This is our second blog of the new school year. Please have a look at the class expectations that we have decided upon as a class (on the right-hand side of the blog)
Also on the right-hand side of the blog are some short cut links that may be useful to the children. I'll aim to add/change these as appropriate during the year. At present there is a link to J2Blast (you still need to sign in to make sure you score points against your name - click the HWB link) there is also a direct link to the HWB main site, where once logged on you can access all of the J2E apps along with access to your emails on Onedrive. There are also lots of good educational resources to explore on the main page too. I have also added a link to the Newsround home page to support our global learning as the children have enjoyed watching a few news broadcasts last week.
We have made a great start to the new year and it has been good to welcome Lewis back to Penygawsi. Thank you to all those who have sent me an email to show me their HWB account is working OK and it has been great to see some of you have been having a good go on J2Blast to practice your tables skills. If you are having trouble logging on at home please let me know - Lewis, I have had confirmation your account is due to go live tomorrow.
We are expecting to have another new pupil in our class so we will welcome them if they are joining us this week as planned.
I did explain to the children that I will also be sending updates via Schoop, which will be handy extra reminders from time to time. If you have not signed up yet it is a really simple process. Just select the schoop app (available in both Apple and Android app stores)
When you sign up you will need the school ID number which is 1919 and this will allow you to receive messages from school and your class teachers.Once you have signed up it is important you manage your groups to ensure you receive the correct messages. If you are currently signed up to Schoop please check that you are set up to receive messages from me (Class 7).
When the app is live select my Schoop from the bottom of your screen, then select the furthest right icon at the top (settings). Then select Penygawsi and the option will pop up to change groups (click it).
This will then allow you to personalise which classes you receive messages from. (Image right) Ensure you select whole school for whole school messages and then select mine (Class 7) and any other classes you wish to follow.
We made a good start last week settling into our new class and have had lots of good ideas about the new term ahead. As the children may have told you we will be looking at The Romans for our main class topic. This week we need to finalise our topic plan in particular which areas of The Romans we are going to study.
Roman books / artifacts - lots of the children have said they possess books linked to The Romans / Horrible histories and other informative books. If they have permission it would be great to bring them into class to go alongside our Roman display and give the children chance to share their resources. (Please make sure their name is in the book if they are allowed to bring it in for the display) Any other artifacts or things you think may be of interest to the children please feel free to send them in.
Class groupings: The children had a bit of free choice this week but during the next week they will experience sitting in different seats for different activities. I explained to the children that this may see them moving around and working in different seats but this is nothing to worry about its just part of class management so that I can see how children work both individually and with different children.
PE - Our set PE day will be every Tuesday, with an additional PE session every other Friday.
What else is going on this week?
Literacy:
Reading: Some children have returned their school reading bags and as part of our new timetable we are going to set up a new guided reading rota, which will allow the children to exchange their reading books on an allocated day of the week. If they still have their book bag at home can they return it this week?
Spellings: We will be completing a new spelling baseline based on last years results and carry on with weekly practice of our words, with a weekly chance to test each other.
Writing: There will be a writing activity based upon our new topic.
Mathematics:
We will be looking at the importance of place value and the number system and be looking at the importance of the decimal point. After sitting a small assessment last week we will also look to continue our weekly Big Maths CLIC assessments to help develop our skills and build our numeracy confidence during the year. We will also be revising the different elements of CLIC and how they are used to support our development.
*I will aim to provide a digital class letter to provide a bit more detail about the contents of the term by the end of next week.
Monday: Bring in your book bag if it is still at home, finalise our topic planning.
Tuesday: PE kit (including trainers) to be brought in to school.
Wednesday: New homework task to be set (homework to be returned the following Monday)
Friday: No extra PE slot this week, meaning there will be PE the following Friday.
Finally, I would like to congratulate the whole class on full attendance for the first week back and everyone was punctual all week, a tremendous start by everyone and thank you all for your support.
Diolch,
Mr Ball
