Reception 2023

Monday 7th November: 1:15 - 2:45 pm

Tuesday 8th November: 1:15 - 2:45 pm

Thursday 10th November: 1:15 - 2:45 pm

Thursday 10th November: 4:00 - 5:00 pm

Home Classes Welcome to year 3 - elder and juniper classes

Welcome to Year 3 - Elder and Juniper Classes

Teachers:

Miss Straw

Teacher: Elder Class

My name is Miss Straw and I am so excited to start my teaching journey at Sandown after finishing my degree in Primary Education at the University of Brighton. Outside of school I enjoy long walks with my puppy called Billie, and rides in the forest on my horse called George. I also enjoy reading and spending time with my friends and family.

Miss Siotto

Teacher: Juniper Class

• Half Italian and can speak Italian • Love to travel- lived and taught in 5 continents • Trying to roller skate • Like to sea swim • Will dance at any opportunity • Like being outdoors and going for long walks • Favourite animal is a flamingo • Could eat crisps all day

TAs:

Mrs Gurr

TA:

Mrs Lewin

TA:

After what has been a strange and challenging time for many, we are now looking forward to the new busy year ahead of us. We have lots of interesting and engaging topics for the children to enjoy, including:

Do You Believe in Magic?
Rocking All Over the World
Let There Be Light
Just Around the River Bend
Watch Me Grow
The Mummy Returns

Parent meetings will be arranged throughout the year to set your child’s targets and discuss their progress. If you would like to speak to us at any other time, please feel free to message us on Class Dojo.

Have a look at the tabs below to see what we have been learning about in each term as well as for details of our latest Home Learning Challenge and our termly Topic Leaflet.

Topic leaflet

We have had a fantastic start to Year 3. The children have quickly adjusted to the new routines in Year 3.

In English, we have been reading Roald Dahl’s ‘The Magic Finger’. We have explored the story through role-play and used it to inspire our own diaries and narratives. The children have also enjoyed celebrating ‘Poetry Day’ and Storytelling Week. We hope they are feeling inspired now to write their own stories!

In Maths, we have extensively learnt about Place Value and how to use the column method for addition and subtraction. The children are now much more secure following these methods.

In Science, the children have explored the human body focussing on types of skeletons, muscles and joints. The children have enjoyed learning about different types of skeletons and the importance and keeping our bodies healthy.

During History this term, the children have begun to explore the Stone Age. The children have been using an enquiry approach to discover how life changed throughout the Stone Age. They loved dressing up for Stone Age day. In Maths, the children created their own symbols to create numbers! We then went into the woods to gather leaves before making our own Stone Age necklaces out of clay. They created their necklaces with clay teeth, bones and flax. In the afternoon, the children learnt a Stone Age version of ‘We Will Rock You’! To finish the day the children had a go at cave painting. They drew pictures they imagined might have been in the walls such as hunters, animals and sceneries. They had a brilliant day.

Our Geography topic this term saw the children explore the question: ‘How does chocolate get to my lunchbox?’ The children made their own comic strips explaining the process of chocolate from Cacao pod to a chocolate bar. They tried raw cocoa and discovered that it did not taste anything like chocolate!

To finish the term, the children designed and created their own balanced dessert bowl. Delicious chocolate brownies, tasty fruit and flavoured yoghurts were on the menu and the children loved their finished product!

As you can see, we have had a busy but exciting start to the year, with lots of new things planned for the next.

Term 2 leaflet

What a busy, fun filled term! The children have now settled in to Year 3 and are working hard every day to ‘Be the Best’ they can be.

In English, we have been reading Ug by Raymond Briggs. We have explored the story through role-play and used it to inspire our own diaries. The children particularly enjoyed creating instructions for their very own Stone Age stew. There were some VERY disgusting ideas! The children have also been learning about headings and subheadings. They have enjoyed group work to create posters based on animals and have then created their very own non-chronological report based on a woolly mammoth.

In Maths, the children have been focussing on securing their knowledge of the 2,5 and 10 times table and started learning their 3,4 and 8 times table. The children enjoy using Times Table Rockstars to practise their times tables and are certainly very competative when it comes to the weekly competition!

In Science, the children have been learning about rocks. They have explored igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks and discussed their properties. The children have enjoyed carrying out experiments, including testing out the permeability of rocks. They discussed why certain rocks are used for different purposes eg. Slate tiles because they are not permeable (they will not let the water in).

In History, the children have discovered that the Stone Age ended because people discovered how to make bronze. The children have been learning about the Bronze Age settlement of Merrivale, Dorset and using an enquiry based approach to help them find an answer to the question: ‘ What is the Secret of the Standing Stones’. Children enjoyed being creative and coming up with ideas about what the purpose of rocks might have been in the Bronze Age.

In Geography, the children continued learning about Fair Trade. They used role-play to explore scenarios in which trade was fair and unfair on all the people involved in the process of chocolate. They came to a unanimous decision that it was important to buy Fair Trade products!

This term we have seen more children than ever earning their Independence Watch! To earn their watch, the children have to model independence at home and school and bring home learning in on time. They also need to tell the time to o’clock, half past, quarter past, and quarter to.

