Welcome to Squirrels' Class Page!
Class Teacher: Mrs Howell
with TA team: Mrs Hobbs and Mrs Johnson

The story of Squirrels 2024 - 25 is underway and I'm so excited to see what each new chapter will hold for us! I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone flourish and shine very brightly!

I know there'll be loads of good learning happening every day, as well as an array of triumphs to celebrate, challenges to master and ideas to explore. There will definitely be some great memories built along the way too and we'll all really enjoy sharing them with you! 

As the new year started, we created and signed our Class Charter to make sure that the class we have together is always happy, kind, ambitious and respectful; a place where we feel safe and encouraged to shine and be our very best selves.. 

Squirrels' Class Charter 2024 - 25 

These links make it easy to stay up to date with  

 This Week's Homework  &  This Week's Spellings

Terms 1 & 2
A Tale of 3 Bridges:
Making connections in Bristol, San Francisco and New York

In Terms 1 & 2 we're off exploring! We're going to discover lots more about North America and the USA and spend some time in New York and San Francisco, making connections to a city we all know very well: Bristol.  

We'll be travelling back in time, too, to find out more about the rich history of Bristol, about some important events and some very significant people and we'll discover the stories behind each one of our 3 iconic bridges. 

As always, all our work will come from the planned learning & key questions in our

Topic Web coming soon!

In Squirrels, we like making lots of connections in our learning so we'll be finding lots of links with things we already know, with our new learning and with things we want to find out more about. 
As always, there are big questions to explore in RE, History and PSHE, some great lives to encounter, new stories to hear and key skills to learn. We're going to stay creative and curious and, every day, we'll make sure that we bring a Growth Mindset and our Gem Powers to everything we do. Remembering these Learning Powers will be useful too!

 What we'll be reading...

Our first Class Reader of the year is Ellie Irving's brilliant book, "The Matilda Effect." 

Matilda and Granny Joss are on a mission! It's a race against time which takes them across 4 countries in 31 hours with no passports and no money. Along the way, they come across a famous film star, a circus, a poisoned lion and a wanted diamond thief...

"Welcome to the tale of my outrageous, electrifying, marvellicifous (I made that word up - I told you I'm an inventor) couple of days with my Granny Joss."

Do you know what the Matilda effect is? You will soon! 

Other Important Information

1. Personal Reading Books
The children should all have an ongoing book which they bring into school every day. Free readers can choose books from home or from our class collections and we ask them to read a variety of authors and genres over the course of the year. Those not yet free readers should bring in a book of their choice as well as their school reading book. Our regular "I recommend..." sessions are great opportunities for the children to hear about the books others have loved reading too. 

Please remember to sign your child’s home/school book each day that they read at home so that they can get all their certificates and rewards. Thank you! 

Squirrels, if you're deciding on your next book, take a look at some of these suggestions. You could encounter some unforgettable new characters, meet some very familiar faces or discover lots of fascinating new facts! Which books would you add? 

50 Great Reads Y4  50 Great Reads Y5 Poetry BooksNon-Fiction Choices  Similar to...   Books of the Month

2. Other Weekly Homework
A main Homework task is set every Friday and is due in the following Wednesday unless otherwise stated. These tasks will also be available through the link at the top of this page. 

Spellings: Also found via the link on this page, our weekly spellings are set on Mondays & tested on Fridays. Please encourage your child to regularly practise their words. In the back of your child's home/school book you'll find the lists of the Y3&4 and Y5&6 words that they'll need to be certain of too.

Doodle Maths (& Doodle Tables): Each child has a Doodle login and a personalised weekly target. Spending at least 10 minutes a day on each of these will help them meet their target.

Times Tables: The 12 Times Tables are used and tested lots each week as they underpin so much Maths work. Lots of practice at home is always key in getting everyone to be quick, secure and confident in their recall. There's Monster Multiplication and the timed Multiplication Check on Purple Mash and lots of other online games and activities available to help too.

To find Monster Multiplication, log on to Purple Mash and then either
1. Check in your 2Dos to see if it's been set for you or
2. Go to Games and find it there or
3. Go to Mathematics then Times Tables and find it there.

Thank you for your help and support in all this.

3. P.E.
In Term 1, our PE lessons are on Tuesdays (unless notified otherwise) and Thursdays so, as before, children need to come to school already dressed in their correct kit on those days. Unless it's an indoor sport, we'll aim to do all lessons outside, so suitable outdoor kit is important. A reminder that school PE kit is as follows

• Farmborough House Group t-shirt or a plain coloured t-shirt in your House colour
• Navy blue/black sports shorts, skorts or joggers
• Plimsolls or trainers
• Sports socks
• Outdoor kit for cooler/wetter weather eg long joggers and plain/school hoodie or sweatshirt 

We won’t run lessons outdoors in very wet weather, but it will be really useful for the children to bring in a spare set of clothes and footwear when the weather's not so great. If preferred, these spares can be left in school in your child’s P.E. bag.

** All items coming into school do need to be clearly named. Thank you! **
 

4. Anti-Bullying Resource

Click on the logo to see the Anti-Bullying Alliance's Parent Pack, published to accompany this year's Anti-Bullying Week in November 2023

5. Staying Safe Online
Children, whenever you're online, remember to practise your online safety skills so that you stay Sharp, Alert, Secure, Kind & Brave.
Click on these images, either to explore Interland or to watch the Family Adventure together:

                           

And here are some good places for parents and carers to visit for useful advice and information too:

Parent Zone       Be Internet Legends Parents' Page  &  Parent Info
Thinkuknow       Internet Matters        LGfL       Net Aware

 6. General Reminders:

• The children will all need to have a water bottle in school every day. 
• They'll also all need a rainproof coat with hood and wellies in a named carrier bag in school every day. Again, please check that everything that's worn or brought in is clearly named. 

Thank you!

Finally, if you need to get in touch or you have any concerns or queries about anything, please come and speak to me after school as I'll be in the playground at the end of most days. You can also message me via Class Dojo although, if there's an urgent or time-sensitive matter, it's always best to phone or email the Office. We still have the Class Mailbox which I'll check regularly. Thank you!

Looking Back & Looking Ahead:  

In our Collective Worship at the end of Friday 20th March 2020, as we closed for the first lockdown, this traditional Blessing was prayed for our school community. Now, whatever this year brings, we still value these words and hold them for everyone.