MOVING STAGE

Yesterday the children were lucky enough to have a theatre company called 'Moving Stage' work with them in class. The children learnt about different types of puppets and more specifically about shadow puppets. They then made their own shadow puppets and wrote playscripts and performed their plays with their shadow puppets behind a stage. The work done supported the work thay are doing in science - light and shadows.


Frances and Amy performed the Hare and the Tortoise and we learnt the importance of speaking loudly and clearly.















Before learning about shadow puppets the children learnt about different puppets, here they are learning about marionette puppets.





At the end of the day the children performed their plays infront of some Year 4 children and Ms Rice, they were all very impressed. Here is a photo pf what went on 'behind the scenes.'

National Portrait Gallery

Yesterday we went on a trip to the National Portrait Gallery and had a fabulous time. The children learnt about drawing portraits and had a go at drawing portraits using pastels.



Here our some examples of the work we produced at the gallery:


This is Zaeem's portrait

This is Jessica's portrait:

Even the teachers had a go - this is Miss German's:

After the Gallery we walked down to Buckingham Palace and were lucky enough to see the changing of the guards.

I'm pleased to say that the children behaved excellently and I look forward to our next school trip - next week - to the synagogue to support our work on buildings of worship in RE.

Spelling Bee

Yesterday afternoon Years 3 & 4 took part in a Spelling Bee. 4 children in each class were selected to take part to represent their House. They spent time over the weekend learning words and some of them were extremely challenging such as hieroglyphics and archaeologists.

All the children did very well but Nora deserves a special mention sa she was one of three children that scored the highest number of correctly spelt words.

Well done to Nora and well done to Leopards who won the Spelling Bee.

The Last Half Term

Its been a busy first week back after half term and the children have been working hard. There’s lots to pack into this half term and only 6 weeks left in Year 3!

In literacy the children have been doing their final week of work on letter writing and have produced some really good letters pretending they were the Tortoise and writing about the race with the Hare. Next week they will be working on adventure stories and in a few weeks time producing their own adventure stories.

In maths the children have been revising multiplication and next week they will be revising division and then learning about what to do when numbers don’t divide exactly.

We started our new science topic this week: Light and Shadows, so hopefully the weather will be good and we’ll be able to carry out lots of investigations outdoors.

In D&T this half term the children will be designing and making their very own photo frames. On the subject of photos the children’s class photos arrived in school today so make sure you return the envelope if you would like a copy of the photo.

In Spanish the children will be learning how to tell the time and will also be learning how to say different animals names in Spanish and also start to describe them.

Some of the children are still forgetting their PE and games kits so please help your child to remember. They have a PE lesson on Tuesday and games lesson on Thursday.

As the weather is getting better it is really important the children are drinking enough water so if possible please send your child to school with a plastic bottle of water, make sure the bottle is labeled.

As well as all the work that the children have to do over the next 6 weeks we also have many other activities going on outside of the classroom. These include a trip to the National Portrait Gallery, a trip to Regents Park with the whole school as the ‘longest walking bus’ and Sports Day.

Next Monday there is a Spelling Bee in years 3 and 4 which should be a lot of fun so make sure you ask your children all about it.

As usual, if you have any concerns or need to see any of ther Year 3 teachers please pop into class and have a chat, the end of the day is usually the best time to catch one of us.

Book Reviews & Allan Ahlberg

The children have been learning about the author Allan Ahlberg. They have read many of his books and have also learnt how to write a book review. Here are some of the best book reviews written in the last few weeks:


Thursday 10th May 2007

A Book Review of The Jolly Postman

The Jolly Postman is by two people, Janet and Allan Ahlberg. It is a splendid book with comedy parts and half-poetry ,half-letters.

The main characters are the Jolly Postman and most of the fairytale characters .The Jolly Postman has to deliver lots of letters to some startling fairytale characters .He normally has tea .It is set in houses of fairytale characters .The Jolly Postman is always in a grand kind of mood.

The best thing about this book is when you can take the letters but much better is when you can read them. I like it because it is funny and inspiring.

