Welcome to Year 3

Southcott is a school where everyone

matters.

We believe …

… in full and meaningful

partnership with parents

and the local community.

…every member of our

learning community should

feel that they are important

and valued.

… that schools should be

inclusive communities that

welcome and celebrate

differences.

Y3

Members of Staff

MrsMeenan

Crested Owls

Miss Hall

Striped Owls

Mrs Smith

Year 3

Teaching Assistant

Learning in Year 3The Curriculum

• English

• Maths

• Science

• Computing

• Design and Technology

• Art and Design

• PSHE

• RE

• PE

• French

• Music

• History

• Geography

More information can be found on our school website on our Year 3 class page.

School Behaviour

Attendance and Punctuality

We are proud of our good attendance at

Southcott.

Punctuality is a key life skill. We instil

this from the start. Please drop off and

collect your child on time as this helps

them to settle in the morning and get

ready for the day ahead. Please

familiarise yourself with our staggered

start and finish times at present.

Leave of absence must be requested

and forms are available from the School

Office

Arriving and Departing School

Bikes and ScootersWe love to see our children bike and scooter to school.

For safety children must dismount before entering the playground.

Bikes and scooters can be left in the store at the front entrance during the day.

Parking Please wherever possible try to walk to and from school. If you come to school by car please be considerate of our neighbours and avoid parking on private property or somewhere that could block access to our neighbours.

Accessing School

At present we have changed some of the routes you would normally use to collect and drop off your child. Please familiarise yourself with where your child should be dropped off or collected.

Medicines

Medicines

All medicines must be signed in at the office

We can only administer prescribed medication.Please do not send cough sweets in to school in book bags.

You can access our medicine policy via our school website.

School Uniform and PESchool Uniform• Please follow the school uniform policy. This can be found on our school website.• Clearly label all clothing and shoes, including hats, gloves and scarves.• Send in a suitable coat on cold and/or wet days (we do go out!)

PE• The Southcott PE kit consists of a

white t-shirt, red shorts, black plimsolls or trainers.

• A track suit can be worn for outdoor PE . It is likely that all PE will be taught outdoors during the autumn term this year.

• Earrings must be removed on PE days .If earrings are not removed children must bring in suitable tape to cover their ears.

• Long hair must be tied back.

Healthy School Practice

As part of our healthy school

programme we ask that:

• Chocolate, nuts and sweets are

avoided in lunchboxes.

• Children may bring in a healthy

snack for breaktime. This could be

a piece of fruit or a cereal bar.

• Please send water in named

bottles daily. This will be essential

in the autumn term.

• Try to walk to school, if you can’t

then try to park away from school

and walk the last part.

ReadingReading:It is essential that children bring their reading books to school each day.

Guided ReadingThe Class Teacher or Teaching Assistant will listen to your child read within a guided reading session each week.

We designate half an hour in the timetable a day for guided reading. We work with a small number of children to analyse a text in detail, making sure each child can read each word and discuss the meaning of the text with them.

At the end of each week, each child has had some quality reading time with an adult.

Individual Reading

Please support your child by encouraging them to read on a daily basis, for a minimum of 10 minutes, and signing their Reading Record Book.

How can I help my child with

reading? First and foremost reading must be pleasurable. Children at Southcott love stories and derive great pleasure from being read to and reading independently.

Through sharing a book or listening to someone read to them, children can:

• be transported to other places

• begin to form opinions (and gain an understanding of others’ opinions)

• develop a sense of humour

• become acquainted with people and characters and their emotions

• develop empathy

• ‘visit’ parts of the world (and other worlds!) they had no idea existed

• develop their imagination

• learn facts

• make links between their own and others’ lives

• become discerning readers, make informed choices.

• and much more!

How can I help my child with

reading? How to read with children of any age

• Set aside some timeFind somewhere quiet without any distractions - turn off the TV/radio/computer.

• Ask your child to choose a bookSharing books they have chosen shows you care what they think and that their opinion matters. This means they are more likely to engage with the book.

• Sit close togetherEncourage your child to hold the book themselves and/or turn the pages.

• Point to the picturesIf there are illustrations, relate them to something your child knows. Ask them to describe the characters or situation or what will happen next. Encourage them to tell you the story by looking at the pictures.

• Encourage your child to talk about the bookTalking about the characters and their dilemmas helps children understand relationships and is an excellent way for you to get to know each other or discuss difficult issues. Give your child plenty of time to respond. Ask them what will happen next, how a character might be feeling or how the book makes them feel.

• Make it fun!It doesn't matter how you read with a child, as long as you both enjoy the time together. Don't be afraid to use funny voices - children love this!

The Book Trust has lots of useful ideas and resources for parents and carers https://www.booktrust.org.uk/supporting-you/families/reading-tips/how-to-read-with-your-child/

How can I help my child with reading?Supporting Reading Skills

Fluency Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression. It is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

Read aloud to your child to model fluent reading.

ComprehensionReading comprehension is the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and to integrate it with what the reader already knows.

• Encourage children to retrieve information from the text, which means literally looking for a bit of information and then reading it out.

• Think about inference. This is sometimes called: 'reading between the lines'. It is when you make a judgement about a character or a situation, by looking at the language used.

• Think about deduction. This is sometimes called: 'reading beyond the lines'. This means using the information you have read to come to your own conclusions about the text.

• Ask your child questions based on prediction. This means encouraging a child to think about what might happen next.

Maths

Problem Solving

At Southcott we are striving to develop problem solving and real life maths. We are doing this by having:

• regular problem solving tasks in class

• a weekly problem solving lesson such as ‘Problem Solving Friday’

• How can you help?

Please see next page for ideas.

Possible Maths Activities for Home…

Helping at Southcott

We are extremely appreciative of the support parents and carers provide for the school. Sadly, we will not be able to

welcome parent helpers in straight away in the Autumn term, but here are here are some ways you can become

involved in the life of the school in the future.

• Become a classroom helper. This can be on a regular or ad hoc basis.

• Volunteer to be a class trip helper.

• Work with the School Association. This can be on a regular basis or volunteering for events such as the termly discos.

If you have a worry about your

child in school

• First speak to your child and find out what has happened and find a way to help them with the problem

• Your child’s teacher is the person in school that knows your child best -please always contact them first if you have a worry or concern about your child, this can be before or after school or via the home/school book.

• We try to resolve worries personally and face to face.

• There is a saying:

‘Praise loudly and publically, criticise softly and privately.’

We try to be a listening school..

• If the matter is not then resolved, queries can be raised with the Headteacher.

A detailed complaints policy is on our website. http://www.southcottlowerschool.com/policies-a-d/

Other people who can help you at

Southcott• Senior Leadership Team

• SENCo

• Office Team

• Governing Board

• Southcott School Association

• Catering Team

Further details can be found here:

http://www.southcottlowerschool.com/whos-who/

We very much look forward to

working with you!

We look forward to welcoming you back in

September.

We wish you a very happy summer !