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Chestnut Class (Year 2/3)

Welcome to Chestnut Class.
 
 Chestnut Trees | LoveToKnow
 
I am very pleased to welcome the Chestnut class pupils and am very much looking forward to working with them. There is a lot to look forward to, with many interesting areas of learning planned. The adults working in Chestnut class this year are myself, Mrs Fielder, Mrs Perry and Mr Day.
 
 
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                                                                                    Autumn Term 20
                                                                                         Second Half 
 
 
I hope everyone had a lovely half term break and enjoyed some special times with their families. It was lovely to welcome the children back on Tuesday, dressed as Scaries and Fairies. They were very excited and all looked amazing. I would also like to welcome our newest member of the class and I hope she settles in quickly and makes lots of new friends.
Our area of learning this half term has a Geography focus and is all about maps and mapping skills.
Please see below, the knowledge organiser, which provides more detail of what the children will be learning as well the knowledge organisers for science and the curriculum overview for this half term.
 
Week 7: 16.10.23 to 20.10.23
I can't quite believe that this first half term has finished and what a high it has finished on. Thursday was our class trip to Butser Ancient Farm. Although the weather forecast looked awful for the day, we only had one downpour at lunchtime when we were sheltering in one of the houses. The trip was planned to bring together this half term's learning about the Stone Age to Iron Age and it definitely delivered on that. We were very fortunate to have Kathy as our leader for the day - she was engaging and brought the learning and activities to life. Thank you Kathy and for the parents who joined us for the day. I also need to say a huge thank you to the children as they were superb all day, from their knowledge, to their questions to their behaviour. Kathy also commented on this too, so WELL DONE Chestnut Class, we are all very proud of you. 
During the day the children made a bead string (cordage), a ring, a chalk carving and handled artefacts. The cordage and ring were tricky to make but they persevered, some of them finding it easier to do than the adults! Hopefully the children now have knowledge about how society, tools and weapons have changed over the course of the prehistoric era and that evidence for what life was like all those years ago is still coming to light. 
 
Next half term our area of learning has a Geographical theme, map skills and the local area. Please could families look for maps of Harting, Petersfield and the surrounding areas and bring into school next week. Thank you.
 
I hope everyone has a relaxing week and I look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday 31st October, dressed as a fairy or a scarey! 
 
Week 4 to 5: 25.09.23 to 6.10.23
I always start with the same phrase  - what a busy two weeks we have had - and surprise, surprise these last two weeks have been no different!
We are still working on place value in maths, 2-digit numbers in year two and 3-digit numbers in year three. Year 2 are now using base 10 to represent the numbers having moved away from using numicon. Year 3 are partitioning numbers using resources such as arrow cards, the part-part whole model and stem sentences such as 321 is the same as 3 hundreds, 2 tens and 1 one. I am very impressed with their understanding so we will start applying this knowledge to addition and subtraction calculations soon.
In English, we have started another key text called Stone Age Boy. The children are enjoying the story and have already written a short description about one of the illustrations. 
Art is particularly fun at the moment, as the children have been drawing to music using charcoal, linking their work where possible to the history learning. 
The children have done very well learning about life in the Stone Age. One of their tasks last week was to create a stone age scene using both natural and man-made materials. I wanted them to demonstrate their understanding by thinking carefully about what they would place in their settlement. The buzz in the room was just great and their settlements were accurate and very detailed. Well done everyone.
The year three children also made rocks from chocolate. By layering milk chocolate and white chocolate shavings then pressing down with their hands they made sedimentary rock. By adding dark chocolate shavings igneous rock was created. The most exciting part was placing their wrapped 'rocks' in warm water and watching the chocolate change; this showed how metamorphic rock is formed. The children were a little cross with me because I wouldn't let them eat their rocks as some of the water had seeped in. Hopefully we will get some time to make some more and then eat the 'rocks' as promised!
The weather has been kind for forest school and the morning group have come back smelling of bonfire, covered in charcoal as well as carrying something they have made whilst there. 
 
Week 3: 18.09.23 to 22.09.23
As always, this last week has been jammed packed, from computing to forest school, from history to PHSE. In maths we continue to learn about our number system using a range of resources to help us understand place value and how our numbers are formed. In English we have continued using the core text Ug as a stimulus for our writing. We imagined being in the stone age and wrote a short diary entry from Ug's point of view. We plan on editing and proof reading our work next week. In History we continue to find out what life was like to live in the stone age and in art the children have created cave paintings using a variety of media. On Friday the afternoon group were very excited at the prospect of going to Forest School. I was very impressed with their concentration although they were looking forward to their afternoon. The morning group came back to school full of energy and excitement, telling me about their clay sculptures and the little limping field mouse which they had seen. I was also impressed with their ability to concentrate on maths and English in the afternoon. Well done everyone for a really productive week. 
 
Week 1: 4.09.23 to 8.09.23
The children have settled in very well this week. It has been lovely having all the year 3s back together and they have looked after the new year 2s who have all come into school with smiling faces which has been delightful. 
We have written about ourselves and what we did on holiday. We have solved problems involving odd and even numbers as well as reading in the library everyday. The children have also explored using charcoal in art with Mrs Perry which they thoroughly enjoyed and have also had some time in the afternoons to play games and to use the construction. 
As we have had such a good start to this academic year all the children received a 'star of the week' certificate in assembly today. Well done everyone and thank you for such a positive start.
 
I hope everyone has had a lovely summer break and was able to enjoy some special times with their families. It was lovely to welcome the children back on Tuesday, those who I have taught before and those who are new to Chestnut class. They were excited to see their friends and had lots to say about their holiday.
Next week I will be introducing the first area of learning for us which is 'The Stone Age to Iron Age'. It is a history based topic which will focus on what it was like to live in that period of history. 
 
Please see below, the knowledge organiser, which provides more detail of what the children will be learning as well the knowledge organiser for science.
 
The curriculum map also shows what we will be covering in the other curriculum areas. 
 
I look forward to sharing more photos and activities as the term progresses. 
 
Knowledge Organisers
 
Please find below the knowledge organisers linked to your child's learning this term. This document provides details of the key knowledge the children are expected to learn across the sequence of learning. We would encourage parents and carers to look at these with their children and regularly spend time discussing the facts on the sheets.