​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have been busy writing a diary entry in the character of the Iron Man.  The children have enjoyed imagining themselves as the Iron Man. In Maths, they have begun learning about perimeter of shapes and in DT, the children made a finger puppet in preparation of their glove puppet which they will be making soon!
Year 4 – have been investigating sound even further. They have been learning all about the different parts of the ear and how they all have their roles in allowing us to hear different sounds. They have also created their own experiment exploring which material is best at absorbing soundwaves. In English, they have finished their persuasive letters to the prime minister asking him to ban the use of circus animals and have produced some really convincing pieces of work. In Maths, they have deepened their knowledge of multiplication by finding factor pairs. Additionally, they have used their times table facts to help them solve problems involving scaling.
Year 5 – have worked hard online for the last few days of isolation.  In English, they have watched a video clip about diving giraffes and have completed some writing trying to add in some relative clauses from the work learnt in English last week. They have completed some word problems related to all four operations covered so far in year 5 (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).  They have also learnt the formal written method for division, with and without remainders. When Y5 returned to school, they completed work about Kindness as part of a whole school project about how we can make the world a better place if we are kind to all living things.
Year 6 – have returned to school this week after their period of home-school learning during self-isolation.  It is lovely to see the children back in school; and we are really proud of the way they quickly adapted to learning through Microsoft Teams.  We must say a big thank you to parents for your support in also adapting to this way of learning.  In English this week the children are starting to write a narrative with a particular focus on description of characters and setting.  They are moving on to learning about percentages in Maths and in Humanities they are finishing their topic on Brazil by researching the cultures of the country and producing a non-chronological report on the subject. 

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have solved the mystery of the half term visitor as they started to read their new class text, 'The Iron Man.' They have enjoyed reading this story together and thinking carefully about the language and illustrations used. In Maths, they have continued to work on fractions and are using bar models to find unit and non-unit fractions of whole numbers!
Year 4 – have started their investigation into sound. They have explored what amplitude and frequency do to change sounds and how they affect soundwaves. They have also investigated how we hear and the roles each part of the ear has in registering and interpreting sounds. In Humanities, they have finished the topic of 'The Regions of Africa' and have been creating booklets to showcase their knowledge.  In English, they have been learning about how to write a formal letter and have begun to transfer that knowledge into a letter trying to persuade the government to ban the use of circus animals. In Maths, they have been developing their knowledge of multiplication. They have been solving problems involving multiplying multiples of 10 and 100.
Year 5 – have been busy this week with online learning. In English, they have been learning about relative clauses in order for them to use them in their writing, they are looking forward to including some in their next piece of work. In Maths, they have been learning to divide.  They are using the bus stop method and will move on next week, using long division including remainders.  They will use both methods when completing word problems next week. They have mainly been learning how to use Teams.  Everybody has done so well to manage to logon, learn and complete tasks whilst being at home. Mr Hawkes has also uploaded some PE for everybody to keep fit whilst isolating.
Year 6 – have been embracing online learning and we are extremely impressed with the way they have adapted to this during these unpredictable times.  Despite having to learn and work from home, the children have continued to learn how to do fraction calculations in Maths; and in English they have been writing diary entries in character and improving their grammar knowledge.  The children have also continued with their work on our topic of Brazil, researching different areas of the country, deforestation and urbanisation.

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have continued writing their newspaper reports about the mysterious visitor. The children have written excellent reports including lots of language features taken from Year 3 writing success criteria. In Maths, they have enjoyed comparing, ordering, adding and subtracting fractions while in Science this week, they have been investigating forces and the children carried out an air resistance experiment using parachutes which they made in class.
Year 4 – have been working hard to finish their setting descriptions of a circus. They have been using their five senses to write a realistic description. In Maths, they have been finding the perimeter of quadrilateral and rectilinear shapes. In Humanities, Year 4 have completed their topic work on the different regions of Africa.
Year 5 – have been busy again this week. They have written, edited and published a character description of Odysseus from their book of the same name. They have learnt about prepositional and adverbial phrases in their SPAG lessons that they will be trying to include in their writing. Year 5 have also made and painted their Greek pots in Art, applying a base coat, then a Greek design on top as well as learning about how the Ancient Greeks lived their daily lives. For Maths, they have been learning the formal written method for multiplication.
Year 6 – have been busy completing and publishing their dystopian stories about Iver being completely cut off from the rest of the country because of flooding; we are looking forward to reading the finished stories! In Maths, the children have continued learning about fractions and have moved on to adding and subtracting fractions. Rowling class have been focusing on Computing for their topic this week and have been using coding, whilst Rosen class have started this half term's Humanities topic all about Brazil.

