Homework

16 September 2022

There’s a social theme to this week’s Talk Time.

In our school, we have 3 school rules:

1. We keep our hands, feet and objects to ourselves.
2. We follow instructions.
3. We respect everyone and everything.

Is it important to have rules to follow in and outside of school? Is there a rule that we’re missing?

This week’s R2s (‘remember tos’) will help you to provide a balanced argument before you reach a conclusion:

• What are the reasons for having rules to follow (the pros)?
• What are the reasons against having rules to follow (the cons)?
• Reach a decision. Is it valuable to have rules to follow?
  • One list may have more points than the other.
  • Some points have a greater importance than others.

One way to approach this Talk Time is to have a debate with people in your household. This will not only help you generate ideas but also practise a range of oracy skills. Last year, one of the oracy focuses was building on the views of others and reasoning. When someone raises a point that you’re in agreement with, use one of the following phrases to start your response:

• I agree with you because…
• That’s a good point. I also think that…
• Furthermore, I’ll add that…

On the other hand, you may disagree with a point made by a family member. When that’s the case, it can be hard not to interrupt them. Another oracy focus from last year was turn-taking. To be respectful of others’ opinions, wait until a person has finished speaking and then respond using one of these sentence starters or one of your own:

• I hear what you’re saying but…
• That’s a good point. However…
• I take your point but…

09 September 2022

Vocabulary is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.

We’ve just begun a new Science topic and with it comes new Science vocabulary.

This half-term, we’re all biologists, learning specifically about Living Things and their Habitats. Here’s a list of key words that are being learnt and applied as part of our learning. Over the half-term, practise using these words with your child.

Years 1 and 2 Biology vocabulary:

Years 3 and 4 Biology vocabulary:

Years 5 and 6 Biology vocabulary:

Some of these words have been introduced already this week but there may be others that are going to be covered in the coming weeks.

15 July 2022

This final Talk Time of the academic year relates to your end-of-year report.

I can talk with adults at home about my report, recognising successes and strengths.

It’s important to remember that your achievements come in many forms. Your key strengths could relate to your learning behaviour, your attainment in a particular subject or your speed of progress.

This is also a great opportunity to apply your understanding of the 8Rs for learning:

• responsive
• ready
• (safe) risks
• responsible
• resourceful
• resilient
• remember
• reflect

Being reflective will be the most prominent of the 8Rs in your conversations as you’ll identify successes recognised by your teacher in the report but also other strengths that you’re aware of. Consider which of the other 8Rs you currently excel at the most. Perhaps you’re a very responsible individual who always demonstrates good learning behaviour. Maybe you’re extremely resilient and have a never-give-up attitude. It could be that you’re very resourceful, using what’s around you to support your learning and not always seeking help right away.

08 July 2022

I can share my views about health.

We’re proud to be a happy and healthy school.

Each year, we ask you to complete a short health questionnaire. Your views can help us to become even happier and healthier.

Parents/carers: please complete this survey with your child, to find out their views on some of our key health issues at school, and comment at the end.  You can find the link to the survey in the Homework page of our school website.

Please submit before Friday 15 July 2022.

01 July 2022

This week’s Talk Time has a Living and Learning focus:

I can talk about how to be safe near drugs (over-the-counter medicines and prescription drugs, for example).

A good starting point for your discussions could be to identify the drugs you’re aware of that have the potential to be helpful. Then, you could discuss a range of scenarios, establishing what being safe around drugs does and does not look like.

The following R2s will help you to stay safe around drugs:

• Only take drugs as detailed by your doctor and/or in the instructions (if an over-the-counter medicine).
• Do not take drugs that are prescribed for someone else.
• If you’re not sure what the drug is or how much you can have, don’t take it.
• If you need any medicine or have any related questions, ask a trusted adult.

24 June 2022

During this week’s Talk Time, you’ll explore an important moral dilemma.

Shops should try to sell clothes as cheaply as possible.

When discussing the statement, there are a number of factors to take into consideration. Your conversations at home may begin by attempting to answer the following questions:

• Who would benefit from clothes being sold as cheaply as possible?
  • Bear in mind that not everyone shares the same level of wealth.
• How would this impact on the amount of clothes people own?
  • Would people buy more clothes than they actually need?
• How would lower prices impact on the shops themselves?
• If more clothes are needed in shops, how would that impact on the manufacturers?
  • in terms of issues such as workload and pay

The following R2s will help your child to reflect on the discussion points:

• What are the reasons for (the pros) selling clothes as cheaply as possible?
• What are the reasons against (the cons) doing so?
• Reach a conclusion – Do you take one particular side or is there a compromise that could satisfy everyone?

17 June 2022

We’re now a couple of weeks into our final topic of the school year, Design and Technology.

Thinking about the new topic vocabulary, I can begin to use these words at home.

