Friday 20th December 2024

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We cannot believe 2024 is nearly over! Thank you for all your kind words and gifts. Totally unnecessary of you but gratefully received by us all.

We wish you a very merry Christmas and we look forward to welcoming you back on Tuesday 7th January 2025.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mrs Devlin and Miss Harvey

Friday 6th December 2024

 Happy Friday Everyone!

We hope that you have had a good week. Time is flying by and we are all beginning to think about the fast-approaching Christmas break. Next week is assessment week and the children will be completing assessments in Reading, GPS and maths.

A reminder that as the cold weather is upon us that as well as coats it would be great to see the children wearing a scarf and gloves to protect them from the chills.

Winter Reading Challenge

The Reading Agency is holding a Winter Reading Challenge and it would be great for some Down Hall children to take part!

Here is the link below to sign up for the event. 

Pre-school children and adults can get involved too! 

Just scroll down further and pick what’s best for you!

https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/ 

https://shop.readingagency.org.uk/collections/adults 

Pictures welcome of you and your children reading together

​​

Miss Harvey :)

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Tuesday 10th December- EYFS/KS1 Jack and the Beanstalk Pantomime, Towngate Theatre

Wednesday 11th December – Coffee Morning 9-10am

Thursday 12th December – Christmas Dinner Day

Friday 13th December - PTA Christmas Bazaar/Father Christmas

Monday 16th December - KS2 Jack and the Beanstalk Pantomime, Towngate Theatre

Tuesday 17th December - KS1 Nativity (pm)

Wednesday 18th December - KS1 Nativity (am)

Friday 20th December - Early Years Nativity (am)

Friday 20th December - Last Day of Term

Monday 23rd December - Friday 3rd January- Christmas Holidays

Spelling Frame Rule 11 - https://spellingframe.co.uk/

This week we would like the children to focus on: Spelling Rule 11
Your child has their login details glued into their reading diaries. They will be tested at the end of every week on these spellings so PLEASE practise at home. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Times Tables

This week we are looking at the 12x tables and the children will be tested and taking part in times table activities throughout the week. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Spelling and Times Table Books

The children will bring home a book with their weekly spellings and times table focus stuck in. Please initial these to say you have gone through them with your child. We will continue to practise these in class through testing and handwriting practice but extra practice at home is vital.

Year 3/4  Homework Tasks

Year 3 English - Pages 6 & 7 - Articles

Maths - Page 29 - Estimating & Checking

Year 4

English - Page 8 - Pronouns Maths - Page 15- Roman Numerals

Must Do

Reading: 

Remember 15-20 minutes everyday is super important but we understand this is not always manageable. Make sure you are reading as much as you can - at least 3x a week and recording what you read in your child's reading record. These will be collected by teachers and checked regularly.  When you have finished your Accelerated Reader book, you can take a quiz at school. Remember that you need 3 100% scores to move up a level.

Times table practice - Please log on to TTRS and complete your challenges.

Can Do
Continue logging on to TTRS and Sumdog -  your logins are stuck in the front cover of your reading records. 

Reading Skills

Every week we encourage you to keep up all your reading at home as this makes such a huge difference. We wanted to spend a little time this week speaking more about reading skills.

Understanding what they have read (or comprehension) is vital for the children  and we support this through our VIPERS reading skills. This stands for:

Vocabulary    Infer    Predict    Explain    Retrieve    Summarise

You can explore these ideas with your child after reading using some of the following question prompts:

Vocabulary - have a good range of vocabulary in order to understand the text

• What does the word _____ mean in this sentence?
• Find a word that means _____ on this page.

Infer - understanding reached through reasoning about what you have read

• Why was _____ feeling _____?
• Why did _____ happen?
• How do you know?

Predict - what you think will happen based on what you have read

• What do you think will happen next?
• How will this character's action affect what will happen next?

Explain - what your thoughts and opinions are about the book

• Who is your favourite character? Why?
• Would you like to live in this setting? Why?

Retrieve - discuss the characters, events and setting of the story

• Who did _____?
• Where did _____?

Summarise - pick out the key events

• Retell the story in your own words.
• Pick out the important parts.

