Dear Parents/Carers, We hope your children are settling easily into their new Year 3 classes. Please find below details of various aspects of the learning and organisation of Year 3. Daily Routines and Independence From the very start of Year 3, we encourage the children to show responsibility and independence. Please be aware that the Year 3 lockers are large enough for a small school bag and a coat and are not suitable for rucksacks or any additional items. We request they use a small school bag to carry letters, home reading and library books. Children are required to look after and remember their lunch boxes, jumpers, musical instruments and other belongings. Homework In light of the current situation, we are now setting online weekly homework. Your child’s log in details will come home in their green book, which should then remain at home. If you have any problems with accessing the online platforms or your child has limited computer access, please contact your child’s class teacher via the office. Spelling: This will be set every Monday to be completed by the following Monday. Children will use an online spelling curriculum using Purple Mash. Each child will have ten words to practise in their homework book before completing an online quiz. Your child will be tested on their spellings weekly on a Friday. The first spelling homework will be sent home week commencing 21st September once we have accurately assessed the children and ensured they are learning the most appropriate words. Maths: This will be set on a Monday and to be completed by the following Monday. This is set online (MyMaths). Additionally, children should be practising their multiplication tables and related division facts regularly as we assess these weekly. They will receive logins for Times Table Rock Stars (TTRS) to support this. Home Reading Your child will have the opportunity to choose a library book to take home each week. We encourage you to listen to your child read on a regular basis and discuss the events, characters and settings. Your child will have a home-school reading book for you and your child to record what they read each week. An adult in the class will check this on a weekly basis. In addition, all children can select a school library book of their choice, which will stay in school for quiet reading times. Your child’s library days are as follows: 3D and 3B – Thursday (Reading records return on Tuesdays). 3R and 3W – Friday (Reading records return on Wednesdays). P.E. P.E. will be on Mondays and Wednesdays. It is important that your child wears their kit into school on these days: ideally blue or black shorts, leggings or tracksuit bottoms, yellow P.E. t-shirt, a blue or black sweatshirt or warmer zip up top and trainers or plimsolls. If stud earrings are worn, as permitted by the school and LA policies, these should be removed for P.E. sessions. Children with newly-pierced ears must bring in tape to cover their earrings. Please note that teachers and other members of staff are not permitted to remove a child’s earrings, therefore children must be able to remove and replace them on their own or bring a suitable microporous tape to cover them. Clothing We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have named your child’s clothing and belongings. “I can’t find my jumper / t-shirt / shorts,” is a common complaint at times and reuniting clothing with owners is made so much easier when names are inside. We would appreciate it if you could also check that labels do not fade away after uniforms have been washed a few times. Trips and Activties In Year 3, there are a range of trips and activities that we usually plan to support the curriculum and need financial support to pay for. For the foreseeable future, due to Covid-19 restrictions, these may not take place but you will be informed of those we are able to book as they occur. Please be aware that prices are approximate. At the request of parents, we have tried to detail these in advance for the year as follows: Design Technology activities for year- £2.00 Visit to the Methodist Church to see a mock baptism – September - Free Skeleton Workshop using museum artefacts – September - £1.00 Egyptian Museum Open Session (at school for parents) – Free – December Hooke Court – 3 day optional residential visit - £170– January 2021 Stone Age Workshop – for non-residential children - £10 – January 2021 Southsea Seafront – Free – April 2021 Gunwharf Quays and Spinnaker Tower - £9.00 – May 2021 Just Different workshop for P.S.H.E.- £4.00 - July 2021 Professional Musicians – there may be additional requests for payments should performances to the school be arranged during the year Healthy Snacks Children are allowed to bring in a healthy snack for their morning break. They are welcome to bring in fruit, cereal bars or any healthy alternative to keep in their tray in a separate container to their named lunch box until break time. Please note that crisps, chocolate bars and sweets are not acceptable healthy snacks. Children will also need to bring their own named water bottle in school so they have access to drinking water during the day. Curriculum Map A curriculum map, which is a general overview of the work your child will be doing during the year, will be available on our website. If you require a hard copy, please contact the office. Contact us Finally, if at any time you have any queries or concerns, please let us know. Contact teachers via the office by phone and email and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Yours sincerely, The Year 3 team Mrs Robinson 3R Mr Dugan 3D Mrs Brooks 3B Miss Wilkinson 3W

