Reception visited the Post Office to change or £1 coins into 1p, 5p and 10p. After that, we went to the newsagents to spend our 10p. Some of us had ten 1ps, some had two 5p and some had a 10p coin. We went to the park to eat our sweets and used the equipment. We did lots of sharing, taking turns, cooperating, negotiating plans, encouraging and much more.

Welcome back after what we hope has been a nice, restful half term.

Up until Easter, our topic in Geography is Volcanoes alongside our Science of Rocks and Soils! This week we started looking at why there are volcanoes, and we did some jigsaws of world maps cut up into the different tectonic plates. We also used paint to show the Earth’s mantle under the crust, and how it can come through when the plates move!

In Maths, we have been revising column addition and subtraction – some of us have been finding this tricky remembering all the rules, but by the end of the week, we’re feeling much more confident!

In English, we are studying the book “Escape from Pompeii”. We have started using the ‘Talk for Writing’ model this week, which means we have been learning the story off by heart using ‘story maps’ to remind us of the key events. It has been really exciting getting to know the story, reading it aloud and acting out different parts! We are really looking forward to re-writing the story next week, and then writing our own volcano adventure stories!

Finally, in Guided Reading, we are beginning to use a whole class approach so that we are all studying the same text at the same time, doing different activities for different parts. This week, we have started reading ‘The Firework Maker’s Daughter’ – it is really exciting! We have read lots, inferred information about the characters, done lots of comprehension and even got to grips with the dictionaries to investigate some really tricky words!

Letters also went out this evening (Friday 23rd Feb) regarding our upcoming school trip organised by Mrs Thomas. Please complete the attached consent forms and return to the office as soon as possible.

So – we’re off to a really busy start to the half term! Please check the school newsletter regularly for upcoming events.

Important dates for Spring 2

Mondays: Music (recorders)

Tuesdays: Indoor PE (Gymnastics)

Wednesdays: Spellings

Thursdays: Homework IN

Fridays: Homework OUT / OUTDOOR PE (Hockey on Astro turf – if your child already has astro shoes, these can be used on QES’ pitch. Shin pads and gum shields required).

Monday 26th Feb / Thursday 1st March – Parent’s evening

Tues 27th – Fairtrade stall after school

Wed 28th – Swimming Gala (details TBC)

Thursday 1st – Work book day – two competitions to enter – LOTS of prizes to be won! Design a book cover / Photo of reading in a strange place!

Friday 2nd – NICSU prayer meeting with tea and cake from 2pm-3pm  /  PTA Film night!

Have a great weekend!

Year 4 have started to explore the work of the Ancient Greek playwrights. We have had a go at writing our own comedies and tragedies and we have started to read about Odysseus and his famous adventures. Having written our own play scripts, we added stage directions in brackets. Our budding thespians performed their plays in our Greek amphitheatre!

The children have been building ice caves using our new ice blocks. They were very creative with their ideas and were good at working together to build their caves.

Governors will be in school to welcome you during Parent Consultations.  They also will be asking your views about our school vision and explore your views as we prepare for our SIAMS inspection which will take place this year.

Please help us during Fairtrade fortnight with our Coffee time on Tuesday Feb 27th. Traidcraft products will be on sale and we have a catalogue if you want to order products in advance.

Please join us at the end of the school day in Year 3 classroom. There will be Traidcraft products to buy  or come and have a cup of tea of coffee.

What did we do in the snow? We built a small snowman, sledged in a tray and had a brilliant time!

We’re almost half way through our Spring 1 half term already! We’ve been super busy beginning our Kirkby Lonsdale topic. Last week we had a walk round town in the cold looking at local landmarks and buildings, and spotting dates that buildings were made.

This week we have been using local maps and looking at the chronological order of landmarks around town. We’re really liking getting to know our town a bit better!

In science we have been looking at light and dark, and investigating reflective materials. We have started learning the recorder and the first couple of notes are coming on well. In PE, Miss Griffiths (our in-house hockey expert!) is showing us the basics – our dribbling skills are really coming along! In maths, our fractions are getting quite hard now, but Year 3 definitely love a challenge and are working hard. Our newspaper reports will also be published soon, so watch this space!

Next week:

Monday: Home projects due / Indoor PE

Tuesday: Recorders

Wednesday: Spellings

Thursday: Homework in / Outdoor PE

Friday: Homework out

Happy New Year ! Our first two days back were enormous fun: The children prepared and cooked their own food on a fire on Thursday and had a crafty day on Friday making dream catchers, bird feeders and doing bark rubbings in an attempt to identify trees in winter. We look forward to more outdoor learning this term.

Happy New Year

On Thursday 4th and Friday 5th we are having two days of outdoor learning for the whole school. These are non uniform days and we hope our children will arrive in school equipped for any weather conditions.