Hello everyone!

We made it!  Well done Oak class on finishing year 3!  Both myself and Betsy are so proud of all the progress you have made, and I have seen everyone's confidence grow throughout the year which has been wonderful to watch.

We've had a busy last week of term - particularly on Wednesday with our trip to Shallowford Farm.  Year 3 and 4 were mixed up, and half of the children came with me in the morning, the other half going with Mr Frewin in the afternoon.  We had a great trip, and learnt about the habitat of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly.  I learnt that it lives in marshy land on Dartmoor, and particularly likes to eat Devils-bit-Scabious.  As well as this, we met some lambs, chicks, and 24 hour-old piglets!  

The end of the year also marks my final blog as a teacher at Chagford Primary school, as I'll be moving to another school in September.  I've loved being a part of the Chagford family, and want to thank both parents and children for being so fantastic and supportive.  With it being my first year of teaching I was nervous about what it might be like, however I shouldn't have been!  I've had the best time, and I am very sad to be leaving.  Thank you everyone for my kind, generous gifts and cards also!

I hope you all have a fantastic summer, and good luck for year 4!

​Miss Paddon :) 

Hello again everyone!

This week has been so full of colourful and fun!

We continued with our topics on time, and began to think a little more about poetry.  The poem we are focussing on involves a beachcomber searching the beach, and finding curious objects each day.  On some days, they just find very ordinary objects, however they question where it might be from, who left it there, what it might become...  Perhaps, this weekend you could try picking up an object, and thinking how it could be curious too!

After a week of not much activity from our little class pets, yesterday and today we began to see our butterflies emerge from their cocoons!  We managed to watch one as it emerged and first opened its wings, which was fascinating!  We now have 5/9 butterflies emerged, and by Monday we are hoping that they all will have emerged.

On Friday, we celebrated 'Rainbow Day'.  This was to celebrate diversity, in all sorts of ways!  In Oak class, we looked at a book called 'My Shadow is Purple'.  It illustrates how there are more than 2 choices to how we live and what we like.  We can like both boy and girl things, and don't have to be one or the other if we don't want to.  We thought about what colours our shadows might be, and (thanks to some expert coaching from an Oak class origami master) we created colourful stars which show all the different things we could be.  We also made a rainbow cake!  We thought about how on the outside we look like one thing, however on the inside we are full of different, wonderful qualities.

It's going to be a hot one next week, Oak class!  Please make sure you have a water-bottle everyday, and ideally a sunhat too.  Please also apply suncream before school starts.  This needs to happen particularly on Friday next week (15th) as we are planning to hold our sports day then!

See you all on Monday!
​Miss Paddon

Hello again everyone,

This week we've got back to normal after a busy few weeks with our play, and have been continuing with our topics. 

In English, we finished our persuasive letters to persuade people to donate to the Rainforest Alliance.  The children used persuasive language, statistics, and emotive noun phrases to try to persuade myself and other teachers to donate to the Rainforest Alliance.  They were certainly very persuasive - so much so that I have donated some money to the Rainforest Alliance!  In Maths we have continued with Time.  We've even created our own clocks to help us in our learning.

We are going to be starting a new topic of poetry for the final few weeks, and we will look at 'Beachcomber' by George Mackay Brown.   The poem describes some curious finds on a beach, so to get into the spirit of finding curious objects, we went to the forest school area today to look for interesting objects.   The children had to draw them, describe them, and explain what made it a curious item.

Our new class pets have changed...into chrysalis'! We've loved watching them everyday wriggling and growing.  I've transferred them into their butterfly habitat, in readiness for when they emerge in about a weeks time!

Now for some news... today the children found out that they will have Mr Frewin and Miss Barton when they move up to Year 4.  Mr Frewin and Miss Barton are super excited to be their teacher, and it's really exciting news!  But with it came some sadder news for myself and the class.  Unfortunately I won't be returning to Chagford after the summer holidays, as I'll be taking up a teaching role at another school.  I would have loved to stay for a little longer, and I will miss all the children and staff very much!  Although this came as quite upsetting news to the class, we're going to be optimistic about the last 3 weeks, and I've got lots of fun ideas for our lessons!

Have a lovely weekend everyone, and see you on Monday!
​Miss Paddon

Hello again everyone!

First of all, welcome back after half-term!  I hope you all had a great week, and enjoyed the sunshine!

This week (albeit only 4 days long!) has certainly been a busy one.  On Tuesday, Oak class has their first swimming lesson at the Chagford Pool.  All the children did really well, and loved their hot chocolates afterwards!  The class were super sensible whilst walking down, and we had no problems with any traffic we came across.  Don't forget your swimming things for Tuesday next week again!

