Friday 20th March 2020

Dear parents,

It is difficult to believe that last Friday I wrote a 'normal' blog post, after a 'normal' week at school. Things in our world are changing very rapidly at the moment, and we hope that you are all OK. We also hope you are all well and that those experiencing any symptoms of illness will be feeling better very soon. We are missing seeing the children and teaching them in the 'normal' way, we hope that they are OK too and adjusting to the new reality for now.

Today's work

English: 3 short tasks have been set today.

1. Handwriting practice (a sheet is attached to the assignment of Google Classroom), this should ideally be done using a Frixion pen, or a pencil if you do not have one at home, not Biro, please. They should use lined paper or handwriting paper if you happen to have any at home (the children at school on Wednesday were given their handwriting books).

2. Watch Newsround and write a summary of the key stories.

3. We would like the children to write a small paragraph telling us their own news, how they are and what they have been up to this week.

Please upload these to Google Classroom.

Maths: Doodle Maths 'Daily 6'- six automated Maths questions. The log in details are at the back of the children's homework books. They can do a set of 'Daily 6' questions each day if they wish.

Then, please practice times tables on Times Tables Rockstars, in the 'Garage' area.

Art: 'Take your pen for a walk'- see the examples attached. The children can use any type of media they choose (as long as they have parents' permission) and can fill in the shapes however they like. We'd love to see their work, so please take a photo and upload it to Google Classroom.

Below is a brief summary of which subjects you might expect to receive work on each day. We want there to be a good weekly routine for the children, though this is not set in stone and we will also try to include some informal/fun activities too.

Monday- English (Creative Writing), Maths, PE, JS, Ivrit

Tuesday- English, Maths, Computing, Ivrit, JS

Wednesday- English, Maths, History, JS

Thursday- English (spellings and Verbal Reasoning), Maths, Science, JS

Friday- English, Maths (you guessed it!), Art, JS

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 Team

Jewish Studies - Thursday 19th March

Hi Year 3,

If you haven’t already seen, we are going to try a new KAHOOT quiz, today, at 11 am. Click the link in your other assignment to log on at 11 am.

Here is the rest your work for today.

1. Please use your Siddur to say some Tefillah this morning (10 minutes). We will be trying to do this every day and it is especially important at this time to ask Hashem for good health and good news! 

I would suggest saying the following: Modeh Ani, Brachot, Shema, Amidah.

2. Today, I would like you to continue with your Pesach Haggadot. There are 3 sheets on the MAGGID section. Let’s try and complete these today. Any children that were in school yesterday, have got all the sheets in a yellow folder. 

I have again attached the Haggadah sheets on the Google classroom - in case you haven’t managed to find them. Click on ‘YOUR WORK’ at the bottom to see them.

3. 10 minutes of Hebrew reading from a Siddur.

Good luck!

Thursday 19th March 2020

Good Morning!

As you are aware, each day we will be posting work for the children. We understand that many of you are working from home and have commitments to fulfill, and potentially more than one child to work with and care for. We don't want you to feel overwhelmed - please don't feel you have to do and be everything. We will aim to keep a balance between using an ipad/laptop, worksheets or practical work. In addition, we would love to encourage you to let the children play outside if the weather permits, listen to music, bake with your assistance, colour and build. They can even help with chores around the house. But most importantly (as you know), they will need lots of cuddles! You are parents, not teachers and this isn't forever.

We hope that you are all keeping safe. Children, we miss seeing you on a daily basis so please send us messages and photos!

Reminder: Teachers will be online at 11 a.m. to answer queries and again at 2p.m. to answer any emails/questions.
 

Today's work

Maths: Ordering Numbers. Complete challenge 1, 2 or 3. There will also be an extra challenge for any of you who would like to try it.  

Spellings: Please use your spellings to write sentences or an interesting paragraph. This should be written on a piece of paper. Think about your presentation, remembering capital letters and full stops. Take a photo and upload your work to google classroom

Verbal Reasoning: Complete Paper One in your Verbal Reasoning Book (we sent this home in your school bag at the beginning of the week) Ask an adult to mark this with you when you are finished. 

Science:  Watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d65mdTJaJTI&t=44s Please create a poster on pic-collage about light sources and how we see light. Include: Examples of light sources and explain how we see things. Use pictures and make your poster eye catching. It is important that I can read your text so think about colours and fonts. Remember correct punctuation - capital letters and full stops. If you prefer to make a poster on paper using coloured markers and drawing your own pictures thats also fine. Screen shot your work and upload it to google classroom. 

Tuesday 17th March 2020

Good morning, we are so disappointed not to be back at school today, we hope to see all the children tomorrow.

Here is a summary of today's work, please find it all on Google Classroom.

Maths: Please complete Section 2 Test 1 in the Mental Arithmetic book set home from school. The answer page has been added to the Google Classroom so that parents can mark the work and children can try again if they made any errors.

English: SPaG (Speling, Punctuation and Grammar) sheets in 3 different challenges have been uploaded to our Google Classroom, recapping the use of apostrophes in contractions. The children should then choose 5 contractions, not necessarily the ones from their sheet, they can choose different ones, and write sentences using each one.

Computing: Mr Moses will be setting computing work in their separate Computing Google classroom. In the top left hand corner of the screen you should see an icon with 3 horizontal lines. Tap this and a menu appears, tap classes, and you should see the other class there.

In addition to these tasks we would like the children to:

• Read for 20 minutes (or more, per day)  
• Watch Newsround
• If your child receives First News or The Week Junior, please encourage them to read this.

Please remind your child to press the submit button on their ipad once they have completed the work, even if there isn’t anything to submit, as it allows us to see who has seen and completed this work.

