Belmont Primary .::. Syndicate Newsletter

The Middle Syndicate is made up of four classes of Year 3 & 4 children. Mr Peter Thorne will teach Year 4 children in Room 13 and lead the syndicate. Miss Rosey D’Anvers will teach the other Year 4 class in Room 6. Mrs Lindsay Dobbinson teaches a class of Year 3 children in Room 14 and Miss Mandy Carwell-Cooke continues to teach her Year 3 students in Room 15.

Topics

For the first 4 weeks of the term we are focussing on ‘Learning to Learn’. We will be exploring ways of maximising learning opportunities at school and at home. Talking with them and encouraging them to reflect on their learning will help them with this. This is also a good time to work on homework routines; getting the learning of spelling and basic facts underway and reading each night.

Towards the end of the term we will begin a topic based around what is ‘Under the Sea.’ This Topic will carry over to Term 2.

School times

Each day children should arrive at school no earlier than 8.30am. The time before 8.30am is valuable for teachers to prepare for the day ahead. If your child must be at school earlier than this please encourage them to stay out of the classrooms until 8.30am. Children need to be at school and prepared for the day (pencil’s sharpened, chairs down etc.) no later than 8.50am.

Stationery

Please ensure that children have all their stationery requirements and that they are clearly named and in a pencil case. Much time can be lost, and others distracted, when borrowing of rubbers, rulers etc takes place during lessons. Children will need book bags every day to be issued books for home reading and also to help ensure effective communication between home and school. A bag is also needed if children wish to take the library books they issue home to read.

Hats

During Term 1 Children are expected to wear hats when outside. Learning and social opportunities can be lost if children neglect to bring a hat.

Allergies

We have some children in our syndicate with severe allergies, the most common of which being allergies to nuts and eggs. Please discuss with your children the importance of keeping their lunch to themselves.

P.E

Children need to be actively involved in our Physical Education programme. They must have their togs each swimming day and their hats for fitness and sports. If there is a medical reason for not taking part in these activities your child needs to bring a note from you to their teacher explaining the situation. In term one; Children will need to bring their P.E. uniform on Friday’s for Syndicate Sport and any other days that their teacher specifies.

Recorder

From next week all year 3 and 4 children need a named recorder for music classes and to practise at home. (Keeping it in the school bag is a good idea). This term Room 14 and 15 will need theirs on Thursdays, Rooms 13 and 6 on Fridays. We do realise that beginning any instrument can be hard on the ears of listeners, but with encouragement to persevere children can make a very pleasant sound. Please be patient. Learning a musical instrument is excellent for brain development! Towards the end of this term all children will be assessed before we cross group them for further skill teaching during the rest of the year.

There are already many events planned for the term. Please keep a watch for these in the regular newsletters, on the school website and the extra notes that come home.

2012, as usual, will be an exciting, busy and challenging year. We thank you for your continued support. Please feel free to contact us if you have any concerns or to celebrate achievements.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Thorne, Rosey D’Anvers, Lindsay Dobbinson, Mandy Carwell-Cooke

Middle Syndicate teachers