Our blogs

Toucans W.B. 23.01.23, by Mr Corkill

Date: 19th Jan 2023 @ 5:16pm

Welcome Back to Toucans’ Weekly Blog ?

Toucans all got to enjoy an enrichment experience this week at the Imperial War Museum in Salford to extend their historical knowledge and understanding on a range of different aspects of war from 1914 onwards. The children also enjoyed an athletics competition at Rudheath Senior Academy, where they represented our school wonderfully. 

Praise: Savannah

Top Table: Riley and Mason J 

Next Week (W.B. 23.01.23)

Reminders:

• Please could you pass any cardboard packaging from home to the classroom as we our going to look at building some WW2 Anderson Shelters in DT, hopefully starting next week. 
• PE will continue to take place on both a Monday and a Friday each week, so please send your child into school wearing their PE kit on these days. PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/navy.

Curriculum:

In English, we will begin to plan and write our final piece for this unit of writing. We shall look at retelling the events of The Selfish Giant story from a different character’s perspective (e.g. The Giant). We will to draw together our learning on and use: expanded noun and adverbial phrases, personification, semi-colons, the subjunctive verb form, formal language, and passive verbs. In reading, we shall begin to read ‘The Devoted Friend’ by Oscar Wilde, evaluating the author’s language choice and use our inference skills to deduce impressions of some of the characters. 

In maths, we will continue to look at decimals. We shall recap multiplying and dividing decimals by powers of 10 (10, 100, 1000) before multiplying and dividing decimals by an integer. We will also continue with our 4-a-day arithmetic questions each morning to further practice our four operations.

In science, the children will explore the journey a red blood cells takes around the body and explore how exercise can effect our heart rate and try to understand the reasons behind why this happens.

In our history/geography lesson, the children will compare and contrast the role of women before, during, and after WW2 to identify the similarities and differences. 

In RE, we will look further at humanism and focus on what humanist believe makes a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. We shall also discuss and identity what makes us happy in our own lives. 

In DT, the children will work in small groups to begin to design and build a model Anderson shelter with Mrs Hulse. 

In PE, the children will continue with gymnastics, paired work, and problem solving with Mr Ault. 

Homework:

Children in Year 6 will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers provided in the back of their homework book. If your child is finding the homework challenging, I will ensure that supervision is provided one lunchtime each week where your child can ask any questions or receive the support they need to complete the homework.

Children should complete page 27 of their maths homework book this week and return it to school by Thursday 26th January. The homework consolidates our learning on rounding decimals from this week’s lessons. Children should also complete pages 5-7 (Set A: Test 2) of their new reading homework book. 

Please also encourage your child to read for 15-20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings and times tables. Children need to record their reading in their homework diaries/planners. This really will help them with their reading speed and stamina. 

The following website is great for times tables practice: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 27th December will focus on hyphenated words and will be: clean-shaven, co-operate, co-ordinate, co-own, cold-hearted, man-eating, re-energise, re-enter, re-examine, re-explain.  

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact!

Mr Corkill ?

Starlings WB 27.02.23, by Mrs Esling

Date: 16th Jan 2023 @ 7:05pm

Welcome to this weeks Starlings class Blog.  What another fantastic week we have enjoyed.  

Friday Superstar:Nathan

Top Table: Evie and Gracie

Diary Dates:

2nd March World Book Day

21st to 22nd March - Parent's Evening - More details to follow

29th March - School Disco

This week we have:

…worked beautifully on our final stories based on our class text 'The Lion Inside'.  We created a new small animal who also needed to fiond their roar!

HOME- Our new whole school topic 

After half term we will begin our new whole school topic- Home. This has been planned around the theme of the importance of our homes to us and the human conflicts and natural disasters that result in homelessness for others. We are hoping to use photographs of our children’s homes as part of our displays. If you would like to, please send or e-mail a photo/copy of your home into school after half term. Thank you. 

RWI

Following assessments at the end of the term the cnhildren have been placed into new RWI groups.  Your child will have had a sticker in their diary informing you of their new group and teacher.  Each time your child changes groups they will be given a bookmark. This book mark has the red words listed.  PLease practise these with your child as it supports fluency in both their reading and writing.

MATHS

In maths we continue to explore the numbers from 11 to 20.   This unit lays the essential foundations of place value, as children begin to recognise the place value of each digit in a 2-digit number. This is an important skill that children will develop when they add and subtract and begin to work with larger numbers.We will then move

HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY

We have explored the invention of the bike and how its design has changed over the years.  We have also learned abour George Stephenson and how his invention of 'The Rocket' influenced the trains we travel on today.   We will now investigate the invention of the motor car and how designs have chanegd over the years and the reasons behind those changes.  This links with our geography where we will explore how people could travel further following these inventions.

SCIENCE

In Science we will be investigating objects, the material which it is made from and its uses.  

RELIGION

In religion we will be learning about the Easter story and what happens in church at Easter

PE

Our PE days are Wednesdays and Fridays. Please come to school wearing appropriate PE kit- White t-shirt, black/blue plain hoodie and tracksuit bottoms or shorts, hair tied back and earrings removed or covered with own plasters.

Snack

Children in KS1 receive free fruit.  Children do not have to bring a snack from home but if you wish to do so we ask that it is a healthy option and just one item, please. Please also rembember we are a NUT FREE SCHOOL. Please can you also make sure that your child only has water in their water bottle; juice, however, is fine at lunchtimes if your child brings a packed lunch.

Birthdays

We love celebrating the children's birthdays and hearing about all the exciting things they are doing. We appreciate that it is not always possible to invite the whole class and we would ask therefore that in these instances that invites are given out before or after school.  Thank you.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us via a note in your child’s diary or through the office if you would like to discuss anything about your child.  admin@lostockgralam.cheshire.sch.uk     01606 668270 

Many thanks Mrs Esling and Mrs Westland

Goldfinches WB 16.1.23, by Mrs Evans

Date: 12th Jan 2023 @ 6:46pm

Welcome to Goldfinches’ Weekly Blog

Well done everyone for your hard work this week.

Friday Superstar: Ethen

Top Table: Bella and Lydia

Coming soon:

Trip to Chester Grosvenor Museum. Thursday 19^th January. Please ensure you have given permission for your child to attend this fantastic day out. Please send your child with- a snack, water bottle and packed lunch (or order a CAT bag). As we will be outside for part of the day, please ensure your child is wearing warm footwear and tights or trousers as well as a warm coat, hat and gloves.

Multiplication Tables Check meeting for parents.  Thursday 26^th January. 3.30-4pm. Please e-mail admin to let us know if you will be attending the meeting.

