Oak Class

Welcome to Oak Class

Classteacher: Mrs. B. Watts

Teaching Assistants:

Miss H. Betchley (Lower KS2 HLTA)

Miss G. Ingram

Mr. I. Cooke

Mrs. C. Osman (KS1 & KS2 HLTA)

Friday 17.07.20

Hi lovely children,

The end of term has finally arrived and what a strange term it has been. I wanted to say a big thank you to you all for being such an amazing class, you truly are a super group of children. I have absolutely loved being your teacher and only wish that I could have taught you for longer, you have made my return to Myland School a really happy one.

Thank you for continuing to work so hard on your home learning and for sending in so many wonderful pictures and messages throughout the last few months.

Although I won’t be your teacher when you return in September, I will make sure that I get to see you all and say hi.  Have a fantastic summer. Stay safe and happy and I will see you all very soon.

Love from Mrs Watts

Week beginning 13.07.20

Hi Oak Class,

I hope you have had a great week. The weather has been very disappointing but it looks like it is set to improve over the coming days. Leo, thank you for my lovely letter. I am glad your guinea pigs are settling in nicely. Happy birthday for today, Hollie, I hope you have a fabulous day.

For next week, we have put on a range of fun maths games which you might like to try out. Miss Lee has also given us some more fun sporty challenges, so take a look. Don’t forget that our main topic was for two weeks so go to last week’s page for more activities.

In other news, the weather has prevented me from getting outside so no wildlife updates this week. Mrs. Lewis has made a little hedgehog highway in her garden gate in the hope that the hedgehog returns and can come and go freely. Mr Tiggywinkle has obviously been enjoying the wet weather as it brings out more slugs and snails, which he loves to eat. There is LOTS of hedgehog poo in the garden so I know he has been out and about. Bramble loves to eat it so I have to get to it before her! Dirty monkey!  I am hoping to get another rescue hedgehog as a friend for Mr Tiggywinkle. I intend to call him Mr Prickles. Hopefully I will hear from the hedgehog lady soon.

I have still got a few more calls to make to you. If I haven’t rung you yet, I will be making my final round of calls next Thursday. 

Have a fabulous week.

Mrs Watts X

Week beginning 06.07.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you have had a good week. The weather hasn’t been that kind to us but hopefully it will improve a little over the coming week. Thank you, Cecily, for your lovely letter and photographs. Your visit to Jimmy’s Farm looked like really good fun and how exciting that you may end up on television! I too made a dessert with home-grown gooseberries; however, nothing quite as exciting as crumble cake! I hope Amelia and Hollie-Leigh have a lovely birthday this coming week.

For the next two weeks, your project work will be comparing the U.K. to the Caribbean. I will put on the work for both weeks so that you can choose from all the activities. There will be new maths next week. I hope you enjoy it.

In other news, Bramble went to the vet for her yearly check and vaccination but she had to go in without her mummy and daddy. She did not enjoy being left on her own and screamed the place down! Such a drama queen. Mr Watts could hear her outside in the car park (and so could everyone else that were waiting eagerly for their fluffy family member).

I managed to speak to some of you this week but I will be making some more calls next week. I hope to speak to you soon, have a lovely week!

Mrs Watts X

Week beginning 29.06.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you have had a lovely week and have enjoyed the fantastic weather! Liam and Winona, I hope you had a fantastic birthday this week. Happy Birthday for Sunday, Harry. We have had a busy week in school and have been learning all about insects as it is National Insect Week in the UK. Thank you again to those of you who have sent in pictures. Alana, thank you so much for making such a beautiful pencil pot, it is in pride of place on my desk. Isabell, your photos of your work on ponds are great. I am glad you and Albert have enjoyed it. 

This week, our project work is on Wales. For those of you who have tried out the art activities, I have added some links for two other artists inspired by nature, which you may like to take a look at. I have also added some sports activities from Miss Lee.

In other news, I did not manage to see the swan family so they may be travelling a little further afield now. I will check again though. A friend of Mrs. Lewis sent her a great video of a slow worm, which she had found in her garden. You may like to do a little research and find out more about these creatures, as they are actually not worms at all.

