Finished Sculptures!

This week, the week before a half term holiday was busy! Mrs Bell had 2 sessions she for doing performance management meetings so Mrs Gamell and Mrs Godfrey came to teach the class. On Tuesday the class painted their beautiful clay sculptures they had made the previous week. The results were delightful and some children were given merits for their artistic talents. We sneaked in an extra art lesson when we drew our sculptures too.

In Geography we continued to learn about India and how village life in India is different to Stretton. Children were very good at making decisions. The recording was cutting out the sentences and sticking them under the right heading. Mrs Bell was impressed with the independence everybody showed. Maham was very kind and wore her clothes to show us what Indian clothes are like. She looked really beautiful.

The week ended with an extra long session of 'Earthwarp', which has really inspired all the children to write creatively. In the afternoon, we increased our tennis skills by working in pairs to practice ball control with tennis rackets. We learned how to serve and receive a serve. By the end of the lesson, some children were managing to pass to each other! The longest ralley was 16, which was brilliant.

Mrs Bell had to have a special word with Wil before he went home. Wil will be helping Mrs Bell to deliver a Family Learning workshop on the INSET day in Birmingham. It's the NFLN (National Family Learning Network) summer conference and it's being held at the Botanical Gardens. Wil's grandma is going with him.

Have a good holiday, everyone. It will be the last half term in Year 3 before you move onto
Year 4, when you will be taught by Mrs Parker.

Creative Writing in Year 3

This week saw 3B using a book called 'Earthwarp' to do some wonderful writing. After reading the first chaper, the pupils had to imagine the kind of creature that may have come out of a spaceship! There were many fantastic pictures drawn, showing vivid details.
"I have never such brilliant and imaginative creatures," Miss Painter exclaimed.
This gave Mrs Bell the idea of putting them on display. Before the end of the week, the pictures were enlarged, mounted artistically by Miss Painter and put on a board for everyone to enjoy. Thank you, Miss Painter.
After drawing the pictures, the children wrote character studies, a newspaper report and a detailed description of the creature that Jenny and Amina had seen in the book. Luckily we have this story on video and every Friday, after maths we watch a little bit. Luke Gardner was so inspired he wanted to finish his writing in his own time.

In the role of a newspaper reporter, this is what he wrote,

"Yesterday night, I was at the beach fishing. Suddenly I saw a lazer shoot right up to the sky and it went red. I ran up to the top of the beach where the steps are. I peeped back and saw a shadow of an alien. I was shocked!!!
It had three eyes on green, wobbly bits. He had teeth like sharks. He had foru long, green arms and five legs. He had a glass helmet. He slithered along the steps. I ran to my house and went to bed. THEN I looked at my curtain and saw ANOTHER alien!"
Has anyone else seen any?

By Luke Gardner, reporting for W.S.P.S

Assessment week

After a long weekend off, we came back to school to complete the assessments. Mrs Bell is keen for children and staff to know that assessments are part of life and used to find out if pupils are making good progress. The test results will show how well the pupils have been learning and will give teachers a clear idea about what to teach next. This ensures everyone progresses and reaches their potential.

All Year 3 have worked hard and done their best this week. Well done, everyone and thank you to the staff who have supported us. We also managed to look the our BLOG in ICT and most of the class have made comments. It is a lovely way to keep a record of our time in Year 3.

Cricket was good fun too, on Friday afternoon. Team games are hard, and some times frustrating as everyone has different skills. Mrs Bell enjoyed watching the children in action and left some of them to solve their own problems. It all seemed to work well over the lesson. Next week, we start a new game.

First week of May 2007

Our science topic of electricity involved making a circuit. Niamh could not remember making one before but she worked well in the group to learn how to make one. Well done!

This week also saw the year group working hard and getting some practise in for assessments before doing spelling, mental maths and reading tests on Friday. Mrs Bell explained the learning objectives:

1. To learn life skills (tests are part of life and these prepare us for the important ones in the future e.g driving test)


2. To do our best (always important to show what we have learned)


3. To NOT panic, but think carefully and have a go

Miss Painter and Mrs Bell were very pleased with everybody's attempts. Some children did reading with Mrs Conner as her test was not time restricted. We have a long weekend to enjoy the sunshine and play at home with friends or siblings.