How you can help
We believe that for children to achieve their absolute best, it is vital that the school work in close partnership with parents and the wider community. Parents are always welcome at school and we encourage you to talk you your child's class teacher about all aspects of your child's well-being and education. We ask that you listen to your children read on a daily basis. We appreciate that this can be a challenge, especially when you have other little ones fighting for attention at home and that after a long day at work, listening to a 'Biff and Chip' story doesn't exactly sound like a tonic. However, research shows that the more children read aloud to adults, the better they get at it and when someone can read and is literate, they are truly empowered. A minimum of ten minutes of reading at home a day will make a world of difference to your child's education and that is what we ask.
Children are also asked to learn spelling each week. These spelling support the work that we are doing in the classrooms on a daily basis so it would really help the children is they had support and encouragement at home to learn them. We ask that children practice their spellings on a daily basis and the entire activity should take no longer than 10 minutes.
It would also be very helpful if you could take the opportunities, when they arise, to explore number and maths in the real world. That could involve playing times table games in the car, working out the cost if you buy 20 litres of petrol, or how much change you get from £10 if you spend £5.50, or changing quantities when cooking from a recipe. Maths is really all around us, please do take those opportunities to discuss it with children when you can. Our maths leader will be hosting 'Out and About Maths' workshops through the year which you may like to attend to get more ideas and meet other parents to share thoughts and strategies with.
We have also thought about how you can support your child with general curriculum development and have suggested trips and visits that you can go on together in the local area and wider afield. We also suggested programs and films that you can watch as family to help build a deeper understanding of some of the subject areas that we teach. Talking to your children about current affairs is also strongly encouraged. We aim to help children to develop an understanding of the world through our curriculum so it would be nice for them to be able to discuss current international events in light of the information that they have gained from school. Please be patient with them, but do encourage the debate and the importance to understand the facts before forming an opinion. We also send home a list of suggested activities that and we would like all of the children to choose at least one to have a go at each term.
