Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back from the half term! This might be a good time to mention (again) that the extra bank holiday we’ve been ‘granted’ for the coronation of King Charles III falls in SATs week – the 8th of May. While we will all enjoy the 3 day weekend, it has moved all of the SATs tests – they will run from Tuesday to Friday now, instead of Monday through Thursday. While I wouldn’t presume to tell any of you what to do with that weekend, please do bear in mind that the children will have a big 4 day week, shortly after.

Again, there are a few things that you can work on at home that will help prepare your child for that shortened week in May. First and most simply, reading – children should be reading their books, but I’m happy with them reading anything, especially some non-fiction pieces, like Newsround articles, Wikipedia entries (dutifully fact checked, of course… J) and so on. Secondly, times tables. The children need to be as fluent and accurate with their tables as possible, not just for May, but for secondary school as well. They should know all tables from their 1s to their 12s and everything in between. Practice for these in the car, over dinner, at breakfast or, if you’ve got the time, 5 minutes on the sofa! Questions such as:

What is 3 x 4? (12)

What is the product of 6 and 9? (54)

What is 42 divided by 7? (6)

What do I times 5 by to get 35? (7)

Is it possible to times two numbers together to make 48? (yes, 2x24, 4x12, 6x8)

It is best to focus on one type of question at a time – if this isn’t your cup of tea (not everyone like tables, even parents) there are lots of ways to practice on the computer too – I do recommend you sit with or are nearby to your child when doing this, to aid with their concentration and make sure they are challenging themselves! Hit the button, TTRS (please message me if you need log in details), BBC bitesize, Guardians of Mathematica are just a few that I could recommend.

Third, handwriting and spelling. This is also quite straightforward – read a sentence to your child, from their reading book or from the paper, a website – the content isn’t super important. The children will listen to you read it and write it down, with a focus on their handwriting and the spelling of words. Their book is a great place to read from because it will contain familiar but (hopefully) ambitious vocabulary. One or two sentences a day will help a lot – but it must be good practice. If the children practice their bad habits, this will only re-enforce them. Below is a typed example of handwriting.

Handwriting should be joined and fluent (shouldn’t take all day!) by the end of year 6. All lower case letters should be of a similar size, letters sitting neatly on the line, descenders like y p q and g should come under the line and ascenders like l k d t an h should reach the top of the line.

We have a history based topic this half term, where we will look at some historic census data and think about how sources of information like this can tell us about life from years ago.

PE will continue to be on Tuesdays and Fridays and we have an hour of outdoor learning on Tuesday afternoons as well. Children will need coats and wellies at the very least for these Tuesday sessions, with

waterproof trousers being a preferable option – we intend to be out, whatever the weather! On these PE days, we are still coming in in PE kit (red top, black/dark shorts or trousers etc.) and school jumper.

Children will need coats, spare clothes and wellies, just as before, especially so now that the weather is so wet! The reason for this is so that we can use the extra space the field affords us, even in the winter and we don’t want to make all the floors really muddy by not changing our shoes! So wellies and coats are a must, please! I am always happy to talk to you, via Dojo messages or the phone or by email (tom@stoke-climsland.cornwall.sch.uk, mbreeze@stoke-climsland.cornwall.sch.uk) whenever you need me. The best thing we can do to support these awesome children is to communicate as much as possible – so just reach out! I also try to be available outside the classroom as often as possible at the start and end of the day – please stop in for a chat! J

Thank you, in anticipation of your ongoing support,

 

Tom Lumby Mary Breeze