count with your child. This week they can count up in 6s and 0.6s. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 6s or 0.6s, either forwards or backwards. A strategy we use is bridging e.g. if the number is 45 and we are adding 6 we would use 5 to bridge it to the next 10 first – 50 and then add the remaining 1. If subtracting we would again subtract to the nearest 10 – this time subtracting 5 to get to 40 and then subtracting the leftover 1.
Spellings words Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer. We will look at these in more detail in school next week, they should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday.
referring preferred transferring reference referee preference transference difference inference conferring offering conference preferable different transferred
Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further. You should all have received a second sheet with these words on by now, I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Easter. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. We will be assessing the children on these words before summer.
Sumdog challenges
PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES, MANY CHILDREN ARE STILL NOT ACCESSING SUMDOG.
Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training. As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school. As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult. Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child. Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling. Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.
Times tables have been set to reflect class targets
Maths the children have been set activities relating to fractions and mixed numbers
Spellings words adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer
Year 4 Home Practice 22nd April 2022
Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 3:32pm
Year 4
Home Practice 22nd April 2022
What lovely weather for our first week back after the Easter break. Well done for working so hard Year 4 – you all looked very smart in your summer uniforms too.
This is what we’ve been learning this week …
In English, we finished our class novel ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’. We wrote a character description of Kensuke, including information about his appearance, his hobbies, and his emotions and feelings. In addition, we planned a book review which we will be writing next week.
In our Maths lessons, we used factors to help with more tricky multiplications. We also learnt how to use the grid method to multiply a 3 digit number by a 1 digit number. In addition, we started our division topic which involved halving some quite tricky numbers. During these topics, Year 4 have realised how important it is to know their times tables!
In RE, we started our new topic of Pentecost and ‘New Life’. First, we discussed how good news brings life and responded to our own experiences of how when good things happen, it brings us new life and happiness. Then, we discussed the meaning of Pentecost and described the actions, symbols and colour in a painting depicting Pentecost.
In Science, we carried out an experiment to investigate whether the amount of water affected the time taken for it to evaporate completely. Following this, we discussed whether our experiment was fair and how we could improve it. Well done Year 4, you are becoming experts on carrying out experiments and recording results.
In French, we looked at some examples of Henri Matisse’s art works, some of which we preferred to others! The children had some great, individual ideas of what the artist might have been trying to portray. We recapped the vocabulary needed to describe them, ready to write about our chosen picture next week.
We practised and developed our throwing and catching skills in PE. We then used these skills to play mini games of cricket. Well done Year 4 – you worked well to improve these skills.
We enjoyed our outdoor learning making shelters outside. We made some fantastic and very imaginative shelters and showed some great team working skills. We are looking forward to making shelters again and improving our designs.
This week’s Home Practice ….
Reading
Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home. Make sure you discuss the story and the characters. Find the meaning of any new words too. Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding.
Times tables
You have been given your own individual times table target. Please make sure you continue to practise your times tables in preparation for your test next week, on Thursday (28th April 2022). Ask someone at home to test you on your tables – can you recall them quickly and accurately?
Remember - you can also practise your tables playing ‘Hit the button’ and https://www.timestables.co.uk/
It is crucial that you learn all of your table facts as this will help you with many aspects of maths.
Counting
This week, please practise counting in 2’s and 0.2’s – draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers down as you count up. When you count down, cover the numbers up, say the number, then reveal what you have got written down to check you’ve said the correct number.
Count in 2’s
For example, start at 0 and count up to 24 and back again (this will help with your 2 times table)
0 2 4 6 24 22 20 etc
Start at 85 and count up to 105 and back again
85 87 89 105 103 101 etc
Count in 0.2’s
Start at 0.2 and count up to 2.4 and back again
0.2 0.4 0.6 2.4 2.2 2.0 etc
Start at 23.2 and count up to 25.2 and back again
23.2 23.4 23.6 25.2 25.0 24.8 etc
Spellings
The spellings this week all have the prefix ‘anti’. A prefix is a group of letters that are added to the beginning of a word, and which change the meaning or make a new word. ‘Anti’ means against. You will be tested on them next Thursday (28th April 2022).
antiwrinkle antibody antifreeze antidote
anticlimax antisocial antiseptic anti-aircraft
anti-aging antihero antivirus anticlockwise
antiperspirant antibodies antihistamine
Sumdog challenges
You have been set 3 challenges on Sumdog:
- A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
- A times table challenge based on the 2, 4 and 8 times tables
- A maths challenge based on recognising and using factor pairs
Please make sure you log on and have a go! Many of you are still not accessing Sumdog on a daily basis. Little and often is the key to success!
