Lostock Gralam C of E Primary School
Toucans: Blog items
Toucans week beg. 9.12.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 4th Dec 2019 @ 4:10pm
Aladdin
We are looking forward to finally sharing our production of Aladdin Trouble with you next week. You will be receiving a letter referring to the times that children need to be in school next week.
PE
The children will spend most of Friday 13th December doing PE with Mr Ault to make up for lessons missed during our rehearsals.
Christmas Jumper Day is on Friday 13th December.
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths Homework. It’s great to hear the children talking about what they found ‘easy’ or ‘hard’. Please try and catch up with any homework tasks that you have missed over the coming weeks as we will only be assigning 1 page a week from now to Christmas
This week, we would like them to complete page 28 (Mixed numbers and improper fractions) due in on Wednesday 11th December
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on the sh sound spelt si or ssi. These are quite difficult so encourage your child to talk about the meaning of each word and to come up with a strategy to help remember how to spell it e.g. Draw around the image.
expansion, permission, comprehension, admission, tension, profession, possession, discussion, revision, decision
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans week beg. 2.12.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 28th Nov 2019 @ 8:38am
Aladdin
Not long to go now to our production of ‘Aladdin Trouble’. Thank you for all the costumes that you have provided for your children as they look fabulous. Next week will be a busy week with lots of singing, rehearsing and making props. We will be having some full dress rehearsals with all of KS2.
PE
As we will be busy rehearsing for our play we will just have a formal PE lesson with Mr Ault next Friday. Instead we will have lots of extra opportunities to use the Golden Mile or do 5-A-Day activities in the classroom, depending on the weather. To make sure we are not losing out on any curriculum PE time, Year 6 will spend the morning of Friday 13th December with Mr Ault, as well as having their usual PE lesson at the end of that day.
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths Homework. It’s great to hear the children talking about what they found ‘easy’ or ‘hard’. Please try and catch up with any homework tasks that you have missed over the coming weeks as we will only be assigning 1 page a week from now to Christmas
This week, we would like them to complete page 22 (Order of Operations) due in on Wednesday 4th December
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on homophones and other words that are often confused. These are quite difficult so encourage your child to talk about the meaning of each word and to come up with a strategy to help remember how to spell it e.g. Draw around the image.
morning, assent, compliment, draft, mourning, ascent, desert, complement, dessert, draught
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans week beg. 25.11.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 20th Nov 2019 @ 5:31pm
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths Homework. We hope you are finding our new books useful tools for revision.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 20 and 21 (Multiplying & Dividing by 10, 100 & 1000) due in on Wednesday 27th November.
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on the sh sound spelt ti or ci:
direction, especially, explanation, appreciate, competition, ancient, cautious, delicious, motion, spacious
PE
Over the next few weeks, as we are busy preparing for our Aladdin production we will be making maximum use of our Golden Mile Track and having more outdoor active breaks so please ensure your child always has sensible footwear.
PE will continue on Thursdays with Mrs Whittingham and Fridays with Mr Ault but please have PE kits in all week as we may swap sessions around to fit in with our rehearsals for Aladdin.
Aladdin
Please help your child to learn their lines for our school production and ask them to work on any songs that they need to learn. Encourage them to act out their lines and use expression and tone to emphasise the message behind their spoken words. Also please come and see me if you are struggling to get any costumes.
The children will be rehearsing for their roles during school time on Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays. Normal lessons will continue and Mrs Whittingham will work on the different scenes as the children get on with their independent activities from these lessons.
Diary Dates
Wednesday 27th November – Christmas Fair 2 – 6pm
Thursday 28th November - Christingle 2pm
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans Class Blog Week beg. 18.11.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 13th Nov 2019 @ 6:39pm
Imperial War Museum
The children had a fantastic trip to the Imperial War Museum on Wednesday. They engaged well with all the activities and carried out the learning trails on WW1 and Rationing with enthusiasm. We were very proud of them.
PE
PE will continue on Thursdays with Mrs Whittingham and Fridays with Mr Ault but please have PE kits in all week as we may swap sessions around to fit in with our rehearsals for Aladdin.
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths Homework. We hope you are finding our new books useful tools for revision.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 10 and 11 (Roman Numbers) due in on Wednesday 20th November. This is revision of a Year 5 topic that is assessed in the KS2 SATs so you may need to remind your child of the value of each letter e.g. X = 10, C = 100 etc.
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on Exception Words from the Year 5/6 Spelling List:
guarantee, queue, vehicle, mischievous, foreign, bargain, amateur, hindrance, profession, sufficient
Aladdin
Please help your child to learn their lines for our school production and ask them to work on any songs that they need to learn. Encourage them to act out their lines and use expression and tone to emphasise the message behind their spoken words. Also please come and see me if you are struggling to get any costumes.
