Hello Year 4 parents and carers

Getting to Know You

Just in case you couldn’t make the meeting, here is a list of things we touched on last week.

PE The children in Year 4 have PE on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please help them make sure that they always have a full PE kit in school.  We will send home a letter if they appear to be without one.

Forest School Year 4 will be doing this on Thursday afternoon and the classes will alternate each week.  We start with 4C next week (19^th September).  We go out in all weathers so please make sure the children have enough suitable layers and clothing to keep warm and dry.

Homework  This will go out on Thursdays.  Please look through it on Thursday evening and make sure your child is clear about what to do.  If they seem confused then encourage them to come in on Friday and ask for help.  Homework is due in on Tuesday.  If for any reason they are unable to get the work done eg if you have a really busy weekend, please send in a note explaining this and we can give them a bit longer to get it done.  If homework doesn’t appear then we will ask them to spend a bit of their own time catching up with it, in school (lunch or break time)

At the bottom of each homework sheet we will write the times table we would like you to practise with them for that week.  We will be giving them tests in the maths lessons on this. There is an expectation that they will know all their times tables facts by the end of the year and not having a good understanding of them will hold them back as they move up the school.   

Reading: Please encourage your child to read at least three times a week and remember to make a note of it and sign it in the Link Book. They will get merits for reading regularly.  Even though some children are fluent readers and enjoy reading by themselves, it is important that they also practise the skill of reading aloud and get the opportunity to discuss the text.

Rewards:  Each class has its own merit system where the children work towards certificates, treats or rewards.  There will be a weekly presentation of certificates in assembly on a Friday to celebrate the achievements of individual children.

Sanctions:  The children are regularly involved in agreeing the classroom rules and they are also reminded about how to behave around the school and on the playground.  If they break these rules, we will follow the traffic light system which they are familiar with and which is used consistently throughout the school.

Spellings will be given out on Monday and be tested on Friday.  There will be a greater emphasis on spelling patterns so please help your child learn these and look for other examples of words that follow this pattern. 

Mental Maths The children will continue to do a maths activity at the start of the day.  Each maths groups will choose one of the level books to work from.  Those children who finish quickly will be given extension work.  There will be an expectation that children will get the work completed with a high level of accuracy.  Any problems they encounter can then be sorted out in the daily maths lesson.

Volunteers We are looking for volunteers to help with hearing readers, comprehension activities and supporting children in the mental maths.  Of course there will be other events connected to the topics like making things, cooking, trips, special days etc when we would really appreciated your support.  If you can spare some time either as a one off or on a regular basis, then please let us know.

                     

Blogging  4M will be blogging a lot this year.  We will be spending lots of time learning how to stay safe on the internet and how to blog sensibly.  We invite you to visit our other blogspot at themighty4m.primaryblogger.co.uk where you can comment on what 4M have been doing in class. Please take care not to identify too much information about your child - comment as Anna's mum or John's nan.  We enjoy sharing our work: writing, images, audio and video. If you do not want your child's image to appear on our blogsite, please let Miss Malone know.

Contacting us  We will both be running clubs on a Monday after school.  Staff meetings are on Wednesday after school so please bear this in mind when trying to get hold of us.  Before school is always a bit frantic so if you need to let us know something urgently please send in a note or ring the office and they can pass on the message, take a contact number or arrange an appointment.  We will try and get back to you as soon as we can.

Many thanks

Ms Card and Ms Malone

paula_malone@newbridge.bathnes.sch.uk