Today I (Mrs Collins) am going to write a guide for submitting work in different ways using Google Classroom as I had many questions yesterday and we can’t work on it in class today, which was the plan. I will post it onto the blog later today, I hope it will help. Please do help your child with submitting their work if they need it, I’m sure that after a few times they will be able to do this themselves. It is always preferable to submit the work on Google Classroom rather than email it to us, because we are able to view, mark and comment on the work and it is much easier for it all to be in one place.

Wishing you all a good day!

JS

Good morning Year 3!

I hope you are all well.

Please find your instructions for today’s work on the Google Classroom. 

You will need to finish your work from yesterday and then complete Sheet 4 on ‘Yachatz’.

Good luck!

Jewish Studies - Monday 16th March

Hi Year 3,

Today, we are working at home.

I have left detailed instructions on the Classroom earlier this morning. If you check your assignments, you will be able to see everything there.

1. Revise the order of the Seder and read a little bit about all 15 stages. See the link there.

2. Continue with the first 3 Haggadah pages ONLY (Kadeish, Urchaz and Yachatz). I have put these on the Classroom.

If you can’t print the pages, then you can answer on the Google docs page that I have created. Any drawings can be done on regular paper and brought into school tomorrow. 

Good luck!

Monday 16th March 2020

As school is closed today, please find below instructions to find Year 3 work:

1. Go to google.co.uk, or find the Google Classroom app on your child's ipad 
2. Sign in using your child's email address and password (if using a laptop or desktop and the web browser)
3. Click on the apps box (square with 9 dots icon)
4. Click on Classroom
5. Click on or tap Year 3 2020 Class of 2023
6. Then click on or tap classwork to view assignments

There are 4 assignments - Maths, Creative Writing, Ivrit and PE.

Have a good day,

Mrs Collins and Mrs Kanzen

Friday 13th March 2020

What an eventful week this has been! Monday feels like it was a long time ago.

In Maths the children did a little work on multiplying by 8. They then moved on to comparing multiplication and division statements, using the symbols for greater than >, less than < and equal to =.  

In English we read an extract of Danny the Champion of the World and discussed the rich description of Danny's home.

On Tuesday we had an amazing time celebrating Purim together. Their costumes were fantastic! Throughout the morning we had a class photo, went to the full megilah reading, swapped Mishloach Manot, had a class 'seudah' consisting of juice and a Hamantaschen, watched the school talent show and took part in a Zumba session in aid of Jewish Care. If anyone has any sponsorship money that they haven't already brought in to school, please do this as soon as possible. Many thanks!

This week was also STEM week and we had a number of fun activities. The children learned about optical illusions and made their own thaumatropes. They then also began making their own Op Art pieces. On Friday we worked with Year 4 on the 'Big Build'! The children worked in groups to make models of London's landmarks. They used all of their characteristics of learning- collaboration, persistence, resilience, reflectiveness, initiative, curiosity, good middot, humour, risk-taking and flexibility of mind, to complete this task. See the photos below!

Reminder:

When children use their iPads in school, they are protected by our settings, which prevents them from accessing inappropriate websites. Our IT specialist team is working to ensure inappropriate sites are blocked off-site as well as on-site. This change has to be made while in school and will be done at the next available opportunity.  It is, therefore, the responsibility of parents to check what their children are accessing at home until this is completed. The ipads are also for school work only, and should not be used to take photographs, watch videos or play games unrelated to the work they have been set.

We wish you all a healthy Shabbat Shalom!

The Year 3 team

Wednesday 11th March- update

On Friday we will be taking part in a special junk-modelling activity for STEM week. We will need materials for our ‘big build’, so please send in as many items as possible (clean items only- cardboard boxes, used wrapping paper, paper straws, rolls from kitchen towel, foil etc). Many thanks!

Friday 6th March 2020

The children have been enjoying reading The Iron Man and have begun to really notice all the elements of the text that make it an excellent story, not just in terms of the events, but also the use of similes, strong verbs, rich descriptive language and long and short sentences for effect. We continued our work on sentence structure using subordinating conjunctions, such as when, if, because and until. The children were urged to explore the use of these conjunctions as sentence openers as well as in the middle of sentences, being careful that their sentences contain at least two verbs. They are all doing amazingly at this work! We also looked at an example of a newspaper article and began identifying the features of this text type, such as headline, photographs with captions, witness quotes etc.

In Maths we have been counting in 3s and 4s so that all the children are becoming familiar with the multiples of these numbers. We continued using counters and diagrams to aid conceptual understanding of multiplication and division, and as always spent some time on reasoning and problem solving skills as well. One of the key areas of understanding we have been working on is the relationship between 'inverse' calculations- addition/subtraction, multiplication and division. The children are making great progress!

In Science the children created their own storyboards to show how we see images. They each chose a light source and an object and drew pictures with captions to explain each stage.

We are all so excited to celebrate Purim with the children next week. As well as this we will be taking part in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Week, so make sure you come back to the blog next week to read about our special STEM activities.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 28th February 2020

We hope you all had a wonderful half term, we have been enjoying hearing about some of the children’s adventures from them throughout the week.

In English lessons this week we reviewed the use of conjunctions (such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’, ‘or’, ‘because’ ‘when’, and ‘if’) and how they are used in sentences. The ‘job’ of conjunctions  is to join or connect two or more clauses, and each of these should contain a verb. We will continue working on this in the coming weeks. We read chapter 3 of The Iron Man, where we learned that the Iron Man didn’t stay trapped for too long. We also had a ‘text appreciation’ lesson with Mrs Sondhelm, where we looked at a piece of text and identified and discussed features that made it high quality.

We began our new Maths topic- Multiplication and Division. We began learning about the concept of equal groups, moving on to multiplying by 3, dividing by 3 and the 3 times table. Alongside this we are working on the children’s reasoning and problem solving skills within this topic.

In Science we started a new topic called Light and Shadows. The children learnt about different light sources and how we need light to see. They also learnt that darkness is the absence of light. 

