Number bonds and multiplying

In year 3 and year 4 it is really important for the children to know number bonds and times tables. Here are some websites that our year 3 and 4 pupils can use to  reinforce their skills . 
http://www.ictgames.com/save_the_whale_v4.html

http://www.ictgames.com/10pipe.html

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/numberbond.html

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/numberskills.html

Mad 4 maths, is one of the best multiplication websites for year 3 and 4 pupils; 

http://www.mad4maths.com/multiplication_table_math_games/

"If you have a dream, don't ever give up"



We had a very inspirational visitor in school today, Welsh Paraolympic cyclist, Mark Colbourne. He gave an assembly to the children sharing his story about how he became a Paraolympic medalist. The children were shocked to hear that Mark was a keen paraglider before breaking his back 3 years ago in an accident, but he never gave up. During the London 2012 Paraolympics Mark won 2 silver medals and 1 gold medal breaking the world record in both his trial and the final. Mark even brought his medals to school for all the children to see and some lucky children even got to hold one of his medals!!

Mark Colbourne is a member of the Jamie Baulch Academy and the children had the opportunity to join in with circuit activities. They had great fun showing off their skills!!

Science - Liquids and Solids

Our new topic in Science is seperating liquids and solids. This week we introduced the children to liquids and solids through fun, practical activities. The children had the chance to sort actual liquids and solids, write down as many liquids and solids as they could think of and even become Oompa Lumpas in a mixing experiment - mixing liquids and solids together. But the best activity was left until the end of the lesson - playing with the 'gloop'. All the children had the chance to feel the gloop with their hands and they soon realised the 'gloop' had magical properties! It started off as a solid and then changed to a liquid and even went back to a solid. The children had great fun as you can tell by the pictures!!

 

 

 

New Topic: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Our new topic in Year 4 is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Over the half term holidays we asked the children to make their own Mr Willy Wonka and we have been so impressed with the models we have recieved!! We would like to say a massive thank you to the children and the parents for their huge effort on this piece of homework. Below are some examples of the models we recieved; and the display we have created in the hallway; 

In our literacy lessons we have begun reading the first 4 chapters with the children and have looked at the characters Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka. The children have been using interesting adjectives to describe Charlie's looks, personality and his behaviour. They have been reading descriptions of Willy Wonka carefully and using these to draw accurate pictures of how they imagine him to look.

Autumn Term Overview Of Learning

Year 3-4 Autumn Term 2012

Topic: Weather

Dear Parent/Guardian,

We would like to welcome your son and daughter into Year 3 and Year 4. We are sure that they will have an enjoyable year ahead with us as we have lots of fun and interesting lessons planned.

Below, we have put together a grid highlighting the work that your child will be covering over the next half term. Year 3 and 4 will be covering the same topic, the skills taught will be differentiated appropriately to each child’s ability. We hope that it provides all the information that you require. To keep you informed on what your child is doing over the coming weeks please visit our class blog at: www.pontyclunpri3.blogspot.com  www.pontyclunpri4.blogspot.com

In addition to the blog your child has (year 4), or will (year3) be given a moodle account. Over the year homework, links to educational sites and information will be put on the moodle for your child to access. If you do not have internet access at home your child will be given additional opportunities to access the internet in school, or will be given alternative paper based homework. 

Your child has been given a reading day when they need to bring their school reading book and reading record to school. As far as we can, we will make every effort to listen to your child read on that day. At Pontyclun Primary School we encourage our parents to read daily with their children in order to develop their reading skills. Please sign your child’s reading book if they have completed a book and we will be delighted to change the book on any day of the week.

Your child has also been given a small yellow book to keep spelling words in. These words are given out each Monday and we encourage the children to learn them to the best of their ability by Friday. On a Friday we will carry out a short spelling challenge. Please encourage your child to learn the words each week, and return the yellow book on a Friday.

                       

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Llewellyn, Miss Wools, Mrs.Gardiner  Miss Davies,  Mr Bevan, and Miss Morgan

Half Term Overview

Numeracy Counting on and back in 1’s, 10’s, 100’s, 1000’s Place value of 3,4 and 5 digit numbers Grouping in 5’s and 10’s and multiplying by 3, 4 and 5 Dividing by 2,3,4 and 5 Making 10, 20, 100 and 1000 Names of shapes including quadrilaterals and polygons Symmetry and different types of triangles Centimetres and Metres How many centimetres in a metre Area	Literacy Reporting and newspaper recounts: Weather reporting on the television Have a secure understanding of the purpose and organisation of the dictionary.  Begin to use library classification to find reference materials and scan indexes, directories and IT sources to locate information quickly and accurately. Identify how paragraphs are used to organise and sequence information. Read a wide variety of newspapers. Write an introduction, develop a series of ideas and a conclusion. Creating images: Weather poetry Focus on development of verb use, with appropriate adverbs with poetry.
Geography • Weather around the world • Weather in Wales and comparisons • Recording and measuring weather • Extreme weather conditions Welsh To talk about  myself and what I can do. To express an opinion and give a brief reason. To talk about myself in role. To describe another person. Who are you? Where do you live? RE Introduction to Islam as the religion of Muslims Begin to understand the importance of the prophet Muhammad. Understand that the Qu’ran is the holy book and should be respected. Begin to look at ‘Al Hijrah’ and understand why this is a special time of the year for Muslims. PE  Swimming Indoor – Dance ‘Singing in the rain’, creating and performing dance in pairs that communicates ideas and emotions in response to a range of stimuli that demonstrates mirroring and a variety of dance actions.	Science Keeping Warm What is temperature? How do we measure temperature? Scientific enquiry, What is the best  insulator/conductor for a drinks bottle? INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY  – ICT  Use a variety of written and visual effects Change the style, colour and size of font of my writing to change the emphasis of words Use ‘cut and paste’ to move and change the order of a piece of text Edit text, to delete unwanted words, insert new words or overtype to change words, to improve the content of my writing Proof read my own work to identify ways of improving it, including the use of the spell checker Use ‘find and replace’ to alter the same word though a piece of text.  Able to explain possible problems with it Save and retrieve work Import images from a variety of sources Present and share ideas, using feedback to help refine and improve work for the intended audience Art Weather symbols. colour mixing and still  life drawings.
Homework Some homework will be set via the moodle (access via  blog) Spelling words will be given out on a Monday for the following Friday’s challenge. Reading – We expect each pupil to be reading at home on a daily basis. Please update your child’s reading diary weekly. Literacy – literacy work will be sent home as and when the teacher feels that it is appropriate. Numeracy – Numeracy work covering the topics above will be sent home as and when the teacher feels that it is appropriate.

Year 4 Swimming Lessons

Year 4 Swimming Lessons

Dear Parents,

The school is extremely pleased to be able to offer year 3 and year 4 pupils swimming lessons. This is the first time that we have had the opportunity to take all junior pupils swimming in the same year.

The course consists of two blocks, commencing next Wednesday the 19^th September. The first course will be six weeks long and will end on 24^th October (the last week of half term). The second course of lessons will run for 5 weeks, from 9^th January to 6^th February.  If you have any questions regarding the swimming lessons please contact me or the class teacher, and we will be only too happy to discuss any queries. I hope that the following, will answer most questions:

·         

      All lessons will take place on a Wednesday and will be instead of your child’s normal outside PE day.

·         All year 4 pupils will leave for swimming at 10.15am and will be back for lunch as normal.

·         All year 3 pupils will leave for swimming at 12.15pm. They will have lunch (school dinners or packed lunch) at 11.45am (15 minutes early). If you wish to include a healthy snack for afternoon play (2.20pm) that is fine.

·         Lessons will be for 1 hour and will be taught by qualified swimming coaches at Llantrisant Leisure Centre.

·         Pupils will be taught in relation to their swimming ability – don’t worry if your child cannot swim or doesn’t like the water, the teachers and coaches are expecting all abilities.

·         Your child does not need money for the lockers.

·         Each child will need to take a towel, a swimming costume and a pair of goggles.  Pupils with long hair may take a hair towel if they wish.

·         Please could girls wear a swimming costume rather than a bikini style costume.  

·         The showers will be available for the children after swimming (toiletries are optional).

·         If a child is unable to take part in the lesson please inform their teacher via a letter and the teacher will pass the letter onto the swimming coaches. For supervision your child will still be required to come to the poolside with teaching staff and watch the lesson. 

 It is a good idea to put all swimming kit in a separate (smaller) bag to your child’s normal bag (packed lunch etc.).

Many thanks

A.      Llewellyn 

Year 3 / 4 Autumn Term 2012

Dear Parent/Guardian,

We hope that you have all had a lovely summer and we would like to welcome your son and daughter into Year 3 and Year 4. We are sure that he/she will have an enjoyable year ahead. I would like to take this opportunity to explain some important issues at the start of the year.



Reading



Your child has been given a reading book and a reading record, your child’s reading day has been identified within the reading record. Please could you encourage your child to bring the record, and the book on their reading day. We encourage each pupil to read at home on a daily basis for at least 15 min. Please update your child’s reading diary weekly.



PE



Your child’s PE day is as follows:



Indoor PE Outdoor PE

J1 Mrs. Gardiner Monday Wednesday

J2 Mr. Llewellyn /

Miss Wool Friday Wednesday

J3 Miss Davies Monday Friday

J4 Mr. Bevan Thursday Tuesday

J5 Miss Morgan Thursday Tuesday



(During inside PE, children should wear black or navy shorts with a t-shirt (house colours) or a leotard. During outside PE, children should wear shorts / tracksuit bottoms and a house T-shirt. Long hair should be tied back and earrings should be taken out or not worn on the day of PE).



The above days will run through the year, except for the 11 weeks of the year when the children will be taking swimming lessons. Starting on the 19th September swimming lessons will be in place at Llantrisant leisure centre for all children in years 3 and 4. (Full details to follow). Swimming lessons take the place of outdoor PE for the duration of the swimming course. Therefore the above timetable is correct for next week beginning 10/9/12, but will change the following week 17/9/12.







Maths



As explained to parents in the transition meeting at the end of the summer term, all children in the juniors are taught maths in classes that are in line with their ability. This is done to provide each child with the appropriate level of support and challenge. This approach will begin on Monday and may result in your child being taught maths by another class teacher.



Transition surgery



In order to facilitate the transition period from year 2 to 3 and from year 3 to 4, we are running transition surgeries for parents over the coming weeks. If you would like to discuss any aspects of transition we would welcome parents to the school staffroom between 9.00 -10.00 am every Monday morning in September (ending September 24th). If you wish to discuss an issue with myself or Miss Harwood, yet cannot make these times please feel free to ring the school on (01443) 237833 or email admin.pontyclunpri@rctednet.net and we will endeavour to respond as soon as possible.



Many thanks for you support, as we look forward to a very enjoyable and successful year ahead.



A. Llewellyn