Welcome to Class 3! Croeso i Dosbarth 3!
Teacher: Miss Jones Teaching Assistant: Mrs Drane
Communication
Contact us on Class3@stmellonsprm.cardiff.sch.uk
Google Classroom code: bosr5su
Twitter (X) - @stmellonsprm
'Teacher to Parent' text messaging service will be used when it is required.
Overview of the day
8.55 - Children arrive and settle down to complete their Morning Activity / Register
9.05 – 9.25 Worship
9.25-10.45 - Literacy, Languages & Communication
10.45 – 11.00 - Snack / Break Time
11.00 – 12.00 - Mathematics & Numeracy
12.00 – 1.00 - Lunch
1.00 – 1.25 Read Write Inc / Guided Group Reading
1.30 – 2.45 (Topic/Science/RE/ICT/Welsh)
10 minutes daily mile
3.00 Daily Welsh Activities
3.20 Home Time
PE
PE will be held every Wednesday. Children should wear black shorts, house colour or white t-shirt and trainers, labelled clearly with their name. They may also wear black jogging bottoms when completing activities outdoors.
Uniform
Please ensure that all items of clothing are clearly labelled with your child's name.
Snack
Please bring a bottle of water to school daily, clearly labelled with your name. Healthy snacks can be purchased from the snack trolley (ordered via ParentPay) or brought in from home.
Important dates
6th January - Back to School
31st January - INSET Day School Closed to Pupils
7th February - Mid Term Reports sent out to parents
Week commencing 3rd Feb - Chinese New Year Celebration PS1&2
3rd February - Children’s Mental Health Awareness week
10th February – Valentine Disco PS1 & 2- 3.30-4.30pm, PS3 4.45-5.45pm
13th February – Year 4 Family worship 9.15am & coffee morning
17th February - Whole School Islam Celebration Day
21st February – Last day of term
24th – 28th February – Half Term
3rd March - Return to school
4th March - Eisteddfod
6th March - World Book Day
7th March - 16th March - STEM week
7th & 8th April - Parents evening 3:30pm - 5:30pm
28th March - Nursery Mothers Day Celebration
7th April - Easter Celebration Week
10th April - Year 3 Family Worship 9:30am & Coffee Morning
11th April - End of Term
Easter Holidays - 14th April - 25th April
Our Christian Value
This half term we will be focusing on 'Truthfulness' as our Christian value.
Truthfulness means the quality of being honest and not containing or telling any lies. The truth is about real facts and events. If we say that something is true when we know it’s not, or we leave important parts out about what happened, then we are not being honest. Telling lies is not honest.
You can find a copy of the Truthfulness handout here
3 John 1.4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Context
Our context this half term is 'What makes Wales wonderful?'
In this topic, we will learn all about Wales and what makes it so wonderful. We will look at:
- Welsh landmarks (Castles, Beaches, Mountains)
- Myths and Legends
- Features of castles - How have they changed over the years? What were they used for?
- How is Wales important to you?
- Where do you live? Where are we in the world?
Pupil voice questions
Who built Cardiff Castle and when was it built? KK
How tall are different castles in Wales? OM
What is the biggest beach in Wales? AA
How many beaches are there in Wales? SW
How many castles are there in Wales? IA
What is the most popular beach / mountain / castle? AR
How many cities are there in Wales? ZG
How many mountains are there in Wales? FE
What is the biggest farm in Wales? KE
How many statues are there in Wales? KK
What are the best places to visit in Wales? SI
How tall is Mount Snowdon? OS
How many museums / libraries / parks / movie theatres are there to visit in Wales? BP
How did Cardiff Castle used to look before? IA
What was the first castle to ever be built in Wales? SI
Literacy, Languages and Communication
In Class 3, we will focus on continuing to develop our reading fluency and comprehension.
The children will also be continuing to develop their Welsh language skills through daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions as well as their weekly Welsh lessons.
Reading is an extremely important part of the children's learning. We will take every opportunity to immerse the children in books and stories and we will also take part in a guided reading session at least once per week.
Homework
Choose from the activities on the homework grid :
This is also available for you to download here
Daily reading (20 minutes)
- Times Tables Rock Stars - click here for information for parents.
Weekly homework – Numeracy / Literacy alternated each week. Usually based on something we have learned that week. Set on Friday, due in on Wednesday. Please submit via Google Classroom or sent to class email.
Termly homework – Choose at least one activity to complete by the end of each term – to present to the class.
Literacy
We will be looking at variety of genres in literacy this half term, which will support our learning context. We will focus primarily on information writing, persuasive writing and non-chronological reports.
