Unbelievably this is our 5th week of the summer term!
As a staff we have decided to try and get in touch with all of our families via telephone to have a quick chat about how your child / children are getting on at home. I have spoken to some people last week and left voicemails with several others (so will try and call you again). If I call the number will be withheld / private as I am using my own mobile phone. I will aim to try and get to talk to everyone by the end of the week by calling a few people each day.
Some things that have cropped up in calls thus far:
Transition - Mrs Harries and I are contacting the high schools to work out what transition activities we can put in place next term to support the children
Timing of work - Please work when it is the most convenient time for you and your household. As I mentioned before please ignore any time allowances that you see on maths and English question papers. Although they were past test papers the important thing for you is to test your skills. So if you want to have a go a sitting an activity in one go then please do - but if you are struggling to concentrate please divide activities up and work through at your own pace, having breaks as you require - just try to time your break and your working time so you know when you have started and stopped.
Work for this week:
Language:
Spellings - continue to practice your spelling (remember all lists are in the TEAMS folder) you can test yourself whenever suits you - doesn't have to be a Monday. Those working through lists that mean you read unfamiliar words please learn the meaning.
Don't forget to have a play of J2spell (J2Blast) this will help to keep your spelling sharp as you get tested on random words. Lots of children are joining in with the timestables J2Blast but don't forget about the spelling challenge as well.
Reading - I am not going to share a reading comprehension paper this week but please continue to use the resources on the online Oxford reading buddy - and answer the questions that follow the text (aim to read 2 - 3 if you can please)
Grammar test: I would like you to work through a grammar booklet - there are 46 questions to answer and I will share the answers at the end of the week - as I said above you don't have to answer the questions in 45 minutes.
Film review: I would like you to write one final film review to end this writing genre. You can choose to write about whatever film that you wish but before you write make sure that you have shared your reviews with your home learning team. I want you to read each others reviews to get tips on what is a good thing to include in a review - you might decide to watch a film that your friend wrote about. Also have a look at the reviews on Intofilm (try to look for the film you are thinking of writing about) to see what other thought about it to see if they agree / conflict with your thoughts.
You can write a first draft on paper if you wish but add your final review to your J2E folder please (again you can share with your team but they do not have to peer assess). I would just like you to self - assess your review what features have you added to make it a good review?
Extension task - Intofilm review - you can add your review to Intofilm to see if you are in with a chance of winning a review award - thank you to those who have shared their reviews already.
Maths
This weeks focus is to have a go at problem solving questions. I have added 3 tests similar to the ones we had in week 1 and 2. One is an arithmetic paper so perhaps do those questions as your first activity. There are then 2 reasoning paper to try. Finally, there is a mixture of problem solving cards on another PDF (the answers are included in this PDF so you can check them as you go along) the answers to the other papers I will post at the end of the week.
Calon Lan creative tasks
Here are some tasks that I have chosen from your ideas:
A lovely art idea from Isabelle: Do a piece of art on what you think wales means to you using different materials, for example - you could do it on a canvas, cardboard, we could do it on cakes, paper mache, and to decorate it we could use paints, different fabrics, pipe cleaners and other things for arts and crafts that we could find lying around the house. Maybe instead of gluing things on maybe we could sow them on, use a stapler and other things like that. So this task is pretty open ended it could even be a type of sculpture.
Here are some other ideas linked to the above from Layla:
Art- I think we could maybe draw/paint/sketch chosen pictures of Wales, Landscapes, busy beaches, popular mountains etc. Including famous landmarks and monuments. Also, maybe research famous welsh artists or make our own love spoons. Bethan said it could be the title of the art could be ‘Calon Cymru’ (welsh heart) or you could think of your own idea.
Cookery challenge: Thanks for all those who were able to source flour and had a go at making some Welsh cakes - I hope you enjoyed eating them!
Challenge 2 is to make a Welsh Bara Brith cake. This clip features Jon from Newport who was a contestant on the Great British Bake off in 2018. It is the simpler version that doesn't require yeast - but again if you have a family recipe that works for you please use that. Here is the video link for the recipe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkJiNRzYCsg
Science - planting challenge. I would like to challenge you to plant some seeds this week.
You can plant flower / plant or food seeds, whatever you have a available / can get hold of. If anyone has already done some planting - let us know on the TEAMs chat
You could plant them in the garden if you have beds ready or use a plant pot.
Let us know what you have decided to plant and then we can monitor the progress of our seeds over the coming weeks.
Welsh - please complete your personal profile PPT and then use the resources to begin writing your personal profile - thank you for those who have shared their PPTs with the class - remember to add your PPT to the folder in Week 3 - Cymraeg. The teaching resource to help you with writing is also in there.
Quiz: Diolch to Emily, Ffion W, Isabelle and Saffy for their brilliant quiz last Friday! I am pleased to say Afan, Elliot and Harri are going to be preparing some questions this week (thanks in advance boys). We will again aim for Friday afternoon so please plan it in to your diary this week so we can end the half term on a high having a bit of fun!
Online links:
This is an article about family life under lock down that might be an interesting read for parents and carers (there are lots of other useful links on this site if it is helpful for you) - https://parentinfo.org/article/surviving-family-life-under-lockdown?utm_source=Thinkuknow&utm_campaign=f4fd0dd4ee-TUK_ONLINE_SAFETY_AT_HOME_05_05_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b54505554-f4fd0dd4ee-64780173
Mrs Rees has asked me to share thist (it has been Tweeted as well) UNICEF and the Child Commissioner for Wales have teamed up to write a survey for young people (7-18 year olds) around the UK to complete, which asks them questions linked to how they have been affected by The Coronavirus. The questionnaire is called Coronavirus and Me. The survey is linked to Article 12: This article states that Every child has the right to express their views and to be listened to.
The link is below: technician
https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/coronavirusandme/
Finally, we will be having half term next week after the second bank holiday so I won't set any extra work next weekend. However if you want to save your creative tasks to keep you busy next week that is fine.
There are lots of other team / group activities that you thought up in the topic plan ideas - I will be having a think about how we can best carry these out using our HWB tools.
I will keep up to date with you during the TEAMs chat during this week as we have been doing.
Take care,
Mr Ball
Finally, we will be having half term next week after the second bank holiday so I won't set any extra work next weekend. However if you want to save your creative tasks to keep you busy next week that is fine.
There are lots of other team / group activities that you thought up in the topic plan ideas - I will be having a think about how we can best carry these out using our HWB tools.
I will keep up to date with you during the TEAMs chat during this week as we have been doing.
Take care,
Mr Ball
