| WELCOME TO CLASS 4/5 OP for 2009 from MRS OLDS and MR PITTARD |
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 Intergrated unit of work
Tilly Tonka’s Toy Factory
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Weekly Overview
Dear Parents and Caregivers 1. Welcome to the school year of 2009 and to the class of 4/5P from Mrs Olds and Mr Pittard. For those of you who are new to the class, your child has two classroom teachers, Mrs Olds and Mr Pittard who share the responsibility for your child’s education. Mrs Janet Olds teaches the class every Wednesday and Mr Pittard teaches the class the remaining days of the week GROUPING TECHNIQUES 2. In the classroom the children will be grouped in a variety of ways in different Key Learning Areas (subjects) to best meet their needs. These groups may include the following:
a. Fixed groups working with a teacher/teacher aide;
b. Needs groups formed as identified; and
c.Range of grouping strategies, including independent work,
partner activities, small group, large group and whole class.
BEHAVIOUR EXPECTATIONS 3. It is expected that the children in 4/5P will follow the School Code of:
a. Safety;
b. Effort;
c. Respect, and
d. Self-Responsibility.
Monthly reports will be issued each month to update you on your child’s behaviour.
WORK EXPECTATIONS 4. The children in 4/5P are encouraged to:
a. have a go;
b. put in their best effort;
c. self-assess (Is this my best effort?);
d. complete work and hand in on time;
e. display neatness of handwriting and presentation and;
f. be organised (sheets in folders, tidy trays neat, pencils ready).
ROUTINES 5. We believe that routines are necessary to develop student independence, initiative and responsibility. These include:
a. Homework books handed out Monday and returned on Friday to be marked. b. Reading folders for leveled readers returned daily
c. Fruit ‘n’ Veg and water bottles brought to school every day.
d. Fitness program (smart moves) conducted every morning with hats.
e. Monthly reports send home and signed and returned.
CATERING FOR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 6. The following are ways that we cater for individual differences:
a. Learning Support Teacher;
b. Teacheraide assistance;
c. Small group reading;
d. Range of levels of reading texts;
e. Small group Reading comprehension;
f. Assistance with Language and Maths activities;
g. One-to-one teacher assistance;
h. Use of the Internet, and
i. Fast finishers’ folder.
HOMEWORK The benefits of homework to children are:
7. Responsibility – Doing homework every day at the same time develops routines and prepares children for responsibilities they will face as adults
8. Reinforcement – Homework helps children understand that learning doesn’t stop when the school bell rings
9. Self-esteem and accomplishment – Children learn self-esteem by doing and achieving. Please give regular praise and applaud your child for successfully completing homework, you would be surprised how much this helps.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? 10. Negotiate with your child a regular time to complete homework.
Provide an environment and time that promotes good study and work habits.
HOME READING 11 Encourage your child to read, and read with them, let them ‘catch you’ reading. Please fill out the reading record sheet.
PARENT ROLE 12. If you give assistance with work please indicate that you’ve helped (e.g. note on the work). Please encourage your child to ‘have a go’ by him/herself in the first instance. Assistance you give should help him/her to achieve an answer, not provide him/her with an answer. We greatly value the interest you show in your child’s homework and their day at school.
PARENT PROCEDURES 13. Please don’t hesitate to contact either of us if you have any concerns. However, please realise that during the school day our primary role is to be with our students. Therefore we would appreciate it if you make an appointment to see us either prior to school or after 3:00 pm, except Monday afternoons, because of staff meetings.
END OF THE SCHOOL DAY 14. As soon as students have tidied up their areas and received any messages or reminders they will be released. If some special arrangement needs to be made for the early release of your child, please contact the school.
EQUIPMENT 15. At this stage of the school year all children should have all their school equipment. It is extremely difficult for them to complete activities without pencils, erasers, rulers, colours etc. Textbook required for this year are Queensland Targeting Maths Year 4/5 respectively. All other texts (Homework, Handwriting, and English) will be provided by the school.
MONTHLY REPORTS /4W SHEETS 16. Monthly reports will come home at the end of the month to give you an idea how your child is progressing. Monthly reports concentrate on both work and study habits and social attitudes, and are both teacher and student assessed. They use the same scale as the new report cards, and give you the opportunity to discuss issues with your child or request an interview if necessary. 4W sheet are sent home as information sheet to inform you if there are any issues that we think you should know about.
17. Please retain the above information but sign and return the following page so that we know that you have received this useful information. Let us all do the very best that we can for your child’s education and make 2009 a great year. Kind Regards
Kardean Pittard Janet Olds |
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