Dear parents We are delighted to be opening up to all and look forward to having your child start their time with us here at Craneswater Junior School. We have been working hard on plans to keep pupils as safe as possible while making sure the school day and classroom environment feels familiar and normal. Our first official start date is Thursday 3rd September. Once again we are offering our new year 3 pupils a second opportunity to visit the site and see their teacher on Wednesday 2nd September. If you feel that your child would benefit from this opportunity, please enter the site by the St Ronan’s Road entrance near Albert Road. The timings of this will be: Southsea Infant 9:00 to 9:40 Cumberland Infant 10:00 to 10:40 Bramble Infant and all other schools 11:20 to 12:00 Please ensure you leave promptly at these times so we can welcome the next group. Please also ensure that you maintain social distancing at all times. September arrangements On the first and second day of term (Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th September), we will ask you to join us at 9.20 in the middle playground for a 9.30 start. For many of the children in school this will be their first day at school since March and we think it will be easier for our new year 3 children to settle given a later and less busy start. We will also finish at 2.30pm for year 3 children on those days for the same reasons. On these 2 days please enter the site via the entrance on St Ronan’s Road nearest Albert Road and leave via the more southerly exit on St Ronan’s Road. See Map A. From the week beginning Monday 7th September year 3 will then begin their standard start and finish times alongside the rest of the school. These are set out below: years 3 and 5 drop off 8.30am and collection 2.50pm years 4 and 6 drop off 8.40am and collection 3.00pm Classes 3B (Mrs Brooks), 3D (Mr Dugan) and 3R (Mrs Robinson) will enter and leave via the southerly entrance on St Ronan’s Road. 3W (Mrs Wilkinson) will enter and leave via the northern entrance on St Ronan’s Road. Please see Map B. Getting to and from school Please avoid using public transport as far as possible. We would encourage walking, cycling and scooting – there are facilities for cycle and scooter storage at school. We would suggest that you bring a lock as all are left at owners’ risk. Please do not congregate around the site at the beginning and the end of the school day to ensure that social distancing is maintained. As far as possible please either; allow your child to come to school on their own (if you feel that is appropriate) or drop them off near the school allowing them to walk to the school entrance by themselves. If you feel that you need to bring your child onto the school site please use the carousel systems to drop your child off without staying around to engage in conversation with your child’s teacher (obviously a quick hello is fine). This is so we can maintain social distancing and make drop offs efficient. This is a walking carousel as opposed to a stop and wait. Please queue up outside the school premises maintaining social distancing and do not cross the yellow markers in the playgrounds. Please be on time. Children will not be allowed to stay and play on site at the end of the day. The car park entrance should only be used by children who are entering and leaving the site by themselves and is not for parents at the moment. Communication Please contact the office by email or telephone call as far as possible rather than coming into the reception area as we need to minimise the number of adults on site. DFE guidelines state that parents should only come into school in an emergency. In any event we will only allow one parent/family in reception at a time. Our preferred method of communication for general messages is ‘Studybugs’ You should have received details of this app in our hadbook. If you have not already signed up please do so by following this link https://studybugs.com/ Miscellaneous Children should NOT wear facemasks in school as this is against government advice. If you choose to wear one on the way to school they will need to be put away in a bag or disposed of in a bin Pupils should wear school uniform except on PE days where they children should come in their PE kit. Children will be informed of their PE days once we return to school. We will be keeping windows open as much as possible so please make sure your child dresses accordingly and has a jumper to wear Water bottles are to be brought in from home and taken home daily Children should not bring in any additional items e.g. pencil cases. All equipment will be provided in individual pencil cases. There will be no hot lunches as there are too many logistical challenges to enable these to be provided safely. Children will still be able to order a cold packed lunch through SCOPay or in class, which will still be provided free for those eligible. Please follow the link for more information https://caterlinkltd.co.uk/school/portsmouth-citycouncil/ We emailed sign up details for parents to set up a SCOPay accoutnt a few weeks ago. If you have not received the email or have had problems with the account, your child will still be able to order a meal in class. The admin team will be contacting parents who have notified us of problems early next week. If you are providing your child with a packed lunch from home lunches are to be placed in a washable lunchbox with your child’s name and class clearlhy labelled. Health We are fortunate in Portsmouth that the level of infection is currently low. You can play your part in keeping the rate of infection low and reducing the spread of the virus by: Helping your child understand and follow the school's new arrangements to keep everyone as safe as possible Teaching your child how to wash their hands effectively, and ensuring they wash their hands frequently Encouraging good respiratory hygiene, by following the "catch it, bin it, kill it" guidance when coughing or sneezing Keeping your child off school if they or anyone in the household has symptoms of coronavirus, or if they have returned from a country with quarantine restrictions in the last 14 days. If reporting an absence please use the Studbugs app. https://studybugs.com/ Please contact us if your child has any underlying health conditions that you feel we need to be aware of and that may affect their return to school on admin@craneswater.portsmouth.sch.uk INSET Days We also have two in service training days days booked for the autumn term on Monday October 5th and Monday 30th November. Therefore, school will be closed on these two days. Yours sincerely, Dave Jones