Willow Tree Class Blog
Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Willow Tree Blog - 03.05.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Another productive week in Willow Tree Class comes to an end!
This week we have been working hard on our recounts as a character (The 4000 year old Pharaoh from our book!). We have been drafting and editing our work with as much independence as possible. Next week we will write these up in neat.
In Maths we have been telling the time to 5 minute and 1 minute intervals. It has been great to see so many of our class enjoying working with analogue time which is often not a concept they see day to day, as we often use digital time in a 24hr format now. It would be great if pupils could have the opportunity to tell the time using analogue clocks outside school if there are any opportunities to do this.
We had a visit from PCSO Sophie on Wednesday to talk about online gaming and the safety and responsibility of using these. There was a range of great questions and comments from pupils and I hope that our pupils gained a lot from this.
Have a lovely longer weekend and let's hope we don't see too much of the usual UK bank holiday weather!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 26.04.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
A super week in Willow Tree Class this week with lots of new learning taking place!
We have finished our work on fractions this week and started a new unit of work on time. It was great to see what the pupils had retained from their Year 2 learning on this topic.
We have started to plan for our recount writing this week and done some drama hot seating today where we have pretended to be two main characters in the story (as you can see the children below enjoyed pretending to be the Pharaoh mummy from our story!) This has helped us to get in character ready for writing the story in the first person next week.
Have a great weekend.
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 19.04.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
It has been a great first week back in Willow Tree Class!
Our fractions work in Maths has continued from last half term and we have been adding, subtracting and dividing using fractions this week. It has been great to see so many of the pupils retain their knowledge on this from before the Easter break!
We have started our new topic on Ancient Egypt and read the first part of our class reading book 'There's a Pharaoh in our bath!'. The children have engaged well with this and our English work over the next couple of weeks will see them pretending to be different characters and writing recounts of the story.
Have a great weekend!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 28.03.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Happy Holidays!
I hope you all enjoy the two week break and hope the weather treats us well!
This week we have focused on 'money' in our Maths lessons - discussing adding, subtracting and finding change when using money.
In English we have finished our work on 'Tigers and Cats' by re-writing the story with our own events.
Although we normally do not set homework for the holiday, I have given the children something to complete about their holidays. It is optional but will be a great help to their English work in the first week back!
Have a great holiday.
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 22.03.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
A busy week in school with the final performances of the Oliver production on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was lovely to see so many pupils from Willow Tree Class attending the evening sessions and contributing to our fantastic choir!
We have started work on our new topic of 'money' in Maths this week. It is interesting to see the children's knowledge on this particular subject. It would be great if any parents/carers involve our pupils in counting and handling money in real life as it is something that children are experiencing less and less with more of our world becoming 'cashless'.
In English we have worked on the traditional Indian tale of 'Tigers and Cats'. We have sequenced the story and then started to change key events in preparation for writing our own version next week!
Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 15.03.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Well done to all in Willow Tree class this week. It has been a different week and everyone has dealt with the changes to our timetable and usual routines well!
We completed our Spring term assessments on Monday and Tuesday and I am looking forward to seeing how our pupils have got on with them as they can be a good indication of their learning so far this year.
It was great to see so many parents at parents' evening earlier on the week.. It really is an important event in which we get to chat about your children and how they are getting on in all aspects of school life.
Yesterday, we joined Year 4 and Year 5 to run through the Oliver performance before our dress rehearsal on Monday morning. I am really excited to see it all come together with costumes and props. If your child has not already brought in a costume then please could they bring this with them on Monday so we can be prepared for the final rehearsal.
Many thanks
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 08.03.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
A great week in Year 3!
We have finally finished our fractions unit of work in Maths. It has been great to see how we have built on our knowledge from Year 1 and 2.
In English we are coming to the end of our letter writing unit of work. We have been encouraging a fictional supermarket to become part of the Fairtrade foundation and buy their produce at fair prices. We have been talking about how farmers can then support their families more easily and work in safer conditions when they receive this guaranteed price for their crops.
I am looking forward to seeing parents next week and discussing how your child is getting on.
Have a great weekend!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 01.03.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Another week flies by!
We have carried on with work on fractions in our maths this week, moving onto unit and non-unit fractions of shapes and amounts.
In English we have continued to work on letter writing features in preparation for our own letters next week.
On Wednesday we had an exciting visit from famous adventurer James Ketchell. We had a fantastic inspirational assembly and learned about the amazing adventures he had been on and how he never thought we would be able to do some of the amazing things he has done. He spoke to the children about the importance of resilience, hard work, determination and that never give up attitude in everything they do.
