Term 1

Week 1 - This has been a very successful return back to school. For some of you it has been a big change moving classroom and teacher. The class has really bonded well. 

This week we were lucky to start our term with a visitor from the Shepway Sports Trust. His name was Josh Kennedy. He is an amateur boxer and has represented his country. He gave us a whistle stop tour about the skills needed for boxing and we all had a go with the gloves and learnt stance, punch, movement, and the fitness and reactions needed to be a boxer. It was a  great insight into the demands required. The kids all had a great time. 

We have begun our Literacy Topic and are reading a book called 'Return from Pompeii'. We will be creating our stories using this for our base. It also links nicely with our current Topic on Romans. The children have enjoyed listening to the story of how Rome began its existence. We will be looking at the Roman ruling systems that were used next.

In Maths we are currently looking at Time and understanding both Analogue and Digital times and how to write these. 

Please continue to read every night and work on your current times tables. This week will be the start of our spellings which will be tested every Thursday. 

Have a wonderful weekend and come back to school Monday with those great big smiles. 

Mrs Everitt and Mrs Hall

Week 2

This week has been a really good continuation of learning from last week. The children are settled and already in learning mode for the year. 
We have continued with our learning of time; looking at both analogue and digital times and converting between the two. Can you show someone at home how you do this? We have also been looking at large numbers with addition. 

In writing we have been reading the book 'Escape from Pompeii'. This week we have written poems based on this story and added actions to our poems for when we recite them.

Science has been exploring all about classification - putting animals into particular groups. 

In Topic we began to explore about the Roman Army and what made them so successful. We investigated the Armour and Weaponry used by the Romans and designed our own shield. We will be making these in the next few weeks.

Keep up all your hard work kids! 

Mrs Hall, Mrs Everitt and Mrs Glass

Tuesday 26th September 2017

Today we explored a volcano eruption using a parachute.  We started off by being small tremors, and then being mighty Mount Vesuvius when its top exploded, a cloud of ash rose to the heavens and molten lava flowed down covering the city of Pompeii.  We then went back to class and wrote a descriptive recount of the tragic event that happened in AD79.

Week 3

This week the children have worked hard learning to tell the time on both Analogue and Digital clocks and we will be looking to include the 24 hour clock next week. Ask an adult to ask you some time problems and see if you can solve them.

The children have also been investigating different suffixes and how these affect the meaning of words. Can you remember any that we have looked at and the rules that apply?

The spellings for this week are as follows:

Enjoy your weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday. 

Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall and Mrs Glass

Week 4

This week we have finished learning about time. We are feeling more confident to tell the time on an analogue clock and a digital clock. We have begun to learn about the 24 hour clock. Please test us on our 24 hour knowledge!

In Literacy we wrote our HOT TASK (creating our own story about Pompeii). We used new characters and described our settings based on the class story 'Escape from Pompeii'.

In Science, we looked at Trees; learning about the leaves and how this can distinguish what tree it is. 

This week has been interesting and fun. We have enjoyed our learning and working together. 

Look forward to seeing you all next week!

Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall and Mrs Glass

Week 5

We have really enjoyed our Maths lessons this week because we have been using column addition and subtraction using word problems. See if somebody at home can give you a problem and you solve it with column addition or subtraction...

This week in our Literacy lessons, we have concentrated really hard on our handwriting. We need to make sure that it is neat and legible. 

In topic, we have been researching the Roman Army. On Friday, we made Roman Shields that are typical with yellow and red colours, symmetrical patterns of wings, feathers, horns, lines etc. We will be using these in our Drama lesson next week. 

KIC Theatre came to see us on Friday, and we had the opportunity to act out different superheroes and villains. We then transformed our superheroes into Roman Gods; Jupiter, Venus, Neptune and more. It was great fun!!! Look at our photos.

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday.

Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall and Mrs Glass

P.s. I have given out an extra sheet to practise spellings this week. They are all stapled into reading record books. 

Week 6

This week has been our BOOK WEEK. It has been full of fun and exciting adventures. 

We had a visit from the author Ian MacDonald who read some of his stories to us. We loved listening to these: Eyeball soup and Skateboard Gran.

We also had a visit from The Tales from the Book of Life. We listened to fantastic tales whilst beautiful music was playing. We listened to a harp, a flute, a violin and a whistle. 

Our school are making a Triennial Art display of pebbles that we have decorated. We used acrylic paint to design our own patterns and they will be put on display soon. 