We hope this helps you discuss the books your child reads at home as the more they practice these skills the more fluent in comprehension they will become.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Harvey and Mrs Devlin

Friday 29th November

Happy Friday everybody!   We hope that you have all had a good week. The children have all been busy writing explanation texts on what the Romans did for us.

Please make sure that coats, gloves, hats etc. are labelled with your children's names to avoid them being lost. Any property that remains around school, is located in The Learning Hub (Old Opal Class). Please collect the items as soon as you realise they are missing to avoid them being thrown away.

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary for things coming up soon - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time so keep a look out!

• 6th December - PTA Movie Night
• 10th December - KS1 Pantomime Trip
• 12th December - Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Dinner Day
• 13th December - PTA Christmas Bazaar
• 16th December - KS2 Pantomime Trip
• 17th/18th December - KS1 Christmas Production

Christmas Jumper Day

Our Christmas Jumper Day is Thursday 12th December. On this day, the children can wear their fabulous festive jumpers and donate £1 which goes to our sponsorship of Khadiza in Bangladesh. The charity Action Aid use this money to ensure that Khadiza and the other children in her community enjoy their rights just like all of us at Down Hall. (Articles 28 & 29)

Spelling Frame Rule 10 - https://spellingframe.co.uk/

This week we would like the children to focus on: Spelling Rule 10
Your child has their login details glued into their reading diaries. They will be tested at the end of every week on these spellings so PLEASE practise at home. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Times Tables

This week we are looking at the 11x tables and the children will be tested and taking part in times table activities throughout the week. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Spelling and Times Table Books

The children will bring home a book with their weekly spellings and times table focus stuck in. Please initial these to say you have gone through them with your child. We will continue to practise these in class through testing and handwriting practice but extra practice at home is vital.

Year 3/4  Homework Tasks

Year 3 English - Page 82 - Word endings with 'sure' and 'ture'

Maths - Pages 16+17 - Solving Number Problems

Year 4

English - Page 82 - Word endings with 'sure' and 'ture' Maths - Page 6 - Counting in Multiples

Must Do

Reading: 

Remember 15-20 minutes everyday is super important but we understand this is not always manageable. Make sure you are reading as much as you can - at least 3x a week and recording what you read in your child's reading record. These will be collected by teachers and checked regularly.  When you have finished your Accelerated Reader book, you can take a quiz at school. Remember that you need 3 100% scores to move up a level.

Times table practice - Please log on to TTRS and complete your challenges.

Can Do
Continue logging on to TTRS and Sumdog -  your logins are stuck in the front cover of your reading records. 

Romans

This is a good site we have used this week: 

https://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/Romans.html

Reading Skills

Every week we encourage you to keep up all your reading at home as this makes such a huge difference. We wanted to spend a little time this week speaking more about reading skills.

Understanding what they have read (or comprehension) is vital for the children  and we support this through our VIPERS reading skills. This stands for:

Vocabulary    Infer    Predict    Explain    Retrieve    Summarise

You can explore these ideas with your child after reading using some of the following question prompts:

Vocabulary - have a good range of vocabulary in order to understand the text

• What does the word _____ mean in this sentence?
• Find a word that means _____ on this page.

Infer - understanding reached through reasoning about what you have read

• Why was _____ feeling _____?
• Why did _____ happen?
• How do you know?

Predict - what you think will happen based on what you have read

• What do you think will happen next?
• How will this character's action affect what will happen next?

Explain - what your thoughts and opinions are about the book

• Who is your favourite character? Why?
• Would you like to live in this setting? Why?

Retrieve - discuss the characters, events and setting of the story

• Who did _____?
• Where did _____?

Summarise - pick out the key events

• Retell the story in your own words.
• Pick out the important parts.

We hope this helps you discuss the books your child reads at home as the more they practice these skills the more fluent in comprehension they will become.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Harvey and Mrs Devlin

Friday 22nd November 2024

 

Happy Friday everybody!   We hope that you have all had a good week. The children have all been busy writing recounts in English about our Roman Day.

This week we have had our first taste of winter. Please make sure that coats, gloves, hats etc are labelled with your children's names to avoid them being lost. Any property that remains around school, is located in The Learning Hub (Old Opal Class). Please collect the items as soon as you realise they are missing to avoid them being thrown away.

