DRESS DOWN DAY ON FRIDAY 25TH OF OCTOBER – Pupils should dress down for school on this day and bring in a tombola prize for the Halloween disco (e.g. Halloween sweets or small Halloween toy, cup, craft activity etc).
HALLOWEEN DISCO – Thursday 31st October. 6.30pm – 7.30 pm
Judging will be at 6.30pm prompt in the small hall. On the night there will be Pumpkin lantern displays and prizes, tattoos, tombola and lots of fun and dancing.
BIG Maths is a teaching approach that makes progress in maths easy and fun. BIG Maths has been extremely successful both nationally and internationally with thousands of children learning through daily BIG Maths ‘CLIC’ sessions and the weekly ‘Beat That!’ challenges.
Big Maths firstly answers the question, ‘How do we get children properly numerate as they journey through school?’ It provides us with an accurate and simple, but highly effective, framework that guarantees numeracy progress. This framework is known as CLIC (Counting, Learn Its, It’s Nothing New and Calculation) and is characterised by accurate steps of progression (known as Progress Drives) that make new learning easy and obvious to children by cashing in on the timeless natural laws of Maths.
BIG Maths is therefore a rigorous, systematic and structured approach that provides children with a fun and lively experience as they learn through jingles, songs, games and the BIG Maths characters.
Big Maths puts the child at the
heart of the learning experience.
Don’t be surprised if your children come home talking about Clic, Pom, Pim, Squigglesworth or Count Fourways.
Big Maths helps children to understand the links between core numeracy (the basic principles that underly all maths) and outer numeracy which is the application of these core principles.
CLIC stands for ‘Counting’, ‘Learn Its’, ‘It’s Nothing New’ and ‘Calculation’. Maths lessons contain each of these elements.
Counting:
Children will count forwards and backwards in all kinds of steps depending on their level e.g. in 1s, 2s, 3s, 6s or even 25s! When practising counting at home with your child, make sure you go forwards and backwards. Don’t always start at 0 – make sure they can count on from 75 to 106 for example.
‘Learn Its’:
‘Learn Its’ are addition facts and times tables facts. There are 72 Learns Its in total; 36 addition Learn Its and 36 multiplication Learn Its. These are facts that children need to learn off by heart, so when they are asked ‘What is 6+4 ?’ they are able to give the answer as quickly as they would be able to tell you their name. As soon as they know 3×5=15 they also know 5×3=15 (This is known as a ‘Switcher’). It is expected that Pupils will know all their times tables by the end of P5 so we need your help with this! HAVE A LOOK AT OUR LEARN – ITS PROGRESSION TO SEE HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME.
It’s Nothing New:
This is the most important aspect of CLIC. It is the way children become successful andproperly numerate. The idea that 5-things and 3-things are always 8-things is a fundamental concept. Once children understand this concept, we can change the ‘thing’ to other units, e.g. ‘tens’, so that 5 tens + 3 tens = 8 tens. Children begin to learn the concept by counting random unit e.g. bananas, aliens, cats etc. It then becomes much easier to use standard
measures such as ml, m, cm, kg, whilst understanding the underlying number concepts.
Strange phrases such as ‘Jigsaw Numbers’, ‘Smile Multiplication’ and ‘Where’s Mully?’ are all part of this section of Big Maths.
Calculation:
This aspect of CLIC is when the teacher will focus on developing the children’s understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Big Maths maps out which steps children should do in a clear order and helps teachers to identify where to go back to if a child needs extra support.
Let’s meet some of the
BIG Maths Characters!
Big Maths Beat That is a weekly timed test of your child’s Learn Its. The aim is to improve their individual score each time!
Here is an example:
Homework
Additional Information
Thursday 10th October 2019 – Learning Trios 3:45pm to 7.15pm
Please ensure your child accompanies you to this meeting as targets can only be set with all present (teacher, pupil and parent/carer)
Friday 11th October 2019 – Break-up for October Holiday 12:30pm
Enjoy this holiday and we look forward to welcoming you back on Wednesday 23rd October
PE – Tuesday and Thursday
Many thanks,
Mrs Watts & Mrs Roy
Hi all,
It’s that time of year again where head lice makes an appearance! Could I ask that parents are aware of this and are checking their child’s hair if they suspect their child has them.
Please ensure it is treated at home until all head lice have cleared to prevent them from spreading. The best time to check for head lice is when your child’s hair is wet and by using a fine nit comb.
Thank you!
Spelling Homework
Now your child is in P4, they will be encouraged to have greater independence and responsibility for their own learning. Therefore, spelling homework will be taken home on a Wednesday afternoon and returned the following Tuesday morning. This must be checked and initialed by an adult.
Pupils will write their spelling words on a new page of their jotter on Wednesday each week. At home they should use:
LOOK THINK COVER WRITE CHECK
Write out their new spelling words three times in neat columns. They should also complete a green activity card which will earn pupils 2 credit card points. An optional red activity may be completed for extra practice (and 1 credit card point) but is not mandatory.
Reading Homework
Reading will consist of a variety of activities including Literacy Circles, Novel Studies and individual reading tasks. A library novel will also be chosen by your child.
Maths & Numeracy Homework
Maths/Numeracy homework will be given out on a regular basis to tie in with what has been taught in class. This will be handed out on Wednesday to be returned the following Tuesday morning.
Topic Homework
There will be occasional homework for topic which may include individual research and class talks.
General Expectation
Please ensure homework book is covered. In P4 we expect children to date work, present their work neatly, and use rulers to draw lines.
Thank you for your support,
Mrs Watts & Mrs Roy
Spelling: This week is the last week of homework. Spelling words are in their homework jotter.
Reading: Please see reading record.
Monday 17th: Visit from a Roman soldier…ask your child about it…they loved it!
PE as usual Wednesday and Thursday.
Many thanks,
Lisa Cumming.
Reading: please see the green reading diary and ensure that your child has their reading book and record every day.
Spelling: see the homework jotter. Sentences to be written using the spelling words.
Individual talk: As next week is health week I have asked the children to prepare a 2 minute (minimum) talk about being healthy. This can include: teeth, exercise, hygiene, diet, sleep etc. They can reflect on what they think about their own health and include any sport or activity that contributes to their health. If they want to bring in items to use in their presentation they can. Each child will be given a large sheet of paper to make a poster to support their talk.
I will confirm times for the talks next week.
Other News:
Health Week – next week beginning May 27th. Children should wear sports clothes and footwear to school as they have several taster activities during the week.
Sports Day is on Monday 27th in the afternoon.
Summer Fair : Friday 31st May.
Regards,
Lisa Cumming