Autumn Term
We hope you had a wonderful summer and we are both really looking forward to teaching your child this year. Mrs. Jeffrey will be teaching on Mondays and Tuesdays and Mrs. Travers will teach on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Expectations and Routines
The transition into Key Stage 2 is all about independence as a learner and taking responsibility for yourself as a member of the school community. The Year 4s will have the additional responsibility of acting as role models for the Year 3s, and in the first week of the Autumn Term all of the children will take an active part in deciding what the rules and expectations of Caterpillar Class should be.
We request that children bring a named school bag no larger than a book bag so that it can fit in their drawers. Dimensions (approximate!) 37cm by 30cm. No thicker than 6cm.
In Key Stage 2, children are allowed to bring a pencil case in to school. We attach the letter that Mrs. How sent out at the end of last academic year which lists appropriate items for your child’s pencil case. We do ask that this list is adhered to please as additional items can distract your child or others and we will return any additional items to parents to take home.
We would like to encourage children not to have a rubber in their pencil cases as we do not want to encourage the routine rubbing out of possible errors, as the visible correction of these is a sign of learning rather than a ‘blot on the landscape.’ We do have rubbers available for them to use if necessary.
It is essential that children have comprehensive waterproof clothes as they will be going outside in all weathers. This includes a pair of named wellington boots, a named waterproof coat with a hood and, ideally, a named pair of waterproof trousers. Any cold weather clothing can be also be brought in when appropriate and we ask that this is named as well.
Please ensure that children have a jumper or cardigan every day as doors and windows will be kept open for ventilation purposes.
Independence and Reading
The whole class will be enjoying learning about the Stone Age to the Iron Age in History, and we have therefore decided to read, ‘Stig of the Dump’ by Clive King as our first class text.
In autumn term 2, after half term, we will be reading ‘The Firework Maker’s Daughter’ by Philip Pullman.
We would like your child to have their own copy of the books if at all possible. If you have already bought the books, please send them in with your child. Please make sure you write your child’s name inside the front cover of the book.
Being an independent reader is an important part of life in Caterpillar Class. We make sure that your child is reading a book that is both appropriate for their level and one that they will enjoy reading independently. Your child will also have a reading record that they must take home every day. This is their responsibility to remember, but please can you give them gentle reminders at the start of this new academic year. Reading to the class, an adult, as part of a group or as a whole class are all ways in which your child may read on a daily basis in class and we will endeavour to record these reading moments in your child’s reading record when we can.
We ask that you read regularly with your child, regardless of their level, as the process of learning to read continues up until the end of GCSEs! Please encourage your child to look up any unknown words and write them in the reading record along with their meaning. Children will be shown how they can comment in their record, but it is nice to see parents comment at least once a week too.
At the start of this academic year, we have decided to send home a reading bookmark which we ask is kept in your child’s school reading book and returns with them every day they are in school. On this bookmark are some question examples which show parents how they can question their child about the books they read if they so wish. Each set of questions has a dog image next to it as each dog represents a reading skill, such as Vocabulary Questions with Vocabulary Victor. We have attached a copy of the guidance which explains each of these reading skills in more detail. Please do ask us if you would like more information about these.
Children on the reading scheme should read with an adult at home every day and hand their book in to be changed as soon as it is finished.
Adults in school will check the children’s reading records regularly throughout the week.
Maths
In the autumn term we will be looking at place value to 100 and 1,000 in Year 3 and 1,000 and 10,000 in Year 4.
We will then look at addition and subtraction: In year 3 some topics will include adding and subtracting 1s, 10s and 100s and adding 1s and 10s across a 10 and a 100. In year 4 some topics will include adding and subtracting 1s, 10s, 100s, 1,000s and using efficient methods for adding and subtracting.
English
In the first part of the autumn term we will be learning about and writing biographies, writing our own fiction stories including simple speech, setting and character description, and using similes and metaphors. We will also be writing letters. All our English work will be linked to our class text, ‘Stig of the Dump’.