Online safety update
Please read our guide for TikTok below.
In this guide you will find tips on a number of potential risks such as age inappropriate content, addiction and in app spending.
Number bonds
Number bonds are very important and help with many aspects of maths. The more confident you are with these, the easier you will find addition, subtraction, mental calculations etc. Therefore, please continue practising your number bonds / addition skills playing Hit the Button
The game you will play will help with your number bonds and quick addition skills. For example:
8 + 6 you could partition this into 8 + 2 + 4 = 14
This is because 8 + 2 is a pair to 10, then add the 4 to 10
Click on the link above, then on Play Game.
Click on Number bonds
On the left-hand side you will see the words ‘Up to 20’
Click on Addition within 20
See how many you can get correct in 1 minute. Then have another go and try and beat your score.
Maths and spelling training
Please continue to use the maths and spellings training sections as these are tailored for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult.
Year 6 Blog Friday 22nd April 2022
Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 1:09pm
Welcome to our first Year 6 blog of the Summer Term. It has been great to see the children back in their summer uniforms. They have all come back with a super attitude after having two weeks off and have done brilliantly with all the tricky tasks set this week. Keep up the hard work Year 6!
Also, Year 6’s learning this week:
- In Maths, we have been learning how to solve problems with our place value knowledge by making sure we underline the important parts of the question and to check our answers. We have also learnt about ratio (the relation of one quantity to another) and proportion (which is a number, a share or a part of something in relation to a whole – like portions).
- In English, we have written an explanation text, a story and a poem using a range of conjunctions and noun phrases. We have also been improving our grammar knowledge by revisiting the names of all the word classes.
- In History, we completed our topic of the Mayans by presenting what we had learnt about the discovery of the Chichen Itza and how it shows how life was like back then.
- In Music, we completed our final performance of ‘Sailor, Sailor’ on the recorders, created an action song called, ‘Hands on my head’, and used the ukuleles to learn the C and A minor chords.
- In French, we labelled a map of France with the important cities, rivers, mountains and seas. We talked about why France is called l’hexagone and what each of the places is famous for. We learned how to say the points of the compass so that next week, we can describe where places and features are in France.
- In Science, we began our new topic of Evolution and Inheritance by looking at animals’ adaptations to their habitats and what would happen if, for example, the polar bear did not have white fur or large feet. The children researched an animal of their choice and how it is adapted to its environment.
- In Computing, we used code.org to learn how to use sprites, variables and loops in coding.
Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:
- Reading – Continue to read every night for 30 minutes. It is important to keep reading, right up until the end for the year.
- NO SPELLING LIST THIS WEEK (We will be recapping our knowledge of the Year 5/6 spellings). Next week’s test will be on a random 15 spellings from this list so please look through those which you need to practise on.
- Maths challenges:
- Counting:
- This week we have been counting in 60s and 600s
- Start with 225 or 850 or 575
- Then count up in 60s ten times and back again
- 225, 285, 345, 405, 465, 525, 585, etc
- Then count up and back in 600s
- 850, 1450, 2005, 2650, 3250, 3850, etc
- Number facts:
- To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 17 – 9 = 6, 15 – 8 = 7.
- The best way to do this is to simply have someone in your home quiz you with questions like (13 – 5, 18 – 9, 16 – 8, 15 - 9, etc)
- Then get them to change the place value of these digits (1.3 – 0.5, 1.8 – 0.9, 1.6 – 0.8, 1.5 – 0.9, etc)
- Counting:
- Sumdog (Multiples and Factors)
- This challenge will be great to apply your multiplication knowledge to practice revising multiples and factors.
- Sumdog (Antonyms and Synonyms)
- This challenge will help you become more familiar with words that are the same (synonyms) and words that are opposites (antonyms).
Maths and Spelling Training.
Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.
This feature is great for anyone wanting to challenge themselves further.