On Friday we got to dress up as superheroes of our choice. Some of these included super villains like Cat Woman, and superheroes like Superman and Spiderman. We had everyday superheroes in our class to include vets, doctors, policemen and Mr File himself. 

On Wednesday, we got the chance to write about a day in the life of a superhero. Next time you come into school please take the time to read this.

Hope you have the best half term and come back to us with loads of stories to tell.

Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall and Mrs Glass

Term 2

Week 1

This week has been a fantastic return to school, with the children all being enthused and happy to be here. We have introduced new topics and are continuing to expand their learning. 

We have introduced our Science topic about States of Matter. Can you tell an adult what this means? How many states have we learnt about? We were able to act out different states and how the particles move. This was entertaining!

In GPS we have discussed the use of conjunctions and how to extend our sentences.

In maths we have been learning the value of money (the different coins and notes) that we use. We have extended our learning further by introducing problems finding total amounts and possibilities of ways of paying. 

Please talk to your families about what you are doing in school and share your learning. Be proud of your growing knowledge and share!! 

Have the best weekend. See you next week.

Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall and Mrs Glass

Week 2

This week we have been concentrating on our understanding of Pronouns and how these can help stop repetition. It is quite common to get these muddled up so why don't you tell an adult what you know about pronouns? 

We have also continued our learning with Romans and have been learning about Boudica (a Roman lady who fought for her Kingdom). 

In Maths we have concentrated on doubling and halving, to help with our multiplication. We have also continued with money and coin values and finding various totals.

Mr Shackleton came in to talk to us about the War and his experiences. It was amazing to listen to these and here what he has done. This gave us some real appreciation for the war heros of our country.  

We hope you all have a fantastic weekend and return safely to us on Monday with your big smiles on your faces. 

Mrs Hall, Mrs Everitt and Mrs Glass. 

Week 3

This week has been packed full of learning...

English - we have investigated Adverbs and how we use these in our sentences. We have also been writing instructions and filming these. It was really good fun. 

Maths - we have been looking at units of length. Can you remember which ones we have been working with? We have looked at multiplication and the grid method to find the answer. Can you demonstrate this to an adult at home?

Science - we conducted an experiment with gases and how we could make a fizzy drink lighter by adding more gas to it. What happened? What did your results show?

PE - we have been exploring a new sport called TRIGOLF. It has been really good to try a sport that involves more precision and patience, than power and speed. The children have really enjoyed playing it. 

I look forward to starting a new week with you hope you all have a great fun filled weekend. Look forward to hearing all about it.

Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall and Mrs Glass.

Thursday 23rd November 2017

Today we made edible Roman roads!  We discussed why the Romans made roads and how they did it.  We looked at the roads they built in Roman Britain and used some mapping skills to locate them on a map.   Then we reminded ourselves of what features instructional texts should include.  Next, was the fun, messy and tasty part!!  We wrote a recipe for how to make a Roman road.  Then in pairs and using our list of ingredients we constructed Roman roads.  After, we were allowed to eat them!! Most of us thought they tasted delicious, others felt a little sick as mixing custard (mortar) with yoghurt (concrete) isn't to everyone's taste! 

We hope you enjoy the pictures..

Week 4

This week has been jam-packed full of exciting learning. We have covered new areas of learning and continued to consolidate areas.

In Maths, we have continued to understand measurement of length using CM and MM. We have used rulers to measure various items and practiced recording these in cm, cm and mm, and mm. Can you measure any items at home?

In GPS, we have investigated adverbs further, trying to increase our word banks to improve our writing. 

In Science, we have investigated changes of state from liquid to gas, and solid to liquid. We discussed how to make a fair test. Can you explain a fair test to someone?

Please try hard this week to learn your spellings and times tables. 

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall, and Mrs Glass

Week 5

This week has been packed full of learning. In GPS we discussed the use of prepositions in our sentences. Can you explain what these are? 

In Maths, we have started learning about Capacity and the units of measurement that go with this. Look at the different items in your kitchen. What are their capacities? 

We had a lot of fun playing our Tri-golf games in the hall, and things became very competitive!!!

We have also had a week of tests to see if we could remember what we have learnt over the last two terms.

We all enjoyed the Christmas Fayre with lots of prizes being won and lots of sweets being eaten. 

Enjoy your weekend.

Mrs Hall, Mrs Everitt and Mrs Glass

Week 5

We have had a busy week. We have continued with our learning and had some adventures along the way. 
On Wednesday the whole school went to Canterbury to watch 'Peter Pan' in the Pantomime. It was brilliant!!!!

We have also enjoyed some festive activities to create some decorations for our class room and some Christmas cards to take home. 

