Kestrels parent meeting 4:30

Homework Mathletics will be set on the Friday once a sequence of work has been completed. This will vary dependent on the amount of time we spend on this particular curriculum area. All children will be given a green homework book to complete reading based activities per every other half term. In the book is a ‘reading bingo board’ (either 3x3 or 4x4). Once a child completes a line (not diagonal) or a ‘full house’ they will be given a golden ticket that they will place in a box for a prize draw.

Extra, optional ‘homework’ Children also have access to Times Table Rock stars throughout the year. The format of the website has now been changed making it more accessible and easier to use. I thoroughly encourage this due to end of year times table ‘quiz’. As a school we continue to use ‘Purple Mash’ in which children can complete a range of activities across the curriculum.

Reading Your child will now have a new reading record and either a school or home book to read. If your child successfully reads to an adult 4x a week they will receive a housepoint. Home-school diaries will be checked weekly (Monday) by a teacher/TA. Oxford owl is a new website in which children can access reading materials including e-books, reading quizzes and fluency checks. Login = Spaldwick Kestrels Password = Kestrels2019

Times table quiz All year 4 children now need to take part in a times table ‘quiz’. Between June-July 2020. The quiz consists of 25 timed questions (6 seconds) with questions ranging up to 12x12. There will be a 3 second pause between questions meaning the test will take no longer than 5 minutes. Only multiplication statements – not division. There is no expected pass rate or threshold and school results will not be published in ‘league’ tables. As a school are able to see which children scored full marks and how we compare to local schools.

How are we preparing? It is likely that we will be completing the quiz on Ipads and so will familiarise the children with touch typing throughout the year. We complete weekly times table grids. Up until Christmas they will follow a consecutive pattern. After this, I will change it to a mixed times table grid with numbers in any order. We will also complete weekly arithmetic tests to secure knowledge and play games that use times tables in maths journals. We will also allow children to complete informal ‘tests’ that will be similar to what they will undertake later in the year.

Kestrels PE days are Tuesdays and Fridays. Children will go home in PE kits on Friday afternoons. Swimming will take place next half term (November) and I will provide letters well in advance. Medium and Long term plans are available on the school website on the Kestrel class page. We now have a private class page where I will try to post once a week the great things we have been learning about. The password is: Kestrelsrule. https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/