Author: Jamie Kilner

Me and My Money

What a busy week we have had in the Year 3/4 classroom. We have learnt so many useful skills when dealing with money. We have learnt: the best ways when looking after our money, the many ways of spending money, the advantages and disadvantages of borrowing money (eg. mortgages) and why people use and donate to charities.

On Tuesday, we were very lucky to welcome members of staff from Yorkshire Building Society. With their help, we used a budget to plan a party and made spending choices based on our priorities, needs and
wants.

Help at home – Speak to your child about the importance of spending money wisely and seeking value for money. Help them to set up a way of saving (piggy bank or money jar).

Year 3/4 St James Day

We have had a wonderful start to the half term by learning more about St James. The children enjoyed researching about his life and why Jesus trusted him to become one of His disciples.

Year 3 and 4 also explored our school logo and what the shells represent. In addition we demonstrated our understanding behind our school vision; St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe. 

We had a really reflective, spiritual day and we all learnt lots.

Help at home – Ask your child about what they have learnt. Why is our logo scallop shells? Tell me about St James. Who was his father? What was his occupation? When is his feast day?

Geography – using grid references.

Geography – our year 3 and year 4 children have been learning how to use grid references using easting and northing coordinates. We were able to find places of interest on an Ordnance Survey map using a 4-figure grid reference. We looked in detail at OS maps of Harewood, Golden Acre Park, Ilkley and Wetherby – it was lovely to hear some of the children’s stories from when they have visited some of these places.

Help at home – Ask your child about easting and northing lines on an Ordnance Survey map – what do they tell us, and which is vertical and which is horizontal? Can they remember the rule we use when finding a grid reference? Which other subjects would we need to use grid references?

 

Year 3 and 4 spellings

Year 3,4
Half-term 1
This half-term, our spellings are linked to the rules and strategies we’ll be learning in class:

  • alternative ways for writing the ‘ay’ sound
  • alternative ways for writing the ‘ee’ sound
  • ‘double up for a short vowel sound’
  • ‘drop the e for ing’
  • ‘drop the y for an i’
  • adding the suffixes ed, ing
  • homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently)

Each Friday, you’ll be tested on 8 of the words from the list below:

famous   believe   accident   breathe   answer
library   passion   notice   were   possess
century   address   favourite   appear   here
their   weight   complete   ordinary   wear
straight   they’re   surprise   busy   increase
session   possible   there   hear   where
suppose   mission   eighth   extreme   occasion
fraction   different   attention   learn   possession

Loving Latin

The children have really enjoyed learning Latin this week and discovering that many words we use today are heavily influenecd by the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Here are some examples:

Tele (far away) – television, telephone, telescope
Micro (small) – microphone, microscope, microbe
Tri (three) – triangle, triplets, tripod

As a class, we enjoyed learning, collaborating and then sharing our thoughts and findings.

At home, see what your child can remember.

Help at home

Help at home

Geography – Where in the world am I?

  • Ask your child to point out major UK cities on a map.
  • We have been locating mountains and rivers and I am sure they would love to show you where these are too.
  • We have also been learning about the capital cities of the United Kingdom, ask them about what they have learnt and any facts they remember.

Times tables

We are having a big push on consolidating our 2’s, 5’s and 10 times tables as well as learning our 3’s and 4’s.

  • Encourage your child to access TT Rockstars.
  • Practice for our tests every Friday.

Reading

  • Hear your child read through the week and sign their reading record.
  • Encourage the use of expression in their reading.
  • There are lots of extra ideas, of ways to help, in their reading record books.

A bright start!

Year 3 and Year 4 have settled back into school really well and they have made Miss Gilliland and me (Mr Kilner) feel very welcome in our new roles. We’ve focussed on being ready for learning and establishing our classroom routines and the children have responded well. I’m looking forward to a super year with them all.

A few notices to make you aware of…

Spelling – Spelling has changed slightly on the homework sheets. There’s no longer a specific list of spellings to learn. Instead, there’s a list of 40 spellings that children need to learn within the first half-term. On a Friday each week, there will be a spelling test. We’ll keep track of our scores and support children with their misconceptions as soon as they may happen.

PE days – Our PE days are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays, Year 4 will need to remember their swimming kit as they go swimming at Wetherby Leisure Centre. Year 3 will have PE on this day in school. Please ensure your child comes to school in the correct PE kit for these days.

Homework books and reading records – Your child has brought home their homework book and reading record. Each week there will be homework for them to complete; there’s no need to bring this book into school unless you’d like me to read or mark something. Your child will bring home a reading book this weekend. Please encourage your child to read throughout the week and, if time permits, please try to hear them read. The reading record is for you to record their reading. Children will need to bring this into school every Friday signed by an adult. This is so that we can keep track of the amount of reading the children are doing at home and whether we can support in any way.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!