We then had a great workshop with James later in the morning where James spoke to us about the equipment from his Everest expedition. We had some excellent volunteers in Willow who tried on the clothes and a equipment and we all tried out his tent at the end of the session. We also got to try out his vacuum packed long life chocolate chip dessert! It was lovely!!!
Y3 had some great questions and discussion with James and really gained a lot from the experience.
Thank you to the FORP for raising money for this and organising the visit!
Have a great weekend guys and try something new!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 23.02.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
And just like that, we are half way through the academic year!
This week seems to have flown by. It has been great to see pupils come back with a real enthusiasm for learning.
In Maths we have carried on with our work on fractions, looking at the terms 'numerator', 'denominator' and 'the whole'.
We have started to look at letter writing in English. We took part in a Fairtrade game, acting as farmers, buyers, supermarkets and truck drivers to highlight the importance of Fairtrade. This has provided the hook for our writing this half term, with many pupils feeling strongly about how fairly or unfairly they were treat in the game.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 09.02.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Another busy half term comes to an end!
Although it has been a short half term, it has certainly felt like a busy and productive time!
In maths this week, we have started our new unit on fractions. A practical lesson on Thursday helped us to recap on previous learning from KS1 and stands us in a good place to progress with this further after half term.
In English we continued with our work on Haikus. We finished our work on syllables and started to write our own poems about spring. These have come out great and the children have really enjoyed working on fitting words into the strict syllable pattern that a Haiku demands.
On Friday we completed our DT unit on bread making. We worked in groups of 6 to follow the bread making instructions and then shared the mixture between them to knead, shape and add their own ingredients. These were then baked in the oven in the afternoon with the help of Miss Sanderson! It was a great end to the topic and so nice to see the children enjoying the final product that they had worked on for the last 5 weeks. I have attached the recipe we used below for our bread if anyone wants to have a go at home!
Have a great week off everyone!
Enjoy the break!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 02.02.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Another week passes by on what seems to have been a super quick half term!
This week we have been working on dividing 2-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers, using different methods and introducing remainders when numbers don't divide into equal groups.
In English, we finished our character descriptions from last week and then moved onto exploring Haikus in our English lessons. We explored the syllables rule, the fact they only have 3 lines and then started to do some research on what we want our own Haiku to be about. I am looking forward to reading what the children produce next week!
Have a great weekend everyone
Mr Spence
26.01.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
We have spent a big chunk of our Maths lessons this week on short multiplication methods. It has been fantastic to see pupils getting to grips with this method and using their times tables knowledge to help them with each step. We discussed how important it is to keep practicing their time tables at home either on paper or using some of the online tools such as TT Rockstars and Hit The Button. It is really important as we approach the half way point in Y3 for pupils to carry on with this practice and ensure they are fluent with their 2s, 5s, 10s, 3s. 4s and 8s.
In English we have been working hard on our character descriptions of our own made up mythical creatures. We chose two of our favourite animals and 'merged' them together to make our own new type of creature. We have had some great imagination and rather interesting creatures appearing in our books. These include a Snorse (snake and a horse) and a Towl (tiger and an owl).
Can you guess what animals have been merged for the following creations?
A Floxalotl
Damingo
Monkrab
Relephant
Have a great weekend all!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 19.01.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Hello
Another busy week and the children have continued their enthusiasm for learning this too.
In English, we have practised our descriptive writing skills about fictional characters.
In Maths, we have continued our Multiplication and Division work.
Whilst in Design Technology, we have enjoyed our Warburton's tasting session and look forward to making our own baked products soon!
Have a great weekend.
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 12.01.24
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Happy New Year to you all!
A busy first week back comes to an end! It was great to see so much enthusiasm this week after a long break.
It was also lovely to hear about the festive period and great to see that everyone was well rested and ready for a new term.
In Maths we continued our Multiplication and Division work which has taken us up to our 8 times tables now.
We also introduced our new topic on 'India and Fairtrade', which pupils are excited about after some super geography work this week.
From next week Willow Class PE days will be Monday and Thursday so please make sure pupils come in PE kit on those days.
Have a great weekend
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 22.12.23 - It's Christmas!!!
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
The Christmas break is finally here! Our children have worked extremely hard this half term and although it has been a long one, they have kept up their enthusiasm and engagement right up to the final week!
This week we finished some poetry work, made our own Christmas cards and spent time completing our DT project kites which were of course, Christmas themed.
Thank you all so much for your generous gifts and I hope you all enjoy the well earned rest.
Have a great Christmas and New Year.