This week we have:

Enjoyed being immersed in exploring the questions ‘How great was Alexander the Great?’ and ‘What did the Greeks do for us?’ within our History lessons and have produced some super learning. We are becoming very knowledgeable about volcanoes through our writing and shared reading lessons. We have shown a great interest in finding the area of rectangles in Maths.

Next week we will:

Writing: Learn more about the volcanic eruption in Pompeii and infer what it might have been like to live in Pompeii during Roman times.

Spellings: Homophones (words with the same sound but different spellings and meanings) set this week to be tested next Friday 20th.

Words to learn: their, there, they’re, our, are, peace, piece, pane, pain, whale, wail. Please support your child to know the different meanings as well as spellings.

Reading: We will learn about how the organisation and features of non-fiction books (contents, diagrams, labels, headings etc) help us to understand what we are reading.

Reading homework: I have been really impressed with how the class is settling down to read after lunch. One of my favourite times of the day is chatting about which books the children have enjoyed and having a 1:1 read. Please help to support this developing love of books and reading at home by listening to and chatting about your child’s reading books daily and signing their diary.

Maths: We will complete our unit on finding the area using squares and move onto methods of multiplication.

Times tables: We are continuing to work on our times tables every day by using games, online games, worksheets and tests in class. At the moment we are recapping 8x and introducing 3x. Your child will come home with a paper activity on Friday 13^th to try at home. Please continue to support your child to learn their tables fluently in order, out of order and know the division facts.

Please ensure your child uses the below Maths Frame game at least a couple of times a week to get used to speed and time limits and prepare them for the online check.

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

Other fun games to try:

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/7/multiplication-and-division

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples

PE: This will be on Mondays and Fridays for the next half term. Indoor gymnastics on Monday and outdoor (where weather permits) Team building and tactics games on Fridays.

Items from home reminder: there have been an increasing number of items from home being brought in to school by the children. Please ensure these are kept at home so they don’t end up being lost/taken in school and causing distractions and fall outs. Thank you for your support in this.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us via the office if you would like to discuss anything about your child.  admin@lostockgralam.cheshire.sch.uk     01606668270

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Evans, Miss Wilkinson, Mrs Simmonds and Miss Nelson.

Robins WB 16.01.23, by Mrs Whittingham

Date: 12th Jan 2023 @ 5:35pm

You will all have received an email this week to remind you about payment and ordering a school dinner, if needed, for our trip to Beeston Castle on Thursday 9th February. I went on a pre-visit on Sunday and it was very muddy on the path up to the castle hence why I have asked for wellies. It is also rather exposed around the castle so please ensure your child has warm clothes and a waterproof coat.  

In Writing this week we have been linking it with our History unit on the Stone Age and have been researching how people lived during that time and comparing life then to now. The children have completed lots of research with their partner using books and IPads to find facts and are using these to write their reports which we will finish next week. The children are really enjoying Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura and we are having great discussions around this beautiful book. 

In our Reading lessons we have been exploring the new vocabulary in The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. We have examined the text for evidence to help us explain the new words. 

Please remember to read with your child for 10 - 15 mins daily and record in diary if possible. Also take a look at their reading target which is on a sticker in their diary, some children may have the same target for a few weeks to work on. 

Spellings for next week will focus on words with the 'sh' sound spelt 'ch'. chef, charade, chalet, chute, machine, brochure, moustache, parachute

Remember to have a go at this spelling game to revise spellings. 

https://ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling/

Here is a good website to play some Maths games that I'm sure the children will enjoy.

https://www.multiplication.com/games/all-games

PE days for this term are Monday and Friday. 

In our Topic lessons this term we will continue to prepare for our trip to Beeston Castle on Thursday 9th February. 

In Art we will be exploring colour mixing and finding out about the artist George Seurat. 

In DT we will be learning more about the seasonality of food. 

In Computing we are going to begin a new unit finding out about motion pictures. 

In Music we will be listening to and appraising different songs

Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,

Mrs Whittingham, Miss Wilkinson (Friday) & Mrs Taylor

Skylarks WB 16.01.23, by Miss Beattie

Date: 12th Jan 2023 @ 5:15pm

Hello everyone and welcome back to Skylarks weekly blog! ?

Another super week in Skylarks Class. The children have loved learning about the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and reading our new class text ‘Arthur and the golden rope’.

Next week (W.B. 16.01.23)

In our English lessons next week, we will continue to read our new book ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’ by Joe Todd-Stanton. We will be learning how to integrate dialogue into a story to advance the action and how to use adverbial phrases to link paragraphs.

In our shared reading lessons, we will begin to read ‘Odd and the Frost Giants’ by Neil Gaiman. We will be focussing on drawing inferences such as characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives. We will use our ‘thinking out loud’ and ‘visualising’ techniques to help us infer information stated and implied.

In maths we will be focussing on adding and subtracting fractions. We will also continue to consolidate our understanding of the four operations through daily 4 a day activities.

In our topic lesson, we will be using our geography skills to locate the Anglo Saxon Kingdoms and were they travelled from.

In science we will begin our new topic about Living Things and their Habitats. We will be learning about conservation and inspirational people such as David Attenborough who dedicate their life to keeping animals and their habitats safe.  

In RE we will begin our new topic on ‘Humanism’, focussing on the 5 key humanist themes/beliefs.

Our PE day for the Spring Term will be a Wednesday so your child should come to school in their PE kit on this day. Please remember PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/blue.

Homework

In year 5 the children will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers in the back of the homework book.

If your child is finding the homework tricky, please do let Mr Beswick or myself know so that we can offer them support in school. 

The children should complete page 33 of their maths book to be returned by Friday 20^th January 2023. This homework is looking at ordering fractions.  

Please also encourage your child to read for 20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings/times tables. The following websites are both great for times tables practice:

https://ttrockstars.com/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 20^th January will be the next 10 words from the Year 5/6 statutory word list:

Determined, develop, dictionary, disastrous, embarrass, environment, equipment, especially, exaggerate, excellent

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact ?

Miss Beattie x

Toucans W.B. 16.01.23, by Mr Corkill

Date: 12th Jan 2023 @ 2:45pm

Welcome Back to Toucans’ Weekly Blog ?

Toucans have been hard at work this week learning about a variety of things, including: ratio, semi-colons, expanded noun and adverbial phrases, along with WW2 evacuation and ‘agents of hope’ in our collective worships. 

