Shwmae and welcome to Class 4. My name is Miss Lloyd and I am the class teacher. Working alongside me is Mrs Gates and Mrs Johnson, our Learning Support Assistants.

 

Teacher: Miss Lloyd	Learning Support Assistant: Mrs Johnson and Mrs Gates

 

Communication

Contact us on Class4@stmellonsprm.cardiff.sch.uk

Twitter (X) - @stmellonsprm                     https://twitter.com/stmellonsprm

Google Classroom Code - nbzfyrd

The 'Teacher to Parent' text messaging service will be used when 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: Mathematics & Numeracy​

10.45 – 11.00: Snack / Break Time​

11.00 – 12.00: Literacy, Languages & Communication​

12.00 – 1.00: Lunch​

1.00 – 1.25: Guided Group Reading​

1.30 – 2.45:​ Inquiry (Humanities/Science and Technology/Expressive Arts/Health and Wellbeing)​

3.00: Daily Welsh Activities​

3.20: Home Time   

 

Important Dates

Christian Value - Friendship

28^th  April – Return to School

                   Christian Value Celebration Day Trust

5^th May – Bank Holiday

11 th ^-   17^th  May – Christian Aid Week

19^th – 23rd May – Welsh Government National Tests Block

22^nd  May – Nursery and Reception Family Worship 9.15am & coffee morning

23^rd May – End of term

26^th  May – 30^th  May – Half Term

 

2^nd  June – Return to School

10^th June  - Class Photographs

11^th June – Sports Day

^18th  June – Reserve Sports Day

26^th June – year 1 and 2 Family Worship 9.30am

TBC  -  Residential Year 6

4^th July – Reports out to parents

10^th July – New PS1  intake meeting (Nursery and Reception) 2pm

14^th July  - Transition week

17^th July – Year 6 Leavers Assembly 9.30am & coffee morning

18t^h July  - Last day of term

21st  July – INSET day school closed for pupils

P.E. and Uniform

Our PE day is MONDAY - children should wear their PE kits to school every Wednesday.   PE kit is a white polo shirt (or your house colour) and grey or black shorts/joggers & trainers.   Plain kits please, no patterns or large logos. 

Children should wear school uniform each day (apart from PE day). 

PLEASE LABEL ALL ITEMS OF CLOTHING. 

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. 

Context for Learning

Our topic this term is 'Flourish and Thrive'. 

 

 In this topic learners will explore the impact we have on the environment, what plants and people need to thrive. Learners will explore what plants need to survive through science experiments, life cycles of plants, sustainable farming, the journey of produce from the farm to the table and the transfer on energy through the food web. Learners will explore and work as a team to encourage plants to grow in the school gardens. 

 

In Languages Literacy and Communication we will explore the settings and themes,  retelling of the story from the main character’s point of view and sharing their thoughts and opinions about the story 'Varmints' by Helen Ward & Marc Craste. Additionally, we will continue to develop our ambitious vocabulary, character descriptions and setting descriptions, then we will explore how to write a story before the learners have a go at  writing their own stories.

In Maths and Numeracy we will recap our understanding of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) fractions and decimals. Then we will exploring time, shape and position and direction.

In Humanities pupils will be researching and exploring sustainability and the impact we have on the environment. We will learn about a range of religions including Christianity and creating work to show what they have learned. We will also develop our understanding of human rights.

In Science we will explore what plants need to thrive in a science experiment using seeds in different environments, seed dispersal, the food chain and the transfer of energy in the food web. In Technology we will use block coding on Scratch. 

In Expressive Arts we will create and reflect on their own art work using and inspired by nature through printing, charcoal rubbings and creating art using natural resources inspired by Andy Goldsworthy .

In Health and Wellbeing we will be exploring team work, rugby as well as continuing with Jigsaw for Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE).  

 

Pupil Voice Questions:

• Coming Soon

•  

 

Planning

Please see the Inquiry planning document below for our topic. Inquiry planning will also be available on Google classroom, where you can see what the children will be learning about.

summer inquiry planning class 4.pdf

 

 

 

The Four Purposes

The Welsh curriculum has the four purposes as it's core, this is focused on ensuring 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.

Homework

 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 send to our class email.

All learning context homework can be completed over the course of the term and your child can choose to do as many of the tasks as they wish. We would love to share some of their home learning within the classroom at the end of term so please send this in to us on our school email address. 

 Learning context homework which can be completed over the course of the term is below:

 

summer hw grid.pdf

 

 

 

Christian Value 

Our Christian value this half term is 'Friendship'.

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up."  

truthfulness home school values.pdf

 

 

Literacy, Languages and Communication

In class 4 our Literacy sessions will develop a range of skills including: Reading, Writing and Oracy. Each session will feature the following:

- An warm up to consolidate past skills or develop new skills

- Concrete learning to develop Literacy skills

We will be working on developing our reading, writing and oracy through a range of genres. We will begin with building up our ambitious descriptive vocabulary and sentence types, then look at writing their own story. 

