January 14th

Poor Mr Evemy was ill this week giving the children a challenging end to the week. Nevertheless they rode the storm and put up with Mr Finch on Thursday followed by Ms Barton, Mr Dray and Mr Finch again on Friday. Well done Hawthorns for staying positive and making sure you keep a smile on whatever you are doing.

In Maths we have been working on multiplying two digit numbers by a one digit number. I was very happy to hear a pupil speaking very confidently about 'partitioning' - she knew how to turn twenty-four into twenty and four, how to multiply each part of that (using her table facts to help) and then how to 'put it back together'. Children looked at multiple methods for solving the same problem and some showed real mental dexterity. I love the way Hawthorn never look at Maths as a drudge - they always find interest in it.

In English we have been looking at the mysterious and slightly awesome 'Leon and the Place Between' by Angela McAllister and Graham Baker-Smith. We've been trying to get into the heads of the characters and writing our own sentences and paragraphs based on the images and text in the book. If you haven't read 'Leon and the Place Between' I really advise getting a copy. It's a great book which repays a great deal of investigation.

In RE this week we were learning about the festival of Divali and the story of Rama and Sita. WE also spent a lesson with Mr Finch thinking up smart targets to help the school demonstrate it's commitment to our three values of Community, Challenge and Care. Great work Hawthorns.

One thing nearly all the children in the class could seriously do with brushing up on is their times tables facts. If you have lost your log in details for Times Tables Rock Stars please do let us know so we can get that sorted for you. Later this year the children will take part in the national Times Tables check for Year Four. It would be lovely to see Hawthorn Class post a really good marker for that. It's not that we're competitive as such - we'd just like to beat our friends/rivals across the trust! On Times Tables Rockstars, the 'Soundcheck' game is a pretty exact copy of the format of the check so getting good on soundcheck will help lock in a great score when it comes to the government's check.

Have a wonderful weekend Hawthorns. You make us proud every day.