Class Blog for Talland

KIRFs: Summer 1

Introducing the KIRFs Café...

What are KIRFs?

KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts) are pieces of mathematical knowledge that we want the children to learn off-by-heart or be able to work out very quickly (within 3 seconds).

They are designed to support the development of the mental skills that underpin mathematics. They are particularly useful when calculating, be it adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. They will include facts such as number bonds, counting on, back, times tables, equivalence of units of measure, and square numbers.

Each year group is allocated key facts to focus on throughout the year, in line with age related expectations. These should be practised for rapid recall.

Check out the website and class blogs for the newest KIRFs each Half Term.

We look forward to welcoming you to the KIRFs Cafe on Wednesday 17^th April at 3.10pm in Finnygook.

Image Gallery

Documents

KIRFs Summer 1 Updated.pdf

Week ending 17.05.24

A Creative Week

Talland Class have enjoyed exploring the Batik art form during this week. This is linked to our study of the Maya civilisation and to the beautiful colours they used in the materials they used: their clothing, in particular. The children noticed the use of complementary colours, shape and shading when they produced their own representations.

English

During this week, the children have entered a poetry competition using their own unique poems. They have developed good confidence in using many poetry devices to good effect: metaphors and similes, for example.

Maths

The children's knowledge and understanding of place value is becoming clearer. Due to this, they have been able to add and subtract decimals to 2 decimal places.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

Why should we always look up to the sun for positivity? – He always focuses on the brighter side of life.

What did the sun say to the ice? – You’re gonna have a total meltdown!

Week ending 10.05.24

A busy week for Talland Class

A weekly practice we have in Talland Class is to choose a child to take home and complete a Reading Diary. The purpose is, throughout the year, each child has the opportunity to share his/her reading journey and is linked to our school ethos of 'reading for pleasure'. This week's diary entry was magnificent and, through this, the child was able to share why s/he enjoys reading this particular book.

We also had the opportunity to join a live, online lesson in the Galapagos Islands. The children witnessed the variety of marine life and the beautiful beaches of the Pacific Islands. They were able to produce some intelligent open questions about the islands, for example, How can turtles live over a hundred years?

English
The children have secured their understanding of paragraph structure throughout the week. They used previous knowledge and understanding of simple, compound and complex sentences to write their own unique paragraphs.

Maths
Talland Class have made amazing progress with percentages. They all recognise that the % sign means that it is part of 100. They were able to suggest when they could encounter percentages in real life, for example, during a shop sale.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

Why didn’t the poodle want to go to the beach? – It didn’t want to be a hot dog.

Why do people swim at saltwater beaches? – Because pepper beaches would make them sneeze.

Week ending 03.05.24

A glorious start to May.

The children of Talland Class have been involved in several interesting activities this week which included researching and creating a timeline for the Maya civilisation. During this research, they were able to produce some amazing open questions about the civilisation: What was a typical meal for the Maya? How did the Maya protect their land? We will use these questions, and more, to help the children learn about the influences the Maya has had on contemporary society.

The children have loved digging into some horticultural work. They have managed to start planting crops in shallow beds, sowed some flower and vegetable seeds and spruced up the borders with a couple of shrubs. Who'd have known Talland Class had such 'green fingers'? Well done, all!

English
Our English study has further developed the children's sentence structure. They are continuing to recognise complex sentences and beginning to use them confidently: for example, As the sun began to set, the children strolled towards the beach.

Maths
The children have secured knowledge and understanding of decimals to thousandths. They used this knowledge to investigate percentages. They all recognise that percentages are shown by using the % sign.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

Knock, Knock!
Who’s there?
Lettuce.
Lettuce who?
Lettuce in and you’ll find out.

What kind of bean never grows in a garden?
A jelly bean!

Week ending 26.04.24

This has been another exciting week for Talland Class. They particularly enjoyed discussing, exploring and making decisions about respect. This was based on our RE topic and how all faiths are accepted in society, more especially in Cornwall. The children's ideas were in abundance and this highlighted further questions to answer. Two pertinent ideas the children explored were: What does respect look like? (A smile, taking a bow to the King, a hand shake, etc.) and What does it sound like? (Singing Happy Birthday, etc.)

English
Talland have been focusing on English grammar this week. This will enhance their understanding of the text they read and will promote their writing skills. For example, the children explored the use of relative clauses. A relative clause is used for extra information in a sentence relating to the subject of the sentence. (Mr Parry, who teaches Talland Class, walked into the classroom. In this sentence, 'who teaches Talland Class' is the relative clause.)

