Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Thursday 21st October 2021

 Happy Thursday everybody! Unbelievably we have completed our first half term! It has flown by and we have all been really pleased with how quickly everyone has become at home in their classes. All the children have worked really hard for the past 7 weeks and we all hope you enjoy a well deserved rest.

To this end, we are not sending the Maths homework books home during the holiday but we would ask that you keep reading little and often as we want to maintain the children's progress in their reading as we move into the second half of the Autumn Term.

Christmas Cards

Today, your child will be coming home with their Christmas card design which they can get professionally made into their very own cards. There is a covering letter which explains the process and how you can order your child's cards online should you wish to. If you have placed an order, tick the box on the sheet to show you have and then you must bring the design back into school on Monday 1st November as they are being collected to send to the print studio to be manufactured.

School Council Elections

In the first week back after half term, each class will be holding an election to choose one person to be part of our new school council. During half term, you might like to discuss with your child whether they would be interested in standing in this election. Discuss how a member of the school council needs to be a good listener but also able to express their own ideas and those of their class during meetings. Children choosing to stand might also like to create a poster or a short speech outlining why they think they would be a good candidate for the council. We look forward to sharing the results of the election at the end of our first week back. Happy campaigning!

Harvest Festival Collection

Thank you so much to all of you that have contributed to our Harvest Festival collection this year for South Essex Extended Services.  Every single donation does make a difference and is given to children and families in our own local community that need it the most. 

RRS A 27:  Every child has the right to a standard of living good enough to meet their physical, social and mental needs.

If you have any questions or concerns about anything, please just ask and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Emails will be monitored during Friday 22nd October before the holidays and again from Monday 1st November. Remember, that winter is rapidly approaching and we are still keeping our classrooms well ventilated, so please dress your children warmly next half term!

ks1@downhallprimary.com

We hope you have relaxing and enjoyable half term!

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs O'Connor & Miss Langley

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Friday 15th October 2021

 Happy Friday everybody - we hope this weekend finds you well! Over the last week, as part of our project "Knock, Knock! Who's There?" all the classes in Key Stage 1 have taken part in some geographical fieldwork down Brooklyn Drive. We have been looking at the different features that the houses have and collecting the data for work back in class. All the children were very sensible and enjoyed some real life geography!

Parent/Teacher Consultations

Please remember, you are still able to book an appointment to meet with your child's class teacher on Friday 22nd October, 8:30am to 3:30pm. Just as you did in the Summer Term, please use the Scopay app/website to secure your slot. This meeting will be via Zoom and a meeting link will be sent to you early next week.

New Entry & Exit Arrangements

Hopefully, you have already seen the letter on our website regarding the review of our entry and exit arrangements in order to reduce the amount of time between the beginning and end of the school day. From Monday 18th October the following procedures will be in place:

Arrival At School

Amethyst, Diamond and Emerald class will enter the school via the middle gate in Torquay Close at 8:45am. This gate will ensure they are just a short walk across the playground to the steps into the classroom. If your child's siblings enter via the Downhall Park Way gate and it is easier for you to use this gate then it is fine to continue to use that entrance.

Leaving School

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald classes will exit the school via the Downhall Park Way gate as usual but at 2:55pm. Again, any older siblings will leave at this time as well. If any siblings are in EYFS, these children will leave at 2:50pm.

Harvest Festival

Our Harvest Festival collection continues with a collection box at the gate and any contributions are greatly appreciated.  Here is the link to our Harvest Blog and to our Harvest Festival Samba song to get you in the mood!

Maths Homework

This week we would like you to look at pages 16-17.

For Year 1's this is looking at the number line. Hiding numbers on a number line/filling in missing numbers on a number line is a very good way of reinforcing basic number facts. It also promotes the language of number and comparison. It is very important to ask your child to explain why they arrived at their answer.

For Year 2's this is looking at ordering and comparing numbers. When ordering numbers, it is important to look at the tens value over the ones. 42 is more than 24 because of the amount of tens. We can also compare numbers using the signs < (less than), > (more than/greater than) and = (equal to/equals). Though we also remind the children that Mr Crocodile always tries to eat the bigger number!

