Did you have a good Christmas?

Thank-you to everyone who engaged in our first ever Santa discussion on SWGfL Merlin, despite being very busy Father Christmas managed to reply to every child who wrote, sketched or filmed a message to him in the run up to Christmas. He would now like to know if you had a good Christmas? Father Christmas' new discussion on SWGfL Merlin reads: 'Ho Ho Ho! It has been a busy time but I am back safe in the North pole and the Elves have already started preparing for next Christmas. Did you have a good Christmas? Why not use this discussion board to tell others what I bought you in my sleigh and what you did over the Christmas holiday. Did you visit family? Did you play games? Did anyone see snow? I look forward to reading your replies!' Login to SWGfL Merlin now to join in. #

Prince of Wales School Calendar for 2012

The Prince of Wales School Calendars for 2012 have now arrived! Come and collect the calendars that you have pre-ordered at the School performances (in the main hall) or after school by the Office.  If you haven't managed to order one and you would like one, please come and speak to us as soon as possible.

Christmas Puddings - last chance!

Do you need a tasty pudding for Christmas? Hold off on that supermarket shop..... POWSA will be selling super tasty Plum puddings and Chocolate puddings from the 'Ulitmate Plum Pudding Company'. All proceeds will go directly to The Prince of Wales School. Buy them at the Christmas Performances on Tuesday 13th, Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th December 2011 in the main school hall.

POWSA Christmas Fair 2011

A big thank you to everyone that attended (and especially those that helped at)
the school fair. We had a great time and managed to raise a fantastic £721.55!

Fri 16th Dec - School Carols

This year we have decided to end the term with 'Carols in the School hall' as we tried out last year. This is a lovely opportunity for all children, staff and parents to squeeze in and sing together!



If you wish to join us then 2.45pm is the beginning of the Carols, please bear in mind that there might not be chairs due to numbers but we will gladly hand over a carol sheet and place words onto the screen!


Lastly, if you are a musician and would like to come and play along please let me know as we love the opportunity for children to see people playing instruments.


Many thanks,  Mrs Mewett

Song for Dorchester

As a school, we are keen to support the 'Song for Dorchester' project currently being run by the Mayor of Dorchester. One plan to do this is to send a tag cloud to the mayor with our thoughts in and we would love you to help us with this. To add to the tag cloud, simply click the 'Song for Dorchester - Contribute Now' button at the top of school website homepage. This should take you to a form where you can give us your one word that describes Dorchester. The more popular a word is, the bigger it will appear in the tag cloud. Before sending the tag cloud to the mayor, I will share this with you all through our whole school blog. Thank-you for your help in advance. Mr. Spracklen

Christmas Show

The children are enjoying rehearsing for the Christmas Show - The Peace Child.
Thank you for sending in the costumes. We hope to see you at one of the performances.
DM

“Ho Ho Ho!” - Father Christmas is now on SWGfL Merlin

Pupils can now join a discussion started by Father Christmas using SWGfL Merlin. To access the special Father Christmas page, log in to SWGfL Merlin and click the ‘Father Christmas comes to Merlin’ title. On this page you will find a Christmas countdown, Christmas games and even a ‘Santa Tracker’. At the very bottom of the page you will see  a ‘Father Christmas’ discussion board’. He has already posted his first question asking you: “What you are doing to prepare for Christmas? Have you put up your Christmas tree yet? Have you started your Christmas shopping? Have you written me a letter telling me what you want for Christmas?”. Log in now to join the discussion.

REMINDER - POWSA CHRISTMAS FAIR! (TONIGHT)

Just a short reminder to say that the POWSA Christmas Fair is tonight (Friday 2nd December, 2011). The Christmas Fair will take place in the school hall from 3.30pm until 6.00pm. Teas and cakes will be available from the pre-school stall from 3.00pm onwards. We hope to see you all their supporting POWSA (The Prince of Wales School Association) and their fundraising for the school. Mr. Spracklen

Fri 9th Dec

All musicians who learn an instrument at The Prince of Wales School have been invited to play a Christmas piece in this informal assembly if they wish to. The main purpose of this is to give all the opportunity to play in front of an audience, work towards a goal and hopefully enjoy themselves and give them confidence for the year ahead!
The assembly will begin at 10.10am, if you and your child are happy for you to come along then of course you’re welcome to sit on a bench along the side of the hall and watch the performance.


Any questions please see me. The music teachers should have made clear to children if they are performing or not.


Mrs Mewett

Christmas Games for all on SWGfL Merlin

The '12 Games of Christmas Game' is now available for all pupils to play through SWGfL Merlin. This features 12 educational games and activities for children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The games have a value of £29.99 and we hope that you will enjoy playing them free through SWGfL Merlin. P.S - If you have forgotten your login details, please see Mrs. Dukes in the Library or Mr. Spracklen who will happily get you a fresh copy.