We are collecting junk modelling items (clean recyclables such as kitchen roll tubes, cardboard boxes, washed out plastic bottles) for a special activity on Friday 13th March. Please send anything suitable into school, thank you.

Well done to all the children for all their hard work this week. Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 14th February 

This week was Book Week and we took part in many fun activities. Year 3 really showed their knowledge and love of reading in the Book Quiz on Monday. On Tuesday we were invited to join the Year 6 debate, the subject of which was  "Which subject is the most important subject that you learn?" Teams of Year 6 pupils presented their argument in favour of a certain subject, and the other children were then invited to give their arguments, comments and points of view, whether in agreement or opposing. Year 3 children made some excellent contributions to this. Also on Tuesday was the school poetry reading- all of the pupils taking part did a fantastic job, a special well done to Natalie and Naomi. On Wednesday the class had a wonderful and inspiring session with author Hiawyn Oram, whose books include the popular Not-So-Grizzly Bear Stories, the Animal Heroes series, and Mona the Vampire. She shared one of her many stories with the children. The class started to write their own piece of writing and hopefully after half term they will have the chance to turn them into their own stories. 

On Monday we celebrated Tu B’shvat. We enjoyed a variety of delicious (and sometimes strange) fruits, thank you for sending them in. The children also took part in some special Tu B’shvat activities, they made some grass seed heads and a little twig with moving arms and legs. 

In Maths we have reached the end of our unit on addition and subtraction. This week we learned about the different strategies that could be used to subtract two 3 digit numbers, including column subtraction, number bonds, and counting on using a number line, which is particularly important as it scaffolds mental calculations.

In Art we began a new art project on Pointillism. We read information about the movement, what it means and how it began. We were also introduced to some of the artists who used this technique and their work.

In History we learnt about the Roman invasions and the spread of the Roman empire.

In Science we did a jelly experiment. The children timed how long it took to move their jelly cubes from one bowl to another. Then we added oil to the jelly and it became increasingly more difficult. This led us into an interesting discussion about the concept of friction.

It was lovely to see whoever could join us for the ‘Write with your child’ session and Forest School. The kids loved sharing their experiences with you. 

We hope you all have an enjoyable and restful half term!

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Jewish Studies (week beginning 3.2.20)

Year 3 have been really busy in Jewish Studies this week! In Chumash, we have reached a crucial point in the story of Avraham and Lot. Since they have both amassed much wealth and cattle, they consider separating and living in different areas. We have also been learning about the Shivat Ha'minim and Bal Tashchit in preparation for Tu b'Shevat.

Friday 7th February 2020

The highlight of our week has undoubtedly been our outing to Celtic Harmony on Wednesday. To complement our learning about the Iron Age and life in Britain before the Romans, the children took part in an immersive day led by Celtic guides. Our base was our very own Celtic roundhouse and the children were trained to become Celtic Warriors, learning about the symbols painted on faces and bodies of fighters for battle and about different weapons and shields. They practised archery, weaved headbands out of long, dried grasses, and worked in teams on a special quest to win gold coins. We all had an amazing day.

In English lessons this week we learned about similes and how to use them in sentences. The children found similes used in Chapter One of The Iron Man, such as ‘shaped like a dustbin lid’ and ‘as big as a bedroom’. They then made their own similes and used these to describe the Iron Man and different parts of his body.

In Maths we learned how to add two three digit numbers, using the formal written method of column addition. The children worked on calculations where some columns involved an exchange, such as 362 + 475, and 576 + 168.

Parents are invited to join us for a session of Forest School on Thursday 13th February. Please meet us at the park playground area at 1.30. Please remember to wear weather appropriate clothing and shoes- you may get wet or muddy.

Please remember to bring the ukuleles to school on Tuesday. We are spending a lot of time in our music lessons tuning ukuleles (as new strings tend to stretch at first so the ukuleles become out of tune), so Mr Fingerhut has asked if parents and children can spend a few minutes on Monday evening tuning their ukulele. There are lots of YouTube videos, apps and web sites that can help you do this.

Next week is Book Week and there are lots of exciting activities planned, we will tell you all about these in next week’s blog.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Thursday 6th February 2020

This week in Forest School the children rose to the challenge and built structures using one rope and several sticks. They learnt how to use knots and square lashing to secure their structures. Some teams were successful in building a structure that they could actually sit on without touching the ground! Well done to everyone in Year 3 for persisting and not giving up even when things didn’t go to plan. 

We look forward to seeing whoever can join us next week for our last forest school session of the term

Friday 31st January 2020

It was lovely to see so many parents and grandparents at school on Monday for Rosh Chodesh learning and tefilah, thank you for joining us and we hope you enjoyed it.

On Monday 3rd of February from 7:30pm-9:30pm we are holding our annual E-Safety Talk for ALL parents (Nursery-Y6), taking place in the main school. This talk is highly informative, it will help parents understand some of the apps and games that are new or have grown popular, and will give valuable insight on how to ensure that our children stay safe online. The pupils in all classes will be having special sessions too.

Please note that reading books will be changed when on your child’s set reading day, so they must have their folder at school. They can also let us know if they need to change it another time and we will try our best to give them a time to change it. However, the reading log must be signed, showing that they have finished the book. 

In Maths we began learning about column addition and subtraction, moving on to where one or more exchange is needed. The children used their understanding of place value to ensure that they set out the calculations accurately, with each digit in the correct column, as we were adding 2 and 3 digit numbers. Try the examples below.

417 + 64

492 - 38

398 + 83

247- 67

We had so much fun on our trip to the Apple Store on Tuesday! The children took part in a brilliant trailer-making workshop. They were extremely enthusiastic and engaged and worked well in their groups, solving problems and creative disagreements to create fantastic trailers.

Here are some comments that the children made on the day:

Golda says: I loved it, it was so interesting!

