Homework

Spellings

Year 3,4

This half-term, our spellings are linked to the rules and strategies we’ll be learning in class:

• alternative graphemes: o, ow, oa, o-e
• alternative graphemes: oe, ue
• adding prefixes: un, dis
• adding suffixes: ly
• homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently)
• spelling rule: double up for a short vowel sound

Each Friday, you’ll be tested on 8 of the words from the list below.

15 December 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

Talk Time

Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk Time:

I can describe different ways that people look after their mental health.

I can describe how I look after my own mental health.

Increasingly, we hear about the importance of mental health. Talk at home about different ways to look after your mental health. This might include restricting screen time, getting enough sleep, and taking time – even just five minutes – as a family to relax and recuperate after a busy day.

We all get worked up from time to time – how do different people calm down? At home, explore different strategies to calm down. These may be as simple as counting to ten, going for a walk, getting a glass of water – discuss what works for you and your child.

Finally, further information about mental health can be found on the Public Health England (PHE) website ‘Every Mind Matters’ website providing NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing and equip parents and carers with knowledge to support them.

08 December 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

Talk Time

This week’s Talk Time poses a moral dilemma that links to our current Art topic.

Is it right that a painting can cost a million pounds?

 In fact, only weeks ago, Banksy’s ‘Love is in the Bin’ sold at auction for a record £16 million.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58908768

The question does not have a right or wrong answer. You may already have a strong view on this but a key part of your discussions at home will be taking others’ views into consideration. Following this week’s Remember 2s (R2s) will help with that:

• Why would someone pay a million pounds for a painting?
  • Think about what the painting represents and how it could make a person feel.
• Why might it be considered wrong for a painting to cost a million pounds?
  • How else could that money be spent?
• What is an acceptable amount of money to spend on a single painting?

Your discussions will build on the skills gained through this half term’s oracy focus: building on the views of others and reasoning. If you agree with someone else’s comments, you could respond with one of these sentence starters:

• Picking up on what’s been said, I’d add…’
• ‘As well as that…’
• ‘In addition to that…’
• ‘Furthermore…’
• ‘Moreover…’

It might be that you disagree with the views of people in your household – that’s okay but it’s important to remember to respect their views, too. Whatever your opinion, using ‘because’ in your discussions will help you to put forward a strong argument.

01 December 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

Talk Time

The Talk Time for this week leads on perfectly from the previous week’s statement.

I am confident that I would tell someone if I felt bullied, or if I know someone who was being bullied.

I can name people I would go to, and can explain why I’d choose them for help.

During our discussion’s a couple of weeks ago, you recalled the two meanings of ‘STOP’: Several Times On Purpose (our definition of bullying) and Start Telling Other People (our response to bullying).

We suggest approaching this Talk Time in two steps.

First, discuss why it is important to tell someone if bullying is happening. Remember, everyone is responsible for helping to prevent bullying. If you see someone being treated unfairly, don’t assume someone else will report it or that it’s a one-off.

How many reasons can you think of to tell someone if you feel bullied or know someone else is being bullied? On the other hand, why would not telling someone be a bad idea?

Second, come up with a list of people you could go to. Consider what makes someone a good person to talk to. This week’s Remember 2s are question prompts to help you when creating your list:

• Who can not only help you feel better, but also help to explore and solve the problem?

Think of people outside of school as well people at school.

• What do we mean by ‘trusted adult’?
• Is talking the only way you can alert someone to a problem like bullying?

24 November 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

Talk Time

Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.

I know how to STOP bullying.

Last week was Anti-Bullying Week, we placed a strong emphasis on what bullying is and how to stop it. In fact, ‘STOP’ is an acronym that provides a clear definition of bullying:

Several Times On Purpose

An example of bullying would be someone saying on multiple occasions that you can’t join in with their game. On the other hand, getting upset/angry in the heat of the moment or accidentally bumping into someone wouldn’t be considered bullying. As part of your discussions, can your child identify examples of what bullying does and doesn’t look like?

Our school ethos statement is that our school is a happy and healthy place to learn / a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe. School will not be a happy and healthy place if we do not know how to stop bullying.

‘STOP’ not only tells us what bullying is, but also how to make it stop:

Start Telling Other People.

Ask your child what ‘STOP’ means – encourage them to remember both: Several Times On Purpose and Start Telling Other People.