The children will be rehearsing for their roles on Friday afternoon during school time.
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans week beg. 11.11.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 6th Nov 2019 @ 5:59pm
Imperial War Museum
We are all looking forward to our trip to the Imperial War Museum on Wednesday 13th November. In preparation for our visit, we have been finding out about the Yemen Crisis, the museum itself and focusing on what we will find out about WW1 and Rationing, in particular.
PE
PE will continue after half term on Thursdays with Mrs Whittingham and Fridays with Mr Ault
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths Homework. We hope you are finding our new books useful tools for revision.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 26 and 27 (Prime Numbers, Square and Cube Numbers) due in on Wednesday 13th November
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on suffixes:
happily, copier, applied, mysterious, spying, busier, heavily, trying, beautiful, happiness
Aladdin
Please help your child to learn their lines for our school production and ask them to work on any songs that they need to learn. Also please come and see me if you are struggling to get any costumes.
The children will be rehearsing for their roles on Friday afternoon during school time.
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans week beg. 4.11.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 24th Oct 2019 @ 8:12am
We hope the children have a safe and restful half term and we would like to thank them for all their hard work this term. We look forward to welcoming them back after the holidays and begin preparations in earnest with our Aladdin Production.
Please remember that Monday 4th November is an Inset day. We will welcome the children back on Tuesday 5th November 2019.
Netball
If you haven’t done so already, please sign up for the before school netball club which will begin on Tuesday 5th November 8 – 8.45am
PE
PE will continue after half term on Thursdays and Fridays
Imperial War Museum
We will be preparing for our trip to the Imperial War Museum on Wednesday 13th November by undertaking research about the Yemen Crisis, finding out more about the museum, exploring a floor map of the museum and focusing on what we will find out about WW1 and Rationing, in particular.
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths Homework. We hope you are finding our new books useful tools for revision.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 24 and 25 (Multiples and Factors) due in on Wednesday 6th November
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on double letters:
apparently, correspond, sufficient, opportunity, profession, beginning, forgetting, preferred, admitting, beginner
Aladdin
The children will be rehearsing for their roles on Friday afternoon during school time.
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans week beg. 21.10.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 16th Oct 2019 @ 3:41pm
Thank you to everyone who attended our Parents Evening. We hope you enjoyed seeing the fantastic work that your children have done so far this year and hearing how they are progressing in Year 6.
Next week, the children will be continuing their writing based on our book 'Star of Fear, Star of Hope'. So far they have written some lovely diary entries and letters in the role as Helen. In Maths, they will be looking at prime numbers to 100 and we will take a look at some exam questions around number. The children will continue to work on their enquiry based project focusing on an aspect of conflict that interests them. In RE, we will be learning about Shabbat and how Jews celebrate together. In PE, the children will continue to work on invasion games with Mr Ault on Friday.
Maths Homework
Thank you for helping your child to complete their maths homework last week. We were glad to see that by self-checking their own work the children were immediately able to explain what they found easy/difficult. Don’t forget if your child has found a topic particularly difficult, mark the page with a red dot and then we will work on these weaknesses as part of our intervention sessions in school.
Just to remind you, each week, your child will circle and date the page numbers that we would like them to complete that week, they can write it in their homework diaries and we will also put on the blog each week, the page numbers we would like them to do too! The books will go home on a Friday each week and will be due in on the following Wednesday.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 18 and 19 (Written Division) due in on Wednesday 23rd October.
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on suffixes:
admitting, forgotten, committed, beginner, referring, regretted, forbidden, preferred, stoppable, referring
Aladdin
The children will be rehearsing for their roles in our Christmas Production on Friday afternoon during school time.
Inter School Sports Competitions
We have the following sporting events coming up next week. Mr Ault and Mrs Whittingham have selected the teams and your child will have had a letter already if they were chosen.
Tuesday 22nd October away football match at Sandiway.
Wednesday 23rd October Tag Rugby at Moss Farm
Friday 25th October Hockey at RSA
Art Day
Toucans will have an Art Day on Thursday 24th October. They will explore the work of the Wartime artist Paul Nash and create some conflict paintings based on his work. Please could they bring in an old t-shirt/shirt to wear on this day.
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans week beg. 14.10.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 9th Oct 2019 @ 3:38pm
A big thank you to all who attended our Come and Join Session. The children have shown some excellent skills as they became historians and began their enquiry project based on an aspect of conflict that interests them.