Praise: Jake

Top Table: Anthony and Toby 

Next Week (W.B. 16.01.23)

Reminders:

• Imperial War Museum Trip - Our trip to the Imperial War Museum in Salford will be on Monday 16th January. The children need to come to school in their school uniform at the normal time. Please ensure that they bring a packed lunch, snack and drink in a disposable bag labelled with their name. The children will be at school for collection at the usual time. 
• PE Competition at Rudheath Senior Academy (RSA) - There will be an athletics competition at RSA in the afternoon of Thursday 19th January. Mrs Whittingham and Mrs Westland will accompany the children on the day. Mr Ault has picked out which event(s) your child will take part in during the competition. Consent letters have been sent home this week for completion and return by tomorrow (Friday 13th January). 
• PE will continue to take place on both a Monday and a Friday each week, so please send your child into school wearing their PE kit on these days. PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/navy.

Curriculum:

In English, we will continue to read and explore The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. This week, we will look at using personification and passive verbs to make our writing more exciting. Additionally, we will be re-reading the story and sequencing the events. In shared reading, we will continue to read The Happy Prince and practice our reading comprehension skills. 

In maths, we will begin a new unit looking at decimals. Our focus will initially be looking at place value to 3 decimal places, rounding decimal numbers, and practising adding and subtracting decimals. We will also continue with our 4-a-day arithmetic questions each morning to further practice our four operations.

In science, the children will explore how water and nutrients are transported around the body following ingestion. We will see how our new knowledge of the circulatory system can help us to understand how these substances are able to move and reach all of our cells. 

In our history/geography lesson, the children will be able to enhanced their knowledge of WW1 and WW2 through our exciting trip to the IWM. Additionally, we will discuss wartime rationing, attempt to plan a whole week’s menu with just ratio portions, and use our measuring skills to weigh out our allowances. 

In RE, we will look further at humanism and focus on a humanist understanding of the world. We will explore different beliefs and a variety of evidence to discuss whether we think the evidence strongly or weakly supports a belief. 

In PE, the children will continue with gymnastics, paired work, and problem solving with Mr Ault. 

Homework:

Children in Year 6 will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers provided in the back of their homework book. If your child is finding the homework challenging, I will ensure that supervision is provided one lunchtime each week where your child can ask any questions or receive the support they need to complete the homework.

Children should complete pages 36-37 of their maths homework book this week and return it to school by Thursday 19th January. The homework consolidates our learning on scale factors from this week’s lessons. Children should also complete pages 2-4 (Set A: Test 1) of their new reading homework book. 

Please also encourage your child to read for 15-20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings and times tables. Children need to record their reading in their homework diaries/planners. This really will help them with their reading speed and stamina. 

The following website is great for times tables practice:https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 20th January will focus on homophones and will be: bridal, bridle, compliment, complement, precede, proceed, principal, principle, weary, wary. 

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact!

Mr Corkill ?

Puffins Weekly Blog Week Commencing 9th January 2023, by Mrs Shimmin

Date: 8th Jan 2023 @ 10:38pm

Hello and Welcome to Puffins Weekly blog!

A late Happy New Year from Mrs Shimmin!

Last week

Puffins had a brilliant first week back last week! It was really lovely to see them all come in to class full positivity and energy. We had some time in the school garden, feeding the birds, raking up the leaves and planning what we want to grow this year. They all worked so hard and we are looking forward to this week.

This week

In Science this half term, Puffins will be investigating, describing and identifying seeds, learning about the different temperatures that different plants need to grow and experimenting on growing them. This week we will begin by investigating and describing seeds. In Geography we will be experimenting with measuring the weather and recording it in different seasons. We will also be looking at what causes different weathers. This week we will looking at wind direction. In music we will be investigating sound and playing different instruments.  We begin this week with listening to the beats in music.

There will be lots to do in the garden this half term, preparing the soil for growing, planting seeds, building new raised beds and lots of other planned activities. This week we will be building two new raised beds.

What a busy week with lots to enjoy!!

Please encourage your child to read a few pages of their book each night and it would be helpful to practice their times tables with them too. At the moment, KS1 children are learning 2’s, 5’s and 10’s and KS2 are learning 3’s, 4’s and 8’s. The websites below are great fun for Times Tables practice.

https://ttrockstars.com/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button/

Please remember to contact me via the school office if you have any questions.

Mrs Shimmin x

Goldfinches WB 9.1.23, by Mrs Evans

Date: 5th Jan 2023 @ 7:34pm

Welcome to Goldfinches’ Weekly Blog

Happy New Year and welcome back everyone!

Friday Superstar: Harriet W

Top Table: Hannah and Chloe

Coming soon: Trip to Chester Grosvenor Museum. Thursday 19^th January. Please ensure you have given permission for your child to attend this fantastic day out.

This week we have:

… welcomed the lovely Miss Nelson to our Goldfinches nest and have loved getting to know her.

… returned refreshed and full of lovely enthusiasm to work. We have loved being introduced to our new Writing and Reading texts ‘Escape from Pompeii’ and ‘Volcano’ and have already developed some interesting new vocabulary. We enjoyed voting for our new Recognition Board class target ‘To get straight on with our work’.

Next week we will:

Mondays: Miss Wilkinson will be teaching Goldfinches on Mondays from now on. Mrs Evans will continue to teach Tuesdays-Fridays.

PE: This will be on Mondays and Fridays for the next half term. Indoor gymnastics on Monday and outdoor (where weather permits) Team building and tactics games on Fridays.

Writing: Use our senses to describe the sights and sounds of Pompeii in the past and begin to organise our ideas into paragraphs.

Spellings: Spellings from the Y3/4 Statutory word list set this week to be tested next Friday 13th.

Words to learn: different, difficult, disappear, early, earth, eight, eighth, enough, exercise, experience.

Reading: We will look at how organisation and pages such as the contents and index support our understanding of Non Fiction writing.

Reading homework: Please continue to support your child’s love of reading and the chance to disappear into another world whilst they do! Please sign when your child had read independently and comment when they have read aloud to you.

Maths: We will complete our unit on addition and subtraction and problem solving and move on to finding the area using squares.

Times tables: We are continuing to work on our times tables every day by using games, online games, worksheets and tests in class. At the moment we are recapping 8x and introducing 3x. Please continue to support your child to learn their tables fluently in order, out of order and know the division facts. I will be holding a meeting for parents soon to share information about the National Y4 Multiplication Check.

Please ensure your child uses this game at least a couple of times a week to get used to speed and time limits and prepare them for the online check.

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

Other fun games to try:

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/7/multiplication-and-division

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples

History: We enjoyed exploring the question ‘How Great was Alexander the Great?’ this week and will continue with this inquiry next week.

PSHCE: We will be focusing on the theme of being unique and being proud and confident to be ourselves in our No Outsiders lesson this week.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us via the office if you would like to discuss anything about your child.  admin@lostockgralam.cheshire.sch.uk     01606668270

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Evans, Miss Wilkinson, Mrs Simmonds and Miss Nelson.