I will be calling you again, after 2.15, over the next two weeks. This will probably be the last chance that I get to talk with you before the end of term, so I hope to get to speak to as many of you as possible.

Have a fantastic week and I hope to speak to you soon.

Mrs. Watts X

Week beginning 22.06.20

Hi guys,

I hope you have all had a really good week and have been enjoying our nature project. I have loved seeing what you have been up to in the photos that some of you have sent in.  Lily has done some research on her very strange leaves, this is what she found out:

“These bumps and deformities are generally the results of feeding by insects or some other foreign organism such as bacteria, fungi, mites, nematodes, and even viruses. Whatever the original cause, these organisms are usually not still on the plant leaf. The gall itself is the plant’s response to the irritation. It’s not unlike the bump you get when an insect feeds on you, expect the leaf gall is not going to go away.”

Lily, I loved your Andy Goldsworthy art! My favourite piece was your spiral stone circle and Mrs. Lewis loves your balanced stone tower. I am so glad that you are enjoying the project. Please keep me updated with news of your caterpillars. Alana has been to visit Horsey Bay and she took some amazing pictures of the seals there. Thank you so much for showing me. You have made me want to visit Horsey Bay too.  Leo has had a very exciting week as he and his brother have now got Guinea pigs! I love them and used to have 3 pigs called Truffles, Vanilla and Fudge. Mrs Lewis loves them too and has two little guinea boys called Tobias and Richard. Interesting choice of name…

Our project continues this week with a focus on Northern Ireland so please take a look. As it is Father’s Day this Sunday, we have put some ideas on here that you may like to take a look at but I expect you have lots of ideas of your own. It’s National Sports Week next week so Active Essex have put together some challenges for children to do each day. If you are interested, take a look at the link and try out as many of the activities as you can.

https://bit.ly/NSSWEssex

In other news, I have been so busy with school this week that I have not been able to get out and visit the swan family but I will try to do this over the weekend and let you know how they are. Earlier this week, Mrs Lewis thinks she saw a small hedgehog in her garden. She is putting out some cat food and a dish of water each night in the hope that it comes back again. Fingers crossed.

Miss you all.

Love from Mrs. Watts X

Week beginning 15.06.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you have had a good week. The weather hasn’t been too great but hopefully you have managed to get outside sometimes. I have had a lovely week in school, teaching my group and working with Mrs. Lewis and I am lucky enough to get to see Elsie every day. It was great to see you too, Arabella. I hope you are both enjoying your time in school. I love being back at school but wish you were all here with me.

It was lovely to speak to some of you this week too and to see some of the things that you have sent in. Alana, thank you so much for my ‘big hug’ and delicious biscuits. I really enjoyed our chat too. Devon, it was great to hear that you have been working on your wit, I look forward to being on the receiving end of it soon!  Well done for practising  your handwriting too. Isabell, I love your 'lockdown' T shirt! Cecily, it was great to see how well you are doing on your reading Eggspress and I am glad that your poor toes are mending nicely.  Elliot has received a Blue Peter badge for writing a letter about his enjoyment of music. That is fantastic, Elliot, well done!  I was very impressed with your prosthetic hand, Lily, and really enjoyed talking to you this week. I am pleased that your 4^th little coal tit is still visiting your garden. Lily also sent in a picture of a very strange looking leaf that she found on her nature treasure hunt. I have put it on our page in case you would like to investigate it yourselves. Please keep sending your work and news in to me. I really miss seeing you so it is great to hear from you. Remember to take a look at the newsletter to see if your work is on there.

This week, we have added and changed some slides on our project. The focus will be on Scotland and its native species. You also have the chance to become ‘weather watchers’ and record the weather in our area and in your chosen region of Scotland. Please try to complete the weather activity as some of the following week’s maths will be based around this. I hope you enjoy the activities.

In other news, I managed to take a walk along the river on the weekend and saw the swan family. They are doing brilliantly and were out in the main river together. I have had two unexpected visitors to my garden this week.  I had a jay on my birdfeeder, which I have never seen before, and I was really surprised how big it was! The biggest surprise was the visitor to my pond. It was a snake! I don’t know much about snakes really but I assume it is a grass snake. Take a look at my pictures and see what you think.