Ori says: It was very very good, it was so much fun to work on the ipad 11 pro Max.

Annabel says: It was really fun to make movie trailers.

Amelie says: We had a lot of freedom to play on the equipment in the Apple store.

Adam says: It was fun making our scary trailer, the other children actually looked scared!

Raphael: It was so exciting going on the mini bus.

In Science the children explored magnets and investigated magnetic and non-magnetic materials around the classroom. They discovered that all the magnetic objects were metal. They also learnt key words - attract, repel and magnetic field.

This week in Forest School the children learnt to tie different knots including reef knots and granny nots. They then attempted to make their own bow and arrows. Some children were successful with this! It wasn’t easy and required a lot of persistence. The children worked together to help each other, take turns and speak kindly and patiently to each other. 

REMINDERS:

• Tomorrow children should bring £1 and come dressed in Blue for Blueish Jewish Day! 
• You are invited to the Year 3 ‘Write with your Child’ session on Thursday 13th Feb at 8.55am

Should anything different be happening at home, however insignificant you think it is, please do let us know. The smallest of changes can have an impact on a child's mood or behaviour and knowing things in advance helps us to be aware of possible changes and be ready to offer support. These might include but are not limited to, a parent being away from home on business, a member of the family being in hospital, a bereavement, a break in etc.

We are so lucky that we will be going on another outing so soon, as our trip to Celtic Harmony takes place on Wednesday. Here are some reminders for the trip:

• Children should wear their PE uniform and lots of layers as it does get cold and the day is spent outside.

• They will need a packed lunch- parev or dairy and nut free. Please ensure that snacks are healthy and in-line with the school’s policy. They will also need a bottle of water.

• We will leave very soon after the start of the day, please try your best for a punctual arrival.

• The children will not need their school bags but need something comfortable to carry their lunch in.

On the trip we will be learning about life in Iron Age Britain and Boudicca's rebellion against the Roman invasion. It is a fun and immersive trip which I hope the children will be excited to tell you about.

Below please see some photos of our week.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 24th January 2020

PSHE has been a big focus for Year 3 this week. We have discussed some issues that have come up within the class and possible solutions for these. We discussed the importance of being inclusive in the playground as well as in the classroom regardless of gender or other differences. Everyone in the class has a lot to offer and it's important the children realise that everyone has a value and a voice. 

We also discussed the Kerem Characteristics of Learning and how they help our learning as well as our development as people. These are: Persistence, Reflectiveness, Resilience, Initiative, Curiosity, Middot, Risk Taking, Humour, Collaboration and Flexibility of mind. The children really paid attention to these ideas and we were very impressed with their thoughts as they made sense of them. We will be continuing to promote these in class and around the school. 

In English this week we focused on verbs, and particularly 'strong' (high quality) verbs. The children re-read the first few chapters of the Iron Man and write down all of the verbs they could find. We then discussed how these might be used in our own sentences. There are a number of similes used in these chapters, we found these and wrote some of our own.

In Maths we looked at some mixed calculations involving addition and subtraction, some involving an exchange and others not. The children had to pull together all of their learning in this unit so far, checking which columns would change, whether the answer would increase or decrease and which strategies would be best to use in different cases.

We had a lovely time finishing our Stonehenge silhouettes on the painted background we made last week. The children then researched (some using their past homework task) some facts about Stonehenge for our display, which is now proudly up outside our classroom.

In Forest School the children made fires and toasted marshmallows as a final treat! Making the initial fire sparks required a lot of patience, persistence and resilience - these skills are SO important for the children to experience. 

There are still many children who need equipment for their pencil box. Please ask them if they need 50p to get a new white board pen, pencil, pen refill or glue.

Please also take note of homework expectations: 

All books must have evidence of work inside by Monday- A write up, drawing, photograph or at least a date and title. Homework is not expected to be made on the computer, although that is fine if you/ your child wish to do this. If you do not have a working printer or it needs ink, please do the homework by hand. All books should be given in on Monday.  

On Tuesday morning we will be visiting the Apple Store in Brent Cross for a fun workshop. Children should wear their full school uniform and will not need lunch. Thank you to the parents who volunteered to drive and give lifts, please send in a labelled booster seat if your child usually travels with one.

As a school we have decided to take part in the Warm Smile initiative. It does not involve raising  any money, just performing acts of kindness. Please see the details attached.

Friday 31st January is Blueish Jewish Day. Children should wear blue and bring £1. Please see the poster below.

Shabbat Shalom have a lovely weekend!

The Year 3 team

Friday 17th January 2020

We have had SUCH an exciting week in Year 3, the highlight being receiving our new ukuleles! The children enjoyed unwrapping them and putting them away in their cases. It will take a while to get them all tuned, but we are very excited to get started. Please label the ukuleles and their cases with your child's name, and make sure that they are brought to school every Tuesday as there are no spares to lend out for the lesson. Thank you!

In English this week we began reading our new class text, The Iron Man and the children seem to be really enjoying this. Before reading we looked at the front illustration and the children spent some time in 'wonder', thinking about questions they would ask about the book, what the illustration reveals and what we might deduce from it. They came up with some excellent questions! On Friday we worked on writing sentences with varied openers.

In Maths, we have been working on the concept of 'exchanging' (this is the current vocabulary which replaced 'carrying' or 'borrowing' which many of us were taught at school) 10 tens for one hundred when adding tens to a 3 digit number, or one hundred for 10 tens when subtracting. Some of the children spent more time on reasoning and problem solving.

In Forest School the children had a great time! They learnt about turn taking and how to respect members in their team. They also had the chance to use loppers to cut off pieces of willow. They learnt how to be safe and listened carefully to the instructions. Some children made dream catchers and others made sculptures with a wooden jig. The tasks weren’t easy, but the children persevered and tried hard not to give up. The class were extremely engaged and excited throughout the session. Looking forward to next week!