I would recommend this to children who like poetry but above all I would recommend it to kids who like books with illustrations like these and books that are comedy type. It is different from the Happy Family’s Series. It is an extraordinary book so I like all of it .

by Sarah


Friday 4th May 2007

A Book Review of Miss Dirt the Dustmans’ Daughter

Miss Dirt the Dustmans’ Daughter is by Allan Ahlberg and I think Allan Ahlbergs stories are exciting. Miss Dirt the Dustman’s’ Daughter is one of the happy families book in this colletion and this is a perfect story for you to read.

The main character is Miss Dirt, but the other two character are Mrs Dirt Mr Dirt.

Miss Dirt is a poor and rich child and she runs back and forwards to her mum’s and dad’s house. Her Dad’s is poor and her mum is rich and she has a very wonderful car. Everything starts to change in the end.

I liked the part when she runs back and forwards to her mum and dads house. I liked it because it was funny.

I didn’t like the part when her mum marries someone and her husband is rude and bossy.

I would recommend it to children who enjoy funny stories because I think they will particularly enjoy it.

by Shahena


Thursday 3rd May 2007

A Book Review of Burglar Bill

Burglar Bill is a funny book by the fantastic author Allan Ahlberg. His wife, Janet Ahlberg is the illustrator and her pictures are splendid.

The main character is Burglar Bill. He is a thief. Every night he takes a sack with him and steals, going from house to house. One night Burglar Bill finds a box with holes in it, he steals it and takes it home. When he takes the lid off he was gobsmacked at what he saw. You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens next.

There were lots of enjoyable parts of the story, but my favourite part was when Burglar Bill was burgled himself. That made me chuckle.

The only part that I didn’t like was when Burglar Bill didn’t open the box before taking it home. I didn’t like this part because you’re supposed to open something before taking it home.
I would recommend this book to children who like funny books particularly appropriate for children in year3 and 4.

by Hamza

SAT's

Dear Parents,

Hope you are all well. We are over half way through the half term and next week the children will be undergoing some SAT’s. These are tests that schools do not have to do for children in Years 3, 4 and 5 (unlike when they do them in Years 2 and 6), however at Gateway we make sure all the children do theses tests so that we know what they are capable of doing and in what areas they need more help. The children will be tested in Literacy and Numeracy and there will be several tests throughout the week.

Where possible please try to ensure that your child’s attendance at school next week is good because if they miss any of the tests they will have to sit them on their own the following week which will result in them missing even more lesson time.

Remember to help your child with their healthy eating diary and encourage them to clean their teeth properly.

Don’t hesitate to pop in and see us if there is anything you need to discuss.

End of term round-up

What a half term!!
The children have worked so hard this half term and coped really well considering all the building work that is going on, the children have not let it stop them from working well and doing their best.

We have done so much this half term from learning about the Greeks, writing our own Greek myths, getting to grips with fractions and telling the time, counting to 31 in Spanish to using clay to make our own mythical monsters.

Have a look at the children’s work section of the website to see some of the work that the children have done this half term, below is an example of one the great poems that Riffath wrote last week.


Move like an animal.

Dive like a dolphin.
Fly like a wren.
Slither like a snake.
Sit like a hen.

Leap like a leopard.
Sing like a quail.
Pounce like a kangaroo.
Sprint like a whale.

Roar like a bear.
Squeak like a mice.
Plunge like a fish.
Jump like a lice.

Slime like a snail.
Cheat like a cheater.
Prowl like a bird.
Searches like an anteater.

Scamper like a spider.
Shuffle like a seal.
Crawl like a hedgehog.
Darts like an eel.

By Riffath

The children have some homework to be getting on with over the holidays.

We wish you a relaxing 2 week break and encourage you to take the children out to parks and some of the wonderful museums that London has to offer.

Red Nose Day

We worked hard to think what we would do if with all the money raised from comic relief.

Lucky Tasmin-it's her birthday as well as comic relief day!

Today we are having a wonderful day raising money for, 'Red Nose Day'. Many of us bought in £1 for a red nose. We are doing fun activities all afternoon-ask the children what fun things we have done today.