Magical Maths
Do you wish you could wave a magic wand and make calculations easier? Y6 did today!
Well… not really. But they did use some pretty clever maths knowledge to manipulate the numbers in a calculation to be in their favour.
Take a look at this picture. Would you rather answer the ones on the left or right?
By doubling one factor and halving the other, you keep the product the same. And if it’s a choice between multiplying a decimal and a whole number, the integer will probably be easier.
Challenge your child to make a pattern with 248 x 1 = 248. I’ll do the first one for you: 124 x 2 = 248. Keep it going!
“We were compensating with our multiplication by dividing one factor by two and multiplying the other by two. It makes it so much easier. Saying 0.5 x 2 seems hard but that’s only 1 x 1!” explained Aayan.
“It was hard to start with but got easier as the lesson went on. It’s better than just doing a column method all the time and I was proud I got most of them right,” said Joude.
Cricket opportunities
Here’s some information about Dynamos cricket that has started at local cricket clubs.
Dynamos for KS2
What is it all about? Click the link for a short video: https://www.ecb.co.uk/video/1627073/introducing-dynamos-cricket-this-is-our-game-
Find your local centre and book here: https://ecb.clubspark.uk/Dynamos/SearchResults?&gclid=Cj0KCQjw38-DBhDpARIsADJ3kjm2dd01lHGEYp5ZR7QdfKTCG1qQiyMOUJOY6v8B1eK8tkaUi-hOMQgaArIKEALw_wcB
Computing: sequence in algorithms using Scratch Jr
In our computing lesson today, we’ve been learning about how important sequence is when creating algorithms.
The children have been creating an animation of a conversation between two or more characters. They had to sequence the conversation really carefully so that the it happens in the correct order. To get this right, children had to tweak and debug their algorithms.
Summer term
Welcome back!
We’ve already had a busy start and it is set to continue. Here is a quick overview of what we’ve already been doing and what’s coming up.
Writing
In writing, we’ve been recapping different sentence types.
Inspired by the novel, ‘The Boy Who Grew Dragons’, the children will be applying their knowledge to writing about a beast and what you need to do to grow it.
We’re going to be recapping expanded noun phrases and conjunctions. Also, the children will be learning how to edit and improve their writing so that it is ready for Year 3.
Maths
In maths, we will be revisiting a range of addition and subtraction topics.
- Adding and subtracting across 10.
- Solving addition and subtraction problems.
- Adding and subtracting within 100.
Not only this, we will be continuing number facts learning as well as practicing our 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables.
PE
The children have been enjoying learning the basics of hockey.
Science
The children will be investigating, observing and describing how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants. They will find out and describe how plants need water, light and suitable temperature to grow and be healthy. Below is the specific vocabulary that will be used in our science lessons. Talk about these words at home. Does your child know any of them? Can you child tell you the definitions?
- seeds
- bulbs
- temperature
- growth
- survival
- healthy
- mature
- plants
In our first session, we looked at the inside of a fruit and identified the seeds.
Computing Topic 
The children will be learning about computer programming. They are going to discover what an algorithm is and what it needs to work effectively. We will be creating and debugging simple programs and will use logical reasoning to predict what will happen when an algorithm is executed.
In some of our lessons, we have regular ongoing online safety messages. These are usually prompts and reminders about the important of staying safe on and offline. Asking for a person’s consent is very important and this is something we regularly rehearse.
May I take your photo?
Yes, of course you can.
Would you mind if we show your learning to the whole class?
No, I really don’t want to share it.
As well as programming, the children will be having specific lessons about the following;
Age Restrictions
• I know that some online activities have age restrictions because they have content which is not appropriate.
Digital Content
• I am beginning to understand what a digital footprint is.
Misinformation, disinformation and hoaxes
• I know that I shouldn’t believe everything I see or read online.
Fake websites and scam emails
• I know that some websites have secure markings (eg padlock symbol next to URL) that makes them more trustworthy.
Password safety
• I know that passwords are important and that I should not share them. Personal data
• I know that I’m too young to share personal information (eg full name, address, school, age) online.
Persuasion
• I know that there are adverts online which, if clicked on, may take me away from the page I’m looking at.
Online vs. offline behaviours
• I know that people should treat others respectfully when they are online.
• I know what to do if someone is mean to me or someone else online.
