With a song in your heart...

Today our choir visited Stella Matutina Residential Home to perform a medley of favourite Christmas songs. They raised their voices to entertain and brought real moments of nostalgia for the residents. Before and following the performance they chatted and shared stories amidst laughter and smiles. It really was lovely to see generations coming together.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It has been a lovely week here in Year 4. Congratulations to all children on their Flute concert performance - you did brilliantly! It got the week off to a great start! We have been thinking about the Trinity this week and recognising that this is why Christmas is so important - because it is the incarnation of God made flesh in the form of baby Jesus. We also enjoyed the Key Stage 1 nativity.

Today we finished Charlotte’s Web - our novel. Children felt very emotional as we have got to know and love the characters so much! Earlier in the week, children wrote newspaper reports to explain about the ‘miracle’ which had occurred in the barn. They then wrote a persuasive letter, urging Mr Zuckerman not to kill Wilbur at Christmas time. They have also written a new episode to help save Wilbur’s life. The good news of course is that Wilbur’s life was saved, but the bad news was that the amazing Charlotte passed away. We will next be writing an obituary to remember Charlotte on behalf of her best friend, Wilbur. This novel has helped us explore what friendship means and learn about both love and loss. Books truly make us into kinder individuals, because they help us see things through the eyes of others and feel compassion for them. As soon as we had finished, one child immediately asked what our next class novel would be!

In maths, we have begun the column addition method which children are taking to very well. We have also had two church practices this week for our up and coming performance - you are in for a treat!

This week was our last swimming until the new year (we will swim on the first week back) Children had great fun doing relay races and playing water polo!

Let’s Celebrate!

This week, Penny received a Bobby Bee certificate for believing in herself and listening to teacher feedback. Harry received a Cooper Crab certificate for super focus.

We had 4 swimming stars - James and Harvey for being very pro-active in water polo and Penny and Lily L for some super goals!

Notices

Monday pm - Choir at Stellamatina

Tuesday - Key Stage 2 Christmas performances at 2pm and 6.30pm in church (arrive 10 minutes early at night please) Everyone is welcome for this tuneful reflection on the birth of Christ, where the theme is Fraternity.

Wednesday, Key Stage 2 Christmas party. Wear Christmas/party clothes. Bring one treat/snack eg chocolate bar or packet of crisps and a nice drink - not fizzy.

Thursday - Christmas dinner day.

Friday - we break up at 2pm.

Phew - a busy week! Have a restful weekend, although if you are anything like me you will be rushing around getting those last minute Christmas things sorted!

God bless,

Mrs Lyons, Mrs Kennedy, Mrs Mather and Miss Atkinson

'I wish the world was twice as big- and half of it was still unexplored' David Attenborough

What a lovely week we have had in Year 3 this week! We started the week ready and eager to explore a freezing place in Geography- we got on our scarves, hats and gloves, preparing ourselves for a chilling adventure as we learnt about the Arctic. The children this week have learnt about the countries that make up the Arctic circle, the climate of the Arctic, what physical features are found there and all the animals that live in this polar region. The children have loved this topic and it has been a pleasure to see such Bobby Bee’s in the classroom! We are looking forward to putting all of our work on non-chronological report writing to good use, as we write a report on a polar bear. In Maths the children have continued to problem solve and reason in their addition and subtraction and in RE the children have looked deeper in to the birth of Jesus Christ and the visit of the wise men.

On Tuesday we had the pleasure of watching the KS1 Nativity who told the story of the birth of Jesus beautifully through their words, song and of course dance moves- it truly felt like a celebration of his arrival. Then on Wednesday Year 3, along with the rest of Key Stage 2, went to rehearse at church ready for our Christmas Concert next week. This was Year 3’s first time at church to practice and we were so proud of their patience, cooperation and of course how they sang- in fact Mrs Gregan complemented them, saying they were one of the best Year 3 classes at a concert rehearsal- so well done Year 3, lets keep it up next week! There are just a couple of songs we need to practice, so please over the weekend encourage the children to sing a long and learn the songs that have been shared on Year 3 homework page.

We are looking forward to sharing this concert with you next Tuesday- you are in for a real treat!

We loved seeing the array of Christmas jumpers in the classroom today and even had our very own catwalk!

The awards this week go to …

India Thank you for being such a focused Cooper Crab, concentrating in class and managing your distractions.

Olivia what an resilient Sadie you are! You always have a go, manage distractions around you and when you make a mistake you seize the opportunity reflect and learn from your mistakes.

