Oak Class
Welcome to Oak Class
Mrs Owen is our class teacher, supported by Miss Croft.
I hope that you have all enjoyed your Christmas holidays and are looking forward to all the exciting things that we have planned for this term.
PE
PE will continue to be on Mondays, and we will now be starting our swimming on Wednesdays this term.
Swimming
We have limited time in the pool, so it’s a quick change and straight into the pool. To help with this, children are allowed to wear their swimming costumes underneath their school uniform when coming to school. They will then need to bring their underwear, with their towel and swimming hat, in their changing bag.
Swimming hats must be worn at all times while children are in or around the pool. We do not make the rules, but we do our best to accommodate the children’s needs. Swimming hats can be purchased directly from the leisure centre or from any other similar retailers (Amazon also sells fabric swimming hats for those that do not like the feel of the plastic/rubber ones).
If your child would like to wear googles, there is a permission section to be ticked on the swimming letter. Alternatively, you could write a signed note saying that you give permission for them to wear googles.
If your child wears earrings, then the normal PE rules apply. Earrings need to be removed before coming to school on the day that we are swimming. The children have been very good at doing this during the autumn term, so this is just a quick reminder as VERTAS are strict with this rule.
Homework:
Spellings
Each week, we will look at a different spelling pattern or rule in class. The children will then be given some examples of this pattern/rule for them to explore on SpellShed at home. If you notice that your child is struggling with a particular pattern, please write me a note in their Reading Record and I can then put in some additional support.
Times tables
As I explained at Parents Evening, the current Year 4s will be taking part in the statutory Year 4 multiplication tables check in June of this year.
The test is a short online quiz to see how well their times tables recall is. This information will be passed on to their Year 5 teacher, so that they can put in place any support or challenge needed. The test itself is made up of approximately 25 questions on all times tables from two to twelve. They are given six seconds per question, with three seconds rest between each question, so the test should last less than five minutes.
The most likely questions will be around the six-, seven-, eight-, nine-, and 12-times tables, as these are the hardest for most children to learn. However, any question could come up, which is why I encourage them to practise all of the tables. The more practice and support that you can give your child, the easier it will be for them to learn these.
If you would like more details about the test then you can visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/multiplication-tables-check-development-process and click on ‘information for parents’.
If you are looking for a way to help your child practise, or you would like to see how the tests are set out, then I highly recommend: https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/ This is the model that I use to prepare them as it has a number of games and practice ideas under the menu section (right side of the screen), as well as the practice model, which can be adjusted to ease them into it.
Don’t forget TTRockStars! https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth The Academy are running a number of competitions that are open to all children to help them develop fluency.
Reading
In Destination Reader, we read from a class book for two days, in reading ability groups for two days and then practise our comprehension skills once a week. This means that the children are spending approximately 40 minutes each day practising their reading and comprehension skills.
Each child will also receive their own reading book for home reading, which makes up the final part of their homework. Please, try to hear your children read around three times a week. If you could then record, into their reading record, the date and the pages that they have read.
Clip 'N' Climb 2025
On 14th October it was our turn to visit Clip 'n' climb. After a very clear safety briefing and demonstration of how to clip on and off, the children went off to explore the various different walls. There were a few children who were a little tentative at first, but by the end of the trip they were all climbing high!