Don't forget to keep up all your fantastic efforts with your reading at home - we are seeing a huge improvement with all the children who are doing their daily reading. We are still updating the Big Cat online library for your child as they move up reading levels, so don't forget to use this resource if it is useful to you.

As mentioned above, we are always available on our Key Stage 1 email. If you have any questions or concerns about anything, please just ask and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

ks1@downhallprimary.com

Have a super weekend!

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs O'Connor & Miss Langley

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Friday 8th October 2021

 Happy Friday everybody - we hope you have had a fabulous week!

Parent/Teacher Consultations

You are now able to book an appointment to meet with your child's class teacher on Friday 22nd October, 8:30am to 3:30pm. Just as you did in the Summer Term, please use the Scopay app/website to secure your slot. This meeting will be via Zoom and a meeting link will be sent to you nearer the time.

Phase Group Emails

Please remember that we are always available to contact on our phase group email that we put at the bottom of our weekly blog. Your emails will be responded to as soon as possible but this may not be until the following working day if sent in the evening or on Monday if sent at the weekend.

If you wish to inform us of an absence, a medical appointment or a change in drop-off/collection arrangements, we ask that you contact the school office by text or email rather than our phase group emails as it is the office staff that will collect your child to take to the gate and, as you can imagine, we are unable to check our emails regularly during teaching hours.

Thank you for your support in this.

Maths Homework

This week we would like you to look at pages 14-15.

For Year 1's this is looking at counting on in different steps. Take some time looking at counting on in 2's and noting the difference between odd and even numbers. Look for patterns in the numbers when counting on in 5's and 10's. Discussing these patterns can really help them to "stick" in the children's minds and leads to a deeper understanding of the maths.

For Year 2's this is looking at partitioning numbers. This just means splitting a number up into 2 smaller numbers which make up the whole number. The children are most aware of how 38 = 30 + 8. But 38 can be partitioned in other ways e.g. 20 + 18 or 32 + 6. Ways to show this can be with resources grouped in tens and ones or creating annotations e.g.

How many have been ringed in red?

We have 3 tens and 8 ones altogether (38). 2 tens and 4 ones have been ringed. 1 ten and 4 ones are not ringed. So 24 + 14 = 38.

Don't forget to keep up all your fantastic efforts with your reading at home - we are seeing a huge improvement with all the children who are doing their daily reading. We are still updating the Big Cat online library for your child as they move up reading levels, so don't forget to use this resource if it is useful to you.

As mentioned above, we are always available on our Key Stage 1 email. If you have any questions or concerns about anything, please just ask and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

ks1@downhallprimary.com

Have a lovely weekend!

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs O'Connor & Miss Langley

Amethyst, Diamond & Emerald Blog - Friday 1st October 2021

 Happy Friday everybody - we hope you are all doing well! It has been lovely this week to see all of the children in Key Stage 1 in the hall for lunchtime and playing so wonderfully with each other at playtimes. I think they have loved it too! It has felt decidedly autumnal as well as this week has progressed, so please ensure that the children are coming to school with a coat each day as well as their book bags.

Maths Homework

This week we would like you to look at pages 12-13.

For Year 1's this is looking at accurate and reliable counting. Take some time looking at page 12 and discussing the terminology of more, less, fewer, most, least and equal. Extend this task for exploring things that can be counted around the home and label how many forks, pegs and socks (etc!) that you can find.

For Year 2's this is looking at number lines. Think about how number lines do not always go up in 1's but could be 2's, 5's or 10's. This means sometimes we have to estimate where number would go it it lies between the marked numbers. Once you have labelled the number lines on page 13, think about where different numbers would go on the different number lines. For example, where would the number 11 go on each of the 4 different number lines? How do you know?

Don't forget, we are always available on our Key Stage 1 email. If you have any questions or concerns about anything, please just ask and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

ks1@downhallprimary.com

Have an awesome weekend!

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille, Mrs O'Connor & Miss Langley