The Schools Admissions Team at Shropshire Council have asked us to remind the parents of Year 6 children that the deadline date for applying for a place at your child’s preferred secondary school is Sunday 31st October. All applications are to be made on-line at www.shropshire.gov.uk/schooladmissions During office hours, anyone struggling to apply online is advised to contact Shropshire Council customer services.
Scorpions Bulletin
Our first one-handed Rock Hero!
Whilst waiting for his operation, Peter set himself the challenge of reaching Rock Hero status on Times Tables Rock Stars – and guess what – he did it – his time is 0.98 seconds! Well done Peter – a true hero!
Roast Beef lunches
Maureen in the kitchen has asked us to let you know that the roast dinner tomorrow will be replaced with pork instead of beef which is shown on the menu on ParentPay due to supply issues. All other options remain the same.
She has also advised that all Roast Beef lunches will be replaced with pork until further notice.
Ludlow School Year 5 & 6 Open Evening moving to Virtual
Ludlow CE School are moving their Open Evening which was due to take place next week to a virtual event on 1st October. Please see their message below –
Ludlow CE School – Open Evening – move to a virtual event
Following a discussion with Shropshire Headteachers, we have made the decision to cancel the Open Evening as a live, face-to-face event, next Wednesday 29th September. Although our number of Covid-19 cases is currently not high in number, the local community (and upper KS2 children, particularly) have higher numbers, and so it is not in anyone’s best interests to host an evening that could become a “super spreader” event.
We will hold a virtual event from 1st October, on our school website: www.ludlowschool.com, under “News and Events”.
We are very disappointed that our Open Evening cannot take place as planned, but we have taken this decision in, what we believe to be, the best interests of the wellbeing of the school and the community. Please do contact the school with any queries.
Many thanks, Paula Hearle
Netball Festival – POSTPONED
For those attending this week’s netball festival (23rd Sept), it has unfortunately been postponed – and will now take place at the same time next Thursday (30th Sept).
We have been asked that parents please use the Leisure Centre entrance when picking up from BES at 4pm.
Cross Country
Just a quick note for those attending tomorrow’s after-school cross country event at Albrighton Primary School.
I (Mr Harley) will be attending the event to organise where/when children will be racing. The first race each week will start at 4:30pm and will be Y3 girls and then Y3 boys and so on.
The event organisers have asked all schools to ask parents not to stand or run anywhere on the course and that course marshals will be there to help with this.
Just to clarify, there are three events and the final event at Idsall school is on 21st September and not October as stated on the return slip.
Scorpions Information
Welcome back.
Here is this term’s overview:
WW2 parents overview
Further general information on Scorpions (the new name for our Y5/6 class) can be found here.
If you have any questions about anything moving into the start of the new year, please don’t hesitate to contact me (scorpions@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk)
Reading Books – Year 6
Could all Year 6s please try and bring any reading books back tomorrow that they have borrowed from school?
Tomorrow (Friday) afternoon – Class 4
Tomorrow, Class 4 children will need to come into school in their P.E. kits. Boys are best wearing swimming shorts and P.E. top. Girls can bring a swimming costume – which they can get changed into at lunchtime and then wear under their P.E. kit.
All will need to bring spare clothes to change into at the end of the day. These need to be something which is quick and easy to get changed into.
A large plastic bag would also be useful for transporting wet clothes back home at the end of the day. A towel will also be useful. Hopefully, if the weather is warm enough for the clothes being worn to dry, there will be no need to actually change at the end of the day.
STOP PRESS: Class 4 early return
Please note that Class 4 will be arriving back at school at 3.45pm having had a fun day of adventures at Edge Activity Centre. Please note that they need collecting at 3.45pm and not 4.30pm. To collect children can parents please come onto the Infant Playground and wait on a yellow spot.
World Book Day – Activities
Here are some activities you can do to celebrate your favourites books and stories:
- Dress up as your favourite book character
- Have a go at our quiz (see link below)
- Take a look at the World Book Day website: http://www.worldbookday.com
- Share a story with a member of your family
Send in pictures or videos to the class email addresses, we would love to see them!