The Youth Sports Trust are starting a new After School Club, completely virtually! The club will be led by Athlete Mentors from different backgrounds, abilities and sports. The first session will take place on Thursday 12 November at 5pm, with the world’s number one female inline skater and ten times British Champion, Jenna Downing!
​Every day at 5pm from 16 November until 18 December, children and young people can join in with the live broadcast for free on our YouTube channel. 

The different daily themes are below:

• Adventure Monday – This might involve getting children to do floor, wall climbing and map reading all within their living room
• Tuesday Play – Imaginative play utilising resources in the house to create games and activities to get active
• Wild Wednesday – Some high tempo competitive activities involving personal challenges
• Thinking Thursday – Introducing cognitive challenges for children through movement. Active noughts and crosses and introducing an element of competition – whether that be against themselves, the clock, their siblings or remotely with friends
• Fun Friday – A chance for children to let loose and have some fun. Dancing and doing what makes them feel good.

This Week In School…
Year 3 – have had a very busy first week back! In English, the children are busy writing a newspaper report on a mysterious visitor who took metal from the school! The children were very excited to investigate and look for clues as to who this mystery metal “thief” could be. In Maths, they have worked hard to solve division problems using the short formal method while in Science, they have commenced a new topic and are looking at forces. The children thoroughly enjoyed shooting marshmallows whilst investigating push/pull forces.
Year 4 – are really excited about their new book, ‘Leon and the place between’. The circus setting has produced some amazing work in English lessons. In Maths, they have been focusing on converting standard units of measurements including mm, cm, m and km. The new topic in Humanities brings year 4 back to the continent of Africa as they explore its different regions. They have explored the countries of Nigeria and Morocco and have found out some interesting facts. Year 5 – have started a new book this half term; Odysseus, which links to the Y5 Ancient Greeks topic. They have identified the features of a character description and planned their descriptions, ready to write next week. In SPaG, they have learnt how to use parenthetic commas to add detail in sentences that they will be using in their English work. In Maths, they have learnt about prime numbers, squared numbers and cubic numbers as well as factors and multiples. They have also researched, designed and begun to make Greek pots and will continue with this next week.
Year 6 – have been working hard; most of them took part in the 11+ tests as well as continuing with their normal studies. In English, they are writing their first narrative of the year which is linked to the book, Floodland, that they read together last half term. They have started reading a new book - though they don't know what this is called yet - and already the children have a number of questions they want to know the answers to so are keen to read on! Rosen class have been taking part in Computing this week and have been using coding to design and create their own computer game - it will be the turn of Rowling class next week. Meanwhile, Rowling class have started this half term’s new Humanities topic - Brazil.

Dear Parents/Guardians,
​
As we approach another lockdown it is essential that we protect our community and we need your help to do this.
Time: Please pick up and drop off at the allocated times.  We will do our best to bring siblings out to you so that you are not waiting around.  Ideally, we want to get into the position that you come and go quickly from the school site so that you are not mixing with others.  If your child walks to school on their own please ensure that they arrive at the correct time, and not early so that they can socialise with their friends.
Face: We would encourage you to wear a face mask.  If you need to talk to a member of staff, please call the school office and we will get back to you as quickly as we can. 
Space: Please give each other space!  Remember, you should only be mixing with one other person from another household from Thursday.  So therefore, school drop off and collection times are not to be seen as a social occasion.
Change of Circumstances
As we continue to deal with the pandemic it may be that your circumstances change.  If you are struggling with money please let us know and we may be able to provide some food parcels, or you may qualify for free school meals.  These are very difficult times and there is no shame in asking for help if you need it.
Uniform
The weather is getting cooler, but, as with every school in the country, we continue to follow Government guidance by having our doors and windows open to provide the ventilation needed to reduce transmission of the virus.
I know that you will have understandable concerns about the impact of this upon your children. In order to help keep them warm, our approach to school uniform is going to change. This will be effective from Monday 9th November. You may choose to send your children to school in one of the following:

• Existing school uniform with additional layers (vests, fleeces etc) to provide extra warmth.  PE kit must still be worn on PE days. Trainers may be worn with uniform.
• School PE kit, including jogging bottoms, white t-shirt, school jumper and hoody/fleece (plain) with additional layers to provide warmth (on any day of the week)

Please remember that the purpose of this change is to provide you with the flexibility to use clothes you already have to ensure that your child stays as warm as possible. This is not an opportunity for children to wear their favourite outfit to school! It is very important that parents are the ones making the decisions about what is best.  We know that the building is going to get cold, even with the heating on, but we need to keep the classrooms well ventilated.
​
Kindest regards,
 
Miss J Digweed

We will be selling Remembrance Day items in school from tomorrow. Children will be able to purchase items in class, subject to stock. All donations received will go to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal . Children must bring in the correct money as we are unable to give any change.
Items available are:
Zip Pull - 50p
Pencil - 50p
Poppy Reflector - 50p
Sharpener - £1
Wrist Band - £1
​Snap Band - £1