OLYMPIC TORCH HAND OVER

On Monday 28th November 2011, pupils from our school took the DASP Olympic Torch to Manor Park. Carrying banners proclaiming the Olympic values, we walked across town to deliver the Torch. As we passed Dorchester Middle School, we were cheered on by all the pupils who had come out of lesson to see us. On our walk we were accompanied by members of the Thomas Hardye Student Voice. A large number of Manor Park children welcomed us on our arrival and watched the handover of the Torch.

Olympic Fun

Well done to the children in Year 3 who made a great effort to learn some of those Olympic Facts last week.
We had an enjoyable week working on the Olympic theme. Gold medals for the whole class!

Wonderful Maths Homework.

Thank you Tom Stevens and Thomas Hoskins for some wonderful measuring homework.  Tom has weighed various items around his house and taken digital photographs of the measurements he found and the objects he weighed.  He even found that a tiny lego figure weighed just 4g.  Thomas has been using his measuring skills around the farm and provided me with the recipe for preparing feed for the cattle!  Wow, Thomas, don't they eat a lot!

DASP Olympic Torch Arrives

Today (23/11/11) we received the DASP Olympic torch which is making its way around all the schools in the Dorchester Area Schools Partnership. Today children from St Mary’s Dorchester shared with us some of their learning about the Olympics. On Monday (28/11/11) November some of our children will be making their way across town to Manor Park. We shall be working with some of their classes and passing on the work we have done in making our banners. All of this will be filmed by students from Thomas Hardye School. For more information on the torch relay visit the dedicated page on the DASP website: http://www.dasp.org.uk/daspolympictorch.htm. Mr. Spracklen

MARK NEWTON - PARALYMPIC MEDALIST VISITS

Today Mark Newton, former pupil of Maiden Castle School visited us. Mark competed at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, winning a bronze medal in the 4 X 100m relay. Mark, who has cerebral palsy, led an assembly with Mr. Spracklen and unveiled a special piece of art work that the pupils in Year 2 have created. The work includes a picture of mark made of all the images of pupils in Year 2 using a mosaic effect. Mark inspired us to think about what we could become if we are determined enough. Following the assembly, Mark worked with unit roll and other pupils on a special PE session led by Mrs. Hibberd. Mark also visited each class and had a picture taken. We now all very inspired! Mr. Spracklen

Olympic Facts - Home Learning

I have given the children a piece of writing about the Olympic Games. For their home learning this week I have asked them to try to learn some facts that are mentioned on the sheet so that they can take part in an "Olympic Quiz" on Friday afternoon. (They should not learn the countries where previous Games have taken place; apart from the first one- Athens 1896 and -also London 1948)
They will also be given some time in school to read the text with their "Reading Groups".

Here is a copy of the text:

 Modern Olympic Games – Some interesting facts



The best amateur athletes in the world match skill and endurance in a series of contests called the Olympic Games. Almost every nation sends teams of selected athletes to take part.


The purposes of the Olympic Games are to foster the ideal of a "sound mind in a sound body" and to promote friendship among nations.


The modern Olympic Games are called the “Olympic Games” because of athletic contests held in ancient Greece.


They were banned in AD 394 but were revived and made international in 1896.


They take place every four years.


The Winter Games were added in 1924.


World War I forced cancellation of the Olympics in 1916.


World War 2 forced cancellation in 1940, and 1944.


After 1992, the “Winter” and “Summer” Games were no longer held within the same calendar year.


Winter Games were scheduled for 1994, after only a two-year interval, and every four years thereafter.


The Summer Games were scheduled for 1996, and every four years thereafter.


In most events men and women do not compete together against each other.


Summer and Winter Sports - more facts for you


Summer sports include archery, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian events (horseback riding), fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, handball, judo, rowing, shooting, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, weight lifting, wrestling, and yachting.


Winter events include skating, skiing, bobsledding, luge, tobogganing, ice hockey, and the biathlon (skiing-shooting).


The Decathlon (from the Greek words deka, meaning "ten," and athlon, "contest"). Contestants compete in ten different running, jumping, and throwing events. The athlete scoring the greatest total number of points is the winner. The Pentathlon, consisting of five such events- based upon five military skills--fencing, riding, running, shooting, and swimming. The Marathon race, covering 26 miles 385 yards, honors the ancient Greek runner Pheidippides, who ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory against the Persians.

DM

Well done Year 3 Great Assembly

Well done to all the children in Year 3 for their excellent contributions to our "Adventures of Jack Spice" Assembly.

Year 3 Maths Home Learning

Home learning – Year 3 – 18th November 2011


I would like you to start learning your 3 and 6 times tables this week. Use what ever method you like, from chanting to times table toons on Mathletics. I will be checking your tables and issuing certificates for all of the effort you have put in.

