Lostock Gralam C of E Primary School
Robins: Blog items
Robins week beg. 10th October, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 6th Oct 2022 @ 6:19pm
The children had an amazing day at their Stone Age Workshop making lots of new discoveries about life long ago in the stone age.
Next week we will have another exciting day on Thursday 13th October as we will have Forest Schools in the morning. Please come to school wearing old warm clothes, several layers is a good idea, a waterproof coat and wellies, as we will be definitely getting muddy and probably wet too!! The children can bring in their PE uniform or normal uniform in their schoolbags to get changed into if they get particularly wet. We will check the weather further next week and update. However, they will definitely need spare footwear to change into for wearing indoors in the afternoon.
Fantastic diary writing by everyone this week in our English lessons. We have been focusing on writing in the first person, using the past tense and paragraph writing. Next week we will be doing some role play and looking at the seal's life so far before we commence our narrative writing to end this current unit.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading at home this week and recording it in the homework diaries. Aim for 10 - 15 mins every night.
It was great to see the children remember more of their phonics sounds in their writing this week. Thank you for your support with their spelling homework. We will continue to work on revising key sounds next week.
Spelling Quiz on Friday 14th October - found, rounded, boys, seal, steal, dealing, dream, dreaming, boil, boiling
Remember to make learning spellings fun. Maybe write out words in coloured pen, underline the key sounds, draw around the word with images, draw around the shape of the word, write on pavement in chalk, trace words in sand etc.
Here is an online spelling game that your child will enjoy to revise Year 2 spellings and they can also have a go at some of the Year 3 spellings!
https://ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling/
This week we have begun to look at x4 but if you feel your child still needs to revise x2, x5, x10 please just focus on these for now. Remember everyone learns at a different pace. Your child will get another activity on Friday based on our Times Tables work that we have been doing in class. Homework can be completed over the weekend or next week and returned by next Wednesday 12th October.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Continue to use this game to revise and learn times tables.
This week we have also been using the following game - Mental Maths Train. We have been focusing on just addition and the children have been choosing a game appropriate to their level. Please have a go at home. Just click on the first addition carraige and choose maybe the first game to start and then move onto the next games when you feel your child is ready. Next week we will be focusing on the second subtraction carriage in school.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train
Also in Maths, using our Power Maths books we will finish our unit of work on Place Value and continue work on a number of activities to further develop our reasoning skills.
Remember our PE days will remain as Monday and Wednesday for this term.
In RE we will be looking at how diffferent Bible stories portray God and getting ready for our Harvest Festival which will take place on Monday 17th October.
In Computing we will be using the Keynote app to prepare presentations based on the photos that we have been editing so far.
In Science our Topic is about Animals including Humans and we have been looking at life cycles this week and will look at skeletons next week.
Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,
Mrs Whittingham, Mrs O'Marah & Mrs Taylor
Robins week beg. 3rd October, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 29th Sep 2022 @ 4:59pm
This week in English, the children have been planning writing paragraphs and writing diary entries from the point of view of Tom in our story the Seal Surfer. Next week, we will begin to plan and write more narrative paragraphs.
We were so pleased to see our new Reading Diaries arrive this week. Please use these to record reading at home. Aim for 10 - 15mins every night. I will also be keeping a record of the books that they children are reading so I can ensure they are reading a variety of approriate books.
Hopefully the children found this weeks spellings easier to learn as they were revising key sounds. We will continue to work on these next week alongside our new spellings.
Spelling Quiz on Friday 7th October - zoomed, zooming, looked, looking, start, started, fair, fairly, whirl, twirl
Remember to make learning spellings fun. Maybe write out words in coloured pen, underline the key sounds, draw around the word with images, draw around the shape of the word, write on pavement in chalk, trace words in sand etc.
Here is an online spelling game that your child will enjoy to revise Year 2 spellings and they can also have a go at some of the Year 3 spellings!
https://ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling/
This week in Arithmetic, we will be focusing on revising key concepts from Year 2 as well as beginning to explore x4 times tables. Thank you to everyone who completed the paper copy of the homework last week. Your child will get another activity on Friday based on our Times Tables work that we have been doing in class. Homework can be completed over the weekend or next week and returned by next Wednesday 5th October.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
This is also the on-line game that we have been playing in school again this week. Just click on Times Tables and choose x2/x5/x10 as appropriate.
Also in Maths, using our Power Maths books we will continue to work on place value for numbers to 1000. We will look at numbers on a numberline to order and compare them and solve problems around these. We will also be doing a number of activities to further develop our reasoning skills.
Remember our PE days will remain as Monday and Wednesday for this term.
The children will have a very exciting day on Thursday 6th October as we will be taking part in our Stone Age workshop. We are so excited about this! This week the children have been looking at fossils and cave paintings and have created some great drawings for their Topic books. They have also been thinking about important events in their life so far to help with their chronological understanding.
In RE we are focusing on Christianity this term and will be looking at how God is represented in pieces of artwork.
In Computing we are learning to take photos and edit them using various apps on the IPAD. We are currently using the app Prisma which your child might like to experiment with at home to add digital effects to photographs.
In Science we our Topic is about Animals including Humans and we have been looking at life cycles this week.
Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,
Mrs Whittingham, Mrs O'Marah & Mrs Taylor
Robins Week beg. 26th September, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 22nd Sep 2022 @ 5:10pm
This week in English, the children have been focusing on writing descriptive sentences with expanded noun phrases and prepositions. We have also been doing some role playing and putting ourselves in the shoes of the main characters in our book Seal Surfer by Michael Formen. Next week we will continue to build on our writing to plan and edit diary entries from Tom's viewpoint.
