Hi! My name is Miss Collingwood and I have taught at St John's since it first opened. I started my teaching career 40 years ago and have taught children from nursery age right up to year 6. I am also a qualified Reading Recovery teacher. The teaching profession has seen many changes over the years but my passion for helping children to learn is as strong as ever.

In my spare time I enjoy curling up on the sofa with a good book, playing the piano (wearing headphones so nobody else can hear!), doing gardening and DIY around the house. I have a handsome black Labrador called Arthur and we love going for walks along the beach together.

I spent the first 18 years of my teaching life at a school in South East London. Patrick Okogwu, one   of my ex pupils, went on to win 2 Brit Awards and performed at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games - he is    now better known as Tinie Tempah!

 Who knows what great things the children in Kingfisher Class will achieve if they work hard and aim high!

  Other staff working in our class are:

   Mrs Jones – Teaching assistant

   Mr Hasker – 3rd Teacher

   Mrs Sanger – Art and DT teacher fortnightly on Thursday afternoons

  Our Weekly Timetable:

   

Important dates for the diary this term for Kingfisher Class:

PE - Every Monday (School PE kit to be worn to school please)

We are lucky to have been chosen and invited to sing and perform at the Cathedral for the St Nicholas Family Service on Sunday 8^th December (more details to follow). We will be learning and practising the songs in our music lessons this term.

Our learning this term:

Our learning continues this term with an exciting geography topic called ‘Magnificent Earth’. We will be focussing on volcanoes and earthquakes. The children will learn about the structure of the earth, how different types of volcanoes are formed, what happens when they erupt and what causes earthquakes.

This term in English we will explore a text called ‘Escape from Pompeii’ by Christina Balit. We will continue to focus on sentence structure, ensuring we are using capital letters and full stops correctly, as well as question marks and exclamation marks. We will also continue to develop our knowledge of varied word classes (such as adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions and prepositions) and structuring our longer writing in paragraphs. Again, we will write a range of text types including poetry, narrative and non-chronological reports.

In maths we will continue to learn about addition and subtraction including the column method for accuracy with larger numbers, which will also test our place value! We will then move on to explore multiplication and division by using methods of arrays, grouping and sharing. We will continue to practise our fast recall of multiplication and division facts for 2X 3X 5X and 10X tables.

In science, we will be exploring rocks which links well with our learning in geography this term.  The children will compare and group rocks and investigate their properties by testing how hard they are and if they can let water go through them. We will learn about how fossils are formed and take our learning outside to investigate soil.

 

We will be learning about Christianity in RE this term. Our topic is ‘Incarnation’ and our big question is ‘What is the Trinity?’

The children have enjoyed learning how to greet people and say goodbye in German. This term they will learn numbers to 10 and colours.

 

 

Learning at home for Kingfisher Class: 

Children are expected to read every night for at least 15 minutes.  Please spend time each day listening to your child read as it really does have a positive impact on their progress. Remember to sign your child’s reading record book when they have read to you as reading records are checked every day.

When your child has finished an AR book, they can complete the quiz. We are focussing on quizzing accuracy. Your child will receive a raffle ticket if they pass a quiz at 80% or above and will have the chance to win a prize at the end of term!

It is important that reading books and reading record books are in school every day even if your child hasn’t read.

                       

Please remember that you can access Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS), Numbots and Spelling Shed from home.

There are certificates and a trophy for the winning class and individual certificates for the child that scores the most points each week. Spelling assignments will be given out each week, which support the spelling curriculum that your child will be following in school.

You will find your login details at the back of your child’s reading record book.

                                                          

 

Be ready for learning!

In Kingfisher Class, your child will need to have these items in school: 

• Water bottle with sports cap lid (no squash or juice) 
• Small rucksack (big enough to hold lunchbox and reading books) 
• Wellington boots (to leave in school) 
• Coat (weather appropriate) 

Please don’t bring other items into school, as we do not have space to store them, and it can cause upset if things are lost or damaged. 

 

School uniform checklist:

Please, please, please check that all items of school uniform and PE kit are clearly named, as it can be upsetting for the children and frustrating for parents and teachers when clothes go ‘missing’. Don’t forget to check regularly as names can fade easily in the wash!

 

Snacks

Please note that in KS2, children do not receive a snack for break times.

If your child would like a snack, please feel free to send them in with a piece of fruit in their bag that they can eat during their morning break! Grapes should be cut in half lengthways please.

Highlights from Term 1

We really enjoyed our Durovernum topic, learning all about why the Romans invaded and how they changed Canterbury. On our Hook Day we all made Roman helmets.

In Science, we learnt about forces and magnets. The children did an experiment to find out which surfaces had more or less friction and had lots of fun investigating how magnets attract and repel.

We took our learning outside for one of our art lessons. The children used viewfinders and sketched trees inspired by the work of Luke Adam Hawker.

We had a great day on our trip. At the Roman Museum the children had a Roman technology workshop, made their own replica Roman coins, used catapults to knock down a brick wall and had fun dressing up!

At the Beaney we looked at some real and replica Roman artefacts, sketched them and thought about what they might be used for.