Speaking of Mathletics...
Year 2 have been regularly achieving 15 certificates as a class.  I think we need to compete.  Can year 3 beat them next week? 


We have started looking at measuring weight this week. The children have looked at kg and g and begun to estimate and compare weights of objects. At home I would like the children to find out the weight of different objects around the house and write them down; they should include units g or kg.

You could do this with cooking ingredients, small objects, large objects or even people if you are feeling brave!

I look forward to seeing their work.

Assembly on Friday

We do hope that you can come along to our "Adventures of Jack Spice" Assembly on Friday 18th November (9.20 am).
The children have been asked to come to school dressed as "sailors from the olden days". If you are happy for them to, then they can come to school dressed like that, and remain dressed like that for the rest of the day.
See you Friday.
Duncan Macbean

PS - another joke for you:
Why do pirates survive on desert islands?
Because of all the sand which is there.

Ofsted Parent View

As you know at the Prince of Wales First School we are always looking for feedback and encourage you to provide this in a variety of ways. Whether this is through face-to-face conversation, comments on our class blogs or through our annual parents questionnaire, we always welcome your feedback. Building on this, we would now encourage you to go online and express your views using the new ‘Parent View’ website from Ofsted. This 12-question survey will help other parents as they make important choices about their child’s education and provide Ofsted with information about our school that will help them inform their priorities for inspection. The questionnaire does not allow free text comments but invites responses to a series of closed questions. To express your view, please visit our school website now and click on the parent tab and look for the link to the Parent View website. Alternatively, visit: http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/.

Class Assembly

Dear Parents,


We are doing an assembly with a “ships and seafarers” theme, entitled “Jack Spice”. Because the children are going to be miming and clambering about in the role of 16th century sailors it will be more effective if they can learn their “lines” rather than read them. Can you please encourage your child to practise what they have to say and help them with the reading where necessary? They are bringing home a copy of their script.

The children will need to dress up as 16th/17th
 Century sailors (but not pirates,.. though fake-moustaches, scars and tatoos are fine!!)

I hope you can come along to the assembly.

It’s on Friday 18th November at 9.20 am.

The Adventures of Jack Spice

Writing an adventure story (historical context)

This is an on-going project over 5 sessions.

It is supported by a series of drama activities to develop ideas and concepts for the story. One chapter will be done as a "Home Learning" project.

Scene changes unfold as follows:

Jack is tricked on board.

Jack learns to become a sailor.

Jack’s ship is attacked by pirates.

There is a mutiny.

They sight land at last. What do they discover?

Learning objectives –

To write a longer story, maintaining the narrative in an appropriate chronological order.

Success criteria –

I have written the extended adventure story of “Jack Spice”.

I have written in sentences marked by capital letters and full stops.

I have used speech marks.

I have thought carefully about my choices of words and I have used “powerful vocabulary”.

Can you help? (Cheese Boxes - Year 2)

Can you help? Miss. Mertens in Year 2 is on the hunt for circular cheese boxes like the one pictured above. If you have any of these boxes we would be very grateful to receive them.

Discussion - What have you been up to this half-term?

A big thank you to Jack in Year 2 who started a discussion in the whole-school area of our SWGfL Merlin pages asking: 'What are you doing this holiday?'. Why not share with Jack and others what you have been up to this half-term through adding text, an image, a video or a sketch? We would all love to hear what people have been doing as well as see the pupils practising their SWGfL Merlin skills. Mr. Spracklen

Science/ DT

Just to let the children know that the 'power up' website I promised to place onto the Yr 3 front page (Merlin)is now online - click on flower photo to access!

Mrs Mewett

POW on the BBC!

On Sunday 30th October at 6pm, BBC2 will showcase excellence in education when it broadcasts the 2011 UK Pearson Teaching Awards ceremony – held at the Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus in London. As you may know, pupils from our school made a film at the end of last term about our school and it has since been made a finalist in the National Teaching Awards, ‘Film my School’ competition. Pupils and staff will be traveling up to London for the awards ceremony and will be joined by host Lenny Henry at the event. Other stars presenting awards include Minnie Driver, Al Murray, David Morrissey and Beverley Knight. More information on the competition and other finalists can be seen at: http://www.teachingawards.com/film_my_school

Home Learning (If you want to?)