Important information:

Christmas concert on Tuesday 17th at 2pm and 6:30pm at church. Please drop your child off and come in at 6:15pm

Wednesday Christmas Party- Party clothes (dancing shoes trainers are best!!). You may bring in a treat for example, a chocolate bar or packet of crisps. Please bring a drink too this can be flavoured but not fizzy. We have great fun at the party - I’ll post pictures!

Friday 2pm finish

Year 2 Home Learning - 13.12.19

Spellings

Set 8 from the spelling pack - when who where here how why

The ‘j’ sound - magic large charge badge gentle join

English IXL

A.1 A.2

B.1 B.2 B.3 B.4

C.1 C.2 C.3

E.1 E.2 E.3

K.1 K.2 K.3

L.1 L.2 L.3 L.4

M.1 M.2 M.3 M.4

O.1 O.2 O.3 O.4 O.9 O.10 O.11 O.12

Q.1 Q.2 Q.3 Q.4 Q.5 Q.6

S.1 S.2 S.3

Maths IXL

A.1 A.2 A.3 A.4 A.5 A.6 A.7 A.8 A.9 A.10 A.11 A.20 A.21 A.22 A.24 A.25 A.26 A.27

B.1 B.2 B.3 B.4

D.1 D.2 D.3 D.4 D.5 D.6 D.7 D.8 D.9 D.10 D.11 D.12

E.1 E.2 E.3 E.4 E.5

H.1 H.2 H.3 H.4 H.5 H.6 H.7 H.8

"The magic of Christmas is not in the presents, but in His presence."

With our Nativity all over for this year, we were able to watch our Year 1 and 2 friends perform their Christmas Nativity on Tuesday. We absolutely loved it and Reception were so happy and proud of their friends!

In class, we received an unusual telephone which had a red and green hat and some elf-like boots. When the phone finally rang for the first time, our suspicions were right... it was the elves. The elves explained that they are so busy at the moment, they needed some help from Reception… and Reception were desperate to help the elves. First, we needed to help the elves to write their Christmas lists and once we had done this, we then needed to help with their shopping list. The elves have certainly kept us busy this week!

Certificates

Enthusiastic Bobby bee Rory for... Your wonderful enthusiasm and excitement, you are a delight Rory. You have also been very focused this week. I was so impressed with the Cafod card that you made after watching how far some children have to walk to get clean water. Well done Rory!

Enthusiastic Bobby bee Seth for… Being such an enthusiastic member of our class Seth! You were desperate to help the elves this week after they rang our class. This enthusiasm is something that Miss Neves and I notice each and every day, and it is this enthusiasm that has had such a great impact on your achievements this term in school. Well done Seth!

Phonics

This weeks focus word is ‘go’. Please practise reading and writing this word as it is one of our High Frequency words, that we aim for our Reception children to be able to read, by sight, at the end of Reception. Thank you.

Silly Socks and Christmas jumper day

If you forgot to bring in your £1 on Friday, please bring this in on Monday so that we are able to send the money off to Brian House.

Christmas Cards

Please bring in your CAFOD donations before Wednesday next week so that we are able to sit down as a class and choose what World gifts we will buy. Thank you.

Christmas party

On Thursday we have our infant Christmas party. Your child can come into school wearing their favourite party clothes (just make sure they have shoes that are suitable for play times outside). As a treat, the children are allowed to bring in one still drink and one snack, such as; juice or a milkshake, a chocolate bar, biscuit bar or crisps.

We hope that you all have a wonderful weekend together as a family.

Miss Bassett, Miss Neves and Mrs Malley

Home Learning 13.12.19

In class we have been practising cursive handwriting. The children have learned ‘over and back round’ letters so far. I have given the children a sheet to practise on and be stuck into their home learning book. If they would like to have an extra practise in their home learning books too, that would be super.

Homework to be handed in on Thursday 19th December

Christmas Songs

Please put some good practice in this weekend of ALL Christmas songs so that you know the words for our performance.

Purple Mash

You have two 2do’s! A Nativity animation and a nativity newspaper report. If you want to be reminded about HOW to write a newspaper report, please look on the help section, where I have put a newspaper report toolkit!

This week...

Another busy week at nursery full of festive fun! Everyone has designed their own Christmas card (they are all very lovely), and made a special bauble to take home for your Christmas tree.

The children have continued to sing the Nativity songs throughout the week. I am sure we could take it to the West End they are so good! They have also been creating Bethlehem in all areas of the continuous provision from wooden bricks and every other type of resource.

Next week, we will be baking a splendid birthday cake for Baby Jesus. The children have chosen to make a gooey chocolate cake covered in sweets! We will all share it at the Christmas party on Thursday. We can’t wait. We sent home your child’s party invitation this week, keep a look out for it, and don’t forget Christmas party clothes are a must!

