Otterbourne Church of England
Primary School
With God's love, all are encouraged to thrive
TRUST
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DETERMINATION
TRUST
RESPECT
DETERMINATION
TRUST
RESPECT
Year 3/4 (Chameleons) (pre-2022)
Stubbington Day 2
Stubbington Day 1
The children in Year 3 and 4 enjoy the opportunity to work with new children outside their usual year group. This not only enables them to develop new friendships across the school, but also gain new skills as they collaborate with children of a different age.
During the year we aim to offer the children a broad range of experiences, both in and out of school, and develop their independence and responsibility for their own learning. This is vitally important as they prepare to move into upper key stage 2.
The Year 3/4 teaching team is:
Mr Gasson - Class Teacher (Chameleons)
Mr O'Dowd - Class Teacher (Geckos)
Miss Taylor - Class Teacher (Iguanas)
Mrs Simmons/Mrs Morgan/Mrs Compton - PPA cover
Mr Bagge - ICT
Mrs Slominski (LSA support - AM), Mrs Buttwell (LSA support - AM), Mrs Hern (LSA Support - AM), Miss Sanders (LSA support - AM), Mrs. Welch (LSA supprt - AM).
Homework Rota:
Homework for Chameleon class will be set via Google Classroom - It will be available from Wednesdays and is due in on the following Monday.
Library Time : Wednesday
Reading Diary: Please bring in your reading diary on Mondays so we can give out house points!
P.E.: Indoor PE is on a Thursday Afternoon. Outdoor PE time is on Monday afternoons. The children in Year 4 will also receive swimming lessons later in the year. Please ensure that all PE kits are in school at all times as the timetable may change.
If there is any aspect of your child's school experience that you would like to discuss in private, please call the school office to arrange a virtual meeting or a phone call. I am also around in the mornings and afternoons on the playground, so please do come and have a chat with me if there is something I can help with.
Chameleon Class Vision
The children have been absolutely delightful on their return to school for the 'spring' term. Please see the attached documents if you would like more information on the curriculum up until Easter. Please stay safe, healthy and enjoy your weekends.
We had such a great time today on World Book Day. Thank you to all the grown-ups that helped to come up with the costumes (I know it can be stressful!) Hopefully we have been inspired to read plenty of new book that you will enjoy sharing with your children at home.
Well done to all the Year 4s who took part in leading the collective worship this week. You all did a fantastic job.
In Science this week we started to investigate micro-habitats within our school grounds. We went to the orchard, woods, field and meadow (which was lovely and muddy!). Ever at this time of year, we were able to find plenty of species beneath logs, under leaves and in the grass.
We have now launched our new topic - Water Aid. We had a great afternoon experimenting with different uses of water. This included building dams.
We ended our topic on Anglo-Saxons and Vikings with a fantastic Viking Day. The climax was a funeral for Eric the Red. Tributes were read out, a longboat was burned and a great feast was had as we celebrate the life of this great Viking. We have really enjoyed this topic and it was a great way to end it.
Viking Helmet Template 2021
Anglo-saxon village life was violently disrupted by a Viking invasion this week in Chameleon Class. We were learning about how historical events like these could be reported and viewed very differently by different groups of people.
The Year 4s have been embedding their knowledge of Addition and Subtraction this week by using concrete resources. This really helps us visualise what is happening when we exchange 10s and 100s.
We really enjoyed acting out the first part of The Iron Man. We will be looking at this book in English over the next few weeks and can't wait to find out what will happen next.
For outdoor learning day, we decided to take our handwriting down to the woods. It amazing how many opportunities we found to practice our writing with natural resources or even just our fingers.
Super Science: We have been continuing our learning about animal classification out on the meadow with Mrs. Morgan.
This week we have been using our outdoor environment to help us practicing what we have learned in Maths. Don't forget to have your wellies and waterproofs in school at all times. We want to make the most of our fantastic learning environment.