Years 1 and 2:

• design process: the steps that need to happen for something to go from an idea to a finished product
• to plan: to think about and decide how you’re going to do something
• to evaluate: to decide, after careful consideration, how good or bad something is

• felt: a kind of cloth made from wool
• needle: a thin piece of metal or plastic with a point at one end and a hole or eye for thread in the other, used in sewing
• thread: a long, thin strand of cotton used in sewing or weaving

• over stitch / whip stitch: a stitch that circles the edge of a piece of fabric

Years 3 and 4:

• product: something that is designed and made
• function: the purpose of something
• design brief: a description of what a new product should do
• design criteria: the precise features a product must have to be successful
• annotated sketch: a detailed sketch labelled with notes (eg dimensions, materials)

• fabric: cloth or other material produced by weaving or knitting fibres
• binka: a firm piece of fabric with holes in to help beginners to sew and embroider
• over stitch: a stitch that circles the edge of a piece of fabric
• running stitch: a line of small even stitches

• template: a tool used to mark out shapes repeatedly

Years 5 and 6:

• design criteria: the precise features a product must have in order to be successful
• innovative: an adjective to describe new or original ideas
• sustainable material: a material is sustainable if it comes from renewable sources and it does not damage the environment
• dimension: a measurement of something in a particular direction (eg height, length, width)
• aesthetic: something about the appearance (eg something can be aesthetically pleasing)
• running stitch: of a line of small even stitches
• back stitch:  a method of sewing with overlapping stitches to form a solid line of stitching
• applique: pieces of fabric sewn or stuck on to a larger piece to form a picture or pattern
• pattern: a repeated decorative design

When having your discussions at home, you could start by explaining the end goal of this topic. What product are you designing and then making? What materials and skills will be required? Refer to the definitions provided when you’re explaining new vocabulary Challenge yourself to see if you can explain them in your own words.

10 June 2022

Our first Talk Time of this half term relates to honesty, one of the Christian values.

‘Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’ (1 John 3:18)

 I can describe a situation where being honest was hard, but important.

 The situation you discuss at home may have involved yourself or someone else. It could concern a real person or a fictional character from a book, film or TV show that you know well.

You could respond to these questions to support your conversations:

• Why was telling the truth important?
• Did the person tell the truth right away?
• How would telling the truth at a different time impact the consequences?
• What were the possible outcomes of being dishonest or withholding the truth?

Our oracy focus for this half term is liveliness and flair. The following R2s will help you to keep others engaged when you’re speaking:

• Talk with enthusiasm in your voice.
• Use your imagination to think of scenarios to support your viewpoint.
• Maintain a good level of eye contact with your audience.

20 May 2022

Our Talk Time this week relates to our recent Geography learning:

I know and can use the topic vocabulary from this half term.

Years 1 and 2:

• continent – a very large area of land
• globe – a model of the Earth which shows what it looks like from space
• ocean – a large area of water between continents
• equator – an imaginary line that goes around the centre of the Earth
• physical geography – physical geography looks at the natural things in our environment
• human geography – human geography looks at changes in the environment by humans
• population – the number of people living in a certain place
• national park – a park or area of land looked after by a country’s government

Years 3 and 4:

• climate zones – areas of the world with similar temperature and weather
• hemisphere – a half of Earth, divided into a northern and southern hemisphere
• equator – an imaginary line that goes around the centre of the Earth
• latitude – the distance north or south of the equator, measured in degrees
• tourism – travelling to a place for fun
• economy – how a country or place makes and spends money
• overtourism – when there are too many tourists and it results in conflict with local people who live there
• flood defences – used to prevent flooding in a specific place

Years 5 and 6:

• biome – areas of the world with similar climate, landscapes, animals and plants
• vegetation belt – an area with distinct plant types
• climate zone – areas of the world with similar temperature, weather and precipitation
• natural resources – something that is found in nature and can be used by humans
• exports – goods that are sent to other countries for sale
• deforestation – the destruction of forests by humans
• agriculture – growing and harvesting crops and raising animals; another word for farming
• indigenous people – the earliest or original inhabitants of a place

Encourage your child to think back to their Geography learning so far. The following questions might prompt your child to remember even more about the vocabulary:

• What does this word mean?
• Can you use the word in a sentence?
• Can you (where possible) give an example of this?
• Have you seen a piece of art that links to that word?
• Can you link this word to one or more of the other words?
• Which of these words would you group together?

13 May 2022

This week’s Talk Time has a Living and Learning focus:

I know what consent is.

Consent forms a part of everyday life: permission to take or publish a photo is a form of consent.

Because matters around consent can occur anywhere, it’s important to consider a range of scenarios. That way, you’ll be able to appreciate how you, or others, might feel in those situations and can think about the words or actions that follow. As a starting point, you could look at the following scenarios and consider how you might respond:

• A friend asks you to play football at playtime but you’re feeling quite tired.
• You and a friend did really well in a quiz so you want to give them a hug.
• You’re getting ready for school and you notice your brother/sister has their jumper on backwards.
• Your teacher wants to take pictures of some pictures of your writing to share with the class.
• You’ve been learning a poem and the teacher would like to record the class to use as part of an assembly.

What other situations can your child think of where consent is important?

When we reviewed our Relationships and Sex Education Policy, very many parents and carers wanted consent to feature more. This is why we’re including consent in our homework. Talking about consent in relation to our own bodies can be appropriate for children of any age.

These R2s will help you in a situation where you’re asking for consent:

• ask for permission
• if that person says yes, great
• if they say no, respect their decision (even if it upsets you)