Dear parents and carers,

In our English lessons this week we have started working on writing a balanced argument. We have researched what features a balanced argument needs to have and also been thinking about the opposing opinions about children's screen use, in order to write our balanced argument about this subject. We've just started sentence stacking the introduction, and we'll continuing with this next week.

In maths this week we have focused on fractions, including counting in fraction sequences and ordering fractions (both less than and greater than a whole). We'll be continuing with this next week.

In our science lesson this week we looked at dissolving- what it is and how it works. The children have planned their own experiments about dissolving, which we'll be carrying out next week. I've also promised them some explosive reactions in an upcoming science lesson- watch this space for more details!

This week's spellings are all words that break the "i before e, except after c" rule:
ancient
science
species
efficient
deficient
glacier
scientists
sufficient
emergencies
inefficient

Mrs B

Three things to ask your child this week:

1. How do you find an equivalent fraction?
2. What does a balanced argument need to have?
3. What happens when sugar dissolves into a cup of tea?

​With Year 3 last week we used the flint and steel to make tiny fires. It was definitely an exercise in resilience and perseverance!

The weather was damp and it took a long time to get the cotton wool to light. The children were given all the time they need to succeed, we were happy for them to try all afternoon if they wanted to. Often when we do this activity it takes a while for the children to relax and understand that there is no set time to succeed. They can adapt how they do it, they can ask friends for advice. Building resilience takes time and luckily at Forest School we can take all the time we need. 

As the afternoon went on it was great to see the children support each other, they sat together and gave advice, told their friends not to give up, keep going. 

Making little fires serves lots of purposes, the main one being teaching of fire safety. Before they begin, the children have to make sure they had all the safety gear they need. They must manage the area around their proposed fire,  they learn to have the confidence to tell people to move away if they are too close.

Once the fire is lit only they are in charge of it. They must many sure that no one comes near, touches it or takes their safety equipment. They are responsible for putting it out and making sure the site is safe after. 

Fire lighting was only only one small part of our afternoon! There was den building, swing making, mud cakes, Christmas tree camps and much more. 

This week we have been hard on multiplication looking at efficient strategies and using different written methods for multiplying 2 by 1 digit numbers. We have been using place value charts, expanded written multiplication and short multiplication. 
 
In English our focus has been on use of colons to write lists, developing dialogue and using questions to write a cliffhanger. 

We have begun rehearsals for our play 'Pirates verses Mermaids' and have even been using our samba moves from PE to choreograph a dance for the play. In RE we have continued to think about pilgrimage and in PSHE we have been writing our hopes and dreams. 

In science we have been investigating the speed at which sounds travels. 

Our spellings this week are:
serious
obvious
curious
hideous
spontaneous
courteous
furious
various
victorious
gaseous

We hope you all have a happy and safe half term holiday and we look forward to seeing you next term.

Here is a closer look at our Australian Art and tapping sticks that we created as part of our class Australia Day:

Dear parents/carers,
I can't believe we have flown through another half term. The children have really enjoyed learning about Dinosaurs and were very knowledgeable on the subject. 
This week we have been doing some assessments and hearing all of the children read in preparation for after half term. 
We have also learned about Valentines Day and the story behind it and the children thought about all the people they loved. 
I hope you all have a lovely half term,
Mrs Ballard. 

In English this week we have been writing our own informal letters as if we were an injured soldier in Florence Nightingale's hospital in Scutari, making sure we used really interesting noun phrases to describe our injuries and the conditions in the hospital.  We have also practised identifying past and present tense verbs.
In maths, we have been looking at tally charts and pictograms to record information and answer questions. Some of the pictograms got quite tricky when one picture represented more than one item - its always important to look at the key.
Our science work has been about food chains this week. The children drew their own versions and labelled them with herbivore, carnivore, producer, consumer. We learned that food chains begin with the sun, which is used by plants to make their own energy, and plants are consequently known as producers. Creatures that eat plants are called herbivores. Creatures that eat something else (plant or animal) to get their energy) are called consumers.
The spellings on Spelling Shed will be tested on Friday 28 Ferbruary. The 5x table is also on EdShed for children to practice.
Things to ask your child:
Does the past tense mean something is happening now or has already happened?
Why can't you keep a penguin in your bedroom?
What do you need to look at first, before counting the pictures, on a pictogram?
Don't forget that after half term the forest school and science groups will swap over so if your child has done science this term they will need to bring clothes for forest school on a Thursday.
Please ensure children have their book bag and PE kit in school every day. Thank you.
Have a lovely half term break.
​Mrs Lappin & Mrs James

Dear parents and carers,

This week in English the children have worked very hard on their newspaper reports about Shackleton rescuing the rest of his crew from Elephant Island. It took a little bit longer than I had originally planned, but the results are brilliant and really worth the wait. 

In maths we have just started our work on fractions. Again, this is slightly later than I had planned, but the children are already picking it up well. I've really emphasised that the bottom number (denominator) is how many equal parts the whole has been split into, while the top number (numerator) is how many of those parts we're bothered about. We'll be continuing with this work after half term, including looking at changing mixed numbers into improper fractions (e.g. turning 3 and a half into 7/2), adding, subtracting and even a bit of multiplying fractions!

In our science lesson this week the children really enjoyed planning and carrying our their own investigations about electrical conductors. They were surprised that pencil "lead" conducts electricity! 

We'll be continuing with our work on materials after half term, when we'll look at dissolving, separating mixtures of materials, and also look at the difference between reversible and irreversible changes. 

The spellings for over half term are challenge words:
amateur
ancient
awkward
criticise
excellent
foreign
pronunciation
symbol
yacht
equipment

Enjoy your half term, and I hope that the weather clears after the weekend so that the kids can get outside at some point!
Mrs B

Three things to ask your child this week:

1. What did you say your dream or goal was in our PSHE work?
2. Why was Shackleton's rescue of his men from Elephant Island such an incredible thing?
3. What do the numbers mean in a fraction?

​On Thursday 6th February we went to King Alfred's to attend an athletics competition. Eight schools took part including Appleton. At the event there were many activities; standing long jump, triple jump, vertical jump, chest push and javelin are the field events. The track/running events are: 1 by 1, 2 by 2, 4 by 1 relay, paarluaf, the over under relay and obstacle relay. Out of the 8 schools we place 2nd. We were proud to come in a high position and were awarded with certificates. 

By Freya & Heather in Year 6