We had an excellent I.C.T lesson today in which we recorded an instructional video of how to write a title and add a picture to our e-portfolio. This video is now available on SWGfL Merlin (under the Year 3 page - just click the I.C.T logo) for pupils to watch back at home and refine their skills. I have also set the children the challenge of adding a post to their own blog (within SWGfL Merlin) - another video in the same area explains how to do this. It would be really good if the pupils could explore their e-portfolios at home again before next week to become even more familiar with the interface and tools. In time, we will be uploading our own work to the e-portfolios to show you as parents and each other. Thank-you for your continued support, Mr. Spracklen

Year 3 Home Learning

Home Learning-

Friday 7th October for Friday 14th October

Finish the Story:

We have discussed possible outcomes in class. We talked about how the story could have a problem (like an accident) that needed to be sorted out
………………………………………………………………………

The Beginning of the Story:

One cold November evening, Ravi, Amal and John were walking through the park .They were on their way home after an exciting game of football against the Jesty’s Lane children.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s go and explore that Building Site. It looks like it will be interesting!” said Ravi.

“No way!” said Amal, “That’s way too dangerous!”

“Oh come on it will be fun!” replied Ravi.

They climbed over the fence.

• What did they see, smell, hear?  
• How did they feel? 
• What happened?  
• Was there some sort of crisis, or problem that had to be sorted out

Year 3 Farm Trip

Our thanks to Hazel for another interesting and enjoyable visit to Maiden Castle Farm.
We all found out lots of new things; - particularly about the wheat, barley and maize crops.
The model combine harvester was a popular attraction. (I'm adding one of them to my Christmas list!)
We look forward to seeing the farm again in the Spring.
DM

Football club

Football club will be cancelled tomorrow due to year 3 being on a trip in the afternoon.

P.O.W.S.A Blog

P.O.W.S.A (The Prince of Wales School Association), now has it’s own section of the school website which includes a blog detailing all their latest news and events. To access the P.O.W.S.A page simply click the link labelled ‘POWSA’, at the top of any page within  the school website.

Harvest Festival reminder...

Just to remind all of our community that Harvest Festival is taking place this Friday (30^th Sept) in the school hall. KS 1 begins at 9.15am with produce sold afterwards. Then KS2 begins at 9.50am again with produce being sold afterwards. All produce for Harvest please take to the Servery in the morning; we will be awaiting you to begin placing onto our display areas.

If you are bringing in cakes, etc for the Harvest Café please take this to the classrooms; we will then collect this later on in the day when the hall is prepared for the afternoon. Harvest Café is open to parents, friends from 2.30pm and will close at 4pm, this is so hopefully pre-school children and parents can come over and join us. Children will be able to buy two cakes and a drink for 20p.

We very much look forward to seeing you, thank you for your help and support.

Science/DT

Just to let you know that another learning website has been added onto Merlin, Yr 3 photo gallery page under the 'pink flowers'. This website is an interesting read and play, teaching children about circuits, and components in a fun way. Enjoy!
Mrs Mewett

Great swimming

The children are really enjoying their swimming lessons!
They are working really hard.
Excellent!
DM

Year 3 I.C.T (Week Two)

Today in Year 3 I.C.T we began work on our e-portfolios with SWGfL Merlin which over time will allow us to compile and share a portfolio of work with each other, our teachers and most importantly with you as parents. To access your child's e-portfolio with them, click the My Space tab on any SWGfL Merlin page. By default, an e-portfolio contains a page called Noticeboard containing Web Links and Picture web parts, a page called Shared Files containing a document library, and a blog.  However, the pupils will all have complete control over their e-portfolio and can add and remove pages and web parts as they wish. Pupils can also create other webpages within your e-portfolio, and share them with selected other users. I am sure this is something that the pupils will want to carry on at home and I encourage them to do so. Mr. Spracklen

Stories with a Familiar Setting

In the first term of Year 3 the children are required to study the Literacy Unit -"Stories with a Familiar Setting".
For your interest here is a brief description of the planning provided by the National Literacy Framework:

Stories with a Familiar Setting.
Overview -Read short stories and serialised longer stories and review the main features of the characters, plot and setting. Discuss views, response and preferences as a class. Compare settings and analyse words and phrases used for description. Teacher demonstrates and then children plan and write a story with description of setting, beginning, middle and end. Open with description of setting to set scene. Clear beginning, middle and end.

Phase 1   Read and compare stories with familiar settings. Engage in investigations and analysis of various settings. Discuss atmosphere and common features and themes.
Phase 2    Reread and analyse, investigate and write sentences through modelled and shared composition.
Phase 3   Investigate and write sentences to describe a setting.  Writing of stories.

DM

Year 3 SWGfL Merlin (Problem Resolved)

Thank-you to those pupils and parents who spoke to me about an error which meant that Year 3 pupils were unable to access the Year 3 pages within SWGfL Merlin. This issue is now resolved (I hope?) and you should not be able to access all the required content. Mr. Spracklen

Home Learning

Home Learning


Friday 16th Sept- for Friday 23rd September
Bicycles
The children have been asked to complete a piece of writing about “Bicycles”. We have made a start at this in class by discussing what we know about Bicycles and thinking about how we might organise our ideas into sections.
Thank you,
DM

Science and DT so far in Year 3...