Robins week beg. 9th January, by Mrs Whittingham

Date: 5th Jan 2023 @ 5:48pm

Happy New Year!

Thank you kindly for your generous gifts, cards and best wishes from everyone. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas with your families. It has been lovely welcoming back the children and hearing about the fun times they had over the holidays. They have all settled well back into lessons this week and have worked extremely hard for the first week back! I am sure they will all be exhausted this weekend!

In Writing this week we have started our new unit based on the book Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura. We have written some pieces of dialogue and described the setting. Next week we will be devolping our ideas into paragraphs as well as beginning to plan and write a report. 

In our Reading lessons we have begun our new text The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. This week in class we have been discussing the books that we have read so far in Year 3, our favourite books/authors/genres and building up our stamina to read for longer periods of time. 

Please remember to read with your child for 10 - 15mins daily and record in diary if possible. Also take a look at their reading target which is on a sticker in their diary, some children may have the same target for a few weeks to work on. 

Spellings for next week will focus on words with the 'c' sound spelt 'ch'. chemist, character, chemical, chaos, school, anchor, mechanic, stomach

Remember to have a go at this spelling game to revise spellings. 

https://ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling/

Maths game to play as usual. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Continue to use this game to revise and learn times tables. The children will continue to be tested on times tables in school so at home they can work on x2, x5, x10 and x3 

These are also some games that I recommend the children play at home to revise key Maths facts. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train

I think everyone got the email this week that PE days are Monday and Friday for this term. 

In our Topic lessons this term we will be doing lots of History and Geography in preparation for our trip to Beeston Castle on Thursday 9th February. 

Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,

Mrs Whittingham, Miss Wilkinson (Friday) & Mrs Taylor

Toucans W.B. 09.01.23, by Mr Corkill

Date: 5th Jan 2023 @ 4:37pm

Welcome Back to Toucans’ Weekly Blog ?

Happy New Year ?

Toucans have had an amazing start to the new term and have really impressed me with their conscientious and hardworking attitude towards their learning. Please take a look at Toucans’ class page on the website for further information regarding what the class will be learning over this term. 

Praise: Mason M 

Top Table: Amelia and Isabel 

Next Week (W.B. 09.01.23)

Reminders:

• PE will continue to take place on both a Monday and a Friday each week, so please send your child into school wearing their PE kit on these days. PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/navy.

Curriculum:

In English, we will continue to read and explore The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. This week, we shall be working on using semicolons correctly to join two linked main clauses, and adding detail through precise expanded noun and adverbial phrases. In shared reading, the children will continue to practice their comprehension skills and read The Happy Prince and Other Tales with a focus on inference. 

In maths, we will continue to explore ratio and proportion through focusing on scale drawings and scale factors before using ratios to solve different problems. We will also continue with our 4-a-day arithmetic questions each morning to further practice our four operations. 

In science, the children will continue to research and write a report on the human circulatory system by explaining the different components and their functions.

In our history/geography lesson, the children will use their knowledge of WW2 evacuation to write a diary entry as a child evacuee discussing the billeting process and being homed with a new and unfamiliar family. 

In RE, we will look further at humanism and focus on what makes humans important - the good and bad aspects of our nature. 

In PE with Mr Ault, the children will start some gymnastics, paired work exercises, and problem solving. 

Homework:

Children in Year 6 will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers provided in the back of their homework book. If your child is finding the homework challenging, I will ensure that supervision is provided one lunchtime each week where your child can ask any questions or receive the support they need to complete the homework. From next week, further homework will begin to be set so that your children is independently consolidating their reading comprehension and SPaG skills at home. 

Children should complete pages 34 and 35 of their maths homework book this week and return it to school by Thursday 12th January. The homework consolidates our learning on ratio and proportion from this week’s lessons. 

Please also encourage your child to read for 15-20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings and times tables. Children need to record their reading in their homework diaries/planners. This really will help them with their reading speed and stamina. 

The following website is great for times tables practice:https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 13th December will focus on words containing the letter string ‘ough’ and will be: although, bough, borough, drought, doughnut, plough, thorough, thoroughly, thought, thoughtfully

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact!

Mr Corkill ?

Skylarks WB 9.1.23, by Miss Beattie

Date: 5th Jan 2023 @ 8:26am

Hello everyone and welcome back to Skylarks weekly blog! ?

Happy 2023! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. The children have had a super first week back!

Message about PE: Skylarks will do PE on a Wednesday during the Spring Term. They should come to school in their PE kit and trainers on this day.

Next week (W.B. 09.01.23)

In our English lessons next week, we will begin to read our new book ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’ by Joe Todd-Stanton. We will develop our knowledge of Norse Mythology to help us understand the context of the story. We will recap expanded noun phrases and learn about relative clauses to help us write a free verse poem.

In our shared reading lessons, we will begin to read ‘Odd and the Frost Giants’ by Neil Gaiman. We will be focussing on drawing inferences such as characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives. We will use our ‘thinking out loud’ and ‘visualising’ techniques to help us infer information stated and implied.

In maths we will be recapping equivalent fractions before moving on to learn how to convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions. We will also continue to consolidate our understanding of the four operations through daily 4 a day activities.

In our topic lesson, we will begin our new learning on the Anglo Saxons and Vikings. We will begin this topic by thinking about what we know already and completing a timeline activity to help us understanding this time period.

In science we will begin our new topic about Living Things and their Habitats. We will begin by sharing any knowledge we already have and thinking about what we would like to find out.

In RE we will begin our new topic on ‘Humanism’. In our first lesson we will generate our own questions that we would like to explore over the coming weeks.

In Art, we will be applying our knowledge of tint, tone and shade to create a piece of work inspired by Monet or Turner. We will also self and peer assess our work.

Our PE day for the Spring Term will be a Wednesday so your child should come to school in their PE kit on this day. Please remember PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/blue.

Homework

In year 5 the children will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers in the back of the homework book.

If your child is finding the homework tricky, please do let Mr Beswick or myself know so that we can offer them support in school. 

The children should complete pages 21 and 22 of their maths book to be returned by Friday 13^th January 2023. This homework is revising multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000.

Please also encourage your child to read for 20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings/times tables. The following websites are both great for times tables practice:

https://ttrockstars.com/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 13^th January will continue to look at words containing silent letter ‘t’:

Nestle, wrestle, thistle, jostle, whistle, Christmas, listener, glistening

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact ?

Miss Beattie x

Toucans - End of Term Message, by Mr Corkill

Date: 16th Dec 2022 @ 8:28am

Toucans - End of Term Message

We’ve made it to the end of the term! Well done to all the fantastic children on their hard work and dedication over the past three months - they have all been incredible, worked so hard, and have each made individual progress and achievements! 

