As today is my last day with the children, I would like to take this opportunity to share how proud I am of all of them and congratulate them on how much they have all achieved this year. Each child has had their own individual struggles and worries, but we have faced them together and they have all grown so much, both emotionally and academically. They have shown such excellent resilience and perseverance throughout what has been the strangest of years. The dedication and commitment to online learning during the school closure was fantastic and ensured we were able to continue our learning as soon as we came back in to school.

I have really enjoyed getting to know each member of the class and hearing about all of the exciting things they have been doing at home. I would like to say thank you so much to all of the grown-ups who have supported us throughout the course of this year. I know I have called on you multiple times for materials and you have always been there to provide whatever we needed! Thank you for the support with reading and home learning too, it has made a real difference to what we have been able to achieve in school.

I would also like to take the time to say a huge thank you to everyone for the cards and gifts that I have received (although it really wasn’t necessary!) – I genuinely appreciate the thought and effort that you have gone to and I hope you feel like I have done a good job with your children. I am so grateful for the messages you have sent and the kind words that have been written in cards; it really means the world. I will miss the children so much, but will hopefully get to interact with them throughout next year, and also the parents too! Thank you so much for everything.

Sports Day

Our Sports Day was absolutely fantastic and the children all really enjoyed it. It was extremely hot outside but we made sure we got plenty of shade and a drink when necessary. The class were so supportive to those who were racing and cheered them on the whole way. Have a look at some photos and videos below. 

Eden Camp

We had a brilliant day yesterday exploring Eden Camp! There were so many huts to see that were full of interesting information and life size model scenes. 

When we first arrived we went to the gift shop and the children all bought something from there - some even picked things for siblings, which was really kind. Then we spent the morning going round the huts (we got lost a couple of times!) and the children were all so well behaved when it came to being courteous to other visitors and maintaining a safe distance. We learnt lots of new things and saw exhibitions of topics we had covered in school, meaning we could cement our understanding and have new discussions on this learning. We stopped for a quick sweetie break to recharge half way round the huts! 

Our lunch time was at 12.45 and some of the children were super hungry by this point! We stopped in our mess hut and the children ate their lunches and tidied up after themselves really well. We then had time for a quick trip to the adventure playground where the children played a huge game of tig on the obstacle course. The weather was warmer than we expected so we had a few red faces! But children really enjoyed it and kept drinking their water throughout. 

The class were absolutely fantastic throughout the trip and made Mrs Green and I so proud. A big thank you to Mrs Green for joining us too - we all really enjoyed having you with us. A final thank you to all of the grown ups for supporting the class to take part in this trip as we wouldn't have been able to make these memories without you! 

Please see below for plenty of pictures from the day. Perhaps the children could explain to the grown ups different parts of the museum as shown on the photos :) 

Applying our Maths learning

We have spent the last week learning about statistics and looking at different types of graphs. Today, we combined all of our knowledge and wrote our own sum and difference questions for each graph. Other groups then answered the questions and we marked them to see if they were correct. Overall, everyone has a great understanding of the topic and I am really pleased with how much effort the children have put in and how much they have remembered from the week! 

Have a look at some photos of our work below 

The Thoresby Shop

Today we have finally managed to create the Thoresby Shop! Some of the children completed this activity during lockdown, however it was so nice for them all to be involved in it together. 

The groups were each given £10 and found around 10 items in the room to sell. Then they priced up their items and some of the group sold them to other groups, whilst the rest of the children were out buying new goods. They had to think about giving change, the concept of money, budgeting and teamwork.

We loved taking part in this activity! Have a look at some photos below 

Thy Kingdom Come

On Friday, the children took part in a special event with Mrs Cushing to mark Pentecost. The children looked at a map of Shireoaks and each child chose a place in Shireoaks to pray for. We wrote these on hearts and put them around the map. They then thought about what they wanted to pray for and collectively wrote the prayer. They took their hearts to the prayer garden and read their prayer, with each child reading out the places on the hearts. They also had some time to reflect in the garden.

Thy Kingdom Come 2021 Prayer Thoresby Class

Dear Lord,

We would like to pray today for Shireoaks. Please keep the people of Shireoaks safe from Covid-19. Please keep everyone healthy.