We will also continue with our Reading lessons around The Sea Book by Charlotte Milner focusing on the language and structure of a non-fiction book. Your child should now be bringing home their own reading book so could you please spend 10 - 15 mins reading each night with them and chatting about the book. What do they like about the book? Who are the main characters? What has happened so far in the story? What do they think will happen next? Unfortunately we are still waiting on the arrival of our new Reading Diaries but I am keeping a list of the books that the children are reading. it has been lovely chatting to the class about their favourite authors this week and what they have liked about the books that they have read so far.
I know a number of our children in class this week have struggled to learn this weeks spellings. Therefore next week we will revise some spellings that they should be more familiar with from their Phonics lessons last year. I have also identified lots of spelling errors in Witing with these sounds so I feel it is important we learn these thoroughly before we progress further.
Spelling Quiz on Friday 30th September - played, stayed, keep, deep, sleep, night, fighting, right, cow, bow
Remember to make learning spellings fun. Maybe write out words in coloured pen, underline the key sounds, draw around the word with images, draw around the shape of the word, write on pavement in chalk, trace words in sand etc.
This week in Arithmetic, we will continue to revise x2, x5 and x10, whilst some children will also be moving on to their 3s. Homework for this week is x2 and can be completed over the weekend or next week and returned by next Wednesday 28th September.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
This is also the on-line game that we have been playing in school again this week. Just click on Times Tables and choose x2 to begin with and then advance to other multiplication facts when you feel your child is ready. Some children have said that they have been asked to pay before using this game but that is only if you download it. There is no need, they just need to play it online, accessing it through the Topmarks website.
Also in Maths, using our Power Maths books we will continue to work on place value for numbers to 1000. We will look at numbers on a numberline to order and compare them.
Remember our PE days will remain as Monday and Wednesday for this term.
We are so excited to begin our Topic work by finding out about the Stone Age. If your child attends your local library encourage them to look out for books about the Stone Age which they could enjoy reading at home. This week they have been coming up with questions that they would like to find out about the Stone Age. Next week we will be looking at timelines and finding out about where Stone Age people lived.
In RE we are focusing on Christianity this term and in particular looking at symbols that are used to represent God. We will also be visiting the Church for our Worship on Monday 26th September.
In Computing we are learning to take photos and edit them using various apps on the IPAD. We are currently using the app Prisma which your child might like to experiment with at home to add digital effects to photographs.
In Science we have begun our Topic about Animals including Humans by finding out what we know already and what is an animal.
Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,
Mrs Whittingham, Mrs O'Marah & Mrs Taylor
Robins Week beg. 19th September, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 15th Sep 2022 @ 5:21pm
Thank you to everyone who made it to our Meet The Teacher meeting this week. It was lovely to see so many of you and to meet many of you for the first time. I have uploaded the PowerPoint that I shared onto our class blog for your reference.
This week the children have been focusing on writing a paragraph about seals and next week we will be writing pieces of dialogue using speech marks based around the characters in our book the Seal Surfer by Michael Formen. We will also continue with our Reading lessons around The Sea Book by Charlotte Milner focusing on the features of a non-fiction book. Your child should now be bringing home their own reading book so could you please spend 10 - 15 mins reading each night with them and chatting about the book. What do they like about the book? Who are the main characters? What has happened so far in the story? What do they think will happen next. Hopefully we will have our new Reading Diaries next week so you can sign when your child has read at home.
This week in Maths, we will continue to revise x2, x5 and x10. The children have taken home a x2 game which I would like them to play at home as part of their Maths homework. They can also practise their cutting skills! I have given them some ideas of the sort of games that they can play e.g. simply match the multiple of 2 (2, 4, 6 etc.) with the number sentence (4 X 2), or they could colour match the pairs, turn them upside down, play a game of snap etc. Just have fun with it.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
This is also the on-line game that we have been playing in school this week. Just click on Times Tables and choose x2 to begin with and then advance to other multiplication facts when you feel your child is ready. Using our Power Maths books we will continue to work on place value for numbers to 1000. We will partition numbers into Hundreds, Tens and Ones practically with resources and pictorially.
I know you are all well aware as your children have been looking so smart for PE but just a reminder that our PE days will remain as Monday and Wednesday for this term.
We are so excited to begin our Topic work by finding out about the Stone Age. If your child attends your local library encourage them to look out for books about the Stone Age which they could enjoy reading at home. This week they have been coming up with questions that they would like to find out about the Stone Age. Next week we will be looking at timelines and finding out about where Stone Age people lived.
In RE we are focusing on Christianity this term and in particular looking at symbols that are used to represent God.
In Computing we are learning to take photos and edit them using various apps on the IPAD. We are currently using the app Prisma which your child might like to experiment with at home.
In Science we have begun our Topic about Animals including Humans by finding out what we know already.
Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,
Mrs Whittingham, Mrs O'Marah & Mrs Taylor
Robins week beg. 12th September 2022, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 10th Sep 2022 @ 7:11pm
We have had an amazing first week together in Robins! The children have all been superstars and have settled well into their new class. It was lovely to see their smiling faces every morning and their enthusiasm for their learning.
This week we will continue with our Writing lessons based on the beautiful book Seal Surfer by Michael Formen. We will also be basing our Reading lessons around The Sea Book by Charlotte Milner. Your child will also come home with their home reader this week so could you please spend 10 - 15 mins reading each night and record in their homework diary.
Last week in Maths, we revised number bonds to 10 and 100 as well as x2, x5 and x 10. This week we will begin to use our new Power Maths books and begin our work on Place Value within 1000. We have decided that Maths homework will focus on learning times tables so your child will take home a paper copy of an activity which we would love you to do with them and return completed by the following Thursday. Maths homework will be given out on a Friday, beginning Friday 16th September.
Thank you for sending in your children so smartly dressed in their PE uniform. Our PE days will remain as Monday and Wednesday for this term.
We are so excited to begin our Topic work by finding out about the Stone Age. If your child attends your local library encourage them to look out for books about the Stone Age which they could enjoy reading at home.