Physical Education
P.E. will take place on Wednesday afternoons.
Every Wednesday, children must come to school in their P.E. kit, which they will wear for the entire day and which they will return home in. No P.E. kits will be left in school. We request that children wear an unbranded track suit (dark blue where possible) and their tee-shirt should be their house colour. It is essential that your child wears layers to ensure they are warm enough to be outside for an entire P.E. lesson regardless of the weather. Appropriate trainers are also essential. Children who do not have the appropriate P.E kit will be reminded what is expected.
Homework
Year 3s: At first, daily reading and regular use of Times Table Rockstars will be the only homework that your child is expected to do. In time, the children will be bringing home mental maths books to complete on a weekly basis but this will not be until after the October half term.
They may also have spellings or times tables to learn, but again this will not start until later in the school year.
Year 4s: Daily reading and regular use of Times Table Rockstars will be expected every week. Every Friday, from week 1 of the autumn term, your child will be bringing home their mental maths book to complete sections A and B. They will mark these in class the following Friday and will complete section C in class too so please DO NOT complete section C at home. Please do not allow your child to complete further tests in their book as this will upset the flow of their lessons. It is vital to point out that school can only provide one mental maths book per academic year. If your child loses their book, parents/careres will be asked to replace it. We do recommend putting it in a folder or placing it in plastic covering to keep it neat - presentation of our books is so important.
They may also have spellings or times tables to learn, but again this will not start until later in the school year.
The expectations set out in the National Curriculum suggest that, by the end of Year 4, your child should know up to their 12 times table and the related division facts. As such, we will be using our times tables regularly. Strong times tables knowledge will be invaluable for their work across the mathematics curriculum. Please help your child to practise their times tables at home on a regular basis. The Year 4s will also be taking their National Statutory Times Table test towards the end of this academic year.
It would be helpful if you would work with your child at the start of the autumn term to help them consolidate their spellings of the Year 1&2 and Year 3&4 common exception words. We are attaching copies of these to this letter. We will be testing your child on these at the start of term to see which words children may be struggling with so that we can help them target these words early on in the year. We will give you a highlighted sheet to show you which ones they can and can’t spell at the October parents evening. We encourage you to practise the ones they find difficult on a regular basis at home.
For the rest of the year will focus on the Year 3 spelling curriculum and the Year 3/4 spelling words.
Communication
Positive home/school communication is key to providing your child with the best learning experience. Although we are available for brief messages at the beginning and end of the school day, we ask that longer or more serious communications are best organised via the school office.
E-Safety
Throughout the year, as part of our computing curriculum, we will be looking at how your child can stay safe online.
We encourage you to also discuss this at home on a regular basis and further information on e-safety can be found on the website https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ where you can find age appropriate resources to view with your child.
Kind regards,
Mrs. Jeffrey and Mrs. Travers
Spring Term
We hope you had a wonderful half term break. It has been great to see the children enthused with their learning. There are lots of exciting activities planned for this half term!
Expectations and Routines
The children are encouraged to start their day with completing an Early Morning activity, which is usually a Maths, English or a mindful drawing task. They have settled into this routine really well.
Just a quick reminder that children's pencil cases should be checked and replenished regularly. as they are getting through pencils really quickly. We would like to encourage children not to have a rubber in their pencil cases as we do not want to encourage the routine rubbing out of possible errors, as the visible correction of these is a sign of learning rather than a ‘blot on the landscape.’ We do have rubbers available for them to use if necessary.
It is essential that children have comprehensive waterproof clothes as they will be going outside in all weathers. This includes a pair of named wellington boots, a named waterproof coat with a hood and, ideally, a named pair of waterproof trousers. Any cold weather clothing can also be brought in when appropriate and we ask that this is named as well.
Please ensure that children have a jumper or a cardigan every day as doors and windows will be kept open for ventilation purposes.
Independence and Reading
Our class reading book for English is called, 'The Reluctant Dragon' by Kenneth Grahame. We will be basing all of our English activities around this book. Please make sure you write your child’s name inside the front cover of their book.
