Friday 9th September 2022
Hello All!
What a busy first week... I usually start these updates with a slightly cryptic overview of the week's activities and then give some notices, so here we go with the first one of the year...
This week we have: caught up with the changes this new term (Learning Powers, Hammerhead Class Rules, homework, timetables, Golden Time rewards, presentation expectations, and more!); painted huge Stone Age animals (below); discovered Times Tables Rockstars; fallen into a chalk pit; fallen down a hole in the woods; revised place value and number lines; had our minds blown by the Stone Age timeline; had our minds blown by rocks; tracked a GPS great hammerhead shark; learned about Siddhārtha Gautama and his route to enlightenment; coloured in a dharma wheel mindfully; completed a few initial assessments in handwriting and reading; thought about what makes a good friend; and lots of other little things inbetween...and we haven't even really properly got going yet!
Notices!
PE - Our PE day is on Thursday, and the children can come to school in their PE kits. Please remember that we will be outside for PE this term and so a warm, dark coloured tracksuit will be needed at some point when the weather turns colder.
Snacks - A change in Key Stage 2 is that break time snacks are not provided. Please send in a healthy, nut-free, snack if you wish your child to have something to eat at break time.
Homework - The first set of homework is due in on Wednesday - we've already had a couple of photos of children reading in unusual places! A reminder that for the two activities that require a sheet from school the children need to come and see us to collect them. This promotes greater independence in the children, and saves sending home paper that might not be used.
Reading Books & Reading - Every child now has a reading book and we will be hearing them read regularly. As ever with the start of a school year it might take a week or two to get everything working like clockwork, but please rest assured that we are on it and books will be changed regularly. As the children are now in Key Stage 2, we welcome them taking the initiative and asking us if they can change their books once they have read them. I must stress though that any reading (magazines, encyclopedias, comics, Pokemon cards, even subtitles on their favourite TV shows and movies!) is worthwhile, and there's never an issue with reading a book more than once. We've sent home a Home-School Reading Diary, please record any times you read with your child and we will do the same at school.
myON - In Key Stage 2 we do not use BugClub for online books. Instead we use myON. The children have all logged into it this week and can access it via www.tabecat.com using their usual login details.
Books & Biscuits - As with the rest of the classes at school we will be holding a Books & Biscuits session, where you can come in and see Hammerhead Class, in the coming weeks. I am just waiting to sort a couple of things before I choose the date. I will let you know all the details in next week's update.
Newsletter - There are lots of bits of information in the newsletter sent home today. It will soon be available in digital form on the school website www.holytrinityhalstead.com/newsletter
Dates - Please take a look at www.holytrinityhalstead.com/calendar to see dates for the forthcoming term. You can also look at the 'Events' tab in the app as the two calendars are synced together.
It's been a very enjoyable week in Hammerhead Class. I hope the children have had a good time too, certainly some of the nerves earlier in the week seem to have disappeared. They have done really well adjusting to being in Year 3 and I look forward to the year ahead! I'd also like to say thank you to Mrs Mann, Mrs Trevanion, Mrs Jamieson, Mrs Sandford and Miss Phillips for all their help and hard work this week, it's a great Hammerhead Team!
Have a great weekend and we'll see you on Monday.
Mr. Handy
khandy@holytrinityhalstead.com
www.tabecat.com/hammerhead
