Goldfinches: Blog items

Week beginning 13.1.20, by Mrs Evans

Date: 9th Jan 2020 @ 4:16pm

Happy New Year to you all and we hope you have had a lovely Christmas holiday.

Goldfinches have settled into 2020 well and have shown some wonderful focus, ideas and listening this week.

Please help your child to become independent in their organisation by bringing their diary into the classroom every morning. We remind them every day to change their reading book when they need to and to bring 1 reading book and their diary home each evening. 

Coming up:

Writing- we will be completing the last few writing activities based around Escape From Pompeii over the next couple of weeks. Our big focus this term is ensuring our handwriting is joined and fluent and editing our own work for accurate punctuation.

Reading- we will be continuing to work through our assessment paper to learn how to edit and improve our answers and to focus on how to scan and skim the text effectively for the relevant information.

Spelling: focusing on words with the 'sc'  e.g. scissors, scene, scent.

You will receive a highlighted copy of the 2nd column words from the Y3/4 Statuatory word list next week. The highlighted words are the words your child spelt correctly. Please continue to work on the words your child misspelt.

Maths- Consolidating the use of practical equipment to support multiplication of 2 and 3 digit numbers.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars. Topmarks Hit the Button game. I have sent some paper copies of 6x division by 6 or 9x table this week.

Times table tests- we are increasing these to twice a week (where possible) this term as the children are working so well through their tables. Please keep up all the hard work to support their learning at home as it is really working! Keep an eye on their progress with the times table stickers which we put in their diaries weekly.

RE- Our new RE focus is Christianity and the Kingdom of God.

History- Hands on History for the day at Chester Grosvenor Museum on Wednesday 15th Jan. Please ensure your child has a warm coat, hat and gloves as part of the day will be spent outside. Please also provide a snack and their water bottle as well as packed lunch unless you have ordered a CAT BAG.

Science- Electricity is our new topic. We will be learning the names of different components of a circuit.

PE- Swimming on Tuesday afternoons. Trunks (not baggy shorts) and swimming costumes please with hair tied back and earrings removed before school where possible. Gymnastics will now be on a Friday with Mr Ault and indoor kit (shorts and t-shirt) is required.

Extra PE lessons: Goldfinches will have an extra PE slot a couple of times a term with Mr Ault. Their first extra slot will be this Monday 13th Jan as well as having their new weekly lesson of PE on Friday 17th Jan.

Heartsmart: Too Much Selfie isn't Healthy is our new focus this half term.

We are all looking forward to another action packed, productive and fun filled half term!

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah and Mrs Brennan 

Week ending 20.12.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 19th Dec 2019 @ 8:56pm

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. We wish you all a safe, happy and relaxing break.

Thank you so much for your kind cards and gifts- they are much appreciated.

This week: 

The children produced their best writing so far in Y4 with some fantastic historical diary writing based on the events in Pompeii in AD79 and our class text 'Escape from Pompeii'.

We have had a Christmassy end to the term with card making and an RE afternoon exploring the Christmas Story from the point of view of the shepherds. I'm so proud of the work Goldfinches produced. I'm sure you enjoyed the latest ukulele performance of 'Last Christmas' today aswell!  The pantomime was thoroughly enjoyed by all this morning.

Coming up in January: 

Back to school Mon 6th.

PE will be gymnastics with Mr Ault on Mondays and Swimming on Tuesday afternoons.

Maths will focus on methods of multiplication.

Writing will be completing the last part of our Escape from Pompeii focus.

Science will be exploring electricity and circuits.

Geography and History will continue to focus on the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

RE will be our new Christianity topic of Parables.

Our trip to Chester Grosvenor Museum is Wednesday 15th January.

And finally, thank you all for your support this term.

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah and Mrs Brennan.

Week beginning 16.12.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 12th Dec 2019 @ 9:07pm

What a wonderful week of performances we have had! Well done to all of the sparkling gems- we are so proud of how much you have reheared and how well you danced and sang. Despite all of the illness we have had this week- our performance was fantastic!

Thank you for all your support as an audience and as costume designers- the children looked amazing. 

Coming up:

We are still collecting for our Reverse Advent Calendar. Any donations will be gratefully received and thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far.

Tuesday: Christmas Lunch.

Wednesday: Mrs Judge will be bringing in some German foods to sample 

Thursday: Pantomime visit to The Grange Theatre

Friday: Carol concert in church.

Writing- Our diary writing will continue and will be inspired by a replica video clip of the eruption of Pompeii. We will be using drama to help us expolre our ideas.

Reading- we will be reading an extract from 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' as well as looking through the reading assessment paper together.