It’s World Book Day!
Today is World Book Day, a day when children (and adults) all over the world celebrate books and reading. (I’ll let you into a secret….I believe everyday is World Book Day!)
I’ve been doing some research about reading….
Did you know?
- If you read for 20 minutes a day you will have read 1,800,000 words in one year!
- You will learn between 4,000 and 12,000 words in one year just by reading!
- Regular reading improves brain connectivity, reduces stress, aids sleep, helps increase self confidence and reduces feelings of loneliness.
- Reading can take you all over the world….in your imagination!
- Regular reading improves your concentration and helps your understanding of different cultures and customs.
You don’t just have to read books. You can read ANYTHING – Leaflets, newspapers, magazines, cereal packets, comics, labels on jars/tins, road signs, cookery books, poems, jokes, instructions, labels on the supermarket shelves, bottles of bubble bath, anything with words!!
You can also read ANYWHERE – at bedtime, in the bath, listen to stories in the car, read in the garden, read on the beach, read in the car, read in a tractor, read up a tree…..
So, today (and everyday) enjoy a story. Listen to a story or read to yourself. How does it make you feel?
Larry – The Axolotl
Thank you for all of those that joined our live session with Larry. Don’t worry if you didn’t/couldn’t; there will likely be another opportunity to do the same thing at another time. For that didn’t, here is Larry, the axolotl:
You all had some fantastic questions and lots of them! I wasn’t planning on it taking as long as it did – but, in between trying to catch worms, positioning the camera in the right place, school’s internet connection not being great and answering all of your questions, it took up quite a lot of time.
If we do have another live session with Larry (which I’m sure we will – if enough of you want another), it is likely to be a lot shorter! We should hopefully be able to get everyone who wants to join into the sessions too. Given a lot of you have now experienced using Teams, it will also mean that things should run slightly smoother for next time as we can learn from what worked well and how we could change things to makes the session even more efficient (for example, how best to use the chat feature appropriately to ask questions…).
Between now and then, I will try and figure out some of the answers to some of the questions which I wasn’t completely sure about the answers, and you could think of any other questions you might have about him.
I hope, for those that did join, you enjoyed it – and I hope you have a good weekend!
(Larry is currently “sleeping” off all those worms he’s eaten)
Class 3 and 4: Parent Workshop Q&A Remote Learning
Good morning Class 3 and 4 parents. Yesterday I sent a post out to let you know that we have set up a virtual workshop for parents on Monday at 2pm (Class 3) and Tuesday at 2pm (Class 4) to help answer any questions you might have about how to help your child with remote learning. I also asked for questions to be sent in ahead if at all possible so that we can prepare and answer thoroughly. So far we have had 1 question – so they could be very short workshops!
Please do send questions in – your child might even have some – and for the workshops, we are more than happy for children to be there as long as the appropriate guidance on using Microsoft Teams is followed.
Class 4 Parent Workshop: Q&A Session Remote Learning
We would like to invite you to join us on a virtual Parent Workshop on Tuesday 19th January at 2pm called “Q&A Session on how to help your child with remote learning.
We very much appreciate that every family will have different challenges with helping your children with the remote learning opportunities the teachers are providing. Yesterday we held a virtual workshop for Class 1 and 2 parents where we provided a presentation with information on phonics, reading and writing as well as an opportunity for parents to ask questions.
We would like to offer something similar to Class 4 parents – this wouldn’t be a presentation but an opportunity for you to ask us questions. It would be really helpful if these questions could be emailed in to admin@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk in advance to allow Mr Harley and myself chance to find any resources to assist with answers.
I have attached a document that provides you with information on how to download and use Microsoft Teams, which is the software that we use for virtual meetings, and this also provides some notes on protocols to use it.
We will send a link out on Tuesday morning to all Class 4 parents which you just need to use to access the meeting prior to 2pm.
We look forwards to receiving your questions and seeing you on Tuesday afternoon!
Class 4 – Remote Learning Plan
I have already sent this out as an email that were provide to school; however, if anyone hasn’t receive it, information is also available here. If you have any questions, please email me (class4@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk)
Hi All,
I hope you are all doing well – despite the recent bad news.
