September 2009
Newsletter
11th September 2009
Dear Parents/Carers,
First of all I would like to introduce myself as the new phase leader for Years 3 and 4. Many of you already know me but I am looking forward to meeting some new faces too.
Here is some information on the transition from Year 2 to Year 3 and a reminder for those parents and carers of children in year 4.
Link books
Your child will be given a link book. This is a way of making a link between home and school. Your child will write information in the link book each Friday and will bring the link book home for you to look at and take note of what is happening in school the following week. The link book needs to be signed by the adult that has checked it. It is an opportunity for the teacher to comment on your child’s behaviour and for the parents to contact the teacher with any concerns or questions.
Swimming
Your child will be going swimming each term for half of the term. They will need to bring a swimming costume/trunks and towel.
• 4G and 4S will be swimming on Friday 18th of September until the end of half term
• 3A and 3W will be swimming from Friday 6th November to Friday 11th December.
Creative Curriculum
As part of the creative curriculum we are learning about the Vikings. On the 22nd of September we are very lucky to have an Educational Theatre Company coming into school to do a story telling workshop about Thor’s Hammer. This is a fun, interactive and exciting way for children to learn about the Vikings.
Our Creative Curriculum So Far.
A Visit From a Viking!
Our Creative Curriculum got off to a very exciting start. After recovering from a raid from 'Olaf The Great' we had great fun making Viking helmets, shields and axes ready to join Olaf on another raid.
The Tempus Fugit Educational Theatre Company
The children had a fantastic time learning about the Vikings by watching and taking part in the theatre workshop. They listened to tales of great Viking warriors, learned all about the 9 Viking worlds, traded furs and took part in a re enactment of the story of Thor's Hammer
We have been learning about tea!
The Autumn term saw the start of our new ‘Creative Curriculum’. We have learned all about ‘tea’.
Anyone for tea?
We started our topic off with a fantastic visit to the ‘Hugh Gaitskell Tea Room’ where the children enjoyed a cup of tea in fine china cups. They indulged in cucumber sandwiches and home made scones and cakes.
The children had a true to life experience of ordering and drinking tea in a café. They thoroughly enjoyed being waited upon by our ‘happy to help’ support assistants.
What did we learn?
Where tea comes from
How tea is made
What tea needs to grow
The different types of tea
How tea gets on our supermarket shelves
How tea is made and drunk in other countries
Whether tea is good for us
We enjoyed finding out the answers to all these questions and presented our new knowledge in the form of written work, art and drama.
3A had great fun acting out the journey of a tea leaf ‘from seed to cup of tea’
Keeping Warm
We linked our science work with our topic and investigated thermal insulators by finding out the best material to keep a cup of tea warm. The children experimented with lots of different conductors and insulators. They carried out a fair test until they found a material that kept the tea warmest for longest.
It's all in the design!
We looked at several different tea packages and discussed what we liked and disliked about the packaging.
The children planned, designed and made their own packaging which they then made.
Here are some fantastic examples of designs and finished products.
We learned about how tea packets are made in a factory on a production line. The children then became part of the Hugh Gaitskell tea packaging factory. They each had a very important job on the production line to make the tea packaging.