Spelling: we will be practising the words from the second column of the Y3/4 words

Maths- we will be going through our assessment papers this week.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars. Topmarks Hit the Button game.

RE- Christmas story

Geography and History - using a knowledge mat to consolidate all our learning about the Ancient Greeks.

PE- Outdoor PE on Monday with Mr Ault- supportive trainers and warm tracksuits please. 

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah and Mrs Brennan 

Week beginning 9.12.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 8th Dec 2019 @ 7:02am

Wow! What a busy week Goldfinches had this week! Rehearsals are going well and the children loved showing off their fantastic costumes in the dress rehearsal. Thank you all so much for all your hard work in organising and making them. We can't wait to perform next week now!

Coming up:

Writing- Our diary writing will continue and will be inspired by a replica video clip of the eruption of Pompeii. We will be using drama to help us expolre our ideas.

Reading- we will be focusing on our Bug Club books this week which are all set specifically for each child and can be read at home too. Your child's login details are in their diaries.

Spelling: focusing on words ending in 'ious'

Maths- we will be working through our assessment questions this week.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars. Topmarks Hit the Button game.

RE- Sikhism

Geography- Mapping the journey the Romans made as they travelled to Great Britain.

Science- Sound: how sounds are made and travel and how we hear them.

PE- Outdoor PE on Monday with Mr Ault- supportive trainers and warm tracksuits please. Dance - as this is a busy week with play rehearsals- we will fit dance in wherever we can so please have indoor kit in school all week.

Thank you for all you support,

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah and Mrs Brennan 

Week beginning 2.12.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 28th Nov 2019 @ 9:08pm

Thank you all so much for supporting our School Fair and for joining us at our Christingle service this week. Goldfinches have had fun crearing Greek art, learning a times and divide rap and taking part in the school fair and Christingle service.

Coming up:

Writing- we will continue to use Escape from Pompeii to inspire some diary writing this week.

Reading- we will work on a range of different question styles for comprehension this week.

Spelling: focusing on words ending in 'ous'

Maths- we will be beginning to look at a range of methods of multiplication.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars. Topmarks Hit the Button game.

RE- Sikhism

History- continuing to learn about the chronology of Ancient Greece..

Science- Sound: how sounds are made and travel and how we hear them.

PE- Outdoor PE on Monday with Mr Ault- supportive trainers and warm tracksuits please. Dance - as this is a busy week with play rehearsals- we will fit dance in wherever we can so please have indoor kit in school all week.

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah, Mrs Brennan and Mr Mellor

Week beginning 25.11.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 21st Nov 2019 @ 8:54pm

This week: I am so proud of Goldfinches' lovely focus in their artwork. We experimanted with harmonious and complementary colours to create artwork inspired by the artist Jim Dine. We explored using brusho to create hues of yellow and orange for our Greek inspired art.

Coming up:

Writing- We will use our historical story 'Escape from Pompeii' to practice using speech punctuation.

Shared Reading- we will continue to use our class novel 'Pompeii A Roman Girl's Diary' to help us learn about Pompeii before and after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.

Spelling: focusing on some of the words from the 2nd column of the Y3/4 words

Maths-  multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100.  Continuing to learn the 7x table whilst also practising the 6x table with division facts.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars. Topmarks Hit the Button game.

RE- Sikhism

History- researching the similarities and differences between the Ancient and Modern Olympic games.

Science- Sound: how sounds are made and travel and how we hear them.

PE- Outdoor PE on Monday with Mr Ault- supportive trainers and warm tracksuits please. Dance - as this is a busy week with Christmas Fair and Christingle, we will fit dance in wherever we can so please have indoor kit in school all week.

We look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Fair (Wednesday from 2pm) and Christingle (Thursday at 2pm)

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah, Mrs Brennan and Mr Mellor

Week beginning 18.11.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 14th Nov 2019 @ 9:50pm

Greek Day: On Monday we enjoyed meeting Penelope and Andros from Ancient Athens and Sparta and finding all about what it was like living in their 'Polis' (city states) We had an interesting and interactive morning exploring artefacts, dressing up, acting as different members of society, seeing real Spartan weapons and learning to play Greek games. Our afternoon was spent making city state coins out of clay, using drama to explore mythical stories and learning to balance peacock feathers! This was a fantastic experience, taught us all an enormous amount and really brought the ancient past to life.

On Wednesday during dance we explored different pieces of music we could use in the Christmas performance dance and enjoyed watching the Anti-bullying assembly that our Ambassadors organised.