Next week, the children will be continuing their writing based on our book 'Star of Fear, Star of Hope'. In Maths, they will be looking at factors and prime numbers. As well as solving a variety of number problems using our reasoning skills. In RE, we will continue to finish off our non-chronological report on Judaism.
Rugby World Cup
To mark the Rugby World Cup, year 5 and 6 will be involved in an intra school competition on Friday 18th October with Mr Ault.
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths homework. The children seem to be enjoying their new books. Don’t forget if your child has found a topic particularly difficult, mark the page with a red dot and then we will work on these weaknesses as part of our intervention sessions in school.
Just to remind you, each week, your child will circle and date the page numbers that we would like them to complete that week, they can write it in their homework diaries and we will also put on the blog each week, the page numbers we would like them to do too! The books will go home on a Friday each week and will be due in on the following Wednesday.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 16 and 17 (Written Multiplication) due in on Wednesday 16th October.
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on homophones:
principal, wary, principle, weary, bridal, precede, bridle, proceed, there, their
Parents’ Evening
Just a reminder that Parents Evening will take place on Tuesday 15th October and Wednesday 16th October. This is an opportunity for you to find out how your child has settled into Year 6 and to take a look through their books.
Aladdin
At the moment we are just working on roles in school but will let you know when we may need your child to stay behind after school to work on their acting/singing.
Inter School Sports Competitions
We have the following sporting events coming up over the next few weeks. Mr Ault and Mrs Whittingham will select the teams and your child will receive a letter if chosen.
Tuesday 22nd October away football match at Sandiway.
Wednesday 23rd October Tag Rugby at Moss Farm
Friday 25th October Hockey at RSA
Art Day
Toucans will have an Art Day on Thursday 24th October. They will explore the work of the Wartime artist Paul Nash and create some conflict paintings based on his work. Please could they bring in an old t-shirt/shirt to wear on this day.
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Toucans week beg. 07.10.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 2nd Oct 2019 @ 5:26pm
Toucans had a fantastic visit to Safety Central on Monday. Their behaviour was impeccable and their interest and engagement with all the activities was of the highest standard. It was ‘like being on a movie set’, said one pupil excitedly. The children learned about how to keep themselves safe on the road, by water and at the train station. They also looked at possible dangers within the home which could cause a fire. Ask them about shopping at Tesco, they had a great time learning about how to keep their bodies healthy!
Next week, the children will be continuing their writing based on our book 'Star of Fear, Star of Hope'. In Maths, they will be looking at written division methods, incorporated with reasoning and problem solving activities involving the four operations that we have covered – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. To help prepare for our trip to the Imperial War Museum on Wednesday 13th November, the children will begin to select an aspect of conflict that interests them most and begin their enquiry study on this. In RE, we will be finishing off our non-chronological report on Judaism. In PE, the children will continue to work on invasion games on Thursday with Mrs Whittingham and with Mr Ault on Friday.
KS2 Come and Join Wednesday 9th October 2pm
Come and join your child as they embark on their enquiry based study on an aspect of conflict e.g. propaganda, women during the wars, weapons etc.
Maths Homework
Thank you for helping your child to complete their maths homework last week. We were glad to see that by self-checking their own work the children were immediately able to explain what they found easy/difficult. Don’t forget if your child has found a topic particularly difficult, mark the page with a red dot and then we will work on these weaknesses as part of our intervention sessions in school.
Just to remind you, each week, your child will circle and date the page numbers that we would like them to complete that week, they can write it in their homework diaries and we will also put on the blog each week, the page numbers we would like them to do too! The books will go home on a Friday each week and will be due in on the following Wednesday.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 14 and 15 (Written Adding and Subtracting) due in on Wednesday 9th October.
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on suffixes – less, ful, ness, ment, ly:
careless, flavourless, hopeful, deceitful, meanness, lateness, achievement, amazement, definitely, thoroughly,
Youth Trust Award
The children will be finishing their project work for this award that they started last year by doing some litter picking in our local community on Thursday or Friday, weather permitting.
Aladdin
Any outstanding roles for our Christmas Production will be assigned on Friday 11th October and your child should have their own script. At the moment we are just working on roles in school but will let you know when we may need your child to stay behind after school to work on their acting/singing.
Some of our children will also be taking part in a girls’ football competition at Rudheath Senior Academy on Friday afternoon 1 – 3pm.
Toucans week beg. 11.11.19, by Mrs Whittingham
Date: 26th Sep 2019 @ 10:30am
Imperial War Museum
We are all looking forward to our trip to the Imperial War Museum on Wednesday 13th November. In preparation for our visit, we have been finding out about the Yemen Crisis, the museum itself and focusing on what we will find out about WW1 and Rationing, in particular.
