YEAR 5 FAMILY LEARNING

Our year 5 families are invited to join our next 'Family Learning' event of the year this Tuesday 1st October from 9am - 10am in the school hall.  The event will include the opportunity to work alongside your child with some maths activities and we hope that this will give you the confidence to better support at home. We hope to see you there.

YEAR 1/2 & Y3/4 PE DAY SWAP - PE KITS REQUIRED

Please note that for next week only Year 1 & 2 are going to have their PE day on Monday (and Wednesday Y2, Friday Y1) and Year 3/4 on Thursday (and Wednesday).  Children in Year 3/4 that attend the after school club on Monday can still come into school with their PE kit that day.

THURSDAY 3RD OCTOBER FREE DINNER MENU

We are inviting all children that usually have a packed lunch to enjoy a FREE school dinner on Thursday 3rd October. Some of the main meals available on the day include: Cheeseburger or quorn nuggets with fries and a double-chocolate muffin. If you would like your child to have a free dinner on this day, please let the school office know.

PROSPECTIVE PARENT OPEN MORNINGS

Is your child due to start primary school in September 2025? Do you know anyone that has a child starting school in 2025? If so, we are inviting prospective parents into the school on Thursday 10th October and Tuesday 12th November from 9.15am. There will be a presentation from the headteacher followed by a tour of the school from our school councillors. Please contact the school office to book your place.

READING BUDDIES

We started a new initiative today where children across the school come together in their 'house' teams and read to one another. Our reading buddy initiative will encourage children to read to one another, promote a love of reading and help deepen those friendships across the school. Please speak to your child and ask them who their reading buddy was.

PARKFIELD MATHS DAY - WE ARE DRESSING UP!

Parkfield Math's Day will take place on Friday 25th October. Throughout the day children across school will take part in engaging and exciting Math's challenges and events. This is an opportunity for us to celebrate Maths as a whole school which will help to promote positive Math's mindsets for all of our children. As part of the Maths day, the children will have access to their Times Table Rockstars and Numbots accounts. Therefore, on Friday 25th October, children across the school can come to school dressed as a number, a robot or a rockstar. Please use materials/ clothing that is inexpensive, or use items  that you already own. Costumes can be crafted from old t-shirts, boxes, tin foil, fabric pens etc. There will be a certificate for the best dressed in each class, so get creative!

CLASS DOJO FOR COMMUNICATION

We are trialing the use of Class Dojo as a communication tool over the next few weeks across Year 1 and 2. It will be used to promote the phonics videos that children can watch. Please ensure you have the dojo app on your phone so you can follow what is happening. You can sign up by clicking here.

AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS CLUBS  

Please can your child come to school in their PE kit if they have a place in the After School Sports Club.

Monday - 30/09/24 -Year 3/4 Football

Tuesday - 1/10/24 - Year 5/6 Football 

Wednesday - 2/10/24 - Year 5/6 Multi Sports

Thursday - 3/10/24 - Year 4/5/6 Cross Country (CANCELLED DUE TO YEAR 5/6 CROSS COUNTRY EVENT @ ST THOMAS MORE) 

KS1 READING

Thank you for all of the reading support you are providing with your children at home. Reading is fundamental to children accessing the whole curriculum and has a significant impact on their future success. Your child will be reading every day in school during their phonics lesson. This reading will no longer be recorded in their diary, but please be reassured that reading in school is happening daily. If your child reads with an adult in addition to the phonics lesson, this will be recorded in the reading diary.

Please encourage your child to read their Read Write Inc. book with you at home every night, this does not need to be the whole book and can be a few pages at a time. Once you have heard your child read please sign their diary to let us know they have read at home. 

A reminder that your child needs to bring their reading diary and reading book into school everyday. 

YEAR 1 FOREST SCHOOL

The year 1 class will be taking part in Forest School with Mrs Banks every Friday until October half term.  Please can you make sure your child wears their PE kit, has a warm waterproof coat and some wellies or appropriate outdoor footwear.  Thanks, Mrs Banks.