I just thought I would take the opportunity today to email you all ahead of tomorrow – when remote activities will begin being set. I appreciate you will have already been emailed by school already with lots of information, so I will try and keep it as brief as possible! Also note that this information is specific to Class 4.
First thing is that the big difference between this lockdown and the previous lockdown in March is that there is a statutory expectation (by the government) that all children engage in the work set. We, as a school, have tried to make this as easy as possible for families – and completely appreciate that at certain circumstances, and at particular times, this may not always be fully possible.
With the age of the children in Class 4, this could be an opportunity to develop independence by encouraging your child to take responsibility for their work (as much as you feel they can). This may also help ease the burden of having to organise things yourselves. I have set up a few things, which will hopefully make things easier for you at home to facilitate all of this.
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- Emails will be a vital tool for daily communication. I have sent this email to the email address for yourselves that has been provided to school. However, I have set up individual emails for all children (in Class 4). [Note: this will be a different to the email set up for the year 5s last time]. This email address is secure and cannot send or receive emails from outside our organisation (i.e. Brown Clee School). From experiencing last year’s lockdown, it would definitely be preferable if children themselves could use these emails (with support – if needed). If this is not possible (or is going to cause difficulties), then it would be fine for parents/children to communicate via a different email.
- Accessing this email:
- To login into this email address, you will need to visit https://www.office.com/
Collaborate for free with online versions of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Save documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online, in OneDrive.www.office.com– where a “sign in” option is available.
- After clicking on “sign in”, it will ask for an email address. Each child’s email address is their firstname.lastinitial@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk – for example, a “Kevin Smith” would be kevin.s@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk.
- If a correct email address has be inputted, after pressing “next”, it will ask for a password – which will be Brownclee123
- Your child will then be asked to change their password . Make sure they remember this as they will need it each time they need to log in.
- Once they have logged on, the email features can be found in the “Outlook” tab on the left-hand side
- To login into this email address, you will need to visit https://www.office.com/
- The other benefit to these emails is that children can also access Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint and Excel all online).
- Accessing this email:
- Emails will be a vital tool for daily communication. I have sent this email to the email address for yourselves that has been provided to school. However, I have set up individual emails for all children (in Class 4). [Note: this will be a different to the email set up for the year 5s last time]. This email address is secure and cannot send or receive emails from outside our organisation (i.e. Brown Clee School). From experiencing last year’s lockdown, it would definitely be preferable if children themselves could use these emails (with support – if needed). If this is not possible (or is going to cause difficulties), then it would be fine for parents/children to communicate via a different email.
- Last term, your child will have come home from school with information on how to set up Seesaw (a website/app) from home and their login information/QR code. Don’t worry if this has been misplaced (or not even seen). I can email any on individual basis, so just let me know!
- Seesaw may be the easiest way for children to send in their work. They are all familiar with how it works, and it won’t be too different to how children submit class work when we were in last term – each activity for the day will be set (along with instructions) and they can just submit their work. It is also very easy for me to give feedback – which can then be sent straight back to their Seesaw account for them to check.
- If Seesaw is presenting any problems from home, then emailing work in would be absolutely fine.
As a heads-up, I am planning on setting some of tomorrow’s time to setting up the above – and the rest of this week will be slightly more easy-going to help give you all time to get things (such as the above) set up.
At the moment, the plan is for daily work to take the following structure (by me keeping to this structure, it should hopefully make things easier for everyone in the long run):
- Work will be set on Seesaw and also posted to the school website. A link to the relevant post will be sent to yourselves (and children once/if their emails are set up).
- All classes are asking that you please email back (this could be done by the child via their new email address) by 09:30 just to confirm you have received the email and that you/your child (if they are emailing in) has seen the work. This is effectively our register for the day. At this point, if you feel there are likely to be any issues/barriers on a particular day, please ensure you, or child, lets me know.
- If pupils are submitting their work via Seesaw, they will get a comment back (with feedback) after I have seen and replied to it. If there are any corrections/improvements to be made, they should try and start them as soon as possible and resubmit their work.
