Dear Parents/Caregivers

Welcome back to another very busy term. I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday and a well deserved rest. All the children made a excellent start to the year and I am looking forward to a fun and exciting term 2. I would like to welcome Lily Parton, Daniel Reyland and Monique Addison and their families to our class and I look forward to getting to know you all.

Below are some things you might find helpful about our class:

Term 2 Virtue: The virtue we will be working on for the beginning of this term is Kindness; the children will be discussing and learning about this virtue in class. It would be appreciated if you could reinforce what we are teaching at home.

Homework: The children all did a fantastic job with their homework last term. I enjoyed seeing the creative ideas the children came up with when completing their word study activity and the enthusiasm and great results they got on Mathletics. Homework this term will consist of:

Reading—The children need to read for 10-15 minutes each night and fill in their reading diary.

Spelling—Learn their 10 spelling words at home each night ready for their spelling and dictation test on Friday.

Word Study Activity—Complete one word study activity each week and hand it in by Friday (if you have had a busy week Monday is fine).

Mathletics-Try and complete set task each week (1000 points needed to gain a certificate). The children will also be able to use this during class time and before school.

Spellodrome: The children have been extremely engaged and motivated when using Mathletics. It has been great to see the excellent learning taking place. We have been offered a free two week trial of Spellodrome, which is similar to Mathletics but is an interactive spelling programme. I would like to see if it is a worthwhile tool that could be used in the future. The trial will start in week 2 and I will talk to the children about how to use it. They will be able to log in using their Mathletics username and password. At the end of our free trial I will send home a questionnaire to gauge your interest in this programme.

Tissues/Slippers: As the weather gets colder the children are encouraged to bring a pair of slippers to wear in class. This will also keep their feet warm and our carpets clean. To encourage healthy hygiene in the class it would great if each child could bring a large box of tissues for the class to use. Thanks.

Parent Help Roster: Thank you to all those wonderful parents who helped in class and on camp last term. I would like to start a new timetable by week 2. If you are able to assist could you please fill out the form attached (or email your preferred day/time) and send it back to school by Wednesday 7 May.

Online Portfolios: This term the children will also be starting their own blog. This will be a place for them to display and reflect on their own learning. This will be done in class and I will check all posts before they are published. More information will come home about this soon.