Homework to be handed in Wednesday 18th December

Christmas Concert Preparation - The main homework this week is to practice and learn the words off by heart for the songs for our Christmas Concert next week.

READING- Continue to read lots of at home- I am so pleased with the progress the children are making, we need to keep this up!

If you haven’t already, please complete a book review for a book you are reading on purple mash, it will be under the 2do list section ready for you.

SPELLING- One more week to practice our spelling focus. There were some great pictures made from these spellings- well done.

Heart Special Remember Strength Appear Breath

Final homework for this term- to be handed in on Thursday December 19th

Singing hymns

Know your songs for the concert on Tuesday

Reading

Most children have reached their reading target set for this half term. There is still time for you to finish the novel you are currently reading so you too can get meet target- go for it!!!

Maths

We have been applying our understanding of addition and subtraction in problems (varied fluency) and one of the lessens involved finding the missing numbers in a column addition problem. To solve these puzzles the child has to understand the procedure - column addition deeply. Have a go at IXL B3

Science on Purple Mash

Complete the science investigation planning sheet. We have discussed the investigation in class- Mrs Hotchkiss’ shoes are two pictures below. We don’t have the results yet so leave this part out. We will be using your planner in class next week!

Some super newspaper reports about a miracle on Mr Zuckerman's farm!

Year 6 Home Learning - Wednesday 11th December

Spelling - These are the next set of common exception words that need to be learnt.

Maths - Please complete C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6 on IXL. These all involve the multiplication strands that we have been working on. Continue with C15 and C16. Please can you complete these ready for Monday 6th January 2020.

Science - There are two Purple Mash tasks to complete. These should have been started in school, please finish them at home. As always, please think about the quality of your writing and what we have been working on in class.

A Galapogas Island Postcard

A interview with Charles Darwin

Computing - Next week we will be starting our computer science lessons and will be coding. What can you discover about the programs that we will be using? Have a play at home on them and make a list of what you have found out? Why not make a tutorial video?

'Wilbur didn’t want food, he wanted love. He wanted a friend—someone who would play with him.' (E.B White - Charlotte's Web)

It has been a really delightful week in Year 4. Despite coughs and colds we have been such enthusiastic learners! We have delved right into our Charlotte’s Web novel and feel like the characters are our new friends! We also looked closely at the subject of friendship - which is explored in the novel. We thought about what makes a good friend and how we could offer this friendship to others. We also thought about what might upset people and put them off being friends with us, using characters from the novel as an example.

We have learned about formal and informal language - all children wrote formally to Charlotte when they were ‘making her acquaintance!’ Alongside practising many reading skills, such as performing parts aloud, inferring and finding evidence to prove a point, we have been collecting vocabulary and using it when we talk and write!

In maths we have all been ‘Tommy Turtles’ who have a go and work really hard on our addition and subtraction strategies. We are now ready to begin column addition and subtraction next week.

On Wednesday, we had a lovely lesson all about angels. Children asked so many interesting questions about them then we found evidence from the bible to see what angels do. We learned a lovely prayer about angels and then children formulated their own beliefs about what they think angels are and where they come from. It was beautiful when they looked at each others ideas and decided they had changed their beliefs slightly according to what their partner had said. The mysteries of our faith are so interesting to ponder upon!

Let’s celebrate!

This week, the french stars were Aya and Daniel. Our swimming stars were Lily A and Clayton. A Tommy Turtle certificate went to Lily A, who is a brave learner. She has a good go at anything! Clayton received a Kiki Chameleon certificate for voicing his deep and interesting thoughts in class. Well done!

Notices

Please remember flutes on Monday for our Flute concert which takes place at 2.45 in the hall - you are most welcome.

Next Friday is Christmas jumpers and silly socks day. Please bring a kind donation of £1 which we will give to Brian House. This was Year 5’s idea to raise as much money as possible for those less fortunate than them.

Our Key Stage 2 Christmas party is on Wednesday 18th December. Children can come in their own clothes (Christmasy if they wish) They may bring one special snack on this day (eg/ a bar of chocolate or a packet of crisps and also a drink (not fizzy please)

Next week is our final week of swimming for this term.

Our final Advent mass is next Friday at 8am at school. It is so lovely to share this with so many of you each week.

Key Stage 2 Christmas performance in church on Tuesday 17th December at 2.00pm and at 6.30pm.

Have a lovely weekend with your little cherubs! God bless you all..

Mrs Lyons, Mrs Mather, Mrs Kennedy and Miss Atkinson