TTRS fame!
Did you know that every week, Year 4 have the chance to get their ROCKSTAR selfie on our TTRS Wall of Fame? They also have the chance to feature on our TTRS Wheel of Fame in Achieve and Believe assembly. The lucky winner of the Wheel of Fame challenges a teacher for the ultimate honour of winning the TTRS trophy!
What does my child need to do?
Play 15 minutes of TTRS games in the week leading up to the Friday (when we check how much each child has played.) We recommend little and often. 3 minutes per day every school day might be easier to achieve than doing it all in one go.
Why does it matter?
If children know their times tables they will find the rest of the maths we learn in school much easier. This is true from Year 3 but is particularly important in Year 4 where we learn column multiplication and learn more about fractions.
Questions?
If you have any questions or need any help do let me know. Send me an email / call the school office / speak to me at pick-up. If you don’t like your child to use electronic devices at home let me know and I can provide alternative ways for them to practise their times tables.
I can’t wait to see even more of our superstars on the Wall of Fame and challenging (and answering faster than) teachers in Achieve and Believe!
Planting Beanstalks
We’ve had a super busy first week back in Nursery. In our OUTSTANDING Early Years provision we know the importance of outdoor play to develop confidence, independence and our problem solving skills.
As part of our learning with ‘Jaspers Beanstalk’ book we planted our own beanstalks. We’ve talked about what our seed will need to sprout and grow, see if the children can tell you.
Help at home: Go on a little spring walk, maybe just to the park and have a look for signs of spring.
Reminder – World Book Day
It’s World Book Day on Thursday 06 March. This year, we will celebrate by bringing our favourite book to nursery to share with our friends. Please make sure that your child’s name is in their book. If you can stay a little bit longer at drop off on Thursday morning, we’d love for you to share a book with your child or to join in with some of the World Book Day activities that will be in provision. It’s always a day that we really enjoy at nursery, so please join in if you can.
Number Fact Challenge
Year 4 have done a great job learning their number facts over the holidays! Children are bringing home the tests they did today to show you how well they’ve done. When you have collected your sponsorship money please bring it in to school and we will let you know how much we have raised as a school!
Maths – Equal Groups
In maths, we’ve begun our multiplication and division learning.
Our focus this week has been equal and unequal groups. Equal groups contain the same number of items; unequal groups do not.
The children have enjoyed making equal groups with multilink cubes.
Help at home by looking for equal groups in the world around us. How many groups are there? How many are there in each group? How many are there altogether?
Topic – Computing
This half term, our Topic is Computing. Yesterday, we discussed what a computer is and what sort of devices we might have at home that have a computer built-in.
Today, we’ve been looking at algorithms. We’ve been learning all about the program ‘Scratch Jr’ and how to create an algorithm. We know how to set a sequence so that our Sprites (characters) move, shrink, grow and turn.
We also learnt how to debug an algorithm that does not work and how to alter a sequence.
We’ve had a lot of fun using Scratch and learning about all of the buttons and how they work. We are really looking forward to using the program again next week and learning more!
We’ve also started to look at our Geography vocabulary, which you can see below.
Help at home: Read through the new vocabulary to support your child with their learning this half term.
Our Daily Poem on Internet Safety
Our Year One class has been enthusiastically practising a daily poem themed around Internet Safety Day. The children love reciting the poem each day, growing more confident and expressive as the week progresses. By the end of the week, they proudly recite it more independently!
Daily poem practice enhances reading fluency, builds vocabulary and boosts memory skills.
Help at Home Tips:
- Read the poem together at home.
- Discuss new words and their meanings.
- Practice with fun voices to boost expression!
Multi-sports at Wetherby High School
We’re really proud of how Year 4 represented St James’ on their trip to Wetherby High School this afternoon.
The children took part in a circuit of sporting challenges using skills they have learned in their PE lessons as well as learning new skills.
The day finished with a variety of relay races. The teamwork was incredible and was matched by heart-warming team spirit displayed by children cheering on their teammates.
Year 4, you are amazing sports people! We are super proud of you!
Warm Spaces
Each term, children are invited to Warm Spaces at St James’ Church Hall, Wetherby. Today our children from Year 5 and 6, enjoyed chatting to the ladies and gentlemen about what they are doing in school. The children also enjoyed listening to school tales from long ago.
Our children, as always, where superb ambassadors for our school.
Leeds Rugby
We have had a wonderful afternoon with coaches from Leeds Rugby. We took part in a variety of games and activities, working well as a team.
It was lovely to see the children moving, competing and enjoying themselves during the activities. I have said it before, but we have some very talented sportspeople in our class.
Help at home – ask you child what skills they learnt today? Could you reenact some games at home? Find the closest rugby team to you.
Living and Learning – Internet Safety Day
This year’s theme is ‘Too Good to Be True? Protecting Yourself and Others from Online Scams.’
Last week, we had a fantastic visit from D-side Dave, who taught us three essential rules for staying safe online. We were so impressed by how confidently the children remembered them:
1️⃣ Always ask permission from a grown-up before going online.
2️⃣ Only talk to people you know and trust.
3️⃣ Stick to websites and apps that are right for you.
In our first session we read the story Chicken Clicking (This is a YouTube link. Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip). As we read the story, we discussed what wasn’t true—like how the fox was pretending to be someone else. We also discussed how Chicken Clicking didn’t follow the three online safety rules. The children then came up with questions for Chicken Clicking and took part in a hot-seating activity, where they asked a friend pretending to be the character a question they had written.
In our next session, we explored why we should never share personal information online. Details like your name, home address, or school can tell others who you are and where to find you, so it’s important to keep them private.
Help at home:
🔹 Can you remember the three rules for staying safe online?
🔹 Take the quiz to test your knowledge on protecting personal information!