Swallows in action!
Swallows class 2023 – 2024
Week beginning 6th May 2024
This week we had a visitor from the Polar Museum in Cambridge. She told us all about polar explorers (Shakleton and Scott). We were immersed in life on Antarctica as an Edwardian explorer and how hard it would have been.
We volunteered to be meteorologists, map makers and geologists on the Terra Nova expedition. We then joined real life explorers, Birdy, Cherry and Uncle Bill, on a 6-week trek to retrieve penguin eggs requested by the natural history museums to aid in the research about dinosaurs.
We also got to examine and ask questions about equipment and supplies from Shackleton’s expeditions.
Week commencing Monday 22nd April
We are into our second week of the Summer Term and we are all excited to start our new topic ‘Explorers’. This topic covers a wide range of topics which you can read more about on our curriculum map which can be found on our Swallows class page.
We started the topic by thinking about what exploration is and why people explore. We are going to go on an around the world trip and meet several explorers who have visited different parts of the world. This week we began by looking at the life of Captain James Cook. We learnt about his map making skills and the three voyages that he embarked on. Next week we will be learning about Joseph Banks. Can you find out any information about him before next week?
In English we have started our new class book, ‘Brightstorm: A sky ship adventure’ by Vashti Hardy. The story follows Arthur and Maudie Brightstorm who are devastated to learn that their famous explorer father has died in a failed attempt to reach South Polaris, the southernmost point in the world. But then a mysterious clue leads the twins to question the story they’ve been told. The twins must keep their wits about them if they are to uncover the truth about what happened on their father’s doomed expedition, and to prove themselves worthy explorers. It’s such an exciting story and we are thoroughly enjoying it so far.
Over the next week we are going to be writing a newspaper report about Ernest Brightstorm’s death. We have so far written headlines, quotes and learnt about the difference between formal and informal language.
In maths we are continuing with fractions. This week we have been adding and subtracting fractions. Why not have a go playing this game:
https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math/fractions/addition-game/
February in Swallows
Another month has come an end and it is nice to reflect on what we have been learning in February.
In English, we continued reading ‘Stone Age Boy’ and wrote our own stories based on this book. We then read ‘How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth’ and learnt what the features of instructions are and we then wrote our own set.
In maths, the year 3s are currently mid way through a unit, ‘length and perimeter’. We began by ensuring we knew how to accurately measure and are now comparing and converting lengths. The year 4s are tackling fractions at the moment. So far, they have learnt how to add and subtract fractions and have also learnt how to change improper fractions into mixed numbers. Alongside this, both year groups have been working hard on recalling their times tables and keeping up practising their arithmetic skills.
During our topic lessons we have spent a lot of time understanding how life was like in the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. We have compared how different settlements were during each period and how technologies improved over time.
In art we have been experimenting with line, tone and form to create a unique piece of cave art. We hope to have these on display soon!
In computing we have been using microbits and are learning how to program them to make name badges, beating hearts and emotion badges.
In PE, the children have been resilient during our gymnastics lessons. Ensuring that they know how to stand and end well.
We are so proud of all of Swallows class and the enthusiasm that they have for their learning.
January in Swallows
Welcome back everyone! We are off to an excellent start with our new topic ‘Survivors’. The children have already learnt about the different periods within the Stone Age and what life was like for early humans.
In science, they have learnt about the different types of rocks and how fossils are formed. They have also learnt a great deal about the first fossil hunter – Mary Anning.
In maths we can begun a new unit, ‘Multiplication and Division’. For the Year 3 children this means 2 new methods: short multiplication and the bus stop method for division.
New spelling and mental maths targets have been sent out so please continue to support your children with these at home.
December in Swallows
December is always a wonderful time in school and this December has been jam packed full of fun, exciting and festive learning and experiences for the children.
The children are now thoroughly settled into their new year groups, and we are learning at a quick rate. We are fully absorbed into our topic and have gained so much new knowledge about Australia, India, the human body and so much more.
In our maths learning we have continued to learn and master column addition and column subtraction. We are continuing to practise our times tables daily and are becoming much more confident at recalling key number facts.
Alongside our learning we have had some wonderful Christmas activities and experiences such as the Christingle, Christmas lunch, Christmas parties, decorating the class for Christmas and so much more. Please enjoy the photos below!
November in Swallows
As another month ends, it is lovely to reflect on what a busy and fun month we have had in Swallows class.
Right at the end of October we took a trip to RSPB Minsmere, where we took part in 3 different activities: a minibeast hunt, pond dipping and bird watching. We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day in the beautiful surroundings and had lots of opportunity to display our fantastic knowledge.
In maths we have had to show a lot of resilience whilst learning and mastering how to use column addition and subtraction. We are also working hard on learning our times table and division facts.
In English we continued to base most of our learning on our class text ‘When the Mountains Roared’. This month we have tried hard to focus on the presentation of our written work.
In science we continued our topic ‘Animals, including humans’ and now have a good understanding of how the digestive system works, why we have skeletons, what is a food chain and why we need a balanced diet.
In art we have been working hard to design our own fantastic creature and we created their footprint out of clay.
In computing we created our own branching databases. We had to select a mini beast and group them using yes/no questions.
Our history learning this month has focused on learning about the life of Charles Darwin.
We have also this month, taken part in outdoor learning lessons with Mrs Godbold. During these sessions we have taken part in a variety of activities such as tree mapping, leaf art, bug hunting and learnt about seed dispersal.
We certainly have been busy, and we are all making great strides with our learning. We are now very excited to see what December has in store for us all in Swallows class.
October in Swallows
In RE Swallows have been learning about Hinduism. We explored the stories of some of the Gods and goddesses and found out about the origin of Holi Festival. The children successfully matched up descriptions of the gods and goddesses. We discussed how important these are to Hindus and how the stories of each one might influence who they decide to pray to at different times in their lives. The Holi Festival is celebrated in our class novel “When the mountains Roared”
We learnt that the hand print in Aboriginal Art means “I belong”. We used aboriginal techniques to create our own unique handprints.
We have been doing lots of descriptive writing. We looked at the way the author of “When the mountains Roared” uses description to bring the story to life. We chose our own setting and used what we had learned to create a picture with words to describe our setting.
We had a visit from Happy Smiles! We learned how to brush our teeth properly to keep them healthy. We have been learning about our teeth and skeleton in science.
We had a visit from Mini Monsters. We learned about the different habitats, diets and adaptations of different reptiles. We got to handle them too!
September in Swallows
As September starts to come to an end, it’s lovely to reflect on the first few weeks of the academic year. The children have all had a brilliant few weeks and have settled well into their new class. The year 4s have set an excellent example to the year 3s and have been amazing at showing the year 3s the new rhythms and routines. The year 3 children have adjusted well to being in key stage two and we are all enjoying getting to know each other a bit better.
The children have been very curious in their learning and we are all enjoying our topic ‘Fantastic Creatures’. We are thoroughly enjoying our class book, ‘When the Mountains Roared’ by Jess Butterworth and are using this for all our English and geography work at present.
We have such fun during our show and tell sessions and have had so much excellent topic based items being brought in. Thank you parents for supporting this.
Our maths learning has focused around place value and we are working hard to secure good place value knowledge. We have just started receiving mental maths homework which will further our maths understanding.
We are busying planning our first class assembly and enjoyed a day exploring our local environment. Next week we have some Mini Monsters coming in for a visit – check back soon to see photos of that!