Please continue this week to learn spellings and read as often as possible. There will be a times tables test on Monday as normal so please look at these over the weekend. 

Look forward to seeing you for our last week of term!
Mrs Everitt, Mrs Hall and Mrs Glass. 

Term 3, Week 1

A huge welcome back after the Christmas break, the children of Silver Birch have started term 3 with bundles of positivity and enthusiasm for the term ahead. We have begun to explore some of the exciting topics that we will cover this term and look forward to all the learning opportunities that will follow in the weeks to come. 

Have a lovely weekend. 

Mrs Hall, Miss Boyle and Mrs Glass

Term 3 Week 2

This week has been a fantastic week packed with exciting learning. In Silver Birch we have begun our new text in Literacy, The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman. The children have been loving making predictions and writing in role as the characters. In maths we have begun to learn about fractions and continued our learning in shape, we have really enjoyed dancing to house music, using our arms to show parallel and perpendicular lines!

We hope you have a restful weekend and look forward to seeing you bright and fresh on Monday. 

Miss Boyle, Mrs Hall, Mrs Glass and Mrs Pullen

Thursday 18th January 2018

Today we were allowed to bring a toy or blanket that gives us comfort into school.  We discussed how we talk to these comforters about our worries, problems, secrets, or just for a general chat and to tell them that we love them.  We also enjoy giving them big hugs! 

We then thought about the character Lucy, in our book; Wolves in the Walls, and how she talks to her Pig-puppet, and risked her life to rescue him from the wolves.  We wrote some descriptive recounts on what Lucy might say to her comfort toy.  

The toys all had a great day being at school, and were fabulous at helping the children extend their sentences and write some thoughtful ideas.

This week Silver Birch have been learning all about classifying shapes- particularly looking at what makes a shape regular or irregular. Did you know that a rectangle is actually an irregular quadrilateral? We were surprised to find that out this week.

Term 3

Week 4

On Monday we were extremely lucky to have a special visit from DogsTrust, here we learned all about the evolution of the wolf to the common household pet we know and love today, we also leaned about what it means to take care of a dog properly. 

This week Silver Birch have been hard at work learning how to measure perimeters and calculating fractions. We have been news reporters in Literacy and Topic this week; the children produced some wonderful reports on the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain!

Term 4

Week 1

Tuesday - Olympic roadshow

Today, the Shepway Sports trust led an Olympic roadshow event for our class and Beech class.  We were put into 4 teams and participated in 4 different sports; tennis, football, hockey and basketball.

We all had great fun practicing different skills that were needed for each sport.  Mrs Hall was particularly impressed by the great sportsmanship shown by many of the children - lots of cheering each other on, saying encouraging words and giving each other lots of praise.

Well done to all the children and enjoy the photos.

What a fab first week back Silver Birch, the children have worked so hard and had lots of fun along the way, we have begun to explore the tale Beowolf in Literacy, we have been planning our Anglo-Saxon villages in Topic and begun to learn all about statistics, collecting data and identifying ways we can present and analyse it. 

Well done Silver Birch, it has been a pleasure, we look forward to more fantastic weeks like this one throughout the term.

Enjoy your weekend

The Silver Birch Team

Wednesday 7th March 2018

Today we celebrated World Maths Day.

The charity UNICEF has joined with the Maths app that we use in school, Mathletics , and created a challenge for children all around the world to complete.

This morning, we competed against children from a range of countries, completing different levels of Maths.  We had 20 games to play.  Those in the top 50 in the Hall of Fame can win prizes, so fingers crossed!

We also learnt about education around the world, and realised how fortunate we are to have the education system that we have in our privileged country.

I will keep you posted on how well we did in the challenge.

Friday 09th March

Silver Birch have had a fabulous week getting creative; we've made our very own Anglo-Saxon model villages and I'm sure you will agree, they look fantastic!

Friday 16th March 2018

Wow, what a week. I'm sure the children will agree that Science Week has been a great success! 

Spellings for this week

Silver Birch's Trip to Dover Museum

Silver Birch had a super trip to Dover Museum on Thursday, we spent the day making our own clay Brooches (which we will paint and bring home), handling artifacts, reenacting battles and exploring the museum itself. Please take a look at the photos to get a glimpse of our wonderful trip. 

23.03.2018

Spellings

Term 5

Tuesday 17th April 2018

Tea Tasting

This term, in our English lessons, we are focusing on the story of The Cloud Tea Monkeys.  As an introduction to the production of tea, we had the opportunity to taste a few different varieties of tea that have originated from India (our topic for the term)

They were; Assam, Darjeeling, Green Tea, Cardamom Chai and Masala Chai.