Many of the children require equipment for their pencil box, particularly white board pens. Please check with your child if they are missing anything and give them 50p per item needed to bring to school on Monday.

Please note, we have noticed this week that many of the children seem over-tired during the school day and they are finding it difficult to manage this. 

Homework has been given out on Wednesday. Please support your child in this work if they need it. The children have been reminded of homework expectations, including that all homework is returned on time (Mondays) unless a parent has contacted us. The homework should also be completed using the same Frixion pens that we use at school and each piece of work should include a date and title, underlined with a pencil. Any work done on separate sheets of paper should be trimmed and stuck into the book with glue. Many thanks for your support in this.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and a wonderful weekend,

The Year 3 team

Friday 10th January 2020

Happy new year, and a very warm welcome back to school!

We were very excited to see the children on Wednesday, we hope that everyone had a wonderful winter break.

In Science we have started a new topic called Forces and Magnets. The children explored how different toys work. They used their ipads to record their information showing different examples of pushing, pulling and twisting.

In History we learned about the changes in life for people in Britain during the Neolithic period of the Stone Age. We looked at how houses had changed, the establishment of farming and began to learn about the settlement of Skara Brae. 

Forest school started this week and we had a fantastic time! They explored, created and worked together in teams. The teachers engaged with the children during their team work, guiding them through any disagreements and helping them to reach fair solutions. We are looking forward to next week's session! Please make sure all their waterproofs are labelled. It wasn’t that cold this week but if the weather drops the children will need several layers to keep warm. Their waterproof jacket needs to fit over their warm coats. 

Gymnastics will begin next Wednesday 15th January, the children do not need to bring anything special to school for this, but they should wear their PE uniform to school and ensure that they have a (non disposable) water bottle.

Please find attached below a slightly tweaked list of the children's reading days, for your information. The children should bring in their reading folder on their reading day/s. 

Homework will be given out on Wednesday and this is due to be given in by Monday each week. 

Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to give lifts and join us on our trip to the Apple Store, we have all the help we need for this trip. There will hopefully be other opportunities for parents to join us later in the year.

We are looking forward to a full week next week!

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 13th December 2019

We simply cannot believe that we have come to the end of our first term! It has been wonderful getting to know the children and parents, thank you for all the times you got in touch to discuss something important or even just said hello at home time.

This week the children have worked very hard rehearsing for our presentation. We are all so excited for everyone to see it.

We also spent a little time reinforcing the high expectations of behaviour and treatment of others we have of the children and wrote down our class charter. This will go on the wall of our classroom to remind the children of what we agreed. 

In Science the children learnt about the three different rock types - Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic. They also drew and annotated the rock cycle in their books.  

In English we completed a reading comprehension and we also completed our cave paintings.

Next term the children's PE uniform days will be Monday (PE), Wednesday (Gym) and Thursday (Forest School). For this every child will need waterproof trousers, a raincoat to go over their clothes, and wellington boots.  If the weather is cold please send your child in extra layers such as leggings under their tracksuit bottoms. They should also bring a change of clothes in case they get muddy. Parents are invited to join us for Forest School on 13th February 2020 for a session, timings for this will be confirmed in due course.

We are really looking forward to next term and wish all of Year 3 and their families a wonderful winter break and a happy Chanukah!

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 6th December 2019

This week in Science the children investigated how easily different rocks break down. They experimented with chalk, limestone and granite. They loved rubbing the rocks together to see how much or how little they wore away. This was the base of learning how sedimentary rocks are formed. 

In Maths the children have been exploring addition and subtraction and applying their knowledge to word problems. 

In English we began reading the story Ug- Boy Genius of the Stone Age, using this to learn about punctuating direct speech.

It was lovely to meet with you all for parents evening and we look forward to performing for you all next Friday! 

Next half term the children will have Forest School on Thursday mornings. Every child will need waterproof trousers, a raincoat to go over their clothes, and Wellington boots.  If the weather is cold please send your child in extra layers such as leggings under their tracksuit bottoms. They should bring a change of clothes in case they get muddy. Parents are invited to join us for Forest School on 13th February 2020 for a session. Timings will be confirmed in due course.

Our chosen charity for this term is Spread a Smile. Tzedakah is collected every Friday, please give your child some tzedakah money when you can.

 Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 Team

Friday 29th November 2019

This week we have done a lot of cross curricular learning, allowing us to combine English, History and Art in our lessons. We explored the work of archaeologists so that we can write an account of an archaeological dig and the children worked in pairs to examine photographs of different artefacts dating back to the Stone Age. We continued working on our cave paintings, using charcoal to sketch hunting scenes. We also worked on a challenging reading comprehension about the Stone Age.

The children wrote amazing atmospheric poems in Creative Writing and we were so impressed with their work. Look out for one or two of them in the mini mag!

In Maths the children have made great progress in their understanding of exchanging ten ones for a ten when adding a one digit number to a three digit number. We have also spent time on reasoning and problem solving using this understanding.

In Science we explored different rocks. The children used their ipads to take photos of different rocks and wrote descriptions on these. They also used fact sheets to research and answer questions about different rocks. 

Thank you to everyone who brought in samples the children loved showing these to the class.

Next Thursday, 5th December, is the final week of swimming. Weekly visits to Gymnastics and Forest School will be starting from January. We are very excited for these experiences. For Forest School every child will need waterproof trousers, a raincoat, wellington boots and a spare set of clothes in case they get wet/muddy through their waterproof layers. They will also need an extra layer of clothes to put on at school to keep them warm. Please make sure their raincoat is big enough to fit over their regular coat in order to keep them both warm and dry. 

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 22nd November 2019

This week we had a debate in English lessons about whether life was more fun or harder in the Stone Age, and which year we would prefer to live in and why. The children came up with some interesting and thoughtful arguments. 

