Class Teacher: Miss Reynolds and Mrs Brandon
Learning Assistant: Ms Summerfield

Hello and welcome to Class 13,

I am very excited and looking forward to a fun, hardworking and successful term in Class 13. Our class page will include lots of important information about our upcoming learning so please remember to check back regularly for any updates. Keep your eyes peeled for any photos too!

In Class 13, we have very high expectations of exceptional behaviour and attitudes to learning. All children are expected to stay on green by following our school rules, listening carefully and trying their best. However, they should be striving for gold by showing the Ghyllgrove Learning Powers. You should aim to be getting your green certificates to take home every Friday to show how fabulous you have been at school.

Curriculum

In Maths, we will begin by exploring numbers with up to 4 digits, learning about place value and our number system, and using this learning to compare and order numbers up to 10,000. As we move through the term, we will be developing our mental strategies and written methods of addition and subtraction. Later in the term, we will explore multiplication and division using a range of equipment and representations. Throughout the term, we will also be practising our new times tables for Year 4 (6, 7 and 9, 13 and 12) as well as consolidating our previously learnt times tables from Year 2. Developing these key number skills are vital as they provide a foundation for all other Maths learning to be built upon so practising these skills at home will really help you to make excellent progress this year. Throughout our lessons, we will tackle a range of problem solving and reasoning activities which will allow us to apply all of our learning from this term.

During our English lessons, we will be reading ‘How To Train Your Dragon: How to Be a Pirate.' by Cressida Cowell. This is an exciting adventure story which follows Hiccup on his quest to become a pirate. We will be consolidating our use of subordinate clauses and fronted adverbials, as well as practising the use of more detailed speech punctuation.

In Maths lessons this term, we will focus on consolidating our skills on the 4 operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We will continue to work on our written methods as well as learning to solve problems using these methods. We will continue to practice our times tables with the aim that all pupils will know their multiplication and division facts for all tables to x12 by the end of Year 4.  This term we will explore time, fractions and decimals.

Our PE lessons will take place on Thursday. PE kits (white t-shirt, red shorts and trainers) are to be kept in school and will be sent home half-termly to be washed. Please can you include a cold weather P.E. kit (plain joggers and sweatshirt) as a number of PE lessons will take place outside.

Swimming

Class 13 will be swimming on Wednesday afternoon. Children will need to come to school with a separate bag for their swimwear, towel and hat. We walk to and from the Basildon Sporting Village, rain or shine, so ensure your child is prepared with the appropriate outdoor clothing. With so many exciting things going on in school, there will be lots to talk about on those journeys home. Make sure you’re impressing your parents and telling them all about your learning.

Homework

All of the staff in Class 13 will work tirelessly to ensure everybody does their best this year. We will regularly hear the children read and set them times table challenges too, so look out for these in the Home School Diaries.

In order to help your child achieve and accelerate their progress, we ask for the following commitments from you at home too:

• Listen to your child read at home at least 4 times a week and record this in your child’s Home School Diary. Please take the time to put a small note and we will also do the same every time we hear your child read in school.
• Practise your times tables and spellings regularly.
• Look at the homework task on Google Classroom.

We are incredibly lucky to have access to some fantastic online resources, which will also support their learning too. Your child’s login details are included at the front of their Home School Diary.

Times Table Rock Stars is a fun and challenging online programme designed to help pupils master their times tables by playing the different games and answering different questions to improve their Rock speed and status. Children will earn coins for correctly answered questions which they can use to improve and upgrade their Rock Star Avatar. Just go to https://play.ttrockstars.com and use the login information inside your Home School Diary.

Oxford Owl is another excellent resource to help develop your child's spelling skills at home. Just go to https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk and use the login information inside your Home School Diary.

Please remember, if you have ANY concerns during the year then come and see us. We will always help you if we know about anything that is worrying you. We want to keep everybody at Ghyllgrove safe, happy and achieving.

Miss Reynolds and Mrs Brandon