Welcome Meeting for Parents September 2016

The adults who will work with our class are: Miss Piper (mornings) Mrs Colucci (afternoons) Mrs Bradbrook (mornings) Mrs Pearce Mrs Gordon (SENCo) Mrs Bowers (SEN TA) Mr Wells/Mr Lampshire

Important Days Gym is on Monday. They need shorts and T-Shirt. Games is on Thursday. They need tracksuit and trainers etc.

Curriculum We Learn... offsitein grounds from experts in our community as experts (historians, artists etc) using Christian v alues practically by whole day immersion flexibly, following our interests from famous people from local, national and global issues Our first topic is ‘Oxford’.

Learning Mornings: maths, maths facts, English, reading, spelling Afternoons: history, geography, art, DT, RE, PE, French, science, computing

How we help Plan as a team so we share good practise with each other Pitch our lessons well and ensure learning happens every lesson, every day Differentiate work so children are challenged at their level Help children who are stuck- we want to close gaps and stop barriers Help children who feel sad/worried- we need to be content to learn. Work as a team- we use lots of different professionals both in school and out. We speak to you if we have concerns.

How you can help your child. Sleep well (NHS recommends hours a night) Eat well- bring a fruit snack Send them with a water bottle (Feeling thirsty can affect learning and memory function by 10%) Read every day- try to make it part of your routine. Be a role model for reading. Complete homework activities Help your child become independent- make sure they bring the correct things to school, including a raincoat.

Homework Following the Parent Questionnaires of June, we have looked carefully at our homework provision. We know you enjoy helping your child at home and we know that when home and school work together children’s attainment improves. We also are aware that the new National Curriculum expectations are challenging and want to reflect this in the children’s homework. Therefore we have adapted our homework provision.

Homework in year 4 Spellings- The school is using a new progressive spelling program. Your child will receive a spelling activity weekly, which may include learning words, researching the history of words etc. Reading- children need to record what they read in their diaries. This will be looked at weekly by the class teacher on a Monday. Maths- the children will have a ‘Mental Arithmetic’ book and they will need to do 1 page per week. Each page is split into sections A (quick maths questions), section B (short word questions) and section C (word problems). Each page reinforces the basic skills we will teach weekly and so their mental arithmetic improves. It is more challenging than homework has been in the past. We would like each child to complete all 3 sections but please speak to Miss Piper if you have concerns. It is sent home on a Friday and collected in on Tuesdays. Shared Learning Projects- We recognise that some children really enjoy completing extended projects. Each half term, your child will be set a project to complete based on the topic we are learning in school. These will be celebrated in assembly. The project will be in a similar style to the Shared Learning at Home grid.

Special Educational Needs SEN covers emotional needs, communication and interaction needs, cognition needs, fine motor needs, working memory needs, speech and language needs and physical needs. If we have concerns, we will speak to you. We will meet and discuss shared aims and how best we can work together to help your child reach their potential. From time to time, external agencies may need to be involved. In this instance, we will always seek your permission.

How to get hold of us Please catch Miss Piper if your concern is homework, maths, or English. Please contact Mrs Colucci if your concern in curriculum based. If the concern is about your child’s friendships, please contact whoever is teaching. In the morning, please leave your child outside. They can walk into class independently. Please remember that the gate opens at 8.40 and formal learning starts at 8.50am. At home time, they will be outside with Mrs Colucci at the bottom of the ramp.

Key Dates 21/9 New Parents Reading Workshop 23/9 Trip to Oxford (will need parent help please ) 26/9 Prayer Spaces 5/10 Calculation workshop- a repeat of the summer term workshops on addition, calculation, multiplication and division. 24/10 Half Term Class Assembly is in the second half term. Date TBC

Do you have any questions?