Being an independent reader is an important part of life in Caterpillar Class. We make sure that your child is reading a book that is both appropriate for their level and one that they will enjoy reading independently. Your child will also have a reading record that they must take home every day. This is their responsibility to remember, but please can you give them gentle reminders. In class, your child could be reading in the following ways: to an adult, as part of a group, as a whole class or silently to themselves. These are all ways in which your child may read on a daily basis in class and we will endeavour to record these reading moments in your child’s reading record when we can.
We ask that you read regularly with your child, regardless of their level, as the process of learning to read continues up until the end of GCSEs! Please encourage your child to look up any unknown words and write them in the reading record along with their meaning. Children will be shown how they can comment in their record, but it is nice to see parents comment at least once a week too.
Children on the reading scheme should read with an adult at home every day and hand their book in to be changed as soon as it is finished.
Adults in school will check the children’s reading records regularly throughout the week.
Maths
Currently the Year 4 children are working on calculating perimeter of rectangles and rectilinear shapes. The Year 3 children are working on length and converting measurements from cm to mm and vice-versa. It would be great if you could do some 'real life' Maths with them at home, by using a measuring tape and encouraging them to measure some items around the home.
For the rest of this term, children will be doing the following topics:
Year 3 - Fractions, Mass and Capacity.
Year 4 - Fractions and Decimals
English
All of our English work will be linked to our class text, ‘The Reluctant Dragon.' We will also be doing handwriting practise and writing sentences correctly.
Physical Education
P.E. will take place on Wednesday afternoons.
Every Wednesday, children must come to school in their P.E. kit, which they will wear for the entire day and which they will return home in. No P.E. kits will be left in school. We request that children wear an unbranded track suit (dark blue where possible) and their tee-shirt should be their house colour. It is essential that your child wears layers to ensure they are warm enough to be outside for an entire P.E. lesson regardless of the weather. Appropriate trainers are also essential. Children who do not have the appropriate P.E kit will be reminded what is expected.
We will be doing tennis skills.
Homework
Children should be learning their times tables regularly at home. Please encourage your child to do TTRS (Times Tables Rock Stars) at home, they all have access to their login details.
Daily reading is recommended for all children - they should be reading between 15 and 20 minutes daily.
Spellings are given out weekly for your child to practise using the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method daily.
For Mental Maths, the children will continue to work through Parts A and B at home, and complete Part C in school. Please encourage your child to complete the correct test each week. A reminder will be sent weekly.
The expectations set out in the National Curriculum suggest that, by the end of Year 4, your child should know up to their 12 times table and the related division facts. As such, we will be using our times tables regularly. Strong times tables knowledge will be invaluable for their work across the mathematics curriculum. Please help your child to practise their times tables at home on a regular basis.
The Year 4s will also be taking their National Multiplication Tables check towards the end of this academic year. They can practise using their TTRS account or using the link below:
https://talkingtimestables.uk/y4_ks2_mtc_practice_tests_multiplication_tables_check.php
Communication
Positive home/school communication is key to providing your child with the best learning experience. Although we are available for brief messages at the beginning and end of the school day, we ask that longer or more serious communications are best organised via the school office.
E-Safety
Throughout the year, as part of our computing curriculum, we will be looking at how your child can stay safe online.
We encourage you to also discuss this at home on a regular basis and further information on e-safety can be found on the website https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ where you can find age appropriate resources to view with your child.
Foundation Subjects:
We will be covering the following topics: Please see the knowledge organisers attached to know more about the content that your child will be learning.
History - The Rise and Fall of Rome
Art - Monuments in Ancient Rome
Geography - South West of England
Science - Plants
PSHE - Personal Safety
Computing - Spreadsheets
RE - Is the cross a symbol of love, sacrifice or commitment for Christians?
If you have any questions or would like further support of how you can help your child with their learning, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Mrs Sheikh, Mrs Corbett and Mrs Maloney