Maths
The children have further developed their understanding of decimals. They can now relate decimals to fractions and are beginning to grasp the relevance and importance of place value. We have now covered decimals up to thousandths:

O . t h th
2 . 1 4 5
for example.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

What word becomes shorter if you add two letters to it? Shorter

What do you call a train carrying bubble gum? A chew-chew train.

Week ending 19.04.23

The children of Talland Class have settled into the new term with enthusiasm, increased confidence and a willingness to learn. This is fabulous to see and experience and will put them on a good grounding to achieve their targets in all subjects this term. Well done, Talland.

During this week, the children have revised their knowledge and understanding of fractions (finding common denominators, for example), learned how to use the possessive apostrophe with greater understanding (Mary's coat, for instance) and have developed their knowledge of the history of the Tamar River through creating and annotating an historic timeline beginning from 936 AD when King Athelstan drew a boundary at the Tamar between Wessex and Cornwall. The children added their own specific important event on the timeline: for example, 2014 The year I was born and 2023 The year I adopted my dog. This week has set a solid foundation to build-on the children's learning for the rest of the Summer Term.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

Why do magicians do so well in school? They’re good at trick questions.

What kind of school do you go to if you’re… …an ice cream man? Sundae school.
…a giant? High school.
…a surfer? Boarding school.
…King Arthur? Knight school.

Week ending 29.03.24

End of Spring Term 2024

The Spring Term has been a busy but exciting term. The children of Talland Class have learned how to add, subtract and multiply fractions. These are amazing skills which were made easy by the children's daily multiplication tables practice. Each step to successfully embracing this knowledge and understanding was made with enthusiasm, resilience and increased confidence. Well done, Talland Class!

The children's favourite part of this term was the visit to the Houses of Parliament in London. Not only did they embrace the magnificent views and landmarks of London - the London Eye, Big Ben and Tower Bridge - they also experienced an inside atmospheric view of the Houses of Parliament. This also included standing in the room above the cellars in which Guy Fawkes was caught with gunpowder in 1605. This was a fabulous and memorable visit for the children.

Enjoy your well earned Easter Holidays. We will see you when you return in April for some more exciting learning.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

Why did the robot go on Easter Holidays? He needed to recharge his batteries.

What kind of chocolate do they sell at the airport? Plane Chocolate

Week ending 22.03.24

Digital photography

During this half term's focus on photography, the children have developed their photography skills in areas such as angle, light and position. This week, the children have consolidated the skills they have learned to create a mixed media picture. In this case (look at the photograph), a close-up photograph of a flower has been taken and it has been digitally enhanced with virtual drawing tools.

English

The children of Talland Class have now almost completed their own explanation text in reference to coastal erosion. They have included particular types of erosion which included water and wind erosion. During the writing process, all children have used a variety of sentence style to enhance it and some are confidently using the colon (:) in their writing. Well done, Talland Class.

Maths

Perseverance, hard work and dedication has finally helped the children's confidence in using fractions. They can now multiply a simple fraction with a whole-number and easily explain the method they are using. Thank you, Talland Class.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:
Why did the lion spit out the clown? Because he tasted funny!

What is 'out of bounds'? An exhausted kangaroo!

Week ending 15.03.24

A day in the life of a farm vet.

A day in the life of a farm vet was just one activity the children participated in during our Science Week.

Talland Class have had so much fun learning about many aspects of science which included AI intelligence, robots, insects and animals. It was fabulous to see the children's science skills - exploration, prediction, evaluation, explanation - being used and enhanced throughout the week. The children have been amazing!

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

How do you cut the sea in half? With a 'sea-saw'!

Why was the bee's hair sticky? ...because he used a honey-comb!

Week ending 08.03.24

Lights, Camera, Action!

The children have had so much fun this week. They loved exploring new photography techniques to enhance a photograph and learned how to manipulate the scene to change the atmosphere. Some of these new strategies included the use of baking racks, clingfilm and mirrors: ask your child for an in depth explanation.

World Book Day was magnificent. Need I say more?

English
The children's ability to use given strategies in their writing has improved. They are regularly using expanded noun phrases - huge, dense and dark clouds, for example - a variety of different types of sentences and powerful verbs. Well done, Talland Class.

Maths
This week, the children's confidence to find common denominators to enable them to add and subtract fractions has developed. They are now linking previous study of common factors and recognising the links between factors and fractions. This is a great skill and will support further learning within maths.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!

What do you get when you cross a rabbit with shellfish?
An oyster bunny!