We discussed the way they looked, smelt and tasted.  Some of us loved them, others weren't too sure!  However, the classroom smelt very spicy and exotic afterwards!

Term 5 Week 1

What a wonderful first week back we have had here in Silver Birch class, from Tea tasting, to investigating about India. Sharpening our knowledge of fractions and decimals and solving problems involving money. The children have been fantastic and the sun has been shining. 

We look forward to many more weeks like this one in our summer term. 

Have a lovely and restful weekend

From all the team in Silver Birch

Spellings this week:

Spellings, Week ending; 27.04.2018

Term 5, Week 2

This week the children have been solving some money problems in Maths, and doing some tricky place value learning using decimals.  In English, the children have been reading more of The Cloud Tea Monkeys book, which led to a fun drama activity.  In Topic, we located India on a map and found out some facts about the country that we are studying. Mrs Hall was very impressed with the questions and thoughts that the children expressed when they were looking at Pentecostal artwork in RE.

Well done to all of the children for their enthusiasm in all of their learning.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs Hall, Miss Boyle and Mrs Glass.

Friday 11th May 2018

This week the children have been continuing to learn more fascinating information about India, looking at the landscape and climate. In English, we have begun to look at the features of information leaflets ready to create our own. In Maths we have been reviewing multiplication skills as well as consolidating our understanding of perimeters. 

Can I remind all parents that children will have PE every Friday and will need kits, also spelling homework is compulsory and due in on Wednesdays. 

We wish you all a fantastic weekend!

From all the staff in Silver Birch 

Your children have brought plants home today that they are required to nurture and care for, the best plant will win a prize at the end of term!! 

Spellings:

Science- What do plants need? 

We have been exploring what it is that plants need to grow well in Science these last weeks. 

We had four different plants, on of each we deprived of water, light or warmth. We found out that in order to grow well plants need; light, warmth and water to flourish. 

18.05.2018

We really hope that you enjoyed your week off, unfortunately Miss Boyle's ICT skills were lacking and our wishes for the half term and spellings did not save. 

I have now added this weeks spellings, apologies for anyone who missed these over the holidays. 

Wednesday 6th June 2018

We had a lady from Tiempo dance come to school and showed us many dance routines that we had to learn.  It was great fun and very tiring!  The lady was very impressed with not only our rhythm and moves, but also the behaviour and enthusiasm from everybody!

Thursday 7th June 2018

Today we learnt about poverty in India and how many people did mundane jobs such as bag making just to survive.  We had a go at making as many bags as we could in 15 minutes to earn ourselves some Rupees and see how we could survive for a day on the streets of India.  They were fiddly, but we had fun.  However, we discussed that having to do this all day and barely earning enough to eat would be very tough.

Friday 8th June

Spellings for this week:

Monday 25th June 2018

We are going to be working hard in Silver Birch this week carrying out our assessments, therefor the children didn't receive spellings as they will be doing their spelling assessment this week. We will be looking forward to sports day on Friday, giving us a chance to unwind and relax after all the hard work the children will have no doubt put in. This week is promising to be nice and hot, so sun cream and  hats will probably be needed. 

Friday 29th June 2018

Silver Birch have been fantastic this week, they have taken a week of assessments in their strive and behaved beautifully. They have worked hard and should be as exceptionally proud of themselves and the progress they have made this year as we are. 

Wednesday afternoon offered the children with a bit of respite from tests when they took part in a fantastic Indian banquet in the hall. I'm sure they will agree that it was a great success. 

Today promises to be lots of fun, the sun is already shining before the school day has begun, perfect for our sports day. This afternoon the children will be having a chance to take part in some 

mindfulness exercises, including walking and eating.

So all in all, a fantastic week here in Silver Birch. Enjoy your weekend; rest, play, have lots of FUN and see you on Monday. 

Spellings this week:

Friday 06th July

We've had a very exciting week this week watching an amazing production of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, creating our own storyboards and following up with writing. We had a fantastic afternoon when we went to visit our new classes, we were all extremely well behaved.

Spellings this week:

Friday 13th July 2017

This week Silver Birch have been; creating their own invites for Vaisakhi when learning about Sikhism, writing stories based on 'Trash' and creating our own Japanese Fish. We have had a great week, enjoying lots of play rehearsals and time to be creative.

We look forward to our last full week of the year next week. 

As we are approaching our last full week of school next week, these will be the last spellings sent home this year: