A new term!

Please join us on Thursday 5 September for our Open Evening. This will be a brilliant opportunity to meet the team and find out a little bit more about our pastoral and academic provision in Year 4 and the wider Prep school. Individual parent consultations will be taking place later in the term, on Tuesday 5 November.

This term our topic is

‘What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?’

Highlights include a very exciting early trip planned to Butser Ancient Farm, which will spark the children’s enthusiasm for all their cross curricular work afterwards, and Sir Teachalot will visit the Year 4 children for Roman Day.

Letters will be sent nearer to the time letting you know the details.

A Learning Journey, giving you an overview of what the Year 4 children will be covering this term, will be in our Friday communication. Further detail of the curriculum coverage will also be send within the Topic Tree on Friday.

We are very excited to be introducing Woodland Learning on a half-termly rotation in Years 3 and 4. In the second half of term, Year 4 will have a weekly slot of Woodland Learning. Please ensure your child has the correct kit to be able to access the woods. They will need this at the start of term for any other lessons taking place there as well. If you have any queries regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s form tutor.

Whilst we appreciate the first week in a new academic year is quite daunting and we welcome you supporting your child coming into school each day, we would ask that from the second week of term you encourage your child to enter school each morning independently.

As your child has now reached Year 4, expectations will be that they are ambassadors and role models for the younger pupils in school.  Therefore, displaying good manners and exemplary behaviour is always expected.  These morals and values will be explored in greater depth in our PSHEE curriculum, but again we appreciate your support at home to reinforce key messages.

Your child will be given the opportunity to take on roles of responsibility amongst their peers, as well as to represent Year 4 in the wider school community: these may include being a year group representative on the School/Eco/Anti-Bullying/Food Councils, classroom/locker area monitor or leading Community Time activities.

Your child will be given a Prep Diary and reading record, which they must bring into school each day. Each week, Creative Curriculum and Maths homework will be set. Children are expected to practice their SpellingShed and DoodleMaths activities daily, with a minimum of five games a week in addition to times tables and regular reading.

Each week prep will be set in both Creative Curriculum and Maths, and occasionally Topic. Pupils are given a minimum of a weekend and two working evenings to complete their work before handing in.

Regular reading, as well as spelling activities and practicing times tables, continues in Year 4.

We would appreciate your support in allowing your children to complete their homework as independently as possible please.

This term we have 2 trips planned for our Year 4 children!

We’re so excited to be able to offer the children some real-world experience of what they are learning in school. Trips are a brilliant way of making learning more tangible and memorable, as they enable the children to engage with the material in a more active and immersive way than can often be possible in the classroom. They are a powerful tool for broadening the children’s horizons, and also a lot of fun; we cannot wait to enjoy these days out over the Autumn Term!

• Friday 13 September – Year 4 will visit Butser Ancient Farm.
• Thursday 12 December – We will be taking the children to the theatre to see Robin Hood.

More information will follow nearer to the dates.

For all absences, please complete the absence request form via the Parent Portal. Please see the guide here on how to request an absence for your child.

Please ensure your child is well enough to attend school each day. If they’ve required Calpol in the morning, they aren’t well enough for school, so please don’t send them in. If in any doubt, please contact Matron to discuss your concerns.

If your child will need any prescribed or over-the-counter medication administered during the school day, please complete the following form here. No medication can be administered without this form.

Children are to bring their water bottles to school and take them home daily. It is very important that the children drink water throughout the day, and using bottles in the classrooms helps to prevent spillages! If you do forget a bottle, just let us know and we can ensure that children have a cup to drink out of.

Drop off is at 8:15am on the Terrace or in the Drop off zone, for registration at 8:20am. Children arriving earlier should be booked in for breakfast from 7:30am or join our Early Birds in the Sports Hall or Courts from 8:00am. Children shouldn’t enter the Clock Block earlier than 8:15am.

Pick Up is at 4:00pm at the front of school. Please ensure that your child blobs out with a teacher before they leave the school site.

If you’d like your child to join us for breakfast, or stay beyond 4:00pm for hobbies or after school supervision/supper club, please contact extendedday@pennthorpe.com to arrange this.

As well as your pocket-sized diary, parents can also view the Autumn Term calendar via the website and Parent Portal.

Please do have a look through and pop important dates in your diary.  Of course, sometimes plans need to be updated, and so any changes will be updated on our electronic calendar and communicated to you as soon as possible.

The key events for our Year 4 parents include:

• Parents are invited to our Prep Open Evening on Thursday 5 September between 7:00-8:30pm.
• Year 4’s Trip to Butser Ancient Farm is on Friday 13 September.
• We will be hosting a PSHEE & RSE Tea & Talk for Reception – Year 4 Parents on Thursday 19 September.
• Individual & Sibling Pupil Photographs are scheduled for Tuesday 24 September.
• There will be a Pupil Wellbeing Tea & Talk for Parents on Thursday 10 October.
• Years 3 & 4 Class Teacher Parents’ Evening is scheduled for Tuesday 5 November between 4:30-7:00pm.
• Year 4’s Roman Experience Day is on Wednesday 6 November.
• Our Whole School Remembrance Service will be held on Monday 11 November at 10:30am.
• Save the date for the Years 3 & 4 Production on Thursday 21 November at 5:30pm.
• Please join us on Wednesday 4 December at 9:30am for our Christingle Service for children in Beehive to Year 4.
• Year 4 Parents are invited to Pop Up Class Museum on Friday 6 December at 2:30pm.
• Our Carol Service in the Chapel @ Christ’s Hospital for Families of Pupils in Year 1 – 8 is on Tuesday 10 December.
• We will be taking the children to see Robin Hood at The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre on Thursday 12 December.
• Carols Around the Tree takes places on Thursday 12 December at 4:00pm.
• Friday 13 December is the end of term with school finishing for Year 4 children at 11:50am.

Children can wear either summer or winter uniform until half term, after which all children should switch to winter uniform.

Please make sure your child’s uniform is labelled with their name, as it does make it a lot easier to reunite lost items with their owners.

Children are expected to wear smart uniform each day:

• All children should wear their blazers coming to and from school.
• Clean black school shoes (if a child needs to wear trainers, for example where their school shoes have been misplaced, please make the form teacher aware)
• Shirts need to be long enough to tuck in.
• Earrings – one plain stud only. No hoops. The child needs to be able to take the earrings out independently for PE and Games lessons.
• No necklaces.
• Plain wristwatch, no smartwatches to be worn.
• All shoulder length hair tied up with a plain hairband or small school coloured scrunchie or headband.

Whilst the sun is shining, please apply sun cream to your child at home, before the beginning of their session as we will be outside as much as possible. We cannot provide sun cream in school so it is essential that children bring this in themselves.

All PE and Games kit should be brought in to school on a Monday morning and should be taken home for washing at the end of each week. All children require a mouthguard and shin pads for lessons, as well as competitive matches. They will not be allowed to participate in lessons or matches without these items, as this poses significant risk to the children.

As mentioned above, we are very excited to be introducing Woodland Learning on a half-termly rotation in Years 3 and 4. In the second half of term, Year 4 will have a weekly slot of Woodland Learning. Please ensure your child has the correct kit to be able to access the woods. They will need this at the start of term for any other lessons taking place there as well. If you have any queries regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s form tutor.

The Year 4 Team will be conducting a complete kit check at the beginning of term.  This will include wellies, waterproof trousers, school play coat, water bottle and sports kit. Do talk to your children about the importance of looking after and organising their own property, as we gently begin to encourage their independence and development of organisational skills.

If you have any uniform requirements, please place an order via our website here. You can also book an appointment at the Uniform Shop by contacting uniform@pennthorpe.com or drop in during the times below:

• Monday 8:30am – 9:30am
• Tuesday 3:30pm – 4:30pm
• Wednesday 3:30pm – 4:30pm
• Thursday CLOSED
• Friday 8:30am – 9:30am

For the first half of the Autumn Term the girls will be switching to hockey and boys will be switching to football. A full kit list is available here, and all branded items can be ordered through Blueblood

Girls:

• Games kit
• Shin Pads
• Gum shield

Boys:

• Games kit
• Shin pads
• Boots

Please do not park in the drop-off lanes at the front of school if you are coming past the gates to drop your child into school, or collect them from one of the school buildings. These lanes are intended for dropping-off only!

Instead, please park up in the car park, or find a safe place to park on the neighbouring roads (being considerate of our neighbours, especially with regards parking near to junctions or driveways).