Year 3 have been learning about how electricity is made and the dangers to look out for in our homes. The children have now been introduced to a simple circuit and all used wires, a battery and bulb to make a complete circuit. We have experimented with adding more bulbs, batteries, motors, buzzers into our circuits and have discussed what we see.We are also getting used to very 'scientfic' words such as 'components' and 'cell' meaning 'battery source'. The children have also now come across the word 'conductor' and this week's homework is to find out the word which means ' doesn't allow electricity to pass through' .... beginning with I!
All this science work will help plan our DT topic which is to either design a torch or another object which involves a simple circuit. We start planning next week!
Finally, on Merlin, if the children click onto the pink flower photo I have put up an interesting electricity website which they can access with yourselves to extend their learning further. This will be changed weekly.

Thank you for your support, Mrs Mewett

Year 3 I.C.T

We had an excellent Year 3 I.C.T lesson today where we considered the importance of being S.M.A.R.T when using the Internet. We discussed password safety and all changed our SWGfL Merlin password to something unique. We finished the lesson by watching a video which encouraged us to think about e-safety. This video can be seen at home by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o8auwnJtqE. As parents, I encourage you sit down with your child/children to watch this video and discuss the powerful message which is conveyed. Mr. Spracklen

Bonjour

Bonjour,
Les enfants ont fait le premier cours de Francais du trimestre.

The children had their first French lesson of the term on Tuesday.
We had a lot of fun learning some numbers, colours, and a finger rhyme:
"Voici ma main
Elle a cinq doigts
En voice deux
En voici trois."              I wonder if they could show it to you....

Art Work

The children have had fun creating the backgrounds to their "Seascapes". They experimented with different ways of applying the paint (including using their hands!). They were all wearing painting aprons of course, but some still managed to take a little paint home with them on their clothes...woops sorry.

Things we have been up to

The children have been enjoying finding out about Nelson. They were keen to discuss whether he should be described as a "hero". Most thought that he should.

We enjoyed the funny story "Jolly Roger and the Pirates of Abdul the Skinhead" by Colin McNaughton.

Why are Pirates called Pirates?

(Answer: Because they aRRRRghhhhh)   The children thought I should share that joke with you.. (sorry)

Class Charter

The children in Year 3 had a discussion about how to work together nicely at school. They came up with these ideas:

Class Charter


Follow the seven caterpillars.

Be kind and caring to other people.

Remember to be polite.

Be sensible. (Don’t let other people persuade you to do the wrong thing.)

Share things nicely with other people.

Be friendly and make people feel welcome and included.

Move around the classroom sensibly.

Work together and be cooperative.

Always listen to each other carefully.

Look after the equipment and show respect for the school property.

A very nice start

Thanks to the children for a lovely first day back.

We have discussed a "Class Charter" for how we will support each other with our kind, supportive behaviour at school.

Mr. MacBean told us about his visit to Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column and we started to think about what we would like to find out about Nelson.

Thank you to those children who brought in things to show us from their holiday. Adam kept a fantastic diary.

We hope that you have had a very happy Summer Holiday!

Hello there Year 3,
I hope that you have had a very happy Summer Holiday and are now excited about starting the new term. We are going to have lots of fun this year. There are lots of exciting things planned.
I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

Mr. MacBean

SUMMER HOLIDAY NEWS!

Well done to Mr. MacBean and Mrs. Howell who are the first to respond to our discussion on SWGfL Merlin asking what has been your highlight of the summer holidays. Log on to SWGfL Merlin now by clicking the logo on our school website (www.princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk).

New SWGfL Merlin!

SWGfL Merlin has received a big update and now looks very different with lots of new features and extra functionality. Over the coming weeks Mr. Spracklen will be working hard to prepare our VLE (virtual learning environment) for the new academic year. In the meantime, why not log on to SWGfL Merlin in the usual way and check out what’s new? As one suggestion why not have a go on the V-Me editor which now includes new items like a space suit (see picture) or a pirate costume. To access the V-Me editor simply click the ‘Home’ tab followed by the ‘My Account’ button on the left hand side. For pupils in Years 3 and 4 (or 4 and 5 depending on how you now see yourself) click the ‘My Place’ tab to see you e-portfolio instantly. While you are on it why not update your blog with your latest holiday news? More ideas to follow, Mr. Spracklen.

Holiday Homework

Over the holidays I hope first and foremost you have a relaxing and enjoyable time! When you start to get bored however…




Here is a list of things you might like to try:



1. Write a diary of your favourite bits of your holiday; include pictures, drawings, photos, postcards, etc.

2. Our topic when we get back will be “Ships and Seafarers”. What do you know about famous pirates? Who was the first person to sail around the world? What was Christopher Columbus famous for? Maybe you could find or write a really good story that is set aboard a ship?