We had a cross-curricular Art and History lesson, it was lots of fun! We experimented with watercolour paints and water to create a wash on a piece of card, with different earthy tones in different concentrations to make the paper look like a cave wall. Then we learned about cave paintings and how they tell the story of survival in the Stone Age. We can’t wait to continue next week!

In Science we started our new topic of Rocks and Soils. The children investigated and classified different rocks into two groups; Man-made and naturally occurring rocks. Many children have said they have rock collections which we would love to see. Please bring these in for next Wednesday.

We have been looking at compound words in spelling. The children brainstormed and created their own pictorial representations of different compound words. These look great around the classroom! 

Homework- In order to help the children learn their spellings and practise their sentence writing skills, we would like each child to write a sentence using each one of their spelling words for homework, in addition to their tasks from their topic grid. 

On Wednesday it was lovely to see so many of the children wearing something purple in support of Grief Encounter. Many thanks for all your donations to this worthy cause.

At Kerem we want to help the children learn valuable life skills and urge them to take responsibility for their equipment in a supportive and simplified way. So far the children have taken to their pencil boxes very well. All their equipment is labelled and they have really been looking after them. A number of children are finding that their school glue or Frixion pen is running out, so it seems like a good time to clarify how replacements should work.  If/when this happens, please give them 50p which they can then take to the office in order to purchase a new one. A few of the children have already done this, and they have been excited to go to the office and get a new glue or pen refill themselves. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, Shabbat Shalom, 

The Year 3 Team

Thursday 14th November 2019

We have had such an exciting week, as it has been Maths Week at Kerem School. As well as daily competitions and a Maths quiz on Tuesday, every class participated in a whole-school Maths activity on Wednesday. Each class moved around to different classrooms and took part in a range of Maths activities which were meticulously planned by teachers across the school. The children were in teams according to their houses (Alyn, Rambam, Laniado, Hadassa). They had a really good time enjoying Maths together and working as a team. Ask your child for more details about the day. In our lessons we made progress in our new unit, adding multiples of 100 and then single digit numbers to three digit numbers.

As Monday was Remembrance Day we held a meaningful ceremony after Tefillah, allowing us to be thankful and reflect on the past.

In English we continued reading the story Stone Age Boy and recounted the story by writing a letter from the boy to his parents. The children learned about starting sentences in different ways, with phrases that tell us where, when or how something happened.

Reminders

The start of the school day

Whilst soft start is from 8.30am-8.40am, we would like it if as many children as possible arrived at 8.30am. As not every car can arrive at this time, this is another good reason for as many families as possible to walk to school, shortening the line of cars and helping to get children into school on time. The first session of the day starts at 8.40am so a pupil who arrives late is left playing catch up with their friends. Please help us to avoid delays to the start of our day.

Mitzvah Day is taking place on Sunday. As we have a long weekend away from school, our Mitzvah Day event will take place on Wednesday 20th November. It's also Children's Grief Awareness Week, so we are going to support Grief Encounter by ‘going purple' for the day - please see the flyer below.

An additional reminder that we are aiming to become a single-use plastic free school, so please ensure that all snacks are in reusable containers to help us achieve this aim.

We hope you all have a lovely few days off and are looking forward to seeing the children on Tuesday.

The Year 3 team

Friday 8th November 2019

In our English lessons we began working on our new class text- Stone Age Boy. We read the first half of the story and discussed the questions that the two main characters, Om from the Stone Age and a boy from the present day who finds himself with Om and her tribe, would ask one another. The children wrote their ideas using question marks and a range of question words. Please revise the spelling of these words (how, who, when, where, why, what etc). They also spent time looking up words from the text in a thesaurus and exploring how finding out synonyms for words can help them expand and improve their word choices.

In Maths the children had a challenging problem solving lesson, which really got them thinking! Our work on Place Value is drawing to a close and we will soon move on to Addition and Subtraction, which relies heavily on the children's understanding of place value so our thorough work on this should be helpful.

In Science the children learned about the muscles in their body- they couldn't believe that there are over 600 of them! They also learned about voluntary muscles, which we have control over, and involuntary muscles, like our hearts.

The children have received a new homework grid. Please make sure that all homework is given in on Monday at the latest. One task should be chosen to be completed each week. Some books look a little empty because there is no record of the things that the children have made, a photo would be a nice thing to have in there. Please make sure that any work completed on separate sheets of paper should always be trimmed and glued into the book. Thank you!

Next week is Maths Week! There will be a number of special activities and events relating to Maths for the children to take part in.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 1st November 2019

We hope you all had a wonderful Succot break, we have really enjoyed seeing the children and spending a full week at school.

Homework books were sent home on Wednesday. The children have the opportunity to choose one last task from the current homework grid before they receive a new one for our exciting new topic- The Stone Age! A. gentle reminder that homework will be set each Wednesday and is due in by Monday. Any of the tasks completed voluntarily over the chaggim will be marked on Monday when the books are given in. New spellings have been sent out and will be tested next Thursday.

We began learning about the Stone Age in History. We discussed the meaning of the term ‘prehistory’. We looked at a timeline and looked at when the historical events they learned about in Year 2 occurred, compared to the years of the Stone Age, to help them to appreciate the span of time and establish a sense of chronology. We learned that the period defined as prehistory was split into three parts- Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. We asked how we know what life was like in this era if we have no written records? And answered this question by reading some information about archeologists and the work that they do.

Last week the children created their own brightly coloured skeletons in Science. The activity required excellent listening skills, patience and precision. The class managed the task well and thoroughly enjoyed themselves especially when they were able to help others.

Ask your children for the details on how they carried out the task and please come look around as they are now finished and on display! 

In English we worked hard to create our books about nocturnal animals on Book Creator. The children have transferred all of their information to their ipad and imported some images to illustrate each paragraph. They are becoming more fluent at typing on the ipads and using the formatting tools to change their font, font size, font colour, background colour, paragraph alignment etc. They checked to make sure that they had included all of the features of non-fiction books.

