We end our busy term with a trip to Shrewsbury museum and a visit to the birth place of Charles Darwin. In the first half of the term we learnt all about Charles Darwin and his voyage to the Galapagos Islands. After finding out all about him, we had to visit where he was born and grew up to find out more! 
When we arrived at the museum, we found out all about Charles as a child and about his family, then we were just like Charles, and went on a hunt for shells, fossils, beetles and bugs. Once we had found them all, we sorted them into different categories, just like Charles had done on his adventures. We then studied different artefacts and drew them using a quill and ink - just like Charles would have done!
When we arrived at Charles Darwin's birth place, we discovered a large oak tree in the garden which Charles Darwin's father planted. We then went into the dining room and explored upstairs and saw his nursery and room in which he was born. We felt so lucky to be able to visit! 

We hope that you have all had a wonderful summer and a well deserved rest. We are really looking forward to the new school year ahead. 

History
In Daffodils class this half term, we will be finding out about Charles Darwin and his work studying nature and his discovery of new animals. We will be learning about his important voyage to the Galapagos Island. We are hoping to go on a visit to Shrewsbury to find out more about him. More information will follow!
Through mantle of the expert, we will travel back in time and join Charles Darwin on his voyage to the Galapagos Island and find out what he discovers along the way!
We will write a story and a diary entry, about our adventures on HMS Beagle.

Art 
In art this half term, we will focus on self portraits and using the work of Frida Kahlo as inspiration. 
Science
In science, we will be finding out about animals. We will identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. We will identify and name a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
Also, notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults and find out about and describe the basic needs of animals for survival.
PE
PE will be every Monday and Friday. Please make sure PE kits are brought into school on a Monday and then taken home on a Friday. PE kits should include plain coloured shorts and jogging bottoms, white or navy t-shirt, trainers and a plain sweatshirt. Please make sure these are clearly named as things can get mixed up whilst getting changed!
Reading.
We will change books each week and children can take home a book to enjoy. Please make sure book bags are in school every day. It is lovely to read your comments, please make sure you fill in reading diaries every time you read.
TT Rocks
This week, children in year 2, will receive their TT Rocks login to access at home. This is a really fun way to learn multiplication tables. Please try to have a go as much as you can, the more times you play the more rewards you get and the better you become at your multiplication tables! 
​https://ttrockstars.com/
We are looking forward to another wonderful year working hard in Daffodils class.
As always, if you have any worries or questions, please let us know.
Mrs Humphreys and Mrs McTweed

We had such a lovely first day back in Daffodils! We talked about how we expect to be treated in Daffodils and zones of regulation. After watching a clip from the film inside out, we talked about the different emotions we might feel and what to do if we find ourselves in any of the zones. We matched pictures showing different emotions, to each of the zones. We had lots of fun in maths playing some number games too! Our busy day ended enjoying reading with our friends and listening to our class book.

What a wonderful year we have had in Daffodils! You are all reaching for the stars!

Here are a few of the highlights of Daffodil class be active week. From cricket coaching in the rain, rugby coaching, TNS Olympic games, to jujitsu, we've had an amazing time.  We enjoyed talks about emergency first aid, water safety and an inspirational talk from a Paralympian, we have learnt so much! 

Once we had written our information leaflets about hedgehogs, we put them in our wildlife rescue centre for people to look at. Here are just a few of them.

We looked at an aerial view of Morda, and located key places in the village. We then created our own map. 

The building company have asked us if we would send them some instructions on how to rescue a hedgehog if they came across one again. We got straight to work! But first, we needed to find out how we write instructions and what features we would see.

While working in the wildlife centre, we had a phone call to say that a hedgehog had been found trapped in a fence. We planned and put together everything we would need to rescue the hedgehog.  
After we had rescued the hedgehog, we considered it's point of view and listened to it's story. We then got into role as if we were the trapped hedgehog!

It is important as part of our role, to know all about hedgehogs. We got to work on researching all about them.

We have enjoyed our work in class so much, we are doing more at home!

We are beginning to explore what makes a structure stable. We tested different 3D shapes to see which one would support the most weight. We then decided the best way to place the 3D shapes to hold the most weight.

This morning, we took time to think about why it is important for us to remember DDay. We were joined by Yin in assembly, where he explained what DDay means to us. Back in class, we watched a short video, which showed us why we must never forget. 

As part of our drama, we decided that we needed a wildlife rescue centre. We came up with plans of what the rescue centre would look like. Once this was done, we decided what role we would have:
vet
veterinary nurse
receptionist
onsite team to protect animals in the wild
responsible for the night vision cameras 
security
fundraising to keep the centre running
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We hope that you have had an enjoyable half term and ready to start another busy half term. Our focus this half term will be on our  locality and the geographical features of our area. We will be looking at the impact property development has on wildlife and what we can do to help. 
Mantle of the Expert - through our Mantle of the Expert dramatic play, we will become wildlife experts working for the wildlife trust. We will be helping a building developer to make sure wildlife is protected and their habitat is not destroyed.
Literacy - We will be researching wildlife and writing information text for the developers. We will be then writing a story in the perspective of a trapped hedgehog!
Science - We will be looking at classification of animals and the life cycle of animals. To link with our geography topic, we will be looking at how we can protect wildlife and their habitats.
Maths - In maths this half term there will be some consolidation of learning from throughout the year. Year 3 will have a focus on multiplication, so please make sure you are logging on TT Rocks regularly! 
Design and Technology - We will be exploring the concept and features of structures and the stability of different shapes. We will then make a structure according to a design criteria and produce a finished structure and evaluate its strength, stiffness and stability.

This half term is going to be  busy one, so please make sure you check weekly reminders on the website. Hopefully, we will see some sunshine, so remember to bring in a hat and apply sun cream before coming to school. 
As always, if there are any worries or questions please don't hesitate to come and speak to us.
Mrs Humphreys and Mrs Kavanagh 


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To get the point of view of the hedgehog, we got into role as if we were the trapped hedgehog in the fence. What would we be thinking? How would we feel? When we were touched on the shoulder, we told everyone our thoughts.

In art this half term, alongside our painting, we have been developing our observational drawing skills. 

Through a narrative, we experienced and began to empathise and understand what it was like for people going to the workhouse in Morda. We imagined what we could hear, see, smell and touch as we walked along the path to the workhouse.

From this narrative, we then created a bank of adjectives and creative sentences to use in our descriptive writing.

Here are just a few of our wonderful workhouse diaries......

Working hard on our watercolour paintings.

In PSHE this half term we have been thinking about our school rule, be kind. This week, we wrote cards and notes to people who were feeling lonely to make their day happier. We discussed how acts of kindness can make someone feel happy and can also make us feel happy too! We then sent our cards to a charity programme called Pupil Pals, who would then send our cards to people to brighten their day.