PE
PE will continue after half term on Thursdays with Mrs Whittingham and Fridays with Mr Ault. On Monday the 11th November they will have an extra PE session.
Maths Homework
Thank you for your on-going support with the Maths Homework. We hope you are finding our new books useful tools for revision.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 26 and 27 (Prime Numbers, Square and Cube Numbers) due in on Wednesday 13th November
Spellings
Our spelling words next week will focus on suffixes:
happily, copier, applied, mysterious, spying, busier, heavily, trying, beautiful, happiness
Aladdin
Please help your child to learn their lines for our school production and ask them to work on any songs that they need to learn. Also please come and see me if you are struggling to get any costumes.
The children will be rehearsing for their roles on Friday afternoon during school time.
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Y6 Week beginning 23.9.19, by Mrs Downing
Date: 18th Sep 2019 @ 5:46pm
Toucans class have worked so hard over the past week. They particularly enjoyed taking part in the Go Run for Fun event at Moss Farm on Wednesday afternoon. They were among 1500 children who took part and everyone received a t-shirt and a medal for their efforts!
Next week, the children will be continuing their writing based on our book 'Star of Fear, Star of Hope'. In Maths, they will be looking at written addition and subtraction methods. In Science, the children will be looking at the topic of 'Light' – What is light? What does it do? Can you see more than just your face in a mirror? Our on-going theme of conflict, sees us focusing on our Geography skills by locating oceans and continents so we gain a better understanding of where some of the wars have taken place. In History, we will begin to research the Civil Wars that took place in Great Britain. In RE, we will be exploring the big question: Who is a Jew? In PE, the children will be taking part in National Fitness Day which will take place on Wednesday this week so they need their PE kits on this day too. This workshop will be delivered by Theresa. They will also have their PE lesson with Mr Ault on Friday.
New this week…
Your children will come home with a new Maths revision book ‘KS2 Maths SATs Question Book’ on Friday. We briefly mentioned this at the ‘Meet the Teacher’ sessions but this is going to be our maths homework this year. The maths homework books are designed for the children to be able to complete independently and the answers are provided at the back of the books. However, if you can support your child by going through any answers they have got wrong this would help enormously. The books won’t be marked by us as they are designed to be marked at home as part of the revision process so that any incorrect answers are identified immediately and corrected. However, if your child has found a topic particularly difficult, mark the page with a red dot and then we will work on these weaknesses as part of our intervention sessions in school.
Each week, we will circle and date the page numbers that we would like them to complete that week, they can write it in their homework diaries and we will also put on the blog each week, the page numbers we would like them to do too! The books will go home on a Friday each week and will be due in on the following Wednesday.
This week, we would like them to complete pages 6 and 7 (Ordering Numbers) due in on Wednesday 25th September.
Our spelling words next week will focus on suffixes: -er, -ing, -y, -ed and –tion.
trader making grimy persuaded creating tickled appreciated observant fading creation
Some of our children will also be taking part in a football competition at Rudheath Senior Academy on Friday afternoon.
Thank you so much for all of your help with encouraging your children to read at home. We have really enjoyed discussing their books with them and reading your comments.
As always, just pop in and see us if you have any questions at all.
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick
Week beginning 16.9.19, by Mrs Downing
Date: 11th Sep 2019 @ 5:17pm
Thank you to all parents who attended our 'Meet the Teacher' sessions last week. The PowerPoint we used is on Toucans class page for you.
This week, the children will be continuing their writing based on our book 'Star of Fear, Star of Hope'. In Maths, they will be looking at place value with numbers up to ten million including negative numbers. In Science, the children will be looking at the topic of 'Light' - what do they already know and what would they like to find out? Our on-going theme of conflict, sees us looking at The Battle of Hastings. We will be using our ICT skills to create a report on this conflict focusing on recording the facts from this battle by examining the Bayeux Tapestry. In RE we will be researching the beliefs of Jews and how this impacts on their way of life. Our Heartsmart work will be based around the book 'Where The Poppies Now Grow' and we will be thinking about why people fight in wars and how we can remember them. In PE we will be learning how to play invasions games and the skills needed to attack and defend effectively, working as part of a team.
Our spelling words next week will focus on the letter string - ough - thoroughly, borough, although, doughnut, plough, drought, boughs, thought, though, ploughed.
Toucans and Skylarks will be participating in the Go Run For Fun event at Moss farm on Wednesday afternoon. They did this last year and really enjoyed the challenge.
Some of our children will also be taking part in a friendly home football game against St Bede's after school on Tuesday. The children who have been selected will be given a letter for you to sign.
Thank you for your continued support and come and see us if you have any questions
Mrs Downing, Mrs Whittingham & Mr Beswick