Term 3 message to parents and carers: 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to another term at St. Andrew’s.  I hope you have had a relaxing break and a fantastic Christmas with your families and your children are ready for an exciting new term.    

Supporting at home:

Parents often ask how they can support their children at home with their learning.  Reading is the most important thing you can do at home with your child.  Please continue to share books with your child and also discuss their personal reading with them.  Reading should be for pleasure, so please come and see me if you would like support in choosing books your child may enjoy.  Please find below some questions you could ask your child to further develop their reading skills: ​

What we will be learning this term:

Please see the medium-term plan for this term which contains information about all the subjects and what the children will be taught this term. This can be found on the school website and includes all of the objectives we will cover across the term.

Class text: Our class text this term is ‘The Lost Happy Endings’ by Carol Ann Duffy and Fiona Rae. This text is a short fairy tale, full of detailed pictures, challenging vocabulary and imaginative language and descriptions. This text will inform both our Fiction and Non-fiction writing for this term, and will also be used as the focus of our Guided Reading sessions.    

PE: PE will work differently again this term. Each Monday we will be completing work with Bristol Bears. These sessions are run by Bristol Bears and involve one indoor P.E session, focusing on mental health and teamwork, and one outdoor lesson, focusing on Rugby skills. Each Friday we will be improving our basketball skills. Our skills will progress over the term and prepare us for an in-class match to show what we have learned. With this in mind, please ensure your child is wearing their P.E clothing and shoes on Mondays and Fridays each week.

Music: This term, children in years 3 and 4 will be learning to use and practising the clarinet. This is an exciting opportunity for children to experience a new instrument, in the hopes that children feel encouraged to pursue learning to play an instrument in the future. During our lessons, each child will be provided with an instrument to practise with. As their confidence grows, they will be able to take the instrument home to practise with. At the end of term, we hope that we are able to put on a performance for families to attend. More information will be available about this closer to the date. 

Home Learning and Spelling:

Homework is set to allow children to revisit learning from school to help embed it.  Children need several opportunities to practise their learning to allow them to build confidence and recall it better at a later date.  Please do support your child to complete all the tasks set each week. 

Spelling: Children will be sent home each week with a list of 10 spelling words. These will include words from our weekly spelling focus, as well as 5 selected words from our Common Exception words. Please ensure your child practises these spellings at home in preparation for a short test on Fridays.

Reading: Please support your child to read for 20 minutes per day, at least 5 times per week.  Tips for supporting your child with their reading are detailed above.  Please remind your child to record their reading in their reading diary and to bring this into school daily so we can also record in it when we read with your child in school.  Please initial next to each entry your child makes at home.  We will collect these in on Fridays and celebrate the children who have read 5 times that week.

Maths: Please complete the 4 activities set on Mathletics each week as well as 30 minutes of Times Table Rock Stars.  This has more impact in short 5-minute bursts over the week, rather than one 30-minute session.   Later this year, all year 4 children will complete a Times Table check. Spending time on Times Table Rock Stars will allow your child to feel more confident about this test.

Key information:

PE days: Mondays and Fridays

Wellies: Need to be in school all the time.

Drinks: Water bottles should be brought into school and taken home daily.  Water only please.

Jewellery: Only stud earrings and a watch to be worn into school.  Earrings to be removed or taped up for PE.

Coats: Please ensure your child comes to school with a coat when cold weather or rain is expected.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to come and see me or to send me an email.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mr Watkins. 

 

 

Term 2 message to parents and carers: 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to another term at St. Andrew’s.  I hope you have had a relaxing break with your families and your children are ready for an exciting new term.    

Supporting at home:

Parents often ask how they can support their children at home with their learning.  Reading is the most important thing you can do at home with your child.  Please continue to share books with your child and also discuss their personal reading with them.  Reading should be for pleasure, so please come and see me if you would like support in choosing books your child may enjoy.  Please find below some questions you could ask your child to further develop their reading skills: ​

What we will be learning this term:

Please see the medium-term plan for this term which contains information about all the subjects and what the children will be taught this term. This can be found on the school website and includes all of the objectives we will cover across the term.

Class text: Our class text this term is ‘Winter’s Child by Angela McAllister. This text will be used throughout our English unit, and we will use this to help inform our fiction and non-fiction writing. We will use the text to explore the changing of the seasons, as well as develop our setting and character descriptions in our writing.   

PE: PE will work differently this term. We will be doing Dodgeball and Gymnastics this term, as well as one weekly session of circuits. Curcuits are completed on Tuesday each week. Gymnastics and Dodgeball will take place each Friday. Children are split into two groups on Friday to ensure each child is able to complete both sports in an afternoon.

With this in mind, please ensure your child is wearing their P.E clothing and shoes on Tuesdays and Fridays each week.

Home Learning and Spelling:

Homework is set to allow children to revisit learning from school to help embed it.  Children need several opportunities to practise their learning to allow them to build confidence and recall it better at a later date.  Please do support your child to complete all the tasks set each week. 

Spelling: Children will be sent home each week with a list of 10 spelling words. These will include words from our weekly spelling focus, as well as 5 selected words from our Common Exception words. Please ensure your child practises these spellings at home in preparation for a short test on Fridays.

Reading: Please support your child to read for 20 minutes per day, at least 5 times per week.  Tips for supporting your child with their reading are detailed above.  Please remind your child to record their reading in their reading diary and to bring this into school daily so we can also record in it when we read with your child in school.  Please initial next to each entry your child makes at home.  We will collect these in on Fridays and celebrate the children who have read 5 times that week.

Maths: Please complete the 4 activities set on Mathletics each week as well as 30 minutes of Times Table Rock Stars.  This has more impact in short 5-minute bursts over the week, rather than one 30-minute session.   Later this year, all year 4 children will complete a Times Table check. Spending time on Times Table Rock Stars will allow your child to feel more confident about this test.

Key information:

PE days: Tuesdays and Fridays

Wellies: Need to be in school all the time.

Drinks: Water bottles should be brought into school and taken home daily.  Water only please.

Jewellery: Only stud earrings and a watch to be worn into school.  Earrings to be removed or taped up for PE.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to come and see me or to send me an email.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mr Watkins.