Thank you to everyone involved in my very kind and generous Christmas gift. I was very touched by everyone’s generosity and well wishes. Thank you to those who very thoughtfully gave individual gifts and Christmas cards too. 

There will be no official homework or spellings over the Christmas holidays. It is highly recommended, where possible, that your child reads and completes some arithmetic or times tables practice. 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

See you in 2023! 

Best wishes,

Mr Corkill ?

Starlings WB 12.12.22, by Mrs Esling

Date: 15th Dec 2022 @ 9:03pm

Mrs Westland and I would like to thank you for your continued support and would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas time with your gorgeous children.

Thank you for your kind donations  for the Christmas Fair. We raised an amazing £1480.99.

Christmas Jumper Day for St Lukes – we managed to raise £140.32 Thank you so much!  

Friday Superstar: Evie

Top Table: Rory and Katie

This week the children wil  enjoy a very special Christmas worship with Vicar Andrew who will share the story of the very first special Christmas with us

RWI

As is usual for the holidays the chdilren will not be bringing phonics books home.  Please let us know of any wonderful books your child receives at Christmas as we would love to order them into school and share them as a class.

PE

Our PE days are Wednesdays and Fridays. Please come to school wearing appropriate PE kit- White t-shirt, black/blue plain hoodie and tracksuit bottoms or shorts, hair tied back and earrings removed or covered. 

Snack

Children in KS1 receive free fruit.  Children do not have to bring a snack from home but if you wish to do so we ask that it is a healthy option and just one item, please. Please also rembember we are a NUT FREE SCHOOL. Please can you also make sure that your child only has water in their water bottle.  Juice, howver, is fine at lunchtimes if your child brings a packed lunch.

Birthdays

We love celebrating the children's birthdays and hearing about all the exciting things they are doing. We appreciate that it is not always possible to invite the whole class and we would ask therefore that in these instances that invites are given out before or after school.  Thank you.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us via a note in your child’s diary or through the office if you would like to discuss anything about your child.  admin@lostockgralam.cheshire.sch.uk     01606 668270 

Many thanks Mrs Esling and Mrs Westland

Robins week beg. 12th December, by Mrs Whittingham

Date: 12th Dec 2022 @ 8:24am

In Writing this week we will  finish our final piece of writing before Christmas, a fantasy story based on Winter's Child by Angela McAllister. 

Please remember to read with your child for 10 - 15mins daily and record in diary if possible. Also take a look at their reading target which is on a sticker in their diary, some children may have the same target for a few weeks to work on. 

We have not set any spellings or times tables homework to complete this week.

Here is an online spelling game that your child will enjoy to revise Year 2 spellings and they can also have a go at some of the Year 3 spellings!

https://ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling/

Maths game to play as usual. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Continue to use this game to revise and learn times tables. 

In class the children have also been using this multiples game to help learn their time tables. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples

The children have really enjoyed using this train game to revise their addition and subtraction skills. It is lovely to see them challenge themselves as they move through the levels. Continue to just focus on the addition and subtraction carraiges.  

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train

Remember our PE days will remain as Monday and Wednesday for this term. 

In Computing we will continue to use the Keynote app to prepare presentations on the Stone Age and we will use Google to research facts on our chosen country for the World Cup. 

Our DT work for this term will focus on the Sustainability of Food. Next week we will continue to explore how it is best to use local ingredients that are in season when cooking. 

In RE we have begun our new Christianity topic on the Creation story and how Christians take care of the world. We will also begin to think about what we can do to look after the world for future generations. 

In ART we will complete our cave paintings and begin to do some Christmas crafts.  

The children will continue to have Ukulele lessons on a Thursday afternoon 

Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,

Mrs Whittingham, Mrs O'Marah & Mrs Taylor

Goldfinches WB 12.12.22, by Mrs Evans

Date: 8th Dec 2022 @ 9:40pm

Welcome to Goldfinches’ Weekly Blog

What an absolutely incredible performance from each and every one of our gorgeous Goldfinches!

Friday Superstar: Daisy

Top Table: Freddie and Matthew

This week we have:

… performed like superstars! Each and every one of our Goldfinches shone on stage, had so much fun and made us proud. We enjoyed making Christmas crafts and creating beautiful cards in our art lessons. We have done our best piece of writing so far in Year 4 with our diaries based on Leon and the Place Between.

Next week we will:

Enjoy many more Christmas celebrations.

Monday: This is Mrs Judge’s last day with Goldfinches before she leaves. We will have our Christmas Story worship in church with Vicar Andrew. Today is also non-uniform day in exchange for cakes/biscuits/treats for the school fair.

Tuesday: It’s off to the Panto we go. (In school by 8.50am at the latest please) then afterwards we have our school Christmas fair from 2.30pm.

Thursday: Carol service in church. Carols on the playground from 2.30pm for parents/family members.

Friday: Christmas jumpers- just for fun today! School finishes at 1pm.

PSHCE: We will be focusing on the theme of friendship in our No Outsiders lesson this week.

Music: Goldfinches’ last Ukulele lesson until later in the year.

Maths: Learning more Roman Numerals and solving Christmas themed puzzles.

Spellings: No spellings set this week- it’s Christmas! (If you do feel the urge to practise, please look back at the spelling lists in your child’s diary and choose the tricky ones)

Reading homework: We hope you all enjoy curling up with a book over the next few weeks. Please continue to support your child’s love of reading and the chance to disappear into another world whilst they do!

Times tables: If you want to practise any tables, we will be having a big focus on the 3x table in the first few weeks back after Christmas. Use hit the button, coconut multiples, Maths Frame times tables check games to support you.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us via the office if you would like to discuss anything about your child.  admin@lostockgralam.cheshire.sch.uk     01606668270

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Evans, Mrs Judge and Miss Wilkinson.

Toucans W.B. 12.12.22, by Mr Corkill

Date: 8th Dec 2022 @ 8:12pm

Welcome Back to Toucans’ Weekly Blog ?

Toucans have all been absolute superstars in our wonderful Christmas production this week and I could not be prouder of each and every one of these amazing children! All the hard work has paid off and hopefully you were able to come along and enjoy the magic!

