Friday 25 September 2020

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - 25th September 2020

 Happy weekend, everybody!

I hope you are beginning to get back into a groove now and feeling increasingly secure with the routines - the children certainly are in class! Just a reminder that as the weather becomes more autumnal to ensure your child brings a coat to school each day. Due to our staggered lunches we get less time outside so unless the weather is very bad we will always endeavour to still go out at playtime and for our Daily Mile. 

Here are a couple of things to be practising at home to help support your child in reading and maths.

Maths - Addition & Subtraction

During lockdown, we regularly recommended this website:


https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/daily10


This is good for generating calculations for the children to practice different methods to solve them. It is through the constant practice of these skills that children develop the correct methodology to solve these calculations.

Addition - Selection

Firstly, once you have got to the above website, choose the correct calculations for your child. Choose the Level 2 tab:



We have mainly been using "Two-Digit Numbers" however feel free to tailor the level to your child's needs. Try "Two-Digit Numbers With Carrying" if they are super confident! When you have made your choice, use the "Manual" tab so it is not a timed race.

Addition - Methodology

For solving "Two-Digit Numbers" we show the children how to represent the tens and ones to help solve these. This is an approach we have practised lots in class and looks like this:




Lines represent the tens and dots represent the ones. Then count up all the tens and then the ones to get to your answer.

Subtraction - Selection

Again, choose the Level 2 tab and then select "Subtraction" in the second tab. We have been looking at "Two-Digit Numbers" as with addition:




Subtraction - Methodology

For those using "Two-Digit Numbers" the use of tens and ones looks like this:




We make the first number as before but we cross out the number of tens and ones of the second number. So above we are taking away 14, so cross out 1 ten and 4 ones. Always start with the ones first and then the tens.

Reading & MyOn

As mentioned last week, we wanted to give you some guidance on searching the vast library of MyOn more efficiently.

Once you have logged on, click on Library and then Search.


Then click on the filter icon on the left hand side of the box.


This gives you a range of options to narrow the books down. Most simple way of searching is by Year group. Once you choose a year group you must click on the magnifying glass to update the book lists.

(Don't be concerned if the "Your Year" hasn't been updated yet - it will be after half term).


Accelerated Reader

During January and February this year, we began putting some Year 2 (now "Year 3") children on to the Accelerated Reader scheme. If you know what Reading Level your child is you can also search MyOn by this reading level. It calls it the ATOS level. You can only select by whole number, so if your child has a reading level of 2.4, search "2," click the magnifying glass and then all the books from 2.0 to 2.9 are shown. 

Hover over a book and click on "Info" and you will be able to check on the book level (ATOS).

Don't be too concerned if a book is not an exact match, a variance of 0.2 or so is fine. If you cannot remember your child's AR Level please send us an email and we will look it up for you.

This week we have entered the details of all children in Amethyst, Diamond and Emerald class on to the Accelerated Reader system. Next week, we will be administering a baseline reading quiz which will give your child a baseline reading level. In next week's blog, we will explain how you can also take Accelerated Reading quizzes and a more in depth discussion on the nature of the Accelerated Reader Program for those of you to which this system is new.

We have never put so many children on to the system at the same time, so please bear with us as we get this prepared for you. In the meantime, we hope that these new search options make MyOn a bit more user friendly for you all.

Massive thanks for all your support again. Feel free to drop us an email to share any addition and subtraction work your child does and if you have any MyOn questions.

Have a lovely weekend!

KS1 Team

Friday 18 September 2020

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - 18th September 2020

 Dear Families

Here we are at the end of week 2 and all the children have settled back admirably! We are all very proud of how they have adapted to our new routines and are all getting down to some very hard work. Here are some announcements for the coming week.

PE

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald class will continue to have PE on Mondays. PE starts next week on Monday 21st - so don't forget to come in PE kit!

Reading

Another reminder if your child has not yet bought in a book to read from home to please bring one in next week. Ideally, this is a book that the children can keep in school as we are doing all that we can to reduce the amount of items that move between home and school each day. Due to this we encourage you to use online platforms to support your child in their reading at home at the present moment:

  • MyOnwww.myon.co.uk we are subscribed to this site and if you cannot remember your child's log in please contact us on our email (see below). Type in Down Hall and select our school from the drop down menu (it won't work if you just type it in) and then fill in your child's log in details.




            From here click on Library and Browse by a genre that will interest your child!






            We will provide further details on more specific searches in the near future.


        Log in at this site using these details:





You can choose a text from the colour bands we use at school and some even have some worksheets, which you find if you scroll down on the link above, to work on after reading. We have these books in school so it has the advantage of being familiar to the children.






            You will need to register for this site by clicking on "Join Us" and they will send you a email for you to complete your free registration. From here you can choose a book band and browse the books.






We hope you find some of these resources helpful. Please be assured we are constantly reviewing our reading provision and procedures as a school and hopefully we will be able to return to "normal" in time.

