Lostock Gralam C of E Primary School
Goldfinches: Blog items
Week beginning 30th November, by Mrs Evans
Date: 26th Nov 2020 @ 5:09pm
Welcome to Goldfinches' Weekly Blog.
Star of the week: Congratulations to Nuo Yu .
Top Table: Congratulations to Isabelle W.
Home Reading
Wow! Well done to so many of you reading regularly at home – you are really impressing me with how much progress you are making.
Spellings
Spelling focus: words with the pre-fix ‘sub’
subzero, subway, submarine, subheading, subtitle, submerge, subdivide, subsoil, subcontinent, subscribe
Spelling tests are on Fridays. The spellings will be glued into your child’s diary every week.
Times Tables
6x table and 9x table.
Sing along with the Number Jacks for the 6x table this week https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CGnFEp9k24
Practise your speed tables with Snappy Maths http://www.snappymaths.com/multdiv/6xtable/interactive/newlook/6xtableintd.htm
TTRockstars- Let’s see how many Y4 rock stars we can get on the leader board! Login details are on a sticker in your child’s diary. https://ttrockstars.com/
This week in…
Dance… we have had fun choreographing our toy soldier dance and are learning about synchronisation and movements in canon.
Writing/computing...this week we have enjoyed publishing our gorilla reports using the computers. We have written a diary entry from Hannah’s point of view and are practising writing direct speech using a speech sandwich.
Shared Reading: We love our 50 Animal Stories book and have enjoyed exploring vocabulary and answering questions about ‘Why Hippo lives in water’
Maths: This week we have used place value counters to recap the column addition method and have extended this to adding 4-digit numbers.
PE: PE will continue to be on Mondays and Fridays with Mr Ault. Dodgeball and Netball at the moment.
Worship/PSHCE: We have enjoyed listening to Mrs Powell’s story about being part of the same team. We are all contributing to a gorgeous piece of sunflower Artwork which we have been inspired to create by Henry Fraser. During our PSHCE session we watched the second part of the growth mindset video clip and created our own statements for both fixed and growth mindset.
Science: We have really enjoyed investigating which materials allow the current to flow through the circuit and make the bulb light up in our electricity topic.
Music: We are beginning to learn to sign ‘Little Donkey’ and ‘Jingle Bells’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs4uTjMOBKY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W05CwgZaDUo
Finally, thank you all for your continued support, please e-mail or phone the school office if you would like to speak to me about anything.
Mrs Evans
Week beginning 23rd November, by Mrs Evans
Date: 19th Nov 2020 @ 6:35pm
Welcome to Goldfinches' Weekly Blog.
Star of the week: Congratulations to Riley.
Top Table: Congratulations to Isabel C.
Well done to our School Councillors: Ellie and Isabella and well done to everyone who tried out for the post. You were all so great.
Home Reading
Wow! Well done to so many of you reading regularly at home – you are really impressing me with how much progress you are making.
Spellings
Spelling focus: words with the pre-fix ‘super’
superficial, supersonic, superwoman, superglue, supermarket, superman, supermodel, superpower, superstar, superhuman
Spelling tests are on Fridays. The spellings will be glued into your child’s diary every week.
Times Tables
6x table and soon moving on to the 9x table.
Try playing Coconut multiples for your times tables this week.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples
TTRockstars- Let’s see how many Y4 rock stars we can get on the leader board! Login details are on a sticker in your child’s diary. https://ttrockstars.com/
This week we have…
Writing...this week we have enjoyed using drama to help describe the mood in the scene of Hannah’s kitchen and researching facts about gorillas to write a fact file. Next week we will be writing a diary from different points of view.
Shared Reading: We love our 50 Animal Stories book and have enjoyed reading, discussing and making true or false statements about the story of ‘The White Parrot’ from Spain.
Maths: This week we have succeeded in counting in 25s and exploring negative numbers. Coming up next week is addition and subtraction strategies.
PE: PE will continue to be on Mondays and Fridays with Mr Ault. Dodgeball and Netball at the moment.