Praise: Zach 

Top Table: Jai and Grace I

Next Week (W.B. 12.12.22)

Reminders:

• Monday (12th December) - there will be a whole school worship for the children with Vicar Andrew in church about the Christmas story. This day will be a non-uniform day. We ask the children to bring a bottle donation in place of money - these donations will be used for the Christmas fair. 
• The children will visit The Grange on Tuesday (13th December) to enjoy the panto, Sleeping Beauty. The gates will open to school at 08:30am on this day - please make sure your child is in school no later than 08:50am as we will be leaving school at 09:00am.
• Additionally, we will be holding our Christmas fair on Tuesday between 2:30-5:30pm. Y6 have been working super hard over the last few weeks preparing some exciting games that we look forward to sharing with you on the day. There will also be the chance to buy a special Christmas craft each child has especially made!
• Our Christmas carol service will be on Thursday (15th December) in church with Vicar Andrew. Due to Vicar Andrew's commitments on that day, we are unable to hold two services. Therefore, due to limited space in the Church, we cannot invite parents to attend as we have done in previous years. Instead, we would like to invite families to stand on the playground while we sing carols at 2.30 pm. 
• Friday (16th December) will be the last day in school before the Christmas holiday break. Children may wear their Christmas jumpers/outfits to school free of charge. School will close at 1pm. 
• PE will continue to take place on both a Monday and a Friday each week, so please send your child into school wearing their PE kit on these days. PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/navy.

Curriculum:

In English, we continue to look at drawing inferences and distinguishing between fact and opinion from Martha’s Suitcase in our shared reading lesson. 

In maths, we will continue with our 4-a-day arithmetic questions each morning to further practice our four operations. We will also continue with our unit on metric and imperial measures. We will explore calculating with metric measures before looking at imperial measures and converting between the two. 

We will also be enjoying some Christmas-themed activities in the run up to the Christmas holiday break. 

Homework:

Children in Year 6 will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers provided in the back of their homework book. If your child is finding the homework challenging, I will ensure that supervision is provided one lunchtime each week where your child can ask any questions or receive the support they need to complete the homework.

Children should complete pages 56 and 57 of their maths homework book this week and return it to school by Thursday 15th December. The homework consolidates our learning of different measures from the classroom work we’ve completed this week. 

Please also encourage your child to read for 15-20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings and times tables. Children need to record their reading in their homework diaries/planners. This really will help them with their reading speed and stamina. 

The following website is great for times tables practice:https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 16th December will focus on plural nouns and will be: echoes, geese, heroes, loaves, people, potatoes, scarves, thieves, wolves, women. 

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact!

Mr Corkill ?

Owls WB12.12.22, by Miss Dalby

Date: 8th Dec 2022 @ 4:17pm

Owls Weekly Blog 12/12/22

This week we have…

This Week's Theme: This week we have been exploring the story of Stickman and the places he has visited in his story and the different things people have used him for!

Literacy: This week we went into the forest school area and created our own stickmen, the children really enjoyed deciding the different clothes and jobs for their stickmen.

Numeracy: We have been looking at different shapes this week, learning the names of 2D shapes and key features to identify them. We discussed what a ‘side’ of a shape is and different shapes can have the same number of sides. The children have looked searching for shapes around our classroom!

Next week we will…

Next week we will be learning about the story of Jesus being born, on the first Christmas day. We have a fun filled week of Christmas activities including creating wrapping paper with repeating patterns, making gingerbread men to go with our story of ‘The Biscuit Bear’ and finishing our lovely Christmas cards.

Next week’s Events

Monday 12^th December will be a non-uniform day in order that children can bring a donation for the Christmas fair.    

Owls – Pre-loved toy donations 

Starlings – Pre-loved Book donations – any age 

Swallows – Smellies 

Robins – Stationary 

Goldfinches – Cakes  

Skylarks – Chocolate and sweets 

Toucans and Puffins – Bottles 

Tuesday 13^th December - Christmas Fair and Panto 

Please make sure your child is in school by 9 am on Panto day, the school gate will be open from 8.30 am as we will be leaving school at 9 am. 

Thursday 15^th December – join us to sing on the playground at 2.30pm! 

Friday 16^th December – school closes at 1 pm

Just for fun please let your child wear their Christmas jumper or outfit to school today (no charge).

We hope you have a fantastic weekend!

From,

Miss Dalby, Mrs Hoskins and Mrs Rathbone

Robins week beg 5th December, by Mrs Whittingham

Date: 4th Dec 2022 @ 9:16am

Toucans W.B. 05.12.22, by Mr Corkill

Date: 2nd Dec 2022 @ 8:00am

Welcome Back to Toucans’ Weekly Blog ?

Toucans have impressed me with their excellent assessment scores this week, reflecting all their handwork and enthusiasm for learning. We all enjoyed making our Christingles at the start of the week and look forward to performing our production of Matilda next week. 

Praise: Finley 

Top Table: Lola and Willow

Next Week (W.B. 05.12.22)

Reminders:

• The KS2 production of Matilda will be on Wednesday (7th December) at 1pm and 5pm, along with a performance on Thursday (8th December) at 5pm. Children should have been given their costumes by Donna North who has been leading this year’s Christmas production. 
• On Monday (5th December) we will focus on practising the KS2 production so that we are ready for our performances later in the week. We will also have a dress rehearsal on Tuesday (6th December) to KS1 as our final practice.
• PE will continue to take place on both a Monday and a Friday each week, so please send your child into school wearing their PE kit on these days. PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/navy.
• Friday (9th December) will be our Christmas jumper and Christmas lunch day. 

Curriculum:

In English, we will look at reviewing our endangered animal leaflets and how we could edit and improve these to pieces of writing. 

In maths, we will continue with our 4-a-day arithmetic questions each morning to further practice our four operations. We will begin to look at our new unit on measures. We will firstly explore different types of metric measure before looking at converting and calculating with them. 

In science, the children will work in groups to solve a series of revision problems on our unit of electricity before applying their knowledge in some assessment questions. 

In history/geography, we will begin to look at WW2 focusing on how this conflict started and which countries were primarily involved. We will create a timeline of early events and use our atlas skills to identify the countries on a world map. 

We will also look to reflect on our assessments and identify key areas of individual focus for the next academic term. 

The children will continue to have a weekly German lesson with Mrs Judge on a Tuesday afternoon. 

Homework:

Children in Year 6 will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers provided in the back of their homework book. If your child is finding the homework challenging, I will ensure that supervision is provided one lunchtime each week where your child can ask any questions or receive the support they need to complete the homework.

Children should complete page 24 of their maths homework book this week and return it to school by Thursday 8th December. The homework this week recaps the idea of multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000. 

Please also encourage your child to read for 15-20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings and times tables. Children need to record their reading in their homework diaries/planners. This really will help them with their reading speed and stamina. 

The following website is great for times tables practice: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 9th December will focus on plural nouns and will be: addresses, coaches, dictionaries, identities, opportunities, parties, sketches, suffixes, trousers, wishes. 

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact!

Mr Corkill ?

