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06 November

We have been learning about shape this week. We have looked in detail at the following four basic shapes and so your child should be able to fill in the following table which can be found in their homework books. Please note that we’re learning that a circle has no sides but has a curved edge.

06 November 2015

Our homework this week is practice makes perfect. In English this week, we’ve been focussing on our own targets for writing and your child’s homework reflects that target. Your child has got one task to do, depending on their group.

To accurately spell high frequency words

This group have been looking at spelling rules and ways to practise their spellings. Their homework is to Look, Cover, Write, Check a group of high frequency words. Once they have practised these, they need to use them in sentences to describe fireworks.

To use ‘middlers’ effectively

‘Middlers’, which can be used to add extra information, are a type of subordinate clause. They’re placed in the middle of a sentence and are usually punctuated with commas either side. (Did you spot the middler in the first sentence?!) This group have to punctuate a group of sentences and then write their own sentences with middlers. When your child has completed this task, ask them if their sentence would make sense if the middler was removed – if it doesn’t, they’ll need to rewrite it.

To choose adjectives for impact

This group have been discussing how to use adjectives effectively. In their writing, they’re using an impressive range of adjectives but these adjectives do not always match the noun they are describing (I drank a colossal glass of water would usually not work as well as I drank a full glass of water).

To help with this, we’ve used target grids in class to rank adjectives for different purposes. On the grid, the best possible adjectives go in the middle and less effective adjectives are placed further away. Your child has a group of adjectives that describe fireworks and must rank them using this grid. They must then use the best adjectives to describe some fireworks.

To use a wider range of conjunctions

For this target, pupils have worked on expanding the types of conjunctions they use in their writing. A conjunction is used to join two words/sentences together to form one idea/sentence. We describe this as a ‘strong join’ in class. The homework for this group is about the choice of conjunction. They’ve been given similar sentences in groups of three that must be completed with either but, and or so. The challenge is to make sure that all three sentences make sense.

To punctuate sentences

This group are focussing on using capital letters and full stops to punctuate sentences. I have given the group pairs of sentences that have been ‘squashed together’ – children must decide where one sentence finishes and the next starts.

06 November 2015

The homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 11 November.

I know what a safe risk is.

The SEAL theme this half-term is the 8 Rs for learning. One of the 8 Rs is being able to take a safe risk. In this homework, I’d like children to show me that they know what a safe risk is. Examples of safe risks children make are putting their hand up in a lesson to answer a question or crossing a road at a safe crossing point.

06 November 2015

Here are the spellings for this week:

8 Rs for learning – our new SEAL theme

This half-term, we’re thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child. Each week, we’ll focus on different ‘Rs’. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight – can your child remember which animal matches the correct ‘R’?

You can support your child at home – we’ve listed a few ideas to help you below. Ask us if you’ve any questions or comments.

Download top tips for promoting the 8Rs for good learning behaviour.

I can show I am ready to learn.

• Make sure your child is at school for a prompt start of 08:50.
• Make sure your child has had plenty of sleep so they are alert and ready to learn at all times.
• Encourage your child to ask lots of questions – that shows they want to learn!

I take responsibility for my own learning.

• Provide time and space at home so your child is able to organise themselves: their PE kit, reading book, homework, spellings and tables… Don’t organise everything for them!
• Make a link between rights and responsibilities: your child has the right to a great education, but needs to be responsible for their own learning.

I take a safe risk.

• Talk about the difference between a safe and unsafe risk. At school, we want your child to take a safe risk by having a go at answering, even if unsure; trying something new and attempting harder learning.

I am resilient.

• Encourage your child to keep going! Set a tricky challenge or puzzle for your child to do.
• Encourage your child to think of different ways of doing things.
• Don’t let your child win when they play a game – they need to experience losing, too!
• Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn – be happy that your child found some learning hard and encourage them to ‘bounce back’ and learn from the experience.

I respond to feedback.

• Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.

I am resourceful.

• Encourage your child to be organised so they can play with a range of different toys.
• Encourage your child to try new ways to solve a tricky problem.

I remember.

• Make sure they have time to learn spellings, number bonds and times tables – a little practice daily is best.

Play memory games:

• Kim’s game: show them objects for 30 seconds… can they remember all the objects?
• Can they build up the sequence, ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a bike.’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a bike and a cucumber.’ etc … Take turns!

I reflect about my learning.

Talk with your child about what they’ve learnt, asking questions about:

• how they learnt
• why they learnt it
• when they’ll use their learning
• how they would teach this to someone else
• what learning might link with what they’ve learnt today
• etc

Some great PE

With a new half term, we’re changing focus in our PE lessons. Students from Leeds Beckett University joined us today and we really enjoyed their session. It tired us out and was great fun, too! We look forward to working with them each Wednesday this half term. 

Don’t forget to always have your PE kit in school on Mondays and Wednesdays.

What’s cooking?

Lots of cooking skills were practised this afternoon with Mrs Taylor. The wraps looked delicious and very healthy! I’m sure your child can now be a great help in the kitchen!

Also, tomorrow is our class assembly. It would be great for you to see how hard the class have worked!

Athens or Sparta – which was better?

As part of our Holidays Big Topic, we have been studying Ancient Greece. In class today, we split into two groups, Athenians and Spartans, to debate which polis (city) was better.

Our team leaders were picked based on how each polis used to decide their leaders. Athens had a democracy so that group had a vote. Sparta was ruled by a tyrant so the group didn’t get a say as to who would lead them. After that, we split into groups and decided why each polis was better than the other.

We then debated our points but could not decide overall which polis was better.

Why not ask your child which polis they think is better?

Changing direction

Clockwise, anti-clockwise, quarter turn and half turn are all vocabulary Year 2 have been using when giving instructions to move in different directions.  Using clocks as a reminder for clockwise and anti-clockwise, the children had to move across the world map to the different continents and oceans.  This is one way our maths learning can be linked to our Big Topic about holidays.

Attendance matters

The attendance data for the first half-term is below. Well done to Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5 whose attendance is all above the school average.

• Reception: 96.7%
• Year 1: 98.2% – a great attendance figure… well done!
• Year 2: 97.5%
• Year 3: 97.9% – just higher than the school average… keep it up!
• Year 4: 97.4%
• Year 5: 98.9% – this is really high… brilliant!
• Year 6: 97.7% – just a tiny bit lower than the school average… nice one!