We look forward to meeting you all at our ‘Meet the Teacher’ Evening at school on Wednesday 14th September at 3:15pm, 3:45pm, 4:45pm or 5:15pm so you can learn more about what your child will be learning in Year 3.
Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,
Mrs Whittingham & Mrs O'Marah
Robins Wk beg 14th March 2022, by Mrs Rice
Date: 13th Mar 2022 @ 9:38pm
Hi Everyone
Thank you all for your time last week, it was wonderful to talk with you all either on the phone or in school. The children were really excited to share their work with you. If you didn't manage to come in and would like to have a little look at your child's books, please let me know and we can arrange a time.
This week in Writing, we are finalising our Stone Age stories and editing our work looking at speech punctuation and detailed description through noun phrases and adverbs.
In Maths, we are exploring the connections between multiplication and division. We will embed our understanding of repeated additon and division and look at how to use our times tables knowledge and understanding to calculate with bigger numbers outside of 12 x a number eg 68 divided by 4. We will learn how to divide with numbers that have a remainder and solve problems.
In Reading, we will complete the Iron Man story and discuss if we are happy with the ending. We will use our inference skills to discuss Hogarth's feelings, actions and emotions as well as explore the Iron Man's personality.
We will celebrate British Science Week by exploring the theme of Growth. Robins class will delve into the ocean to see how the growth of pollution is affecting marine habitats. We will conduct simple experiments to see the damage that oil has on the ocean as well as continuing our rocks and soils learning. Our question this week is based around the hardness of each rock. The children will plan a fair test and focus on writing a conclusion.
In RE the children continue their learning under the theme of Discipleship. They will explore times Jesus spent with his disciples and reflect on the messages given and the importance/relavance of these in our lives today. "Christ is the light that guides us."
In PE, the children will be putting the final touches to their Stone Age dance, look out on Twitter for their performances!
Our spellings this week focus on the suffix 'ian'
magician, musician, electrician, politician, optician, mathematician, technician
OR
school, really, went, through, because, like, they, most
Please continue to read with your child daily and sign their reading diaries. Five minutes of times tables each day is also really beneficial for rapid recall of these key facts.
Thank you for your continued support, please come into school, email me or call the school office if you have any worries or questions.
Love from Mrs Rice
Robins Week Beg 14th February 2022, by Mrs Rice
Date: 10th Feb 2022 @ 10:16pm
Hi Everyone
We have had a super week in Robins class this week. I have been really impressed with the children's atitudes to learning. They help each other, show kindness and have enjoyed working together as a team. We had an enjoyable rock hunt in our church yard as we explored the different rocks that the grave stones were made from. The children impressed me with their Science vocabulary such as permeable and erosion.
Next week, on Thursday 17th February we will be having a Forest Schools/History day outside. We will be making Stone Age houses from items found in the environment. Please send the children in wearing old clothes that you do not mind becoming dirty, wellies, clean shoes for inside, a warm waterproof coat and gloves.
Our Writing lessons will continue to focus on the Stone Age Boy story. We will be writing comparisons between nowadays and prehistoric times using compound sentences and conjunctions.
Mrs Rice's spelling group are looking at what happens to verbs that with an 'e' when the suffix 'tion' is added.
elation, vibration, location, education, hesitation, concentration, celebration, exaggeration
In Maths, we will explore addition and subtraction problems that involve us working systematically and logically. We will embedd our understanding of the column method of both addition and subtraction.
The children are totally immersed in our Iron Man story. They are making sensible predictions and showing sound understanding of the characters. Next week, we will continue to make inferences about the character's emotions and motives as well as exploring the impact of Ted Hughes' repeating phrases and powerful vocabulary.
In Science, the children will be investigating the permeability of rocks by making predictions, carrying out a fair test, making close observations and drawing conclusions based on their findings.
In RE, we will be learning about Jesus' disciples and the importance they have had on Christianity.
Please continue to read regularly with your child at home and spend 5 minutes daily learning their times tables.
As always, please come and see me if you have any queries or questions.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice
Robins Wk Beg 31st January 2022, by Mrs Rice
Date: 28th Jan 2022 @ 12:15pm
Hi Everyone
This week we will be immersed in our two wonderful texts The Iron Man and Stone Age Boy to help us with our Reading and Writing lessons. We will be using the suffixes er/est to enhance our setting descriptions and learning how to write a speech sandwich! We will also be using our inference skills to explain a character's feelings and actions.
In Maths, we will be problem solving using a combination of addition and subtraction. We will consolidate our written methods as well as deciding which questions we could solve mentally. We will also continue to work on the rapid recall of our multiplication and division facts.
Mrs Rice's spellings this week are focusing on when the letter 'y' makes the 'i' sound. Our words are:
Egypt, gym, myth, pyramid, cymbals, mystery, myserious and syllable.
Mrs Brennan's spellings are focusing the suffix less and ness. Our words are:
fearless, foolishness, goodnesss, illness, sadness, endless, faultless
Our RE work will provide us with the opportunities to explore how other religions worship. We will learn about Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. We will then compare and contrast these religions.
Our Science work is focusing on rocks and soils. We will be exploring the properties of various rocks and classifing them based on their properties.
The children are really enjoying how our book area is organised into author baskets and have asked to vote for a new author to be added to our collection which is really exciting and a good example of the British Value Democracy. Please continue to read at home with your child for pleasure, as this enhances their imagination and vocabulary so much as well as being a wonderful relaxation time.
Thank you for your continued support. Please come and see myself or Mrs Brennan if you have any questions.
Love from Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan xxx
Robins 2nd December 2021, by Mrs Rice
Date: 3rd Dec 2021 @ 8:38am
Hi Everyone
We are sending lots of love to everyone who is at home, we miss you and can't wait to welcome you back into Robins class.
We have had an unusual week but have made the most of it and enjoyed lots of fantastic outdoor PE lessons.