I will see you all in 2024!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 15.12.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
It was great to see so many of you at our Festive Assembly on Wednesday and I hope you'll all agree that the performance was great and that it really helped to raise the Christmas spirit!
We have moved onto our 4x tables this week in Maths, multiplying, dividing and learning related facts.
We have enjoyed changing parts of our class poem 'Please Mrs Butler'. We have looked at rhyming words, hyperboles and alliteration. We are enjoying perfoming the poem every time we make changes to a stanza.
Have a great weekend all! One week left!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 08.12.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
With two weeks to go until the end of term, our preparation for our festive assembly has ramped up and it is lovely to hear the singing coming from the LKS2 classrooms as we pass by.
Year 3 Willow have been working on some performance narrative poetry this week and we have enjoyed using out voices and bodies in different ways to perform 'Please Mrs Butler' to our peers!
In Maths we have started our Multiplication and Division unit, starting with learning all about the 3 times table. We will be moving onto our 4s and 6s in the next two weeks.
Have a great weekend!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 01.12.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
All of a sudden we are into the extremely busy run up to Christmas with the weather to match!
It was great to see so many of you at the Christmas Fayre last week. Well done to the Friends of Rufford Park and as always it was a super busy event filled with Christmas cheer!
In Willow this week we have been finishing our newspaper reports on the Lindisfarne raids. We have revised and edited and also peer marked some work for feedback from our friends. We have enjoyed learning about the events of the 8th June 793AD. We were also lucky enough to see what Holy Island looks like today when one pupil managed to bring a photograph in from home of Lindisfarne in the modern day.
We have come to the end of our addition and subtraction unit in maths and finished this block of learning with some work on checking our answers by using the inverse operation. We have enjoyed learning about addition and subtraction and we are getting to grips with using the column method to help us work out more complicated calculations involving larger numbers.
Enjoy the weekend and wrap up warm!!!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 24.11.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Thank you all so much for your effort with Christmas Fayre donations this week. Willow Tree Class have collectively contributed a superb amount of bottles, jars, sweets and chocolates and some lovely raffle prizes. It really does make a difference to our Christmas Fayre and helps the PTA with their biggest money raising event of the year.
This week we have continued with newspaper report writing in Year 3. We have worked on all features of this type of writing now and we are starting to plan our own reports.
Maths has involved work on column method for both addition and subtraction. We have enjoyed these methods and we are becoming much more confident in working with 3-digit numbers.
Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing some of you at cross country on Saturday morning, and then the Christmas Fayre in the afternoon!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 16.11.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
A short week in school, but no less work for our pupils in Willow!
We have worked hard on our new writing topic this week, learning about the purpose and features of newspaper reports. We have looked at a major event in Viking history (The Lindisfarne Raid) and gathered information to include in our reports .We have talked about Photos, Captions, Headlines and writing in the third person without bias to provide a balanced article.
We have continued with column method for addition in maths, and also introduced a similar concept for subtraction. Pupils in Willow have enjoyed this method of working out and will have plenty more time to perfect this as we moved into next week.
On Thursday we enjoyed wearing our own clothes and donating our £1 coins to a fantastic cause.
Enjoy the slightly longer weekend and I will see you all on Monday!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 10.11.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
After a well deserved rest, we hit the ground running this week jumping straight into our new writing focus of newspaper arcticles.
We enjoyed looking at different examples of newspapers and then learning all about the Lindisfarne raids and the terrible events of this first raid. We will be using these facts and this knowledge to start producing our own newspaper reports.
In maths we picked up where we left off in Autumn 1 and made some great progress with our move into column addition. We have been adding 2-digit and 3-digit numbers using column (without crossing 10s and 100s) to get used to the technique. This is also Y3 homework this week so there is plenty more opportunities to practice.
Have a great weekend
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 27.10.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Happy half term everyone!
It has been a great first half term in Willow Tree Class and pupils have settled in well to life in KS2. We have worked extremely hard over the last 8 weeks and everyone deserves this rest!
This week we have completed our recounts in English and have some of them on our class display in the main corridor now. Everyone should be really proud of the work they have produced as they have turned out great!
Today we talked about staying safe over the holidays with Halloween and Bonfire night coming in the next week!
Have a great break and I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 20.10.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Thank you all for your attendance at parents' evening this week - it was great to chat to so many parents and discuss how well the pupils have settled into life in Key Stage 2.
We have been working on addition and subtraction this week in maths. We have been looking at partitioning to add when the ones or the tens cross over. I did have some conversations about the homework involving some of these methods and working out at parents' evening and have therefore attached a picture from our working wall to help clarify. I hope this helps!
