Dear Parents and Children

Class 3 - Autumn 2016

Dear parents and children

A warm welcome to Class 3! I hope that you all had a good rest and are feeling refreshed and motivated to begin the new academic year!

Please find below a brief overview of our plans for the forthcoming term.

Curriculum:

·  Literacy – We are continuing the theme of a novel study and our novel for the first half term is ‘Wonder” by R.J. Palacio. I have had children in the past go and buy this book because they have enjoyed it so much. This is absolutely fine as long as they don’t spoil the suspense in the novel by telling the class what happens next! I would encourage you to discuss this novel with your child at home, asking questions about the plot and the characters. Discussing texts and listening to a child’s opinion about a novel is a great way for them to develop their inference skills which will help with Guided Reading which we do every day in class.

·  Maths – For the first half term we will be securing and increasing our understanding of place value and applying this to the 4 operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Children will be encouraged to show a formal written method during the lesson and it is important that they continue to show their working our when they are set numeracy homework. At the moment we are firming up our times table knowledge looking at both the multiplication of numbers as well as the inverse. Can you please encourage the practise of this at home ready for a weekly test on a Friday.

·  Science – Our first science topic is all about Plants where we will be looking at the names of parts of a plant, seed dispersal systems and the evolution of plants for different climates.

·  Topic - Our topic work this term is ‘The Stone Age to the Iron Age”. With an initial focus on the Question “Did anything happen in the Stone Age?” We will be looking at the timeline of events in this period as well as comparing how the two periods in History lived and developed. If you feel you could contribute to our lessons on this topic (expert knowledge or artefacts) we would love to hear from you!

·  PE – PE will be on a Wednesday and a Friday afternoon. Could you please ensure that your child has appropriate PE kit. This is a white T-Shirt, black/navy shorts and trainers. Without the proper kit, the children will be unable to take part – which would be a real shame!

·  RE – Mrs Hall will be teaching RE in class 3. This term we will be thinking about the values, beliefs and celebrations of Christianity, and will be reading and sharing some bible stories in the run up to Christmas.

·  Music – There are many musical opportunities this year; singing and recorder for all with Miss Waters and additional piano and guitar/ukulale lessons for most of the class!

·  French – French will be taught separately with Madame Baker on a Thursday.

Can I take this opportunity to remind you that a water bottle needs to be brought to school each day, especially in hot weather and on the days that the children have a P.E.slot. (i.e. on a Wednesday and a Friday).

Homework will be given out every Friday and will need to be handed in the following Thursday so I can take it home to look at. It will generally include spellings (around a particular pattern or spelling rule) Numeracy, Literacy, Reading and a free choice. The free choice encourages the children to show hobbies, including Art that they are involved in away from the school environment – I have been shown lego, paintings, poetry, and models in the past!

All the children would benefit from 10 minutes reading practise a night. Sharing a book with a parent, grandparent or older sibling will improve fluency and understanding. Please make sure the reading record is updated with the title of the book, and the number of pages read. I have asked the children to make a list of words that they don’t understand in their Guided Reading Book along with a definition – this will help develop their word bank which in turn will develop their writing. If you would like me to supply a list of suggested reading books for your child, please let me know as I am more than happy to help. Of course there would also be a guided reading session on a weekly basis.

Please do check book bags for homework and letters; there will be a copy in the junior cloakroom window and spares in the classroom if you need them.

So, with a busy and exciting term ahead, I would like to thank you in advance for your support and can I take this opportunity to thank all parents for the warm welcome – it has made my transition to a new school much easier – thank you!

I look forward to seeing you again at the first parents evenings which are scheduled for Wednesday 19th October (3.45pm – 6.45pm) and Thursday 20th October (3.45pm -5.30pm). In the meantime, if you have any queries/concerns I am available most Monday and Thursdays straight after school.

Best regards

Mrs Maddock,

Mrs Hall