Swallows Wk Beg 5.12.22, by Mrs Rice

Date: 1st Dec 2022 @ 7:05pm

Hi

A HUGE congratulations to our KS1 children, especially to Swallows class for their excellent performances of A Fireside Nativity this week. We are so proud of every single Swallow. From their singing, dancing, signing to the performing of their lines, they were amazing. Thank you for all of your support at home with learning their lines and the fabulous costumes. I know how special these occasions are for both the children and their families, we love them too!

Next week, we will be focusing on Reading, Writing and Maths. We will continue our work on addition and subtraction as well as learning our 5 times tables. In Wriitng we will read more of The Owl Who Is Afraid Of The Dark and use commas in a list as well as noun phrases to describe the owl, Plop. We will be using the text to provide evidence to our answers and focusing on inferring how a character is feeling.

Our spellings focus on how to add 'ly' to adjectives in order to create adverbs:

badly, softly, nearly, weakly, loudly, bravely, quietly, foolishly

We will be having our Christmas lunch and Christmas jumer day on Friday 9th December. 

PE will be as normal on Monday and Thursday.

Thank you for your continued support with home reading, spellings and times tables.

If you have any questions or queries please don't hesitate to talk to myself or Mrs Southern.

Many thanks

Mrs Rice and Mrs Southern

Goldfinches WB 5.12.22, by Mrs Evans

Date: 1st Dec 2022 @ 6:41pm

Welcome to Goldfinches’ Weekly Blog

Super focus and concentration during the assessments.

Friday Superstar: Evan

Top Table: Jacob H and George

 This week we have:

… worked so hard on all of our assessments showing great perseverance and concentration. Enjoyed the rehearsals for Matilda and sang beautifully in the Christingle service.

Next week we will:

Matilda: Performances on Wednesday afternoon and evening and Thursday evening. Costumes: School uniform on the bottom half (with tights or leggings under skirts for girls) and school shoes for all. Please send in a named white shirt if you have one. (School has some we can provide but any support in this will be appreciated) School will provide a tie for each child. Girls’ hair must be neatly plaited, tied back or in a bun please.

Writing: we will continue to write in the role of another character to develop our diary writing skills.

Reading: We will learn to answer questions with more depth and detail as we read and discuss ‘The Train to impossible places’.

Reading homework: We are so pleased with how our lovely Goldfinches are improving with getting their diary signed and reading with greater independence.

Please comment in your child’s diary when they have read aloud to you and sign when they have read independently to themselves. Please support your child to read for 10-20 minutes daily. In year 4 it is fine to have a mixture of your child reading aloud to you and them reading quietly to themselves.

Spelling: Our spelling focus this week will be from the y3/4 statutory spelling list and due to a busy week and lots of assessments this week- these will be the same spellings as last week.

Spellings to learn for our test on Friday 9th December: breathe, build, busy, business, calendar, caught, certain, accidentally, answer, bicycle.

Have a go at using the pyramid to practise at home.

Maths:  We will develop our addition and subtraction problem solving skills using a variety of methods to solve them.

 Maths Homework:  Have a go at the 8x table fortune teller and board game.

Have a go at the Maths Frame game which is modelled on the end of Year 4 Multiplication Check https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

If you play the normal mode it will give any fact up to 12x12 with 6 seconds to answer. If you click ‘adjust difficulty’ you can choose the times table and change the time.

PE: Our PE day is Friday morning. Please come to school wearing appropriate PE kit- White t-shirt, black/blue plain hoodie and tracksuit bottoms or shorts, hair tied back and earrings removed or covered. As the grass might be wet first thing, please send your child with spare school shoes and socks to change in to after.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us via the office if you would like to discuss anything about your child.  admin@lostockgralam.cheshire.sch.uk     01606668270

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Evans, Mrs Judge and Miss Wilkinson.

Skylarks WB 5.12.22, by Miss Beattie

Date: 1st Dec 2022 @ 10:32am

Hello everyone and welcome back to Skylarks weekly blog! ?

Another great week in Skylarks Class. We thoroughly enjoyed making our Christingles and visiting our lovely Church on Monday. The rehearsals for the Christmas production are also in full swing and we can’t wait for you to come and watch it next week.

Next week (W.B. 5.12.22)

Our Christmas Production ‘Matilda’ will take place on Wednesday 7^th December at 1pm and 5pm and Thursday 8^th December at 5pm. The children in Years 3, 4 and 5 will all be dressed as school children. Please send your child to school in full school uniform, including school shoes. The children will wear their school trousers or skirt for the performances and school will provide a shirt and tie for each child. If you have any spare white shirts at home (any size appropriate for Years 3-5) we would greatly appreciate any donations. Girls must have their hair tied back in a neat hairstyle and wear shorts/tights under their skirt.

In our English lessons next week, we will use our story maps from this week to help us innovate and plan our own traditional tales inspired by ‘The Lost Happy Endings’. We will then use these plans to begin to write our own story applying all of our learning from this half term.

In our shared reading lessons, we will continue to read ‘Hansel and Gretel’ by Neil Gaiman. We will be focusing on language and will evaluate the author’s language choice, including the use of figurative language.

In maths we will be moving on to learn about fractions; in particular equivalent fractions. We will also continue to consolidate our understanding of the four operations through daily 4 a day activities.

In our topic lesson, we will be reflecting on our trip to the Lion Salt Works and will be using research to answer any outstanding questions we have about the Salt Works and the impact the salt industry had on Northwich.

Our PE days for Autumn Term 2 will continue to be a Thursday (Cricket) and Friday with Mr Ault so your child should come to school in their PE kit on these days. Please remember PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/blue.

Homework

In year 5 the children will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers in the back of the homework book.

If your child is finding the homework tricky, please do let Mr Beswick or myself know so that we can offer them support in school. 

The children should complete pages 19 and 20 of their maths book to be returned by Friday 9^th December 2022. This homework is looking at factors and prime numbers.

Please also encourage your child to read for 20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings/times tables. The following websites are both great for times tables practice:

https://ttrockstars.com/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 9^th December will focus on words containing silent letter ‘t’:

Fasten, listen, glisten, soften, castle, rustle, hustle, bustle

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact ?

Miss Beattie x

Toucans W.B. 28.11.22, by Mr Corkill

Date: 25th Nov 2022 @ 2:05pm

Welcome Back to Toucans’ Weekly Blog 

Toucans have all worked so hard this week as we have continued to rehearse for our upcoming KS2 production and written a leaflet on an endangered animal that interests them. 

Praise: Ellie 

Top Table: Sophie and Francesca

Next Week (W.B. 28.11.22)

Reminders:

• On Monday (28th November) we look forward to making our Christingles and celebrating together in church in the afternoon. 
• Our RSE lesson will be on next week - further information was sent out to families at the start of this half term. 
• PE will continue to take place on both a Monday and a Friday each week, so please send your child into school wearing their PE kit on these days. PE kits should either be school kits or plain black/navy.

