January 14th 2025

We will be completing the Year 4 Multiplication Check towards the end of the school year. 

It would be beneficial for your child to do some regular times table practice to help them to prepare.

Some easy ways to do this include:

• Asking questions such as “What’s 7 x 8?”
• Reciting times tables (4 times 1 is 4, 4 times 2 is 8, etc)
• Write up tricky ones and stick on the fridge (such as 6 x 8 = 48, 7 x 8 = 54)
• Using apps and games (TTRS)
• Singing times tables songs (lots can be found online)

There is also a practice test on the school website which will tell you their score and show where mistakes were made. This will help you to know which ones to practice first. We teach the times tables in the following order: 10, 2, 5, 3, 4, 8, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12.

This is absolutely nothing to worry about, the results are just for the school to know which children need some extra help with their times tables. There is no pass or fail mark and test will take no longer than 5 minutes.

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/westmallingprimary/UploadedDocument/3c74c81e-70b2-4dc2-8450-f206df0a6f61/2022_information_for_parents_multiplication_tables_check-1.pdf

https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/

Welcome Back

Who can believe that we are already at the end of the first week of Term 4?  This year is flying by!  

The children have come back in and settled well.  We have started our new text for English (Shakleton's Journey) and we are already getting some great class discussions both from this text and Poems From A Green And Blue Planet, which we are using for our reading.  

In Maths, we have started our first fractions module and the children a grasping the new concepts that we are looking at quickly.

While we didn't do any investigations in Science this week, we did consider the different appliances that we use, how electricity arrives at our house and how to use electricity safely.

A reminder that next Thursday (6th March) is World Book day and children are invited to dress up as a word and if they wish learn a poem for a recital.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hanes and Mrs Fuller

31st January 2025

Oak Class were visited by Frindleswylde this week.  When they arrived in school, the classroom was covered in snowflakes, there was a message on the window and the rooms was as cold as ice.  They used their investigating skills to work out who or what Frindleswylde might be.  They composed sentences, which included model verbs and subordinate clauses.

Later in the week, they helped Cora (the little girl in our book) decide whether she should follow Frindleswylde or stay in her house alone.  They voted for stay and follow and gave reasons for their choices using decision alley.

PE saw Oak Class finding different ways to balance with their partners.  Some of them found this tricky but they also spent lots of time laughing at how funny this was.

During Science,  Oak Class have been learning about the Water Cycle.  Our experiment this week was linked with condensation as the children observed how the steam rises and when trapped inside a plastic cup produces condensation, which results in precipitation.

24th January 2025

This week has been packed full of fun and learning.  Our English included writing a sequel to our text FArTHER and learning how to divide with remainders, which was really tricky.  The highlight of our week though, was a visit from Portals from the Past for an immersive Roman Day.  The children have had an amazing day, which included playing Roman games, holding Roman artifacts and reenacting Roman battles and Gladiator fights.  All the children have talked about how much they have enjoyed the day.  Photos will be shared here on the website.

January 17th 2025                               

Oak class have worked incredibly hard this week.  In Maths, they have been working on multiplication and have been using the column method to multiply two digit by one digit numbers.  The have shown resilience and perseverance in getting to grips with this new skill.

In English, we have been writing a sequel to our book 'FArTHER'.  The children have used the book as a basis for their sequel but have been focussing on ensuring that they put their own voice into their writing, whilst also remembering to use fronted adverbials and subordinate conjunctions.

Geography led to interesting discussions about coastal processes and how the landscape changes.  The children are showing a real aptitude in questioning and this also proved useful in Science where we investigated the melting points of difference substances.

For the third week in a row, a member of Oak Class has been the highest achiever in Mathletics and this is great to see, particularly as the children need to be practising their Times Tables ready for the test later in the year.  Please encourage as much practise as possible.

Finally, I would like to celebrate this weeks Homework Star.  Our Star produced a wonderful piece of homework, that showcased her research into WW1.  Ella used pictures relating to the facts, that had to be lifted to reveal the information.  This was a wonderful way to share the work, that had been produced at home and it was obvious that a lot of thought and effort had gone into it.  She even included the poem Dulce et Decorum est which portrays the horrors of war perfectly.

I would like to wish you all a wonderful and restful weekend (lots of children said they were feeling tired this week) and I will see you all on Monday.  Don't forget your swimming kits!

Mrs Hanes.

We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming Carol Concert at St. Mary’s Church on Wednesday, 4th December, from 1:45pm to 2:45 pm. This festive event will be a wonderful opportunity to gather together and enjoy the talents of our students as we celebrate the Christmas season.

The concert will feature performances from our KS2 classes and choir, who have all been practicing incredibly hard over the past few weeks. We look forward to sharing this special time with you.

“Tickets” for the concert are £2 per person if purchased before the day and £3 per person if bought on the door, with all proceeds going towards the cost of transport for our Young Voices Choir Concert at the O2 Arena in January. Your support will help make this exciting experience possible for our young performers.

If you would like to join us, please send cash in a named envelope with the number of tickets required or transfer your payment directly to the school bank account with the reference of your child's initials and XMAS.

Bank Account Name: West Malling CE Primary School
Account Number: 64804368
Sort Code: 30-95-37

We will not be issuing paper tickets but will acknowledge, via message from Arbor, receipt of your payment.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Miss Gibson

Thursday 10th October