Nightingales - Year 3

Cheapside Jubilee Celebration - May 2022

The last couple of days of term marked our Jubilee Celebration to mark Her Majesty being on the throne for 70 years.  On the Thursday, we had some brilliant contributions from Nightingale Class for the cake competition - well done everyone! On Friday, we had a sea of red, white and blue as everyone dressed appropriately. The children enjoyed munching on pain au chocolat and chocolate chip brioches, as they worked on their art.  As you can see, we really enjoyed our whole school picnic on the field! We played some games from the 50s, such as 'Hokey Cokey' and 'In and out the Dusty Bluebells', which the children really enjoyed.  Our very own Nightingale Class also wowed the school with a performance of their 'Jive' dance, learned during P.E. lessons earlier in the year! Here are a few photos for you to enjoy.

Summer Term Information!

Below, you will find an overview of all the exciting learning going on in Nightingale Class this term.  Also included are the Key Instant Recall Facts ('Kirfs') for Terms 1&2.  These are ideas to keep those Maths skills ticking over.  

We are looking forward to a really amazing final term! 

Forest School Session - April 2022

The children were treated to a whole afternoon in Forest School this week. First of all, we sat in 'Base Camp' around a fire and enjoyed toasted, buttered, hot cross buns! The children then engaged in various activities: bug-hunting, building dens, using equipment like binoculars to survey the land, making 'chocolate' soup and hot cross buns in the mud kitchen, solving clues and learning facts from the Easter eggs hanging in the trees or just 'hanging' around and chilling in the hammock!

It was such a brilliant afternoon and wonderful to see our Nightingales enjoying our beautiful outdoor learning space.  Enjoy the photos!

Science - Forces and Magnets April 2022

The children have been really enjoying learning all about magnets and their poles. They had great fun exploring this week!

Visit to Hampton Court Palace 31.3.22

We had an amazing visit and the children really enjoyed their day. They were able to walk in the very footsteps of King Henry VIII and his wives, as they indulged in all the fascinating history which Hampton Court has to offer. Enjoy the slideshow of just some of the photos from the day!

Fishkeeper Fry - The Final Week!

Well, what an amazing learning experience Fishkeeper Fry has been for the children of Nightingale Class! They have learned so much about keeping and looking after fish, as well as lots of fascinating facts too. In this final week, we didn't have any new fish but the children did get a big surprise with a guest who arrived with Stuart! It had been kept secret from the children for maximum impact and we had a visit from another member of Fishkeeper Fry from Maidenhead Aquatics - a gentleman called Paul Tapley or 'Tappers', as he is known. Tappers is a bit of a celebrity, as he appears on the weekly Fishkeeper Fry videos that the children watch!  They were utterly delighted to see him - we thank him very much for coming.  We had a brilliant session, in which the children asked the most amazing questions about fish, which were answered by Stuart and Tappers. Between them, these gentleman have incredible knowledge, experience and expertise, so it was a real privilege for the children. Once again, I would like to offer huge thanks and appreciation to Stuart Ashley of Maidenhead Aquatics, who has given up his time week after week, to support us in delivering this programme in Year 3 - we have loved it all! Please enjoy the photos in the slideshow! 

Fishkeeper Fry - Week 7!

This week celebrated our final intake of new fish for our class aquarium. We welcomed 3 beautiful honey gourami, whom we have names, Indiana Jones, Honey and Lakshmi. They hail from India originally.  

This week's fishkeepers worked with great care to ensure that the new fish were used to their new environment before releasing them into the aquarium. They have been swimming happily around and look absolutely beautiful!  

On Friday, several enterprising members of Nightingale Class, (along with their Mums), sold amazing home-baked cakes on the school drive. You will see some very appropriate cakes decorated with blue and yellow icing. Delicious ice cream cones and strawberry and marshmallow skewers were also on offer! Amidst all the cake action, Ben was kept busy crafting bespoke bead bracelets and I shall be proudly wearing my blue and yellow one on Ukraine Day in school next Wednesday! All proceeds from the cake sale, an INCREDIBLE £245.65, along with Ben's fantastic £25, are to be donated to the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal.  A mention must also go to Poppy and Bella, who kicked it all off by selling hand-crafted Easter Bunny cupcakes and Easter Bunny cups last Sunday on Watersplash Lane.  They raised an incredible £42.90, also for the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal - well done, girls!

I feel so very proud that we have such incredibly kind, thoughtful and proactive children and parents in Nightingale Class and many thanks to all those involved. 

