FAMILY LEARNING RESIDENTIAL - First evening!

The bus arrived, promptly! As it was a small bus, it came on the school car park. Imogen and Emma WERE ready with their suitcases - what a relief! As everyone came on time, the bus left efficiently. Michelle and Keely followed Mrs Bell in the car. The journey was quite quick although it did become very dark and wet during the journey.

When we got to Pendrell Hall, we were allocated our rooms. Some people were upstairs, others were downstairs. Harry and his mum ended up in room 13, unlucky for some! They found the room to BE interesting! Joseph and his mum had the biggest bathroom, whilst Adam's mum found their bathroom brought back memories of the days she used to be a long distance lorry driver. Mrs Bell and Mrs Hunter found this information very fascinating.

After a lovely meal of fish and chips (yummy!), we went into the studio for games that helped us to get to know each other better. The 'Choo Choo' game was very amusing, as was the 'Find your Partner' game.

The aim was to make a noise of the animal on your card, listen for the person making the same noise and go to them! You've never heard noises quite like it!

Mrs Hunter shared chocolates, and then read the children a bedtime story. After everyone had enjoyed that, they chose a book to take to their bedroom and went to get ready for some sleep. The staff prepared the room for activities the next morning before heading for to the bar for some tea! !

Maths Lesson on Fractions

On Friday 9th November the parents met with Mrs Bell. They discussed a few things related to the trip in the evening first. The children then came into the study room to show parents how maths is taught in Year 3. The learning objectives of using digits to make numbers and learning about fractions was shared.
First the group went over the vocabulary that is used with fractions. The word, 'equal' is very important as the portions have to be equal to be correct fractions. The children folded paper into sections, starting with a whole, leading onto halves, quarters and eighths. It was interesting to watch children making connections e.g they realised that 2 quarters was the same as half, and that one quarter and three quarters make a whole.

The work naturally led to learning about fractions of numbers. Mrs Bell was impressed with the knowledge the children had and all the connections they made. Parents watched and became aware of how one concept can be used to learn other things in maths. Although there was no recording, other than learning how to write basic fractions, there was a lot of new learning going on.
The session finished with the children using digits to make 2 digit numbers. Some children used a systematic approach, whilst others made random numbers. This was not a problem - the next step to progress would be to use a system to become more efficient at maths.
We finished by going over some details for the evening when we start the residential learning at Pendrell Hall.

The children were highly excited, one or two parents were feeling nervous! The bus leaves at 4pm and dinner is at 6.30pm. When Imogen's mum came to pick her up, she was yet to pack!