Worship/PSHCE: This week we have thought about what we could do to ‘Unite Against Bullying’ and have enjoyed wearing odd socks, designing our own odd socks and creating a piece of puzzle for Team Goldfinch.
History: We enjoyed investigating different artefacts to help us learn about what life may have been like in Ancient Greek times.
Science: We have really enjoyed investigating switches in our electricity topic with a fun way of becoming a human circuit.
Music: We are beginning to learn to sign ‘Little Donkey’.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support, please e-mail or phone the school office if you would like to contact me about anything.
Mrs Evans
Week beginning 16th November, by Mrs Evans
Date: 12th Nov 2020 @ 1:52pm
Welcome to Goldfinches' Weekly Blog.
Star of the week: Congratulations to Amelia.
Top Table: Congratulations to Jai.
Home Reading
Wow! Well done to so many of you reading regularly at home – you are really impressing me with how much progress you are making.
Spellings
Spelling focus: words with the pre-fix ‘anti’
antifreeze, antiseptic, antisocial, anticlockwise, anticlimax, antibiotic, antibody, antidote, antibacterial, antigravity
Spelling tests are on Fridays. The spellings will be glued into your child’s diary every week.
Times Tables
3x table and moving onto the 6x table.
Try playing Hit the Button for your times tables this week.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
TTRockstars- Let’s see how many Y4 rock stars we can get on the leader board! Login details are on a sticker in your child’s diary. https://ttrockstars.com/
This week we have…
Writing...enjoyed inferring ideas about the new character Hannah in our new book, creating a plan and writing our own 5-point story. Next week we will explore the first part of the book Gorilla by Anthony Browne and use drama to support our ideas. We will learn about Gorillas and how to extend our sentences using fronted adverbials.
Shared Reading: We love our 50 Animal Stories book and have enjoyed reading and discussing the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Next week we will read animals tales from different parts of the world and focus on questioning.
Maths: Next week we will be counting in 25s and exploring negative numbers.
PE: PE will continue to be on Mondays and Fridays with Mr Ault. Dodgeball and Netball at the moment.
PHSCE: We have explored the idea of fixed and growth mindset this week using this lovely clip to help explain our very scientific word ‘Neuroplasticity’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zrtHt3bBmQ Can you think of any Growth Mindset examples?
Geography: We have worked so hard in teams to create some wonderful posters about Modern Greece. I am so proud of how beautiful the presentation is.
Science: We have really enjoyed investigating circuits in our electricity topic with more wonderful examples of great teamwork and shared ideas.
Music: Learning the Pulse to Mama Mia by Abba was a lot of fun this week.
If you haven’t yet done so, please return the Teddy permission slip or e-mail the school office to give your permission for your child to spend time with Teddy when he is in school.
Anti-Bullying week. 16th-20th November. This year the theme is ‘United Against Bullying’. On Monday 16th November your child can come to school wearing Odd Socks if they would like to. This is to celebrate and highlight the fact that everybody is unique.
We are collecting copper coins to fill a Pudsey Bear for Children In Need. Please send any spare coins into school with your child.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support, please e-mail or phone the school office if you would like to contact me about anything.
Mrs Evans
Week beginning 9th November, by Mrs Evans
Date: 6th Nov 2020 @ 4:45pm
Welcome to Goldfinches' Weekly Blog.
Another hard working week for Goldfinches who have shown enjoyment and enthusiasm in their learning.
Star of the week: Congratulations to Mason J.
Top Table: Congratulations to Lola .
Home Reading
Please continue to support your child to read at home. This can be a mixture of them reading independently, reading to you and you reading to them.
Spellings
Spelling focus: words from the Y3/4 Statutory word list
We are beginning spelling tests on Fridays. The spellings will be glued into your child’s diary every week.
Times Tables
3x table and moving onto the 6x table.
Keep an eye out in diaries for your child’s progress stickers. As last year we will work through the Bronze (in order) Silver (mixed up) and Gold (Division facts) for each times table.
TTRockstars- Let’s see how many Y4 rock stars we can get on the leader board! Login details are on a sticker in your child’s diary.
This week we have…
Writing...enjoyed using a report about Usain Bolt to help us draft our own report about Katherine Johnson. Next week we will begin our new unit of work and a new book.
Shared Reading: We have loved finishing ‘Seen and Not Heard’ and writing a book review about it. Next week we will begin a new book. Your child will have a sticker with the theme for reading in their diary on Tuesdays.
Maths has been all about place value activities- adding 10, 100, 1000, comparing 4-digit numbers and next week will continue with this theme.
We have been enjoying mindfulness time to relax, colour and listen to mindful meditation and lots of our Goldfinches are really improving in their fitness during our daily track time.
History: We had so much fun using a kitchen roll timeline to turn back time all the way back to the Stone Age. We nearly ended up in Mrs Aston’s office it was so long!!!
ART: we have practised blending water colours and using acrylic paint on top to create our stunning Remembrance crosses for a beautiful display in church.
Computing: We loved working together to use the Sketch Nation App to find out which genre of games Goldfinches like best.
Parents Evening: Please use School Spider to sign up for a time for a Parents’ evening phone call on Thursday 12th November.
If you haven’t yet done so, please return the Teddy permission slip or e-mail the school office to give your permission for your child to spend time with Teddy when he is in school.
Anti-Bullying week. 16th-20th November. This year the theme is ‘United Against Bullying’. On Monday 16th November your child can come to school wearing Odd Socks if they would like to. This is to celebrate and highlight the fact that everybody is unique.
We are collecting copper coins to fill a Pudsey Bear for Children In Need. Please send any spare coins into school with your child.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support, please e-mail or phone the school office if you would like to contact me about anything.
Mrs Evans
Week beginning 2nd November, by Mrs Evans
Date: 23rd Oct 2020 @ 8:04am
Welcome to Goldfinches' Weekly Blog.
Another hard working week for Goldfinches who have shown enjoyment and enthusiasm in their learning.
Star of the week: Congratulations to Francesca.
Top Table: Congratulations to Jake.
Diaries- please support your child to bring their diary into school every day.
Home Reading
We have given out lots of raffle tickets at the end of this half term- ready to go into the whole school raffle ticket jar. Please continue to support your child to read at home. This can be a mixture of them reading independently, reading to you and you reading to them.
This week we have continued to assess the children in their reading in class.
Spellings
Spelling focus: words from the Y3/4 Statutory word list
Believe, bicycle, breath, breathe, build, busy, business, calendar, caught, centre
Each week we will be playing spelling games in class, learning spelling rules in our lessons and also practising them through handwriting.
Times Tables
3x table and moving onto the 6x table.
Keep an eye out in diaries for your child’s progress stickers. As last year we will work through the Bronze (in order) Silver (mixed up) and Gold (Division facts) for each times table.
TTRockstars- Please encourage t 10-15 minutes on this a few times a week as this is an excellent way of helping to embed times table knowledge. Let’s see how many Y4 rock stars we can get on the leader board! Login details are on a sticker in your child’s diary.
PE
At the moment, PE lessons are on Mondays and Fridays. Please send your child to school in their PE kit on these days.
For safety long hair must be tied back, earrings removed (by the child) or covered with tape.
Mr Ault’s club is also available for Year 4 Goldfinches on Friday mornings 8am-8.40am
This week we have…
...enjoyed finishing our English book ‘Counting on Katherine’ and recapping using speech punctuation. We have imagined the sights sounds and feelings the astronauts of Apollo 13 would have experienced and created a timeline of the life of Katherine Johnson. Today we are writing a letter from Katherine’s point of view to inspire others. After half term we will complete this unit by writing a fact file about Katherine.
Shared Reading: We have loved exploring more of the story ‘Seen and Not Heard’ and creating our own role plays about what the Twins might have said.
Maths has been all about place value activities and Roman Numerals.
We have been enjoying mindfulness time to relax, colour and listen to mindful meditation and lots of our Goldfinches are really improving in their fitness during our daily track time.
Science: we had great fun exploring how to make a simple circuit and were so pleased when our bulbs lit up!
ART: We used work by the artist Henri Matisse (2 Dancers) to inspire our own ideas and created some gorgeous paintings.
Parents Evening: Please use School Spider to sign up for a time for a Parents’ evening phone call on Thursday 12th November.
Whilst we have been off, Teddy has returned to school. If you haven’t yet done so, please return the Teddy permission slip or e-mail the school office to give your permission for your child to spend time with Teddy when he is in school.
INSET: Please remember Monday 2nd November is an INSET day.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support, please e-mail or phone the school office if you would like to contact us.
Mrs Evans
Week beginning 19th October, by Mrs Evans
Date: 16th Oct 2020 @ 10:32am
Welcome to Goldfinches' Weekly Blog.
Another hard working week for Goldfinches who have shown enjoyment and enthusiasm in their learning.
Star of the week: Congratulations to Lola.
Top Table: Congratulations to Brooke.
Diaries- please support your child to bring their diary into school every day.
Home Reading
Well done to so many of you who are reading at home regularly. We are collecting lots of raffle tickets already! Please continue to support your child to read at home. This can be a mixture of them reading independently, reading to you and you reading to them.
This week we have continued to assess the children in their reading in class.
Spellings
Spelling focus: words with the prefix ‘re’
Rewrite, redecorate, recycle, rearrange, replace, redo, refresh, replay, reheat
Each week we will be playing spelling games in class, learning spelling rules in our lessons and also practising them through handwriting.
Times Tables
3x table and moving onto the 6x table. You will see a sticker in their diary to keep you informed of your child’s progress. We are using our busy time in the mornings to practise the times tables in lots of different ways.
As last year we will work through the Bronze (in order) Silver (mixed up) and Gold (Division facts) for each times table.
TTRockstars- Please encourage t 10-15 minutes on this a few times a week as this is an excellent way of helping to embed times table knowledge. Let’s see how many Y4 rock stars we can get on the leader board! Login details are on a sticker in your child’s diary.
PE
At the moment, PE lessons are on Mondays and Fridays. Please send your child to school in their PE kit on these days.
For safety long hair must be tied back, earrings removed (by the child) or covered with tape.
Mr Ault’s club is also available for Year 4 Goldfinches on Friday mornings 8am-8.40am
This week we have…
...enjoyed more of our English book ‘Counting on Katherine’ and recapping using speech punctuation. We had fun finding out about John Glenn who was the first and oldest astronaut in space.
Shared Reading: We have oved exploring more of the story ‘Seen and Not Heard’ and making inferences about the Shiverhawk Children.
Maths has been all about place value activities based around 4 digit numbers. Next week we will learn about Roman Numerals.
We have been enjoying mindfulness time to relax, colour and listen to mindful meditation and lots of our Goldfinches are really improving in their fitness during our daily track time.
No Outsiders: we continued to discuss the story ‘Dogs Don’t do Ballet’ which helped us think about how to be assertive and stand up for what we believe in.
ART: Next week we will be using work by the artist Henri Matisse to inspire our own ideas. Please send an old (named) t-shirt to school on Monday.
Whilst we have been off, Teddy has returned to school. If you haven’t yet done so, please return the Teddy permission slip or e-mail the school office to give your permission for your child to spend time with Teddy when he is in school.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support, please e-mail or phone the school office if you would like to contact us.
Mrs Evans
Y3 Wk Beg 12.10.20, by Mrs Rice
Date: 8th Oct 2020 @ 8:56pm
Hi
What a super week Robins have had! I am so proud of how hard they are working, how much care the children are putting into the presentation of their written work and how happy they are to be back in school. There is a lovely atmosphere in our classroom.
The children have really engaged with our class text, Stig of The Dump. They love listening to the adventures of Barney, Lou and Stig. This text is a great lead into our Stone Age topic which begins after half term. The children are also working hard in their writing lessons as we learn more about The Space Race and the important role that Katherine Johnson played. We have written excellent diaries and scene descriptions focusing on noun phrases and conjunctions.
Next week, we continue this work, with a greater emphasis on punctuation and tense. In Maths, we are consolidating our place value of 3 digit numbers and focusing on the multiplication and division facts of the three times table. Our RE work has centered on how Christians use images to represent God and we have matched Bible quotes to different artist impressions as well as thining about how we think about God.
We will continue to revise the Year 2 spelling patterns of adding 'ing' to verbs as well as concentrating on correct joined handwriting. The children are using their 'Gratitude Jars' to remind them of all the things that make them happy. I am enjoying every day with my class, appreciating being their teacher and embarking on another exciting year ahead. Mrs Brennan always comments on how well behaved and friendly the children are!
As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Many thanks
Mrs Rice
Week beginning 12th October, by Mrs Evans
Date: 8th Oct 2020 @ 7:32pm
Welcome to Goldfinches' Weekly Blog.
Well done for such a wonderful start back to school after 2 weeks away. All of our Goldfinches have impressed the adults in the classroom so much with their eagerness to learn and their calm start back. We are so proud of you.
Star of the week: Congratulations to Toby.
Top Table: Congratulations to Sophie.
Diaries- please support your child to bring their diary into school every day
Home Reading
Well done to so many of you who are reading at home regularly. We are collecting lots of raffle tickets already! Please continue to support your child to read at home. This can be a mixture of them reading independently, reading to you and you reading to them.
This week we have continued to assess the children in their reading in class.
Spellings
Each week we will be playing spelling games in class, learning spelling rules in our lessons and also practising them through handwriting. We will be sending spellings home to learn after half term.
The list of focused spellings is attached to the weekly blog with ideas of how they could practise them. Please support your child to learn the meanings of the spellings and say them in sentences. The children will be tested on these words the following week.
Times Tables
We are continuing with our recap of the 3x table which will help us with the 6x table. You will see a sticker in their diary to keep you informed of your child’s progress. We are using our busy time in the mornings to practise the times tables in lots of different ways.
As last year we will work through the Bronze (in order) Silver (mixed up) and Gold (Division facts) for each times table.
TTRockstars- this is all renewed and up and running and I have set the tables for each week for your child to practise. Please encourage them to spend 10-15 minutes on this a few times a week as this is an excellent way of helping them to embed the times table knowledge. Let’s see how many Y4 rock stars we can get on the leader board! Login details are on a sticker in your child’s diary.
PE
At the moment, PE lessons are on Mondays and Fridays. Please send your child to school in their PE kit on these days. For safety long hair must be tied back, earrings removed (by the child) or covered with tape. Mr Ault’s club is also available for Year 4 Goldfinches on Friday mornings 8am-8.40am
This week we have…
...enjoyed getting back into our English book ‘Counting on Katherine’ and thinking about how it would have felt to have been her dad to help us write a diary from his point of view. Next week we will be using speech punctuation and finding out about John Glenn.
Maths has been all about rounding to the nearest 100. Ask your child about the rap we have learned to help us do this. Next week we are continuing with place value activities based around 4 digit numbers.
We have been enjoying mindfulness time to relax, colour and listen to mindful meditation and lots of our Goldfinches are really improving in their fitness during our daily track time.
Well done to everyone for contributing to a wonderful acrostic poem to say “Thank You for our Harvest” we enjoyed watching the virtual worship today.
We enjoyed a computing lesson where we used the Book Creator app to design a poster to advise 7, 8 and 9 year olds on how to balance their time using technology.
In our No Outsiders lesson we loved listening to the story ‘Dogs Don’t do Ballet’ which helped us think about how to be assertive and stand up for what we believe in.
Saturday 10th October is World Mental Health Day so on Friday we will be doing some activities based around mental health including PE with Mr Ault.
Whilst we have been off, Teddy has returned to school. If you haven’t yet done so, please return the Teddy permission slip or e-mail the school office to give your permission for your child to spend time with Teddy when he is in school.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support, please e-mail or phone the school office if you would like to contact us.
Mrs Evans
Friday 2nd October, by Mrs Evans
Date: 30th Sep 2020 @ 10:06am
Friday 2nd October 2020
We did it Goldfinches! Well done to each and every one of you children and your parents for working so well. You will be able to go for a walk later this afternoon as our isolation will have officially finished. You should feel so proud of the way you have followed the rules to keep everyone safe.
I definitely know you all deserve a hot chocolate Friday today.
Maths
Fractions- See the Power point attached. Finding fractions of amounts with non-unit fractions.
Writing
Book Review- Write a book review of a book you have enjoyed. It might be one you have read recently or a book from a while ago. Remember to give it a star rating! There is a copy of the sheet in your paper pack and also one is attached or you can just create your own.
Music
Have a go at the next Timbre lesson with body percussion.
https://classroom.thenational.academy/lessons/exploring-home-percussion-6rw32e
Just in case the link doesn’t work again... Google Oak National Academy Y4 - Subjects – Music – Timbre – Lesson 2 (Exploring Home Percussion)
Reading
Have a lovely cosy and relaxing time reading the book you are enjoying at the moment. Remember to get Friday of week 4 signed in your diary.
Spellings- Look, say, cover, write, check. Words from the Y3/4 Statutory Word list (1st Column):
answer (word family words: answered, answering)
Previous words:
address
actual (word family words: actually)
arrive (word family words: arrival, arriving, arrived)
accident (word family words: accidental, accidentally)
Times Tables
TTRockstars https://ttrockstars.com/ Where can you get to on the leader board today?
Worship
Look out for the link to Mrs Powell's Friday worship and story which will arrive by e-mail today.
Story time
Princess Smartypants with Mrs Evans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD6JYX92wSw&feature=youtu.be
Miss Randles and Mrs Whittingham are really looking forward to seeing you back in school on Monday. Remember it is a PE day so you can come in your PE kit.
I can’t wait to see all your smiling faces on Tuesday. Have a wonderful weekend my super-duper Goldfinches.
Mrs Evans 
Thursday 1st October, by Mrs Evans
Date: 29th Sep 2020 @ 1:54pm
Thursday 1st October 2020
Hi Goldfinches, I hope you have been enjoying some of this lovely sunny weather we have been lucky to have this week. Be happy, active and helpful today.
Maths
Fractions- See the Power point attached. Fractions of a set of objects.
Writing
Enjoy this poem by Tony Walsh today on National Poetry Day read my own version of it and have a go at writing your own. See the attached Power point.
Art
A lovely art lesson with Rob Biddulph. You choose which picture you would like to learn to draw today.
http://www.robbiddulph.com/draw-with-rob
PE
Active time- can you make a circuit of activities to get you moving? Dance moves, the dab, hopscotch, trampolining, running on the spot, sack race, skipping, star jumps, press ups, the plank.... see what you can come up with
Reading
Have a read of the articles in the picture Newspaper attached. What do you think of the footprint discovery? Wow! I loved reading about the unusual pitch invasion!
Remember to get Thursday of week 4 signed in your diary.
Spellings- Look, say, cover, write, check.
Words from the Y3/4 Statutory Word list (1st Column): address
Previous words:
actual (word family words: actually)
arrive (word family words: arrival, arriving, arrived)
accident (word family words: accidental, accidentally)
Times Tables
Have a go at Hit The Button today- how many can you get? https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
And/or choose a 6x table sheet from your paper pack.
TTRockstars https://ttrockstars.com/ Where can you get to on the leader board today?
Worship
Enjoy a sing and sign today with ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_SLFIeO5ME&feature=youtu.be
Story time
An extract from the Switch series with Miss Randles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Fhw55G1J8&feature=youtu.be
Discussion: Could the UK soon get its own flying paramedic? Go on to our discussion page to see the article and share your ideas.
Remember… You are all amazing! Have a lovely day.
Mrs Evans
Wednesday 30th September, by Mrs Evans
Date: 28th Sep 2020 @ 8:22pm
Wednesday 30th September 2020
Hello Superstars. I hope you enjoyed yesterday. We are nearly there now…. Not too long to go before we are all back together again.
Maths
Fractions- See the Power point attached. Fractions as numbers continued.
Writing
Poetry- See the Power point attached. Today we will be performing and presenting our poem.