Year 4 blog. Friday 14th January. 'The meaning of life is to find your gifts. The Purpose in life is to give them away.' (Pablo Picasso)

We have had a very inspiring week in Year 4. We began on Monday morning with our very first swimming lesson together. Thank you so much for being so prompt. Children did so well getting changed on their own and showed such bravery - as I know many of them have struggled to get to any swimming lessons due to Covid! It is a favourite lesson of mine because children always make such progress at these lessons.

RHE

This week we have been focusing on the story of Jairus’s daughter and this has led us onto discussing why God put us here - what is our purpose? We have learned that our purpose is to love, to be loved and to make a difference. We have been thanking God for making us unique and giving us so many gifts.

In class council this week, children are putting together ideas for a new item of play equipment outside. We have made a class design which Angel and Matilda will put forward to the school council.

In other news:

We have been learning in maths how to be ‘efficient’ and choose the most effective and quickest way of calculating, depending on the numbers in the calculation. Next week, we will be beginning to learn about Perimeter. We are also going over those important times tables - this week we are doing the 2x and 5x tables. Please enocurage your child to practise these daily so they are second nature.

In English, we have started our topic on Folk Tales and have met the mischievous character of Brer Rabbit! Children are already loving these amusing tales of trickery and cunning! In Science, we have been learning about the states of matter: solids, liquids and gases - through many investigations and children have shared their knowledge by making videos about the 3 states. In computing, we have started our lessons about Animation. I know children did some super animations last year!

Let’s Celebrate!

This week, our certificate winners are as follows:

A Tommy Turtle certificate goes to Anncia for being a brave learner and for asking for help when she needs it. You always listen to my advice Anncia and you are making so much progress.

A Sadie Spider certificate goes to Nicola for putting maximum effort into all she does. Nicola you try so hard and you are always ready quickly to get on with your learning.

A Lizzie Ladybird certificate goes to Christian for always listening to advice and enjoying the process of learning so much. You are striving to improve each day Christian and you are such a focused student.

French stars this week were: Evan, Franek and Tabby.

Music stars this week were Nicola and Jay.

Notices

If you received a letter this week regarding extra classes after school, please could you send me an email to let me know if you will be taking up this offer, at the earliest opportunity: a.lyons@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk

WELLIES! On Mondays we need to have our breaktime on the field when we get back from swimming so that we can maintain distance from the other classes. It would be so helpful if children have wellies in school for this, so that they are not getting damp and muddy shoes.

Please remember to pay for our school trip on Parentpay if you have not already done so.

Have a lovely weekend

Kindest regards,

Mrs Lyons, Mrs Mather and Miss Woodrow.

Year 3 Home Learning 14.1.22

Spellings:

Our spelling strategy this week is to use S.U.S:

Study the word.

Underling the difficult part.

Say the word carefully focusing on each syllable.

Our spelling this week are based around adding -ation to the end of a word. Remember the rule that if the verb ends in ‘e’ we must drop the ‘e’ before adding ‘ation’.

1. limit - limitation

2. sense - sensation

3. adore - adoration

4. prepare - preparation

5. admire - admiration

6. explore - exploration

7. inform - information

8. observe - observation

Ongoing Maths:

Please continue with the IXL strands: E1- E8 under addition one digit

During our Maths lessons it is clear that some children need extra work and practice with their number bonds to 10. Children should see that the pairs of numbers make 10 instantly and need consistent practice at this. Please could you practice these at home and can be done any time said out loud, maybe quick fire as you are travelling to and from school, while you are brushing your teeth, anywhere! There is also this great website which some children will be practicing on in the mornings- they even do an app for this game for tablets and phones:

Follow the link below, click on ‘number bonds’ and then ‘make 10’. children should be encouraged to stay on this game and try and beat their score against the clock every time.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

PE

During PE we have started our striking and fielding unit of work. We started our first lesson this week, focusing on the underarm throw. We need more practice to make sure that we are passing the ball effectively and accurately in to the persons hands. Please get outside (where the weather allows) and get throwing different size balls underarm, furthering the distance of these passes as they get more confident.