CHAMELEON CLASS WEEKLY UPDATE AND SPELLINGS for SUMMER TERM! :)
Roman Day Pictures!
Autumn 2 - Week Two!
Hello everyone!
We have worked so hard this week on lots of different things! In English we have had a grammar focus on writing from different points of view and writing in different tenses. This included learning about a new tense - the perfect present tense! See if your children can explain how this tense works and when you might want to use it!
We know how lucky we are to have such beautiful surroundings in school so we went down to the wildflower patch and the woods and spread some seed bombs and wildflower seeds ready for next Spring. This is really important for maintaining the plants and the wildlife that live in the school grounds.
We also started making prototypes for our Roman chariots using materials from around the classroom. This followed on from an afternoon of learning about how axles work and why they are so important to vehicles!
We also spent some time learning about Remembrance and why it is still so important today. The children created some beautiful pieces of art work based on the poem, 'In Flander's Fields'.
Please do let me know if you have any problems or queries. It is a shame we can't keep in touch in the normal way of a quick chat on the playground, but I am more than happy to receive phone calls/emails!
Have a wonderful weekend. Mrs S x
Autumn 2! Week One
Welcome back to the lovely Chameleons!
I have missed them so much over the half term and it is nice to have a sense of normality back again. The children have really enjoyed being back in class and have shown super behaviour, effort and enthusiasm to our learning this week.
We are very lucky to have a student teacher from the University of Winchester with us until Christmas. Miss Farnes is a PGCE student who is training to be a primary school teacher and will be teaching some of our lessons for the next few weeks. This week, Miss Farnes introduced our new text driver for English, 'I was there - Boudica's army'. We have been thinking about the characters thoughts and feelings and will later use these in diary entries.
In topic, we started learning about the history of Roman chariots in preparation to make our own in the upcoming weeks. In science, Mrs Simmons introduced a new topic about the world we live in. On Thursday it was Outdoor Classroom Day so we donned our wellies and went to the pond for some dipping. This was to gather data for our longitudinal study.
Finally, today we have been looking at the poem, 'In Flanders Fields' and creating some art work for Remembrance next.
I'm sure the children are very worn out after all their hard work and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Mrs S xx
End of Week Six
Hello everyone!
Another fantastic week completed. We have been forging ahead with our English work on Spartapuss and the children have written newspaper reports on Brutia's brutal arrest! We will be finishing those next week.
We wore yellow for mental health day and spent some time thinking about our wellbeing and how to look after ourselves and others around us.
We have found out what the Romans brought to Britain in topic and started some research on what Roman towns looked like and what they included. Next week, we are making Roman town dioramas!
The children have continued to enjoy their time with Mrs Simmons learning about magnetism and doing lots of experiments around the classroom. We hope to start our longitudinal study on the pond next week.
All in all, another great week!
Mrs S x
End of Week Five!
Hi everyone! I hope you are all keeping safe and well. The children have continued to be absolutely wonderful in class and I am enjoying this year SO much! Their behaviour is always beautiful, they are well mannered, polite, kind and such good fun to be around. I feel like a very lucky teacher!
In English we have finished our instruction writing unit and have moved on to newspaper reports. They had great fun coming up with headlines including puns and alliteration for a story about Brutia the dog being sent to jail in our Spartapuss story! Some of them really made me laugh! 
In topic we have continued learning about Boudicca and her rebellion. We did this by acting out different stages of the story in various different characters, thinking carefully about how each of them might be feeling at each stage. It was EXCELLENT! We have also started learning French this week and found out where France was, what their flag looks like, its borders and some of its customs and traditions.
Today we have had a PSHE focus on mental health and wellbeing for World Mental Health Day tomorrow. Thank you for sending the children in with yellow items to show their support. We have made Mental Health ambassador lanyards, done some maths mindfulness colouring and learned how to meditate this afternoon.
Thank you all so much for your continued support. If you need anything, please call or email anytime.
Mrs S xx
End of Week Four!
Good afternoon everyone. I hope you are all safe and well and keeping dry on these nasty weather days!
