Amelia Visit: We had a lovely time visiting the Amelia Centre and the children learnt all about the Ancient Egyptians. What a great introduction to our new history topic! I was very impressed with the children’s behaviour too, both walking there and back, and during the session.

Parent Consultations: Please let me know if you would like to book a consultation to discuss your child’s progress. I am aware that there are no further slots available on Arbor, so please email on the class email and we can book an appointment. Thank you to all those who have already booked/attended. I look forward to catching up with you all.

English: In English this week, we will be continuing our new unit, working with the book Cinderella of the Nile, by Beverley Naidoo. This week we will be considering how our characters might be feeling and using a thesaurus to improve our writing.

Whole Class Reading: In Whole Class reading this week, we will be looking at a non-fiction text about Sir Isaac Newton, as we were unable to do this last week. We will investigate the vocabulary and answer questions about the text, both as a class and individually.

Maths: In Maths this week we will be continuing the second multiplication and division unit, focusing on dividing a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number with flexible partitioning, which helps when using division strategies. Times tables will be an ongoing feature, with the children completing a times table challenge each week.

Mrs Banner will be teaching our RE on Friday, a spelling test, computing, and further elements of the maths curriculum.

In the wider curriculum this week, we will be continuing the new unit in science, planning for  a ‘friction’ experiment next week. In Time and Place, the unit will continue with a closer look at the achievements which can be attributed to the Ancient Egyptians. In art, we will be building our skills in creating portraits, through investigation of various artists and different mediums.

PE will be on Monday, and this term we are focusing on dance. Last week we had a lot of fun developing a dance sequence!

Swimming, as usual, will be on Tuesday.

The children will need full PE kit, swimming costume/trunks, a towel, swimming cap - this is required by the swimming pool, and goggles (although these are optional). There will also be occasions when we do additional PE sessions, so please can the children have their PE kit in school all week. Please remind the children to bring all their kit, including a towel!

I am always happy to answer any questions you may have, so please do contact me if you have any queries, using the class email address:

maple@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk

Best wishes

Mrs Smallcombe and the Maple Team