Welcome to Woodpeckers

with Miss Bidnell, Mrs. Webber and Mrs. Hemming

Welcome back after the summer break, I hope you have all had a lovely few weeks. It is great to see how smart, happy, cheerful and enthusiastic everyone is for the beginning of the school year. The children have settled into the routine straight away and the whole class are trying really hard in everything they do. I am sure they will continue to work hard and, above all, enjoy being part of team Woodpeckers!

Joining us in Year 3 we have Mrs. Webber and Mrs. Hemming. 

I have put the timetable on the website for you so you can see what the overview of the week looks like. There is also a copy of the overview of the term.

Just a note about snacks and drinks. In KS2 if your child would like to bring a healthy snack (fruit, cereal bar) to school to have at morning break they are very welcome to do so. Also if they would like to bring a water bottle in they can have this accessible on the tables where they are working throughout the day and during PE lessons.

We hope the children enjoy the term. Please feel free to come and see me if you have any questions or queries.

Miss Bidnell

Ingenious Inventions and Inventors

Our first theme is ‘Inventions and Inventors’. We will be looking at this through History - the lives of inventors and the impact their inventions have had on everyday life. In addition to this we will use the text 'Until I Met Dudley ' to support our English work related to the theme.

David Walliams

During the term KS2 classes will also focus on the author David Walliams. Both this and the Inventions theme will provide opportunities to look at a range of reading texts and writing genre, there will also be links to other curriculum subjects.

Key Information

Timetable

Creative Curriculum

• We will have topic afternoons on Thursday and Friday.

• On Monday afternoons there is a rotation of activities in KS2. This half term Woodpeckers will have Art and Music with Mrs Stiles and Mrs Valentine. Next half term will be RE and Spanish with Mrs Brown and Mrs Hall.

• On Friday mornings there is also a rotation of activities in KS2. This half term they will have Home Economics with Mrs Webber and Mrs Hemming. Next half term will be Forest school with Mrs Stiles, Mrs Mac and Mr Price.

• Wednesday afternoons will be Science with Mrs Webber and Mrs Hemming.

• Tuesday afternoons will be P.E. with myself and Mr McDonnell, this term will be tag rugby.

• Swimming will be on a Wednesday morning. We will let you know when your child will be starting their block of lessons.

• Twice a week, first thing in the morning, we will take part in skipping sessions. These are 10 to 15 minutes sessions that help get us ready for the day. Last year this was a great success, the children loved participating and before long every child was able to skip with a rope and challenge themselves to skip in different ways. It also set them up for learning in the classroom straight after the sessions. 

Year 3/4 Maths and English

Maths and English will be taught Monday to Thursday in year groups. Miss Bidnell will be teaching year 3 Maths and year 4 English and Mrs Webber will be teaching year 4 Maths and year 3 English.

Maths Focus

Initially our focus will be on reviewing/securing place value, and the calculation methods used for + - x and ÷ . Timestables will also be practised and tested. We will also then focus on fractions, shape (geometry) and data (statistics)

Spelling Focus

Weekly spellings will be taken from the National Curriculum. In addition there will be words from the Yr3/4 statutory spelling list (a copy of which will be in their English homework book). Children will be tested on their spellings each week.

PE

Woodpeckers are timetabled for PE every Tuesday afternoon so please ensure appropriate kit is in school for this. Please note that as the weather becomes colder jogging trousers and tops/hoodies would be an appropriate addition to the kit as, weather permitting, PE will be outdoors. This term we will focus on tag rugby.

Swimming

Small groups of children will be attending swimming lessons at Franche School on a Wednesday morning. All parents will be notified when their child's group will begin their block of lessons.

Homework

Maths homework will be given each Thursday and should be completed and returned by the following Monday. It will be related to the work covered during the week. There will also be times tables for the children to focus on which will be tested regularly.

English homework will be given out each Thursday to be returned by the following Monday. There will be spellings to learn and a short task to complete. Inside the English homework book you will find a copy of the Yr3/4 statutory spelling list, we will incorporate a couple of these spellings into their homework each week and will focus on them at school too. The copy in their book is just for your information and for you to use as you wish to please support your child learning these spellings.

Children should spend about 30 minutes each week on each piece and please say if your child is unsure, we are here to help!

Please encourage your child to read at home each day and bring their reading books and records into school every day. Now they are becoming more independent readers we will work towards the children recording their own comments about what they have read. If you could sign the reading record each time they do this it would be appreciated, please also feel free to add your own comments.

Forest School

After Christmas, there will be a six week block where Woodpeckers will take part in Forest Schools on a Friday morning. We will give you more details about this nearer the time.

Websites

Links to websites that the children use in school which may be useful for them to access at home.

Letters

Please check here regularly for copies of any letters that may have been sent out by your child's teacher

Spring Term 2018

Topic- Ancient Egypt

Friday curriculum rotation

- Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds (1st half term)

- Forest School (2nd half term)

TT Rock Stars

Well done to you all for accepting the Rock Stars challenge! I can see that a lot of you have been trying really hard playing the games regularly, and I know that some of you are really proud to see your name on the leader board.

Each week I will set the times tables that I would like the children to focus on in 'Garage', eg this week starting from Sunday I would like them to focus on just the 3x table. Hopefully the more they play the more fluent they will become. Next Sunday the focus will change. If the children would like the challenge of practising all their tables then they can also still use 'Studio'

All children should have their username and password in the cover of their reading records, please let me know if you need another copy.