Homework Task

This week we have been talking about the different seasons of the year and the main features of these. Have a look at this video to support the task below:


As a homework task, we would like your child to either choose their favourite season and make a picture or piece of writing explaining why this is. Alternatively, split a piece of paper in 4 and make a collage of images/drawings that cover all 4 seasons. Take a picture and email it to us!

Jumpers & Cardigans

We have been blessed with warm weather since our return to school but the days are beginning to turn. We keep our classroom doors open all day at the moment to provide a highly ventilated environment. It is important, therefore, that the children do have a jumper or cardigan with them in case they get a bit chilly. The weather won't hold forever but we will maintain this clean air flow for as long as is bearable!

Once again, a massive thank you for all of your help and support in these challenging times. If there is anything you need, either call the school office and ask for one of us or contact us through our email:


ks1@downhallprimary.com



Have a lovely weekend!
KS1 Team



Friday 11 September 2020

Key Stage 1 - 11th September 2020

 Dear Families,

It has been fantastic to welcome all the children back to school this week! They have been an absolute credit to you all as they have adapted to the new classroom set ups and the different structure of the day admirably. Huge thanks to you all too for being very supportive in following the new drop off and pick up routines - it has been very much appreciated!

Our Week in KS1

This week we have been spending time getting to know our new classroom set-up and day-to-day routines. We have also spent time working on place value in maths - ordering and partitioning numbers into their tens and ones. In English we have been extending and transferring some of the report writing skills we discussed in the lockdown blogs to write about other animals in our world. Can you choose an animal to research further at home?

Homework

As we move through this transition half term, we will be approaching homework in a slightly different way. We cannot send homework books back and forth between home and school currently and many of you will have finished existing books during lockdown. We will, therefore, be setting homework tasks on these weekly blogs for you to complete at home but, just as we did in previous blogs, please email your child's work to us; either as an attached file or as a photograph. This week we are looking for posters that celebrate reasons for why your child is glad to be back at school. This could be something that they have missed or a pleasant surprise in returning to their classes!

Reading Books From Home

As the children become more settled in being back at school, we are looking to re-introduce many aspects of their normal school day. One of which is ERIC - Everyone Reading In Class. As we cannot share class books between children at the moment, each child will need to bring a book in from home which they will enjoy reading on a daily basis. We have encouraged them to bring a book that they are happy to leave in school each day (until they have finished it). If you could send your child in with a book from next week this will be very helpful.

Keeping In Touch

As teachers, we find it very hard to not be there to welcome our children at the gate each morning and we are extremely mindful that opportunities to have that informal chat at the end of the day are also problematic. To this end, we would like to encourage you to use our Key Stage email address to ask us any questions or allay any concerns that you might have. Please do not feel that anything is not important enough to ask - you might just want to tell us how your child is feeling on being back! If you feel more happy speaking to us on the phone then this is also absolutely fine - just ring the office and request a call. We will seek to respond to any calls or emails as soon as humanly possible in this current time.

Well that's it for this week - it has been so lovely to see all the children again and dip a toe in normality!

Much love,

KS1 Team

Thursday 3 September 2020

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald - Welcome Back!

 Dear Families,

We hope that you are all well and that your children are ready and looking forward to returning to school on Monday! We have been very busy getting the school ready to welcome your children back and here are a few reminders about our first week.

The children will only need to bring a water bottle and a lunch box (washable, of any type) from home. You can order a school packed lunch, which is made in the school kitchen, if you prefer. Children who were Year 2's last academic year are no longer covered by the Universal Free School Meals. Payments for those children's school packed lunch will need to be made via Scopay (£2.10 per packed lunch). Please ring the office if you need advice on this payment method.

The menu can be found here: Lunch Menu.

All children will be coming in and leaving by the Downhall Park Way entrance. We have chosen this entrance as it enables us to have a distinct entry and exit point (like in most public buildings) so we can maintain social distancing and keep our community safe. Please see the photo for clarification:

As there are staggered start and finish times, a reminder that the children are due to start and finish at:

Emerald: 9:00am - 3:25pm

Amethyst: 9:05am - 3:30pm

Diamond: 9:10am - 3:35pm

However, if your child has a sibling in school, then they both arrive and leave school together at the earliest of the 2 times. A full list of all classes' timings and further details can be found in this letter: 

Start and finish times

Any visits to the school, including the office, are strictly by appointment only so it is very important to ensure that your child has everything they need with them for each day.

In the mornings, children will be focusing on English, Maths and Phonics. They will be learning from a combination of objectives they would have covered in the Summer Term as well as beginning to access the Year 2 and Year 3 curriculum. In the afternoon we will focus on art and project work. Although there is no PE for the first 2 weeks we will be taking part in the Daily Mile!

The DfE have published guidance for parents about children returning to school. This can be found here: Returning to school

If you have any questions you can still contact us on our email address below. Thank you in advance for your patience and support. We are, obviously, constantly reviewing the situation and adapting our plans accordingly. We will update you via our blogs as and when needed.

ks1@downhallprimary.com

We are all very much looking forward to seeing you next week!

Mr Jude, Mrs O'Connor & Mrs Yuille