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Term 3 & 4 Newsletter – Class 3

Dear all,

I hope you all had a restful Christmas break and enjoyed all the festivities. Welcome back to school for Term 3. We have got an exciting term ahead of us and I am delighted to be back with the children.

English

In term 3 we will be looking at the book ‘Flat Stanley and the Great Egyptian Grave Robbery’ by Jeff Brown. Flat Stanley fits in very well with our Egyptian theme and provides a wonderful opportunity to learn about life in Ancient Egypt at the same as developing our writing skills with a focus on letter writing, newspaper recounts and instruction writing. After half term, we will be revisiting the features of narrative writing and developing our skills further as well as looking at the poem ‘From the Railway Carriage’. Children will also have the opportunity to practice their handwriting in order to get the precious pen licence!

Our whole class reading text for term 3 will be an abridged version of Treasure Island. After half term we will be reading ‘The Time-Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess’ by Julia Jarman.

Science

Our Science topic for Term 3 is Light. We will be investigating different sources of light and how we see. After half term, we will move onto Forces and Magnets. We will focus on the role of friction, push and pull and will investigate the strength of magnets.

DT

Our DT work this term includes looking at the foods that the Ancient Egyptians ate. Children will plan an authentic Egyptian feast, choosing foods that would have been available to the Egyptians and design a menu. Children will then have the opportunity to make Aish Baladi, an Ancient Egyptian bread.

Geography

Our Geography topic starts looking at the Oceans and Continents of the world, before narrowing down to focus on the country of Egypt and the River Nile as part of our theme of the Ancient Egyptians. We will look at the climate of Egypt as well as some of the physical Geography of the country, with a focus on the Nile.

Music

Children will have their weekly singing lessons on a Wednesday afternoon with Mrs Bayman. We will also be looking at the music of Ancient Egypt, looking at the instruments used and what we use in the modern day. Children will have the opportunity to create a piece of Ancient Egyptian music.

French

In French for terms 3 and 4 we will be learning our numbers to 31 in French as well as being able to ask ‘how old are you?’ Children will also learn the months and days in French as well as being able to ask ‘when is your birthday?’

Spelling

In Spellings, we will be continuing with Term 2 of our Superhero Spellings scheme. These sessions will focus on prefixes, suffixes and homophones. Children will have weekly spellings stuck in their homework books and will be tested on their spellings every Friday morning. Please encourage your children to practice their spellings in their homework book as this really supports their confidence and understanding. You can find a termly overview stapled in the front of your child’s homework books.

Maths

In Maths in term 3 we are carrying on with our learning of multiplication and division. This term sees children learn the formal method of multiplication, multiplying a 2 digit number by a 1 digit number. We will then be moving onto division and dividing 2 digits by 1 digit by partitioning into tens and ones and sharing into equal groups. After multiplication and division we will move onto a short unit of learning on money and then statistics. After half term in term 4 we will be focusing on measurement, specifically length and perimeter before starting our unit of work on fractions, which will carry on into term 5.

RE

Our RE topic for term 3 will look at Passover and how this connects to freedom in the Jewish religion. In term 4, our enquiry question will be ‘How do festivals and worship show what matters to a Muslim?

History

We will be spending terms 3 and 4 looking at the Ancient Egyptians. Children will learn about life in Ancient Egypt, focusing on the Egyptian Gods, mummies, Tutankhamun and hieroglyphics. Our enquiry questions for this topic are ‘How did the Egyptian civilisation last so long?’ which will be followed by ‘What have archaeologists taught us?’ after half term. Class 3 will also be going on an exciting trip to the Brighton museum for an engaging mummification workshop! 

PSHE

For PHSE children will be exploring their goals and their dreams as well as investigating how to overcome challenges they might face. After half term the children will be looking at what is means to be healthy.

Computing

In computing over terms 3 and 4 we will be looking at branching databases (a way of classifying groups of objects) and creating our own. We will also be looking at understanding the different types of digital platforms and the roles that they play in society/everyday life. Children will also practice their typing skills, increasing their skills and accuracy.

PE

PE will take place on a Tuesday morning with Miss Zara who will be looking at dance and gym skills. PE will also take place on a Thursday afternoons with Mrs Hall who will be focusing on fine tuning their gymnastic skills and sequences of movements.

Notices

PE kits

Our PE lessons are on Tuesday and Thursdays, so please make sure children have their full kits. Children can wear tracksuit bottoms up to half term whilst it is still cold, then after half term children will be expected to wear shorts. Thank you.

Reading

Your children will each have an appropriately chosen reading book that will be sent home with them and they are able to change these books are regularly as necessary. We expect children to read every night, even if it is only for a short while. Please continue to record all reading in their Reading Records. The Reading Records will be stamped once a page is completed. Children will receive a certificate in assembly when they fill up their Reading Record. We will be checking children’s Reading Records once a week, so please do make sure it is in their schoolbags.

We would be delighted if any parents or carers are able to come in and listen to children read. It is always helpful for children to read to an adult as often as possible so we would welcome any volunteers.

Homework

Homework is to be completed once a week and children will be able to choose a piece of homework from a Homework menu. The orange Homework books will be handed out to children to take home on a Wednesday afternoon and will be expected back in school on a Monday morning. Please make sure you ask your child about their homework for the week and are working with them to complete it.

TT Rockstars/Mathletics

You will be familiar with Mathletics from last year and we encourage children to continue to work on Mathletics at home. I will not be setting any particular tasks on Mathletics, but the planning grid will help you to see where children are in their learning and therefore practice the skills that they have been learning at school. Children will also be able to use TT Rockstars (Times Tables Rockstars), which is a carefully sequenced program of daily times tables practice. Children will need to practice their 3,4 and 8 times tables regularly; this will be of a huge help to them in our daily maths lesson and consolidate our class learning.

Uniform

Please make sure children’s names are on their uniform so that we know exactly who owns what! In Class 3 children are expected to wear ties with their winter uniform. Please make sure your child has a tie and that it is named.

Water Bottles

Please make sure your child’s water bottle is clearly named and that they bring them home with them every day.

Please do come up and chat at the end of the day or email me if you have any questions.

Many thanks,

Miss Rietdyk

crietdyk@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

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