Hello everyone,
Just a quick update today regarding Dance Day, Year 2 Transition information and a virtual learning update.
Inclusive Sports Fortnight
Our Inclusive Sports Fortnight starts tomorrow and our Dance Day is THIS FRIDAY 3rd July. If your child will not be in school on Friday but would still like to participate please film them dancing along to Superman Song (please film in landscape) and email these to Mr Spracklen.
Year 2 Transition Information
Information regarding your child's transition was shared on Thursday last week. In the unlikely event, you didn't receive your transition pack please let me know.
Virtual Learning
I have not produced a Prezi presentation for this week's virtual learning as I am unable to easily attach the documents and websites that I would like to include. Please refer to the virtual school microsite for details. If your child is home learning and you would like hard copies of the documents for this week's learning please let me know and I can arrange this for you.
Please get in touch if you have any questions or comments c.browne@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk
Kind regards,
The Year 1 team.
Sunday, 28 June 2020
Sunday, 21 June 2020
Sunday 21st June 2020- Dance Day, Prezi & Spellings
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. I can't believe that we are fast approaching July and with it our Inclusive Sports Fortnight (which has been extended to three weeks) to allow time for each Kingdom to have an Inclusive Sports Day Experience.
We will also be holding our yearly Dance Day on Friday 3rd July which will look slightly different to previous years but will still be lots of fun.
Year 1's dance is Superman. If your child will not be attending Dance Day - or even if they are, we would love it if you could send a video of your child dancing to the Superman Song to Mr Spracklen and he will work his magic to create a dance day video spectacular.
If your child has been coming into school over the past few weeks, you should be very proud of how well they have adjusted to the changes. School isn't how it was when they left in March but the children have adapted to the new Kingdoms beautifully and it is lovely seeing them smiling and having fun with their friends.
If your child hasn't returned to school you should be very proud of them and yourselves. Please don't hesitate to contact us if there is anything we can do to further support you. We have recorded some voice messages to some children which have proved popular and I can continue to do this and explore any other suggestions you may have.
Here is the link for this week's Prezi presentation.
This week in maths you will notice that we do not return to the Power maths lesson until Wednesday. Multiplication and division are new concepts to year 1 and to ensure the children have a deeper understanding of what they are learning we are spending two days using apparatus and focusing on equal groups.
In Literacy we will be tying together diaries, days of the week and the Fire of London. Children will be invited to write their own diaries for an animal of their choice before looking at the the diary of Samuel Pepys.
On Fridays I will return to focussing on spellings and handwriting practice. If your child is at home or doesn't attend school on a Friday and you would like a handwriting booklet please let me know and I can provide one for you.
Week 3 Spellings:
cats, dogs, spends, rocks, schools, friends, thanks, catches, pushes, fetches
Week 4 Spellings:
football, playground, farmyard, bedroom, blackberry, lighthouse, sometimes, bathroom, classroom, teatime
Kind Regards,
The Year 1 team.
Sunday, 14 June 2020
Sunday 14th June -
I hope that you are having a pleasant weekend. I know only too well how difficult this time is and I want to remind you that the Prince of Wales School will do whatever we can to support you.
Last week the children were delighted to see Elliott's fantastic bread making and to be set a challenge from Isaac dressed up as King Charles II. The children in the Exploration Kingdom recorded a voice message to Isaac explaining what they included in their own city designs.
This week we will start looking at sequencing and days of the week and for Wednesday's learning it would be useful for home learners to have some coloured card and glue that they can use if possible. Here is the link for this week's Prezi presentation. If your child would like to contribute something please let me know. I can add photographs and audio or I can share completed learning that your child is proud of.
On Friday Mr Spracklen shared this letter with you and I know for some of you this generated some questions that I will attempt to answer below.
Q1 Why are the changes happening now?
As you may be aware, the Prince of Wales school is committed to opening more widely, prioritising year 4 children who are in their last weeks at school before transitioning to middle school.
Whilst year 4s will not be coming back this week we have needed to expand the key worker groups. The number of key worker children that have returned to school now far exceeds the number that were attending during the lockdown period and to ensure that only 15 children are in each kingdom we now need to provide three groups.