- If emailing work in, they will get a reply email with feedback.
- Throughout the day, it is really important that – if after trying something, a child is still confused – they email to ask for help. I will be available throughout the day, and I (or Mr Smith/Mrs Davies) will reply with help as soon as possible.
- It is best if work is returned throughout the day – as specific feedback can then be given and acted upon much more immediately. However, I completely appreciate – given individual circumstances – this can’t always be done. Unfortunately, any work returned after 3:30 won’t be able to have specific feedback given; however, please do still send it in!
Going forward, communication is going to be vitally important. If you have any questions about the above, any of the work set each day or that you already envisage some barriers to your child’s learning at home, please let me know as soon as possible, and I will do my absolute best to try and help – whatever it may be.
Could you please acknowledge receiving this email – just so I know that I have sent it to an email address in use.
Kind regards,
Mr Harley
Class 4
Class 4
Class 4 – Computing
Class 4 are beginning to look at the basics of coding through the use of an app called Swift Playgrounds. Playgrounds uses a text-based coding language (created by Apple – and widely used in the programming of many apps) called “Swift”. More info on Swift Playgrounds can be found here: https://www.apple.com/uk/swift/playgrounds/
So far, we have looked at using and sequencing simple commands to create simple algorithms (step-by-step instructions to resolve a given problem), debugging (finding and correcting errors) simple algorithms and creating functions (combining multiple commands) to improve the efficiency in which we are coding.
Here is a video showing some of Class 4’s coding in action:
Class 4’s Timeline
Class 4 now have a scaled timeline showing British history from ‘the Stone Age’ to ‘Modern Day’ – with every 1cm representing approximately 15 years – at the back of the class. The Stone Age has been represented by an arrow due to its huge magnitude of time not fitting within the classroom at this scale!
Class 4 Spellings
Here is a list of all the spelling steps from 1A to 12E – along with where these spellings/patterns will have been taught, in terms of curriculum age group.
These steps form the spelling practice at home (all are available and set on Spelling Shed). The aim with this spelling practice is to initially recap and consolidate spellings from earlier year groups; therefore, all pupils have started on step 1A. If children are secure with these spellings, and are also completing games on Spelling Shed, they should be able to move on to the later lists much quicker (as a general rule, a child should move onto the next list once they have achieved “Royal Bee” status [icon below] – which can be achieved in as few as 4 games).
We do have time in class (on a Friday) where a small amount of time is spent on Spelling Shed on these lists, and if, for any particular reason, a child is “stuck” on a list, then they should let me know and I can check to see if they should move to the next list.
In most of our spelling lessons, however, we are focusing on the spelling patterns from the year 5/6 curriculum.
Class 4 Reading Books
The books available in Class 4 were mentioned several times in last week’s parent feedback sessions. Here is a selection of some of the books available in class.
Here is a pdf version, which will allow you to zoom in and see all the covers/titles more clearly: Class 4 Books PDF
Children are free to borrow any of the books from school – provided they are returned.
If any parents are looking for any more books, here’s a website with some great recommendations by year group: https://www.thereaderteacher.com/
School Meal Menu’s
The latest School Meal menu’s have been added to the Parent’s Area and a note of the weekly rotation.
P.E. – Class 4 – Friday
Class 4 will not be doing P.E. on tomorrow (Thursday) this week, but on Friday – and will therefore need to come to school in their P.E. kit then.
Arthog 2021
Letter regarding Class 4’s Arthog visit in summer term 2021:
Arthog Letter 2021
Class 4 – Seesaw
As you all will be aware, we are using Seesaw (a remote learning app/website) in Class 4 to minimise contact and reduce contact points.
Children, today, have been sent home with a “Home Learning Code” with some instructions on how to use Seesaw at home. This is for the potential possibility of the whole Class 4 closing (due to a positive case of COVID-19). As you will have seen (https://browncleeschool.org.uk/wp-admin/post.php?post=25737&action=edit), the government have an expectation that all children will continue with schooling (in a remote format) in the case of a full (or partial) closure of school due to COVID-19. If Class 4 are required to be at home during school term time, then Seesaw will be by far the most effective way for this learning to continue. Children are familiar with using the app/program in school and it is a very quick and easy way to set, receive and give feedback on work (also enabling children to comment on their own work to ask any questions).