Next week we will be concentrating on the use of conjunctions in English to join two simple sentences together. We will use this skill to write a character description of Tom and to write a conversation between Tom and his Mum from our beautiful story Winter's Child.
In Maths we are continuing with our column addition of 3 digit numbers adding tens, we will explore how to exchange when the tens digit totals more than 9. We will also use a number line to help our understanding of what happens as we cross the hundreds boundary. The website mathsframe has some great times tables practice games on for the children to play on at home to increase their rapid recall of multiplication facts. https://mathsframe.co.uk/
In RE, we will explore why Christians support charity work of children around the world and the impact of their actions of others. We will link this to our mission statement "Christ is the Light that guides us."
In Science we will explore how we see things by light travelling in straight lines and reflecting off surfaces into our eyes as well as investigating how shadows are made.
We will hopefully continue with our ukuele lessons as well as enjoying Cricket and PE with Mr Ault. Spare socks are also useful in book bags as sometimes trainers can get wet.
Our spelling focus for everyone this week is homophones. A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word however is spelt differently and has a different meaning.
week, weak, no, know, write, right, hear, here, there, their, they're.
We will encourage the children to use expression when reading out loud, especially when reading a conversation between characters, paying particular attention to the adverbs used by the author to explain how the character is talking. We will continue to use our inference skills to explore characters actions and motives. Thank you for your continued support with home reading.
Please ensure your child has a healthy snack at playtime as we do not receive free fruit in KS2.
Please come and ask me if you have any questions or queries. Look after each other.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan.
Robins Wk Beg 29.11.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 28th Nov 2021 @ 11:29pm
Hello Everyone
Well, the show must go on! We will pick up our singing and dancing practice again in January. Thank you for the costumes that you have given so far. These can come into school the first week back in January now that we have a little extra time. We can't wait to perform Hoodwinked to you all. The children are still listening to the songs and enjoying learning them without singing them, who knew this was possible?!
We will be busy making Christmas crafts this week as the excitement builds towards the big day!
In our Maths lessons, we are continuing to add using a variety of methods. This week, we will be adding tens onto a three digit number by exploring what happens when the tens digits total more than 9.
In Writing, we are using our knowledge of simple and compound sentences to aid description of beautiful settings in our story Winter's Child. Now we have met Winter's Child, we will be reminding ourselves about how to write a dialogue between two characters using inverted commas correctly.
In Art, the children will continue learning how to make new colours using primary, secondary and tertiary colours as they create a sunset.
In RE we will be learning about the Christmas Story and the season of Advent.
In History, the children are thoroughly enjoying learning about life in the Stone Age. They wowed me with their understanding about how homes changed during the Stone Age last week and I can't wait to develop their enquiry and chronology skills further as we move our learning into the Bronze Age and look at key developments as well as inventions that have impacted life today.
Cricket this week is on THURSDAY NOT WEDNESDAY. Please send your children into school wearing warm PE kits on Monday for their lesson with Mr Ault and on Thursday for their Cricket lesson. We will also enjoy our Ukuele lesson on Thursday afternoon.
Thank you for your continued support with reading and times tables. We now have the Top 100 Reads for Y3 laminated in class and the children are taking pride in popping their name next to each title as they have read one. Please continue to listen to your child reading out loud each evening. Reading is the most wonderful way of getting lost in a story with exciting characters, is great for learning new vocabulary and can increase the quality of your child's writing. I have also updated Times Table Rockstars so that the children can practise their rapid recall of multiplication and division facts. Please look out for their sticker each week in their reading diaries as this informs you of where the children are upto weekly. Here is another website full of fun games to practise times tables facts on.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/times-tables
Spellings are also in the diaries weekly.
As always, please feel free to come and talk to me about any questions or queries that you may have.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan.
Robins Wk Beg 22nd November 2021, by Mrs Rice
Date: 18th Nov 2021 @ 8:16pm
Hi Everyone
School has sounded wonderful this week with the happy sounds of children singing Christmas play songs. It is getting very exciting as we lead upto our KS2 Christmas production of Hoodwinked. Our class dance is coming along nicely, thank you for the Lumberjack costumes that we have had so far.
A reminder that tomorrow (Friday 19th November) is Children in Need day. Please bring pennies for Pudsey and wear own clothes/pajamas.
I have noticed a big improvement in the children's handwriting and presentation this week. I was extremely proud to share the children's books at our local cluster moderation. Several local primary schools gathered together and we moderated each other's work to check our assessments are accurate.
Next week in Writing, we are contining to read Winter's Child. The pages are beautifully illustrated and the children are really enjoying this story so far. We will be applying our understanding of sentence structure to character and setting descriptions. The children will expore the characters of Tom, his mother and Nana through wriitng conversations, giving them time to practise their use of inverted commas for direct speech.
The children are using their inference skills to work out how a character is feeling, what their motives might have been and why they have carried out certain actions in The Ice Palace story. They will learn more about the character of Ivan and infer what kind of person he is from the clues in the text. We will also continue to read out loud to our partners using pace, fluency and expression to bring the story to life.
In Maths, we will continue our addition work. The children have added ones crossing the tens boundary this week using partitioning. Next week we will add tens and ones to 3 digit numbers using a number line to calculate. We will also practise our multiplication and division facts, trying to give speedy answers.
In Science, we will explore how we see things and how light travels to our eyes. The children really enjoyed their light investigation this week, exploring why we can't see dull objects in the dark.
We will be busy making Christmas crafts to be sold at the Christmas Fair as well as continuing to learn the songs for our play. The children will also have their German lesson with Mrs Judge where they will learn how to tell people where they live in German. They will enjoy a fabulous Ukuele lesson with Dan, PE with Mr Ault as well as their Cricket lesson on Wednesday.