Lord, please bless the people who are homeless in our local area. Help anyone who is struggling at this time.

We pray for peace and that everyone will love each other and care for one another.

We pray that you will take care of the animals in Shireoaks and make sure that they have enough food to survive. We pray that their owners will take care of them well. We pray for our environment, that people will take care of it.

We pray that everyone in Shireoaks will have enough food and will have what they need.

We ask that you will bless the children at this school.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

This week we started our learning on dental health. The diagram below shows what the children already knew about the topic - we will revisit that at the end of the lessons and add to it to see how much we have learnt. The children enjoyed looking at the positive factors that affect dental health and sorting these from the negative factors. We discussed some of these in more detail and we shared some reasoning behind our ideas 

We have had a lovely week in Thoresby Class this week. In English, the children have continued to write their letters as if they were evacuees sending letters home to their parents - they really are fantastic letters and next week we are going to write them up and hopefully stain them so they look more authentic! We have also continued to read 'An Unlikely Spy' and are enjoying seeing what Brigit is up to. 

In Maths, we have had a second look at time and are starting to become more confident. Children have been able to convert between the 12 and 24 hour clocks and we have discussed the duration of events. Some of the class are still unsure on reading the analogue clock, so the more practise they can get at home, the more confident they will feel with this going forward. 

In ICT and Geography we have been learning about the physical features of different allied countries and children have been using the internet to carry out their own research. 

In History, we have had a great time learning about the Blitz and Anderson shelters. The children have been so engaged in this topic and we have all loved seeing the pictures you are sending in for show and tell. In German, we have learnt the colours this week and the recall of our previous learning (days of the week, months of the year, numbers) has been absolutely fantastic! 

In Art, we have spent some time refining our techniques by thinking about drawing in different ways - we even used our feet! And finally, in PSHE, we have continued our learning on money safety and looked at online scams. 

That's all for this week!

Thoresby Class

A lovely first week back

We have had a great first week in Thoresby class to start off the summer term. We have made the most of the warm weather this week and have had some of our lessons outside, ranging from listening for different sound sources to finding shapes in the outdoor environment.

We have also started our new class book 'An Unlikely Spy' as part of our learning on World War Two. This is a topic that the children have really engaged in and I am excited to continue our learning on it throughout this half term. 

In Maths, we are recapping our knowledge of shape and I have been impressed with the amount that the children have remembered from our learning on this topic, which took place before Christmas! 

We are also starting to learn some German in our language lessons, listening to music released in World War Two and learning about how music is used in worship.

I am so proud of all of the children in Thoresby Class as they have settled back in to school life so well. They are showing resilience, perseverance and an abundance of positivity and I couldn't ask for more this year!

If you would like to discuss anything about our learning, please just let me know.

Thanks again to all of the grown ups for the support you have shown to the children and I so far this year. We all make an amazing team! 

Miss Phillipson 

Thoresby's Got Talent!
 

Today we have had a lovely afternoon showcasing our talents. These ranged from martial arts and gymnastics to kickboxing and fashion designing! The children were able to rehearse, perform and discuss their talents and built their confidence performing to the rest of the class. 

Have a look at the photos below to see what we got up to 

Free sessions

As part of our membership to the School Games sports package, we have been sent a variety of links to some free sessions that children may like to attend. The session subjects vary and are aimed at children between 8 and 16. If you wish to attend any of the sessions you need to sign up via the link below. 

The sessions are:

• Tuesday – Online Well Being Workshop - 4:30pm to 5:30pm
• Wednesday – Lockdown Fitness – 4pm to 5pm
• Thursday – Female Only HIIT Session 7pm to 8pm
• Friday – Unit 03 Music Production Session 4pm to 5pm
• Friday – Family Football Quiz – 6pm to 7pm

The sign up link is: https://nfct1.typeform.com/to/eimLwXCN 

Christmas Performance

We are so excited to be able to share our Christmas performance with you all! This year has obviously been very different for us all but we have made the best of it here in Thoresby Class. 