This week’s Remember 2s (R2s) are actions to take if you see, or are the victim of, an unpleasant behaviour:

• Challenge the behaviour with that person. It may well have been an accidental or something not intended to be hurtful.
• Tell that person that you don’t like that behaviour and that you want it to stop.
• If the behaviour occurs again, let a trusted adult know so they can explore the situation.

10 November 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

Talk Time

Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.

At the end of our Me and My Money themed week this is a chance to reflect with your child about aspects of their awareness of understanding all things financial. This could be:

• Why money is an important part of most people’s lives
• Understanding the difference between needs and wants
• Choices about how to save and spend money
• How to keep money safe
• Comparing prices of things to give your child a growing sense of prices and value for money
• Know where money comes from e.g. earning, finding, borrowing, being given

Have a discussion together. Is there anything they are already doing? e.g. they have a bank account, I can talk about their understanding of where money comes from. Is there anything they’d like to do/ learn more about?

20 October 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

Talk Time

Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk Time:

I can describe different ways that people look after their mental health.

I can describe how I look after my own mental health.

Increasingly, we hear about the importance of mental health. Talk at home about different ways to look after your mental health. This might include restricting screen time, getting enough sleep, and taking time – even just five minutes – as a family to relax and recuperate after a busy day.

We all get worked up from time to time – how do different people calm down? At home, explore different strategies to calm down. These may be as simple as counting to ten, going for a walk, getting a glass of water – discuss what works for you and your child.

 Finally, further information about mental health can be found on the Public Health England (PHE) website ‘Every Mind Matters’ website providing NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing and equip parents and carers with knowledge to support them.

13 October 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

There’s a democracy theme to this week’s Talk Time as we think about electing our new Junior Leadership Team (JLT). It’s important for everyone to feel their opinions are important and their thoughts and feelings are listened to and valued. Democracy is about knowing that sometimes we are given the power to choose and make decisions as individuals and as a group. This leads us to this week’s Talk Time:

I can talk about what characteristics a good leader should have.

Thinking about the term democracy, take some time to think about what characteristics make a good leader and the reasons why.

Also, think about situations at home when voting can help solve problems.

Additionally, if you would like to become a member of the JLT…

Use this time to think about your own characteristics and why you feel you would be a good representative for your peers. Use these ideas to prepare a speech to share in school on Wednesday 18 October for the upcoming elections on Thursday 19 October.

06 October 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

This week’s Talk Time relates to a moral issue and also links with our current Geography learning.

Is it okay to build new houses on green space (fields and parks in towns and cities)?

Your child may already have some views on this. However, this statement is all about taking different viewpoints into account.

This week’s ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) will support your child as they reflect on the pros and cons of building new houses on our green spaces:

• What are the reasons for (the pros) building new houses there?
• What are the reasons against (the cons) building new houses there?
• Reach a conclusion – Do you take one particular side or is there a compromise that could satisfy everyone?

There’s a range of ways to approach this moral question. We suggest exploring the 5Ws and H (who, what, where, when, why, how).

Check out the examples below to help get discussions flowing:

• Who needs new housing (young people, families, elderly etc)? Who would build the new houses?
• What would new housing look like? What will be the impact on the environment with fewer trees and plants?
• Where would the animals from the fields/parks go? Where else could people go for walks/exercise?
• When would things be able to run normally (traffic, pathways etc)? When would people want more houses?
• Why don’t people move into houses that are already built? Why do we need more housing?
• How long would it to take to build the houses? How much would the new housing cost? How many people could live in the new housing?

Fancy an extra challenge? Your child might like to plan the new housing or design the type of housing that should go on some green space.

29 September 2023

Our whole-school homework this week is:

Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.

Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.

Talk Time

This week’s Talk Time is related to our Living and Learning statement:

I can talk about rights and responsibilities. I can describe how rights come with responsibilities.

A right is something you should have and a responsibility is something you should do morally. In school, we’ve explored what rights are linked with responsibilities. This might be in school, at home, in our communities or the wider world:

‘At home, we have the right to relax but the responsibility to manage our screen time.’

‘We have the right to be educated but the responsibility to try hard.’

‘In our community, we’ve the right to enjoy the local park, and the responsibility to look after it.’

‘We have the right to free healthcare and the responsibility to look after our own health, too.’

See whether your child can tell you some rights or and some responsibilities that goes with each one.

Rights

• to be educated
• to be healthy
• to be happy

Responsibilities

• to bring my homework
• to be a good role model
• to be kind to others