To finish off our busy term, we have enjoyed some fun, festive activities including wreath making, Christmas Dinner and the Santa Dash!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2022!

Topic leaflet

Year 3 have had an excellent start to 2022! The children have continued to work their socks off and are making brilliant progress in their learning. They have greatly impressed their teachers with their developing poetry, narrative and letter writing skills in English. In Maths we have focused our learning on telling the time and are beginning to explore measurement.

Our topic in RE has been the Jewish festival of Sukkot. The children built on their prior learning about the story of Moses freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. During their walk across the desert, the Israelites made temporary homes which were called a sukkah. In DT, the children have enjoyed building their own Sukkah and embraced the challenge of creating a strong and sturdy structure. We think you’ll agree, they looked wonderful!

In Science this term, we have been learning about light and shadow. We have learnt all about how light travels and how shadows are made. The children have loved experimenting with torches and making their own shadows!

During our Outdoor learning session this term, Bill and Kathryn taught the children how to sow seeds and create a ‘no dig bed’ to plant them in. The children planted peas and onions.

To celebrate 25 years of Harry Potter the children dressed up, took part in Harry Potter activities all day and enjoyed hearing extracts from these magical stories.

What a busy, fun filled term! See the topic leaflet to find out about all the wonderful things we will be doing next term.

Topic Leaflet

Term 4 has been an exciting one with lots of opportunities and achievements!

In English, the children have been writing non-fiction texts about Egyptians linking to our History Topic. The children researched in books, online and at home to find out as many interesting facts about Egyptians as they could. The children were all very proud of their final pieces of work and I’m sure you will agree the final results are amazing!

This term, the children have continued to learn about measurement. We have been looking at mass, length and volume. The children have enjoyed measuring different objects, using the scales to weigh objects and using measuring jugs to identify the volume of liquid it contained.

In Science we have been looking at magnets and forces. The children have carried out lots of different experiments to find out how gravity and friction works. We used Newton meters to identify the force needed to move an object. Building on our team building essential skill, the children worked in groups to compare the distance a car can travel on different surfaces.

Linking to our Science topic we went on a fantastic school trip to Herstmonceux Science Centre. The children were able to join in with lots of exciting hands on activities, join in with a bridge building workshop and attend a Science show. In the Science show they got to learn more about Sir Isaac Newton including launching rockets, creating a hover board and even tried to sit on a chair of nails!

In Geography this term we have been learning all about rivers. The children have been learning all the features of a river including meanders, source, mouth and the estuary. The children have also been using an atlas to find the main rivers in the world. To link to this, the children have been learning a song in music all about rivers. You can find the song here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/music-ks1-ks2-ancient-egypt-song-living-living-river-nile/ztb3sk7.

What a fantastic term. We are already so excited to see what Term 5 has in store for us!

Topic leaflet

What a fantastic term we have had with lots of adventures and time spent outside in the sun!

In English this term the children have been reading and exploring the story, The Steadfast Tin Soldier. They have each written a poem, diary and finally their own narrative. This term we have been on a school trip down to Ore Library. The children got to explore new stories and bring some back to the classroom to enjoy together.

In Maths the children have been working hard at their times tables and division. We have been learning how to multiply and divide in column method. The children have also been learning to add fractions together. The children have enjoyed seeing all their hard work on TTRS helping them to achieve in the Maths lessons.

In History this term we have continued to learn more about Ancient Egyptians. The children became archaeologists and explored Tutankhamen’s tomb. They crawled through the chambers and found themselves inside his tomb. With a candle they explored the artefacts that they found.

In DT this term the children have been researching, designing and creating their own River Nile crocodiles, using pneumatics (air to make it move). The children have enjoyed created their crocodile using different resources and then attached the pneumatic system to create a crocodile that moves. As I’m sure you will agree their finished products are very impressive!

In Science this term the children have enjoyed learning more about the different parts of a flower and what their functions are. The children learnt what plants needs to grow and survive. They planted cress seeds and saw how much they can grow in just one week. Even without soil! We have come to the conclusion that nature is truly amazing!

What a wonderful term we have had! We are looking forward to our final term togetherand hoping for lots more sun.

Topic leaflet

What a fun filled final term we have had!

In English this term, we have been reading ‘Hodgeheg’. The children have enjoyed learning about hedgehogs and creating wonderful fact files.

As part of our Geography topic ‘Rivers’, we went on a school trip to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. The children had such a wonderful time designing postcards, doing a beach scavenger hunt, exploring the marshlands and identifying features of a river.

To finish off the term together, the children took part in Sport Day. The children loved having parents/carers back supporting and cheering them on. They ran, jumped, hopped and kicked their hearts outs! It was lovely to see so much great teamwork and genuine excitement for their friends!

In History, the children have been learning about mummification. To link with this they have learnt a song. The children also learnt the stages of mummification and enjoyed acting it out.

It’s time to harvest! The children have been planting flowers and vegetables throughout the year and it was finally time to harvest our potatoes and peas! The children were so excited with lots of shouts of ‘potato!!!!’ every time they found a new one. The children then tried some cooked potato with pea dip which had been prepared earlier by the outdoor team. Some loved it, some didn’t… some thought it tasted just like Mcdonalds!