Dear parents and carers,

We hope everyone had a lovely half term and are feeling well rested. It’s quite a long JTLYK this week. Please scroll onto the second page where there is a letter from Geraldine detailing an author visit we have next week and the opportunity to buy a discounted book!

This week in English we started a new unit based on Mary Anning, the famous fossil hunter. The children started by reading Stone Girl, Bone Girl – a book based on her life. We then got to know the story by summarising it and answering some questions about Mary. After that, we investigated some Non-Chronological Reports and learnt about what features they include. We ended the week by learning about conjunctions, and how they can be used to join clauses and extend sentences and then spent some time practising with their use.

In Maths this week, we practised the ten times table and then learnt how to use it to solve both multiplication and division questions. We then moved onto the 5 times table and repeated this process. The children are doing brilliantly with their multiplication and we can tell lots of them have been doing extra practice at home – thank you!

In art, we got very close to completing our dinosaur collages – we hope to finish these at the end ot STEM week next week.

In PE, we had a quick recap and practise of some events which will take place in our Sports Hall competition next week. The children are really excited and have improved many sports skills during this unit.

In RE, we began a new unit based on Christianity. We are learning about why Christians call Jesus their saviour.

Sports Hall:

We have Sports Hall on Wednesday next week and will be leaving school early. As the children will be in sports kit all day, we will be sending them home with PE kits on Tuesday so they can come in wearing them on Wednesday along with some sporty trainers.

Could children then bring PE kits back in to school on Thursday, ready for PE the next week?

STEM Week:

Next week will be STEM week in school! This means we will have PE, swimming, reading and handwriting as normal. The rest of the school days will be filled with science, computing, DT and maths investigations based on fairy tales, in celebration of World Book Day. The children won't need to bring anything special into school, but do ask them what they have been up to as there are lots of fun activities planned.

Plastic Bottles:

We will soon be conducting an experiment that requires a number of small plastic bottles (500ml size or around that number). If you have any that need recycling, please send them our way as we will make good use of them!

PE:

Walnut will be having PE on Monday for the rest of this half-term. This allows us to host some children from George Abbott who are learning to be Sports Leaders. Chestnut will continue to have PE on Wednesday.

Please make sure your child has trainers and their PE kit in school at all times as there will be occasions where we need to alter the timetable.

Key Dates:

• STEM curriculum week – Monday 3rd to Friday 7th March
• Sports Hall Competition – Wednesday 5th March
• Parents evenings – Tuesday 4th and Thursday 6th March
• Natural History Museum Trip – Monday 24th March

A Message from Geraldine:

 

Dear parents,

Next week is our STEM Book Week in which we will be celebrating the world of traditional tales and the science behind them. We are kicking off the week with a visit from the author Catherine Crawford whose book "Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairy Tales" explores the scientific truths behind some of our favourite stories. Catherine will be doing a presentation at both of the schools on Monday the 3rd of March.

The books are available to buy at a discounted price of £6.00 (normally £7.99). If you go to Parentpay you can purchase books online from now. Books will get signed and given to your child after the event. Please make clear the name of the child and the class. Please order by Friday if you want the child's name included in the signing. You can still order books up until Sunday night but they will just get a signature.