We will also be continuing to develop our Welsh language skills through daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions and will also be learning French as part of our modern foreign language development.

Reading continues to be an extremely important part of your child's learning. We will be reading our class novel 'Varmints' by Helen Ward & Marc Craste and we also take part in Guided Group Reading sessions daily.  

 

Mathematics and Numeracy

In Mathematics and Numeracy this half term, we will recap our understanding of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) fractions and decimals. Then we will exploring time, shape and position and direction.  Please encourage the children to practice maths regularly at home (see links below for online math games); they really do make a difference to the children’s confidence and ability in maths. Each mathematics and numeracy session will have:

- Engaging warm-ups with a range of number work to practice past skills or develop new skills.

- Concrete learning to develop of Mathematics and Numeracy skills

Times tables games - Learn them all here!

Times Tables Games for 7 to 11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)

Times tables games and songs 1-12 - BBC Bitesize

 - Times Tables Rock Stars - click here for information for parents. 

 

 

Welsh

The Welsh language is very important to us. We encourage both staff and children to use incidental Welsh both inside and outside of the classroom. We enjoy our daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions to support children in learning new phrases by playing fun Welsh games. 

 

Modern Foreign Languages

Throughout the term, we will be learning French, learning basic words, phrases and questions. 

 

Internet Safety

At St Mellons, we promote the use of 'SMART' rules, as we know how important it is to stay safe online.

Please encourage your children to use these 'SMART' rules at home too. 

For more information please visit https://hwb.gov.wales/zones/online-safety/key-information/primary-learners/ 

 

Jigsaw and PSHE

 

The Curriculum for Wales is now a statutory requirement since September 2022 for all schools in Wales. It has a key role to play in helping children and young people navigate the world safely. Welsh Government wants education to help our children to develop as healthy, confident individuals, ready for the next chapter in their life after school. Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) encompasses the knowledge, skills, dispositions and values that will empower learners to:

• support their health and well-being

• develop healthy, safe and fulfilling relationships of all kinds, including those with family and friends, and in time, romantic and sexual relationships

• navigate and make sense of how relationships, sex, gender and sexuality shape their own and other people’s identities and lives

• understand and support their rights and those of others to enjoy equitable, safe, healthy and fulfilling relationships throughout their lives.

Please click here for more information curriculum-for-wales-relationships-sexuality-education-code.pdf (gov.wales)  

 

Healthy Schools

We are very proud to be promoting a healthy school. We encourage all children to eat healthy during snack and lunch times. 

We are able to provide snack for your children in school at a daily cost of £2 per week / £14 per term. Please pay via ParentPay.

Please ensure that your child has a labelled bottle in school daily, containing water only. We have fresh drinking water fountains, where the children can refill their bottles.

For advice on how to make a healthy packed lunch, please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes/

 

Active Travel

WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It's that easy!

Please support us on our Active Travel mission by encouraging your child to walk, cycle or scoot to school, or use Park and Stride. This will help keep our bodies healthy and help reduce our carbon footprint!

 

Picture News

                     

During our worship time on Mondays, we have been discussing Picture News, challenging ourselves to use new, ambitious vocabulary to describe our feelings and opinions. We have been learning about current news, topics and events. 

 

Useful Links

Practice maths for 10 minutes a day on Doodle Maths to make great progress.

Click here to visit the Times Tables Rock Stars site to practice your tables....  who's going to be the first Rock Hero in your class?  Practice your maths skills by playing against other children all over the world. 

Reading books: every child has a reading book from our library and they may take them home to read.  Home reading books can be changed whenever necessary. 

Ask your teacher for your HWB password.  On Hwb you can...

• access Google Classroom
• access your personal Hwb email
• use online Microsoft software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc)
• use J2e
• and much, much more.

Practise coding skills on Scratch

Multiplication Grid Game

Hit the Button

https://hwb.gov.wales - Hwb Collection of online tools provided to all schools in Wales by the Welsh Government

https://www.purplemash.com - award winning cross curricular website for  primary school children. It enables children to explore and enhance their knowledge in a fun and creative way.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ - Great online games for curriculum areas

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn - BBC Bitesize

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html - Lots of online games linked to different areas of the curriculum

https://www.learn-welsh.net/welshgames - Online Welsh games

https://corbettmathsprimary.com/5-a-day/ - Corbett Maths - 5-a-day Challenges

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/ - White Rose Maths - Reasoning Challenges

 

Meet the teacher 2024:

meet the teacher autumn 2024.pdf

 

 

Reading books

Reading books: Every child has a reading book from our class library and are now allowed to take them home to read if they have a school book bag.  Your home reading book can be changed whenever necessary.