3. Mathletics will be available all through the holidays. Look out for tasks that I will set, I will be keeping my eye out for children who get all 6 certificates during the holidays and also those who achieve the most points in a week – look out for your names on the year 3 blog. The year 3 activities will be changing to year 4 activities after the holidays, so see how many gold bars you can make before then!

4. Spellodrome will be available all through the holidays. Check in for new spelling challenges.

5. Through Merlin you also have access to Purple Mash, Education City and Websites linked to our learning throughout the year, so feel free to use them. Also there are some other favourites with the class at the moment – Poptropica and Cool Maths Games. Always ask an adult before you go online.

6. Reading, the local library often have a summer reading challenge, maybe you could enjoy a summer holiday novel together with your brothers and sisters.

7. Times tables and number facts – these are so important to number confidence through year 4 and beyond. Start with the 2s, 5s and 10s; move onto the 3s and 4s; then the 9s and 11s followed by 6s, 7s and 8s. Can you find a fun way to learn and remember these facts?

8. Check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ to keep in touch with what is going on in the world!



Have a wonderful and safe summer. See you in year 4!

Thank you

Many thanks for the wonderful and generous gifts you have given to the year 3 team.  We have very much enjoyed teaching you this year and Miss Johnson is looking forward to continuing with you next year.  The year 3 team wish you a safe and happy holiday.

Open afternoon

Monday 18th July – 2.30pm – 4.30pm


Just a reminder of this opportunity!

In the School hall will be a gallery of all the children’s work compiled through their work this week in school ‘Gambia week’. Also you are more than welcome to visit your current child’s class and look at their work and join in with this session. At 3.30pm you will then be able to go along and meet your child’s new teacher and discuss with them any questions that may have arisen.

We look forward to seeing you Monday!

Football Club

Just a reminder that today was the last football club for this year. Thank You to all the children who have attended and well done in all the tournaments you have taken part in. Mrs Hibberd and Alex Godfrey

What do you think of Merlin?

How do you use it? What are your favourite tools? Are you batty about blogs?  Wild about wikis? Or dotty about discussions? As a pupil you are invited to tell SWGfL Merlin what you think of Merlin and in return for taking part they will put our school forward to win one of three amazing prizes! A year subscription to I am Learning for your school, the Merlin Team in your school for a day and a stunning digital photo frame. To take part in the survey please Click here. (You will need to sign in with your Merlin username and password).

Open Afternoon

Please come and enjoy a cool smoothy and a game of Kubb on Monday 18th July from 2.30pm.  You can have a wander around our gallery, have a look at your children's work, have a chat to the year 3 team and enjoy an ice cold watermelon crush!  What could be better?

The Gambia

We are having an exciting and arty week this week in year 3.  Mr Farrington has been showing us some of his videos and pictures of his trip to The Gambia earlier this year.  We have followed this up in class be finding out about the River Gambia and the country itself.  The work we have produced will be on display in the Gallery on our Open Afternoon - Monday 18th July from 2.30pm.

Echo Vouchers - DEADLINE

Please check your draws, pockets and bags for any remaining ‘Dorset Echo School Build Challenge’ tokens. The last day our school office can accept tokens is Monday (11/07/11). See previous message: 'The Prince of Wales First School are finalists in the Dorset Echo's 'School Build Challenge' which has a top prize of £3000. To win we need as many people as possible to collect vouchers on behalf of our school. The winning school will be chosen by the highest number of votes per pupil attending the school - this means that every single vote counts. Tokens will be printed in the Dorset Echo every day until 9th July 2011 with the aim being to collect as many tokens as possible. Every batch of tokens must be counted and the number of tokens and your chosen school (The Prince of Wales First School) must be clearly marked on the envelope. Tokens can be given to us at school through the office or sent to the Dorset Echo at School Build Challenge, Dorset Echo, Fleet House, Hampshire Road, Weymouth, DT4 9XD. All tokens must be received by the closing date of 11th July 2011. To win this prize we will really need to go for it and urge you to ask your neighbours, work colleagues, family and friends to save their tokens for our school. For what we would spend the prize fund on please see Mr. Farrington's thoughts as expressed in the Dorset Echo earlier this month - http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/9050042.__6k_up_for_grabs_in_Echo_competition/ Thank-you for your continued support, Mr. Spracklen'

Viking purses

These are coming along brilliantly and when finished we will display in the school foyer for all to see before they come home in the summer.
Many thanks to Mrs Stevens and Mrs Curran who have been helping on Thursday afternoon 2.30pm - 3.30pm slot, sewing in smaller groups is allowing all children to have super assistance when needed from an adult. If you are able to help then please just let Mrs Mewett or any of the Yr 3 team know, we very much welcome any more help!