In Maths we did lots of reasoning and problem solving tasks to help the children to develop these skills and become more adept at choosing the knowledge needed to help them work through a problem. Some children worked on filling any gaps in knowledge and understanding identified in our recent place value assessment.

A little request from the office, that if you have any letters or forms to send in to school please give these to the children to deliver into our new special post box which is placed outside the office, rather than feel the need to come up to the office. We are trying to instil a sense of independence and responsibility in the children and feel that the post box will help the children remember to post any letter on their way up the stairs.

Please see the file below for information from the Tikkun Olam Kerem Cares committee.   

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 11th October 2019

We have had another whirlwind week at school, though it has been lovely to spend some time with the children before Succot.

We are pleased to announce our Kerem Cares representatives: Sophie and Naomi on the Kehilla commitee, Ollie and Rafi (carried over from last year) on the Tzedaka committee, and Amelie and Josh on the Tikkun Olam committee. A big thank you in advance for representing the views of our class.

In Maths our work on Place Value is drawing to a close, with a short unit assessment to gauge if there are any areas we need to go over before moving on. All being well we will be ready to begin our next unit, Addition and Subtraction, after Succot.

In English we have been continuing our research on our non fiction book about a chosen nocturnal animal. The children have spent some time typing up their research on Book Creator, incorporating all of the features we have learned about, including diagrams, images and captions.

We wish you all a fantastic Succot break and are looking forward to seeing the children after the chag.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,

The Year 3 Team

Friday 4th October 2019

Shanah Tova to all our families, we hope you had a fantastic time over Rosh Hashanah.

In English we continued working on our book about animals. Having discussed possible subheadings, this week we searched for information to answer our questions about the animals and wrote this up in our books. In Art we began making drawings of the children’s chosen animal, so that we can use these in our book.

We also took the opportunity to use the ipads in one of our Maths lessons and created a Maths Book on Book Creator to file our Maths work. The children worked with Dienes (also known as Base 10) to create number statements using the symbols 'less than' <, 'greater than' >, and 'equal to' =.

On Friday we conducted our votes for the Kerem Cares councils. All of the children made worthy candidates and expressed themselves well, we are so proud of them.

In Science the children completed their posters on their ipads. They have learnt so many facts, even Ms Simon was impressed with their knowledge when she came to visit our classroom.

The children have been given spellings to learn for next Thursday. Please ensure they practise these and understand their meanings. They need to complete the columns in the ‘look say cover write and check’ table on three separate days. 

A child in Year 4 didn't come home with his swimming trunks yesterday, and staff had checked the changing rooms for any lost property. Please check your child’s swimming bag and let us know if you have found anything belonging to another child. Many thanks.

In this time of sporadic homework due to our short weeks, some parents have been asking us what work they could do at home with their children if they get the chance. This is what we recommend:

• Lots of reading, both the child reading and the parent reading more challenging books to expose the children to a richer vocabulary.
• Times tables practice, using Times Tables Rockstars as well as repetition. There are lots of songs on YouTube as well that might help.
• Ensure that your child can fluently recall number facts, such as addition and subtraction bonds to 10, 20 and 100, doubling and halving numbers up to 10, then 20, then 100.
• Spellings practice of the words on your child's spelling list as well as other common words. 
• Handwriting practice is always helpful.
• Hebrew reading.

We are happy to be told if your child has spent time working on one of these skills, we can praise and reward them for their hard work.

See you all next week, Shabbat Shalom!

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Friday 27th September 2019

Hello readers!

Now that every child has their reading books and we have begun our weekly reading cycle, we have noticed a few teething problems this week. Rather than 'daily', we will aim to read with our focus readers 3 times each week. Please bear with us if we have some days that are busier than usual and we don't manage to get through everyone. We will endeavour to ensure that all children have the chance to change their reading books (if they have finished reading them) on their set reading day. 

This week the children made frames for their self-portraits and we now have a beautiful display up in the corridor, showcasing the children’s amazing work.

In English we began working on making non fiction 'books' about nocturnal animals. These will be made using the 'Book Creator' app on the ipads and the children really enjoyed being introduced to this activity. We looked at sample books and found the features of these texts, for example; labelled diagrams, pictures with captions, contents page, index and/or glossary, headings and subheadings. We then made mind maps of what we wanted to find out about the animals, which we will use next week as our subheadings to guide our research.

It was a delight to see the wonderful work that the children brought in for their first week of homework. Well done to all the children for their effort and thank you parents for your support, we hope they are enjoying this project.

In Science we learnt some really fun and interesting facts about our skeleton. Do you know how many bones there are in our body or how many bones there are in our hands and feet? We can now label a skeleton too! The children loved using their ipads to create posters about skeletons. If your child wants to find out more facts about our skeletons at home we would love to add them to our display.

Next Friday we will vote in class for our new School Council representatives. This has had an exciting revamp, and will now be called Kerem Cares. There will be 3 subcommittees making up Kerem Cares.

Kerem Cares Tzedaka

Two representatives from each class will sit in this group, discussing and deciding our tzedaka focuses for the year. It has been decided that the School Council members from each class last year will be carried over into this group.

Kerem Cares Eco

Our class will vote for 2 pupils to represent us in this group, which will discuss our school’s impact on the environment and how we can minimise it.

Kerem Cares Community

This is the group concerned with our school community and will be carefully listening to the voices pf pupils across the school to decide how we can improve and develop life at Kerem.

Please encourage your child to think carefully if they would like to represent our class on the Eco or Community group. They should have an idea of why they would like to do this and how they would be good at it. We will vote next Friday 4th October.

As this week is Rosh Hashanah, we have not given out any homework. However, a number of children have been asking if they can complete another of the tasks on the homework grid, they can do so voluntarily with pleasure. As we have not sent the homework books home, you can find the homework grid with tasks on below.

