Dear Parents and Children,

Welcome to Terms 5 and 6 at Borough Green Primary School

For the final time in this academic year, we are sharing our termly plans with you all. Please do take the time to read through this newsletter so that you are fully aware of your child’s learning for the rest of the year. Armed with this information, it is much easier to initiate conversations and support your child.

The Curriculum in Terms 5 and 6 

Our Cornerstones topic is “Ancient Civilisations”. Beginning with an exploration of what makes a civilisation, we will go on to explore the life, beliefs and accomplishments of Ancient Sumer and Ancient Egypt. While the focus will be on history, many other subjects will link into this topic, include English, Reading, Art and DT.

Maths, Science, PE, Computing, PSHE, Music and French will continue to be taught discretely.  

5. Maths Year 4 - decimals, measures (time and money) and geometry.
5. Maths Year 3 - fractions, measure (time and money), shape and statistics.
5. Science – electrical circuits and conductors
5. PE – rounders, tennis, athletics
5. Computing – Desktop publishing
5. Music - Gospel Music with recorder skills  
5. French - Little Red Riding Hood; and What is the date?

The Knowledge Organiser for this topic is on the school website.  Please do read this and discuss it with your child both before and during the topic.  The Knowledge Organisers contain the key knowledge and vocabulary we expect children to know by the end of the topic and in school we refer to these during and after their learning to assess what children know and can retain.

Parental involvement: reading, spelling and times tables 

We will be sending home reading records each day, along with your child’s reading book.  These are to be brought into class each day.    

Reading at home

We request that you spend at least 15 minutes listening to your child read every day. Reading aloud is a vital skill and builds their confidence, fluency and extends their vocabulary. If you would like advice on how to support your child with reading at home, please do ask us.  We are continuing to use Accelerated Reader, which gives your child the opportunity to read books at an appropriate level. Children then complete a quiz on that book (at school or at home) before they can choose a new one from our library. Please sign your child’s reading record each time your child has read at home, for which they will be awarded one house point.  

Spelling

In the reading record, you will also find a list of the words all children are expected to spell correctly by the end of Year 4.  Regular practice of small groups of words at home will help children to retain their knowledge of the key spellings and will reinforce our spelling lessons at school. 

Times tables

At the front of the reading record, you will also find a Times Tables Rock Stars username and password for your child. This is a fantastic website that the children can use to play games and earn points, which in turn, reinforces and consolidates their knowledge of the times tables. Children should use this regularly so that they continue to develop and feel secure with their times tables, to support the work we will do with them in school.  Year 4 children will be taking the statutory Multiplication Tables Check in Term 6 and it is expected that most children will know their times tables up to 12 times by this point. 

Key Dates

w/b 2^nd June – year 4 Multiplication Tables Check

16^th June – class photos

Arrival at school, equipment and Uniform

All equipment that your child needs in Year 3 and 4 is provided by the school, which means that pencil cases are not needed in school.  Children will be allocated their own locker, so any bags must fit into their locker.  Large backpacks are not appropriate.  

Please note that children should not bring toys or fidgets to school unless prior agreement is obtained from Mr Wheatley, our Inclusion Manager.   

Uniform 

Uniform promotes a sense of belonging and equality. We expect our children to demonstrate pride in their appearance and respect for the school uniform. Please ensure your child is in correct uniform at all times. 

We expect our children to demonstrate pride in their appearance and respect for the school uniform. 

Children should be well-presented and their white shirt/polo shirt must be tucked in at all times.  Children must wear sensible black shoes to school, NOT TRAINERS or BOOTS.  

Makeup and nail varnish are not permitted. Excessive hair accessories or extreme hairstyles or colour are also not permitted.  No jewellery except for one, small, stud earring allowed in each ear.  Analogue watches are encouraged but SMART watches are not allowed. 

Many items are available from the school office. To order uniform please click on the link https://www.brigade.uk.com/parents/  or visit the uniform section on our website.  

The Parent and Teachers’ Association also runs an excellent second-hand uniform shop on site. 

PE 

This term, we have PE on Wednesday and Thursday. Please ensure that your child comes into school wearing their PE kit on this day. If a child is unable to join in with the PE lessons due to injury they should still come in their full PE kit as they will contribute to the learning and assessment of skills covered.  Pupils with long hair should have their hair tied back at all times and earrings must be taken out or protected with tape during PE lessons. Teachers are not allowed to take earrings out for children so please ensure it is done before they arrive to school that morning.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Miss Armstrong, Mrs Bowers & Miss Lister