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Early Newsletter – 2nd May 2020
Message from Mr Applegate
Please do read the summary and detail section below. It’s important!
I want to pay tribute to the staff at St Mark’s. This includes the LSAs, teachers, site and cleaning team, admin team, and all support staff. I cannot reiterate enough how hard they are working, and taking on board so many changes. Since March, there are so many changes that have been thrust their way, with little time to think and reflect, and much to setup ‘urgently’. I liken it to setting up a brand new school in a few days/weeks, with no preparation time. They have all responded so well. Teaching is a full-on job at the best of times, and working from home doesn’t make things any easier. It would be easy to think that it does, and to think “What do they have to do all day if they aren’t in school?!” But teaching from home is exhausting – speak to any staff, and they would prefer to be back in school, as we were pre-lockdown. Young children, partners who work, learning new technology, slow laptop/home internet, preparing lessons without the usual resources available to all children and then creating website pages, daily home communication etc. It’s vastly different. We also operate in a rota system to support the key worker children, so year group teams at home aren’t operating at full capacity as some staff are in school providing this vital service. All in all, the staff have been amazing in their attitude and response, and as always, it’s about giving the children the care and attention they deserve – as much as feasibly possible, anyway – in this lockdown period. I’m immensely proud of them. It’s significant, and I know you join me in thanking them for their huge efforts and attitude. And as we move to Google Classrooms in the next few weeks, there will be another learning curve to go through… more to follow soon :) Google Classrooms will only strengthen the interaction and support from staff, and therefore the general learning experience for children.
I do hope you and your family are all well. Life is challenging for us all in different ways, but I am reminded of our school phrase ‘character before qualification‘. Yes, learning is very important, but children will catch-up. Everyone is in the same boat, and we will pick up the missing gaps in due course. But putting our efforts into helping our children’s character is never-ending and pays dividends. For me, part of this means reducing the expectation I put on my children to ‘keep up’, which really helps in reducing the stress at home. Yes, we do school work, and try to keep to a routine. But academically, they are not where they would normally be, and that’s just the way it is for us all. Have they watched more TV than usual? YES! And these are head-teacher’s children!
I.e. We do our best, realise that we can’t keep up with pre-lockdown normality, and we try to care for our character first. Routine in learning does help, but it’s not easy. It will all be ok, and we will get through the challenges ahead together.
Please do let us know if you have anything we can help with.
Have a great week, Mr Applegate.
Summary
1. Website has been improved for home learning
2. This week – timetable changes
3. Teacher training on Google Classroom on Weds & Thurs – staff email not available.
4. Youtube – password required less now.
5. Half-term – no work!
Detail
1. Website Changes – you’ll notice the year group pages look different. Based on your feedback, we’ve tried to improve the way home learning is found and organised, including a weekly overview. We’re also working on the balance of simplifying instructions vs giving enough information to support parents and children. Achieving simplicity when considering everyone’s wishes is tricky! To access, just go to the school website, click on the year group links at the top in the menu, and select the correct week. Older posts and home learning can still be accessed from the new page.
2. This week has some changes. Monday and Tuesday will be as normal in terms of home learning and staff responding to emails etc. Wednesday and Thursday’s home learning will be set as usual, but teachers will not be responding to emails. Note that Thursday has a VE Day theme, and is a little lighter. Friday is a bank holiday, and no home learning is set (although we still are open for key worker children). Why is Wednesday and Thursday different? See point 3!
3. On Wednesday and Thursday, we are carrying out teacher training on a product called Google Classrooms (GC). This is a much improved home learning center. It is easier to use for staff and children, and in time will improve interaction and learning opportunities. It can be accessed using any computer or mobile. Year R will continue to use Tapestry, but also use aspects of GC too. More details to follow!
4. YouTube password – an improvement: you’ll find that you need to enter the password less frequently now because of a website improvement. Thank you for not sharing the password around, and we hope you enjoy and benefit from the teacher’s hard work in putting them together.
5. Half-term – this will be a complete break, with no work set. We are open to key worker children though.
Go Fund Me – FOSM Top Up Fundraiser
As we can’t run any FOSM events at school, the FOSM team are running a GoFundMe donation page. If you are able to donate, then please click on the FOSM logo. Thank you :)
Our target is £3,500 – we’re getting there.
Do you have a need?
Running out of paper/pens/pencils? Just ask! We’re ordering extras too, and will be running a drop-in facility for collection. More details to follow.
If you are struggling for food, please contact us via the school office or email, and we will help you.
Dealing with tragedy
Losing a loved one is very, very difficult indeed. We feel it would be helpful to know as a school if your family has lost a loved one to COVID-19, simply so that we can support the children. If you want to, please do let us know.