There is also many different games you can play to develop accuracy , control and power when throwing this way, why not try them:

• Throwing balls in to different size containers

• Throwing the ball against a target on the wall

• put a ball on top of a bucket and try to knock it off with a smaller ball

• rolled up socks are good to use if the weather is bad, throwing them in to different sized containers.

Have fun with it, make it in to a competition!

We need to remember the following points when throwing underarm:

• stand in the direction of the throw

• one foot in front of the other

• bring arm straight back

• swing arm forward and release the ball

• fingers point at the target

This week....

The children’s learning at the moment knows no bounds. We are all amazed at how much we have found out about space travel and the moon!

Did you know?

There is nothing but stars and darkness all around in space.

It takes four whole days to reach the moon.

When the astronauts get there they have to climb into a little spaceship.

To go outside the astronauts have to put on a special suit.

The spacesuits carry are so they can breathe.

The Moon is silent and dusty.

There are huge mountains and big holes.

There are no trees, water, animals or people on the moon

On the moon, you feel very light and floaty, when you walk around you take big bouncy strides!

Astronauts sometimes go exploring in Moon buggies. They collect moon rocks to bring back home.

You can see our world from the Moon.

Our Wow space words include:

Gravity

Asteroids

Craters

Oxygen

Shooting star

We have also found out about the new James Webb telescope sent into space in December. It’s looking for the oldest star.

Click here to see a rocket launch!

Key Person’s blog

This has proved to be another amazing week here at Nursery. There have been lots of discussions about space and the children have asked many questions asked including.... what do Astronauts eat? How many astronauts can fit into the space shuttle? How wide is the capsule? We discovered that it is 2.7 meters wide and we measured it out on the floor using masking tape. It was a squash and a squeeze for three people!!! How do the astronauts manage???? 

We have created rockets using a variety of materials and many space puzzles have been completed including pictures of planets, space shuttles, moon buggies and the moon. The children have all decorated and cut out their own rocket for our super display. Using their existing rocket knowledge some children accepted the challenge to create a replica rocket using only certain materials. This included the three primary colours....can your child name them? Click here to watch the video we liked!

The children created their own obstacle course in the garden, and we have also been practicing our throwing skills using ‘Moon Rocks’ instead of balls! There has also been some hopping, jumping and Alien splatting! What a busy week! 

Hope you have a lovely weekend. 

Michelle, Frances, Colette, Hannah, and Justine. 

Here is a small collection of this weeks learning at nursery!

We have started to look at shapes in our environment. We sang the shape song and then went on a shape hunt!! We really did want to find a dodecagon!!!! Perhaps you could go on a shape hunt at home this weekend. Click here for the shape song.

We have also been focusing on the sound ‘n’ with Geraldine Giraffe. Click here. How many things can you find at home that begins with ‘n’?

Next week we are starting to find out and be curious about the planets in our solar system.

Worship

This week focused on helping the children learn that they are uniquely created by God and special because they are made and loved by Him. We explored our uniqueness and what that means. We celebrated difference as well as individual gifts, talents and abilities.

Click on the button below to see the slides.

Finally, I have a few words from Michelle and Justine. They have had a fabulous couple of weeks getting to know the children and yourselves. Thank you for being so welcoming.

The have written a few words about themselves for you to get to know them better.

Hello everyone,

I am so excited to be here at Our Lady Star of the Sea Nursery with all your wonderful children. I’ve seen some of you this week but I thought I should introduce myself properly.

My name is Michelle and I have many years experience working in local nurseries. I have been a Preschool Room Leader, a Childcare Manager and a Nursery Manager and I hold Early Years Professional Status, a BA Honours degree in Early Childhood Studies and an NVQ Level 3 in Early Years Care and Education.

I live in St Annes and I have 2 grown up children. In my spare time I enjoy listening to live music, eating out and trying to tame the wilderness that is my garden.

I am passionate about ensuring children have the best possible start to their education and I am really looking forward to seeing your child grow and develop into the best version of themselves.

Michelle

Hello, my name is Justine and I am enjoying being a member of the Nursery team at Our Lady Star Of The Sea. Both the nursery and school have such a lovely, friendly, welcoming and hardworking ethos and I feel like a member of a huge happy family.

I have worked with children of all ages for over 23 years being a Teaching Assistant and also a Family Learning Mentor, but my favourite setting of all is by far working with the Nursery children.

