Hi, my name is Miss Beamish, and I am the Year 3 Bluebirds teacher. This is my first year teaching at St John’s and I am excited to get going with some amazing learning!

I have spent the last 9 years teaching, mostly in Key Stage 2. I love being inspired by different books and using them to spark ideas for new stories.

At St John’s, I lead Geography. I like to know how the world works and pour over maps to spot rivers, mountains and coasts.

I have a passion for other subjects too! I like History and spend a lot of time listening to podcasts and watching documentaries. In my spare time, I like to get outside and go on long tiring walks!

Other staff working in our class are:

Miss Keyes – Teaching assistant

Mr Hasker – 3rd Teacher

Mrs Sanger – Art and DT teacher fortnightly on Thursday afternoons

Our Weekly Timetable:

Important dates for the diary this term for Bluebird Class:

 

PE - Every Monday

Holi Celebration – Tuesday 10^th June

Sports Day – Wednesday 18^th June

Our learning this term:

This term we are learning all about ‘Settlements: Home or Away?’. The children will be finding out about different parts of the UK and working on their map-reading skills in order to locate towns, cities, counties and regions.

This term in English we will explore ‘James and the Giant Peach’ by Roald Dahl. We will be writing character descriptions using a range of adjectives and adverbs to create effect. We will also be writing diary entries from James’ point of view as he travels inside the peach. Additionally, we will be developing our use of speech when writing a news report with eye-witness accounts.  

 

In maths we will be learning about money, time, shape and statistics. The children will learn to count money and find change and they will read the time on analogue and digital clocks to five minutes. Maybe you could practise these skills at home or while out shopping! We will then move on to looking at different units of time including, days of week, months and years. The children will learn to identify and name 2d and 3d shapes and will recognise different angles. Finally, they will learn how to collect and represent data using bar charts and pictograms.

 

In science, we will be learning more about plants. The children will carry out an experiment to see if seeds need soil to grow well by ‘planting’ seeds in different materials. They will find out about the names of different parts of a flower by dissecting real flowers and will learn all about pollination and why bees are so important to us!  

 

In R.E we will be learning about ‘Humanism’. We will explore our big question: What are Humanists and what do they value?

The children will continue to develop their German vocabulary including speaking, reading and writing about their likes and dislikes. As we end the year, they will revisit all of the learning from this year; greetings, colours, numbers, days and months and body parts. 

Learning at home for Bluebird Class: 

Children are expected to read every night for at least 15 minutes.  Please spend time each day listening to your child read as it really does have a positive impact on their progress. Remember to sign your child’s reading record book when they have read to you as reading records are checked every day.

When your child has finished an AR book, they can complete the quiz. We are focussing on quizzing accuracy. Your child will receive a raffle ticket if they pass a quiz at 80% or above and will have the chance to win a prize at the end of term!

It is important that reading books and reading record books are in school every day even if your child hasn’t read.

 

Please remember that you can access Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS), Numbots and Spelling Shed from home. There are certificates and a trophy for the winning class and individual certificates for the child that scores the most points each week.

Spelling assignments will be given out each Monday and spellings will be tested on the following Monday.

You will find your login details in the front of your child’s reading record book.

Be ready for learning!

In Bluebird Class, your child will need to have these items in school: 

• PE kit (to be worn on PE day - Monday) 
• Water bottle with sports cap lid (filled with water - no squash or juice) 
• Small rucksack (big enough to hold lunchbox and reading books) 
• Wellington boots (to leave in school) 
• Coat (weather appropriate) 

Please don’t bring other items into school, as we do not have space to store them, and it can cause upset if things are lost or damaged. Please remember to name all items of clothing so that they can be returned if lost.

Highlights from Term 5

 

We enjoyed our trip walking the River Stour and were excited to see many different uses for the river. We even saw some ducklings!

 

In Art, we enjoyed painting ‘en plein air’ and were inspired to be rebels just like the Impressionists by creating beautiful paintings with visible brushstrokes. We were amazed to see how many different shades of blue and green that we could mix

 

In Science, when learning about plants, we loved learning about stems, leaves and roots. We particularly enjoyed visiting the field to draw lots of different stems.