Another fabulous week in Investigator Class has flown by. I am delighted with the way all of the children are settling into the new school year. More of the same next week, please Investiagtors - you are doing a splendid job! Year 5 had their first Forest School session which went very well and Year 4, their first musical instrument lesson (see further details below). Many thanks to all the children who stood in the Eco Council elections. They spoke passionately and convincingly and they had clearly given the matter a good deal of thought. The class voted in a secret ballot and by a narrow margin two children were elected to be Investigator Class's new Eco Councillors. Congratulations go to Mohamed and Isobel. They will attend Eco Council meetings on behalf of the class this year.

Topic

We had a week of research and fact-file writing for our Battles that shaped British History topic. We now have an overview of these battles and their significance. Next week we take a more in depth look at the Battle of Hastings. Our English writing will be a newspaper article from The Hastings Chronicle of 1066, recounting the factual events of the Battle and including fictitious eye witness accounts.

Maths next week: A continuation of the Place Value units for Y4 and Y5.

Y4 focus on 4 digit numbers and Y5 on numbers of 5 or 6 digits. The various representations we use to model and represent 4 digit numbers include: dienes (base 10) equipment, place value counters, gattengno charts, place value charts and number lines. It is important that pupils are confident in using a range of manipulatives as this helps to consolidate their understanding.

Maths and English Homework - Y4 and Y5

Maths homework has been set this work on Atom Learning. Children have login details in their planners and all have logged in at school to check that they are able to access the site. You will all have received an email inviting you to activate your Atom Learning parent portal.

For this first week we have set a time limit of 30 minutes to complete the homework. We will review this after the first weeks and see if it is realistic. We do not want to put undue pressure on children to work too quickly but we also do not want them to be spending an overly long time doing homework. Please contact me on the class email if you have any comments about this or indeed any problems accessing the site.

Children have also brought home an English Skills workbook. They should only complete Test 1. Please do not allow them to work through the whole booklet in one go!

Maths and English homework is set on Friday and should be completed by the following Friday. New spellings are given out on Thursdays and tested the following Thursday.

Musical Instruments for Y4 - weekly lessons

Y4 had their first musical instrument lesson when they were introduced to the two instruments on offer. They had the opportunity to try both clarinets and cornets and Mrs Andrews gave them a little taste of what they sound like. You will be asked to complete a Musical Instrument Loan Agreement Form before the children bring their instruments home.

Have a great week everyone!