1. Cedar Class Newsletter
Welcome to Cedar!
Welcome back. We hope that you have enjoyed your half term break. All teaching staff will remain the same as last term.
Important notice about Maths
On 14 September 2017 the Department for Education announced that a Times Tables Check will now be administered for children in Year 4, starting in the academic year. It will be taken by children in Year 4, in the summer term (in June).​ Children will be tested using an on-screen check, where they will have to answer multiplication questions against the clock. 
How can parents help?
Firstly, know the timetable expectations for ouryear group: Year  3: Recall  and  use  multiplication  and   division  facts  for  the  3, 4  and  8  multiplication  tables. This builds upon previous knowledge of 2, 5 and 10. Year  4:Recall  and  use  multiplication  and   division  facts  for  multiplication tables  up  to  12x12.
Secondly, because the National Curriculum for maths is so extensive, there is an expectation that parents will help their children learn their times tables at home and not rely on schools to bring them up to speed. Some of the techniques you can use include:
* 'Push the button' an online game on a website called 'Topmarks.' We are using this in school.
* Practising times tables by rote.
* Asking your child the related division facts: ‘What’s 8/4? What’s 9/6?’
* Using arrays to help your child memorise times tables – you can use fun objects like Smarties or Lego bricks to make it more entertaining.
Maths
In Term 2, our work will focus upon building strategies for addition and subtraction, before moving on to multiplication and division.
I would also like to remind parents and students that all children have access to a Mathletics account, which is continually updated and monitored to help support their learning in class.
Literacy
This term, our literacy work will combine a variety of different writing styles. This will include writing play scripts and persuasive writing, as well as emphasising the importance of spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Science
Our science topic will continue to be ‘understanding forces’ and will involve some very exciting work with magnets.

2. Home work
Times table tests will be given weekly. This will usually take place on Mondays. Stuck into your child’s homework book will be a times table grid to help you understand our colour system.
Spellings
Spellings will be sent home in your child’s spelling folder every Monday, to be tested on the following Friday. Please send your child’s folder in on Mondays!
Children will also learn a variety of methods to help them practice spellings during spelling lessons in school.
For English and the wider curriculum, we are using homework grids, which need to be completed by Tuesday 4th December.
Mathletics: As a result of parent forum meetings, some changes have been made to the way that Mathletics homework is set to allow consistency across the entire school. Therefore in Term 2 the expectation will be as follows:
On a Tuesday, 2 or 3 tasks will be set by the class teacher.
Your child needs to achieve 500 points by the following Tuesday (the teacher tasks will count towards this)
Please come and speak to your child’s teachers if you are unable to complete the above for any reason. . PE
We ask that your child has full kit in school at all times, because our ‘P.E. days’ are often flexible and will sometimes change from week to week. Kit should include a plain PE t-shirt (white or house coloured), shorts (blue/black) and black or white trainers. Also, if your child wears tights to school, could we ask that you provide a pair of socks in their kit bag too. Please could you also ensure that long hair is tied back on PE days and no jewellery is to be worn at all. For this term, Cedar Class will aim to have PE on Wednesdays, with a further session dedicated to either Forest School or Swimming on Fridays.
Key Dates
1st, 5th and 6th Nov – Book Fair
2nd Nov – HSA Monster Ball
6th Nov – HSA Crazy Hair Day
20th Nov – Parent Involvement Evening for Maths
27th Nov – HSA wear something red
30th Nov – Final day of school run clubs
3rd Dec – Cedar Class Family Service
3rd Dec – HSA Christmas present stall
4th Dec – Homework books due in
4th and 5th – Parent consultations
7th Dec – Final Forest School session
7th Dec – HSA Pop up cafe
14th Dec – Christmas Jumper Day
14th Dec – HSA Christmas Fair
17th Dec – KS2 Christingle Church
18th Dec – Final day of Term 2
Creative Curriculum
Our topic for the term will be Italy. This topic will surface in many cross-curriculur activites, as well as explicit themed learning lessons.
Reading records will still be sent home and checked regularly in school. We would be grateful if you could encourage your child to fill it in whenever they spend time reading at home. You can also fill it in after reading with your child. RE
In RE this term, we share our focus between studying Sikhism before building up towards Christmas and the Christian nativity story