Have a lovely week and I will speak to you again soon.

Mrs. Watts x

Week beginning 08.06.20

Hi Oak,

I hope you have had a good week. I have been at school every day with Mrs. Lewis as we are teaching a key worker group. Thank you to those people who sent in things for me to look at. Alanna, I loved your vinegar rocket and Adam, I was really impressed with your Roman topic work, Keep sending things in guys, as I love to look at what you are all doing. I have just seen a message from Milo, I love your work! Good boy.

From this week onwards, you will have a 6 week project to work on. Our project is all about the U.K. and the natural habitats which can be found throughout the country. You will need to think carefully about how to present it each week so that it will come together as a complete fact file.

In other news, Mrs. Lewis has had a baby goldfinch visit her garden which she has never had before. Very exciting! I watched Springwatch last week and saw that Chris Packham had a very long birdfeeder which attracted so many birds. This inspired me to add more seed feeders and now there is an abundance of birds in the garden. I have had lots of blue tits, sparrows, coal tits, thrush and robins. Sadly, the woodpecker hasn’t been back but the pigeons have! As I have been at school, I haven’t had the chance to check on the swan family but I will hopefully do this over the weekend.

I will be calling some of you again next week on either Tuesday or Thursday, so hopefully we will get a chance to have a quick chat. 

Have a lovely week.

Mrs. Watts X

Week beginning 01.06.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you have had a lovely Half Term break and have managed to get out and enjoy the fantastic weather we’ve had.

I have put together a range of lessons for next week. The SPAG is based on punctuation and checking and adding in missing punctuation. The focus for Maths is area. There are some Powerpoints too so get an adult to go through those with you if you need a little help.  In English, we have used a picture for inspiration so please take a look. I have included a project on the Romans which you may like to try. There are lots of aspects of Roman life for you to choose from,

 It was great to see some of your work again and see the fun you’ve been having. Malachy, you look as though you had great fun in your pool, a super way to cool off in the sunshine. Elsie walked to Flatford, in the heart of Constable country, and created her own version of The Hay Wain, probably one of his most famous paintings. Well done, Elsie, it is fantastic!

In other news, my last family of blue tits have also now left the nest but they haven’t left the garden.  I regularly see them sitting in my apple tree and the parent birds are still feeding them, whilst they learn to feed themselves too. We have been putting out some mealworms which they seem to love. We had a lovely surprise this week when we saw a woodpecker hanging off our peanut feeder! He has been back a few times now and I will try really hard to get a picture for you. The garden seems to be bursting with life at the moment, birds, bees, butterflies, stag beetles, frogs and some mysterious flying bugs which are massive! Maybe you would like to take a look and try to find out what they are called. I have attached a photo for you as well as one of the frog who was enjoying sitting in the sun in my pond. The family of swans are doing brilliantly too. I have checked on them a few times now and have seen them out on the river. They are growing quickly.

Have a lovely week.

Mrs Watts X

Week beginning 25.05.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you have had a lovely week and have enjoyed some of our activities, as well as getting out in the fabulous weather.  I hope you enjoyed your birthdays, Ruby and Milo.  Thank you to those of you that have sent things in for me to look at. I love your artwork, Leo. You have done a super job!  It was great to hear that you have blue tits in your nest box too. Lily has coal tits nesting in her garden and has sent me a lovely video clip. I have uploaded it for you to see too. One of my families of blue tits have now fledged and left the nest but the other is still there. The noise they make is amazing! Who would have thought that such tiny birds could make such a noise? I took a short video to show you but I haven't managed to upload it. As you know, technology is not my strength but I will try again.  My husband and I went canoeing one evening this week, on the river in our village, and we saw the same heron about 6 times! I managed to get a photo for you. Look at the first picture and see if you can spot the heron, it is very tricky to see. I zoomed in for the second one so sorry if it’s a little blurry.

For next week, we are not giving you any lessons to do as it is Half Term. However, we have put together a few fun activities which you may like to try, including a nature treasure hunt and a cricket challenge. The art activity mentions exploring the school grounds but you can do the same thing in your own garden or outside space. Some of the indoor activities may be unfamiliar to you so look them up on the internet if you need to. Have a fantastic break and hopefully the weather will be kind to us.

