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St Mary’s Class
Welcome to St Mary's Class
Welcome back to school for term 2!
This term we will be visiting Bristol Aerospace on Friday 10th November to enhance out science learning on space.
Timetable
I am the full time teacher in St George’s Class and Mrs Beattie is the teaching assistant, she will work with us Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. She will support in class and also individuals or groups of children who need additional support. Mrs Griffin will cover the class on alternating Wednesday mornings or afternoons as part of my leadership release time. She will teach PE and music. She will also cover the class on Thursday afternoons teaching PE and French during my PPA (planning, preparation and assessment) time.
CLASS PE DAYS ARE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.
Class Reading
Our class reader for Term Two is Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. You may like to buy a copy or borrow a copy from the library. We will use the books in our English lessons for reading and to use with our writing tasks.
Topic
Our topic this term is Time Travellers. It is a history and science based topic focusing on the ancient Islamic civilisation and earth and space.
PE
PE days are a Wednesday and Thursday in September and Tuesday and Thursday from October - children should come to school in their PE kits on these days.
Homework
All children will be provided with a homework book which is used to record homework set and in most cases should also be used for completing the homework. Homework is usually set on a Wednesday and is due in the following Monday. The homework task can be found on the class page on the school website. All children will be shown how to access the tasks and they will be explained in class. Any support / reminding you can give your child to ensure they complete their homework on time is very much appreciated. Children will have a set Maths task focusing on number bonds and an English task focusing on spellings. There may be a task based on another English skill or linked to our topic based homework. Some homework tasks will be set to help them with their future learning in class or they may be to consolidate on skills they have learnt in class. I always explain the homework tasks in class. Homework, where appropriate will be marked, reviewed or used as part of their class work to aid their learning and understanding. Children will also have times tables to practise on a daily basis. It is anticipated that each maths and English activity will take between 30-40 minutes to complete. If it is taking your child a lot longer then please let me know.
Big Maths Prompt Sheets
Big Maths Answers
Reading
Children are expected to read aloud at home every day, for at least 10 minutes. The reason for this is that it not only helps with their reading, it also has a huge impact on their writing: reading with expression encourages children to look at the punctuation and use it in their own writing; discussing the structure of a story, predicting and analysing texts helps to develop an awareness of text structure and explaining unfamiliar vocabulary helps to extend their vocabulary. Please help your child to bring their reading book to school every day and take it home every evening. Please sign and date in their homework books to confirm they have read at home. Of course continuing to read alone for a longer period of time is also very beneficial. In school, we aim to discuss books and hear children read at least once a week.
Numeracy Skills
I cannot stress the importance of practising times tables with division facts and quick number recall. A few minutes of this each night really does help.
I'm looking forward to an action packed, fun filled year with the St Mary's Crew.
Mrs Mills
St Mary's Class Teacher
Be inspired by the writing prompt on Pobble 365 and practise timestables with TTRockstars.
Pobble 365TTRockstarsOak Academy
Here are some links to other useful websites.
The National Academy online-classroom Hamilton Trust Home Learning Packs
BBC Bitesize Daily LessonsBBC SupermoversHit the Button
English Writing
Here are some ideas that you might like to try.
Write a diary of your time at home, include what is happening on the news, how you feel and your daily routines.
When we plan a story in school we split it into 5 sections, which I have explained below. Remember to use your writing mat to add in some key spellings and tips for exciting sentence starters.
Opening - this is the introduction, where you introduce the characters and describe the setting. Use a story hook to grab your reader's attention. This could be by creating an atmosphere - funny, scary or exciting. A sudden event or dialogue.
Build Up - now you develop the plot or problem. Develop suspense and action using interesting adjectives, similes and metaphors. Let the reader get to know your characters and try and make the reader ask questions about what is going to happen.
Problem - What is the problem or what happens? How do the characters react to the problem? Show the characters feelings through what they say or do. Use action verbs and vary the sentence length - long sentences for description and short sentences for action.
Resolution - this is where the problem is solved or sorted out. Remember you still need some action to keep the reader interested. Include what happens immediately after the problem is solved and how the characters react.
Ending - The problem is solved but what do the characters do now? Here are some ideas for interesting endings, link the ending to the beginning, leave a cliff hanger or build up to the next problem (which could mean story number two!), introduce a twist at the end or finish with a question.
After writing your story, don't forget to proof read it (check spellings and any punctuation errors) then edit it (look for ways to add in exciting vocabulary). You could publish your story it, perhaps you want to handwrite it or word process it on the computer.
Visit the website pobble365.com to find ideas to get you writing. The link is below.
Pobble365 uses a variety of thought provoking images to inspire you to write creatively. There is a new image everyday so visit the website everyday for a new picture. You can use the image as a starting point for your own creative writing or if you scroll down past the image you could follow the activities suggested by pobble365. They have questions to answer about the picture or story, a story starter to help get you started with your writing, a sentence challenge which will help with your SPaG learning, sick sentences that need improving and an art challenge for you to create the perfect picture.
Reading
You could choose from the books suggested by The Book Trust
Keep writing a log of all the books you read and write a book review for some of them.
Maths
We will be using the White Rose Home Learning scheme for maths the link for the site is above.
Don’t forget to keep revising your times tables. TT Rockstars and Hit the button are excellent on-line resources.