A very busy and fun filled week! As always, please come and see me if you have any queries.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan
15.11.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 11th Nov 2021 @ 10:44pm
Hi Everyone
Wow, what an amazing week we have had. The children became scientists in our "Amazing Light" workshop led by Chester Cathedral. They explored opaque, transparant and translucent materials in a variety of ways using lots of exciting equipment. We enjoyed a beautiful Remembrance Day service at the war memorial this week, our children showed such repect, we were really proud of them. I am also really pleased with the progress the children are making in their ukuele music lessons. The children are learning how to read music, how to use pitch and the musical terms for parts of songs egchorus and bridge. We have enjoyed learning more songs for our Christmas production, Hoodwinked. Thank you for the costumes that we have had already, we can keep them safe in school. If you are having any problems in sourcing a checked shirt, please let me know.
In our Writing lessons next week we are really focusing on what makes a sentence. We are going back to basics to embed the fact that a sentence needs a noun and a verb. We will explore joining two clauses with a conjunction. Our descriptive writing will focus on winter scenes from our beautiful story Winter's Child by Angela McCallister. Our reading lessons will continue to be based upon The Ice Palace by Robert Swindells. We will explore new winter vocabulary in both texts, practise reading out loud using punctuation to enhance meaning and ask questions about the characters and plot.
The children will be adding 3 digit numbers using partitioning, number lines and the column method. We will support this new learning with practical equipment such as place value counters and base ten equipment. We will also be working on our rapid recall of times tables facts. We use speed grids for this which the children really enjoy. Please log into TTRockstars where games have been set for the children to practise their times tables facts. Regular times tables and division facts practise is crucial for the retention of these important facts.
In RE, the children will continue to explore how and why Christians support certain charities and world organisations such as Fair Trading. We will look at Bible quotes that inspire this charitable work and see if they are still relevant today. Mrs Judge will visit us again to teach the children their German lesson. So far they have learnt how to say hello, goodbye, my name is.... and numbers to ten. They have enjoyed singing happy birthday also. In History, we will explore where people who lived in the Stone Age lived and why. We will learn about their reasons for nomadic life, their temporary shelters and cave dwelling.
As always, please come and chat with me if you have any questions or concerns.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan
Wk Beg 8th November 2021, by Mrs Rice
Date: 4th Nov 2021 @ 8:22pm
Hi Everyone
What a wonderful start to this half term we have had! I have been so impressed with the children's attitudes to learning and their engagement in all lessons. We have enjoyed our first Cricket PE lesson, our first Ukuele lesson (where we played and sang at the same time!) and learnt the first song from our Christmas production, Hoodwinked! It is just wonderful to hear children singing again in school. The children also enoyed exploring the properties of shape during our Maths Day.
Mrs Rice's spelling group have explored common exception words that contain a silent letter or a lerter that we pronounce quietly. Our words to learn this week are:
library, length, strength, business, February, island, answer
Mrs Brennan's spelling group have explored adding the suffix er and est with words ending in a y. The y is dropped and chamged to an i before adding er and est
For example: happy, happier, happiest.
Next week, we will begin to explore a new story in our Writing lessons, Winter's Child by Angela McAllister. We will be using illustrations from the book to make predictions, explore a range of new vocabulary associated with the text and focus on our sentence structure and punctuation. This is a beautiful story with inviting illustrations, a great stocking filler! In our Reading lessons, we will focus on the pace of our independent reading, our expression and intonation to enhance meaning when reading out loud. The story, The Ice Palace by Robert Swindell will be the focus text in our Reading lessons. We will infer a character's feelings and actions by hunting for clues in the text and 'reading between the lines'.
We will begin our new Science topic, Light - How we see things. The children will explore different sources of light and how how light travels. Our virtual Stone Age visitor will join us again and help us to learn about life in PreHistoric times. We are also taking part in a Science Light and Faith workshop, led by a lady from Chester Cathedral which we are extremely looking forward to.
Times Tables Rock Stars has lots of times tables games and practice for the children. We are currently working on our 5 times tables and the children are making great progress with their rapid recall of the facts. Please continue to practise times tables with your children at home as having these facts at the ends of their finger tips, makes so many other areas of Maths more accessable.
Thank you for your support with home reading. The children are enjoying reading a wide variety of stories and poems from our class library. This website, has the Top 100 Reads for each year group on, we have a selction of texts from Year Two and Year Three recommendations for the children to explore in class. These could make fantastic Christmas presents!
https://www.thereaderteacher.com/year3
The children will have PE with Mr Ault on a Monday and now a Cricket lesson on a Wednesday. Please ensure that your child comes to school in warm school PE uniform on Mondays and Wednesdays as the lessons can be outside.
Please always ask me if you have any questions or queries about anything.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan xxx
Robins Blog Wk Beg 18.10.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 15th Oct 2021 @ 12:32pm
Hi Everyone
Robins have had another wonderful week of learning together. I have been so impressed with the friendship they have shown to each other. The children have written short stories based on our book Seal Surfer by Michael Foremen and have used prespositions of time and place well.
Next week, we will be writing letters in role as the characters from the story using new ways to begin each paragraph. The children will be using their mastery keys of noun phrases, prepsotions and speech punctuation to ensure that their writing is fantastic. In Maths, we will be exploring place value problem solving and puzzles as we apply our knowledge and understanding to new contexts. The children are getting speedier and speedier at completing their times tables grids each week, it is lovely to watch their confidence growing with this. Times Tables Rock Stars is all set up for the children to play on at home. Please encourage your children to practise their 2, 5 and 10 times tables regularly at home. We are working on giving speedy answers within five seconds!
My spelling group this week will look at the suffix ly. Our new words to lean are:
humbly, gently, simply, horribly, carefully, finally, quietly and completely.
Mrs Brennan's spelling group are exploring the suffixes er and est. Their new words to learn are:
nicer, nicest, happier, happiest, wilder, wildest
We will meet our virtual Stone Age visitor again as we learn about the clothes, tools and food that he has. The children will place key events in time along a time line using their skill of chronology. In Science, we will explore thefunction of the human skeleton and learn the names of important bones. We are also looking forward to our next German lesson where we will continue to practise greeting each other and saying please/thankyou. In RE, the children will explore Bible stories that show our understanding of God. We will discuss how God is presented in the story and reflect on what God means to us personally.
