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Thomas Willingale School and Nursery

Autumn Term

Welcome Back!

 

It has been wonderful to see the children return to school and they have adapted well to the new KS2 routines.  They are settling well into their new classes and making new friends.

We are looking forward to seeing lots of parents at our Parent Meeting on Monday which will be held in Holly class at 2.50pm.  This meeting will inform you about the Year 3 Curriculum and everything you need to know as your child transitions from Year 2 to Year 3.

 

We will update this page every week with lots of information about the children's learning so stay tuned!

 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Sheptuha and Mrs Nair-Shah

13.9.2024

 

English

In English this week we have been learning all about the power of reading!  We have been picking out interesting words and phrases from our class story 'The Abominables' and used them to describe the setting and the yetis.  We tried hard to use accurate punctuation in our sentences along with sentence starters, adjectives, similes and alliteration.

 

Maths

We have continued learning about place value and exploring numbers up to 1000.  We can partition numbers into hundreds, tens and ones, using base 10 equipment and jottings.

 

Science

This week we set up an investigation about what plants need to grow healthily.  The children chose their own scientific question, made a prediction and wrote the method.  We will use our observation skills to monitor what happens.

 

PE

This term we are learning how to play rugby.  This week we learnt how to hold a rugby ball correctly and how to throw and catch it.

 

History and Art

We began our topic about Trade and Transport!  The children thought about what they already know and what they want to learn.  We made posters about trade and transport in our art lesson.

 

The children have new spellings to learn ready for next Friday and are also bringing home their arithmetic test sheet.  Please spend some time with your children reading, practising spellings and times tables and looking through their arithmetic work.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs Sheptuha and Mrs Nair-Shah

 

20.9.2024

 

Week 3

 

In our history lessons we have been learning about the Stone Age.  We made tools out of clay and used our knowledge of trade to buy and sell objects using bartering. No money was involved but we had to use objects such as a wheel, wheat and tools to trade for other items that we needed and exchange them with other merchants.  We had a lot of fun!

 

In our English lessons we have been learning about instructions.  We followed instructions to make a jam sandwich and know that if the instructions aren't in the correct order we will get in a muddle!  We planned a set of instructions to train a yeti, based on our class book ‘The Abominables’.  We know that instructions need: a title, an introduction, headings, bullet points and clear, numbered steps, imperative verbs and adverbs of time.  Next week we will write and edit our instructions.

 

In maths we have continued learning about place value and have been comparing numbers using the < = > symbols.  In Science we have set up an investigation about water transportation in plants.  We want to find out if the temperature affects the speed that water is transported around the plant.  We put flowers in water containing food colouring and have put the flowers in different areas of the school.  We made predictions and next week we will find out what has happened and make conclusions.

 

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Mrs Sheptuha and Mrs Nair-Shah

 

Week 4 Friday 27th September

 

As always we have had a busy week in school!

In our English lessons we completed our instructions on ‘How to train a yeti’.  We used  the features of instructions in our writing including: a title, an introduction, headings, bullet points, numbers, imperative verbs, adverbs of time and adverbs.  We trained our yetis to do lots of different things, such as ice skating, boxing and cleaning the house!

In maths we have used our knowledge of place value to compare numbers as well as add and subtract a 1-digit number to a 3-digit number.  In Science, we looked back at the two investigations that we had set up and made observations and comparisons to make conclusions.  We found out that plants need air, water, warmth and light to grow healthily.  We also found out that water transports around the plant quicker in warmer temperatures.

In history, we have been discussing what we have learnt so far about Trade and Transport and updating our Connections board.  We have also been placing events on a time line. In our Music lessons, we have been playing the notes on the glockenspiels with some success!

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Mrs Sheptuha and Mrs Nair-Shah

How to train a yeti - Take a look at our instructions.

Week 5 30th September

This week we have been learning about the Romans.  We found out that they were amazing engineers and made an amazing road network across the Romas Empire which they used to trade goods with other countries.  In DT we made a Roman chariot.

In Maths we have been learning to partition 3-digit numbers flexibly.  For example, 345= 300+40+5 but also 100 + 240 + 5 or 200+140+5

In English, we have been learning about playscripts and have planned a playscript on a story board so that we are ready to write our own playscripts next week.  Our playscripts will be set in a Stone Age village and will be about trading and bartering.

In Science, we have been learning about pollination and have found out that some flowers are insect pollinated and some are wind pollinated.

In PE, we have been practising passing a rugby ball and learning some tactics for defending and attacking.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

 

Mrs Sheptuha and Mrs Nair-Shah

DT - making Roman chariots

Week Beginning 14th October

 

This week we have been celebrating Black History Month.  We have been learning about the poet Benjamin Zepaniah who sadly died on 7th December 2023.  We have read some of the amazing poems that he wrote to bring awareness to people's problems as well as the racism that many people encounter.  We wrote our own poems in the style of his famous poem 'What do people need?'

 

In maths we have been learning to add and subtract using the column method.  The children have mastered this method and are applying their skills to solve mathematical problems.

 

In Science we have been learning about the life cycle of a flowering plant.  We drew our own life cycle and wrote about the different phases:  germination, growing and flowering, pollination, fertilisation and seed dispersal.

 

In history we have been learning about the Vikings and the Shang Dynasty.  We drew and labelled pictures of a viking long ship and learnt about how they traded.  We found out that the Shang dynasty were from China and used the Silk Road route to trade with Asia and Europe.  We used our trade and bartering skills to take part in The Silk Road game where we had to trade with Rome and China.

 

Thank you to everyone who has brought food in for Harvest, we really appreciate your contributions.

 

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Sheptuha and Mrs Nair-Shah

Using our bartering skills to trade on The Silk Road

Week beginning 21st October

 

We have had a busy final week of this half term.  On Thursday the children were treated to a fantastic show by Rock Steady where they learned all about being in a band.  They had a great time!

 

In maths we have continued learning bout column addition and the children have been adding across 10 and 100 and carrying to the next column.    In history, we have been comparing types of transport through to the modern times and made a time line. 

 

We have been observing the change of seasons and the children are enjoying spending time outside in the autumn leaves.  In our English lessons this week, the children have written an autumn poem and tried hard to include adjectives, similes and rhyme.

 

As you know we have an educational visit planned to the Ongar Railway on the 19th November and we will need some parent helpers to accompany us.  If you think you will be available to help on this day, please speak to Mrs Sheptuha directly or send an email to the school admin.

 

We hope you have a wonderful half term holiday and we will see on the 4th November.

 

 

Mrs Sheptuha and Mrs Nair-Shah

Autumn poems

Week beginning 4.11.24

 

We have had a very busy week at school!

In maths the children have been learning how to do subtraction using the column method.  They have done very well with this and next week we will learn how to exchange.

In English the children have read the story of Hansel and Gretel and then planned their own ‘Tricking the monster’ story.  We are looking forward to writing these next week.

In science, we started our new topic of rocks and soils.  We have learnt that there are 3 different types of rock:  igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.  Next week we will be looking at rocks and sorting them into the three categories.

In our topic lessons we have been learning about fairtrade and then produced some art work in the style of Jocelyn Longdon.  She is an artist who promotes fair trade through her artwork.

On Thursday, it was outside learning day and we had great fun!  We enjoyed a maths lesson outside where we played a loop game to solve lots of different calculations.  We also went outside and listened carefully to what we could hear.  We then made our own poems in the style of Roger McGrath’s Sound Collector poem.  We also went on a nature hunt and found different types of leaves.

Outdoor learning day

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