New Year, New Term and a New Class!!

Wow – look I’m back, with a new year, a new term and a new class!!

The blogging continues!

The topic has started and it’s going very well – all the children in the class appear to have connected with the subject of global gourmet.

We have looked at our favourite recipes, food and we’ve now made some Sanbusaks (and they were very tasty!) We are cooking again tomorrow, so we are looking forward to that!!

We will upload some pictures at the end of the week.

Have a great week.
Take care 
Mr D  

Count the birds on the school grounds!?!

That’s another day over, why do they go so quick?

This afternoon I had time out of the class for my planning, preparation and assessment, which means my blog is going to be shorter today!

This morning however was a great one, where all the children put in a fantastic effort. Within Literacy all pupils worked well, whilst at the same time extending their writing experience. A selection of children had the opportunity to read and all the children participated in the spelling test.

After that we had another session on graphs, in particular we looked at block graphs. At the same time we also looked carefully at why graphs are important and why they are needed. We also thought how we could use the graphs in a more interesting way. One child suggested we could record and show the results of the birds, on the school grounds in a graph. That sounds like the next lesson!!

That’s all for today’s blog.
Take care
Mr D

Dinosaur teeth, First Aid and graphs - What a day!

Sadly today Mrs Ward and a few members of the class were off school due to illness. They were all missed - I hope you all feel better soon.

We started the day with a discussion on what a graph was and why we used it. We decided that a graph is a chart used to display results, in a clear organised way.  Over the next couple of days we will be looking at bar graphs and pictographs. 

After the break we continued our literacy, about the World of Work from yesterday and  continued our spelling journals for the week.

In the afternoon the Year 3’s went on a basic First Aid session, which lasted all afternoon.

As this left only Year 2’s, we started with a walk around the school thinking and looking about teeth. We went through the infant classes gathering information and ideas to take back to the class. When we got back to class the children carried out their own research in order to discover what they could about teeth. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy this learn a lot from their own active learning.

One girl was amazed how many teeth a dinosaur had,  When I asked her why she thought it was because they were nasty eaters! Whilst at the same time another girl was amazed how many teeth a bird didn’t have,  through question she told me that she thought they used their beaks to rip food apart! This was just the start I cant wait to do further research.

Time for me to go, its been a long day and my Spaghetti Bolognese is calling!
Blog again tomorrow.
Mr D

Children are sponges!

I’ve been thinking, after last week, today’s blog is going to seem soooooo boring! I mean there was no special guests and not really any funny comments. Today it was back to normal, if there is such a thing!

We spent the morning listening to all the children read, while they completed their spelling journals. There spelling journals are  a way of helping the children learn to spell five words and then understand the words definition and context.

During the day we also wrote about our favourite visitors, from last week. It was important the children thought about what they liked and learnt from the visitor that stood out to them. Although at some points last week was very hectic, the exercise proved it was very worth while. The children were able to understand the importance of education,  the importance of working hard in and out of school and that happiness is paramount.

Last week and the children’s knowledge of it just proved to me, how much children absorb - 

             'children are sponges'

- of what they see and hear. Which emphasised to me,  the importance of a good role model and what the children learn from us as adults. 

Just to remind you  that there is NO after school clubs tomorrow (Tuesday) night due to staff training after school.

I hope all is well, I’ll be back blogging soon.
Have a good night.
Mr D

New school blog!

Due to the success of this blog, there is now a new school blog! This will keep you updated with news and events. To view the blog click on the link on the bottom of the welcome screen of Llantarnam Community Primary Schools website. 
Blogging later
Mr D.

Final blog for World of work week.

This is just what you’ve been waiting for, the final blog for last week!

As a conclusion to the World of work week, we spent the first part of the morning thinking about our personal journey through life. The main focus was on what we wanted to do in the future and what we needed  to do to get there. We also used the opportunity to think about the week and what we had learnt.  We decided the most important things we had learnt was to try our best in everything we do and  to be happy with what we achieve.

After morning break the children, had the final visitors of the week. It was the local fire fighters with their fire engine! Sadly I missed their talk but I understand my children loved it, especially using their hose!

In the afternoon we looked at our topic Wales and the World and in particular we thought about Adinka symbols, which originally come from Ghana. Adinka are visual symbols, that are used on fabric, walls, in pottery, woodcarvings and logos.  There main purpose  is to communicate loving messages that represent parts of their life or those around them. There are lots of  different symbols, which all have unique looks and meanings. After our discussion the class created some Adinka stamps to create special cards for the people they love.

I hope you have all had a great Mother’s Day. I’m looking forward to a normal week!! Don't forget your sponser forms for the NSPCC - last day tomorrow! 

See you soon guys.
Mr D.

World of work - Day four! (Part 2)

Once we were back in our room, a mother of a girl in our class came in - Mrs George.  Her daughter was really shocked to see her  but was clearly really proud. Mrs George is a very experienced nurse in the Royal Gwent, she works in a ward with thirty beds and told us they are always full! Mrs George went on to tell us that she had always wanted to be a nurse but after 18 years of service that’s no surprise.  She told us that when she was in high school she had to work hard but she also liked to play when she was younger! I still do!  On a more serious note Mrs George has clearly found her vocation.

As if that wasn’t a full day, we then had a visit from a man called Chris Gilmore. He works for a company that helps people with problems relating to their gas supply. He told us that school was really important and it gave him a  foundation for his life. Mr Gilmore went to say that he started at the bottom and has worked very hard and is now a manager. His message to us was that the most important thing is that you are always happy with what you are doing. 

Our final guest for the day was a man called Dilwyn Jones, who was a farmer for fifty years. He told us how he got up earlier every morning and cared for his animals. He then had to milk 150 cows! That’s a lot of cows and even more milk! For the last ten years he has worked as a landscape gardener and  he has really enjoyed his work. He enjoys seeing the finished product and watching plants grow.  Dilwyn told us that the most important thing is to enjoy your job and to pick it carefully.   

After all that in School, I even went to a fitness class, and now I’m exhausted!  I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for reading
Blog soon
Mr D