Mrs Ryker 

Science - 18.3.22

Forces and Friction

This week's investigation involved testing cars on different surfaces, to see how these surfaces affected the movement of the car and why. The children discovered that the surfaces which were the least smooth, such as the artificial grass, created more friction and so slowed the car down, as well as needing a greater gradient to start moving in the first place.  As well as the science aspect, the children used newly-learned maths skills, such as using a ruler to measure the height in cm of the ramp needed to enable the car to move.  They then plotted their results on a graph. As we are currently working on Statistics and handling data in Maths, this extended the children's learning really well!

Fishkeeper Fry - Week 6

Today we welcomed two new fish - a beautiful pair of Peppered Corydora! They are a type of catfish, hailing from the seas of South America.  The children have named them Speckles and Katherine - fine names, I'm sure you will agree!  This is a picture I took earlier (not sure if it's Katherine or Speckles though....)

As always, the children did brilliantly, helping to wash out the filter (quite a mucky job!), acclimatising the new fish and then gently letting them into the aquarium to meet their fishy friends and to explore their new home. 

Fishkeeper Fry - Week 5

On Thursday, we were so excited to receive our new Copper Harlequin Rasbora fish! We have named them Bubbles, Mylo, Denny, Greg, Aurora and Heidi and they are beautifully-coloured, as you can see.

The children were so enthusiastic to help with hoovering the gravel, changing the water and to settle the new fish in.  Our aquarium is becoming a real community now!   We learned that the Zebra Danios like to swim at the top, the Harlequins in the middle and the Platies like to swim everywhere! This is so they don't have to fight for food or space. The children also did some lovely work on their tasks.  Please enjoy the pictures in the Slideshow below 

World Book Day 2022

We had a fabulous day, which was based around the amazing book 'Journey' by Aaron Becker - a book without words

We had a lovely time together as a class, going through the book on a journey of discovery.  The children described what was happening and created narration for the story. In the afternoon, we continued exploring the story through Art, along with some delicious refreshments! The children went through their own 'door' and created their own imaginative settings of what was behind their door. We also managed to fit in a couple of quizzes too.

The children looked amazing in their costumes and it was great to see that many of them had also brought in the appropriate book which had inspired their costume too. Well done everyone! Please see the slideshow below for some brilliant photos of the day!

Fishkeeper Fry - Week 4!

We have had some exciting new arrivals to join our Zebra Danios! Four Coral Red Balloon Platies, which we have named Gary, Samantha, Flame and Sunset are now gracing our gorgeous aquarium.

One of our enthusiastic Fishkeepers of the Week firstly washed the filter out to ensure that the environment is as clean as possible for the fish. Then, the new platies were acclimatised to the aquarium, before releasing them into the water.  They are swimming around very happily and seem to love their new home!

Science Investigation - Testing the Permeability of Different Soils!

For our final investigation in our 'Rocks and Soils' Topic, the children tested 4 different types of soil: Chalk Loam, Sandy Soil, Chalk Soil and Clay Soil.

Firstly, they made a prediction as to which soils they thought would be the most and the least permeable. Then, working together brilliantly in groups, they tested each soil, making observations and then recording. Once again, they were reminded how to carry out a 'fair test', keeping all variables the same each time.

At the end, 2 representatives from each group presented their group's results.  They spoke so eloquently and using brilliant scientific vocabulary - excellent! See below for a slideshow of some photos from this session!

SPELLINGS HOMEWORK FOR FRIDAY 18TH FEBRUARY

Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Home Learning Star icon. The new spellings are there!

Friday 18th February

Good Morning Nightingales and Parents!

The Home Learning for today can be found right at the bottom of this class page under the Home Learning star icon!

2022 Challenge - Nightingale Style!

A few weeks ago, Alice brought in some delicious homemade cookies, which were beautifully wrapped. They completely sold out and were much enjoyed by all.  Well done, Alice!

Last weekend, some intrepid members of Nightingale Class decided to do a litter pick around South Ascot, Sunninghill and Cheapside. They collected lots of bags of rubbish and have so far raised £250!! I was delighted to donate to this and feel very proud of all the children who took part. If you would also like to donate to support this very worthy cause, please see Carole Hill who can give you details. Well done all!

Fishkeeper Fry - Week 3!

The children and I could hardly contain our excitement today, as our first fishy friends finally arrived!  We welcomed six beautiful zebra danios! We have named them as follows: Ziggy, Bob, Billy, Nigel, Cliff and Lily - brilliant names for fish, we thought!

The original habitat of these beautiful fish Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan. They have upturned mouths, so can feed more easily from the surface of the water and whiskers with taste buds! It has also been discovered that these fish have a protein which allows them to regenerate cardiac muscle within two months of 20% of the muscle being removed. It is hoped that this astonishing ability will lead to the discovery of new drugs and treatments that might allow the human heart to heal itself after being damaged during a heart attack. Isn't that amazing!!