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary for things coming up soon - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time so keep a look out!

• 6th December - PTA Movie Night
• 10th December - KS1 Pantomime Trip
• 12th December - Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Dinner Day
• 13th December - PTA Christmas Bazaar
• 16th December - KS2 Pantomime Trip
• 17th/18th December - KS1 Christmas Production

Spelling Frame Rule 9 - https://spellingframe.co.uk/

This week we would like the children to focus on: Spelling Rule 8
Your child has their login details glued into their reading diaries. They will be tested at the end of every week on these spellings so PLEASE practise at home. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Times Tables

This week we are looking at the 9x tables and the children will be tested and taking part in times table activities throughout the week. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Year 3 are on the 7x tables.

Spelling and Times Table Books

The children will bring home a book with their weekly spellings and times table focus stuck in. Please initial these to say you have gone through them with your child. We will continue to practise these in class through testing and handwriting practice but extra practice at home is vital.

Year 3/4  Homework Tasks

Year 3 English - Page 78 - Suffixes 'ation' & 'ous'

Maths - Pages 25 - Written subtraction

Year 4

English - Page 78- Suffixes 'ation' & 'ous' Maths - Page 27 - Mental Multiplying & Dividing

Must Do
Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes everyday is super important but we understand this is not always manageable. Make sure you are reading as much as you can - at least 3x a week and recording what you read in your child's reading record. These will be collected by teachers and checked regularly.  When you have finished your Accelerated Reader book, you can take a quiz at school. Remember that you need 3 100% scores to move up a level.

Times table practice - Please log on to TTRS and complete your challenges.

Can Do
Continue logging on to TTRS and Sumdog -  your logins are stuck in the front cover of your reading records. 

Romans

This is a good site we have used this week: 

https://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/Romans.html

Reading Skills

Every week we encourage you to keep up all your reading at home as this makes such a huge difference. We wanted to spend a little time this week speaking more about reading skills.

Understanding what they have read (or comprehension) is vital for the children  and we support this through our VIPERS reading skills. This stands for:

Vocabulary    Infer    Predict    Explain    Retrieve    Summarise

You can explore these ideas with your child after reading using some of the following question prompts:

Vocabulary - have a good range of vocabulary in order to understand the text

• What does the word _____ mean in this sentence?
• Find a word that means _____ on this page.

Infer - understanding reached through reasoning about what you have read

• Why was _____ feeling _____?
• Why did _____ happen?
• How do you know?

Predict - what you think will happen based on what you have read

• What do you think will happen next?
• How will this character's action affect what will happen next?

Explain - what your thoughts and opinions are about the book

• Who is your favourite character? Why?
• Would you like to live in this setting? Why?

Retrieve - discuss the characters, events and setting of the story

• Who did _____?
• Where did _____?

Summarise - pick out the key events

• Retell the story in your own words.
• Pick out the important parts.

We hope this helps you discuss the books your child reads at home as the more they practice these skills the more fluent in comprehension they will become.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Harvey and Mrs Devlin

Friday 8th November 2024

Friday 8th November 2024

 Happy Friday everyone!

Upcoming Events

A few notes for your diary for things coming up soon - more details will be on the newsletter as we get nearer to the time so keep a look out!

• 19th/20th November - Parent/Teacher Consultations
• 6th December - KS1 PTA Movie Night
• 10th December - KS1 Pantomime Trip
• 17th/18th December - KS1 Christmas Production

Gentle Reminder

Please ensure that your children come to school with a coat every day especially now as the temperature is beginning to drop. We tend to go out at break and lunchtimes unless it is heavy rain. Also, please ensure your child is in the correct uniform every day, with a buttoned shirt and tie. - These MUST be named. We have a lot of lost property left over that can be checked through after school.

Spelling Frame Rule 8 - https://spellingframe.co.uk/

This week we would like the children to focus on: Spelling Rule 8
Your child has their login details glued into their reading diaries. They will be tested at the end of every week on these spellings so PLEASE practise at home. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Times Tables

This week we are looking at the 9x tables and the children will be tested and taking part in times table activities throughout the week. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Year 3 are on the 7x tables.