It isn't long until our big Chagford production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Oak class have been working hard to practice.  On Tuesday, the very talented puppet maker Todd visited Year 2 and 3, and we created some of our own puppets for the play.  Have a look at some of our puppets - I think they look great!  We've also been rehearsing with Lydia, and Oak class are getting on brilliantly.  It's made me very excited to see the whole production in 2 weeks time!

A big part of this week was the OFSTED inspection on both Tuesday and Wednesday.  OFSTED can be difficult for both teachers and classes, but Oak class were very respectful and hard-working throughout the inspection.  I'm really proud of the children for welcoming the inspectors, and for trying their absolute best!

Well done on a fantastic week Oak class - enjoy the weekend!
Miss Paddon

Hello everyone!

Wow - what a busy week we've had in Oak class!  From plants, to a Jubilee tea party, it's been an exciting end of the term.

In Science recently, we have been learning about plants and the important things they need to grow.  We started an experiment a few weeks ago, and placed some sunflower seeds in either a pot on the windowsill, and or pot in the cupboard.  And guess what happened..?  The plants in the cupboard did grow, but soon wilted and snapped!  On Thursday, we planted the remaining sunflowers into one of our raised beds, along with some from Year 2.  We'll keep an eye on them, and hopefully see them grow into some beautiful sunflowers!

We've also been continuing our topic in Maths.  This week I gave the children a question - which is greater, a half or a third?  The children had to explain why they knew a half is a greater fraction than a third...using chocolate bars!  The children were able to explain that the greater the denominator, the smaller the fraction.

On Friday morning, Year 3 were lucky enough to be the audience members for some presentations which the Year 6's had prepared.  Year 6 have been learning about the respiratory system, and taught the Year 3's about the journey an air particle goes on to reach the lungs.  They also told about how to help a person who may be having difficulty breathing, or an asthma attack.  The year 6's were brilliant, and we all learnt from them!

The highlight of the week was Friday afternoon - our Afternoon Tea to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee!  It was fantastic to see all the children in their finery.  With the perfect weather, we spent the afternoon outside, along with some special guests from the Chagford Memory Café.  The children all had scones with jam and cream, and squash which they thoroughly enjoyed - lots were asking for seconds!  We sang songs, played bingo, and also created our own 'Chagford Canopy' to contribute towards the Queen's Green canopy.  Every child provided a handprint leaf for the tree, and we added these to the tree during the party - it will be on display in school, and it looks fabulous!  The children also all received a special Jubilee bookmark to commemorate the occasion.  (If you were away today, you'll get yours after half-term!) Thank you for the PTFA for supporting the party, and thank you to our visitors from the Memory café for visiting us!

After half-term, we return to school on Tuesday 7th June.  We will be starting swimming lessons on the first day back, so please ensure you bring your swimming things on the first day.  I'll send out some more information about swimming next week!

I hope you all have a wonderful half-term, and see you soon!
Miss Paddon

Hello again everyone!

Another week has whizzed by, and it's been a busy week!

In Maths, we've been continuing our fractions topic, and this week have been exploring equivalent fractions.  In English, we've started a topic on persuasive writing - I set the class a task of using persuasive techniques to make me give them extra playtime, and there were some great ideas!  We've been thinking more about the vocabulary we can use in our writing, and have been looking at some tier 2 vocabulary in a persuasive letter.

In History, we continued to learn about Ancient Greece, this week focussing on iconic philosophers, such as Socrates and Plato.  We looked at their achievements, and thought about why their ideas might have been a bit strange in the Ancient world!  

During PE, Mrs Edwards introduced to a new game, which was almost a mixture between cricket and rounders.  We tried it with her on Monday, and built on those skills again on Friday.  I'm really proud of Oak class for trying their best, and for showing good sportsmanship!  Ask one of Oak class to explain how it works!

​It was also 'Break the Rules' day this week, and (although children should never break the rules regarding uniform, teddies, etc!!!) it was great to see all the creative rule-breaking for one day only!  Even myself and Betsy break the uniform rules!)

Today, all the children in the school came home with an invitation to Chagford's very own Jubilee Tea Party, which will be taking place on Friday 27th, in the afternoon (the last day of term!)  The dress code is 'Royalty!' so wear your best clothes, your crowns, tiaras, your suits, dresses, anything that you think royalty might wear!

Have a great weekend everyone!
​Miss Paddon