Coming up:

Writing- We will really get in to our new historical story 'Escape from Pompeii' 

Spelling: more words with the ey, ei and eigh spelling pattern.

Maths- more decimal numbers with tenths and hundredths with the link to money and coins, addition and subtraction. Continuing to learn the 7x table whilst also practising the 6x table with division facts.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars.

RE- Sikhism

History- Timeline work and chronology.

Geography- mapping Rome and Greece. Investigating the changing empires.

Science- Sound: how sounds are made and travel and how we hear them.

PE- Outdoor PE on Monday with Mr Ault- supportive trainers and warm tracksuits please. Dance on Wednesday with Mrs Evans.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah, Mrs Brennan and Mr Mellor

Week beginning 11.11.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 7th Nov 2019 @ 9:11pm

Wecome back to Autumn term 2. We hope you all had a lovely week.

Despite being a shorter week, we have been as busy as ever! It has been wonderful to see some budding artists hard at work exploring colour with hues, shades and tints this week to produce some beautiful poppy work for Remembrance Day.

We are proud of our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors for the day they spent at Rudheath Academy learning this important role.

We are also proud to add to our new school 'No Outsider's display' where we have celebrated our uniqueness through reading the story 'Red'. 

Coming up:  Greek Day on Monday. We look forward to welcoming our visitors for the Greek Workshop. Look out for lots of photos to come on Twitter.

Writing- We will begin a new genre based on an historical recount... but don't want to spoil the surprise by revealing our new book yet... watch this space!

Spelling: words with the ey, ei and eigh spelling pattern.

Maths- more decimal numbers with tenths and hundredths  continuing learning the 7x table whilst also practising the 6x table with division facts.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars.

RE- Sikhism

History- Immersing ourselves in the Ancient Greek Culture during our Greek Day. Writing up our letter to Zeus ready for display

Science- Sound: how sounds are made and travel and how we hear them.

PE- No PE on Monday due to our Greek workshop. Dance on Wednesday with Mrs Evans.

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah, Mrs Brennan and Mr Mellor

Week beginning 4.11.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 25th Oct 2019 @ 11:31am

We hope you all have a much needed rest this half term- It has been a long one!!

Thank you all for all of your support this half term and we look forward to seeing you back bright and refreshed on Tuesday 5th November!

Coming up: 

Writing- we will continue with our Greek Myth theme and write our persuasive letters to Zeus to convince him that we are the best Heros to help him.

Spelling: in the first week back we will recap all of the words in the first column of the Y3/4 list and then send a copy of this home. If you want to practise spellings over half term then please focus on this first column of Y3/4 spellings (this is linked on the class web page)

Maths- we will begin to look at decimal numbers with tenths and hundredths and make links to measures and money. We began to learn the 7x table last week so will be continuing with the 7s whilst also practising the 6x table with division facts.

Maths Homework: TT Rock stars- practise, practise, practise! I can't wait to see who has the most coins and who is highest on the leaderboard when we come back to school!

RE- this half term continues with our focus on the Sikh Religion.

Topic- We will link our art work to topic with sketches and ink work inspired by Ancient Greek pottery. Please send an old t-shirt/apron into school for our art lessons.

Science- We will begin our new topic about sound: how sounds are made and travel and how we hear them.

PE- Mr Ault will continue with outdoor invasion games on Mondays. This will continue to be outdoors wherever possible so please ensure your child has trainers and a warm tracksuit for these sessions. We will have Dance on a Wednesday. 

Please ensure all long hair is tied back for school and that for PE earrings are either removed or covered with tape.

Once again, Happy half term

Mrs Evans, Mrs O'Marah, Mrs Brennan and Mr Mellor

Week beginning 21.10.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 16th Oct 2019 @ 9:36pm

This week:

Goldfinches have had another hard-working week and have enjoed beginning to explore a range of Ancient Greek Myths through reading and drama.

It has been lovely to get the change to talk to you all at Parent's Evening and thank you for taking the time to come to see me.

Coming up next week: Wow- we are in Week 8! This half term has flown by! 

Non-uniform day on Friday 25th- please send in a bottle of something in return as a contribution to our Christmas Fair stalls.

Please save any glass jars (jam, sauce, mayonaise etc) and send in to school so we can use them for a mindfullness activity. (If you don't want your child to carry it in to school- please just pass them to us first thing in the morning or pass to the school office. 

Writing: We will continue to use a range of Greek Myths to inspire our writing. Please encourage your child to re-tell any of the myths they have learned at school. 

Reading: Non-Fiction Greek texts.

