Another full on and fun-packed half term has been enjoyed in Bluebells. I think it has been a productive half-term and I’ve enjoyed getting to speak with many of you to tell you how well your child has done in class. We’ve seen some great progress across the curriculum and I hope we’ve given children some experiences that they have enjoyed and made them think.
In Maths, we have worked hard on developing more methods of addition to help children think more flexibly and rapidly on how to add 3 digit numbers to 1, 2 and 3 digit numbers. We have used number lines to support this and where needed, cemented skills like counting in 3-digit numbers and crossing tens and hundreds (e.g. 10 less than 405 is 395). We have also worked on methods of column addition and column multiplication – children have done fantastically with these.
In English, we have started with a diary written from the perspective of a girl working on a tea plantation. This led us into learning about Fairtrade and the importance of paying a fair price to producers in economically less developed countries. The highlight of our writing has been learning about Jane Goodall, which included a fantastic talk from someone who works for Dr. Goodall. Children wrote excellent biographies and even sent thank you emails today. Amazingly, Jane Goodall also heard all about our class because of the excellent questions they asked.
In science and DT, children have learned lots about the muscles in our bodies and the food that keeps our bodies healthy. They researched seasonal ingredients and used skills such as chopping, spreading, grating and peeling to make their sandwich – they all found them delicious!
We have done a lot of work on the laptops this half term – children have composed their own musical pieces on Purple Mash and designed a game using a branching database about food.
We have read some fantastic pieces this half term. Our class reading is Charlie Turns into a T-Rex – which has many parts that have the children howling with laughter. Similarly, we are using the BFG in guided reading, which is another popular one. Finally, we have put lots of poems and songs in front of the children and they have enjoyed reciting these.
I hope you enjoy a lovely, relaxing half term and I look forward to seeing children back in a week.
Mr. Newman.