Dear soon-to-be 3EE parents,
It was lovely to meet the class last week, we are looking forward to getting to know them, and your good selves, over the forthcoming academic year.
You may be wondering "what's new for year 3?" Well thankfully, in terms of settling in, not too much. We have lunch a bit later which means a longer morning and shorter afternoon. Each week the class’ music lesson involves learning string instruments (cello and violin) and if you agree to it the children can take the instruments home to practice with the help of an interactive music website. For one term of the year the class will go swimming. And finally the children will have the opportunity to bring in their own stationery and pencil cases. However, without wishing to dampen the excitement that purchasing new stationery brings to many of us please could we set some guidelines to ensure the children’s pencil cases are a help and not a hindrance in the classroom. Please could you ensure the pencil case is small as it will need to fit comfortably in the children’s tray alongside a reading book, clipboard and any unfinished work; plus after a few months numerous drawings from wet play, an old snack wrapper, a Christmas card or two and a special stone from the playground…
So what to put in this small but perfectly formed pencil case? Not too much is the answer! Two or three sharp pencils, a small 15 cm ruler, a good pencil sharpener, an eraser (rubber), a green ball point pen (often termed a biro) for self-marking, a good glue stick and between 0 and 6 coloured pencil crayons. It is worth noting what not to put in too: please no electric or novelty erasers as these are already designed as toys and provide endless distraction; no 30cm fold up rulers as we have plenty of long rulers for measuring and fold up ones tend to get used as snappers; no more than 6 pencil crayon colours simply because they will take up too much room and get in the way of the children extracting the stationery they really need (we have plenty of coloured crayons and felt tips for when we require them).
Please be reassured that if you prefer not to bring in stationery then we will provide a pencil case and the necessary items to go in it for children who do not have it. However we have found this year that children are less invested in taking care of things when it is not seen as their own.
For PE children will need to have comfortable sport shorts or trousers, a t-shirt and trainers or plimsolls (also known as pumps/daps) as children cannot wear their outdoor shoes or trainers inside due to the problem of dirt tracking onto mats and other equipment. The class will go swimming for one term this year and we will let you know once the timing of this has been confirmed.
At break times most children bring in a small snack but please ensure these are kept small and healthy, these need to be in a separate container or bag to lunch boxes so that the class box for snacks does not become unwieldy and heavy. Lunch boxes or bags should be kept in school bags or lockers until lunch time. Please be aware that school dinners from year 3 upwards are paid for by parents unless you are in receipt of free school meals which the school will be aware of. It is important to ensure that you have signed your child up to have a PIN (personal identification number) or thumb print if they are having any school dinners (even if they will usually have packed lunches this can be helpful for odd occasions). To round off the finance note it would be great if you could make your contributions for trips (suggested as £60 per child per year) as soon as you can in September. We cannot go on trips or have visits to the school from educational and cultural organisations without this voluntary donation. On the plus side it is a lot easier to organise engaging educational trips for your child by taking one payment at the start of the year so we know the budget available rather than asking for smaller payments each time a trip is arranged - hopefully it is also more convenient for you.
Lastly please consider the relatively small size of year 3 children, and the lack of space in the locker room, when selecting a school bag. No large rucksacks or trolley bags please, they are uncomfortable for the children to wear and too heavy for them. A small rucksack is perfect or even a drawstring bag with shoulder strings. They only need to carry a water bottle (which they can keep at their table or in a class box depending on the activity), a snack, a lunch box (if they are having packed lunch), a reading book and a slim homework folder (Spanish) or homework book (English). Children will have a peg for coats/scarves etc and a locker in which to keep their school bag and PE kit.
Our 3EE teaching team this coming year will be:
English teacher (Mon-Wed): Mrs Ruthy Trevitt
English TA (Mon-Wed): Mrs Louise Coakley
Spanish teacher (Wed-Fri): Mrs Sofia Morton (nee Paez-Bandera),
Spanish TA (Wed-Fri): Mrs Sandra Alanis Fuentes Oliver
As they say on the cartoons “That’s all folks”, at least for now.
Many thanks, Ruthy Trevitt and Sofia Morton