Spelling and Times Table Books

The children will bring home a book with their weekly spellings and times table focus stuck in. Please initial these to say you have gone through them with your child. We will continue to practise these in class through testing and handwriting practice but extra practice at home is vital.

Year 3/4  Homework Tasks

Year 3 English - Page 64 - Paragraphs

Maths - Pages 24 - Written addition

Year 4

English - Page 64 - Paragraphs Maths - Page 26 - Multiplication

Must Do
Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes everyday is super important but we understand this is not always manageable. Make sure you are reading as much as you can - at least 3x a week and recording what you read in your child's reading record. These will be collected by teachers and checked regularly.  When you have finished your Accelerated Reader book, you can take a quiz at school. Remember that you need 3 100% scores to move up a level.

Times table practice - Please log on to TTRS and complete your challenges.

Can Do
Continue logging on to TTRS and Sumdog -  your logins are stuck in the front cover of your reading records. 

Romans

This is a good site we have used this week: 

https://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/Romans.html

Reading Skills

Every week we encourage you to keep up all your reading at home as this makes such a huge difference. We wanted to spend a little time this week speaking more about reading skills.

Understanding what they have read (or comprehension) is vital for the children  and we support this through our VIPERS reading skills. This stands for:

Vocabulary    Infer    Predict    Explain    Retrieve    Summarise

You can explore these ideas with your child after reading using some of the following question prompts:

Vocabulary - have a good range of vocabulary in order to understand the text

• What does the word _____ mean in this sentence?
• Find a word that means _____ on this page.

Infer - understanding reached through reasoning about what you have read

• Why was _____ feeling _____?
• Why did _____ happen?
• How do you know?

Predict - what you think will happen based on what you have read

• What do you think will happen next?
• How will this character's action affect what will happen next?

Explain - what your thoughts and opinions are about the book

• Who is your favourite character? Why?
• Would you like to live in this setting? Why?

Retrieve - discuss the characters, events and setting of the story

• Who did _____?
• Where did _____?

Summarise - pick out the key events

• Retell the story in your own words.
• Pick out the important parts.

We hope this helps you discuss the books your child reads at home as the more they practice these skills the more fluent in comprehension they will become.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Harvey and Mrs. Devlin

Friday 8th November 2024

 Happy Friday everyone!

Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn Term. The children have had an exciting start to our new project 'The Romans'. They thoroughly enjoyed being Romans for the day and learned a lot about Roman soldiers and life as a Roman. If they haven't told you what the Romans used sponges for then be sure to ask! Please take a look at the news letter to see some photos capturing some of the activities they enjoyed.

Gentle Reminder

Please ensure that your children come to school with a coat every day especially now as the temperature is beginning to drop. We tend to go out at break and lunchtimes unless it is heavy rain. Also, please ensure your child is in the correct uniform every day, with a buttoned shirt and tie. - These MUST be named. We have a lot of lost property left over that can be checked through after school.

Spelling Frame Rule 7 - https://spellingframe.co.uk/

This week we would like the children to focus on: Spelling Rule 7
Your child has their login details glued into their reading diaries. They will be tested at the end of every week on these spellings so PLEASE practise at home. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Times Tables

This week we are looking at the 6x tables and the children will be tested and taking part in times table activities throughout the week. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Spelling and Times Table Books

The children will bring home a book with their weekly spellings and times table focus stuck in. Please initial these to say you have gone through them with your child. We will continue to practise these in class through testing and handwriting practice but extra practice at home is vital.

Year 3/4  Homework Tasks

Year 3 English - Page 71 - Prefixes

Maths - Pages 22 + 23 - Mental addition & subtraction

Year 4

English - Page 74 & 75 - Prefixes Maths - Pages 54 & 55 - Area

Must Do
Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes everyday is super important but we understand this is not always manageable. Make sure you are reading as much as you can - at least 3x a week and recording what you read in your child's reading record. These will be collected by teachers and checked regularly.  When you have finished your Accelerated Reader book, you can take a quiz at school. Remember that you need 3 100% scores to move up a level.

Times table practice - Please log on to TTRS and complete your challenges.

Can Do
Continue logging on to TTRS and Sumdog -  your logins are stuck in the front cover of your reading records.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Harvey and Mrs Devlin