Our proud Fishkeepers of the Week checked the levels of Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites in the aquarium to ensure that the environment was safe for the fish.  They helped to acclimatise the fish to the water of the aquarium by floating the bag on top for a short time before allowing the fish to swim out. They look absolutely beautiful swimming around in their new home - it is so lovely to see the tank inhabited. Please see above, our video of our Zebra Danios enjoying their new home and a slideshow of photos of the children helping with the fishkeeping, as well as some of their lovely work below - enjoy!

Science - Rocks and Soils

The children have really enjoyed learning about what is beneath our feet! 

Today, we began our exploration of soils. The children learned about the formation of soil and what it is composed of. Then, we looked at 4 different types of soil in groups, really feeling the soil and thinking of words to describe each type. Annabelle then gave a brilliant presentation showing some pictures of fossils, telling us how big the creature would have been, showing us pictures of what they would have looked like when alive and where in the world they were found.

See below for a photo slideshow!

Fishkeeper Fry - Week 2!

This week, we learned why it is important to test our aquarium's water. The children learned about nitrates, nitrites and ammonia and how they can be harmful for the fish.

In the photos below, you can see our enthusiastic Fishkeeper of the Week, who had worked really hard on his task. He was shown how to test the water with special testing strips to ensure that the water is a safe environment for our fish. Then, three plants (Cyperus helferii, Hygrophila polysperma and Cryptocoryne wendtii green, if you want to get technical!!) were added.  It's really important to add live plants to our aquarium because they produce oxygen and absorb some of the carbon dioxide, ammonia and other harmful nitrates that the fish generate.

We eagerly await the arrival of our first consignment of fishy friends next week - such excitement! 

Fishkeeper Fry!

As your child may already have told you, we had a bit of excitement on Friday morning, with a visit from Stuart Ashley of Maidenhead Aquatics.  We are most privileged, as Stuart happens to be the dad of a Year 3 pupil and heads up the 8-week 'Fishkeeper Fry' Programme. This is an interactive learning programme, supporting National Curriculum Primary Science themes with the sole purpose of developing the next generation of responsible fishkeepers! In Friday's fascinating session, Stuart explained about the different types of fish and what the children would be learning about over the weeks. With the help of a video, the children learned how to Set up an Aquarium. Stuart then set up the aquarium in prime position in the classroom, complete with accessories! Our first fishy visitors will be arriving in a couple of weeks but until then, we need to test the water to ensure that the environment is safe for the fish. There will be plenty of opportunity for the children to participate in the testing and feeding process each week, as well as completing written activities.  We will be covering topics such as: Water Testing and Plants, Adding Fish and Feeding them, Cleaning the Filter and Holiday Care, Water Change, Algae and How Fish Breathe, Good Food and Digestion and How do fish breed and what have we learned? In addition, a child will be awarded 'Fishkeeper of the Week'.

We are all very excited and thank Stuart very much for enabling us to take part in the programme! Do keep an eye on this page for more fishy updates over the coming weeks.  In the meantime, here is a little slideshow of photos to whet your appetite:

Reading Bliss!

This young lady crafted a super comfy reading den during her absence from school. She has read lots of the Treehouse collection books so far and no doubt many more to come! 

Happy Reading!

Science - Rocks 17.1.22

This term, the children are learning all about Rocks!

Today, we embarked on a full-scale investigation of grouping Rocks according to their properties. Before starting the experiment, the children made predictions and wrote their method. We also talked about what a 'Fair Test' is. They then worked in small groups with 7 different types of rock to determine the permeability, the durability and the density of each.  They then decided whether each rock was hard or soft. Please look at the slideshow of photos below to see how brilliantly the children worked, as they made their discoveries!

HAPPY 2022!

Thank you so very much for all the incredible gifts I received for Christmas, both individual and collective.  I loved opening them on Christmas morning and am overwhelmed by your kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity! 

I am really looking forward to welcoming the children back into school for this Spring Term - we have lots of exciting learning in store!

Also, Mrs Hine has asked me to send her heartfelt thanks for the very generous gifts she received from yourselves and the children.  She wishes you all a very Happy New Year!

Please find some information about the Spring Term below.

Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year,

Mrs Ryker 

Dear Nightingales and Parents

First of all, may I say an enormous thank you for all the extremely generous gifts that you and the children have so kindly given me. They look very festive under my Christmas Tree!

What an absolutely wonderful term it has been! The fantastic children in Nightingale Class have all worked so hard, so happily and with such amazing commitment. In line with the other KS2 classes, I have not set any formal homework over the holiday. If the children wish to keep their maths ticking over, I suggest going onto Times Tables Rockstars to keep practising. You will also have received an email with ideas for Christmas Reading ideas.