I am really excited to let you know that after the half term holidays, Robins class will have another PE lesson on a Thursday afternoon. They will be taught outside by a cricket coach. Please send your child in to school wearing their PE kits next half term on a Monday and a Thursday. The children will need tracksuit bottoms and a school PE hoodie as it will be cold. Please ensure they also have a waterproof coat with them.
As always, please come and speak to me if you have any worries or questions. Thank you for your continued support.
Love from Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan.
Robins Wk Beg 20.09.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 16th Sep 2021 @ 10:43pm
Welcome to Robins Weekly Blog
We have had a wonderful week in Robins class. I am really pleased with how the children have settled down to their learning routines in class. We are filling our recognition board regularly and have enjoyed playing 'hide and seek' and 'stuck in the mud' as our rewards together. This week, our Top Table award goes to Alexa and our Prasie Book award goes to Alexia. Well done girls :)
You will be able to book a 'Parents Evening' phonecall on Monday 20th September. This will be a ten minute phonecall to touch base and discuss how the children have settled. Year Three phonecalls are on Tuesday 28th September. I am really looking forward to talking to you all and getting to know you :)
Our spelling quizes will take place each Friday morning. This week, some children will have spellings that begin with the 'wr' sound such as 'wrong' and some children will have spellings that begin with the prefix dis and in such as 'disconnect and invisible'. The children wil have a list of their spellings in their reading diaries that they will tick/dot to let you know which words they spelt correctly during the quiz.
Reading - We have given the children a reading book from our class library. This may be a RWI book aimed at your child's reading level plus a story/non fiction book from our class library to share with you at home or a text from our class library. Please let me know if you feel the texts the children are selecting are too challenging or not challenging enough. I have now extended our class library with texts that the children are familiar with from Year Two for them to enjoy. We are continuing to read The Sea Book by Charlottle Milner in our whole class reading lessons. This week we will continue to discover new vocabulary, retrieve literal information and explore how the features of a non fiction text and it's structure all help the reader to understand the information.
Writing - The children are really enjoying reading 'Seal Surfer' by Micheal Foreman. We have loved learning new facts about seals and watching video clips of them in their natural environments. We will be writing a non chronological report about seals using paragraphs to organise our information. We will also be using prepositions of place and noun phrases to enhance the detail in our sentences.
Maths - We will continue to explore our place value knowledge and understanding of three digit numbers. The children will represent three digit numbers in a variety of ways, learning the value of each digit and positioning them on a numberline. Each morning, on entering the classroom, the children complete a '4 a day' arithmetic activity. This involves questions from all four operations ( addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) so that these skills are continuously developing. We have also introduced a times tables grid which allows the children to pratise and rehearse their mutliplication and divsion facts. This term, we will consolidate the 2, 5 and 10 times tables as well as introducing the three and four times tables. I have set weekly games on Times Tables Rock Stars for the children to enjoy.
Geography - We will be consolidating Year Two knowledge of features of English forests verses a rain forest, looking at the human and physical features of both. The children will use atlases to locate rain forests around the world, exploring reasons as to why they are positioned near to the equator.
RE - The children will explore a variety of Bible stories, considering the message for Christians that each one gives about God.
PE - Mr Ault will teach the children how to play football, focusing on space, pace and invasion techniques.
DT - The children are learning about the seasonality of food and will be making apple crumble as they have identified that apples are in season in the autumn in the uk. I will send a letter out with further information.
Thank you for your continued support with reading, spellings and times tables at home. These three things are the basis of our weekly homework.
Please contact me if you have any questions, I am aways available for you.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan
Robins wk beg 13.09.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 12th Sep 2021 @ 9:15pm
Hi Everyone
A very warm welcome to Robins Class.
Mrs Brennan and I have loved getting to know everybody, we are going to have a wonderful year.
Our PE day this term is on a Monday, the children will be taught on a Monday afternoon by Mr Ault. We will also be having a weekly German lesson on a Tuesday afternoon with Mrs Judge which is very exciting :)
Each Tuesday afternoon, we will have a times tables quiz. We will let you know which times table your child is working on and will put a sticker into their reading diary to let you know their weekly score. Our weekly spelling quiz will take place on a Friday morning. They will be words containing the spelling rule/pattern that we have been exploring throughout the week or based upon the statutory words for Y3 from the National Curriculum.
We are currently reading Seal Surfer by Michael Foreman in our Writing lessons. Our focuses are on using a rich and varied vocabulary, organising our writing into paragraphs and using prepositions of time, place and cause. We are also enjoying learning new facts about life in the oceans using The Sea Book by Charlotte Milner in our whole class Reading lessons.
It has been delightful to sing with your children and hear their voices after such a long time. Their singing has warmed our hearts.
Please feel free to come and talk to me at any time if you have a question or a concern. I am also available on the phone or via email. I am really looking forward to a fabulous year ahead.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice
Robins 14th June 2021, by Mrs Rice
Date: 11th Jun 2021 @ 3:51pm
Hi everyone
What a fabulous week of learning we have had after the half term holidays. Robins class have been using their Geography skills to locate human and physical features of our grounds using the 8 points of the compass. We have been exploring our new Christian Value of Courage and how we can use the lessons that Jesus gives us in the Bible in our own lives.
Next week, in Maths, we will continue our work with fractions. The children will be adding and subtracting parts of the whole and finding fractions of amounts.
In Writing, we will begin a new exciting book Zeraffa Giraffa by Diane Hoffmeyer. We will be learning about how organisational devices such as headings and sub headings can help to present information clearly. We will also be learning how to use alliteration and repeating phrases to persuade the reader.