As you will see below, we have created our very own Nativity puppet show and I would like to share with you the process we went through. 

Firstly, the children each created a house and a palm tree to make up our backdrop. Then, they each created a puppet character for the Nativity. Some children created the stable as well. We then wrote the script as a class and the children came up with each line and stage directions. Finally, they performed each scene! Some children had a line within a scene, and those that didn't moved the puppets for the performance. A few children were even brave enough to film a scene each! So the children have created this whole performance, which is something I am really proud of. Every piece of art you see in the performance and each line you hear has all been created by the class as a collective effort. I am so impressed with how well they adapted to this new task and they rose to the challenge fantastically! 

We would love to hear your thoughts about our performance. If you wish to give us any feedback, please send it to thoresby@st-lukes.notts.sch.uk and we will read through any comments together as a class.

As always, I really appreciate all of the support and help you give the children in terms of their learning.

Merry Christmas from Thoresby Class!

The Performance! 

A huge thank you to Morrison's Worksop for donating this Christmas tree to Thoresby Class! We will be assembling it and adding our own personalised baubles to it on Monday. We will then be completing some work to say thank you to them from the children. I will upload some photos once it is decorated! 

Exciting Purple Mash news!

In very exciting news, we have discovered how to send and receive voice messages on Purple Mash! This has caused a great amount of excitement in Thoresby Class and we have already sent a few voice messages to each other. This allows us to feel much more connected and for me to give more constructive feedback and positive encouragement. It will also allow children to ask questions or say if they have struggled with a task without having to write it down.

If you are unsure of how to do this, when you hand in a task there is a small red circle underneath where you leave your comment. If you click on this it will allow you to record a voice message which then attaches to your work. If I send a voice message to you it will show up underneath my written message on your handed in 2Dos list. There will be a green triangle and if you click on there you will be able to hear my message too! 

I am hoping this will encourage children to log on to Purple Mash and complete tasks to hand in with a message attached. I am looking forward to hearing them - I am sure they will be very entertaining! Please have a look at the tasks on Purple Mash and send me some messages.

Thank you,

Miss Phillipson  

Christmas in Thoresby Class

Information relating to how we will celebrate Christmas in school has been sent to all parents via the office - please let me know if you have not received this. We are really looking forward to getting started! Over the next few weeks we will be completing a range of activities relating to Christmas, and I am pleased that this includes creating Christmas cards and calendars ready for the children to bring home on Friday 18th December. We will also start working on our special virtual Christmas performance soon, which we can't wait to share with you all! 

Please ensure you are able to receive Marvellous Me messages to ensure you can keep up to date with everything that is happening over the next few weeks. 

Even though we will be carrying out some Christmas activities, we are also still working hard on the curriculum and ensuring we are making progress both academically and personally. It has been a very strange first term, but the children have been fantastic in terms of settling in and making great progress in all areas. Please remember, in order to ensure the children are continuing to reach their full potential, it is so important to keep up with Bug Club reading, spellings, homework tasks and Purple Mash activities. 

Thank you all so much for all of your commitment and dedication to our learning so far this year! 

Update 

We are still working really hard in Thoresby Class and have been completing lots of tasks to enhance our learning. We have been looking at multiplication and division in Maths and have identified and used a range of different methods for these. We have been studying the Khwab poem in English and wrote our own class poem which had some super rhyming words and descriptive language in. The children are now in the process of writing their own individual poems based on India and we will share these on the class page once they are finished. 

We have been creating lots of Van Gogh inspired art over the past few weeks (see below) and the children are getting good at using oil pastel techniques and understanding blending and layering. In RE, we have been studying Hinduism and have discussed places of worship and traditions. We will be learning more about Hindu celebrations later this week. 

In Geography, we have researched the human and physical features of cities within India and used ICT to enhance our learning. We have also discussed kindness this week and created a kindness chain where children shared positive words with each other.

Most children are doing really well completing work on Purple Mash and ensuring their homework tasks are in on time. Remember, if you would rather email the class email address to hand in work that is absolutely fine. Homework tasks are being updated weekly in the sub-pages above and these should always be completed by the following Wednesday. Spellings are also being updated weekly and I am now seeing an improvement in most children's test scores, which is fantastic! The spellings for each week are also in the relevant sub-page above and I would encourage children to practise as much as they can at home. 

