Class 3
Class 3 2022-2023
Welcome to Class 3:
- My name is Mrs Weston.
- This term we will be following the adventures of Percy the park keeper and his woodland friends. Percy is the main character of stories written by Nick Butterworth. The stories follow the adventures of Percy and his friends throughout the seasons and include titles such as ‘The Lost Acorn’. The stories link well with our own visits to Squirrel School where the children will explore their natural surroundings and the changes in nature as we pass through the seasons. This inspires and informs our curriculum planning across the school term, aswell as following the children’s interest
The School Day:
- Children can be dropped off at 8.40am, gates will be locked at 8:50am, pupils arriving after this time will be required to go through the office and will be recorded as late.
- Pick up time will be 3.15pm. Children left behind after 3.20pm may be asked to join After School Club and a charge will be applied.
- Each day the children need a coat, water bottle and packed lunch if they are not having a school dinner.
- Suitable footwear – every day we will encourage the children to take part in physical activities, so they need comfortable, safe footwear to do so. Children should come to school with footwear that they can independently put on and take off.
- Slippers can be left in school for children to change into.
- All children need to have wellies and waterproofs in school, to protect their school uniform, to take part in outdoor learning which will be timetabled on a regular basis.
- All uniform including outdoor clothing needs to be named.
- If your child is absent from school, please inform the school office.
PE days:
- All pupils need an appropriate PE Kit on their allocated PE days. Class 3 will do PE on a Friday.
- Plain black shorts/cycling shorts or joggers.
- A school Royal Blue short or long sleeved T-shirt which can be purchased via the school website/ uniform shop or a plain blue or white top can be worn.
- Training shoes suitable for outdoor games on the field and playground.
- A PE bag with the school logo is issued to every child when they start school to keep all PE clothes together. These can be kept in school and will be send home at the end of each half term for washing.
- No football shirts/strips should be worn and clothing should not have large brand names on them.
Reading and Learning at home:
- Reading and phonics homework will be shared weekly via Dojo. This will include the phonics we have learnt throughout the week and opportunities for the children to share their reading book at home with their family.
- The following websites can also be used to support your childs learning at home
- https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/numberblocks
- Don’t forget that our local library offers free membership and is a great place to visit.
ParentPay:
ParentPay can be used to pay school meals and for any other trips / visits that are planned in school.
ParentPay is also used to give permission for activities beyond the daily curriculum offer, including for trips, visitors or other enrichment activities.
If you need any help or support setting up your ParentPay account please contact the team in the office who will be happy to help.
Keeping in touch:
We will continue to use Dojo as a way of keeping in touch.
We will do our best to respond in a timely manner but please bear in mind that during the school day we are focused on teaching and learning with your children, and we do not monitor Dojo throughout the evening.
If you have an urgent request/message, please contact the team in the office.
Please click on the link below to view our topic web.
During our visit to Squirrel School we listened to the story of Little Red Riding Hood. We explored the grounds and used our imagination to think about where the characters from the story might live. We took photos using the ipad to record our ideas. When we got back to the classroom we used our photos and ideas to draw maps.
' You have to go along the side. You go this way, past the Woodcutter's house. Past the big bad wolf to Grandma's house' Eira
'I got different paths. This way is even faster. Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. He's hiding behind a tree. The lines are where the feet have been treading along.' Eva
'The big bad wolf next to the trees. Tree's next to the Woodcutter's house.' Lucas
'At her house, past the Woodcutter's house. All the way to her granny's house. There are mountains in mine. Some of the branches are flying away. There is wind.' Logan
'I made a path. Just walk on the path. Bridge and two houses. Stay on the path.' Blake
The Short Wood Promise Tree.
We visited Tim's garden and placed our copper leaves on the tree. We made a promise to be the best Short Woodies that we can be.
What is inside a pumpkin?
We used a range of tools and lots of perseverance to find out!
The children have been inspired by the natural changes taking place as we move through the seasons. They have captured their observations through their art work.
We explored the apples we had collected and have been learning the names of their parts - skin, flesh, core and seeds. We carefully used a knife to dissect them and a magnifying glass to look closely at each part.
'I can see the seeds. It's where it comes from' Lucas
'I found some seeds Lucas. The seeds help the apple to grow' Blake
'The seeds are in the apple heart' Sapphire
''The apple seeds are black. To grow apple.' Bilal
'They put the stalk on for you to hold it' Nico
'I can see inside the apple. It's really juicy' Eva
'The apples grow on the apple tree. I like to eat red apples.' Harley
We have started our Autumn Term with some beautiful weather and have enjoyed exploring the school grounds. We visited the allotment where the children were excited to be able to pick raspberries and explore the many herbs and flowers growing there. We met Malcolm the gardener and he showed us around the allotment. He told us about where a pumpkin was growing and showed us how to measure the broad beans we had picked. While exploring the allotment we discovered the apple trees and picked some of the apples to take back to our classroom.
Science Week
We started our Science Week in school by exploring how things move. We made paper boats and used wind power to move them across the water. We investigated how the cars travelled down different surfaces using the ramps.
We read the story 'Rosie Revere, Engineer' by Andrea Beaty. We estimated how far our 'Flying Machine' would travel, measured the distance and recorded our results.
Festive Fun
We've had a great day celebrating Christmas together in Class 3!
Autumnal Art Gallery
Our recent artwork has been inspired by seasonal changes. The children have explored the rich autumn colours, using watercolours to draw and paint the leaves we found. They have rolled and shaped clay to create acorns, looking closely at the markings and using tools to add detail. Using natural treasures the children have worked in the style of the artist Andy Goldsworthy to create land art and sculptures.
Attendance
Overall School: 95%