DT Food – We’re Bananas About Fruit Salad
As part of our Design and Technology learning, the children get three opportunities each year to prepare food and this week was one of them!
This time, we made fruit salad using lots of different skills. We started by reading the recipe together and chatting about what we might change to make it our own. We also talked about the importance of good hygiene and how to stay safe in the kitchen.
We stayed safe by following instructions and pointing sharp knives away from our bodies.
Help at home by trying the recipe at home.
Year 3 Publish Their Independent Writing Using Laptops
Year 3 have been working hard on typing and publishing their independent writing based on a recount about the Romans coming to invade the Celts. Once our writing was finished, we took out the laptops and began using our key typing skills to turn our work into a published piece.
At first, some children found typing challenging, but everyone showed great perseverance. As we practised, we became more confident using the keyboard, especially remembering how to make capital letters by holding the shift key and pressing a letter.
The children also learned why touch typing is such an important skill. Touch typing helps us type more quickly and accurately without needing to look at the keyboard all the time. This means we can focus on our ideas and writing, rather than searching for letters and it helps us work more independently and confidently.
By the end of the session, Year 3 showed improved speed, accuracy and resilience, taking pride in seeing their work neatly presented and published.
Help at home:
Practice touch typing at home by using ‘TypingTom‘ . TypingTom is a free online touch typing practice website designed to help people learn to type correctly using all their fingers and without looking at the keyboard.
Packed Lunches
Does your child have a packed lunch at school? If so, please download our Guide to Healthy Packed Lunches.
Did you know that popcorn and whole grapes are a choking hazard for children under 5? Lot’s of people don’t! The Food Standards Agency. has published the following advice on how to prepare food safely for your young child.
Penguin Huddle
In our literacy lessons this week, we enjoyed reading Penguin Huddle by Ross Montgomery. In the story, the penguins huddled together during an icy storm but it was so cold that they got stuck together and couldn’t break free!
Our word of the week has been: huddle.
We located the UK and the Antarctic on a map and found their locations on a globe. We then talked about how they compared to find similarities and differences.
Maths -composition
This week, children consolidated their understanding of the composition of 5 using the familiar rhyme ‘5 Little Speckled Frogs.’ By singing the rhyme and moving the frogs during each verse, children investigated part–part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 5 can be made of 3 and 2.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 3 has focused on the digraphs ur, ow, oi and the trigraph ear.
We’ve learnt the tricky words; my, by, all. Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We have also played Tricky Word Bingo this week, which was great fun.
Reading
Following our Watch Us While We Work, it has been great to see children’s reviews of videos from Authorfy in their Reading Record.
Popular videos include:
- Isadora Moon author Harriet Muncaster https://authorfy.com/masterclasses/harrietmuncaster/
- Boy at the Back of the Class author Onjali Rauf https://authorfy.com/masterclasses/onjaliqrauf/
- Good Thieves author Katherine Rundell https://authorfy.com/masterclasses/katherinerundell/
Today we finished our class novel The Game I Will Never Forget by Onjali Rauf
This one evoked lots of different emotions. Using books like this combined with our Feelings First sessions we are hoping to support children to talk about their emotions.
On a lighter note, there’ll be a little surprise on Monday to help the children choose our next class novel … watch this space!
Help at home – check out the resources on https://authorfy.com/ or ask your child what they thought about The Game I Will Never Forget.
Maths
In maths, this week, we’ve been delving a bit deeper with our division. After much practice and head scratching, I feel our Year 6 have (dare I say) ‘mastered’ long division by two-digits. I am very proud of their understanding and their perseverance with this.
We have also been learning about how to divide with a remainder and a decimal quotient.
The children have then applied their new learning and began to answer reasoning questions like this one:
Help at home – Can your child explain how we interpret remainders? Can they talk you through how we would answer the questions above? When is it important to give a quotient as a decimal not with a remainder?
Multi Sports at Wetherby High
Year 5 spent an afternoon at Wetherby High School, taking part in a multi-sports afternoon. The purpose of this afternoon was:
- to get pupils physically active
- to play and compete in a range of sports activities
- to have fun
- to compete with, and against, other schools
Year 5 conducted themselves extremely well – I’m extremely proud to have this group of children as my class. Everyone was a role model for St James by being kind, spreading enjoying and putting 100% effort in.
I was especially pleased with the teamwork from our pupils in the relay races at the end. Pupils democratically decided the children for each race and everyone got a turn to race. We’re always trying really hard to support and respect each other – this was a great example of how to do it correctly.
Year 3 Take Part in the RSPB Big Birdwatch
Year 3 had a wonderful time taking part in the RSPB Big Birdwatch during our Forest School session. We walked around the area very quietly, using our observation skills to spot and record the birds we could see and hear.
The children have become confident birdwatchers and showed a growing understanding of bird habitats. They know that birds such as the tit family and smaller birds like bramblings where they can stay protected. Year 3 are also getting very good at identifying birds not just by how they look, but by the sounds they make, listening carefully to birdsong even when the birds were hidden.
This experience created many moments of “wows”, as the children felt a sense of awe and wonder while being still and noticing the beauty of nature around them. Walking quietly encouraged calmness and focus, helping the children feel more connected to the natural world. They began to understand how all living things are connected and how each bird has its own place and purpose within its habitat. A bit like humans!
After our session with Sarah, we made bird feeders, this time using cheese and raisins- who knew birds were cheese lovers! This activity helped the children reflect on their responsibility to care for living things, recognising that even small actions can make a positive difference.
Overall, the Big Birdwatch helped Year 3 develop a deeper spiritual connection with nature, encouraging curiosity, respect, reflection and a sense of belonging within the wider world.
Help at home:
Discuss our findings. Eg. What bird was the most/least common? Why was there more ____ birds than ____ birds?
Investigating Plant Growth
This week in Science, our Year 2 children have begun a comparative test to explore how plants grow.
The children planted two sunflower seeds in identical pots. To make it a fair test, they are keeping the soil and water the same, but changing the amount of natural light each plant receives.
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One sunflower is growing on a windowsill.
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The other is growing in a closed cupboard.
As one child said,
Zara “If we change too many things, it won’t be a fair test.”
Each week, the children will measure the height of the stem using a ruler and compare how the plants grow over time. They have already been making predictions:
Ava “The one by the window will grow more because plants need sunshine.”
Building on Previous Learning
Last year, the children also planted cuttings from a spider plant. When the plant began to look unhealthy, we carefully removed it from the pot to look at the roots. The children were amazed to see how much the roots had grown.
Oliver “I didn’t know roots could be that long!”
We re-potted the spider plant into a larger pot and made new cuttings to grow more plants. This helped the children understand how roots grow and why plants sometimes need more space.
Writing- The Tiger who came to tea
For the past two weeks we have been focussing on the story ‘ The Tiger who came to tea’ by Judith Kerr.
We explored key parts of the story together, talking about the characters, events and our favourite moments. As part of our learning, we used the story as inspiration to write our own sentences. Our key learning objective was to use conjunctions, and the children practised joining ideas using words such as and, but and because. They showed great enthusiasm and creativity while developing their sentence-writing skills.
We are now ready for our independent write next week!
Help at home: Test your knowledge- Can you write a sentence using a conjunction about something you are doing over the weekend?
You could bring these into class next week to share with everyone!