Parakeets Meet the Teacher September 2013

The admin The learning culture – pupil voice The learning environment The partnership with you – reading – maths – handwriting – home learning books Assessment

Admin PE – Thursday Daily Activate Show and tell – Tuesday and Thursday Morning routines – Thank you for your support – Settling the children early in the day is important, it sets them up for learning – Messages left at the gate are relayed quickly to the classroom and acted upon – I’m available most afternoons on the playground or in the classroom. Books will be changed Mon / Wed / Fri Please make sure that your child has a: – Waterproof in school – so that they can be out during most playtimes. – All their clothes labelled – we try hard to keep their belongings with them! – If they have laces on shoes or trainers that they can t.ie them independently. – Socks in their PE kit if they wear tights. – Please make sure their PE shoes fit.

The learning culture - Learning is learnable As teaching team we are: – Learning facilitators – Creating opportunities for children to learn at own pace (differentiated activities) and in different ways (selection of outcomes / activities) Stage not age teaching Children are aware of English and whole class maths targets We model, support and reward good learning behaviours. Celebrate success – – in class – visualiser, House Points, verbal feedback. – Certificates, Star Writers, Star of the Week and celebration showing

The learning culture Whole school / cross partnership themes – Learning Journeys sharing a theme across the year groups – this term it’s All Change Please! This enables a sharing of learning and celebration vertically and across the two schools. Whole school ERIC (everyone reading in class) time – comprehension and guided reading tasks, independent and adult led. Allowing pupils a voice in their learning through choice in the classroom. Talk Partners – Partners who change each week and work with one another in various (though not all) areas of the curriculum / day – An effective way for children to learn with all other children in their class, to learn to listen and discuss in different ways – Children might be inspired or led by a more able child, or might gain deeper understanding by explaining a concept to their talk partner.

The learning environment Clear routines for: – early morning work and settling – Tidy-up music – Lining up music – Talking Partners and registration places on the carpet / line up – Monitors for various duties in the classroom – Activate – every morning and afternoon.

Partnership with parents Reading: HFW / Bullseye / Starspell: rote learning of key words Critical stages of learning to read: With an early reader: – Support – Repeat – Encourage – Engage – Share – Game play – Predict – Question – Imagine – Don’t make reading a chore – enjoy books together! Developing reader – time to probe deeper: What does that new word mean? – CONTEXT What is the author trying to do? What do you think they mean? What are they really saying? Why is the font different? Reading into writing

Partnership with parents Reading: HFW / Bullseye / Starspell: rote learning of key words Critical stages of learning to read: With an early reader: – Support – Repeat – Encourage – Engage – Share – Game play – Predict – Question – Imagine – Don’t make reading a chore – enjoy books together! Developing reader – time to probe deeper: What does that new word mean? – CONTEXT What is the author trying to do? What do you think they mean? What are they really saying? Why is the font different? Reading into writing

Partnership with parents Homework offers a variety of home learning opportunities: – gives you the parent a link into school – gives you a window on your child’s learning – link to school through the VLE

Partnership with parents Maths: – Keep going back to the key facts – these are crucial building blocks to mathematical competence – they are repeatedly covered in school, but further support can only help. – Homework – consolidating classroom learning OR key facts. – Chanting isn’t out of fashion – we do it, BUT not on it’s own Cursive handwriting for all: – This will lead to speed – so that their hands keep up with their heads! – Pride in everything Home Learning Books – Time to be creative – To support your child engaging in the current learning journey in an individual way – Do support, but let them lead. Let them choose. – Different areas of challenge.

Assessment Assessment is ongoing – sometimes more formal, but always routine. Mostly informal – collaboration between me, others in the teaching team and the children In Key Stage 1 children leave the Foundation Stage Profile and enter Level 1; the national average at end of KS1 is 2b – but progress is different for all children, and progress made in the FS will impact the outcome at the end of Year 2. Year 2 – Statutory assessment Year 1 Phonics assessment Ongoing assessment in English and maths, but drawn from across the curriculum (using and applying skills learnt in the core skills) There is some more formal (but relaxed) assessment through the year. Final assessments are teacher judgement based on the different sources.

Any questions – please don’t hesitate to ask!