Therapy Dog at Howard Primary
We are delighted to announce that we have been allocated a Therapy Dog!
Pepsi, an adorable cocker spaniel, will visit Howard Primary with her trainer on Mondays. Pepsi has been trained by Pets Therapy, a charity that works in many schools , hospitals and other organisations. Pepsi will spend time being read to by selected children. The aim of the visit is to support children who might be experiencing a difficult time due to bereavement, anxiety or any other big feelings.
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs Pollington on : senco@howard.croydon.sch.uk
Coping tools for kids
How can we talk to children about ADHD?
Supporting a child to understand his/her ADHD diagnosis can be very daunting.
The UK ADHD Foundation has put together a fantastic resource aimed at helping children understanding what ADHD is all about. It is a booklet with many activities designed like a detective story.
You can access the booklet from the link below :
Week beginning 2nd January 2023
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Our learning this week…
Phonics
At Howard Primary School we have adopted Read Write Inc Phonics.
RWI is a method of learning centred round letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing. Read Write Inc., developed by Ruth Miskin, provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. It is used by more than a quarter of the UK’s primary schools and is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.
Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.
When using RWI to read the children will:
- Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
- Learn to read words using Fred Talk
- Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out
- Show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions.
Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions:
Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about
Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning
Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability
Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning
Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/
Hold a sentence is an activity that encourages children to remember a whole sentence while focusing on spelling and punctuation.
Build a sentence is to give children the opportunity to create their own sentence to that shows the meaning of a word and edit a sentence allows the children to critique a sentence using their knowledge of spelling punctuation and grammar. Children complete a longer piece of independent writing, which gives them the opportunity to show off their creativity and to practice their spelling, grammar and punctuation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXOJUPNVnLc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjHqJQ8sxs4
English
We will also be using The Power of Reading scheme. We will be basing our literacy work based on a core text. This core text is called The Wild by Emily Hughes.
English
At Howard Primary School we have adopted The Power of Reading scheme for literacy. Our literacy work is based around a core text. The text we are working on is called Rapunzel by Bethan Woollvin.
Other books by Bethan Woollvin include:
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Maths – Statistics
- Make tally charts
- Draw pictograms
- Interpret pictograms (2,5 and 10s)
Make tally charts
Draw pictograms
Children will draw pictorgrams.
— Interpret pictograms (1:1)
A pictogram is a chart that uses pictures to represent data. Pictograms are set out in the same way as bar charts but instead of bars they use columns of pictures to show the numbers involved.
Interpret pictograms
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Science – Living things and their habitat
Our topic this term is living things and their habitat.
This week we will distinguish between living and non-living things. The children will go on a walk around the school’s group in search for items that are living and non living.
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PE
Please remember to send your child to school in their PE kit on their PE days.
Westminster – Tuesday & Thursday
Hungerford – Tuesday & Thursday
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Music
We will focus on exploring sounds and pitch.
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RE
In RE we will continue to learn about Judaism.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqbw2hv
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RHE – Relationship and Health Education
Jigsaw has two aims for all children:
- To build their capacity for learning
- To equip them for life
Jigsaw brings together PSHE Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. The topic this term is ‘Dreams and goals‘.
The children will talk about setting realistic goals and how they can achieve them. They will learn about perseverance when they find things difficult as well as recognising their strengths as a learner. The children will talk and experience group work and reflect on who they work well with and who they don’t. They will also learn to share their success with other people.
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Reading
When reading with your child at home ask them questions related to their book.
Questions to ask before you read
- Can you look at the pictures and predict what you think will happen in this book?
- What makes you think that?
- What characters do you think might be in our story?
- Do you think there will be a problem in this story? Why or why not?
- Does the topic/story relate to you or your family? How?
Questions to ask during the reading
- What do you think will happen next?
- What can you tell me about the story so far?
- Can you predict how the story will end?
- Why do you think the character did _______?
- What would you have done if you were the character?
- How would you have felt if you were the character? (use different characters)
- As I read____________, it made me picture________ in my head. What pictures do you see in your head?
- As you read, what are you wondering about?
- Can you put what you’ve just read in your own words?
Questions to ask after reading
- Can you remember the title?
- In your opinion, was it a good title for this book? Why or why not?
- Were your predictions about the story correct?
- If there was a problem, did it get solved?
- What happened because of the problem?