Please ensure you have access to MarvellousMe and can receive messages on there as this is where most communication is sent from and I send regular updates not only on individual progress but also on class news and any changes to our usual routine. 

Children have all now completed a reading assessment in order to move to the next book band. I have sent information via MarvellousMe if your child has moved up and which book band they are now working on. Bug Club has also been updated to reflect new bands and the books on each account are set at the correct reading level.

If you have any worries or concerns or would like to talk about anything, please contact the office and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks for all of your support with learning at home,

Miss Phillipson  

Our First Week 

We have had a great start back at school for this half term. We have begun to look at poetry within English and have been discussing syllables and descriptive language. We now have a good understanding of haikus and cinquains and are able to make comparisons between the two. In Maths, we have moved on to multiplication and are learning different methods of multiplying. We are also using this chance to recap our times tables and are getting better at these! 

Our topic this half term is 'Incredible India' and we have been discussing Indian culture - most recently studying the clothes worn and discussing patterns and colour. Related to this, in RE we are studying Hinduism and are learning about Hindu Gods and Goddesses this week. We have been discussing bullying in PHSE and auxiliary verbs in GPS. We have also managed to fit in some learning on Van Gogh and have replicated a piece of his work - 'A Starry Night'. These look amazing (pictures to follow!) 

All children have now set their baseline times on Times Tables Rockstars so we will now be able to see progress as we move forward. This is on Studio mode. Please remember to encourage children to log on to TTR and complete new games and challenges in order to develop their recall of the times tables. 

Tasks on Purple Mash are regularly being updated to reflect what we have been doing in class. These activities should identify if there are still any gaps in learning so it is great if children can complete these to solidify their understanding. 

In other news this week, it has been great to speak to some parents about their child's progress since joining Thoresby Class. It is lovely to share how well they are getting on both academically and socially/emotionally. Thank you all for your time! 

Keep looking out for our Van Gogh pictures - they will appear once completed.

Thanks again,

Miss Phillipson 

Today's English

We have started our topic of non-chronological reports today in English and have looked at the purpose of these as well as what they include. Below is the spider diagram we have created of our initial ideas. We will come back to this at the end of the topic to see if we missed anything! 

Maths at home

Please see below for some great links to games which will help the children with their place value understanding. We also need to continue to work on addition and subtraction, particularly focusing on number bonds. I have uploaded some relevant tasks to Purple Mash 2Dos, so please have a look at those too. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/place-value 

https://nrich.maths.org/8958

Another super week

We have had another great week in Thoresby Class this week. On Tuesday, as the weather was lovely, we spent the afternoon outside on the field doing some drama relating to the characters from The Song of the Dolphin Boy - our class book. We also planned a sea creature collage, learnt about ordering and comparing numbers and discussed Spanish culture. Our ocean research in Geography was a real highlight and I have uploaded some photos below so you can see how hard the children worked and what they learnt through their own research. 

There is a host of new things to look forward to next week. We will be learning about pollution and climate change, Christian confirmation and endangered species. Alongside this, we will be writing our own Harvest poems!

This week, the children have all been allocated new books on Bug Club that match with their current book band. The children will now need to read online at least three times a week. They can choose any book from the allocated book band, but it would be a good idea to read one book at a time. Grown ups - we are learning a lot about inference this year, which is where ideas are implied within a text but the children will need to be able to use this to create and support their own ideas. For example: how do you think the character feels at this point in the story and what makes you think this? A good answer would be: because it says in the text that his tummy was churning, I think that means he must be feeling a bit nervous. This is a different element of reading and children will be unable to move onto the next book band until they have good comprehension as well as fluency. If you have any further questions about this, please feel free to contact me. I will send log in details for each child through Marvellous Me so that you can access these books. 

There will also be a new chapter of our class book being sent home this week. Please ensure you read this before Monday's lesson so that you can keep up with the story as we move on.

If you have any questions or anything you would like to discuss, please contact me via the school office.

