Thursday 30th April

Hello again everyone!

It's the last day of April today, which means you've completed well over a month of home school!  Well done for keeping up both your spirits and your efforts!  Every day that passes brings us closer to normality again - I am so looking forward to seeing everyone back at school when it's safe for us to return.

Have you been doing any baking while you've been at home?  It seems that many of us have taken the opportunity while being at home to brush up on our cake-making skills - banana bread seems to be a very popular choice!  Did you know the Romans liked eating cake just as much as we do?  While I was researching some more information about the Romans, I found a recipe for Roman Honey Cakes, which only need three ingredients: eggs, flour and (not surprisingly!) honey.  I am definitely going to give these a try!  If you would like to have a go too, you can find the recipe here. Do let me know how they turn out!  

Take care and stay safe,

Mrs Vaqueiro

Wednesday 29th April

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all still keeping well and that the rain isn't making you too miserable!  

I've been busy doing some research for some new lessons ready for when we get back to school, and have stumbled upon the fascinating world of optical illusions.  Some of them are really amazing!  What do you see first here?  Two faces or a candle?

Some optical illusions are just confusing - have a look at this painting by M C Escher; it seems straightforward at first glance, but when you look closely it really bamboozles the brain!

Optical illusions were really popular in Victorian times, and children in particular used to enjoy making their own optical illusion toys, called thaumatropes, using paper or card.  If you would like to have a go at making one for yourself, you can follow the instructions here.  

You can make all sorts of different designs - there are many ideas and templates on the internet if you are feeling really inspired.  You don't have to use string or elastic either: you can stick the pictures to each side of a pencil or straw, and then twizzle it between the palms of your hands instead.

That's all from me for today - have fun, and keep safe (and dry!) at home.

Mrs Vaqueiro

Tuesday 28th April

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all well and have been keeping busy.  I can see that many of you are well on the way to achieving rock legend status on TT Rockstars, so well done to those of you who are practising every day!  There are some very impressive scores on there, and some of you have accumulated lots of 'cash' from all the time you've been spending practising.  

The weather forecast for today isn't great, so I thought it might be a good idea to suggest an indoor activity for you to try.  As I've mentioned before, the ladies from Artbase have been running a lot of online tutorials for artists of all ages to learn and develop new skills: you can learn how to draw an amazing owl by following the step by step instructions here.  

Stay safe and keep in touch if you can!

Mrs Vaqueiro

Monday 27th April

Hello everyone!

I hope you've had a good weekend and a chance to relax with your families at home.

I've updated the 3V Google Drive with another week's suggested activities for you to work through. I've also put some extra reading comprehension activities in the Additional Resources folder (look under '60 Second Reads') so that you can practise your fact retrieval and inference skills.  

It's been great to hear from so many of you with photos and messages about the activities that you are completing at home.  I hope you enjoyed making a Time Capsule for the future, and wonder if any of you managed to catch the Home Planetarium broadcast from the Space Centre?

This week's home learning task relates to another really famous tourist attraction: the Louvre Museum in Paris!  Although we can't visit in person just now, you can take a free virtual tour of the exhibits, and have a look at its most famous work of art: Da Vinci's portrait of the Mona Lisa.  You can find the virtual tours here or you can simply Google Louvre Virtual Tours. When you've finished having a look around, why not find out about the history of the Louvre itself?  It has a fascinating history, and is much older than people tend to realise.

That's all from me for today - stay safe and be kind to one another.

Mrs Vaqueiro

Friday 24th April

Good morning everyone!

I hope you are all still well and staying safe at home.  Just a quick update from me today, as it's my turn to go into school to look after those children who are still having to attend.

Have you been enjoying some time outside recently?  One of the positives of everyone staying at home has been a chance to really appreciate nature.  Without the traffic outside, it's so peaceful that we can hear the birds singing, and all around us, spring flowers are bursting into life.

The skies are clearer too - even at night!  Recently, many people have been trying to spot Starlink Satellites travelling overhead in the evenings.  Have you managed to spot them?  The clearer nights also mean we can see all the different stars.  When my children were small, we used to see how many different constellations we could spot.  Did you know they all have names?

This evening, the National Space Centre in Leicester is running a free online Planetarium experience for families, starting at 6pm.  You can follow their page on Facebook or tune into their YouTube Channel to find out more details.  If that whets your appetite for more stargazing, you can download a number of different apps to help you identify the constellations - Skyview and Star Walk are both free to use, but there are quite a few others too.  Remember you must ask an adult for permission before you start downloading anything! 

That's all from me until Monday - have a great weekend, stay safe and be kind to one another.

Mrs Vaqueiro

Thursday 23rd April

Good morning everyone!

Today is St George's Day, which is celebrated in different countries all over the world, since St George is the patron saint of not just England, but also Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia, as well as the regions of Aragon and Catalonia in Spain!

23rd April was also the birthday of the playwright William Shakespeare, who lived in Tudor times and was born in Stratford upon Avon.  He wrote many famous poems and plays, which are still studied and performed all over the world today.

If you would like to watch a child-friendly version of one of his plays, you could start with 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' There is an animated version of the story here: Animated Shakespeare Tales, and I've put a powerpoint version of the story in the Google Drive. Why not write a review of this or any other film or TV programme? Remember to give it a star rating and summarise the story so that your readers can decide whether or not to watch it themselves. You could also have a go at some of the other Shakespeare-related activities that I've put in the Google Drive.

That's all from me for today. Keep safe at home, and look after yourselves and each other.

Mrs Vaqueiro

Wednesday 22nd April

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all well and still keeping safe at home.  Hopefully, you will have had the chance to dip into the resources on the updated Google Drive with ideas for work this week.

In addition to work set by school, the BBC has launched a home education service for children of all ages.  The BBC Bitesize team have put together daily lessons covering the key areas of the curriculum, which can be accessed via the red button on the remote control from 9.00am-11.00am every day, or on BBC iPlayer any time after that.  

Alternatively, the Oak National Academy is providing free online lessons for children to access from home, which might also be of interest.

Please don't feel that your children need to complete absolutely everything available from these resources: it would soon become overwhelming for everyone and, if your house is anything like mine, would result in some frazzled nerves (mainly mine...!).  I am only suggesting these activities in case your children are casting around for something different to do - it is very much up to you to choose which combinations will suit your families best. 

As always, the priority is very much for you all to keep safe and well.  I am missing everyone very much, and I know that Mrs Sanders and Mrs Carter are too: we send you all our very best wishes, and are looking forward to seeing you back in school as soon as we are all allowed back into the classroom.

Mrs Vaqueiro