This week we have had such fun in class. Firstly, one of the stick insects, affectionately named 'Tyrannosaurus Stick' by the children, shed its skin and then ate it! We managed to get a picture too! The children have been very good at looking after, feeding and watering our new class pet.
We have continued our learning about Ancient Rome and enjoyed learning about the Colesseum and chariot racing. We have also been learning about Harvest and why scarecrows are important for keeping crops safe. We even made our very own to protect the meadow!!
In English, we have continued our unit on 'I am Spartapuss' which saw us making 'mice crispy cakes' to send to Spartapuss in jail. After, we wrote down the recipe for Katrin, the chef, using time connectives and imperative verbs carefully. I showed the children how important it was to be precise and specific with instruction by making some very unusual jam sandwiches!
Each morning or afternoon we like to sing a little song to calm us down ready for the learning ahead. This morning I filmed the children doing it, it always puts a huge smile on all our faces and is a really lovely start to the day!
Please let me know if you have any problems/queries and I will do my best to help :)
Mrs S x
good-morning-video_gzSZHdJU.compressed (1).mp4
End of Week Three
Another week done and dusted in school and it feels like we have been back forever!
This week we have been writing invitations and letters in English and finding out all about time connectives and imperative verbs ready to write our very own recipes next week! This is all linked to our English book, 'I am Spartapuss'. The children are really enjoying it and I have seen some lovely pieces of descriptive writing this week.
In topic, we have have been finding out about how the Romans invaded Britain and why. We have also found out more about the differences between Celtic and Roman soldiers and why the Romans were more successful in their invasion on Britain the second time round. Next, we will be learning about what the Romans liked to do for entertainment, ahead of designing and building our own Roman Chariots! Today you should have also received a letter about a Roman themed day taking place on Friday 11th December, very exciting!
The children have been very busy in science with Mrs Simmons testing lots of different materials in their forces topic and in PE they have enjoyed playing some invasion games on the playground with R&R. In music we have been learning the words and dance moves to a Roman song called, 'Like a Roman. If you want to practise at home the video is on YouTube.
The stick insects have now settled in very well and are deeply camouflaged, so much so that I worry every day that they have escaped somewhere in the classroom!
Whilst the weather is cold and rainy, please ensure your children have a jumper and a coat as we will still be outside learning as much as possible. We also need an indoor and outdoor PE kit at all times, and some wellies in their lockers too!
Thank you so much for all your support. Mrs S x
End of Week Two!
Hello everyone!
We have been so busy this week with lots of fun and exciting learning. We kicked off the English with our new book, 'I am Spartapuss'. A story about a Roman cat ends up becoming a gladiator for a crime he didn't commit!
Then we investigated word classes with a fun time challenge carousel game (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) and looked more deeply into what conjunctions are.
In history we kicked off our new topic, 'Romans on the Rampage' with thinking about why the Romans wanted to invade other countries. We looked at how far they travelled and where Ancient Rome appears on the historical timeline. The children were fantastic!
On Thoughtful Thursday we started the day by giving each other compliments in the morning and completed Supermovers timestables songs today on Fitness Friday!
During all of this we earned lots of marbles towards a star party AND gained all of our power marbles (linked to our learning toolbox values). This led to the children receiving an EXTRA SPECIAL class prize today at lunctime. Their very own class pet!
The children are so excited about looking after the stick insect eggs and creating the perfect environment for them, so we went out hunting for sticks and leaves they would like to eat. We also set up a little damp bed for them to lay in until they are ready to hatch. Let's hope on Monday we may have some baby stick insect nymphs to look after!! :)
Well done to Jack and Emarra for being star of the week this week and last - it has been so deserved as have all the other Wizard Workers, Superstars and house points.
Can't wait to see you all on Monday but have a lovely weekend before then!
Mrs S xx
(photos to follow!)
End of week one!
