Willow Reflect on their Mapskills

Following our trip to London, this week Willow have been preparing presentations, evaluating and reflecting upon their journey. The children were split into groups of 5, 2 groups on bridges, 2 groups on cathedrals and 2 groups on buildings. Using their reciprocity, the children had to decide on a way to present their findings. Similarly to the trip, it was up to the children how they presented it, although they had topics they had to cover and evaluate within their presentations.

Delegating the tasks amongst themselves, some of the children took control of the iPad, designing and presenting information on google slides, whilst other children chose to create an informative poster.

Today, the children took to the spotlight, ready to share how their journey unfolded. Children remarked on how they would improve their journey. Some children explained they hadn't selected appropriate places to have their lunch, some struggled to find a free public toilet and others even admitted to having completely wrong directions, having screenshotted how to drive to each location. 

Most importantly, the children  remarked on how they enjoyed their experience and how their mapskills have now improved as a consequence. Great presentations Willow, a pleasure to watch :)

Willow Class Star Writer

Willow Class Star Writer 

This week in Willow, our star writer is the fantastic Frankie Woolnough, after producing an outstanding newspaper article on the capture of Robin Hood. It is no wonder that Frankie managed to produce such an incredible piece of writing, after she fully engaged and participated in the lesson. Constantly, Frankie contributed to class discussion, worked well with her partner and shared some fabulous ideas that other children could magpie.

In her writing, Frankie was able to apply the features of a newspaper article. She was able to use a passive voice, use a range of adverbials and ensured that she remained in a journalistic tone throughout, rather than writing her article as if it was a story.

Keep up the great work ethic Frankie and your writing will continue to soar! A pleasure to read. 

Willow Brain Busters!

Brain Busters

Willow maths set have been facing some tough brain busters the past few weeks, requiring them to work in groups of 4 (one child leading each time), reason mathematically and use their resilience to tackle some challenging questions.

The first week we focused on factors and multiples, in which the children left the class with their brains still pulsating. This week, we faced brain busters on fractions, which again put the children to their test.

Many of the children in Willow maths set were resilient, collaborated effectively with their team and strived to answer all of the questions under timed conditions, resulting in the the delivery of many, many dojos!

You were all great mathematicians, let's keep up the great work! 

Year 3 Spellings W/C 22.05.17

Please find below Year 3's spellings for the week. Please encourage your child to practice these spellings every night so that they are prepared for their spelling test on Friday.

Let's navigate...

Let's navigate 

Today, Willow class had the pleasure of venturing into London after planning their very own school trip. One group were assigned cathedrals, another buildings and finally bridges. The children had to take into consideration a multitude of factors besides their route: what trains they would have to take, where they would have lunch and even... where they could access a public toilet!

This may seem a simple task, but we had to overcome a few minor difficulties along the way, including following a map that only took account of how to drive to places (we were not driving). On the other hand, some children flourished, taking on the leadership role and guiding the rest of their group in the right direction. A special shout out goes to the wonderful Mia, Daniel Tonu, Sam Handoo and Ashroosh Valliani, whose teachers commented on their remarkable leadership skills.

Although the children may collapse in their beds tonight, they certainly achieved a lot from this trip, particularly in terms of using their map skills and applying their learning to an every day context. As agreed by all adults on the trip, Willow were  incredible! 

Thanks again to our adults, you helped make today a fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable experience!

Year 3 Spellings W/C 15.05.17

Please find below Year 3's spellings for this week. Please ensure your child practices every night so that they are prepared for the spelling test on Friday.

We look forward to seeing as many high scores as possible!

Birch Class, remember your swimming stuff tomorrow!

Calling all parents and carers of Birch Class,

Don't forget that tomorrow afternoon (15/05/2017) Birch Class will be going swimming again. This means that they need to bring:

• a Broadford swimming hat (or £1 if they have not bought one from the office yet)
• a bathing suit
• a towel

Goggles are not essential but can be worn if preferred.

The children will be dropped back at school at around 3.30pm. They will need to go to their classroom to gather their things before leaving school straight away.

Many thanks,
Mr Nicol

Maths Parties

After half term, we are going to be running some engaging Maths parties for the children on a Friday morning.

During the parties, the children will: compete against their parents in Rockstars (timetables), solve tricky Tangram problems, challenge their peers and parents to a 24 competition and solve Pentomino puzzles.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite parents and carers to join us.

Year 3	Friday 9th June	9:15-10am
Year 4	Friday 16th June	9:15-10am

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!

Year 3 Spellings W/C 08.05.17

Please find below Year 3's spellings for this week. Please encourage your child to practice their spellings every night so that they are prepared for the test on Friday.

Reminder for Birch Class - Swimming Tomorrow!

Calling all parents and carers of Birch Class,

Tomorrow afternoon (8/05/2017) Birch Class will be going swimming. This means that they need to bring:

• a Broadford swimming hat (or £1 if they have not bought one from the office yet)
• a bathing suit
• a towel

Goggles are not essential but can be worn if preferred.

The children will be dropped back at school at around 3.30pm. They will need to go to their classroom to gather their things before leaving school straight away. Please note that Monday swimming will be a regular occurrence until the half term break.

Many thanks,
Mr Nicol

Defeating decimals

Decimals and fractions can be quite a brain boggling subject. How is it possible that 4/10 is not the same as 1/4? Why is 1/3 not the same as 3/10? Over the past few weeks, Willow maths set have been working hard to turn factions on their head. We've been ordering fractions, converting fractions into decimals and more recently, finding fractions of amounts. Previously, we have struggled with these concepts, but now I am confident that Willow can tackle them with ease!

Willow Class star writer

Our star writer this week is the phenomenal Finley Short. Finley produced an outstanding build up for his story of Robin Hood. He used a range of openers to vary his sentence types, successfully embedded relative clauses to add extra information and incorporated similes to create a clearer description for his audience. Finley, you made it a pleasure to read, keep up the great writing!

Fraction Fun in Year 3!

This week, Year 3 were set the challenging task of representing one half of 12 in as many creative ways as they could possibly think of.

They were able to use all of the objects around the classroom and were encouraged to think outside the box! 

"It was really fun to show how when you find a half of something, you divide it into two groups. I used a clock and put the minute hand on 6 because I knew there are 12 hours on clock and half of 12 is 6!" Harry, Hazel.

Some children even used their hands to show half of 12. They worked together to show 12 fingers and put down 6 to represent one half! 

Other children applied their creative skills and drew pictures to represent one half of 12. 

"We drew 12 objects and then we coloured in 6 to show that they were part of one group out of 2. That is the same as saying 1/2 of 12." Paige, Hazel.

"We actually used books to show half of 12. We knew it was important that they were the same type of book because each part of the whole must be equal. In other words, the denominator represents equal parts of one whole" Arya, Sequoia.

Overall, Year 3 thought of some incredible ways of representing 1/2 of 12. They are now much clearer in their understanding of what the denominator's role is and how you can find a fraction of an amount. Great job, Year 3!

Willow Class star writer

Our star writer this week is the wonderful Trinity Hawkes! It is no wonder given the fabulous opening of her story, Robin Hood. Trinity has shown great enthusiasm in this topic, which has shown in the writing she has produced. She used a range of openers to vary her sentence structure, incorporated powerful vocabulary throughout and included similes so her reader could really imagine being in the scene. Fantastic writing Trinity, keep it up!

Year 3 Spellings W.C 02.05.17

Please find below Year 3's spellings for next week. Please ensure your child practices every day so that they are prepared for the test on Friday.