Mrs Mewett

Art Competition

Super Sports

The children in year 3 had a super sports day on Tuesday.  They showed how well they could work as teams and compete fairly.  They all demonstrated excellent sporting behaviour.  Well done year 3.

Homework - 1st July 2011

Next week is reading week at The Prince of Wales School.  The children have been asked to come dressed as a book character on Monday and also bring in a copy of their favourite book.  I would also like the children in year 3 to have a go at writing thier own book review.  I have given them all a fun book review to fill in.  Please bring them into school next week.

Healthy Living Week

Next week is Healthy Living Week at the Prince of Wales School.  We will be thinking about how we can keep ourselves safe and healthy.  We will have visitors throughout the week who will be teaching us about everything from cleaning our teeth to being safe on the railways.  We also have our sports day on Tuesday 28th June.

Comments Please

We have all been working hard on updating our Blogs at The Prince of Wales First School and have slowly been building momentum with this method of communication. We would now encourage you all to comment on our blog posts to support our work and encourage your child's class teacher and/or year team to keep blogging! To add a comment to any post simply click on the blog title which will load the chosen blog from www.blogspot.com.Next, click the 'comment' button below the post and enter your comment. You will need one of the supported accounts to post your comment, e.g. 'Google' and all comments will be moderated for content. Thank-you all for your continued support, Mr.
Spracklen

The River Wey - Trip Dates

We have arranged to visit the various points along the River Wey, including Upwey Wishing Well and Radipole Lake on Tuesday 12th July and Friday 15th July.  The class will be split into two groups for this trip as we will be travelling by Minibuses.  A letter will be going out shortly to let you know on which day your child will be going and what they will need for the day.

£3000 challenge! HELP NEEDED

The Prince of Wales First School are finalists in the Dorset Echo's 'School Build Challenge' which has a top prize of £3000. To win we need as many people as possible to collect vouchers on behalf of our school. The winning school will be chosen by the highest number of votes per pupil attending the school - this means that every single vote counts. Tokens will be printed in the Dorset Echo every day until 9th July 2011 with the aim being to collect as many tokens as possible. Every batch of tokens must be counted and the number of tokens and your chosen school (The Prince of Wales First School) must be clearly marked on the envelope. Tokens can be given to us at school through the office or sent to the Dorset Echo at School Build Challenge, Dorset Echo, Fleet House, Hampshire Road, Weymouth, DT4 9XD. All tokens must be received by the closing date of 11th July 2011. To win this prize we will really need to go for it and urge you to ask your neighbours, work colleagues, family and friends to save their tokens for our school. For what we would spend the prize fund on please see Mr. Farrington's thoughts as expressed in the Dorset Echo earlier this month - http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/9050042.__6k_up_for_grabs_in_Echo_competition/ Thank-you for your continued support, Mr. Spracklen

RE

This term in RE Year 3 are studying Christianity. We are currently finding out about The New Testament. The children have expressed interest in finding out more about the Parables of Jesus. It would be great if they tried to find out about one or more parables before next week's lesson!

DT - Making Viking purses

A big thank you to Mrs Stevens who is coming in on Thursday afternoon (2.30pm - 3.30pm). As you can imagine, the whole class sewing at one time is too big, it works much better in small groups. If you can come in and help at all please let us know?

Secondly, children have been looking for old fashioned buttons for their purses, some have been mentioning that they have 'just the thing' at home! Please feel free to send anything in of use but do not worry as we're currently making toggles out of wood and sanding!



Mrs Mewett

Exclusive Interview with World Champion

Lamb Cam has gained an exclusive interview with 5 time World Champion sheep shearer David Fagan. David Fagan is the world’s most successful shearer. He has set 10 world records and won the New Zealand Golden Shears contest a record 16 times. David has additionally won 5 world titles, 6 world team titles and 16 national titles. In total, David Fagan has won more than 600 open titles worldwide since 1983. Click Lamb Cam to see the exclusive interview now.

The case of the missing shirt

Please keep an eye out for a new blue shirt that was misplaced during our Royal Wedding Party.  It might be hiding at the bottom of your washing pile!
Many thanks.

Collection of children

Can I remind all parents of our ‘Collection of children policy’? If your child is to be picked up by someone different to normal routine then the year team must know this and write it on their communication board within the classroom. Likewise if you have booked a session with a childcare provider please let us know as soon as this is made.


We cannot allow children to leave school with other parents/members of the community if the parent themselves has not expressed this either by writing, telephone message or verbal communication.

Many thanks for your support in this matter.

