It’s that time of year again! I hope you all had a fantastic summer break and are looking forward to a great start to the new academic year. We are thrilled to see all of the children back in school with massive smiles on their faces, eager to learn. Some of our routines have changed whilst others have remained very much the same, so this page will focus on the most important things to know as the former Deer Class become Otters!
Our Classroom
You will see there are some pictures here of our new classroom. Children will have the opportunity to explore our comfy book corner and borrow one of the many brand new books from the shelves. The children are no longer required to all be in rows facing the front, which allows us to return to a friendlier, more collaborative layout with the tables. Classroom windows and doors will need to remain open throughout the term to provide ample ventilation, so please remember that children may bring an extra blue jumper or hoody to school to keep them warm if need be.
Daily Routine
Children should arrive at school between 8:30am and 8:45am. The earlier the better, as learning time for the children begins straight away. Mr Cook or Miss Simpson will greet the children on the playground and line them up at approximately 8:30am, before leading them into class, for at least the first two weeks of the new term. Children will place their lunchboxes on the trolley; wash their hands, and put bags, PE kits etc. in their lockers, which are now inside the classroom.
The children’s break time is now from 11am until 11:15am, and lunchtime is from 12:30pm to 1:30pm. This is a change from Year 3 in that our morning session is now longer and the afternoon is shorter. Until the children are used to the change, they might want to have a slightly more filling breakfast than they are used to! Children may bring a snack to eat at break time but please remember this must be a piece of fruit, vegetable or a healthy substitute, i.e. not chocolate bars, crisps or sausage rolls. All children should bring a full water bottle to school.
The school day ends for the children at 3:10pm and they will be led out onto the playground to be collected from there. Mr Cook is happy to speak to parents as necessary, but please remember the school’s requests regarding face coverings and social distancing.
Timetable
Mr Cook is out of class on Wednesday afternoons this term. During this time, the children will be taught RE and Music by Mrs Smith and Miss Simpson.
Miss Simpson will also teach Art on a Monday morning.
PE lessons are scheduled to take place on Monday afternoons and Friday afternoons. Please ensure your child’s PE kit remains in school all week. It is important that your child dresses appropriately for the weather conditions and has the suitable school PE kit – please see the school’s uniform policy if you are unsure of what is required. Earrings must be removed or taped over during PE lessons (preferably removed) and children are required to do this by themselves.
Home Learning
As last year, children will be expected to read regularly at home and practise their times tables. They will also have a set of spellings to learn each week, which will usually follow a particular spelling pattern or rule but may also include some tricky exception words. If words are sent home which appear to be very simple, it is because children are spelling them wrong in their independent work! Please be aware that this may happen from time to time. On occasion, children may be asked to complete projects or research to supplement their learning in class. Spellings will be set on Monday mornings and tested on Friday mornings.
Term 1 Learning
In English in Term 1, we will be exploring a range of writing opportunities involving ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan. Our Maths work will revolve around revision of place value and calculation techniques, whilst in Science we will begin learning about ‘Sound’. Our Art focus is on drawing and our Geography work will look at how land is used and how this has changed over time. In PE, we will be taking part in Athletics and our French work will begin by revising key vocabulary from Year 3. We will be discussing and exploring how to react to hurtful behaviour in our PSHE lessons. Espresso will continue to be used for our coding lessons in Computing and we are looking forward to beginning our Music lessons using Charanga. We will be using cams and followers to create pop-up toys or models in DT.
All that remains is for me to wish you and all of the children a fantastic start to the new school year. We are thrilled to have them back with us and look forward to seeing what they can achieve. I am sure they will be otter-ly marvellous.