Half Term is Here Again!

After a short, but nonetheless hectic, half term in school, it's time for us all to take a little break.  

I look forward to welcoming 3V back into school on Tuesday 4th June for the start of our final half term of the year (Monday 3rd is a TED!).

Have a great half term!

Mrs Vaqueiro

Shoesday!

On Tuesday, the children of Swan Lane First School were allowed to come into school wearing the jazzy footwear of their choice, in return for a small donation.  It was all in a good cause - the Living Streets charity has been helping to make the streets a safer place since 1929.

We saw a huge variety of sparkly slippers, funky trainers and even some especially decorated footwear in school.

Here are some of the children from 3V strutting their stuff outside the classroom!  

Victorian School

In our History lessons in 3V recently, we have been learning all about life in Victorian Britain.  Today, we had a taste of what it was like to be in a Victorian classroom!

Mrs Vaqueiro and Mrs Miller (both suitably attired in mortarboards and gowns) lined the children up outside the classroom to inspect their hands and fingernails for cleanliness.  Once the children had satisfied the cleanliness test, they were allowed to enter the room.  The desks were set out in rows and the girls and boys were seated separately on different sides of the classroom.

First, we practised our best Victorian cursive handwriting.  It was very tricky!  In Victorian times, children were only allowed to write with their right hands, so left handed children had to learn to write with the 'wrong' hand!  To give the children a taste of what this might have been like, the children had to practise forming their letters with the opposite hand to normal!  It was really difficult!

During the lessons, Mrs Vaqueiro and Mrs Miller prowled around the classroom to ensure that complete silence was maintained.  Whenever they were addressed by an adult, the children had to stand to give their answers.  They also had to stand when an adult came into the room, and remember to address them correctly.  When Mr Forrester paid a visit to the room, the children had to remember to call him 'Sir' while Mrs Miller and Mrs Vaqueiro had to be called 'Miss.'  All the teachers were very stern and strict!

The children also had to chant their times tables out loud, before answering some general knowledge questions.  When one of the children got the answer wrong, she had to wear the dunce's cap!  (Luckily, she had been secretly pre-warned about it and had agreed to go along with the pretend telling off - what a good sport!).

Finally, we headed outside for a Victorian-style drill lesson.  It was very regimented and not at all like modern PE lessons.

The children really enjoyed a taste of Victorian school life, and were able to compare their experiences with modern school practices first hand!

Planting Day

Wednesday 22nd May was Planting Day at Swan Lane.  All the classes had the opportunity to get digging and fill up the many flower borders and tubs which make our school grounds so beautiful.  

Under the supervision of Mr Batts, 3V took responsibility for planting up one of the flower beds in front of the school office, helping to create a super first impression of the school.  The children planted nicotiana, geraniums and French marigolds which, in a few weeks' time, will be riot of colour.

Swan Lane is very proud to have won a gold award from Evesham in Bloom for the past two years, and we are hoping for the hat trick this year!

Super Scientists

In our science lessons recently, 3V have been investigating light and darkness.  Today, we discovered that light is a beam of energy that can only travel in a straight line.  We then looked at what happens to light when it meets another surface.

If the light hits an opaque surface, it is completely blocked and cannot pass through the surface.  This causes a shadow to appear behind the item that is blocking the light.

If light hits a transparent surface, it passes through and no shadow forms behind the surface.

If light hits a translucent surface, then only some of the light will pass through.  

We thought about why this might be useful in a practical context - for example, an opaque car windscreen wouldn't be very safe!

We then thought about curtains: some children are finding it very difficult to sleep at the moment because the evenings are getting lighter, and the sun is rising much earlier in the mornings.  Perhaps some curtains would help solve the problem - but which material would be best?

We conducted an experiment using a variety of different fabrics to test which ones would be best for blocking out the light.  We set up an experiment to shine a torch through the different fabrics onto a piece of white card, in order to test the opacity of the materials.  

Some of the children had the extra challenge of deciding how to make the test fair, so that the results could be relied upon.  They decided that it would be best to ensure the torch was held at the same distance from the fabric, and the fabric from the card, in each round of testing.  This would be carefully measured with a ruler.  The same torch and card were used for all experiments, so the only changing factor would be the different fabrics.  

Once we had made our discoveries about the best curtain materials, the children recorded their results scientifically, and some were able to evaluate them and consider possible next steps in the testing process.

We had great fun and the children are becoming very able at thinking and working scientifically.

Fantastic Fractions

In our maths lessons in 3V recently, we have been learning all about fractions.  This week, we carried out an investigation to see whether the statement "The smaller the denominator, the larger the share" was true.

And what better way to find out than through the medium of chocolate...?!

Mrs Vaqueiro brought in a huge bar of chocolate with 64 individual squares.

First, she decided that she would eat the whole thing herself.  This would be the fraction 1/1, and Mrs V would have 64 squares of chocolate all to herself!  

As this was quite a large serving, she generously decided to share it equally with Mrs Miller, so they would have 1/2 each - 32 squares.

Then they decided to share it with Mrs Green and one of the children, so they would each have 1/4 of the chocolate.  That meant 16 squares each!

Unfortunately, some of the children thought this was a bit unfair, and after a short period of negotiation, it was agreed that the chocolate should be shared with a few more children, until eventually, our 64 squares were shared equally among the whole class, including the adults.  This meant that we had to divide our chocolate into 32 equal shares - or 1/32 each.  As a result, everyone received 2 squares from the original whole. 

We therefore proved that, as the denominator in a fraction grows larger, each individual share grows smaller - and vice versa.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school for an action packed summer term!

We have lots of exciting topics and events planned for the term ahead - please do keep checking the blog for updates.

Mrs Vaqueiro