Spelling: We will focus on more words from the Y3/4 word list (column 1) 

Maths: Addition and subtraction methods and solving addition and subtraction word problems and puzzles.

PSHE: We will use one of our No Outsiders books 'Red' as part of our lessons teaching the children acceptance and individuality.

PE: Games with Mr Ault on Monday morning. Please remember to bring a pair of spare socks and a tracksuit/joggers and warm top as the weather is starting to get colder now. Trainers would also be more suitable than pumps as the children will be on the field. Cricket all Wednesday afternoon. This will be the last cricket session.

RE: We will continue our focus on the Sikh religion and look at some of the important Sikh symbols.

Science: More on teeth and how to keep our teeth healthy.

Computing: We will add to the Digestive System quiz we started and test to see how well it works.

Thank you all as always for your support,

Mrs Evans, Mrs Brennan and Mrs O'Marah.

Week beginning 14.10.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 10th Oct 2019 @ 8:33am

Wow what another great week we have had in Goldfinches class!

Thank you to all of the family members for coming to our 'Come and Join Us' session and for embracing all of the activities with so much enthusiasm (and competitiveness) I can just see you all taking over the park for a parents vs children cricket match next! 

Earlier in the week we enjoyed meeting Kevin and his beautiful guide dog Urwin in worship where we found out what it was like for Kevin to be blind.

Coming up next week: 

Book Fair- This will be in Y5 classroom after school each evening Fri 11th, Mon 14th, Tues 15th Wed 16th Oct.

Journey Man- he will be coming in on Wednesday for a lovely afternoon of storytelling.

Literacy- we will be starting to explore Greek myths, heroes, mythical creatures and settings for our next piece of writing. 

Reading- We will explore and share a range of Greek Myth stories.

Spelling- Words with the prefix 'inter'

Maths- Addition and subtraction strategies and understanding the inverse.

Science- Exploring the results of the investigation into different liquids on our teeth and ways to keep our teeth healthy.

PE- Games with Mr Ault (outside if dry- please bring joggers and tracksuit top to keep warm and spare socks in case the field is wet)  This week there will be no Cricket because of parents afternoon - but Goldfinches will have a whole afternoon of cricket the following week (23rd Oct) instead.

Thank you for all your support at home to listen to your child read, practise their spellings and work on their times tables. 

Mrs Evans, Mrs Brennan, Mrs O'Marah

Week beginning 7.10.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 2nd Oct 2019 @ 10:21pm

Another busy week and Goldfinches have produced lots of work to make us proud.

We welcomed Mr Mellor this week who will be with us until February while on placement for his PGCE teaching degree.

Goldfinches worked hard on their performance poem for the Harvest service and we would like to thank everyone who donated to the Mid Cheshire Food Bank. (We are happy to continue to pass on any further donations which arrive in school) 

Remember this Friday 4th October the children have an extra PE session with Mr Ault on Friday morning.

Coming up next week: 

COME AND JOIN US: Wed 9th 2pm-3pm. Bring your trainers!

Please could you send in any empty glass jars which have been washed and lables removed for a project later this half term. 

Writing: We loved reading the final part of Gorilla this week and will be working on writing our own stories based on the same theme.

Reading: More of Voices in the Park as this week we spent time focusing on the preparation of the Harvest Poem.

Spellings: Words with the suffix 'ly' 

Maths: We will focus on Roman Numerals and, over the next few weeks, will begin to look at addition and subtraction methods. More times tables: reviewing the 5x and learning the 6x tables. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=BingoMultiplicationv9 

Have a go at the TOPMARKS times table Bingo game to help your child with their fluency and recall.

Science: Teeth - types and how to keep them healthy.

Art: We will be exploring sketching and learning to draw a human figure in proportion. Please send an old (named) t-shirt or shirt for your child to keep in school and wear during messy art sessions.

History: We will be learning about ancient Greek art and the stories its artwork can tell us.

PE- Games with Mr Ault on Monday morning. While the weather is still dry enough, lessons will be  working outside. Children can bring a tracksuit (joggers and top) to keep them a bit warmer. Also, as the grass may be a little wet first thing in the morning, please pack spare socks in PE kits.

Cricket on Wednesday. We would love parents/grandparents to bring their trainers and participate in our cricket session alongside the children on Wednesday during our Come and Join Us session. (2pm-3pm Wednesday 9th October) 

Finally, just a gentle reminder for children with long hair to please have it tied back for school.

Thank you for your continued support, 

Mrs Evans, Mrs Brennan and Mrs O'Marah

Week beginning 30.9.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 25th Sep 2019 @ 9:29pm

This week: 

What a sporty week Goldfinches have had!  We have seen such enthusiasm and perseverence from them all.