I hope to see you all very soon.

Happy Half Term

Mrs. Watts X

Week beginning 18.05.20

Hi everyone,

It was lovely to speak to some of you this week when I rang you at home and to hear what you have been up to. I have been working in school all week, this week and so was lucky enough to see Elsie and Ruby. Happy birthday for Monday, Ruby x

Mrs Farthing has kindly forwarded your emails to me and I have loved looking at everything you have been doing.  It is brilliant to be able to see your work and activities, you have all been SO busy! Tyler, your rainbow brick wall looks fantastic and, Devon, I really enjoyed your alien story; it was really imaginative. I have seen some great art work this week too. Adam, your fruit artwork is fantastic!  Leo has entered an art competition so we all wish him well with that. Fantastic bouncing on the trampoline, Leo, by the way! Arabella has been incredibly busy, including baking some delicious looking biscuits. Thank you so much for your wonderful letter, Alana, I was really touched by your message. Your junk modelling looks like the Space Bat Angel Dragon from the Iron Man and I absolutely loved your video about your nature journal too. You have worked so hard. Isabell has been very busy working on her family allotment, which is looking fabulous and she’s been getting very creative too. Thank you so much for sending so much in to me, I miss you all so it is a lovely way to keep in touch. Take a look at the newsletter and see if you can spot some of your photos!

For the coming week, we have put together lots of different activities for you. Reading will be based on the chapters read by Mrs. Foster so you will be able to click on the link as usual.  For English, we wanted to do something a little different this week. You will be watching a short video and doing some story writing, and text mapping, based on this. It’s a lovely little story so I hope you enjoy working on that.  For Maths, we are finishing fractions.  There are a range of lessons which vary in difficulty, especially the chilli challenges, so look at them carefully. Some of them are VERY tricky. We have included some DT, art and science too so there are lots of activities to choose from.

In other news, both of the families of blue tits that I have in my nest boxes have hatched. We can hear them all cheeping and the parent birds are flying in and out, almost constantly, with food in their mouths for their babies.  One baby bird managed to climb up and put his head out of the hole in the bird box! I was very worried in case he fell out. For quite a while, he wouldn’t let the parent birds back in but eventually they gave him a little peck and he obviously dropped back into the nest box. They are too young to fly yet so I was very relieved. I managed to get a picture with his head poking out!

Have a lovely week and I will speak to you again soon.

Mrs. Watts  X

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a lovely weekend and that you enjoyed some VE Day Anniversary celebrations with your family. The weather is glorious today so I have been along the river to see how the swans are getting on. They were out on the water so I have taken a photo and a short clip to show you. I hope you like them.

Speak soon.

Mrs Watts x

Week beginning 11.05.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you have had a good week and are enjoying the sunshine today. We have put together some lovely activities for you. Next week, lots of the work is based around nature, with a nature journal to complete along with some reading activities. For Maths, we are continuing with fractions. You will be adding fractions so please work through the Powerpoint presentation first to remind you how to do this. Please ask an adult to go through this with you if you need any help. There is a lovely art activity and a super ‘Paddle Boat Challenge’, so take a look.

I am really pleased to see that lots of you have looked at our videos of Mrs. Foster reading The Famous Five. I’m glad that you are enjoying this. The next five chapters will be available this week so just click on the links. Please work from the same range of comprehension activities but try to use some that you have not already done.

I am working in school every day next week, doing lots of activities with the children. Whilst I am in, I will also be ringing you and your parents again each day and will work through the register in surname order. I look forward to chatting to you again and hearing what you have been doing.

When I was out walking, I saw that the farmers were spraying their fields with water as we have not had enough rain to keep the crops growing. It looked amazing as the spray had created a man-made rainbow! I have taken a picture for you in case you’d like to see it.

Have a lovely week and I will speak to you soon.

Mrs Watts x

Monday 4th May

Hi everyone,

I walked along the river again today and guess what? The eggs have hatched and the cygnets were on the nest with both of their parents!  I couldn't see how many there are but there appears to be quite a few. They look very cute. I look forward to seeing them once they go out onto the river with their parents. 

