Good Morning Everyone!

Autumn Term is well underway. We are still getting some sunny days between the rainy ones but as we see the days get shorter and see the leaves turning brown we know it's only going to get colder and wetter. But hey, that's why we chose Manchester to live in!

As the need for children to wear their coats and jumpers every day gets ever closer, can I mention the huge pile of abandoned clothes currently hanging on the coat stand in the school office? If you are missing any such items, please come along and see if you can find them. I will be asking our ‘Co-op Young Leaders’ To take the coat stand out at hometime in the coming weeks but for now, they are in the office! 

As I’ve mentioned them, I should formally welcome our new cohort of Young Leaders - Congratulations team of 2024! You will be seeing them at coming events and they are already supporting in assembly and around school. 

Homework

How we do homework has changed. We are still asking children to read everyday and to practise their times tables on Times Table Rock Stars (TTRS) but we have said goodbye to the ‘take away homework’ system. The reason we have done this is so we can do things a little smarter as well as getting the children ready for the way homework runs in high schools. 

So, in year 1 and year 2 we would ask you to read with your child everyday and record the reading in the reading record as well as daily TTRS practice once they are on the system. We are also looking at getting an approved list of online learning platforms together to support you provide meaning learning opportunities for your children at home. 

In year 3, 4, 5 and 6 we would ask that, in addition to daily reading, they complete their weekly tasks on their Learning By Question (LBQ) account. LBQ is an online platform that can really target learning.

Daily Reading

Please remember the daily reading expectations

Year 1 - 10 minutes

Year 2 - 20 minutes

Year 3 - 30 minutes

Year 4 - 40 minutes

Year 5 - 50 minutes

Year 6 - 60 minutes

The greatest indicator of success in reading is reading stamina and just like running, the only way to build your stamina is to practise!

The 6 SATs paper takes the best part of an hour to complete - stamina is the only way children will perform at their best. 

Class Dojo and Speaking to Teachers.

Please make sure you have the dojo app and are connected to your child’s class. This is the best way to hear about what's going on, see how many dojos they have been awarded and how best to message your child’s teacher. All teachers are working with children from the start of the day so are not able to speak then. If you need to speak to them, send them a message on dojo!

Please be mindful that they can not respond during the school day as they are teaching and will not monitor messages in the evening when they are at home. 

All messages about absences should go through the school office. 

Thank you for reading,

Mr Brown