Living and Learning: Manners
In this weeks’ Living and Learning session we looked at manners.
In particular, we learnt about manners with a link to hygiene.
We looked at an experiment where children in a class touched different pieces of bread after having washed their hands with soap, after having washed their hands with sanitiser and after having not washed their hands at all.
Also, we explored the vampire method when coughing or sneezing.
Ask your child to explain the outcome of the experiment and what the vampire method is!
Here are some of the spider diagrams the children created that illustrate different manners:
Martial arts
Today, we enjoyed a session led by Steve from BMMA. Steve leads kick boxing classes every Monday after-school.
As well as learning some kick boxing skills, we learnt about team work, sportsmanship and resilience too.
Please refer to the flyer brought home tonight, if your child is interested in attending the club.
World Book Day themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 5th March. Please contact the office, in the next few days, if your child would like a school dinner on this day (no action needed if your child normally has a school meal on this day).
Times tables
All children have recently received their login details for Times Tables Rock Stars.
In Year 2, we learn the two, five and ten times tables and these are the tables that have been assigned to the children on Times Tables Rock Stars, starting with the ten times table.
Occasionally there will be some division questions and as this is something we are beginning to learn, please support your child with these questions until they feel more confident to have a go.
Children will be bringing home some optional Times Tables Rock Stars sheets that can be completed over half term to improve these skills. They can return these to school if they complete them.
Other resources to support time tables and other number facts is Hit the Button. This is a great, fast-paced game and children can choose which times tables or number facts to work on during each game. This game is free to play online.
If you have any further questions regarding the resources mentioned, do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your continued support.
Choosing our own books
It was great to see some of the Year 2 children using our new reading house today. This has been created in the classroom and allows children to browse the books before choosing their next read.
We are very lucky to have lots of new chapter books and these seem very popular.
Reviewing computing
The end of the half term brings us to an end of our computing topic which lots of us are particularly sad about. The children have really enjoy this learning and many have continued it at by creating their own Scratch accounts.
We’ve learnt lots of new vocabulary through this topic and many of us now feel confident with words which we’d never heard of at the beginning of the half term. Today, we shared our knowledge as a group by creating a concept map of what we understand about our computing vocabulary.
Internet Safety
Technology is becoming increasingly apparent in all of our lives. Because of this, we know that it is of vital importance to stay safe online.
This Tuesday (Safer Internet Day), we talked about different ways to stay safe online – we even thought of our own tips and tricks, too!
Rayn made his own useful mnemonic:
T – Tell people you trust
A – Always check for a padlock
R – Remember you can block
B – Be safe!
Internet Safety Day
For Internet Safety Day, Y6 explored online persuasion in the form of advertising, pop ups and games as businesses. They created and presented what they had learnt.
Top tips:
- fully close the app if a pop up appears and you’re unsure – delete and reinstall if necessary
- do the legwork when searching online – check multiple sites and customer reviews
- keep a happy and healthy balance when gaming – go outside often or put a limit on your screen time
Is your child in Year 4?
The government is introducing a new assessment for Year 4 pupils. In June, each child in Year 4 is set to complete an online multiplication tables check (MTC). Read more about this new assessment.
There will be 25 questions covering the full range of facts children are expected to know, which means questions going up to 12 x 12. However, there’s slightly more weighting towards multiplication facts involving 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 due to these being the most difficult to learn. For example, there will be between 2 and 4 questions involving multiplying by 6.
For each question, children are presented with a multiplication fact and an empty box. This may be written as __ x 6 or as 6 x __ .
If you’d like to practise at home, our own website has lots of spreadsheets you can download.
There are also lots of websites that you can use. This one is very similar to the MTC. It’s possible to alter the settings on this website to focus on particular times tables.
Another exciting way to practise times tables is through the ‘Times Tables Rockstars’ website. Every child has their own individual login details that enables them to access their account at school and at home. Feedback so far is that this is proving an enjoyable way to practise times tables facts at home!
Skipping ropes
Following the skipping workshop with Jodi from Skipping School last week and in preparation for an upcoming skipping competition, we do have some skipping ropes available to buy at a subsidised price of £2.
If your child would like to buy a rope to keep learning their new skills at home, please come to the classroom at the end of the day or send £2 in a sealed labelled envelope with your child.
