Welcome to KS2 Year 3

1. Welcome to KS2Year 3 3HC – Mrs Cupper 3AS – Miss Smith Teaching assistants: MrsGeorge

2. Welcome to Year 3 Daily Routine - Start and end of day. Break and lunchtimes Curriculum in Y3 – Theme/Science/Maths and English Uniform/Equipment/P.E/Swimming Home Learning/Spelling and Communication Positive Discipline Policy and Rewards and Awards

3. Independence • In KS2 we aim to encourage and build the children's independence. This underpins many of the differences between KS1 and KS2. • Please encourage your child to bring in their own book bags, reading diaries, lunchboxes and water bottles and remind them to hand in any letters themselves (or put them in the post boxes). • We do not check the children’s book bags. If a child has a note they need to remember to hand it in. You may wish to prompt them before they walk into school. • They also need to remember to get their home learning out of their bags to hand in. • The teachers will ease the pupils into becoming more independent by prompting them regularly.

4. Our Daily Routine The start of the school day • The KS2 playground gates and doors open at 8.40am.  Pupils come into school and join in ‘Feed The Read’ where pupils read for pleasure.  Please do provide a personal book of the pupils choice. • Arriving in good time helps the children to settle better and gets their day off to a good start. We go straight into lessons at 9.00am after registration so it is important that they arrive punctually. • If you do arrive late please go through the main reception, where office staff will sign your child in.

5. Break Time/Snacks • Break time is 10.30am - 10.45am every morning. There is no afternoon break in KS2. • Children should bring a snack for break – We like to encourage healthy eating. Please pack snacks separate to their lunchbox. Children may also bring money for the canteen. Children look after the money themselves. • Children should also bring a bottle of water, clearly labelled with their name which they can drink out of throughout the day-ONLY water. • Milk order forms are sent home towards the end of each half term for the following half term.

6. Lunch Time • Lunch is from 12:20pm -1:20pm. • As in KS2 children can bring a packed lunch or order a hot dinner. Hot dinner menus go out in advance and you can order for a full week or pick and choose the days that you would like. • Water is provided to accompany the hot dinners. • Payment for hot dinners is via the school parent mail.

7. End of School Day • Children are dismissed from the KS2 playground where they should be picked up by their adult (children can’t be dismissed without an adult.) • If you wish your child to walk over to either Early Years or KS1 playground we need a letter of consent. • If you wish your child to go home with someone different ( even secondary relatives) please contact the office and ensure the adult picking your child up knows the password. • If a child’s adult is later than 3:30 we will walk your child down to the office to be collected from there.

8. Curriculum The children have currently covered the following 3 themes this year: • Theme 1: Can you Walk like an Egyptian? (Ancient Egypt) • Theme 2: Could you Live Like a Cave Man? (The Stone Age) • Theme 3: Can you Dig for Victory? (World War 2) However, due to curriculum changes and staff training days in September, these may change for this upcoming year. • The children will learn Spanish in MFL this year.

9. Maths and English • We have structured Maths and English lessons each day which sometimes follow the current theme. • Children will also have Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar lessons. • A timetable will be sent home in September

10. Reading • During their time in KS2 all children take part in a daily, extended literacy lesson within which the children read a high quality text specifically chosen to compliment the literacy curriculum and themes that are being studied. This involves the class teacher modelling reading to their class. • Every child during the week will be invited to read aloud. If a text is particularly challenging, children may also be given a ‘pre-read’ or chance to read in smaller groups with support prior to the lesson.  

11. Reading • Please try to read regularly with your child at home, we will send home one new reading book every week. • We want to encourage reading for pleasure, therefore children will choose from a selection of books of their choice in school. • Children will also be able to choose a book from the school Library. • Children will read independently and in silence before school and after lunch for 10 minutes per day. This is called ‘Feed The Read’ and is our extended independent reading time for pleasure.

12. Reading • Reading in Year Three focuses on comprehension, understanding and reading for pleasure. • Children will receive additional phonics input if they still need support for word reading. • It is useful to encourage your child to talk about the stories that they read, discussing the characters, settings and making predictions. This helps the children’s confidence and enjoyment of reading and their comprehension skills.

13. Reading • We monitor progress in reading regularly. If your child needs additional support, they will read in a group which is designed to support their learning. • This may be with the class teacher, teaching assistant or in a specific intervention group with Mrs George. • The focus will be based on the pupils needs. For example, phonics based sessions, or comprehension based sessions.

14. Swimming • During Year Three, the children will take part 30swimming lessons at The Bromsgrove Sports and Leisure Centre. Swimming lessons will be on Wednesday morning from 9:20-11:20. • 3HC and 3AS will all go swimming together. Letters are sent out prior to the swimming lessons requesting permission and funding. • The children will be taught by qualified instructors and will be grouped according to their ability. It is the instructor’s decision on groupings and lesson taught. • The children will learn different techniques and will be assessed at the end of Year 3. 

