• Ash Class - Reception, Foundation Stage and Year 1, Key Stage 1
• Elm Class - Year 2, Key Stage 1 and Years 3 & 4, Key Stage 2
• Oak Class - Years 5 & 6, Key Stage 2

Ash Class

Reception - Foundation Stage and Year 1 - Key Stage 1

Daily Routine The school gate opens at 8.40am and children in Ash Class come straight into the classroom until they are settled and happy with the school routine. The children put away their book bags and coats and sit and practice their handwriting and complete their Clever Fingers activities, developing their fine motor skills. We tidy for registration at 9.05am. We choose the special helper and complete the date chart which allows the children to learn the days of the week and months of the year. Children finish school at 3.30pm and can be collected from the main gates.

Reading

• Reception children will bring an Oxford Reading Tree book home and as their phonic knowledge grows they will also bring a RWI (Read Write Inc) phonic book home.

• Year 1 will bring home a phonic book based on what they are learning in their RWI (Read Write Inc) phonics group and a Oxford Reading Tree book to read and share.

• Children benefit greatly from reading at home. An individual reading record will be sent home with the reading books. Please sign your child’s reading record when the book is complete and if appropriate share any information about how they have got on.

• Sharing other engaging literary material and text types at home is extremely useful to develop your child’s reading.

• Practicing the red words in your child’s book bag will help them to develop a bank of more frequently used words for reading. Red words are tricky ones that children can’t use their phonetic knowledge to sound out in the ordinary way.

• Once the children have learned their sounds and more sight vocabulary red words, they will bring home a RWI  (Read Write Inc) reading book based on the phonic scheme.  They will also start to read RWI ditty books in pairs at school.  They will continue to take an Oxford Reading Tree book home to share.

Snack Time In Ash Class we have two snack times throughout the day. One at 10.10am and another at 3pm. Year 1 pupils have their snack at 10.45 on the playground . Morning snack is provided by the school for all children. If you would like your child to have milk with this snack please sign them up onto the milk register through Cool Milk. We ask that you provide a snack for the afternoon. This needs to be either fruit or vegetables. Please provide children with a named water bottle. They have free access to their water bottles throughout the school day and are regularly reminded to drink from them.

Timetable

Core subjects, Maths and Literacy, take place in the mornings daily and humanities, R.E, P.E, ICT, Science, Art and DT, take place in the afternoons.

Year 1’s will work on their curriculum whilst Reception children have their child initiated play time.

Toys

• As a rule in Ash Class we say no toys as we do not want these to get lost or broken. Sometimes topic related items might be requested in the weekly newsletter for children to bring in and share.

   

If you have any questions or concerns relating to your child’s time in Ash class, please don’t hesitate to speak to Mrs Dunbar or Miss Woolley. We are always happy to help!

Elm Class

Year 2 – Key Stage 1 (KS1) and Years 3 & 4 – Key Stage 2 (KS2)

Daily routine and clothing

• The school gate opens at 8.40 and children go onto the playground. The bell rings at 8.55 and children should enter the classroom and hang up their things.
• Lunch boxes should be put on the hooks outside the classroom. Snacks and drinks should be brought into the classroom and put in the boxes by the sink.
• Please try and keep bag sizes and accessories to a minimum as we have limited storage in the classroom.
• Children should have weather appropriate named clothing and accessories.

Morning Snack Time KS1 - will be provided with a fruit snack every day. If you would like to provide an additional healthy snack please bring it in a named container KS2 - if you would like to provide your child with a healthy snack please bring it in a named container. All children should have a named water bottle in school. They are able to refill this when necessary If you would like your child to have milk, please see the School office to make arrangements.

Reading

KS1 – An adult will listen to the children read at least once a week. Pupils benefit greatly from reading at home. An individual reading record will be sent home with up to 3 reading books. Please sign the reading record and make a note of which page your child has read up to.

In addition to a banded book, KS1 children will bring home a ‘phonics’ reading book corresponding to the Read Write Inc sound they have been working on.

KS2 – Most KS2 children are free readers and are able to change their books whenever necessary. They can do so from the class book corner or they may bring in books from home. Children should have their reading book and reading record in school every day.

Please feel free to comment in the reading record and encourage your child to comment too. It is important that the children read every day and whenever possible share a book with you either reading or talking about the book.

Relevant Objects, Artefacts or Information If you have any items that are linked to the class learning that could be shared with the class, please do bring these into school. Any links to learning are fantastic and the children love talking about what they have brought. Please make sure they are labelled and any special instructions given to make sure they are cared for and shown in their best light! Curriculum and Timetable Children will spend approximately one hour each on literacy and mathematics each day. Guided reading activities take place every day and include comprehension, spellings, handwriting and visits to the library. Pupils will cover foundation subjects in the afternoon, including art, science, humanities, French, music and RE. PE is on a Wednesday afternoon. Children should come into school in their PE kit on this day. Homework Homework will be sent out on a Friday to be completed by the following Friday. This will include spellings; times tables practice and mathletics. There will sometimes be a task linked to an aspect of the curriculum.

Messages

• If you need to inform the school of any additional information throughout the term or you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office. Additionally, Miss Huskisson, Mrs Saxty and Mrs Bell are usually available directly after school. 

Oak Class - Years 5 & 6 - Key Stage 2

Daily Routine and Clothing

The school gate opens at 8.40am and children may deposit their lunch boxes on the shelving outside before moving to the playground. They should not enter the classroom. Please make sure children have named weather appropriate clothing such as coats, hats and gloves. PE kits need to be worn on the day of PE. At the moment this is a Wednesday but this may change termly.

Reading

In Oak Class, all children will be choosing their own reading books and can change them as and when required. The children will keep a record of the books they are reading, which must be recorded in their reading records. I would strongly encourage children to read a variety of books: fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. Children may bring books from home or from the county library if they prefer. It is important that they read for a minimum of 20 minutes every day and whenever possible to share a book with you either reading together or talking about the book (the plot, the characters etc.). Please encourage them to complete their daily reading record as this will be checked.

Children will be taught reading through group reading with me once a week and undertaking reading, comprehension and spelling activities on the other four days.

Whenever possible, children needing extra support will also have the opportunity to read to a teaching assistant or volunteer.

Behaviour & Responsibilities

Being a member of Oak class comes with great responsibility!

I have high expectations of the children in terms of their attitude to learning and their behaviour towards each other.

They are often called upon to be ‘ambassadors’ for our school, either at sporting events or when showing visitors around.

I believe that children rise to the challenge that you set them and they will be given important roles within the school.

Homework

Children will have weekly homework and can, if they choose to, take note of what is expected in their homework diaries; however, everything will be clearly explained on the homework sheet.

Reading is a daily homework for the children and they should read for at least 30 minutes.

In addition to reading, there are tables to be learnt. Little and often is the best way to learn for two or three minutes a day. The children should write out the table that we are learning and say it aloud as they practice. Using a timer can also challenge as the children must 'beat' their own score. We are aiming for a 5 second recall per table.

Children will also be set Mathletics and a Foundation subject-based homework which should be completed.

Breaks and Snacks

Please provide children with a named water bottle, which can be refilled as and when required.

If you would like your child to have or continue to have milk, please see the office to make arrangements.

If you would like to provide a healthy snack please place it in an appropriate named container. Children can keep these in their bags until break time. Remember that Fordcombe is a nut-free school.

Teaching

Mrs Bell, Ms Peel, Mrs Evans and Mrs Tutt will support the class during the week, working with the whole class and with individual children.

Please do not hesitate to speak to Mr Miles or the school office if you have any questions.