My family and I moved from Manchester to sunny St Annes in 2010 and love living in such a beautiful little town so close to the sea. My husband is a keen kite surfer and I enjoy the more relaxing paddle boarding with my 2 children, (I say children but they are now 21 and 22, but they are ALWAYS your babies!)

I also enjoy playing golf, travelling, swimming, art, gardening, and going on lovely long walks with our dog Bluebell.

I’ll make an effort to wave and smile at you all (albeit from behind a mask, but trust me I am smiling) and just want to say thank you for having such adorable, funny and incredibly bright children that make our jobs an absolute pleasure.

Justine

It just remains for me to say, have a restful week and we will see you all on Monday to start learning about the planets!!!

Barbara

Year 6 Home Learning - Wednesday 12th January 2022

Spelling - Silent letter spellings.

crumb, debt, plumb, scissors, scenario, plaque, design, foreign, reign, anchor, chemical, knowledge, psychology, psalm, receipt, aisle, island, castle, chimney, disguise.

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Maths - It is essential that you know your times tables really, really well.

Visit your HEAT MAP on Times Table Rockstars. Which times tables do you need to focus on? Which ones do you need to ensure you know as quick as the others? Can you get your speed down to less than 2 seconds per table.

IXL - Q1, Q2, Q9 and Q10

Can you practise some short division calculations so that you have mastered the skill?

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English - William Shakespeare

Who is William Shakespeare? Next week you will be writing an Outcome 3 biography. I have set you a To Do on Purple Mash for you to record your research on: Early Life, Education and How he became a playwright.

Focus on:

• Cohesive devices

• Key dates

• Subject specific language.

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Happy New Year!

A big welcome back to nursery everyone. I hope you have managed some rest over the festive period.

This week we welcome a new nursery lady, Justine. She will be working alongside Hannah as a support key person. The children think she is wonderful! When you see her at the gate, introduce yourself and say a say a big hello!

The children have all come back to nursery ready to grow their brains. This week have been ‘finding out’ about Space, and working and thinking like a scientist. We have found out about the Hubble space probe, astronauts, space travel and the moon. We have even written our own song about aliens, (to the tune of ‘The Animals went in Two by Two’).

An alien came to visit you,

He roared, he roared,

An alien came to visit you,

He roared, he roared,

An alien came to visit you,

His head was green and his nose was blue,

You could hear him roaring

Did he frighten you?

NO!!

Here are our plans for January. We are going to be so busy!

Key Person Blog

Wow what a week to blast off with! We cannot believe the children have returned this week, so calm, focused and eager to learn. They have enjoyed telling us about their time at home over Christmas and drawing pictures of what presents they received.

Our new learning thread has well and truly launched itself with a bang. The children all had the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas in small groups…giving us nursery ladies plenty food for thought! Our discussions have given us some amazing wow words and the excitement has been evident all week—we have all been buzzing!

We have talked about and read the Cape Ability story about Tommy Turtle...a scared and shy character who needs to face his fears. This has in turn helped us all and we have had plenty of ‘Have a Go’ moments ourselves… rocket making; (including plenty of astronaut role play!), moon rock exploring and painting and drawing our own stars!

Thank you children for such a lovely first week back.

Colette, Hannah , Justine and Frances

This week we have started to explore the number 4. Click here to find out more. If you fancy a challenge here a Number 4/ Learn to count video. Click here.

We also looked at the sound ‘i’ with Geraldine the Giraffe. Click here to watch.

Worship

God made Me, God made you.

Created and Loved by God explores the individual. Rooted in the teaching that we are created by God out of love and for love, it helps the children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for personal relationships:

We learnt a new song called God made Me, God made You, and a new prayer. See if your child can remember them.

Next week we are planning to expand our knowledge of the moon and space travel. Perhaps the children can find out some facts to share?

We would also like the children to make their own rocket. Could each child please bring to nursery a named tube to start us off. Thank you in anticipation.

In the meanwhile here are just a few photos to give you a flavour of our learning this week! Lots more next week!

Next week, Michelle our new nursery deputy will be joining us, she can’t wait to meet everyone!

Please have a restful (and fun) weekend and we will see everyone on Monday. Don’t forget to check Purple Mash for more learning! Enjoy!

Barbara