We also recommend the website ‘Cruse Bereavement’ which has helpful advice. https://www.cruse.org.uk/get-help/for-parents
Year 6 … What will happen?
I wanted to reassure parents and children of Year 6 that we will do something special for Year 6 children at some point in the future. They will graduate, and we will have a party! It’s in writing! We are so proud of them, and we won’t let Covid-19 take these memorable things away from them.
However, it’s impossible to say when this will be. We simply don’t know when the government restrictions will be lifted fully enough to be able to do this. It wouldn’t be the same if we did it in groups or just classes. This likely means it would take part next year, but again, hopefully much sooner.
If social distancing measures ease, we will have opportunities for Year 6 children to visit the school in very small numbers – just for fun – but again, we can’t set anything in stone until we know more, and it is safe for all. Please don’t expect this to be soon – it could be September or later.
We will also liaise with secondary schools for transition, whatever the outcomes of the lockdown.
We are very proud of Year 6, and appreciate the sadness of missing out on their special activities. We won’t let you down! We just have to be patient.
Only Joking!
From Alex in Year R:
- What wobbles in the sky? A jellycopter
Why can’t a rabbit’s nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.
What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes.
What’s a witch’s favorite subject in school? Spelling.
Why are cats good at video games? Because they have nine lives.
Have a good joke? Email them in and we may use them in our next newsletter!
HeartSmart Family
Have a look here for how you can use a daily Boris video to support your child’s emotional health!
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Year 6 – Friday, 1st May, 2020
Good Morning Year 6 and Happy Friday!
Well done learners! You have had a great week so far and we have seen so many wonderful examples of your creativity and resilience. The work you are sending in is simply brilliant to see and the news we receive of all the other exploits you are getting up to is just proof that you really are the best Year 6 group in the world.
Only one more day of school tasks before you can enjoy your weekends. We hope you all have a successful day of learning today and a lovely weekend with your families.
Mrs Silvester, Miss Pettitt and Mrs Chapman
Maths
Today’s maths will be taken from our CGP Number, Ratio and Algebra book. We will be completing page 26 – Multiplying and Dividing by fractions- and page 27 – Estimating and Checking. If you haven’t got your book handy, you can download them here NRA pg 26 Multiplying and Dividing by Fractions NRA pg 27 Estimating and Checking
It is important to check your answers and mark your work before you close your books in order to maximise your learning.
Answer sheets – NRA pg 26 Multiplying and Dividing by Fractions Answers NRA pg 27 Estimating and Checking Answers
Answers for today’s Success in Seven : 5. Friday answers Success in Seven
English
We are going to practise the skill of reported speech in our CGP books today. However, if you need this time to finish your Bibo writing on the final chapter in this life then you do not need to also do these pages. Spend your time creating a wonderful piece of writing on Bibo’s final chapter in his life.
For those who have finished their Bibo writing (please send a photo to the Year 6 email account if you can – we would love to read them) then you will complete pages 18 and 19 in your CGP Punctuation book. If you don’t have your book, you can download the pages here: Punctuation pages 18-19 Inverted commas
(For those children with their books who have already completed this page, please do pages 20 and 21 instead.)
Remember, you need to check the answers and mark your work. Punctuation page 18 answers Punctuation page 19 answers
You need to ask an adult to test you on your spelling list today. Make sure you have revised these words with the ‘eau’ pattern before being tested. Good luck! If you want to earn bonus recognition points, create interesting sentences using this week’s spelling words. e.g. With eyes wide open, Margaret stared longingly at the delicious-looking cherry gateau which sat in the baker’s window; she knew she shouldn’t buy it but it took real determination to walk away.
P.E.
This lesson follows on from last week’s home Olympics activity. If you didn’t get around to it last week, don’t worry you can start today! This half term in PE we are going to be completing our own Home Olympics! We have a range of activities for you to have a go at. There are 5 activities which require different skills. See if you can complete each one. For each activity you need to count how many repetitions you are able to do in a certain time or time yourself and see how long you can keep going. A stop watch or a timer on a phone would be useful for these activities. Remember to fill in the next section of your record card (Week 2). There is a link to the record card below if you are only just starting today and a reminder of the activities also linked below. I wonder how many repetitions you will be able to do. Have you improved from last week?
Here are the resources you will need to look at to help you with the challenges – no need to print them. Year 6 PE Lesson 2 PE Record card
Thank you to all you sporting stars who sent in photographs showing us the fun you had in last week’s PE lesson. They were great!
Helpful Reminders
Don’t forget you can email us on year6@stmarksce.org.uk. We would love to hear from you if you have a question, need a password, need some help, want to show us your work or even just say hello! Please get your grown up’s permission before you email us. We look forward to hearing from you. We may not reply the same day!