Our Reading lessons will focus on reading comprehensions skills based around inference. The children will also explore themes within Iron Man and what we think the author's massage to the reader was.
This week's spellings focus on the prexix 'sub' meaning below or under.
subzero, subsoil, subdivide, subway, submarine, subtitle, subheading, submerge.
Our Science learning is based around 'Animals and Humans'. This week, we will learning about the type and amount of nutritian that humans need and what is meant by a balanced diet.
Our RE lessons are based upon how Hindu families celebrate and worship God.
I am really proud of the children's attitudes to learning and their kindness to each other.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan
Y3 Wk Beg 26.04.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 26th Apr 2021 @ 5:37pm
Hello everyone
Robins had a wonderful week last week with lots of outside learning. We even found footage of a sparrow nesting in our bird box that was captured on our new night life camera, it was magical! It was lovely to talk with you all on the phone, thank you for your time. This week, we continue our problem solving in multiplication and division focusing on the 3, 4 and 8 times tables. In Writing, we are loving our new wordless book
Y3 Wk Beg 29th March 2021, by Mrs Rice
Date: 26th Mar 2021 @ 2:15pm
Hi everyone
We have made it to the final week of the term with huge smiles as we are so happy to be back together. 
The children have been busy with assessments and have made me so proud with their attitude towards these.
We are continuing to enjoy The Sea Book by Charlotte Milner as a stimulus in our reading lessons. The children are using the contents and index pages to navigate the text, making predictions and summarising key points of paragraphs. This book is also helping us to take care of God's oceans and the creatures that live in them by considering how we can reduce the amout of plastic that sadly ends up there.
This week we will be wriitng a letter from one character to another in our Seal Surfer story. We will take on the roke of the boy in the story and write to Grandad, telling him of our adventures witht he seals in his absence.
Our spellings this week contain the letters 'ch' but make the 'c' sound
chaos, chorus, mechanic, character, anchor, echo, aching, chemist, schemed
In Maths we continue our work on multiplication and division exploring the patterns and connections of the 4 and 8 times tables.
We are thoroughly looking forward to visiting church on Wednesday to watch a pre recorded Easter worship by Mr Cliff.
Lostock are celebrating World Book Day on Thursday. The children can come to school wearing their pajamas ready for a wonderful day of story.
We are so proud of our class for the happiness and joy that they bring with them each day.
Have a great week. Please contact me if you have any questions or queries.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan.
Y3 18.03.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 18th Mar 2021 @ 9:32pm
Hello everybody
What a pleasure it is to have my gorgeous Robins back in class, happily learnng and laughing together. We are so impessed with how hard the children have settled quickly back into routines and into excellent learning behaviours. We look forward to seeing their smiles and hearing their giggles every day and treasure every moment with them. 
Hopefully I can keep them now until July!
The children are absolutely loving watching the frog spawn develop daily in our classroom, it is the first thing they all rush to when they come in. They have enjoyed fun PE sessions with Mr A, time on our track as well as playtime games and time in our new woodland. Lots of outdoor fun is helping with our happiness.
Next week, we will be writing letters in our English lessons from different characters in our Seal Surfer story. We will explore the structure and language of letters and focus on prepositions of time, place and cause. In Maths, we will be continuing our work on multiplication and division. As a class, we are learning the four times tables, noticing patterns the multiples of four make on a 100 square, looking at the connection to the two times table and increasing our rapid recall of these facts.
The children are now having weekly virtual German lessons with Mrs Judge which they are loving.
Please continue to read with your child daily and recording in their reading diaries as the children feel so proud when they are able to put their ticks onto the chart and gain a raffle ticket. Daily reading is so beneficial for our children. Not only because it improves their vocabulary and writing skills but it is a gorgeous opportunity to escape into the wonderful land of stories, adventure and imagination. Our weekly spelling quizes have resumed each Friday. I have asked the children to spend five minutes each evening practising their spellings and five minutes on their times tables in order to keep these key skills ticking over and for the children to gain in confidence.
Our spellings this week are focusing on the suffix 'ation' being added to verbs to form nouns. For example when we add 'ation' to the verb 'exclaim' the word 'exclamation' is made. We will explore which letters are dropped when this suffix is added. Our new words are:
explanation, exclamation, preparation, exploration, temptation, separation, admiration, information.
Thank you for your continued support and as always, I am at the end of the phone or an email if you need to talk to me. What a class of super stars I have!
Have a great weekend
Love from Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan
Y3 05.03.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 1st Mar 2021 @ 2:36pm
Friday 5th March 2021 
Happy Friday everyone. We did it! Two months of remote learning for the second time and you have been brilliant! I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of your families for supporting our class during this time. Your patience and dedication has been amazing and has meant such a lot to me. Thank you for being such lovely parents to work with. I can not wait to have your children back on Monday, I promise that we will look after them. Time to put your feet up now!
Well done superstars- we couldn’t be more proud of the amazing children we have at Lostock Gralam and don’t forget to tell your adults that we think they are superheroes.
Reflect and return to school task:
Today we would like you to just reflect on the last 8 weeks of remote learning and to think ahead to your return to school. There are some lovely activities below to help you to do this. You might want to print them from the attachment, or you might want to create your own doodles in your own style.
If you want, you could play this lovely relaxing music whilst you create your ideas today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2UEqBdU7go&list=RD-j2uKUK5P10&index=2
This next activity might help you to zone in on your feelings and share your thoughts about Lockdown.
We are so excited about welcoming you back to school on Monday. Have a lovely weekend and see you very soon!
Love from Mrs Rice and Mrs Brennan xxx
Y3 04.02.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 26th Feb 2021 @ 3:35pm
Thursday 4th March 2021
Good morning superstars. One more day to go until we are all back together again, we are very nearly there.
Don’t forget to post your work today on our homework pages, I’d love to see your learning.
