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Welcome to Reception!

We’ve been busy preparing the classroom and now can’t wait for the children to start!

We’re looking forward to meeting you all again next week as your child begins this exciting chapter in their lives.

Please bring your child to school on the date and time arranged.

See you next week!

09 September 2016

In a change from last year, spellings will be tested fortnightly, not weekly.  This means there won’t be a test next week. Instead, you should spend more time not just practising the words but looking for other words which have the same sound in them. Sometimes, you will have spelling challenges do to to help your children deepen their learning of these and other words which fit the ‘sound’ or spelling rule .

Because of this extra time and practice, when it comes to the tests, the children won’t just be tested on the words in the initial list. I will choose some of the words from the list and some other words which fit the theme (the children will have been exposed to these extra words in class learning). Also, in future tests, some of the words from previous tests will be recapped to check that children are remembering what they have learnt.

The spellings this week do not follow a rule or pattern. Instead, I will just test the children on these words related to our topic:

world
continent
country
city
compass
where
were
England
atlas
globe

Take a look at the sheet inside your Homework book called Can you become a master of spelling? This has lots of different strategies for learning words. Find a few which work for your child.

09 September 2016

This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due Thursday 15 September:

Find out which country the flag from your peg label belongs to.

I would like you to use the brains around you to help you find out! Discuss this with people at home. If nobody knows it, you could look in an atlas or another non-fiction book. As a last resort, you could use the internet to help you but think carefully about what you would have to search for in order to find the answer!

Year 3 also have times tables each week to learn. These will be tested on Friday. This week is the 2 times table.

Class dojo

You may have heard this mentioned at home since your child has started in Year 2.  Class dojo is our new class reward system which is proving very popular.  Children are awarded dojo points in class for positive behaviour and learning.  Later in the year, we will be linking the rewards more specifically to learning behaviours.

Well done to Phoebe who is the first to reach our target of ten class dojo points.

Autumn term school meals menu

Don’t forget our Autumn term menu is available to view on our website and is displayed on our dining room window. The menu, from our school meals provider Catering Leeds, follows a three week cycle. Have a look for the week ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.

School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals.

If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.

09 September 2016

In a change to past practice, children will no longer be given a list of words to learn each week before being tested on the Friday. Instead, we will focus on the same spelling rule for two weeks. This will allow children more time to learn, and retain, the spellings. One week, children will be given a task or activity to complete. The next, they will be given a list of words that follow the rule.

This week’s spelling activity is due on THURSDAY 15 September 2016.

Sort these words according to the sound the ‘ough’ letter string makes when you say the word.

For example, when you say ‘enough’, the ‘ough’ letter string makes an ‘uff’ sound.

09 September 2016

In a change from last year, spellings will be tested fortnightly, not weekly. This means there won’t be a test next week. Instead, you should spend more time not just practising the words but looking for other words which have the same sound in them. Sometimes, you will have spelling challenges do to to help your children deepen their learning of these and other words which fit the ‘sound’ or spelling rule .

Because of this extra time and practice, when it comes to the tests, the children won’t just be tested on the words in the initial list. I will choose some of the words from the list and some other words which fit the theme (the children will have been exposed to these extra words in class learning). Also, in future tests, some of the words from previous tests will be recapped to check that children are remembering what they have learnt. Children in Year 2 will be tested on ten words.

For the next few weeks, we’ll spend time recapping the different vowel sounds and their alternative sounds.

This week, it’s the long ‘a’ sound which can be written in different ways: play, rain, grey, plate, eight.

Here are the words your children should learn:

• shake
• mistake
• train
• Spain
• spray
• Monday
• they
• grey

Take a look at the sheet inside your Homework book called Can you become a master of spelling? This has lots of different strategies for learning words. Find a few which work for your child.

If you have any questions, please ask.

09 September 2016

This week’s second homework is Mathletics and is due on THURSDAY 15 June.

You have been assigned three Mathletics tasks.

Children should log on to Mathletics and complete the three tasks (they are related to our learning this week).

Once again, if you experience any problems logging on to Mathletics please come and see me. If the problem cannot be resolved, children will be given time on a Wednesday lunchtime to complete the activities.

09 September 2016

In Year 5 and 6, children receive two pieces of homework each week. This allows them more opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning outside of the classroom. Inside your child’s homework book is a parent/carer guide – it would be useful for you to have a quick read of this.

This week’s creative homework is due on THURSDAY 15 September.

I can show what makes a good learner. 

This is a great opportunity for us to think about what we can do in class to make us successful learners. In class, we discussed several ways in which children could respond creatively:

• a board game
• a video
• a comic strip
• a poster
• a 3D piece of art
• an interactive quiz

There are other ways, too. The key point is that children are able to show the characteristics of a good learner through a creative response. I can’t wait to see them.

09 September 2016

This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due on Thursday 15 September:

I can make someone feel welcome.

This week, we have started to think about our new SEAL theme, ‘New Beginnings’. Our SEAL statement next week is I can make someone feel welcome and we would like the children to think about how they might do this.

Speak with your child to see what they could do or say to welcome someone, maybe with reference to our three new children in class. This will also help children to develop empathy skills to consider how others may feel in certain situations.  As well as the school setting, you might also want to consider other examples such as other groups like brownies, sports clubs, at parties and even visitors to your house.

In our SEAL session next week, we shall be considering this statement through discussion and also drama.

Please see below for talk time guidance in our homework policy:

Talk Time homework: this involves a discussion topic eg ‘Should animals be kept in zoos?’ Children should make notes (even pictures, diagrams etc) ready to participate in a class / group discussion on the topic. Please make sure you write a comment about the Talk Time discussions in the homework books.

Top Tips:

• Turn the telly off!
• Sit around the dining table!
• Have a chat and share opinions and ideas!
• Children should talk with family, friends and each other.