Welcome to Topaz Class - Yr 3/4
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Welcome to the Topaz class page! I hope everyone feels relaxed (or at least less tired!) and is ready to go for the new school year! On this page, you will find links to useful websites, information about our topics and recent activities and options to download key documents.
As always, if you have any queries or questions, I am available every day after school, or by email at samp@netherfield.e-sussex.sch.uk. If it is more convenient to set up an appointment, please come in before or after school to do so.
Please do not hestitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about anything.
Remember: Please bring in your good news from home slips! All news welcome!
Term 1 DICE Topic - Tribal Tales
This term, our DICE topic is entitled 'Tribal Tales' and focuses on the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. Take a moment to step outside and stand quietly and still. Turn off all of your technology and try to forget the modern world. Imagine this place 5000 years ago - what would you have seen?
Head back to prehistoric times (its a long time ago) to gather berries and hunt down dinner. Unearth ancient objects and visit astonishing mystical monuments that reveal the secrets of an ancient time. Learn how the people of Britain developed over thousands of years, from the Stone Age to the Roman invasion. Work as a tribe to build a seasonal monument to celebrate the coming of spring. Then, sit quietly and reflect, waiting for the sunrise.
What tribal tales will you have to tell?
Letter-join
Handwriting is a very important element of school life, and the associated skills need to be taught carefully. We have adopted the Letter-Join strategy for handwriting across the entire school and cursive script will be taught to everyone. We would love you to encourage your children to practise using the new letter formation! Details of how to download resources are available below. 
Computing - Purple Mash
A reminder that we have joined the Purple Mash community for teaching and learning computing and digital literacy. The children all have their own logins to access the games , activites and programs on the website, and they will be able to explain to you how it all works. If they have forgotten their login, we have a record of them and will be able to provide them to you! Click the picture to go to the login page.
Our Virtual Classroom
Home Learning
This year Maths Home Learning will be due in on a Friday. Spellings will be due in on Wednesday, as spelling tests will be on this day. Times Table tests will be on Thursdays, therefore Times Table homework will be due in on Thursdays as well. The children will also have an Arithmetic Test and a Grammar Test to help prepare them for similar tests at the end of Key Stage Two, but will be tested solely on knowledge and skills learnt within the classroom.
Those children who forget to bring in their homework, or fail to complete it to the deadline, will have to complete a portion of the homework during their lunch time.
Useful Websites
Here are some useful websites for Home Learning or extra research! As always, the websites have been checked and are all age-appropriate. However, do feel free to check yourselves or choose your own websites.
How did Stone Age hunter-gatherers live? – BBC Bitesize A useful web page with photographs, a short video and information about different aspects of Stone Age life.
Galleries - Museum of the Stone Age - A useful range of images of Stone Age artefacts.
Day in the Life of a 10-year-old in the Stone Age – BBC Hands on History A three-minute animated video about life in the Stone Age – useful for children.
Bronze Age Britain (animation) BBC Two (The Story of Britain) - A seven-minute animated video about life in Bronze Age Britain through the eyes of one family.
Bronze Age Britain – BBC History - A useful overview of the Bronze Age, aimed at older children and adults. Includes information about the Beaker folk.
How did Iron Age people live? – BBC Bitesize Information about how Iron Age people lived, including a short video and audio clip.
Iron Age Celts – BBC Wales - A child-friendly site with interactive elements. Children can ‘dig up the past’ and look inside a roundhouse.
10 Mysterious Prehistoric Sites From Around The World – Listverse - A tour of some famous archaeology from this ancient period.
About Stonehenge – Stonehenge.co.uk - A website dedicated to this famous Bronze Age site, including history and key facts.
Stonehenge – English Heritage - A great resource with lots of information about the ancient site, including images and information about Bronze Age life. Bluehenge unearthed: Prehistoric site.
Fun Facts
Did You Know?
Prehistoric cave paintings show Bison, Horses, Aurochs, Rhinos, Mammoths and many other animals that are now extinct.
The Early Stone Age is by far the longest period in human history.
The name Stonehenge is derived from the old english word 'stan' meaning stone and 'hencg' meaning hinge, or 'hencen' meaning gallows.
Nobody is exactly sure when the wheel was invented. Evidence of wheeled objects and pictures of wheeled chariots date back to around 3500BCE. Some of the first wheeled objects in Europe were actually children's toys!
In 2012, two amateur metal dectors in Jersey unearthed the largest hoard of Iron Age coins ever found. The Grouville hoard contains an estimated 70,000 coins, worth a staggering £200 each. Wow!
A Handaxe or Biface is a prehisotric tool with two faces. Usually hewn from flint or chert, it has been used longer than any other tool in human history.
Despite what many cartoon makers and toy manufacturers seem to think, there were no dinosaurs in the Stone Age. Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago. However, there were Woolly Mammoths, Sabre-toothed Cats and Cave Bears.
The people of North Sentinel Island in Asia still live a Stone Aged lifestyle today, hunting and gathering food in the forest.