What a wonderful half term of PE in year 3! 
We have been developing our skills in our Outdoor and Adventurous lessons. Throughout our lessons, we enhanced our communication skills by listening to each other, supporting one another and working as a team. We started by learning the main four compass directions and applying our knowledge of these in fun games. Then we learnt how to use the key on a map to recreate images using PE equipment. This challenged our map reading skills whilst also making sure we worked well as team. Another map skill we used, was being able to read co-ordinates then follow these co-ordinates on a grid in the playground. Once we had located the correct co-ordinate on the playground grid, there was a task to complete before moving onto the next co-ordinate.  
After each lesson, we evaluated both the task and the skills we were learning to master, discussing what had worked well and anything we could do better and improve on next time. The children all worked well in their groups and had fun learning and developing their OAA skills.  ​

Thank you to the parents that attended our phonics workshop this week. Your attendance is much appreciated. If you were unable to attend, we have attached to this email the presentation from the workshop and some additional resources that you can use to support your child. 

Alphabet​

VE80 Celebrations  
On Thursday this week we celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Europe during WWII. The school was a-wash with colour as children wore blue, red and white. In classes children learnt about the significance of this event and engage in interesting activities including reading about the life of a 103-year-old veteran who had written to the school. As a school we also had the privilege of hosting a Thurrock Council and T100 event in Grays. Finley, Janet, Bentley, James and Georgia (year 5) led a walk-through Grays, stopping to perform at key locations. At each stop the children performed a drama, poem or song to represent the way in which Thurrock was impacted during WWII. This was an inspirational part of the day, and the children were praised for their efforts by both the local MP and Mayor who came to watch.   ​

On Thursday, our yr5 children took part in a local walk hosted by our Arts and Culture Young Ambassadors. The children spent time at Coalhouse Fort and the surrounding countryside to explore the theme of ‘our commitment to protecting the coastal areas of the UK’. As a school, we have partnered with Kinetika for over 10 years now and it was a privilege to once again be part of the organisations summer festival - we were the launch event! Our year 5 Young Ambassadors have been working with Kinetika over the whole year to plan for this event day and prepare some wonderful art pieces to encourage families to ‘walk – talk – explore’ together (you will receive this today). A big well done to all involved – it was a great day of leadership, learning and exploration. Over the month of May we are encouraging you to take part in the festival by completing a walk with your family – to find out more please visit the webpage below:
https://t100festival.co.uk/coastal-futures-walking-routes/