We have had such a lovely week together! We have spent quite a lot of time getting to know each other by playing games, dropping eggs and decorating our lovely classroom. We have made dream catchers to trap any worries we may have about coming back to school, individual chameleons to show how unique we all are and started reading our class book, 'The Christmasaurus'!
The children have been utterly wonderful and I am so proud of their resilience and attitude. We have had such a fun time and I am genuinely excited about the year we have ahead of us.
Next week, we will start our Romans topic which we are all very excited about :)
Mrs S x
WELCOME BACK CHAMELEON CLASS!!
Wow! We are here! It didn't really feel like we would ever get to this point but here we are :)
We have had a wonderful first day together and I have been so impressed with the children's attitude and resilience in being back to school. They are a lovely group of children and I know we are going to have a fantastic year.
Today we have played some 'getting to know you' games, studied Frida Kahlo and created self portraits using natural materials and completed a team building egg drop challenge! Phew what a busy day! I think they will sleep well tonight.
Please do let me know if you have any concerns or queries, and I will always do my best to help wherever possible.
Mrs S x
What a lovely week!!
I just wanted to post a quick message this evening to say what a lovely week we have had in Chameleon class. After the HUGE success of SON on Friday, I am still trying to catch my breath a little bit. I truly was so overwhelmed by the whole project and I am so proud of each and every one of my class.
This week we have enjoyed all sorts of exciting learning, from the opening of Mrs Simpson's supermarket in maths to the talent show today (Congrats Megan - so well deserved!!!).
We have also enjoyed Sports Relief today, walking a collective 100 miles across the school and the school disco last night which was fantastic as always!!
Amongst all that, preparations for Bushcraft, Y3 collective worship (20th) and the Y3/4 Easter performance are now well underway.. What a busy time!!
I have a big smile on my face this evening and looking forward to next week :)
Mrs S xx
Our Tomato Sauce Viscosity Experiment. In Science today we designed an experiment to test the viscosity of tomato sauce as an example of a flowing liquid. We shared our ideas and came up with a method. In groups we used a planning sheet to help us say what we were asking, what we had to keep the same and what to measure. The only factor we changed was the type of sauce. We weighed the sauce with digital scales, timed the race with a stopwatch and recorded the results in a table. Most people found that Waitrose tomato sauce was the most viscous and took a long time to reach the finish line. Mrs Simmons
World Book Day 'crime scene' investigation
This year on World Book Day, the children of Year 3/4 stepped into the shoes of an investigator to solve a mysterious break-in in the library. They arrived at school on Thursday morning to find a part of the library cordoned off with police tape, and an assortment of crime scene evidence behind it, including: paw prints, tufts of fur, a train ticket to London Waterloo and a sandwich filled with a suspiciously orange sticky spread. Whoever it was, they did not manage to get to the sandwich - but they certainly tried. Who could it have been?
They had to read suspect alibis, cross-reference with witness statements and examine clues left at the scene to narrow down who could have committed the dastardly crime. Pupils worked in groups in a carousel around the room, using their worksheets to decide whether the evidence at each table could incriminate or absolve the suspects.
In the end it was a unanimous decision: it could not have been Father Bear, because we had his cinema ticket as proof that he could not have been at Otterbourne School at the time the crime occurred. It could not have been Corduroy, as he was wearing his new trainers and the evidence found at the scene included shoe-less paw prints. It could not have been Tiger, as though he had a red hat which matched one of the witness statements, his fur did not match that which was found at the scene. Therefore, the children were able to prove without a doubt that the culprit was indeed Paddington Bear!
We followed up on Friday by writing a newspaper article about the sensational situation; including quotations from witnesses, pupil detectives and Paddington himself.
Miss Bennett :)
Spring into Fitness and Wellbeing!
We have had a great week so far learning all about how to keep our minds and bodies healthy.
On Monday we enjoyed doing some workouts from Joe Wicks, Tuesday was spent in the rain doing pancake races, an internet safety chat with Mr Bagge on Wednesday and today we have enjoyed a full timetable of fitness and health activities, teamed with learning about how to evaluate and build our self esteem. What a week!!