Thank you,

Miss Phillipson

Amazing learning!

Thank you to all of the children in Thoresby Class for an amazing first few weeks in school. They have all settled in so well and have shown maturity and resilience. Each of the children have also shown their own individual brilliance throughout these first two full weeks and have all really impressed me - I am so proud of them all. I have been sending Marvellous Me messages to share individual highlights, so please make sure you are checking the app to see these. 

We have been learning about Roman Numerals and rounding in Maths and have made excellent progress already. The children are also enjoying our class book - The Song of the Dolphin Boy by Elizabeth Laird. We have completed lots of different activities on this so far and Mrs Dilks has been reading the book to the class so brilliantly that the children are really engaged with the story. A chapter from the book has been sent home today so please make sure you read this to keep up to date with events! 

Our topic is Ocean Explorers this half term and as part of this we have planned model aquariums, learnt about different micro-habitats within the ocean and even watched an episode of Blue Planet to inspire us to sketch different sea creatures. Blue Planet is an excellent educational series if you want to watch more at home. 

Next week we will be writing our own resolution and ending to the class book, learning about place value and discussing laws and law enforcers amongst lots of other things! 

If you are looking for work to do at home, please read as much as you can. These could be story books or non-fiction pieces and be sure to discuss with a grown up what you have learnt or what you think - remember how to make inferences about how characters could be feeling and share your ideas. 

Times Tables Rockstars is also an excellent resource that will help support the children with their times tables in preparation for the Government national test that takes place in Year 4. The children will need to know all of their times tables up to 12x12 so the more practise they can get, the easier they will find the test. If you are unsure of the log in details to access individual accounts, please contact me and I can get those to you. 

I hope the children have enjoyed their return to class as much as I have enjoyed teaching them. We are all getting to know each other really well as well as the school daily routines and expectations. 

As always, if you would like to discuss anything about the curriculum, our lessons, home learning or any social or emotional needs your child may have, please contact the office and I can email or phone you, whichever is your preference. I want to make sure that the children continue to be happy and positive about coming to school and I will support you however you need me to.

Thanks again for all of your support so far,

Miss Phillipson 

Welcome back!

Dear Children and Parents,
 

Welcome back to the new academic year! I am really looking forward to seeing you all and for us to be in Thoresby Class together having lots of fun and making memories. 

Our first topic will be Ocean Explorers, and as part of this we will be making model aquariums, learning about oceans, exploring different habitats and reading The Song of the Dolphin Boy.

Topics throughout the rest of the year will be; Incredible India, Chocolate Delight, Achievers and Inventors, World War Two and Olympic Glory. Throughout each of these topics there are some wonderful tasks planned and lots of new information to learn. 

To start with, we will have PE every Thursday with Tony (starting week commencing 7/9). We will also be having our own class PE lessons, but these will start in a few weeks. You should come to school wearing your PE kit on Thursdays and you will remain in this all day - there is no need to bring your uniform too. 

I have created a stationary pack for each child that includes a pencil, line guide, green and purple pens, a ruler, a rubber, coloured pencils and a glue stick. Children will not need any other resources within lessons at the moment, so please keep pencil cases at home for the time being. You will only need to bring your lunchbox (unless you are having a school packed lunch) and drink and a coat if necessary.  

Reading Books

For the first couple of weeks reading books will not be given out to the children, as this will allow staff time to prepare reading books and diaries. Books will be changed weekly and returned books will be quarantined for 72 hours before given to another child. Please do not return any reading books that you have at home to school until you are asked to do so.

Homework and Spellings

Similar to reading books, homework and spelling books will be introduced later on in the first autumn term. Homework will be given out to the children on a Friday and the hand in date will be the following Wednesday. Homework will be based on work that the children have been doing in class. We will always include information about the children’s Big Write task on the homework letter so they are able to prepare at home. Spelling tests will take place on a Friday and children are encouraged to practise their spellings throughout the week at home to prepare.

I know this has been an unprecedented time and I am sure the children have all coped really well at home. If you have any concerns or worries about coming into Thoresby Class, please contact me and I will assist you as best I can. 

Miss Phillipson