15. Swimming uniform: • Plain swimsuit (girls) • Plain swim trunks (boys) fitted and above the knee • Towel • Swimming cap (girls) girls must take their earrings out if they have been pierced for 3 weeks. • If you would like your child to wear goggles you need to request a permission form from the school office. It is Worcestershire County policy that we obtain permission for children to wear goggles. If your child does not have the permission form signed they will not be allowed to wear goggles during their lessons.   • We arrive back at school at around 11:30, as the children will have missed their morning break and tuck we recommend that all children bring a snack to eat once we get back to school. Again, we encourage healthy snacks of fruit etc. • The children will shower after their lessons but they do not need to bring shampoo or shower gel.

16. Equipment • Children need to bring in their own basic pencil case and stationery. It is the children’s responsibility to look after and maintain their stationery. In the pencil case they should only bring; • 1 small pencil case ( Nothing distracting) • HB pencils • 1 rubber • 1 sharpener • 1 ruler • Highlighters ( blue, yellow, pink, orange and green) • Colouring crayons (gel pens are optional) • An Art shirt (An old shirt for painting etc) • We recommend sending plain stationery, with name labels! As this is the first time children look after their own stationery, it does tend to be lost quickly. • A small bag or book bag should be all they need. • Children should not bring toys/cards of any kind to school.

17. Pen Licence Children will be given a pen licence based on : • Lead in and out tails • Accurate letter size and spacing • Capital letters un-joined • Letters sitting on the line • Consistency across all subjects daily Each teacher will regularly assess the progress of their writing. Children who attain their pen licence will be give one blue Berol pen for the year. After that, please supply your child with a blue Berol handwriting pen.

18. PE Kit • All kit should be kept in a named drawstring bag. All items should also be named. • Children need to have an extra pair of socks for PE for hygiene. • Navy Shorts (not shorts with drawstrings) • Coloured T-Shirt (house colour) • White socks • Pumps or trainers • A navy blue tracksuit for winter. • Earrings need to be taped up for PE and games and then taken out after the initial healing period (6 weeks) We cannot provide or put on earring tape.

19. Uniform • Uniform is the same as in Year 2. • Polo shirts and summer dresses may be worn in the summer term. • Hair bands should be plain and simple. • Earrings should be one pair of plain studs. • All uniform must be clearly named as should coats and lunchboxes.

20. Home Learning We will set Home Learning on a Friday and this will be due in after two weeks. All Home Learning tasks will be put onto the class pages of the website. We set weekly spellings which can be accessed on the school website and will be updated at the start of every half term. Friday is our spelling test day.   We will put the Year 3 200 high frequency words on the website, we expect the children to know these by the time they enter year 3.

21. Communication • If you have any concerns please see your child’s class teacher in the first instance. We are very keen to work with you to support your child’s learning. • It is not usually possible to speak to staff before school. After school appointments are preferred and can be made via the school office.  You can request an appointment with the teacher, who will arrange a mutually convenient time. • We will let you know about all major events by letter, on the school website or through text messaging. • Our school is a cashless school so please ensure that you have your payment reference to pay through parent mail (you can obtain this from the school office if you do not have it).

22. Illness • If your child is absent from school through illness please phone the school before 9am and leave a message on our dedicated absence line on the first day of illness. When leaving a message on the answerphone, please be specific as to what is wrong with your child, i.e. tummy upset, cold, sickness etc., rather than just saying that they are ill. This will help us greatly when doing the morning registers which, as you can appreciate, is a very important part of Safeguarding. County guidance is that children remain off school for 48 hours following a tummy bug. • If your child has head lice please inform the class teacher so a letter can go out informing other parents. This is kept confidential.

23. Medical • If your child requires an inhaler for Asthma, please ensure there is one in school from the first day of term, clearly labelled with a care plan attached. • It is your responsibility to ensure your child’s inhaler is in date. • If your child has any other medical needs then please see the main office who will be able to advise you further.

24. Positive Discipline Policy We follow the same school rules as in KS1 • Keep your hands, feet and objects to yourself • Follow instructions • Use positive language and actions Reward Board Across KS2 we use a reward board in each class.  Children who demonstrate positive behaviour are moved up the reward board through a series of colours, in the aim to get to ‘Gold’. Children who do not demonstrate positive behaviour may even move down the board (positive behaviour will move them back up!) At the end of every week the ‘Star of the Week’ (The pupil who has spent a lot of time at Gold) will receive a ‘Star of the Week’ badge to wear with pride. These pupils also receive a text message home to let their parents know that they have been chosen as the ‘Star of the Week’.  They will then hand this badge to the next ‘Star of the Week’ at the end of the following week.

25. Awards • An awards assembly is held at the end of every half term in key stage 2. There are four awards that can be won, they are; • Pupil of the half term • Enquirer of the half term • Special Friend of the half term • Showing the most effort of the half term • All pupils receive a special badge to show which award they have won.   There is also an opportunity to win a WHSmith voucher at this awards assembly.  Golden tickets are given out for positive behaviour throughout the day. Golden tickets go into a prize draw and the lucky pupil chosen at random will win the voucher. House points are given out for super effort in work. Children with the mosthouse points in each class wins a certificate and a badge at the end of each half term.

26. Permission Forms • We will write and ask for permission from you for children to be included in; • photos for the school website • class blogs • local newspapers • food tasting activities.

27. Parent Helpers • We always value parents helping in the classroom. Please see your class teacher if you would like to help. • All parent helpers must have given a DBS check form to the office before they start helping.

28. Do come to see us if you have any queries. We look forward to working closely with you in September!