Class Swallows
Welcome to Swallows!
Welcome to Swallows!Swallows class timetable Autumn 2020 – Autumn 2020 Timetable
Newsletter – Autumn Curriculum Letter 2020
Curriculum Plan – Autumn Curriculum Plan FINAL
If you need to speak to us then please contact us on swallows@alpington.norfolk.sch.uk
Christmas Party
On Tuesday 15th December the children will be having their Christmas lunch. We thought it would be nice to have a little class party after they have eaten. Please can children come into school in their party clothes on this day. We will provide snacks and have an afternoon of fun!
Queen Elizabeth 1st Visit
Just a reminder that this Wednesday (2nd December), Queen Elizabeth 1st will be visiting school. Please remember to come into school wearing your Tudor costume.
Active Challenge
Just a reminder that this Thursday (19th November) we will be taking part in a sponsored active challenge! Children will need to come to school in their PE kit on the day and school lunches will be a packed lunch option only to allow us to be a bit flexible about the use of the hall.
Special Visitor
Our special visitor has been delayed a week so please can children come into school wearing their Tudor costume on Wednesday 2nd December. If you google ‘Tudor boy/girl’, this will give you a few ideas (no Kings or Queens please). Please do not feel you have to buy a whole new outfit, but instead, get creative with old clothes and recycle where you can.
Half Term
A huge well done to all the children for a fantastic first half term. They have all worked so hard and adjusted really well to being back at school full time and in a new class. We are so proud of them! We hope they all have a good rest over the half term holiday.
Week beginning 19.10.20
Dear parents
Next half term, as part of our Strangers topic, we will be learning about Tudor Norwich (local study).
If you are looking for some learning activities during half term, you might like to consider taking your child on a walk around Norwich. You might like to look at the differences in styles between buildings and discuss when they think they were built.
Some questions to think about:
- Can you identify any Tudor buildings?
- Which buildings are the most recent? How can you tell?
- Can you find any blue historical plaques to tell you more information?
This is an optional activity. Please do not feel under any pressure to visit Norwich. Instead you may like to use google maps to explore our ‘very fine city’.
As part of DT, the children will be making Tudor buildings. Please could you start saving your boxes, both large and small from teabag boxes to small amazon boxes!
Swallows: please bring before Friday 13th November.
We will be entertaining a special visitor on the week commencing the 23rd November and ideally would like all the children to dress in a simple and sensible Tudor costume. If you google ‘Tudor boy/girl’, this will give you a few ideas (no Kings or Queens please). Please do not feel you have to buy a whole new outfit, but instead, get creative with old clothes and recycle where you can. We will confirm the specific day (of that week), closer to the time.
Thank you for all your support and we hope you enjoy working alongside your child.
Week beginning 5.10.20
The children have had another busy week. On Tuesday, we went to the church to celebrate Harvest Festival. We took a few items to offer at the alter, the rest will be collected from school and taken to the Norwich Foodbank. Rev Chris and Rev Kate spoke to us about Harvest and then we read out some of the prayers and poems that the children had written in class on the Monday. Rev Chris then gave us a blessing. We were so proud of how well they behaved and with how well they engaged with what was being said. The children enjoyed the walk to the church and fortunately it stayed nice and dry. Thank you for your donations. Please see the ‘Swallows in Action’ page for photos.
Continuing with our work on Harvest, we made bread on Wednesday and learnt about how yeast works.
In Maths we have begun our work on column subtraction and are beginning to get stuck into our times tables.
In topic we have been learning about chronology and finding out about Hans Holbein in preparation for our work on Tudor portraits next week.
We are beginning to receive some wonderful timelines and are enjoying sharing them in class. Thank you for your support with this.
On a practical note, please can you ensure that the children have a change of shoes in school from a Monday morning. On a Monday, Swallows class are on the field for both break and lunchtime and some of them are beginning to get soggy feet! We know it’s not ideal but a change of shoes will really help. Thank you.
Bread Tasting
This coming week (week beginning 5th October) we will be completing various activities linked to Harvest Festival. On Wednesday and Thursday the children will be making and tasting bread. The planned activities are in line with the school’s risk assessment and every care will be taken with cleaning, hand hygiene and the children will not be sharing resources or dough. If you would rather your child not touch or eat the bread in present times then please do let us know before Wednesday.
Times Tables
We have begun our work on times tables and improving the children’s quick recall of multiplication and division facts. The curriculum states that by the end of year 4 all children must know their tables up to 12×12. Next week in school we will begin using Times Tables Rockstars and we will send the usernames and passwords home so that your child can access this at home as well. You can also access a lot of good times table games on the Topmarks website. Please can you support your child with this learning as quick recall of times tables can have a huge impact on their maths work.
Homework Task
We have been talking about chronology in our topic lessons – the prefix ‘chrono’ meaning time. We have ordered pictures of different time periods in history and talked about how we find out about the past.
Task: We would like the children to produce a timeline of their life – from birth to present day, mapping out all the key/important dates they have experienced. You can add information and even some pictures or photographs. Please could children bring in on the last week of half term (date beginning 19th October). You might like to talk about the parents timeline and how these overlap with your children – do you share any of the same key dates? Did you look back on these events with the same opinion or remembering the event in the same way?
Week beginning 28.9.20
The children have been working so hard this week. They have written diary entries, worked hard on using column addition in maths, continued their work on light in science and they took part in their first class assembly via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday.
Week beginning 21.9.20
This week we have implemented a new rewards system for the children. They will be receiving Dojo points for good work, teamwork and helping one another. Once they reach a multiple of 10, they will get to choose a small reward from our prize box.
As the weather is likely to change over the next few days so please ensure your child has appropriate clothing. They may need a change of socks for after PE.
Week beginning 14.9.20
We have had another brilliant week in Swallows class. The children have been continuing their work on place value and securing their understanding of numbers to 1000. In English they have completed their first piece of writing of the year. They enjoyed their first music with Mr Cooper and are making great strides with their topic work. In science they have begun their new topic on light. Look out for some extra homework linked to this coming soon, this will be in your child’s home book.
Week beginning 7.9.20
This has been an amazing week in Swallows class. We have been really pleased with the way that all the children have settled in so well. They have had to adapt to a new class setting and taken everything in their stride. Well done especially to Year 4 children who have been incredibly mature and supportive.
All the children have impressed us with their enthusiasm for learning and obvious background knowledge on so many interesting subjects.
We are really looking forward to the coming weeks when we can work together sharing and working alongside each other.
Your children have proved to be unique but are have shown us how well they work together.
We think this year will be great fun!
Welcome to Swallows 30.8.20
We hope you are having a wonderful summer holiday and are looking forward to welcoming you to our new classroom in September.
You might notice that some things have changed since you were in school but there is no need to worry about this. You will soon get used to the ‘new normal’ and all the staff are here to make sure you enjoy your time at school.
When you come into school on Monday 7th September Mrs Weathers will be there to greet you and you will need to walk into our classroom via the back door. You will then need to put your bag on your peg, your packed lunch on the trolley and go straight to wash your hands. Mrs Connor will then help you find your seat and explain the activity. When everyone has arrived, we will begin the day.
We have lots of exciting things planned for this term and we can’t wait to share them with you. There will be lots of learning happening and also lots of fun on the way too.
Enjoy the rest of your summer holidays and we will see you very soon.
Mrs York and Mrs Weathers