As mathematicians, we’ve recapped our knowledge of Roman numerals and have begun to extend our understanding of place value, thinking carefully about the value of digits within a number. We’ll be continuing this for the next few weeks. 

As readers and writers, Endeavour and Endurance have started their new text 1000 year old boy and have begun writing their own ideas as part of sentence stacking. In Beagle, we have begun to look at our new text: “I talk like a river.” We have looked at some of the illustrations, explored what it might sound like to talk like a river, and explored reasons why we write. 

In PSHE we talked about the importance of hydration and drinking plenty of water. Please talk with your child about what makes a drink healthy and hydrating. Several children seemed surprised to hear cocoa cola is not a great idea for your teeth!

Beagle had their first music session this week, learning to play the ukulele. Year 6 supported the year 5’s as we learnt or recapped the parts of the ukulele, how to hold it correctly and explored strumming patterns.

Notices:

Lunch on Monday will be macaroni cheese

PE 

All year 5s will go swimming on Monday. Please make sure your child comes to school with their swimming kit underneath their clothes along with a named swimming bag containing:

• Black swimming costume or trunks
• Towel
• Goggles - you can buy them from us in school for £4
• Black swimming cap - you can buy them from us in school for £4.50

All year 6s will have PE on a Monday morning, they will need to wear trainers, charcoal grey joggers/leggings or shorts and a burgundy school PE top. 

Year 6s in Endeavour and Endurance also have PE on Wednesday afternoon whilst Beagle class have PE on Thursday afternoon.  

Drop ins - Tracey will be running her drop ins on a Tuesday morning from 8:10 for parents who would like to speak with her. 

Flu vaccination

The annual school aged Flu vaccination programme this year, is being offered to all children in Years Reception to Year 11. Flu can be a very unpleasant illness for children and sometimes causes serious complications. Children can catch and spread flu easily so vaccinating them also protects others who are vulnerable e.g. babies and older people.This is particularly important as COVID-19 continues to circulate and people at risk of flu are also vulnerable to the complications of COVID-19.

Whether you wish for your child to have their Flu vaccine or you do not, please complete the form at least one full school day before the session. After this date you will find the online system will not work. The system will reopen the day after the school session to enable a form to be registered and a community clinic appointment be booked.

For most children, the Nasal Flu vaccination is painless and given by a quick and simple spray up the nose. In some medical circumstances it is necessary to administer the Flu vaccine by intramuscular injection instead of the nasal spray, but this will always be discussed with parents/carers beforehand. Please see the attached consent form for more information and complete the form here, the school code is OX139528.

Homelearning:

Homelearning will be set to consolidate the learning that has been taking place in each class. Each class may have different focuses for spellings and maths each week. Please make sure that your child is reading daily, and being heard by an adult regularly. We also ask that they continue to practise their mental maths - particularly times tables, including divisions - each day. They can do this in a variety of ways including sumdog, writing them or simply verbally.

Uniform and coats

The school uniform is:

• -Maroon/burgundy school sweatshirt or cardigan with logo
• -Charcoal grey trousers, shorts, skirt or pinafore and grey socks or tights
  OR
• -Maroon/burgundy check dress & white short socks in summer
• -Black trainers
• -Indoor shoes or non-slip slippers
• -Wellingtons

As the weather is changing, please make sure your child has a waterproof coat. We are an indoor outdoor school and go outside in almost any weather. 

If your child has outgrown their coat and you no longer have any need for it, please consider donating it to us so we can find it a new home.

We will be hosting parent meetings about year 5 and year 6 on in the coming weeks - please keep an eye out on jotter for more details. 

If you have any questions, please speak with a member of the team or email us at explorers@stfrideswides.co.uk

Have a lovely weekend,

The Explorers team