Tomorrow we are looking forward to spending the morning with Mrs Cook doing yoga, and finishing a very hectic, but wonderful week with Robin from SON. This week he is bringing Ian Williams, Professor of Applied Environmental Science and Associate Dean (Enterprise) within Engineering and Physical Sciences. We are so very excited about our performance next week.
Fingers crossed the sun stays with us as we head into the weekend.
Mrs S x
Project showcase!
Today the class showcased their excellent projects that they have been working on over the last few weeks. I am amazed! They have clearly put a lot of time, effort and research into them and they are all wonderful. Well done everyone!
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed with cakes and pennies for the Years 3 and 4 bake sale. We raised a huge £145 for the South Central Ambulance Service. We'll done!!
Have an excellent half term and see you in a week for our exciting new topic, 'Bella Italia'!
Mrs S xx
Synagogue DT!
Today, we put our knowledge about Judaism and Special Places into practice and created Synagogue dioramas!
The children were so, so resourceful with the objects they had been given and it was lovely to see their knowledge of the Synagogue and all things associated being presented in a different way. They really showed off what they remembered the Synagogue to look like, and wowed me with their understanding of the different areas inside.
I will put some pictures of the finished products up later in the week :)
Well done!!!
xx
Halfway Point!
Another Friday down, and just two Fridays to go until half term. We have an awful lot to do in that time, so our timetable is looking VERY busy between now and then!
The children have been working hard on their new Iron Man topic, and have been enjoying writing from the perspective of others in diary entries and recounts. We have also been working on our Art skills, using charcoal and white chalk to create 3D and metal effects on our very own Iron Man drawings.
The SON project will now be visiting us weekly ready for our concert on Saturday 7th March. A letter about this is being sent on Monday.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and look forward to seeing you all on Monday!
Mrs S x
Welcome Back!
A big welcome back to school to everyone and also a huge thank you for your generosity with cards, gifts and wishes at the end of last term. It really means a lot and I am very grateful!
We have come back to school full of energy and excitement for the new term ahead and we have already started our new topic, 'What a wonderful world?' This is an extension to our topic last half term, where we will be thinking about the human impact on habitats around the globe. This topic will continue to work in collaboration with The SON Project and more exciting news will follow regarding this.
We are also looking at a new text in English, 'The Iron Man' by Ted Hughes. So far, we have predicted what we think the book will be about, brainstormed ideas about iron and what we know about the metal, and used role play to generate ideas about what the two seagulls saw and felt as they watched The Iron Man fall from the cliff. The children are very engaged in this text already and I am excited to see the outcomes which come from it.
As always, if you need anything please catch me on the playground at the start or end of the day.
Mrs S x
Welcome back!
A big welcome back to school after half term. I hope you all had a lovely week and are ready for the exciting things to come this term. In some exciting news, we have received a letter from Newsround asking us to write and produce our own Newsround style TV report on plastic pollution around Otterbourne Village.
Therefore, we kicked off our new topic 'What a Wonderful World' yesterday with a litter pick around the village to find out about the extent of plastic pollution where we live. It was a little wet and muddy, but the children were good at persevering and we rescued lots of rubbish and plastic from the grounds around our school and village recreation ground.
When we got back to school, we carefully sorted the waste and looked at what could have been recycled. It was a shame to see that lots of the rubbish we found could have been placed into the recycling bin!
Today, we have been watching clips of Blue Planet 2 and Planet Earth 2 to find out about the extent of plastic pollution affecting the Earth and the animals who inhabit the world with us. This will help to inform the writing of our news reports later this week.
If you are able to offer any expertise in any aspect of our learning this term, please make yourself known! We love to have people come to school and speak to the children about their work/hobbies. We would especially like to hear from anyone who works in recycling, upcycling, waste disposal or waste management.
As always if you have any questions, please catch me in the morning or after school.
Mrs S xx