Curriculum:

In English, we will look at either finishing off our endangered animal leaflets or editing and improving these to include further writing features. 

In maths, we will continue with our 4-a-day arithmetic questions each morning to further practice our four operations. We will complete two end of unit checks on our work to do with adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions. 

We will also begin to complete our end of autumn term assessments. 

We will continue with our rehearsals for the upcoming KS2 Christmas production.

The children will continue to have a weekly German lesson with Mrs Judge on a Tuesday afternoon. 

Homework:

Children in Year 6 will be set a weekly maths homework that they should complete and mark at home using the answers provided in the back of their homework book. If your child is finding the homework challenging, I will ensure that supervision is provided one lunchtime each week where your child can ask any questions or receive the support they need to complete the homework.

Children should complete pages 30, 31 and 32 (progress test 1) of their maths homework book this week and return it to school by Thursday 1st December. The homework this week assesses all the children have been learning about so far in Year 6.  

Please also encourage your child to read for 15-20 minutes each evening and practice their spellings and times tables. Children need to record their reading in their homework diaries/planners. This really will help them with their reading speed and stamina. 

The following website is great for times tables practice: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Our spellings for the quiz on Friday 2nd December will focus on words ending in -ible and -able and will be: adorable, comfortable, dependable, possible, reliable, responsible, suitable, terrible, understandable, visible. 

Please remember that if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to get in contact!

Mr Corkill ?

Robins WB 28.11.22, by Mrs Whittingham

Date: 24th Nov 2022 @ 5:02pm

In Writing this week we have been writing letters from Tom to his Dad in Winter's Child by Angela McAllister. We have also been learning about similes and using more conjunctions and adverbs of time in our writing. In our reading lessons based on the book Ice Palace by Robert Swindells, we have been focusing on using the text to find evidence to answer comprehension questions. Please remember to read with your child for 10 - 15mins daily and record in diary if possible. Also take a look at their reading target which is on a sticker in their diary. 

On Monday we are looking forward to making our Christingles and celebrating together in the church in the afternoon. 

Our spellings next week will focus on words ending in -ture. We will continue to focus on 8 spellings each week. Well done to everyone who used the new spelling format in diaries and wrote out each word once in their beautiful, joined up handwriting. 

Spelling Quiz on Friday 2nd December - adventure, mixture, future, picture, creature, capture, furniture and nature.

Remember to make learning spellings fun. Maybe write out words in coloured pen, underline the key sounds, draw around the word with images, draw around the shape of the word, write on pavement in chalk, trace words in sand etc. This week in class we have been doing spelling doodles. 

Here is an online spelling game that your child will enjoy to revise Year 2 spellings and they can also have a go at some of the Year 3 spellings!

https://ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling/

The children will have times tables homework based on their individual targets. Please return by Wednesday 30th November. The children did really well with their first times tables quiz. They will do x2 again tomorrow in order and then we will have 2 weeks where the x2 will be out of order before we look at the related division facts. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Continue to use this game to revise and learn times tables. 

In class the children have also been using this multiples game to help learn their time tables. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples

The children have really enjoyed using this train game to revise their addition and subtraction skills. It is lovely to see them challenge themselves as they move through the levels. Continue to just focus on the addition and subtraction carraiges.  

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train

Next week in Maths, we will continue to focus on our arithmetic skills in the mornings. We start our first activity at 8.45 so if you could have your child in school for as close to this time as possible it allows them time to complete their morning arithmetic activity before we begin our Writing lesson at 9 sharp. Thanks for your support with this. We will also be working on adding and subtracting using more formal methods. 

Remember our PE days will remain as Monday and Wednesday for this term. 

In Computing we will continue to use the Keynote app to prepare presentations on the Stone Age and we will use Google to research facts on our chosen country for the World Cup. 

Our DT work for this term will focus on the Sustainability of Food. Next week we will continue to explore how it is best to use local ingredients that are in season when cooking. 

In RE we have begun our new Christianity topic on the Creation story and how Christians take care of the world. We will look some more at the Fairtrade logo. Have you got this logo on any products at home? 

In ART we will be using a variety of skills to create some textured cave paintings using mixed media. We will be using paint and sponges to add prints to our cave paintings. 

The children will continue to have Ukulele lessons on a Thursday afternoon 

Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help you with,

Mrs Whittingham, Mrs O'Marah & Mrs Taylor

Goldfinches WB 28.11.22, by Mrs Evans

Date: 24th Nov 2022 @ 4:25pm

Welcome to Goldfinches’ Weekly Blog

Marvellous maths this week everybody.

Friday Superstar: Alexia

Top Table: Amber and Naomi

This week we have:

… learned about the importance of staying safe online and using search engines sensibly and safely. Worked so well with our ability to use exchanging in the column method of subtraction.

Next week we will:

Monday: KS2 Christingle service in church.

Writing: we will write in the role of another character to develop our diary writing skills.

Reading: We will learn to answer questions with more depth and detail as we read and discuss ‘The Train to impossible places’.

Reading homework: Please comment in your child’s diary when they have read aloud to you and sign when they have read independently to themselves. Please support your child to read for 10-20 minutes daily. In year 4 it is fine to have a mixture of your child reading aloud to you and them reading quietly to themselves.

Spelling: Our spelling focus this week will be from the y3/4 statutory spelling list

Spellings to learn for our test on Friday 2^nd December: breathe, build, busy, business, calendar, caught, certain, accidentally, answer, bicycle.

Have a go at using the pyramid to practise at home.

Maths:  We will work on our arithmetic skills and complete our Autumn term assessments

 Maths Homework:  There is a multiplication square in diaries. Support your child to complete it in this order: 1x, 10x, 5x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 3x, 6x, 12x, 9x, 11x, 7x. You will see that by the time they fill in the last few times tables, most boxes are already completed!

Have a go at the Maths Frame game which is modelled on the end of Year 4 Multiplication Check https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

If you play the normal mode it will give any fact up to 12x12 with 6 seconds to answer. If you click ‘adjust difficulty’ you can choose the times table and change the time.

Dance: Our dance is going very well and it is lovely to see the enthusiasm of Goldfinches.

PE: Our PE day is Friday morning. Please come to school wearing appropriate PE kit- White t-shirt, black/blue plain hoodie and tracksuit bottoms or shorts, hair tied back and earrings removed or covered. As the grass might be wet first thing, please send your child with spare school shoes and socks to change in to after.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us via the office if you would like to discuss anything about your child.  admin@lostockgralam.cheshire.sch.uk     01606668270

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Evans, Mrs Judge and Miss Wilkinson.