Hi again,

I am really pleased to be able to tell you that the chapters are now ready for you. Click on the link and listen to the chapter before choosing an activity to do. I hope you enjoy them.

Mrs. Watts  x

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a good weekend so far. Mrs. Foster has been working really hard trying to upload her videos but she's having a bit of a problem with this. She is hoping to have fixed the problem this week so we will try to have the chapters ready for you soon. Sorry guys, enjoy the activities we have given you in the meantime and watch this space...

Week beginning 04.05.20

Hi everyone,

It was lovely to speak to your parents, and some of you, this week, and hear about all the things you have been doing. It was great to hear that you are enjoying spending more time together, sharing activities such as gardening, baking, den building and playing board games. Thank you,Cecily, for your lovely email and photographs! Mrs. Farthing has just sent them to me. Toasting marshmallows looks like great fun and Sparky is so cute! It was lovely to see what you've been doing.

If anyone would like to show me what they have been doing, please send a message to the school office and they will forward it to me. It is always great to hear from you. 

It sounds like most of you have already got a really good daily timetable of activities, but I have included a possible timetable for those who may be finding this difficult. You DO NOT have to change to this if you are happy with your own routine.

We have put together lots of activities for this week. We have included some great ideas for the VE Day anniversary, so please take a look. There are lots of craft activities this week, based on things that you have previously learned too, so hopefully you will get to try out some of these.  Mrs. Foster has kindly said that she will read a chapter book to you and will base some of our reading activities on this, which is very exciting. Take a look at our page on Saturday, when she uploads the latest video!

In other news, the swan’s eggs have still not hatched! I took my dogs for a walk along the river yesterday to check, but she was still sat on the nest, waiting patiently. I will keep checking and send you a picture as soon as they hatch.

Have a lovely week and I will speak to you again soon.

Stay safe and happy. 

Mrs Watts x

Week beginning 27.04.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and have had a good week. The weather has been great again so I hope you have managed to enjoy it.

I have put together some more home learning activities for you. I have based them around topics you have already covered including food and digestion, which you learned about in the Autumn Term and more recent learning such as the Romans and Light. There is a link to take you to online learning about digestion and I have included a food diary which you could complete for the week. The food labels activity is an interesting one, so I hope you enjoy that. I have also put in a link to a lesson on Light as we have recently learned about that. Take a look at the work on equivalent fractions, which includes a Powerpoint presentation to help you. Please get an adult to go through this with you if you need to. 

Thank you, Leo, for your email. Mrs Farthing kindly forwarded it to me.

I have been keeping an eye on the Swan’s nest along the river but the eggs have not hatched yet. I will send you a photo as soon as they do. Mr Tiggywinkle was out again last night but scuttled away really quickly into the flower beds before I could take a photograph. It is surprising how fast he can move, especially as he only has 3 legs!

You may have seen on the newsletter that teachers hope to be able to call your parents, about once a fortnight, to check how you are getting on with the work we have set. All being well, I will be going into school on Wednesday and will call them then. Hopefully, I will get to say a quick 'hello' to you too. I hope we get to see each other soon, take care of yourselves and keep being kind and helpful to your parents and brothers and sisters.

Mrs Watts x

Week beginning 20.04.20

Hi everyone,

I hope you have all enjoyed the Easter break and have had the chance to enjoy the beautiful weather.

I have put together some activities for the coming week.  The Roman reading activity has 3 levels so please choose the one which is most suitable for you. Remember to challenge yourself a little.  I have included lots of x table practice activities and some for fractions. Try to do a little each day if you get the chance. Please continue with anything that you have not yet had the chance to complete from the activity packs we sent home or anything else that we have added on this page. 

I would also like you to try to write a suspense story like we have done in class. You will need to think of the following features when writing:

A scary setting, scary weather, introduce your characters early, introduce an UNKNOWN threat, show how your characters react to the threat (hide, say something etc.), make the UNKNOWN threat get closer and again show the character’s emotions, resolve the issue as the threat moves away. 

Be imaginative. Take care with your spelling and check your writing for sense and punctuation. Ask a grown up to read through your work once you have checked it yourself.