The changes that have been set up now aim to minimise further changes if and when the school opens more widely.
Q2 Why does the year 1 staff have to change?
We will now have Key worker groups for the three remaining year groups not in school, years 2, 3 and 4. Some of these children will be attending school for the first time after lock down on Monday and several of them did not come into school during the lockdown period. To help them transition back to school it was deemed important that they were led by a member of staff they are familiar with which is why Mr MacBean will now lead a year 2 Key worker group.
Current Department of Education guidance fully supports the use of teaching assistants at these most exceptional of times. Mrs Cura was the obvious choice to come and work with year 1 as she is very familiar with the children, having worked with them since their reception year.
Mr Spracklen and I discussed how to best manage the two year 1 kingdoms and the decision was made based on Mrs Cura's extensive lower key stage 1 experience. Mrs Cura is an exceptional and highly experienced senior teaching assistant who prior to lockdown was leading a daily Read Write Inc phonics lesson with year 1 children.
I will continue to plan all lessons and activities and will work closely with Mrs Cura and both classes and will use video links to provide shared inputs and plenaries.
Please be reassured that every decision made is thought through carefully and that staff at the Prince of Wales school are working tirelessly to best support you and your families. I would like to remind parents and carers that we continue to adopt a 'YOUR CHILD, YOUR CHOICE' ethos and will continue to fully support children and families who chose to stay at home on a full or part time basis.
The prezi presentations mirror learning that will take place in school and we will continue to provide our main school virtual school programme and associated support activities including phone calls, food parcels, physical resource deliveries, loan of school equipment and virtual ELSA sessions (as required).
As ever, please always get in contact with me or Mr Spracklen should you have any questions or concerns.
Kind regards,
Ms Browne and the year 1 team
Sunday, 7 June 2020
Sunday 7th June 2020
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well after what has been another week of change. Whether your child is following the virtual school program or has returned to school, you have a lot to be proud of.
This week's learning
Last week we started our new topic (The Great Fire of London) which was launched brilliantly by Treehouse theatre company on Thursday. We will continue to explore what life was like in the 17th Century before the Great Fire of London this week. Both year 1 kingdoms will follow the work set in this week's Prezi presentation so please be reassured that if your child is at home or is part time you will not be missing out.I am very excited that this week we have two star year 1 contributors to our Prezi. One of them is sharing their fire of London learning on Tuesday and one is setting a task for us to follow on Friday - so please look out for them.
I am keen to find ways to connect the children at home and in each kingdom so if your child would like to share their work on the Prezi or even set us a challenge please email me c.browne@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk and I will be delighted to include them.
Spellings
Apologies for the delay in uploading the spellings. Here are the spellings for week 1 and for week 2.
Week 1: dolphin, alphabet, phonics, elephant, when, where, which, wheel, while, white.
Week 2: unhappy, undo, unload, unfair, unlock, unwrap, unzip, unzip, untidy, unwell, unkind.
RWI & Library books
Unfortunately, we are no longer able to send RWI or library books home in order to limit the transference and possible cross contamination between households. Dorset library have a ebooks and audiobooks service that you may find useful.
Children that have returned to school
Mr Macbean and myself have been very impressed with how the children that returned to school this week have adapted to the changes. The children were excited to be back in school although they were all noticeably very tired by the end of each day!
We will continue to monitor and support the children's emotional wellbeing but if there are any concerns you have or any issues that should arise please talk to the staff in the Exploration and Inspired Kingdoms in the morning or email myself or Mr MacBean dirtectly c.browne@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk or d.macbean@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk
Things to bring into school
- please could all children return their Power Maths 1C books if they haven't already.- Please ensure that children bring in a coat or protective jumper. We try to get the children outside as often as possible.
- Should the sun return please also provide a hat and either apply or supply suncream.
As ever please get in touch if we can help you in any way or if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions.
Lots of love and virtual hugs,
Ms Browne, Mr MacBean, Miss Street & Mrs Bernard. xxxx
Tuesday, 2 June 2020
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