Welcome back everyone, and a very warm welcome to our new Year 3 children who have joined Lime Class – it has been lovely to see how quickly they have settled into their new routines and how eager they are to get started with their Key Stage 2 learning.
We have certainly had a whirlwind of a week! In English, the Year 3s have been exploring the world of fables. They read and studied a model text closely, borrowing key words and phrases in order to rewrite it before innovating the story by changing the characters. This gave them a chance to really play with language, keep the flavour of a traditional tale, and at the same time make it their own. The Year 4s, meanwhile, began their English learning with Ms Connolly and were introduced to the novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. This text immediately captured their interest and led to some thoughtful early discussions about its themes.
In Maths, both year groups began their new unit on place value, focusing on building a strong understanding of how numbers work and connect to one another. Alongside this, the children also started their Winning with Numbers sessions – a programme designed to build mental maths skills. They practised strategies for adding two-digit numbers in fun, practical ways that encouraged flexibility and speed of thinking. The children really enjoyed these sessions, and it has been brilliant to see them beginning to share and compare different mental methods.
Science lessons were equally exciting. Year 3s have started their topic on the human skeleton, learning about the bones that make up our bodies and comparing them with those of different animals. They were fascinated to notice similarities and differences and to think about why skeletons are designed in the ways they are. Year 4s took a different path, beginning their work on classification. Their highlight of the week was a minibeast hunt in the forest area, where they discovered beetles, worms, spiders and other small creatures. The children loved the hands-on nature of the task and thought carefully about how to group the animals they found.
In music, we listened to the dramatic classical piece Night on a Bare Mountain. The children had wonderfully varied responses: some described it as spooky or mysterious, while others said it reminded them of stormy weather or a dark mountain adventure. It was a joy to hear how imaginatively they responded to the music.
In Art, we began our new unit on drawing by learning about the difference between hard and soft pencils. The children experimented with a range of mark-making techniques before applying what they had discovered to sketching and shading an apple.
As part of our PSHE work, we revisited UNICEF’s Rights of the Child and reflected on which rights were most important for us in school. Together we created our own Class Charter, which everyone signed with pride. This gave us a strong sense of shared responsibility and respect to carry forward into the year. We also listened to the Year 6 speeches for the role of school captain before taking part in a democratic vote. The Lime Class children were inspired by the process, and many are already looking forward to our own elections next week for Class Councillors and Green Team representatives. There has been lots of excitement about the idea of representing the class and taking on new responsibilities.
Despite a few showers, we enjoyed getting outside for PE. Football was a big hit, with plenty of teamwork and energy on display, and we also began learning the correct way to hold and use hockey sticks. The children showed great focus and enthusiasm, and we are looking forward to building these skills further.
In our reading lessons, we have started Secrets of Stonehenge, which ties beautifully into our history topic. The children were immediately intrigued by the mysteries of this ancient site, and our discussions linked neatly with our history lessons, where we thought about what the term “prehistory” means and how archaeologists work to uncover the past. The children were captivated by the idea that fragments buried in the ground can tell us stories about people and times long ago.
All in all, this has been a fantastic start to the new school year. The children have thrown themselves into every lesson with enthusiasm and curiosity, and they are already showing the resilience, creativity and teamwork that will carry them far this year. We can’t wait to see where next week takes us!
