Curriculum letter – Tiger Class – Autumn 2021

We have started our new Topic (Feelings) and have issued the homework books and reading records to all children.

We have also sent home a copy of our termly Class letter (see link).

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us via Class Dojo.

Welcome back to School! I hope you have had a restful Summer break.

The Autumn Term is usually very busy and productive, and this should be a great one.

First of all, if you have not yet signed up to our Class Dojo page, please do so as soon as possible, as this will be the easiest way for us to communicate regularly. All children were given login codes during transition day, in July, but if you have misplaced your letter, do not worry, as another copy will be sent home to those who are yet to connect in the next few days.

We have already published an important update to Class Dojo today, so make sure to check it out.

A termly class letter will be also circulated next week, but please see below for some key information you might find useful:

Homework books will be issued early next week and are due back each Monday.  Reading books and Reading Records will also be sent home as soon as possible and should be brought to School every day, so these can be regularly checked and books changed.

Our weekly tests (times tables and spellings) will take place on Mondays. Weekly spelling lists will be sent home for children to practise in their homework books, and also published as an online “assignment” on Spelling Shed. For the Times Tables test, children will progress at their own pace. Everyone starts at 10x table and will be informed when they have progressed to the next level. Year 3 children will continue from where they were at the end of Y2. All children will be given a weekly times table homework activity related to their next test and well as assignments on Maths Shed to practise. Login details for Ed Shed (which includes Spelling Shed and Maths Shed) can be found inside the Homework Books.

PE sessions will take place on a Wednesday and Friday and children are expected to come to school wearing their PE kits. Our PE sessions will start next week. 

During the first half-term, we will also have Forest School sessions on Tuesdays, when children should come to School wearing suitable clothing for these sessions.

It is generally recommended that your child should be heard reading at least 3 times a week but, for our age group, ideally this would be done daily. This is the most important part of their homework, as reading successfully is essential for the children to access the rest of the curriculum. Listening to your child read is important to support the development of their decoding skills and well as build fluency and expression in their reading. It is also great to share a book together and your child will still love to hear you read to them.

I hope this information is useful. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Mrs Crowe

I managed to get a couple of photos during our first Tiger Jungle session today. This last one was during the “briefing”, when the children were reminded of the rules of Forest School and told about today’s task (which was all about birdwatching).

The weather was perfect for it and it was a rather wonderful way to finish the day.

Homework books have been sent home and spelling lists have been updated on the School’s website.

Tomorrow, Mrs Foster is back so I’ll be available again on Monday.

Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs Crowe

World Book Day

Next Thursday (4th March) is World Book Day. Although we can’t celebrate it as we usually do, we would still like to mark the occasion as it’s one of the children’s favourite days in our School calendar.

The first thing I would like you to do is to take a picture of your child reading in their favourite reading spot, so we can make a beautiful collage for our classroom when the children come back.

On the actual Day, we will only have book-themed activities and the children have been asked to bring a book to share with the rest with the class during the Zoom calls.

We will still dress up as a book character on the day, and it would be lovely for the children at home to do the same. Obviously, we are aware nobody is allowed to go out to shop for non-essential items, so please try and wear something you already have at home or get creative with outfits you can easily improvise. The character you choose to dress up as doesn’t have to be from the book you are sharing with the Class.

More details about the Day will be sent out closer to the date.

Dear Tigers,

as you will all know by now, we will publish our links to daily lessons and activities in our Class’ home-learning tab and in our Class Dojo. The list will also be emailed to parents daily as part of the Class news bulletin, usually sent out late in the afternoon (it will contain links for the following day, so you will always be able to prepare in advance).

Most of our lessons and activities are taken from the same programmes of study we use at School or very closely adapted activities to suit following our curriculum in the home-learning environment. This is mostly from White Rose Maths, the Oak National Academy, EdShed, and ‘Read Write Inc Phonics’, all officially recommended by the DfE.

In addition to the daily lessons, I have also prepared a list of other resources (all free during lockdown) you can use with the children to keep them engaged and learning:

Space Projects – to link with this term’s topic:

KS1-Learning-Project-SPACE

Y3_4-Learning-Project-SPACE

Phonics Play – great variety of fun and engaging online games to support practising phonics skills (blending, grapheme recognition, etc). Use the lockdown login details (username: jan21; password: home) to access all resources.

Twinkl Parents – a vast array of resources (worksheets, ebooks, presentations, ideas for practical activities, news reports, guides for parents, etc) for all subjects, organised by year groups.

BBC Bitesize – there will be daily bitesize shows on CBBC available from Monday 11th January. In addition to that, the BBC bitesize website has many presentations, videos, games and activities in all subjects.

PE with Joe – Live fitness sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, lead by Joe Wicks, will be available from 11th January. There’s also a large archive of videos suitable for children recorded during the previous lockdown.

Teach your Monster to Read – a favourite with Tigers during the first lockdown, children’s logins would still work, so they’d can just continue the game from where they left in the Summer.

I will continue to update this list when I come across any FREE resources I believe the Tigers might enjoy and benefit from using.

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions or require any assistance or further information.

Mrs Crowe