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02 March 2012

This week in our spellings, we’re learning to drop the ‘y’ for an ‘i’. We’re also looking at variations of word endings when dropping the ‘y’.

By adding ‘ier’ on the end of the adjective, we infer that something is more of that adjective than something else. For example, “A carrot is healthier than a chocolate bar.”

By adding ‘est’ on the end on the end of the adjective, we infer that something is the most. For example, ” Jacob Marley was the scariest fancy dress costume on Thursday.”

As all of the variations to the words are similar, I’ve included more words on the list. Any of the words in the list above could come up on the test on Friday 09 March.

02 March 2012

The homework this week is Talk Time and is due in on Wednesday 07 March.

I can help someone with a worry

In keeping with our SEAL theme this week, the homework is to discuss how your child could help someone with a worry.

You could talk about:

• what they could do
• what they could say
• who else could help

Remember, with Talk Time homeworks, there is no need to write anything in the books; a few notes might be helpful but aren’t essential.

02 March 2012

This week’s spellings are more homophones (words which sound the same but have different meanings and/or spelling). Children need to know the correct spelling and meaning of each word.

If there are any questions, please come and see me.

Mrs Burke recently visited our South African link school

Mrs Burke is responsible for ‘Positive Contribution’ in school.  This role all about creating links with community, from a local level to an international level.  We’re setting up an international link with Shallcross Primary School, Durban, South Africa.  Here, she recounts a recent visit to the school:

After a seventeen hour flight, I arrived in Durban, tired but excited about visiting our partner school, Shallcross Primary.

The school day begins at 7.30am and, because the school is located on the outskirts of the city, I was collected by a teacher at 6.20am to make the long and hazardous drive – a child was knocked down near the school one morning.

On arrival at the school, the first thing that struck me was the number of pupils.  There were children everywhere!  I soon discovered there are around 1500 pupils at the school and the number is growing.  No one is ever turned away.  The buildings are very run down and space very limited.  Despite promises of a new school, this has not yet happened and the school has had to make do.  There is no hall for assembly or PE, no library and the teachers have given up their staffroom to accommodate more pupils.  The school takes children from Reception to Year 7 and each year group has three or four classes.  Each class has on average 45 pupils with one teacher!

Lessons are delivered with little or no differentiation because of the high number of pupils in each class.  The children arrive in Reception having had no nursery and, for most, having never seen or used a pencil, paint or books.  On arrival, they speak only their home language of Zulu and the curriculum is delivered in English.  The government has just introduced a new curriculum with emphasis on the teaching of phonics from Reception.  I was delighted to be asked to demonstrate a phonics lesson!

Despite all the problems the school faces, including unqualified teachers, large pupil numbers, lack of space, limited resources and no computers, the children and staff at the school are highly motivated with children keen to learn and the staff doing their best to provide the best education they can.  I was impressed with the children’s behaviour and the low level of disruption in the classes despite the high numbers of pupils.  All the children were respectful and polite to me and very interested in our partnership and the projects we have been doing.  They asked relevant and thoughtful questions such as:

• What subjects do you teach?
• Do you play sports?
• How much are the school fees?
• Are there any black people in England?
• What do you eat?
• Have you met the Queen?
• Can you sing the National Anthem?

I could have stayed in each class for a week to answer all their questions!

The children enjoyed looking at the different things I’d brought with me.  These included photos of Moortown Primary, including in the recent snow!  I also brought a collection of children’s work, including lots from the Y3 and Y4 Mini-Topic called ‘View from our Window’, which helped compare Shallcross and Moortown areas.

I have brought back many memories of my short time in Durban to share with our pupils. I am certain that through the project and the enrichment it can bring to the curriculum, the children in both schools can learn from each other and develop greater empathy and understanding of the world we live in.

This week’s phonemes

This week, we’re learning the phonemes ow (as in cow) and oi (as in noise). The new ‘tricky’ word is they.

This half-term, we’re concentrating on letter formation. Please encourage your child to use our handwriting style.

Well Done!

Congratulations to Archie and Owen for being elected to represent Reception Class in the School Council. I am sure they will do a good job.

24 February 2012

This is our last week of practising words which have split digraphs.  The last ‘e’ in the words isn’t a sound that we say, but it works with another letter to make the sound; for example, hop (with a short ‘o’ sound) to hope (with a longer ‘oh’ sound).

These will be tested on Friday 02 March.

24 February 2012

This week’s spellings all require your child to double up for short vowel sounds.

24 February 2012

This week, we’re learning to spell superlatives, which are adjectives at their ‘most’ extreme:

• biggest
• nastiest
• happiest
• smelliest
• heaviest
• naughtiest
• thinnest
• angriest

Learn all the spellings and find three more superlatives of your own.

Spellings will be tested on Friday 02 March.

24 February 2012

This week’s spellings are slightly different. Instead of a list of words, I simply want your child to be able to distinguish between the two forms of ‘no’:

• no – For example: No, I don’t want to play.
• know – For example: I know my times tables.

We’ll be looking at this through the week, but if you could practise these activities at home it will ensure your child has a thorough understanding:

On piece of paper, write ‘no’ on one side and ‘know’ on the other. Read out a sentence and they have to show the correct ‘no’.

Have some sample sentences where they write the correct form of no. For example:

• I know my spellings. (know)
• There is no way through. (no)

If you’ve any questions, feel free to speak with me any time.