Presentation – Please remember to do your very best work. Handwriting and presentation are as important at home as they are in school. You can complete your work in a book or if you need lined or squared paper you can get it here.
Note for parents: Hopefully your children will enjoy working through these activities and can do independently. We completely understand it may be difficult to complete all these tasks due to other family commitments or you are working from home, so please do not worry; complete what you can with your child.
Ongoing Daily Activities
As well as the learning tasks we upload each day, there are a few ‘extras’ that you could have a go at, if you get time.
TTRockstars – Play 5 garage games + 5 studio games. Mrs Chapman will be online at 11am today in the Year 6 Arena area provided the website is running properly. Her TT Rockstar name is Zander Madden and will play games in the Wembley Stadium area.
Miss Goddard’s extra challenge can be found if you click here.
Reading – Read for at least 20 minutes every day. Remember you all have logins for the Scholastic reading site.
Weekly spellings – Practise these everyday in your spelling booklets – you can find this week’s set here: Week 2 – Main Spelling List Week 2 – Less Tricky Spelling List
Daily physical activity which you enjoy. Challenge yourself! Remember Joe Wicks is still there to keep us moving.
Competition Reminder – closing date 4th May
Jae Malone, the author of ‘Silver Linings’ unfortunately could not visit us last month because of the Covid situation. However, she is incredibly keen to make sure we keep our imaginations fired and let our love of writing stories grow. Therefore, she has sent some fun ideas on how to create short stories. With these writing prompts you may be able to come up with a brand new story idea that no one else has ever thought of. You don’t have to write stories down, you may picture them in your mind or be a storyteller to members of your family.
Grid – Haunting things Grid One – People and Creatures Seaside Columns
As well as these fun story creating ideas, she has set us an exciting challenge. If you would like to win a signed set of Jae Malone’s trilogy, then why not enter her creative writing competition?
All you have to do is send your completed Indiana story from last term. If you have already sent us uploaded photos of your completed story or sent it as a Word document, then all you have to do is ask us to submit it to Jae’s competition. If you didn’t send us your completed story, you have until 4th May to complete your story and send it to us. Remember to use the year6@stmarksce.org.uk address for your entries.
Bye for now!
Year 5 – Friday 1st May
Good Morning Year 5
Wow! It is the start of a new month and Friday has come around again which means another week of home learning has been completed. It may not always be easy but we are all so proud of all of the effort you are all putting in.
We are so so proud of each and every one of you and hope that you all enjoy your weekend. You deserve it!
Some of the teachers have created a worship for this week which you can access by clicking here.
Year 5 Team
Helpful Reminders
Don’t forget you can email us on year5@stmarksce.org.uk. We would love to hear from you if you have a question, need a password, need some help, want to show us your work or even just say hello! Please get your grown up’s permission before you email us. We look forward to hearing from you. We may not reply the same day!
Presentation – Please remember to do your very best work. Handwriting and presentation are as important at home as they are in school. You can complete your work in a book or if you need lined or squared paper you can get it here.
Note for parents: Hopefully your children will enjoy working through these activities and can do independently. We completely understand it may be difficult to complete all these tasks due to other family commitments or you are working from home, so please do not worry; complete what you can with your child.
Marvellous Maths
Today we will be moving onto adding decimals but this time we will be crossing the whole. You can access the video for today’s work by clicking here. We are working on Summer term – Week 1 (w/c 20 April) Lesson 4 – adding decimals crossing the whole. Don’t forget you can also email us if you need any help and you don’t need to print this off, you can just use a pencil and paper, just try your best.
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Open in new tab Below are the answers for the White Rose worksheet and the challenges.
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Cracking Comprehension
Remember on Fridays we are going to be completing a Reading Comprehension job. On the word document below there is a poem for you to enjoy and then some questions for you to answer relating to what you have just read.
Terrific Topic
Topic today requires you to be a detective. We will be looking again at human and physical features. Can you work out what features are shown in the pictures? Let us know how well you do!
Optional Daily Time Fillers
As well as the learning tasks we upload each day, there are a few ‘extras’ that you could have a go at, if you get time and would like to.
- Maths Challenges Page – Remember to look at the Maths Challenges page that Miss Goddard is creating each day by clicking here
- TT Rockstars – Practise your times tables
- Numbots – Use your TT Rockstars login and work through the easier levels to get to the trickier ones.
- Spelling Shed – Practise your spellings for this week (remember you can email in for your username and password).
- Reading – Read a book, newspaper, online article or comic for 20 minutes or log onto the Scholastic website to do some reading comprehension work (click here).
- Spellings – Complete your Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check each day.