It was lovely to greet the children on Monday morning via hangouts and in the classroom. This is a strange and new situation for us all, thank you so much for your support in helping your child begin to get to grips with the new systems. It will get easier for all of us.
We are posting a ‘good morning’ announcement each morning which gives the lessons for the day. This is so that the children know what to look for in terms of work and when their subject teachers are available.
This week the children have found their way around our virtual classrooms, learned to ‘hand in’ work, and have begun the habit of sending the teacher a private message within the lesson to say how it went for them. We will use this to give feedback on individual lessons.
One highlight of the week was a virtual Easter bonnet parade. Some incredible hat creations! Ask your child to show you the presentation. They can still add theirs if they didn’t get to it in time.
Please encourage your children to open a document or slide presentation within their Google classroom on which to submit their work. It can be difficult to keep track of work submitted via other means. (Of course, it is better to submit it in any form than not.)
Please also let teachers know if the work set is too hard, too onerous, or too much in quantity. We’re trying to set enough to keep your children learning well but if they, or you, are feeling overloaded, then please let us know. We are learning too.
An issue for some this week has been the distraction of social messages and attempted video calls in google hangouts. Our class google hangout chat is for class work only.
Please could you draw your child’s attention to the code of conduct for remote learning at the top of the stream for all their classrooms. This part is particularly relevant: ‘Do not conduct any pupil-to-pupil chat on Google Classroom, unless the teacher directs you to do so. Forms of less formal communication such as memes, emojis, gifs, stickers, text talk, etc. should not be used.’
Please impress upon them that this is a distraction for their fellow pupils and for their teachers, who all receive every message and hear the call signal every time, and also for Mrs Cottam who sees all the chats and calls for the whole school. They know it is unacceptable to talk non-stop in our real classroom...
Of course, we understand that we are all sailing in uncharted waters. The children plainly miss their friends. This is clear in their messages and attempts to contact one another. They are used to seeing each other every day and catching up. They need the reassurance that their friendships continue. Please help your child to find ways of making contact with their friends using another platform, and at scheduled times.
TT rockstars are still running and there will be virtual assemblies to celebrate achievements, so please do encourage your child to keep playing. We will be posting some links to useful games to practice other key skills, such as telling the time. Typing is a skill we are now relying on more and more. Getting on BBC Dance Mat is a place to start with that.
Next term we can look forward to learning about Living things and their Habitats in Science. We will be garden explorers! Please let Mrs Greig know if your child does not have any access to outdoor space so that she can plan accordingly for them.
In Art, we will be drawing and experimenting with watercolours. It would be very helpful if your child had drawing pencils of varying hardnesses, a small watercolour block palette, and a sketchbook with thick paper.
In History, we start our Anglo Saxon topic. Our first creative writing topic will be based around the picture text Flotsam by David Wiesner- as the children are not able to use the class copy this could be something you get for them if you are able. But don’t show it to them until after the first lesson!
Each day this week, Mrs Greig has been uploading to Y4 Classroom an audio file of a chapter of our class story, The Explorer. She will continue to do this daily until the book is finished. Don’t worry if you miss a day. The files will remain there waiting. You may also be interested to know that audible has made lots of audiobooks for young people freely available while schools are closed. Visit stories.audible.com/start-listen. We will also be reading Varjak Paw with Mrs Woodcock, which your child has a copy of.
We wish you all good health and a harmonious household, and look forward to ‘seeing’ your children again soon.
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