We will also continue to develop the children’s phonics knowledge and letter formation, to support progress in their reading, writing and spelling skills using Read Write Inc.
Read Write Inc is taught daily (Monday- Friday) across PS1 & 2. Children are grouped in according to their current ability. In each session we focus on identifying and learning Read Write Inc sounds.
Numeracy
This term we will be focusing on multiplication and division. We will also be learning the 3 and 4 times tables. There are times tables songs that your child can listen to at home to help them practice these.
We will continue to use Doodle Maths regularly. Please encourage the children to use this regularly at home using the link below:
Times tables songs -
2x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGWMPqh04o4
3x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVyBQ5uTbo
4x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ4ooLN7Bmo
5x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPffpuHYIhc
10x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlW6YRLriHU
Welsh
In our Welsh language, we will be looking at the weather.
Sut Mae'r Tywydd Heddiw? - How is the weather today?
We will be completing daily Helper Heddiew sessions for the children to enhance their oracy, written and reading skills in Welsh language.
Modern Foreign Languages
MFL is under review at the moment. It is a section of the 'Languages Connect Us' in our Literacy Curriculum.
Planning
Weekly planning will be available on Google classroom, so you can see what the children have been learning about that week. Please see the Inquiry planning document for our topic.
Four Purposes
The four purposes are that all children and young people will be:
Ambitious, Capable Learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.
Enterprising, Creative Contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work.
Ethical, Informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world.
Healthy, Confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
Internet Safety
At St Mellon's, we promote the use of 'SMART' rules daily, as we know how important it is to stay safe online.
Please encourage your children to use these 'SMART' rules at home too.
As part of the Curriculum for Wales your child will discuss and learn how we can all stay safe online and about the dangers we may face on the internet. We get involved with national Internet Safety Day, which is held on the second Tuesday every February each year.
Jigsaw and PSHE
Jigsaw is a whole-school approach and embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn. Jigsaw is a comprehensive and completely original PSE programme for the whole primary school from ages 3-11. The Jigsaw Programme also delivers Relationships and Sexuality Education. Ensuring it meets the requirements set out in the RSE Code for Phases 1 and 2. Life cycles and human reproduction will be taught in a sensitive manner, age related in all schools in Wales. This means that all learners must receive this education. There is no right to withdraw from RSE in the new curriculum.
Jigsaw has two main aims for all children:
• To build their capacity for learning
• To equip them for life
Jigsaw brings together PSE, Relationships and Sexuality Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. It is designed to support a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme (Puzzle) at the same time at their own stage of learning. There are six Puzzles (half-term units of work) and each year group is taught one lesson per week. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet children’s needs.
Curriculum for Wales Guidance for PSHE
Healthy snack
Healthy snacks are provided at £2 per week which can be paid for half termly via parent pay or please provide one piece of fresh fruit or vegetable for your child's snack every day. We are a healthy eating school so only provide a healthy snack such as an apple, banana, carrot sticks, oranges etc. Please note that grapes need to be sliced longways. Children may bring a bottle of water with their name clearly labelled to school to drink. We are happy to refill their bottles for them during the day.
Active travel
We record how we travel to school each day and gain badges and awards every month if we have met our target. Help us to travel safer and greener by walking, cycling or scooting to school! You could always park and stride or catch a bus.
Picture News
During our worship time on Mondays, we have been learning about current news, topics and events. Then we have been exploring the key questions linked to these further in class. Here are some of the questions we have been discussing.
Remember
Class 3 PE has changed to a Wednesday. Please wear your PE kit. PE kit is a white polo shirt (or your house colour) and grey or black shorts/joggers & trrainers. Plain kits please, no patterns or large logos.
Reading books should be taken home daily to practise at least 10 minutes per day at home.
Maths we are having a real focus this half term on improving of time tables, so please encourage your child to use TTRS to practicec their time tables:
NEW! Practice maths for 10 minutes a day on Doodle Maths to make great progress.
Click HERE to logon to TTRS
Hwb
Ask your teacher for your HWB password.
- use online Microsoft software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc)
- use J2e
- post news to share with classmates on Google classroom*
- and much, much more
Useful links
Space Hangman Think you are a super speller? Test your knowledge.
NRich Maths Games Maths Games
Hit the Button Maths Games Fun Maths Games
http://www.ictgames.com/resources.html
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/literacy/index.htm
http://www.primarygames.com/reading.php
http://pbskids.org/games/reading/
http://www.funbrain.com/brain/ReadingBrain/ReadingBrain.html