If a child is off as they are awaiting a test result for either themselves or a close contact before returning to school, then class work/activities will be emailed and re-emailed (when completed) each day.
If you have any questions or queries regarding this, then please don’t hesitate to email me
(class4@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk).
Class 4 Information (and letter)
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to check out Class 4’s information page – which outlines some of the information about Class 4 (including home task expectations, curriculum information and useful links).
All children in Class 4 should be aware of our P.E. days (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and they will need to remember they need to come to school in their P.E. kits for those days.
In class, we are using an app/website called Seesaw – which allows work to be sent between “Teacher” and “Pupil” devices. Depending on its accessibility, this would be a really useful way to send and receive work from home in any future cases of self-isolation. The app is free to install on Android and Apple devices (e.g. tablets/phones). It can also be accessed by web browsers (e.g. chrome, internet edge/explorer, safari etc.) on computers/laptops. Over the next few days, each child will be given login information which allows them to login into their Seesaw account from home. This will hopeful be an easier form of communication (in terms of send and receiving work as Class 4 pupils will all be familiar using Seesaw) in the event of self-isolation. [Phone call from myself will still happen: see earlier post on Isolating Pupils and Remote Learning]
As part of using Seesaw, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) dictates that permission from parents is required. See GDPR Parent Letter. If you are able to print/sign the letter at home and send back in (either via email or with child), that would be fantastic. If this is not possible, a letter will be sent home with children over this week.
If you have any questions or queries about anything, please do not hesitate to contact me (email: class4@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk).
Class 4 – Weekly Activities – w/c 13.07
I hope everyone is doing well.
This will be our last week before the summer holidays. The Year 6s (at home) should have had an email about filming some memories for our leavers’ video.
Maths
Here are some maths puzzles for you to have a go at for this week. The penguin and the breakfast mysteries do have a lot of steps and could take quite a while for you to complete. We will also have a final TTRS battle – which will end on Friday!
English
Here are some English puzzles for you to have a go for this week:
Colour by word type – 1
Colour by word type – 2
Here are some spelling crosswords for you to try:
T2-E-1144-Year-5-6-Statutory-Spelling-List-Crossword-Pack
As we finish our class read for this term last week, your reading task for this week is to draw the front cover of your favourite book (or if you wish, you could design your own version of its cover or even a front cover for your own book).
P.E.
This week in school (on Wednesday), we are having a mini-sports day. It would be great if you could also take part at home by sending in any photos or videos of you doing any sporting activities that you wish.
Own activities
It would be fantastic if you could share any other things you will be doing at home next week. (class4@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk).
Other activities (links)
If you’re looking for other activities to do at home, here are list of free websites you could try:
General
BBC Bitesize – Daily Lessons
Oak National Academy – Free lessons
Science
STEM – activities at home
The Children’s University of Science – University of Manchester
30 ways to go wild with science
National Geographic Kids – Science
P.E.
Premier League – Supermovers
East Shropshire Sports Partnership – Twitter
Just Dance – YouTube
GoNoodle
Computing
Scratch
CODE
Learn to touch type
Geography
National Geographic Kids – Geography
3D Geography facts
World Geography Games
History
The Children’s University of History – University of Manchester
National Geographic Kids – History
Music
10 Pieces at Home – BBC
Music Express
Languages
The Children’s University of Languages – University of Manchester
English
LitFilmFest
First News – Free Digital Download Newspaper
Myths and Legends
Pobble365 – Daily Story Activities
Reading Realm – Free Resources/lessons
Reading Realm – Fairy tales activities
Reading Realm – Nature and animal activities
OxfordOwl – Free ebooks
ReadTheory
Spelling Shed
Maths
Class 4 working at home
Leia has been busy finding out about how the heart works and using her maths skills in the kitchen. Well done Leia!
