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01 March 2013

This week, I want you to revisit all the spellings we have learnt throughout the year. Each day we will have a randomly generated test on some of the spelling from the year plus a bigger test on Friday.

Make sure your spellings are up to date in your learning  list book – if they are not up to date, use the website to help you fill in the gaps.

You might not remember the spelling, but see if you can apply the rules.

01 March 2013

The spellings this week are all words which have a short vowel sound and require a ‘double up’ after the short vowel sound. A lot of the spellings are also in the past tense so will practise our ‘ed’ endings again. The children will be tested on eight out of the ten words on Friday 08 March.

stopped

ripped

dropped

spotted

stepped

messily

happily

staggered

sniggered

spluttered

01 March 2013

This week, the children have been split into different spelling groups. You will know which group your child is in as it will be written on the inside of their spelling book.

We are revisiting split digraphs. This week we are looking at i – e. These will be tested on Friday 08 March.

Group M

Group S

01 March 2013

This week we’re revisiting some common homophones. A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but is spelt differently.

The individual words aren’t too tricky but the real challenge is being able to use them at the correct time. Year 4 therefore need to practise using the right homophone in sentences, which is how they will be tested.

Ofsted data

This week, Ofsted published short data reports based on end of Key Stage assessments for 2012. The data for any school in England can be accessed on the Ofsted website – this includes the Moortown Primary data.

I’m delighted to draw your attention to our excellent Key Stage 2 results. For Reading, Writing and Maths, we are in the top 20% of similar schools. Progress is a little lower – this is due to being in a relatively small school where just one pupil can make a difference. What the tables don’t show is the stories behind the data. We’re proud of our results, but they are a little lower than 2010 and 2011. One child missed out on a Level 4 by a couple of marks in Maths but achieved Level 4 in English this is shame, especially since Ms Hazell reports that the pupil was working quite securely at Level 4 for much of the year (perhaps SAT nerves or test technique let this pupil down on the day ?). Another much-loved child has very specific special needs meaning he could not do the tests at all, but is included in our school results parents and carers are often surprised to hear even pupils with quite extreme special needs are included in Ofsted data.

Our results for Key Stage 1 are nearly always above national levels in 2010, 2011 and 2012. This is good, but we want it to be better. I’m happy to report that our forecasts for the current Year 2 and Year 1 classes are looking very promising. We’re confident that our continuing aim for excellence is having a good effect on learning in Reception, Year 1 and 2, and this will show in the 2013 data.

Finally, it’s great to see that attendance is in the top 20% of all schools in the country.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

01 March 2013

This week’s spellings will be tested on Friday 08 March.

Lions

These are compound words. These are words that are made up of two other words.

• bedroom
• football
• goodnight
• handbag
• outside
• paintbrush
• playground
• weekend
• cupboard
• blackbird

Tigers

These are words beginning with ‘wh’.

• who
• what
• why
• where
• when
• which
• white
• while
• wheel
• whale

Zebras

Please practise these tricky words.

• saw
• come
• what
• have
• went
• was
• came
• the
• some
• and

01 March 2013

Next Thursday 07 March is our annual school council election. This week’s homework, linked to the elections, is talk time.  It’s due in on Wednesday 06 March 2013.  Your child has a choice:

Either:

If your child would like to be a candidate for their class, their homework is to prepare a speech to present to their class.  This should include the following:

• Why they think they can represent their class well.
• What qualities they have to make a good school councillor.
• What suggestions they have for the new school council to consider.  Think of realistic ideas.

Some websites to help with this homework include http://involver.org.uk and http://www.pupilvoicewales.org.uk

Or:

If your child does not want to be a candidate in the elections, their homework is to discuss:

I understand the importance of voting.

This week, in class and assemblies, children have been learning about voting, school councils and why their vote, in the elections next week, really does count.

Top tips in maths

In recent weeks, our maths focus has been adding and subtracting. We’ve practised using number lines to count on in jumps of 1, 2 and 10. Some children have also begun to learn the column method. Why not practise counting in tens from different numbers when you’re walking to school? Start at any number, and add (or subtract) ten as you walk along: 46, 56, 66, 76…

We’re currently learning all about data. We’ve read information in pictograms and bar graphs. We created our own graphs in ICT, too. In the next few weeks, we’ll learn to multiply, divide and know about fractions. Why not try discussing fractions with your child when you next cut a cake or a pizza, or or when you look at the segments in fruit or chunks in chocolate bars?

Top tips for reading

The children’s reading and writing in Year 2 is coming on well. Remember to keep checking your child’s understanding of what they are reading. Here are some tips to help you:

• Find the word / phrase that tells me that…
• How is the character feeling on page _? How do you know?
• What is the problem in the story? How do you think it will be solved?
• Why are there words in bold / capitals / italics?
• Was there a meaning / moral to the story?

What do you treasure?

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to become artists using photography. Our iPads will be used to record treasures that are important to us. We will use these photos to create collages of our treasures. Please can your child be ready to bring in two or three items that are important to them and be ready to explain why it is a treasure. Children may want to bring in a certificate, a medal, a photograph, a souvenir or perhaps a toy that has a special meaning. Please make sure children have their treasures in school by Friday 08 March. They will be returned to you at the end of the day on Friday. Thank you.