Maths
Another times tables game for you todayJ Can you beat your time from yesterday? Go on, challenge yourself!
https://ictgames.com/funkyMummy/index.html
Science
Let’s find out how shadows are made today. Click on the link to watch the lesson, please join in with the quiz at the beginning and at the end.
Reading
I really hope you are enjoying your reading time each day. You can choose to do it at the time that suits you best, but please, please, please, keep reading.
I love CBBC Newsround. I have enjoyed reading this article about a dolphin who juggles jellyfish! Which article takes your fancy?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/49316411
Spellings
Please remember to only learn 3 or 5 of these spellings each week if they are tricky. This is what we do in school, so please do this at home too. All 8 words might be too much, you do what is right for you.
exercise
experience
experiment
extreme
famous
favourite
February
forward
Story time
Time to settle down as we continue with George’s Marvellous Medicine. Mr Kranky asks George to remember what he put into the mixture. Will he be able to recall the exact ingredients…?
Remember Robins: Don’t make a ‘Marvellous Medicine’ at home!
Enjoy your day today and I look forward to hearing from you on our homework pages.
Love from Mrs Rice xx
Y3 03.02.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 26th Feb 2021 @ 3:34pm
Wednesday 3rd March 2021
Good morning Team Robins. Looking forward to us all seeing each other on Zoom again today at 9am.
Don’t forget to upload your work on our homework pages today if you would like me to see your hard work. It really does make me smile.
Mindfulness
In our worship time on Wednesdays we are going to enjoy a mindfulness activity https://www.smilingmind.com.au/
Parents: This is a FREE App that you just need to sign in with an e-mail account.
Create a new account with an adult’s e-mail address.
Follow the quick question survey (which takes about 10 seconds)
Click the ‘I’m a parent’ 
tab and the next page
Choose the 
tab and there will be lots of different mindfulness activities to do together. We have done some in class and it really doesn’t matter if they are repeated.
Maths
Another times tables game for you todayJ Can you beat your time from yesterday? Go on, challenge yourself!
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples
Writing
I would like you to have a spelling focus today. I have attached a blank word search grid for you to create for a family member to complete. I wonder if they can find our hidden spelling words in your grid? Please also complete the attached spelling activity where you have to circle the correct spelling. I have put two incorrect spellings and one correct one for each of our spelling words.
Spellings
famous
favourite
February
forward
exercise
experience
experiment
extreme
PE
Why not try this Super Heroes Go Noodle? I feel hungry now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY1VL-Jhn90
Story Time
I will read our next chapter today during our Zoom call.
Enjoy your lessons, fitness and play time today Robins- stay motivated and feel proud of all of the great work you are doing because I am extremely proud of you all. Two more days to go….
Love from Mrs Rice xx
Y2 2.03.21, by Mrs Rice
Date: 26th Feb 2021 @ 3:34pm
Tuesday 2nd March 2021
Good morning gorgeous Robins, I hope you had a good day yesterday with focused time for work and time to rest and relax too.
Thank you for sharing your work with me yesterday, I am looking forward to seeing your work on our homework pages again and being able to provide you with feedback on your learning.
Maths.
Let’s continue with our times tables focus this week. Today’s game is a fishing multiplication one and can be found by clicking on this link:
https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/306/Maths-Fishing-Multiplication
Please also have a go at the times tables test sheet and see if you were speedier today than you were yesterday or if you managed to jot down any more facts?
Writing
Please follow this link for today’s lesson where you will be completing your diary entry with the final paragraph, telling me what happened next.
Story Time.
What is going to happen to Grandma next? Will she ever stop growing? Follow this link to find out and to hear the next chapter of our story.
Reading
Enjoy reading another exciting copy of First News newspaper for children. Which article takes your fancy? I am going to read about the hairy rescue of a frozen bobcat, this sounds interesting!
Spellings
Remember in class how we use lots of different techniques to help us like
drawing boxes around the word
using fancy writing
robot writing
highlighting the tricky bits
making the word into a picture
writing with our eyes closed
making your own spelling doodle
This Week’s Words: (Remember to just focus on 3 if they are tricky)
experiment
extreme
exercise
experience
PE
Here are the 5-a-day login details: If you write them in your diary, you will be able to log on whenever you need an active break throughout the week.
Home Access Username - LGPS97
Home Access Password - LosGr9
Well done for being such hard workers. Remember today to show your lovely manners, be helpful and respectful to your family at home and keep smiling.
Love from Mrs Rice xx
Y3 1st March 2021, by Mrs Rice
Date: 26th Feb 2021 @ 3:13pm
Monday 1st March 2021
Good morning Robins and welcome to the marvellous month of March. Happy Saint David’s Day. I hope that you have all had a wonderful weekend in the glorious sunshine and that you are ready and raring to learn. This time next week, I will be seeing you in person! I can’t wait J
Maths
This week, I would like us to have a real focus on our times tables. Our tables are really important as they help us in many other areas of Maths such as division and fractions. So, there is no “lesson” for today. I would like you to use this website to practise the times table that you are working on. It is called Hit The Button https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button.
I have attached different sheets and activities that you can print off. Each day I would like you to have a go at the Tables Test, just do the ones that you are comfortable with. Don’t forget there will be others that you can do for example you could do 3X9 as you already know 9X3. Time yourself and see if you can beat your own time each day. It is great to challenge ourselves.
Reading
I have attached the latest edition of First News for you to enjoy. What three facts can you learn today?
Writing
Please follow this link to watch my lesson as we write the second paragraph of our diary entry.
Spellings
exercise (exercising, exercised)
experience (experienced, experiencing)
How are you going to learn this week’s words?
Roll n Spell/Spelling Doodle/Post It Notes/Look Say Cover Write Check…?
PE
Let’s have a dance to Disney songs today J
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUSgKSgS4-E
Have a super day at home Robins. Keep going, remember how proud I am of you all.
Love from Mrs Rice xx