Mrs Mewett

POW Garden Allotments (Pre school field)

Can those parents and families who placed their names on the previous list and who still want a allotment plot please enter their names on the board outside of school and tick if they would be prepared to assist with the development and running of a plot holders group. We don’t know how many plots we will have yet so they will be offered on a first come basis. Successful applicants will be contacted via the details held in the school office.

Music on Monday's assemblies

At The Prince of Wales school we ask all children who learn a musical instrument to sign up to play on a Monday’s assembly when they feel ready to do so. It’s a wonderful opportunity in practising in front of others, the audience love to see what other children in the school are up to as do the staff and it really helps build upon their ability to play live.
The music teachers are aware of this opportunity but if after talking to your child they wish to put their name down, the list is just outside the music room.




Mrs Mewett

Time to tell the time

We will be having a blitz on time over the next few weeks.  If your child is still struggling with analogue clocks, just start with the short hour hand and ask the children to identify what hour it is, or what hour it is close to or just past before moving onto the minute hand.  Some children often struggle with telling the time, and their ability to do it is not an indicator of the mathematical ability.  For those who have already mastered telling the time, why not try some work at home on time intervals.  It is 6.15 now and you need to be in at 6.40, how long have you got to play?

Viking Adventures

We had a fantastic time at Cranborne, the children coped beautifully living their lives as Vikings.  We enjoyed lots of practical and fun activities and slept snuggly in our sleeping bags.  The weather was so fine we didn't even penetrate the second layer in our kit bags!!  I am still wearing my Viking Crafted Necklace with pride!   Well done year 3!

DT this term

The children are currently finishing off their designed photoframes. We will be displaying these just outside the hall on the round table shortly, please look out for them as the children have given careful thought to the design, the lever to help it stand and who it has been designed for (its market).

Yr 3 class are currently studying the Vikings, after half term the class in their DT sessions are going to be making Viking purses. So if you are able to give any time, Thursday afternoon from 2.30pm onwards it would be much appreciated as sewing always works so much better in small groups as you can probably imagine!

Any questions or thought please do not hesitate to see me!

Mrs Mewett

OUR SCHOOL NEEDS YOU!

Our school needs you to check your bags, wallets, handbags, purses, etc for missing Tesco schools vouchers! Vouchers collected in previous years have exceeded 20,000 and have helped us to obtain some exciting resources. This year we are lower than ever so we are issuing this appeal to find the missing vouchers! Please collect as many vouchers as you can and do not be afraid to ask your friends, neighbours, work colleagues for their vouchers as well. Many people who do not have children simply discard these vouchers and we could make valuable use of them. Collecting boxes are by the school office. Please bring in your vouchers on or before 01/06/11.

Super Learning

Year 3 recently took part in an interesting RE day learning about Judaism.  The children thoroughly enjoyed their time with Linda who provided an interesting and exciting way to learn about another faith.  The children were inspired to try lots of different food and even made some wonderful halal bread.  Look out for the recipe coming home soon.  Some super learning year 3, well done.

WE ARE COLLECTING

Sainsburys and Tescos have launched their annual voucher collecting scheme, we are participating in both of these schemes. Vouchers collected in previous years have helped us to obtain some exciting resources. Please collect as many vouchers as you can and do not be afraid to ask your friends, neighbours, work colleagues for their vouchers as well. Many people who do not have children simply discard these vouchers and we could make valuable use of them. Collecting boxes are by the school office.

Home Learning with SWGfL Merlin?

Can your child share with you some work they have been doing within SWGfL Merlin recently? Perhaps they have written an article for Merlin Times our Online School Newspaper or have created some work in PurpleMash? Alternatively, they may have explored EducationCity.com or Mathletics? Why not spend some time at the computer with them and see what wonderful resources lie behind the login screen of SWGfL Merlin.

Parentmail

Thank you for those of you who have already returned the Parentmail forms. We would really like to get as many parents as possible onto this new system, so if you don’t have an email address, but you do have a mobile number then please still complete the form. This new system has promised us a quicker and more efficient way to communicate with you,saving time and resources. If you have mislaid your form, we have spares in the school office, just ask.

Safer Internet Day 2011

Safer Internet Day is on 8th February 2011 and we encourage you all to consider the importance of e-safety with your children through talking to them about how they use the Internet. A range of excellent materials for children and parents on the subject of e-safety can be found at http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/. Why not use this time to listen again to last years e-safety radio show through our school website, click the 'Safety' button at the top of our school website.

Mathletics - Competition heats up!

Year 2 and Year 3 are locked in battle over who can feature the highest in the Mathletics Hall of Fame. On Saturday (29/01/11), Miss. Johnson’s Year 3 were 24th in the UK with Mr. Spracklen’s Year 2 class closely behind in 28th spot. Who will win as the weeks go on? Will Year 4 join Year 2 and 3 in the Mathletics Hall of Fame?