Please also try to get out into the garden if you are lucky enough to have one and enjoy the weather, try to keep yourselves nice and active and help your parents out as much as possible.

In other news, I have been keeping an eye on the swans along the river but the cygnets have not hatched yet. They sit on their eggs for about 5 weeks so I will keep checking. Mr Tiggywinkle is gaining weight nicely and now weights 875g. I have been spending lots of time in my garden, as I even do my school work out there, and have noticed that we are lucky enough to have pairs of blue tits in 2 of our nest boxes. I sat quietly and watched one coming in and out and managed to get a tiny video clip of him which I have added in case you’d like to see it.

Have a lovely week and keep yourselves safe and well. I hope to see you very soon.

Mrs Watts  x

Hi,

I thought I would just send you a quick message about what I have been doing. I am very lucky and live in a village with a beautiful river at the bottom of my road. I was walking my dogs there yesterday and I saw a swan sitting on her nest on the riverbank. Her partner was swimming along just in front of her. I took a photo so that I could show you all. The male swan did not like us getting near her (we were on the other side of the river so that we were not too close) so he beat his wings at us! It really scared my dogs! I will keep checking on them and will send some pictures once the cygnets (baby swans) are born.  I have also added another picture of Mr Tiggywinkle as I thought he looked particularly cute. 

Miss Lee kindly sent me a list of fun activities that you might like to try over Easter so I have added those too. 

I hope you get a chance to go out for a daily walk or cycle and enjoy this beautiful weather or to play in the garden if you have one. Keep safe and I will see you all very soon.

Mrs Watts 

Hi guys,

I hope you are all well and having a good week so far.  I thought you might like to see some photos of Mr Tiggwinkle, my rescue hedgehog.  He lives in my garden as he only has 3 legs and so couldn't survive safely in the wild. Now that Spring is here, he has come out of hibernation and I have seen him a couple of times, late at night, looking for food. Hedgehogs eat things like slugs and snails but I also put out a bowl of cat food for him as he may need fattening up a little after the winter.  We weighed him and he is almost 800g. This is a healthy weight as an adult hedgehog should be between 500g and 1kg, although they can get a big heavier when they live in a garden. 

I also wanted to show you a picture of Bramble, my Cocker Spaniel. As you know, I treat her like my third child and she is a little bit spoiled.  She can be a bit of a princess! Bailey, my Border Collie, didn't want his photo taken toady but maybe he will next time.

Have a lovely Easter and try not to eat too much chocolate 

Hi all,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the extra time with your family.  I’m pretty sure that I could hear you all clapping on Thursday night as we joined in the ‘Clap for Carers’. We know that we sent you home with a huge pack of work and we are not expecting you to have completed it! We just thought it would be nice to send through some further ideas to go alongside the activities that we have already set.

Fitness

As you may already know, Joe Wicks is doing a daily work out for children every morning at 9.00 am (Monday to Friday) which can be found here. We did this with those children who were in school this week and it was great fun.

https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1/videos

This link will take you to his You Tube channel. There are lots of videos already uploaded and he is adding a new one each day.

Reading

If you would like to listen to David Walliams reading his ‘The World’s Worst Children’ stories, this can be done each day at 11.00  at http: www.worldofdavidwalliams.com

The stories which he has already shared can be found there too.

Science

The following link will take you to some Science activities.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/D11WHF8nc7QYqJ3RRG39dz/terrific-scientific-live-lesson

Other subjects

BBC Bitesize is a great website for activities on all subjects. From April, they will be adding daily content that supports your education and wellbeing. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn

Maths

When we did our assessments last week, we found that lots of you had forgotten how to round numbers.  The following link has a great game to help you to become more confident with this. There are lots of different levels to work through. Please do not worry if you struggle with the decimals.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/rocket-rounding

The website is great for all areas of learning so take a look.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk

We have added some ideas to help with reading. The pages of questions can be shared with your parents and can be used with any books that you are reading at the moment. Just keep reading and enjoying your books.

We have added a new comprehension activity on the Romans for once you have completed the others we have given you in the pack.

Try our Missing Glue Sticks’ maths challenge too.