Linby & Papplewick C.E. (Aided) Primary School

September 2015 Dear Parents Thank you to all those able to make the parents evening last week. Following are some brief summary notes and internet links as promised to the websites I referred to. This information will be helpful for those who didn’t make the evening. If any clarification is needed please ask. CURRICULUM There are a number of changes which have affected primary education recently. A new national curriculum has come into force and the framework for assessing pupils learning has changed. The learning expectations and content for children have increased in order to raise standards in primary education in this country. The learning objectives of children in Maths, English and Science for each year group were discussed by the teachers. Copies of these can be found on the school website in school information. These are helpful in outlining expectations and targets for your children’s learning. (also on the website is an overview of what your child will be learning this half term). Below are links to some glossaries for numeracy and literacy to help explain the learning objectives which you may find useful. (clicking on the words will give further details) ASSESSMENT The government has removed the system of levels that were previously used in schools to measure learning and progress. From now on we will be reporting on how your children are learning and progressing to meeting the year group’s expectations. (you will be advised if they have met the year group expectations, if they are working towards meeting those expectations, if they have mastered the learning outcomes for the year and are applying the learning in depth and varying contexts or if they are working below year group expectations.) TARGETS AND HOMEWORK Thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement you provide your children in reading at home and completing their homework. This makes a huge difference to their progress.

READING: We were very impressed by the amount of children who engaged in the library summer reading challenge. We would encourage children to continue using the library service and ask the library to order any books your child might like to read. The selection of books is often problematic for parents in supporting their children reading. I would recommend The Books For Keeps website (link below) MATHS: The children will continue to be set maths targets which they can select from the maths target sheets. The numeracy glossary and The Maths is fun website (link below) really helps parents supporting their children with these. The maths target sheets will shortly be reformatted to include bold to indicate the key learning targets. These key targets are fundamental in developing your child’s maths. They will be renumbered to indicate the year group from which learning targets are taken. The target sheets will be available on the school website in school information and shortly be updated. RM MATHS: RM maths has had a big impact on learning for those doing this consistently at home. The expectation is that the children in the infants would do 1 session a week and the juniors 2 sessions a week. This is designed to be done independently and then adjust to your child’s needs. Please do not help the children to do the questions as this results in the programme adjusting to set questions beyond their ability. SPELLING: Learning spelling is an important aspect of homework. Your support would hugely benefit the children. The children need to learn the spellings not just for tests but to use in their everyday work. The teacher will be helping the children develop ways to learn their spellings effectively. The spellings lists in year groups are available on the school website in school information. (as well as ideas for learning spellings) USE OF INTERNET AND ONLINE GAMING AT HOME Whilst the development of the internet is hugely beneficial for children and their education we also know that access to inappropriate websites e.g. You Tube clips, games and television programmes has a harmful effect on children and their development. Some the direct consequences of these things are clear in school such as inappropriate language used by children, their demeanour and the things and way they play with each other. (play is how young children make sense of the world, the things they see, hear and do.) Please consider the access your child has to the internet and television and the types of games they are playing, also access they have to games and television in their bedrooms and the age rating of the games and videos they play and watch. This is a very difficult area of parenting and I have included some links below for advice of things you need to consider. We also have a new book in our Parent Library called Raising Children in the Digital Age by Bex Lewis.

SCHOOL TRAVEL PROTOCOL I greatly appreciate your patience and adherence to our School Travel Protocol in order primarily to keep our children safe on the way to and from school. Attached is a copy. Please refer to it as it’s easy to become complacent about the risks in quiet roads such as Quarry Lane and our village. BRITISH VALUES Due to recent developments and emerging problems in our society the Government has stressed the importance of schools teaching children about the need to understand: democracy; respect for authority and the law; respect for others and their views, values, faith and individual liberty; and our own free will and the responsibility that comes with it. These have always been central to the values we promote at school and our ethos. Our Promoting British Value Statement is on the school website to clarify these. Many thanks once again for your support. We greatly appreciate and enjoy working so closely with you to do the very best for your children and are more than happy to discuss any questions you may have. We are very excited about the new academic year which has started brilliantly. Best Regards Dominico Conidi Glossary of Terms for Numeracy and Literacy http://www.theschoolrun.com/primary-numeracy-glossary-for-parents http://www.theschoolrun.com/primary-literacy-glossary-for-parents Books for Keeps – Book Reviews http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/reviews Maths https://www.mathsisfun.com/ https://www.rmeasimaths.com/Easimaths/Account/LogIn Online Safety etc. http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/ https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ School Web Site: http://www.linby.notts.sch.uk/