CALPE SCHOOL

Dear Parents,

A warm welcome back to the summer term. I hope you all had a lovely Easter Holiday. In year 3 we're all happy to be back and are very excited about the new things we'll be learning this term.

The School follows the British National Curriculum. Literacy, Numeracy and Spanish are taught daily. Our topics for this term are:

• SCIENCE: Magnets and Springs; Characteristics of Materials.
• GEOGRAPHY: Passport to the World.
• HISTORY: Ancient Egyptians.
• ICT: Email.
• ART & DESIGN: Portraying Relationships.
• DESIGN & TECH: Packaging.
• P.S.H.E: Children's' Rights/Human Rights.

Mathematics

Over the last three years all the teachers and children in Calpe School have worked very hard to improve our standards in literacy and we have been very successful. Building on that success we are now embarking on a programme to increase our standards in maths. This is starting at KSII – Years 3, 4 & 5. Homework will be targeted to very specific areas of practice in maths. It is vital that the children complete this homework independently. This ensures that any difficulties that arise in completing the homework can be seen and addressed further in class.

Homework

• SPELLINGS: The children will continue with daily spelling and reading. In addition to this they will have three homework activities each week. These will be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and will be due in the following day. Each piece of work will be dated to make it easier for all of us! The children will also continue to receive Spanish homework on Tuesday (Miss Roge) and Thursday.
  
  
• READING BOOKS: As the children continue to develop with their reading skills we have evolved a slightly different approach to the class reading programme. I will now hear each child read every day and reading books will be changed, on average, once a week – preferably on Friday. It is important that the reading is still listened to at home, at least three times a week, and the reading diary signed. The reason for this change is that I feel it is very important for me to hear the children read their way through their book, stage by stage, so that I can be sure of their comprehension, spelling and expression. This, in turn, helps me with designing literacy and language lessons for within the class so I can be sure of stretching your child when it is appropriate while, at the same time, making sure that everyone is grasping all the concepts introduced.

School Uniform

As you are aware, all children must wear the correct full School Uniform at all times. Children should wear summer uniform this term. Please ensure that all items of school uniform are clearly labelled with your child's name. Items of uniform are mislaid on a daily basis, due to these not being correctly labelled with the child's name. Shoes should be black or navy blue and long hair must be tied back at all times. No jewellery is allowed, expect small stud earrings.

Snacks

All children should bring a snack for morning break. A snack might include a piece of fruit, a sandwich, plain cake or a savoury biscuit,, please also include a small bottle of water. Please do not send in chocolate, crisps or sweets in line with our healthy eating policy. Chewing gum is banned at Calpe School.

School begins promptly at 09.10am and finishes at 4pm. Please ensure that you bring and collect your child promptly as late arrivals and collections can be very upsetting for your child and are disruptive to the whole class. If your child is absent for any reason please inform the office as soon as possible. If someone else who is unknown to us is collecting your child, please contact the office. The school must know at all times who they are handing custody over to.

If you have any queries/concerns including our new maths project, please feel free to speak to me, after school is preferable. For longer discussion time, please make an appointment either with myself or with our secretary Miss Laura in the office. Please do not feel you have to wait for parents evening.

Yours Sincerely,

Kate McHardy