SPELLING

This academic year, we will be using the Emile spelling scheme to teach spelling to all children from Years 1-6. Emile has proven success for improving children's spelling abilities and over 15% of UK Primary Schools have used the scheme to make spelling lessons and practice fun and engaging. 

 Emile is very similar to Times Table Rockstars. The children will have a login to the web page (the same as their Times Table Rockstars login) and they can practice at home on the games and activities. They will also take part in regular 'Class Battles' tailored to their own spelling abilities. 

 Now that we are moving to this new approach, weekly spelling tests will no longer take place. Instead, children will have 2 spelling lessons per week and 1 'practice' session when they will use iPads to play the games and activities on their Emile account. Your child will still receive weekly spellings that have been taught that week, but there will be no written test in class for these. Spellings will be stuck in diaries as usual. 

 The 'Class Battle' will replace the spelling test and will take place every three weeks. Teachers will then be able to access reports that show which spellings each child needs more work on. The children's Emile account will then be automatically updated so they will be given spellings that they need further work on to practice in the games and activities. As parents and carers you will be able to see this information when you work on Emile with your child. When the children complete the Class Battles, Emile produces heatmaps showing the spellings the children are confident with and those that need some more work. These heatmaps will be shared with you at parent's evening and throughout the year if necessary. 

 Some children work on differentiated spellings (different to the rest of their class and matched to their ability). These children will still receive the weekly class spelling list based on the rule/pattern they have learnt in their class that week. This is to give all children the opportunity to access their year group spellings. However, when the children play the games on  Emile, these games and activities will be tailored to their own ability and work with their strengths and weaknesses.

 The day that your child will bring home their spellings will be shared with you on the 'Welcome to Our Class' presentations which will be emailed out to you next week. You will still find a spelling page each week in your child's reading diary which is there for you to use if you would like to practice with your child at home. 

 Along with this newsletter, you will find a letter detailing how to log in to Emile from any device. 

Please contact your child's class teacher if you have any questions.

EARLY BIRDS AND BUSY BEES BOOKINGS

Please note that you must now book online using the School Gateway app for Early Birds and Busy Bees. This new way of working means that clubs are paid for in advance and there is more flexibility for parents.  If you have any questions, please contact the office and they will be happy to help.

PUNCTUALITY

Poor punctuality can lead to your child feeling embarrassed in front of their friends, missing the beginning of vital lessons or missing important instructions for the rest of the school day. It is vital that children get into school on time.

A reminder that children from Y1-6 are to line up on the play ground before 8.45am so that when they are collected there is a prompt start to the morning. Doors will shut soon after the class lines have entered into school and any latecomers will have to come through the main entrance. 

Please note that we will be asking parents and carers to sign their child into school at the front office if their child arrives after 9am. This is for safeguarding reasons and ensures school registers are correct. A reminder that for any child that arrives after 9.30am this is classed as an unauthorised absences for the morning session. 

CASHLESS PAYMENTS

We are gradually making the transition to becoming a 'cashless' school  and as a result we are now able to accept card/mobile payments in school.

YEAR 6 BREAKFAST BOOSTER CLUB

Our Free Year 6 Breakfast Booster Club is available every day from 8.15 am and it has been fabulous to see so many of our Y6 pupils attend this week. The club helps further support and prepare our Parkfielders for their Year 6 SATS. Please note, if they arrive before this time (8.15am), you must book them onto that morning's Early Birds session. 

CLASS DOJO 

Would you like to see how well your child is doing at school? We award Dojo points for pupils that go 'above and beyond' in the classroom and these can be seen by parents if you download the app. We have over 75% of our families signed up already! If you click this link to set up a parent account we will then approve it. This acess will provide you with the opportunity to see how many Dojo points your child has earnt and what for. Please note that we are only using the app for Dojo points, not messages or photos, therefore you do not need any of the subscription options you might be offered.