Welcome to ‘Meet the Teacher’ Evening Elm, Birch and Chestnut Classes 14th September 2017

Curriculum Each term we will be focusing on a new topic: Autumn- Fire, Fire! Spring- Let’s Play Summer- We Care Please see the school website for the curriculum newsletter each term.

Trips Autumn- Great Fire of London day Monday 6th November In school but we still need parent volunteers Dress up day- see history off the peg website Spring- Let’s Play- Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green Coach- 28th March 2018 Summer- We Care- Marsh farm 6th June 2018

Reading Each child will be heard read at least once a week in school. They will also be heard read in guided reading sessions. Each class will have a reading box so that the children will start to become responsible for changing their own books. It is expected that children will read every night at home. Please sign your child’s reading diary so that we know they are ready for a new book. It is important to support your child by asking them a range of questions and encouraging them to discuss the text with you. A range of texts could be read in addition to the reading scheme books, such as books from home, comics, children’s newspapers, letters and signs, etc.

Birch Class- Thursdays Chestnut Class- Fridays Reading Mornings Reading sessions before school will be available in each class from next week. They are a valuable opportunity to engage with a variety of books linked to our topics, including texts made by the children on occasions. Elm Class- Tuesdays Birch Class- Thursdays Chestnut Class- Fridays Reading mornings are from 8.45- 8.55am- please be prompt! You may go to any of the three reading mornings, if your own reading morning is inconvenient.

Bug Club Bug Club is an online resource to support reading at home and at school. The website is now called Active learn- www.activelearnprimary.co.uk Each child has an individual login which will be inside their reading record. Please support your children to refer to the text to find the answers for the ‘bug point questions’.

Letters and Sounds Letters and sounds is the government programme for teaching phonics and high frequency words. The children have daily sessions and are grouped across Key Stage One. These groups are flexible and you will be informed if your child moves groups. Spellings will be linked to Letters and Sounds will be given out on a Friday. Please ensure children have their Letters and Sounds cards every Friday. If you have any queries about Letters and Sounds or Spellings please see your class teacher.

Maths Counting in 2s, 10s and 5s will be taught first. The children need to count forwards and backwards and know the facts to 12 lots of the number, i.e. 2s to 24, 5s to 60 and 10s to 120. Times tables – 2, 10, 5 3, 4, 6 all others to 12 x 12 Expectation – for each times table the children can answer random questions within 3 seconds. Times tables and counting on will be tested once a half term so please practise regularly.

Pre-teach Sessions Thursdays 3.20- 4pm Birch Class Pre-teach will be led by Miss Spears and will show you the mathematical skills and knowledge the children will be learning about in the following week at school. It will include websites and ideas to help support your child at home. At times we will include some phonics, grammar and spelling pre-teach sessions.

Handwriting and Presentation As a school we are focusing on handwriting and presentation. Please support us at home with this, particularly by expecting high standards for homework presentation. Ensure handwriting homework is supervised and encourage use of capital letters, full stops and ‘appropriate’ spellings in Brain Builder work.

Daily reading and spelling practise. Homework Daily reading and spelling practise. Regular practise of counting in steps/ times tables. Mathletics homework or Bug Club (Active Learn) homework will be regularly on Fridays. Handwriting homework will be set on alternate Fridays. A Brain Builder task will be set on alternate Fridays. Homework will also be on the school website.

Examples of Brain Builder…..

Year 2 SATs and Phonics Screening Check Year 2 children will be having statutory tests (SATs) throughout May. There will be a SATs meeting for parents on Wed 17th January at 2.30pm. All Year 1 children and some Year 2 children will be taking the Phonics Screening Check in June. Information will be shared about this at the Learning Conferences in March. Please do not book holidays during these times!

@IC_IvyChimneys @IC_Birch ICT and e-safety We will be using the school website, class dojo, twitter and parent mail to communicate information and photographs with you so please check these regularly. Espresso home logins are also available inside the reading records. e-safety will be taught explicitly in school and children will sign an e-safety agreement. @IC_IvyChimneys @IC_Birch @IC_Chestnut @IC_Elm

Just some other reminders…

PE days: Birch class – Monday and Friday Elm class – Tuesday and Wednesday Chestnut class – Tuesday and Friday No earrings should be worn on PE days and long hair must be tied back.

Begins at 8.55am and ends at 3.15pm . Please be punctual! The School Day Begins at 8.55am and ends at 3.15pm . Please be punctual! At the end of the school day the climbing frames must not be used. Please also depart promptly from the KS1 area to avoid congestion on the path. Please ensure the children are in school every day- there will be rewards for 100% attendance. Holidays are no longer permitted during term time. If there are exceptional circumstances please arrange to see Mr Furness.

DBS checks will need to be carried out prior to your involvement. Parent volunteers Please let us know if you are available to volunteer to support reading or any other activities by completing the online form. DBS checks will need to be carried out prior to your involvement.

Thank you so much for coming this evening!