Well done to all of the children who stood for the class councillor role. We were so impressed by their confidence in delivering their speeches. We had a democratic vote and used a ballot box. Congratulations to the newly elected councillors Layla and Kailum.

Thank you for all of the hard work you are all putting in to your reading, spellings and times tables at home. We are all so proud of you all.

Coming up next week:

Harvest: We will be preparing for our Harvest Festival in Church on Wednesday morning. Please help us to support the Mid Cheshire Food Bank by sending your child with packet or tinned foods. Thank you. 

Literacy: We will continue to use our book 'Gorilla' to practise writing in direct speech. Our speech sandwich will help us to add extra detail.

Shared Reading: We have enjoyed reading 'Voices in the Park' and will continue to develop our retrieval, inference and comparative skills next week.

Spelling: We will focus on some of the spellings from the first column of the Y3/4 Statutory spelling list and will use these to help us develop our joined handwriting.

Maths: More work on rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000. Have a go at 'Rounding Rockets' on the topmarks site. We will continue to focus on the 6x table whilst revising the 2x, 10x and 5x tables. Please keep playing on TTRockstars to help build fluency and accuracy.

Science: More work on digestion this week and then we will begin to look at teeth.

History: We will use our knowledge of negative numbers to add key people and events from Ancient Greece and Rome to a number line using BC and AD.

PE: Monday morning with Mr Ault. Cricket on Wednesday afternoon. An extra PE session with Mr Ault on Friday morning.

Week beginning 23.9.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 18th Sep 2019 @ 10:33pm

Goldfinches have had a hard working week and are settling well into the Y4 routines. We enjoyed a boogie to 'Happy' to celebrate everybody's name being on the Recognition Board and are now working hard on 'Stopping straight away' as our next target.

It is wonderful to see how hard our Goldfinches are working on their reading, spellings and times tables at home and thank you all so much for all the comments in their diaries. 

SPORTS AND PE

Please make sure your child has their school PE kit and trainers in school all week as WB 23rd September will be a very active week for us:

Mon 23rd - PE as usual with Mr Ault.

Wed 25th - Fitness session with Theresa and Cricket with our coaches.

Thurs 26th - Tennis session with coaches from the Tennis club.

In Literacy will be continuing to explore our Gorilla text. We will look at the book 'Seen and Not Heard' in guided reading which is a wonderful text for grabbing the children's attention and interest.

Maths will continue to focus on negative numbers, rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000 and practising the 6x table.

In RE we will explore the concept of 'belief' by sharing our beliefs as Christians and comparing them with Sikh beliefs.

In History (now we have found out where Greece, Athens, Italy and Rome are in the world) we will be placing Ancient Greece and Roman times onto a timeline. This will help us to learn more about BC and AD parts of a timeline. In science the children will continue their journey through the digestive system and learn about its functions!

In computing the children will begin to explore the Codu programme in which they learn to use coding to create a virtual world!

In spelling we will further consolidate the 'sure' spellings and practise the new set which are words with the prefix 'auto'. On Friday, Mrs O'Marah will continue to focus on the first column of the Statutory Y3/4 spellings (attached) 

We will continue to 'Get Heart Smart' and follow the My Happy Mind programme within PSHE.

Thank you for all of your continued support,

Mrs Evans, Mrs Brennan and Mrs O'Marah

Week beginning 16.9.19, by Mrs Evans

Date: 12th Sep 2019 @ 2:21pm

Thank you to all parents who attended the meet the teacher evening last week. It was lovely to meet you all!

Please note our Class Assembly is Wednesday 3rd June.

We have had a busy couple of weeks settling in to our new classroom routines and I am really impressed with how organised they are with their diaries.

This week we are continuing to focus on our class text ‘Gorilla’ by Anthony Browne. In maths our place value work will focus on counting in steps of 25, 50 and 1000 and counting back to include negative numbers.

Our times table focus is 6x table. Have a go at playing Hit the Button to help your child practise. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

The children are really getting into our shared reading text ‘The Firework Maker’s Daughter’ by Phillip Pullman and we will continue to read and focus on retrieval questions using skimming and scanning techniques.

Our spelling focus this week is words containing ‘sure’. After our spelling test last week the children highlighted the words they got correct.

Please have outdoor PE kit in school on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Goldfinches Class are really working hard to follow our ‘Ready, Respectful, Safe’ rules and are enjoying achieving the class reward when all names are on the recognition board. Keep it up Goldfinches!

Mrs Evans, Mrs O’Marah,, Mrs Brennan.