In answer to some of your questions, the Welsh is somewhere back on older posts....last Monday or Tuesday I think. Also, the football girls will get the booklets from P.C. Lewis next week, don't worry about the homework!

The smattering of snow early this afternoon caused great excitement.

One of our pupils was more excited than most, however, having never seen snow before!

There wasn't much at the time I took these photos....but looking out of my window now, it is certainly something to write home about!

Our second visit was from Ella's grandparents Mr and Mrs White.

They are the areas representatives of Tearfund. Tearfund is a charity that provides support for people in need all over the world.

Their charity has provided thousands of people with clean water...which links in nicely with our topic this term.

Mrs White has had first hand experience of the support the charity provides. She talked about her recent visit to the slums of Calcutta, and showed us some really shocking photographs.

Please look at the link below to learn more about this great charity and remember how lucky we all are!

http://www.tearfund.org/

Thanks again Mr and Mrs White for your visit.

We had a morning of visitors in Y6.

Our first visit was from our community police officer P.C. Lewis.

She is running the S.A.F.E. campaign this year.

We talked about drugs and what we should do if we ever find some suspicious substances.

The children's homework is to complete a tobacco survey by Tuesday.

In Pontyclun Primary we are very proud of our school orchestra.

It is made up of pupils who play strings, woodwind and brass instruments.

This morning we were entertained by the strings and woodwind who played us some Christmas music.

Well done to all the children who took part, and a huge thank you to our two fantastic peripatetic music teachers, Mrs Lewis (strings and woodwind) and Miss Hurst (brass).

Today we looked at the features of a Newspaper Article. We analysed an article, looking for the above features. We then thought about our own articles and wrote our headlines and 'flash' introductions. We read these to the class and discussed what we had written.

This afternoon we continued our music topic. We are looking at the links between melody and lyrics. We also spoke about the history of, and the stories behind certain songs.

We began by reading the lyrics of 'The Bluebell of Scotland' and 'Danny Boy'.

We then listened to the melody of each and decided whether the melody suited the lyrics.

We then listened to a 'Blues' song written during the American Depression of the 1930's.

We learned the story behind each song, and then were given the challenge of thinking of some songs that have a history of their own.

Here is the site I promised you about the origins of some nursery rhymes.....told you I would be sad enough to look it up!!!!!

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/index.htm

This afternoon we practised our football skills. Our W.A.L.T. was to develop our pass. Our W.I.L.F. was to maintain good footwork and control of the ball.

Today we carried on with our work on Newspaper Articles.

J7 looked at the structure and features of an article and answered some comprehension questions.

J8 researched information to be included in their articles.

On Friday Ella's grandparents are coming in to talk to us. They have travelled to India to work with a charity that provides clean water to communities. We will be able to interview them for our article.

Meanwhile, here are some websites to help you.

http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/

http://www.wateraid.org/uk/

Today we began our dance topic in P.E.

We have to create a dance with a chorus mimicking the Citroen advert.

I will video our final dances and post them to the Blog.

Watch the video of the real advert on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dilUbkP-PI

Pontyclun had a fantastic day on Friday. Y6 raised £1,335 for Children in Need. They worked really hard on their stalls and deserve a huge amount of praise.

Today in assembly they gave out their prizes to various winners.

Well done everyone.....our most successful Children in Need day ever.