Good afternoon,
It was lovely to see some of you at this week’s sharing assembly. I know it takes a lot of courage to stand up and perform in front of an audience, and the children all did a fantastic job! I can’t quite believe we only have two weeks left of this term now. It has been truly wonderful getting to know each and every child in the class — it honestly feels as though they’ve always been here (in the best possible way!).
English
This week, we started our new book The Mermaid of Zennor by Charles Causley — a Cornish legend about a mysterious mermaid who visits a village church and enchants the locals with her beautiful singing. The story has helped us explore the theme of mystery and the sea. In our lessons, we’ve been practising using fronted adverbials linked to the ocean (for example, “Deep beneath the crashing waves,” or “At the edge of the misty shore,”). The children also came up with some wonderful questions they would ask a mermaid, which they then used to write creative and thoughtful letters to mythical sea creatures.
Maths
In maths, we’ve been focusing on adding two 4-digit numbers using both the column and expanded methods. The children have been learning how and when to exchange digits between columns, which can be a tricky concept at first, but they’ve shown real perseverance! Next week, we’ll move on to subtraction, where the idea of exchanging will come up again — this time when taking away a larger digit from a smaller one in the same column. We’ll also be solving word problems that put these new skills into context.
Computing
Our computing lessons have continued to explore how the internet works. This week, we discussed what content means online and who actually owns it once it’s uploaded. The children have been brilliant at thinking critically about what should and shouldn’t be shared online, and they’re beginning to understand how important it is to respect other people’s work and privacy on the internet.
Spanish
In Spanish, we have been learning how to say and write the dates of some famous celebrations in Spain, such as El Día de San Antonio and El Día de la Hispanidad. The children practised saying the months of the year and learned how to structure sentences like “El Día de San Antonio es el trece de junio.” It has been lovely to see their confidence growing as they begin to recognise familiar words and patterns.
Science
This week marked the end of our “eggs-periment” — an investigation into how different drinks can affect our teeth. We observed the changes that occurred to eggshells (which act like tooth enamel) after being left in liquids such as water, juice, and cola. The results were quite eye-opening! We talked about the importance of brushing twice a day, reducing sugary drinks, and making choices that help keep our teeth healthy and strong — unlike the poor eggs from our experiment!
I’m very much looking forward to seeing you all at our parents’ consultation meetings in a couple of weeks’ time.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Warm regards,
Mr Chanter