Impact on quality of life
• I know that being online offers lots of positives but that
there needs to be a balance between time being spent on
and offline.
Below is the vocabulary that links to the computing topic.
| algorithm | program | debug |
| computer | password | personal information |
| appropriate |
TTRS tournament winners (wb 19 April)
Hello again to all of the Times Tables Rock Stars out there,
It’s been great having you all back in class and seeing how much you are all improving with your times tables!
BREAKING NEWS:
The results are in. We have our ROCK STARS OF THE WEEK.
With 384 points, this week’s winners are Y3!
That’s now seven times in a row (yes, seven!) AMAZING!
Y4, 5 and 6 need to get their hands on the coveted guitar. Will next week be their week?
Remember to give your teacher a nudge as the week goes on if you’ve not yet had a chance to play on TTRS. If you’d like to play at home and would like a reminder of your login details, let your teacher know.
All the best TTRS!
Skip into summer
This term, all classes will be taking part in the West Yorkshire Skip into Summer project with Skipping School. We are excited to be part of the 136 schools and almost 33,000 children taking part!
As part of this project, we have skipping ropes available to buy at a subsidised price of £3.
If your child would like to buy a rope, to keep learning their new skills at home, they will be on sale, outside the Year 1 classroom in the middle playground, 3:10-3:30pm on Thursdays and Fridays. Exact change would be helpful.
Y6’s last term ever…
… will be an amazing one!
This half term, we’ve got some exciting learning planned.
PE
With the exciting arrival of our amazing new playground, PE has never looked so good!
This half term, we will be practising our football skills, alongside playing games to deploy them in, in our trusty old MUGA.
Science
We’ve kicked things off with learning about animals including humans. So far, we’ve self assessed our knowledge and learnt some new words!
Challenge your child to tell you some changes that a human experiences as they go from a baby, to a toddler, adolescent and adult.
Computing
This half term is all about Scratch! We will be honing our programming skills to complete a different activity each week.
Take a look at some of the digital art we’ve created so far:
This one is by Daisy and Jess.
Test your child to see if they know what these words mean already:
- repetition
- sequence
- selection
- variable
- logical reasoning
- simulation
- program
- search engine
Writing
This half term will be a mixture of recapping old skills and learning new ones like how to use a semi colon within a list.
We’re starting off with some robot descriptions. Take a look at these incredible ones from Jemima, Emily and Felix respectively.
Reading
To enhance our computing topic, we will be reading about significant individuals, such as Ada Lovelace, learning about digital literacy and how to stay safe online.
To help at home, make sure you’re reading every day (whether that’s your library book, subtitles on the TV or even the back of the cereal box).
Maths
We’re always making sure that everyone is confident with our maths learning, so this half term will be a mixture of recapping prior topics, such as the four operations, and learning new things like ratio and proportion.
As always, we will have a strong thread of arithmetic and reasoning throughout our lessons.
Summer Term!
Hi everybody!
I can’t believe it’s summer term already. Where has the time gone?
I hope you are all feeling happy and healthy – especially now that the weather has improved!
In Y3 this half term, we will be learning about…
- forces and magnetism in Science
- computing using Scratch Jr on the Ipads
- inferring how people are feeling through drama
- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in maths
- prepositions, instructions and writing about computer games in writing
- basketball and skipping in P.E.
- solving problems, good hygiene, the importance of sleep and more in Living & Learning
- different spelling rules and regularly practising our times tables
…and much more!
Below are some pics of us working hard already this half term.
The Captain Tom 100 Challenge
Working scientifically
Today, Year 1 have been working scientifically. As part of their ‘Growing Plants’ topic, the children began by looking closely at a variety of seeds. The first stage, in the life cycle of most plants, is a seed and these come in all shapes and sizes.
The class discussed the appearance of different fruits and asked some very good scientific questions.
I wonder whereabouts the seeds are?
If we cut the lemon in half, will we see a seed?
Why are the seeds inside?
I wonder which fruit will have the most seeds?
I think all the seeds will look very different.
Next, we sliced the fruits open and examined the insides carefully.
Each fruit has a different seed.
Next, the children examined the open pieces of fruit and sketched some close up drawings. These images concentrated on a small section or slice of the fruit and the class looked carefully at the colours and the structure.
Year 1 were very curious about this learning and they use appropriate scientific language to communicate their ideas.