The children can also practise their times tables using Times Tables Rock Stars. Please urge them to do this for a few minutes each day during a 'normal' week, as this is in lieu of formal written Maths homework. If anyone has lost their log-in details, please let us know and we will give them out again.

For the same reason, there were no new spellings given out this week. However, many children did not complete their 'look, say, cover, write and check' table. As a reminder for next week's spellings, each column should be filled in on three separate days to ensure they are learning their spellings more than once a week. This regular practice will help the children to retain what they are learning. Spelling books must come back every Thursday because this is when they will be tested. Thank you for your support.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova!

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Friday 20th September 2019

Thank you to all the parents who were able to come and join us at the Year 3 reading meeting on Wednesday. 

Here are some summarising points for those who were not able to attend.

• The aim is to encourage children to read for pleasure, as opposed to because it ‘does us good’.

• Continue to read aloud to your children.

• Model a love for reading.

• Model the types of comprehension questions you would ask yourself while reading, rather than interrupt their reading.

• Buy books as presents, because they are special.

• Give the children an element of choice in the books they read.

• Try reading together as a family.

• Allow them to read the same book again if they want to.

• If your child finds reading long passages challenging, try reading short stories.

On Wednesday, all the children were taken to the school library and shown how it works. Please ensure that the books are looked after properly and brought back to school.

The school library will be open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 8.30am.

All the children also received a levelled reading book with a reading record book. 

The children will need to bring their reading book to school on their reading day, so that we can read with them and change their reading book if needed. This will begin from Monday 23rd September. Please see the table below for your child’s reading day.

Friday 13th September 2019

Thank you to all the parents who were able to come and meet us at the 'Meet the Teacher' evening on Wednesday night. We really enjoyed chatting to you all and telling you about ourselves and our team, and we look forward to working with all of you throughout the year.

The children have had a busy first full week in Year 3. We have tried to begin our usual lessons and embed the timetable, making use of our full weeks before the chaggim begin. We are enjoying getting to know all the individuals in the class better each day.

This week in Maths we continued our unit of place value, looking at hundreds and all digits in numbers up to 1000. The children demonstrated their understanding of the value of each digit depending on their 'column', using Base 10 shapes to represent each digit. The mathematical vocabulary we will continue to use in lessons includes: Hundreds, tens, ones, place value column, digit, 3/2/1 digit number, odd, even, greater than >, less than <, equal to =, value, numerals ('numbers' for example 45), words (writing the number in words, for example forty five).

In English we had a lovey introductory lesson to our first class text- The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, by Jill Tomlinson. The children were shown a model owl's nest with 3 eggs inside, and were encouraged to be curious and ask questions about what it was and why it was in our classroom. We then sat around a 'campfire' and began to read the story. The children discussed what they like and what they dislike about the dark.  

Upcoming event: Year 3 Reading Meeting

Wednesday morning, 8.45 am in the dining room

Mrs Sondhelm will be talking to parents about how to help your child navigate the transition from learning to read, to reading with fluency and enjoyment. 

We wish you all a Shabbat Shalom!

The Year 3 Team

Friday 6th September 2019

Welcome to Year 3!

We are so excited to be working with you and your children this year. It has been lovely to meet some of you at pick-up at the end of each day, please do come and say hello and introduce yourself if you haven't yet had the chance.

We have had a wonderful first week, getting to know the children and establishing some of our classroom routines. The children enjoyed reading the Dr Seuss book Up Up and Away. They discussed what they are excited for in Year 3 and thought about the areas they'd like to improve. Their work has made a gorgeous display in the classroom. The children also learned about sketching and how this technique can be used to draw accurately. They then learned about how to draw faces and drew their own self-portraits. They have made a great start to their first Maths unit, Place Value, our first step involved exploring hundreds.

Reminders

• Please find the 'Key Information' page to find the details of staff working days and email addresses, homework, and uniform days. This information will remain available and will be updated to reflect any changes throughout the year.

• Swimming begins next week, with the first session taking place on Thursday 12th September. Children should come to school wearing their PE uniform. All children will need a swimming hat, towel and a pair of goggles. Boys will need blue or black swimming shorts, and girls will need a blue or black one-piece bathing suit. 

• At school we are making a real effort to reduce our use of single-use plastics. Please ensure that each child brings a reusable water bottle to school. Many thanks.

• On Mondays the children have a slightly later time for lunch, taking place after their PE lesson. Please make sure they have a good snack on this day to ensure that they do not get too hungry.

We are looking forward to seeing you all at our 'Meet the Teacher' evening on Wednesday evening at 6.45pm.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Y3 Jewish Studies

4/9/19

Mrs Stahl is teaching Y3 Jewish Studies on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Rabbi Ford is teaching them on Thursday and Friday each week.

1. Parashat HaShavua File: 

Today your child is bringing home his/her Parashat HaShavua file. Hopefully, s/he will enjoy sharing the riddles and short Dvar Torah at the Shabbat table. The file should be brought back to school every Monday.

2. Wordlist One:

Your child has be given Wordlist One (and Two, on the reverse) and should keep this list at home and learn the 3 new words each week as well as revising previous vocabulary learned. Each week there will be a test on the 3 new words learned at home and all the previous words. 

So, for example,

Monday 9 Sept: (line 1) Kol, Am, Ruk

Monday 16 Sept: (lines 2 and 1): Ki, Shem, Ed, Kol, Am, Ruk.

In the test, your child will be asked to translate the Hebrew words into English.

3. Hebrew Reading Homework: 

The Aleph Champ readers have been given out to the children today. They should bring them to school every Monday, signed by an adult. The children will be heard in class each week.

Those children who have completed the Aleph Champ Reading Scheme will shortly be receiving a new ‘real’ book.