- Why do you think the author wrote this book?
- What is the most important point the author is trying to make in his writing?
- What was your favourite part of the story?
- If you could change one thing in the story, what would it be?
- Can you retell the story in order?
- If you were __________, how would you have felt?
- What is the most interesting situation in the story?
- Is there a character in the story like you? How are you alike?
Why did you like this book?
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Mathletics
Please continue to complete your activities on Mathletics.
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Star of the week
Hungerford
Patricia – for trying her best with reading and phonics.
Westminster
Corey – for focusing more on his learning.
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If you need to talk to someone on Xmas Day
If you need someone to talk to this Christmas day, these helplines are open. There’s someone at the other end of the phone who’s waiting for your call. You’re not alone.
If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, your local NHS urgent helpline is open 24/7. You can find their number at https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/where-to-get-urgent-help-for-mental-health/
Please share this post so it reaches someone who really needs to see it.
It’s OK if…
Google Classroom
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Please check Google Classroom for blog updates from classteachers
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Week commencing 12th December
Well done for an amazing week of learning last week Year 3! We were really impressed with how hard you have been working. Let’s have a fabulous week and then enjoy a really well deserved Christmas break!
Here’s what we will be learning next week:
English- We will be continuing our class text, Into the forest by Anthony Browne. We will be planning our alternative narratives based on the story and getting ready to include lots of interesting sentence starters and vocabulary.
Reading- We will be looking at a non-fiction text this week about Light and Shadow and practising a range of our key skills learned throughout the term. As always, we will focus on key vocabulary which should also help us in our current Science topic.
We will be beginning to send home reading books on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for those children who have not already chosen them. Reading diaries should be brought to school each day.
Maths- We will be continuing to learn about fractions, comparing fractions which have the same denominator and also comparing fractions which have different denominators.. We will also have a times table lesson spotting patterns between the 2 and 4 times tables.
If your child would like to practise their learning at home, there are lots of free games which they can use, including Daily 10 from Topmarks or Hit the Button
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/daily10
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
PE- We will be dancing with Miss Handley on Monday and continuing to work on jumping and balancing on Thursdays..
RE- We will be learning about Advent and the meaning of various Christmas symbols.
Science- We will be thinking about how shadows are formed and how reflections are caused by light rays bouncing off an object.
RHE- We are going to be continuing to work on Anti-bullying strategies this week.
Homework- We will post homework on Google Classroom each week. We have added tasks to Mathletics. Additionally, the children will have access to Language Angels to practise their new vocabulary in Spanish.
PE will take place on Monday and Thursday for both classes. Children should come to school in their school PE kits on those days.
Please ensure your child has a water bottle in school each day.
Lastly, if you have any questions or concerns, please speak to a member of staff or email us at the address below;
Year3@howard.croydon.sch.uk
Year 3 Team
We have now got access to Google Classroom again and are starting to upload homework tasks. Children’s logins have not changed but there is a new class code.
Waterloo: gwqr4pn
Blackfriars: an2q6p4
Week Beginning 12.12.22
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THIS WEEK’S LEARNING:
Literacy Core Text: The Jolly Christmas Postman
Phonics: Reading Books for all groups will be changed on Monday this week. Please return reading books and yellow diaries so your child may receive their next book from their Phonics group teacher. Please ensure you also return the book on Friday before we break up.
Maths: We are going to be learning to compare quantities of objects.
RE: We will be learning about the Christmas Story and having a chance to take on one of the roles to role play the story.
Thursday: We will be having a class party in the afternoon, we ask that you can send your child in with a donation for a snack to share with the class during the party. Please be aware we are a nut free school so please ensure no snacks contains nuts. Any left over snacks on Thursday will be shared during movie time on Friday.
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Week Beginning 12th December
We have now reached the last week of term! This week our learning will be as follows;
- In English we will plan a story in the style of a Greek Myth before we create the myth in comic strip form.
- In Mathematics we will extend our learning using games and problem solving activities.
- In science we will finish our work on teeth and digestion.
- Our blocked foundation subject will be RE. We will learn about Christmas Journeys.
Southwark Class will have their last swimming lesson on Tuesday. Millennium Class will have PE on Tuesday and Friday.
On Thursday morning we will visit St Andrew’s Church to extend our RE learning.
We will watch an online Pantomime on Wednesday and have our Christmas party on Thursday.