Addition of 3 and 1 digit numbers cross 10s and not crossing 10s
In English we have completed and edited our recounts of the school trip now and we are looking forward to our published copies next week.
Have a nice weekend and take car with the weather as it looks like its going to be a wet and windy one!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 13.10.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Our 4 days in school this week has flown by!
In maths we have started to prepare for column addition, looking at adding ones to 3-digit numbers where they don't cross the 10s, and then later where they do. Pupils have worked hard on this and we will be moving onto column addition in the coming weeks.
Our English has continued with our planning for starting to write recounts of the Murton Park trip. We are now half way through this big write and enjoying remembering our fantastic day!
I am looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible at the first parent's evening of the year next week. Have a restful weekend!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 06.10.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Another great week in Willow Tree flashes by!
We have started our work on recounts in English where we will be writing about our Murton Park visit in week 3. We have talked a lot about writing in the 1st person, in the past tense and also ordering events in chronological order. We will continue to work on planning and drafting this next week.
In maths we completed our first unit of work on place value. On Friday we recapped the unit of learning and completed an end of unit task to check on what we had retained from the previous 5 weeks.
We had a great computing lesson on Monday where we started to record our own animations using the IMOTION app on our Ipads. As you can see the children really enjoyed making their pictures appear to move around on a variety of backgrounds.
Willow Tree Blog - 29.09.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Another fast paced week comes to an end in Willow Tree Class!
We have had a great week in Y3 and it is clear to see that all pupils are really getting into the swing of new routines and expectations that come with the move into KS2.
Pupils have worked hard in English lessons this week on their information texts on Vikings. They had lots of great ideas from previous reading they had done, home research and of course our fantastic Murton Park trip last week. It was great to see so many of them independently planning and drafting their work and later editing where needed.
In Maths we have continued to focus on 3-digit numbers. We have been looking at the value of digits, 1 more/less, 10 more/less and 100 more/less. We seem to be really getting the hang of using the appropriate column to help us with these skills and this will be important as we move onto other areas of number.
In History we have worked on ordering events from the Viking era on a timeline.
Have a restful weekend everyone!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 22.09.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Happy Friday everyone!
Thank you to you all for ensuring your children were on time and prepared for the trip that took place on Thursday - it really did help make the day run smoothly! Year 3 children were a credit to the school and Murton Park even let us do 'extra' immersive Viking experiences because the children had been so attentive. Photos of the trip will soon be uploaded but please bear with us as we have to check photo permissions etc and with over 1,000 images to check it does take some time to upload.
In Maths, we have been working on place value up to 1,000 and 10,000. In Science, we have been learning about all things bone related - even that Skull originates from a Viking word!
In English we have been looking at the final key skills needed for our first big writing piece which will start next week.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 15.09.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
Happy weekend everyone!
It has been a great week in Willow Tree Class, with our pupils getting to grips with the new routines and expectations of KS2.
We have continued to look at key writing skills in English, revisiting commas in a list, 'a' or 'an' determiners and capital letters and full stops.
Maths has seen us working on 3 digit numbers to 1000. We have been partitioning and recombining numbers between 100 and 999 and writing them as words, which has then been set as homework this week.
I have been pleased with the effort in home reading this week overall and have explained to pupils that the expectations for reading at home is 5 separate occasions signed in their reading record per week. If your child has read the book through at least twice (as they may not read it through 5 times due to longer texts) then please write after the last signature CHANGE. If they are still half way through their text or have only read it through once then please write KEEP to allow them to read it through again. This means we are not changing books when pupils are only half way through a book. Books will be changed on a Monday.
Enjoy the 2 day rest and I will see everyone next week!
Mr Spence
Willow Tree Blog - 08.09.23
Mr Spence (t.spence) on: Willow Tree Class Blog - 2023-2024
What a fantastic start to the academic year we have had in Willow Tree Class this week. It was great to see so many parents on Wednesday during the meet the teacher sessions.
We have had a busy week settling into new routines and expectations of Year 3 (and Key Stage 2).
In Maths we started with our place value unit, recapping on lots of Year 2 skills before moving on next week.
In English we have largely looked at key skills in writing and reading and I have been extremely happy with the effort and retained knowledge from Key Stage 1!
We have also introduced our Viking topic, learning about who the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons were and where they fit on the timeline of historical events and people we have previously studied.
Any information needed about class routines and expectations should be on our class website page however should you have any more questions or need to speak directly with me then I am now contactable through the class email - willow@ruffordparkprimary.org.uk
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
Mr Spence