This week in Year 3

What an amazing start to the Middle Department we have had. The children have all settled really well into their new classrooms and are moving around the School with confidence. 

In our History Topic on Ancient Egyptians, the children had enormous fun designing their own Egyptian Pharaoh heads. The results are spectacular. I wonder, can you spot your child?

Last week, 3M had a lovely Forest School session and here are some pictures, so you can see what they got up to.

In English, the children have become very comfortable logging onto the iPads or Chromebooks to complete their end-of book assessments. Thank you for supporting this independence! As we explained in the google form rooms, we are very happy for the children to bring in books from home to read that are within the boundaries set by the most recent assessment. We are also very happy for them to supplement this reading at home with any other reading they like – reading for pleasure is always fun! Don’t forget to Read for Good, too! I wonder if Year 3 can read more than any other year over the half term?

You will also notice in their school bags that there is a booklet from Tooled Up Education. We have started thinking about kindness and have begun to count some of the ways in which we can be kind to others in school and how it makes us and others feel. If you are able, please do continue this exercise at home and see how many acts of kindness you can complete over the half term. There is no need to bring the booklet back into school, as it is for you to use in your own family discussions.

Wishing you a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing you all again in two weeks time. 

Warm regards

Una Oatham, Libby Mann, Sophie Porter and Pauline Pope

The Year 3 Team

This week in Year 4

There seems to have been a real sense of change in the air this week and Autumn has definitely arrived.  The same is true for the children in Year 4 and with half term upon us, it has been lovely to see the children evermore independent and fully settled into the routines and expectations of their not-so-new year group.  It has been another busy week, we are now in full swing with our new Maths unit on addition and subtraction, we have been completing our work on superhero descriptions with particular focus on describing our hero’s arch nemesis and we have had another round of sporting fixtures!

In Science, we have continued to look at the body’s different organs and skeleton.  After carefully examining human bones through the use of X-ray images, the children created their very own hand X-rays using cotton buds.  We think you’ll agree, they look very effective.

Reading at Home

The transition to the new Accelerated Reader scheme is progressing nicely and all children now know their ZPD which allows them to choose class readers that perfectly match their reading ability.  Please do keep reading with your child regularly at home, making a note in your child’s reading record.  Each week, Form Teachers check reading records and if a child can show at least three adult signatures they earn a bead for their reading display.  Ten beads = a reward of a bookmark of their choice!

Forest School

We get straight back into action after half term with Forest School sessions for 4P on Monday 31^st October and 4I on the Thursday 3^rd November.  4L will attend Forest School on Friday 11th November.  On your child’s Forest School day they should wear their school Games kit with clean trainers or school shoes – not the footwear they will wear in the woods.  Please also remember to pack waterproof clothing, wellies or sturdy outdoor shoes and layers, warm socks and gloves now the weather is getting colder.

This week in Year 5

This has been a fabulous first half term in Year 5. We can honestly say that it has been one of the most smooth and positive transitions into the new school routines that we have ever experienced. All credit goes to the pupils who have shown such eagerness to learn, such willingness to get organised and such thoughtfulness towards each other. We wish all of our Year 5 pupils and their families a very happy half term break. We hope that the children will get a chance to enjoy some fresh air, to ‘read for good’ and to spend time with family and friends. We are looking forward to a wonderful second half of term, with a Forest School adventure and some evening fireworks on 4^th November and all the fun and excitement of a half term of learning which leads up to Christmas. Well done, Year 5!

The Year 5 Pastoral Team

From the French Department

In French, the pupils in 5CB and 5D have really enjoyed pretending to be their favourite film character or celebrity this week. Les célébrités that have made a special appearance have included the likes of Emma Watson, Steve Backshall, Maro Itoje, Kate Middleton, Elsa from Frozen and David Attenborough. Who knew these icons spoke such fantastic French!  I bet you didn’t know that Shrek has cent soeurs and that Zato a soixante-cinq millions quarante-deux ans? The pupils really enjoyed using the vocabulary and phrases they have learnt this term to write such detailed and entertaining descriptions. After half term we will be learning about la famille and les animaux. Let’s hope these celebrities make another appearance sometime soon so that we can find out some more about their families and pets!  

Pupils in 5D and 5K have spent the week consolidating their knowledge of items in their schoolbag and in their classroom. One outcome of this has been the production of some wonderful posters, using the relevant vocabulary and grammar points that they have learned about in class. An added bonus of this work is that the walls in Mr King’s room will now look more cheerful and a lot brighter.

From the Middle Department Library

Monster Hunting for Beginners By Ian Mark

The first in a series, Ian Mark’s Monster Hunting for Beginners presents a likeable, unlikely hero ‘Jack’ with a comical quest to curb the chaos being created by a bunch of ogres. It all starts when Jack accidentally defeats an ogre trying to eat his aunt (who is coincidentally the winner of the World’s Worst Aunt competition).  After which, Jack finds himself as an apprentice to a grumpy, 200-year-old monster hunter called Stoop and heading off to Cornwall, where more ogres are causing havoc. All he has are his wits, his catapult and a magical yet sometimes unreliable book called Monster Hunting for Beginners.

With Louis Ghibault’s lively black and white illustrations adding to the humorous havoc, this breezy debut is suffused in a spirit of learning to face your fears, and ideal for readers who love Shrek’s fairy tale mash-ups.

Head’s Commendations

Congratulations to this week’s recipients of Mr Balfour’s Commendations: