3,4O: certificates
Well done to all our certificate winners this week…
3,4NV class post
What another great week 3,4NV!
Today, we were really lucky to have a visit from Junior Jam so we could learn to play the Steel Pans and create some carnival music.
We all tried to learn the tune to ‘Under the Sea’ and some of us had the chance to perform this at the end of the session! We had great fun.
We have also continued to create the final versions of our carnival outfit designs. Have a look at this design.
Our certificate winners for the week are:
For great learning…
Zac – for excellent answers in reading.
For living and learning skills…
Leila – for always being ready to learn and for contributing ideas to class discussion.
For Sport and physical activity
Aurora – for fantastic tennis skills in PE.
Our TT Rockstar this week is Harry E!
Well done to everyone!
Mrs Wadsworth, Mr Gledhill and Mrs Richardson
Living and Learning: I understand that rights come with responsibilities
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Our local history topic is really making us think; think about British history, think about the primary resources we have and the information it gives us; think about how people were treated in the 1600s, and making us think about the effect on our lives today.
We’ve been learning about The Atlantic Slave Trade during the 1600s and how enslaved people were brought across from Africa to the West Indies, by boat, to work on plantations there. The British were the most active trading nation during these times.
We learnt about the horrific journey that people took, with only 5ft by 1ft of space for a child. This was easier to understand when we measured the space out on the floor to ‘feel’ how craped the conditions were. Unbelievably, boys were chained to this space for a minimum of 6 weeks whilst aboard the ship. We sadly learned that not all people made it and died on the journey because of the unsanitary conditions.
Here are some photos of the ship.
3,4NV class news
What another fabulous week of learning!
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been learning all about the Leeds West Indian Carnival. This week, we have started to design our own carnival costumes. Have a look at our sketches.
Our flowers are growing nicely.
Congratulations to our certificate winners for this week:
For Living and Learning
- Well done Harry B. You are always so polite and cheerful. Well done for excellent manners.
For Sport and Physical activity
- All of 3,4NV for excellent, creative ideas in PE.
For Great Learning
- Grace – well done for taking the time to make sure your sentences make sense and that you have included the Must Dos.
Enjoy the weekend everyone.
Mrs Wadsworth, Miss McAleer and Mrs Richardson
Help at home: reading
Reading is super important. In fact, we think it’s one of the most important things you can do to support your child at home.
Some studies have found that children who read regularly are more likely to be happy in adulthood, more likely to earn more money and more likely to do well in all school subjects.
Whilst we understand life is busy, we’d love it if you could read with your child every day (ideally for about 20 minutes but anything is better than not reading at all).
This article has a handy reading for parents guide if you’d like any more information or tips.
Our Reading Activities leaflet will provide lots of activities to make reading an even more enjoyable and active experience for all. Check out the ‘Help Your Child‘ section of our website for a range of guides and tips for helping your child across a range of subjects.
Some common questions about reading:
When should my child have their reading book and reading diary in school?
If your child is in 3,4O or 3,4N they should have their reading book and reading diary in school every Friday. If your child is in 3,4E they should have their reading book and reading diary in school every Monday.
Now my child is in Year 3 or 4, should I still sign their reading diary?
Yes. We’d love it if you could sign their reading diary and leave a comment at least once a week. We think it’s a really important link between school and home.
My child can read fluently. Should they still read aloud to me?
Ideally, yes. They can spend time reading on their own, too – we encourage this. However, it’s really important that children still practise the skill of reading aloud. It helps improve their confidence and improves their ability to read with expression. Being read to is really important, too – so don’t underestimate the power of a bedtime story!
The book my child has brought home is too easy / hard. What should I do?
This will rarely happen but if you do think your child’s book isn’t the right level please get in touch with their class teacher (our email addresses are at the bottom of this post).
If you have any other questions, comments or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your child’s class teacher. While we don’t encourage you to do this on the playground (to reduce numbers and enhance social distancing), we encourage you to email us instead.
3,4O – olliecatherall@spherefederation.org
3,4E – emmamccormick@spherefederation.org
3,4N – nicolawadsworth@spherefederation.org
Design and Technology
As our Leeds West Indian Carnival topic continues, we are learning more about costume designs and the designers who made them .
Arthur France and Hughbon Condor have designed many winning carnival Queen costumes. Hughbon Condor is actually an engineer and has always enjoyed bringing his ideas to life.
So, we had a go at the design process by researching a theme, sketching ideas and asking our troupe about our ideas.
Here are some…
New History Topic – vocabulary
This week, we have started our new history topic – The Leeds West Indian Carnival. It’s a new topic for children and teachers, and we’re loving the learning so far.
As a class, we looked at programmes and videos from the carnival, dating back to 1977. We’ve learned alot about how life has changed over time and how these primary resources can help us learn about life in the past.
We’ve studied the location of the West Indies in the Caribbean sea and the human and physical geography of the islands.
Also, many questions were answered:
- What is a carnival?
- What is a procession?
- What is immigration?
Some of these words are in our vocabulary list. We found that drawing pictures on our whiteboards helped us to understand the meaning of the words. It was fascinating to see the different creations and how we all have our own way of ‘seeing’ words. It was good to share our drawings in the class and learn from one another.
Here are some photos…
3,4NV class news
3,4 NV
Well done for a fabulous first week back! It has been wonderful to have everyone back in school. You have settled in quickly and have worked really hard all week – you must feel very proud!
This week, we have enjoyed reading ‘The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse’. We have discussed some of the messages within the book and how these relate to everyday life.
Here is one of our sketches based on the ideas from the book:
Today, we have enjoyed reading and sharing books during Book Club.
Yesterday, Mrs Richardson gave our class some plants to look after. We can’t wait to water them regularly and watch them grow. We will keep posting pictures of them.
The certificate winners for this week are:
Living and Learning – Aurora
- For being confident at school and having a positive attitude. Well done.
For great learning – Darcey
- Well done for neat handwriting and taking pride and care with your work.
For Sports and physical activity – Olive and Bethenny
- Thanks for showing everyone the dance moves in WUSU!
Our TT Rockstar for the week is Harry Y4! Well done.
Finally, here are a couple of pieces of writing from Home Learning activities that I promised to post. Great writing!
Well done for a fantastic week everyone. Enjoy the weekend.
Mrs Wadsworth, Miss McAleer and Mrs Richardson
New topic and vocabulary
We’re back!
It’s hard to put into words how amazing it has been to have almost all of our school community back together this week. Everyone returned on Monday eager to learn and even more eager to catch up with everyone. If your child is anxious or worried, please let their class teacher now.
We got cracking straight away and have dived into our ‘new’ topic – we started this topic two weeks ago through our home learning but have recapped lots of learning today to make sure none of our learners miss out.
Our topic this half term is history driven – in particular, we’re focussing on local history. We’ll be learning about lots of interesting knowledge through our main focus: The Leeds West Indian Carnival.
Here’s some of the learning we’ll be completing…
We’ll also be reading Loidis Ledes Leeds by Tom Palmer – it’s set in Leeds and will give us lots of local history knowledge.
Help at home by asking your child questions from the ‘knowledge and other learning’ section in the document above – this document is taken from our curriculum statement.