I hope that you all have a fantastic break with some real downtime and here's to a healthy and Happy New Year. Merry Christmas to you all!

Love and Best Wishes 

Mrs Ryker 

Welcome!

I'd like to welcome all parents, carers and children to the Nightingale Class Page and also to the brand new school year! 

On this page you will find lots of relevant information, documentation, as well as news and photos of what the children have been doing in class. 

The children have managed their transition from KS1 into KS2 brilliantly and are settling in very well to their new class in Year 3. We look forward to a very happy and successful year. 

Kindest wishes

Mrs Ryker

Meet the Teacher

Hello all!

Thank you so much for finding the time to attend my 'Meet the Teacher' Zoom session - I hope you found it interesting and informative. 

The PowerPoint I used is included below, as well as other information/documents (including some brilliant book suggestions!) that I hope you find useful.

Many thanks

Mrs Ryker

Iron Age Crimewatch AD50! Who killed the 52 bodies at Maiden Castle? December '21

As a culmination to their fabulous History topic this term, the Nightingales became detectives to solve the Iron Age mystery. They were given just the briefest of background information before being let loose to explore the evidence. 

The children worked really well, collaborating and discussing the evidence before deciding on which was the most likely theory!

DT in the Forest - December 2021

Our DT task this term was linked to our topic of 'Stone Age to the Iron Age'.  In small groups, the children first designed a Stone Age Shelter with a diagram.  They had to think carefully about how they could build a stable and strong structure using natural materials as far as possible.  Then was the issue of ensuring that the shelter would be waterproof, windproof and warm. 

The Nightingales then had a brilliant morning in the forest, working collaboratively, taking turns and problem-solving. They sourced the materials for their shelters and then built them. You can see the results in the slideshow below!

The children then evaluated their work using the questions:

What worked well? What could you have done to improve your shelter?

History - 9.12.21

The children have been learning all about the Bronze Age for the last couple of weeks.  Today, the children became archaeologists as they explored pictorial evidence of Bronze Age artefacts at 10 stations! They had to decide the following:

• What the item might have been used for
• What sort of person might have owned an item like this
• What materials it might be made from

Please see photos below!

This month, we had a visit from our Road Safety Officer, who led a very informative and vitally important session for Nightingale Class. You will have seen the reflective bag of goodies the children brought home, including an activity booklet. 

Please could the children bring these booklets in on Monday 13th December, whether or not they have bee completed, as we will be doing an evaluation session on that day.

Many thanks

Mrs Ryker 

French - October 2021

The children have really enjoyed their first French topic and have taken brilliantly to the language! They have learned all about how to greet people, saying their name and ask and say how they are feeling. 'Les couleurs' have also been learned! As an end of topic treat, the children tucked into pains au chocolat - yum!  

National Poetry Day - October 2021

In Nightingale Class, we enjoyed reading the poems 'From a Railway Carriage' and 'My Shadow' (to tie in with our Science topic!), both by Robert Louis Stevenson, in unison as a class.

Linking to our work on 'Fantastic Mr Fox' this term, we also wrote shape poems in Mr Fox's tail - please click on the brilliant examples below!

Science Investigation! 28.9.21

The children had fun with their science investigation this week! In our 'Light and Dark' topic, we have been looking at whether objects or materials are transparent, translucent or opaque.  

Today, we also learned how shadows are formed and we investigated whether different translucent, opaque and transparent materials and objects cast dark or light shadows or no shadows at all.  See some pictures from our session below! :)

Roald Dahl Day - 13th September 2021

What a fantastic day we had! The children started with Roald Dahl colouring and word searches, before moving on to learning all about the life of Roald Dahl himself. We then talked about the different types of characters in his stories and the children created their own 'Dahl-esque' hero or villain. A large part of Roald Dahl's style is, of course, captured in his humour so we then enjoyed listening to some of his jokes and also a few of his Revolting Rhymes, which turn traditional fairy tales into something a little more quirky with a twist! The children enjoyed watching an animation of 'The Enormous Crocodile' version. 

The BFG captures dreams in a jar and he blows the good dreams into children's bedrooms with his dream pipe. The children drew and write about their dreams in a jar. We also had a True or False Quiz to see what the children had learned.

Then it was onto 'Gobblefunk' - the ridiculous and often hilarious words created by Roald Dahl. The Nightingales used the 'Gobblefunk Generator' to create their own words and also created their own Roald Dahl names!

It was all great fun and much enjoyed by all. The children - a collection of Matildas, Sophies, Red Riding Hood, James and the Giant Peach, a couple of Esio Trots, a BFG and several others - all looked incredible in their costumes! Thank you so much to all parents and children for your wonderful efforts - the dressing up really enhanced the day.

Please see below for a slideshow of the photographs taken on the day.