Weekly Update - Term 2 Week 11

Dear Parents

What a fantastic week that was!

Book Week was cause for much excitement in Year 3 starting off with a really interesting presentation by children's author, Gail Clarke. She told us some good ideas for writing stories, documenting the way in which she starts writing each of her books. The key part is starting with a good 'idea'! Tuesday brought many famous book characters to life in our Book Week dress up day and parade. It was nice to see so many of our children dressed up in fancy costumes representing their favorite stories. On Wednesday some of our students took part in the book swap and were able to take home a couple of new 'pre-loved' books. On Thursday, we got to meet with another author named David Schwartz who was equally as entertaining. Thanks so much to Ms. Helle and her library team for organizing such a fun and exciting week for us!

Through all that, we still managed to fit in a lot of class learning time as well. We are continuing to use our Literacy skills to compose and respond to comments on Edmodo regarding our Windows to the World topic. This week we learned all about animals and pets from our partner schools. Next week we will begin to focus on the final collaborative project, building a website, exciting stuff! Watch this space, it will be published in the next four or five weeks for everyone to see.

In Maths we returned to calculating equations using all four operations. We have been re-learning our methods for calculating so that we know which to use for each operation.

Many thanks to all parents who attended our 3-way consultations this week. The children really do enjoy sharing their learning with you.

Next week will be the last before our two week Songkran Break. Please read the important information below from Mr. Robinson:

Dear Parents,

The Primary School children will be celebrating Songkran on the last day of Term 2b - Friday 6th April,

Children are encouraged to wear Songkran clothing (floral shirt) for the day. The day is about having fun whilst showing 'Respect'.

Our Thai teachers will be running some cultural activities for Years 2, 4 and 6. There will also be a variety of water activities for all year levels to take part in and enjoy.

Primary Songkran Water Activities - Pool, Slip n Slide, Water Fight

• 8.00am - 9.00am Year 3 and 4 (Encouraged to come to school in swim clothing, swim shorts and rash shirt - bring dry Songkran clothes and a towel)
• 9.00am - 10.00am Year 5 and 6
• 10.40am - 11.20am Year 1 and 2 (time to get changed into dry clothes for assembly at 11.40.)

Please note:

• No water activity is compulsory and all activities will be well supervised for the safety of the children.
• All children must wear a swimming costume with a rash shirt for sun protection. Sunscreen is advised.
• Children may bring water pistols (clearly named) to school for the water fight. Anything too high pressured will be taken by the supervising teacher and given back at the end of the morning. No child has to join in the water fight if they don't want to.

End of Term Assembly in the Primary Hall

11.40am - 12.10pm All Primary Years 1-6

School finishes for the end of term break (After Lunch)

12.45pm

Message from Cruziero Football Schools:

In Term 3 a World Cup Football league will be available for children through the school. If you need more information please contact nharris@bisphuket.ac.th

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Update - Term 2 Week 10

Dear Parents,

Well done to all the children for a wonderful assembly today.  All the hard work the children put into remember all their lines was well worth it!!!

We are quickly heading towards the end of term but the children are still working hard in class!

In Maths we have continued to focus on capacity and volume. Lots of different activities have kept the children learning, including reading scales, measuring capacity and adding and subtracting capacities. Next week we will return to looking at all of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and the different methods we can use to solve them. Supporting your child with their times tables is still really important in order for them to secure the 3, 4 and 8 times tables this academic year. There are many online activities to practise, here is just one of them with a few games and practise strategies: https://www.timestables.com/

In our Global Connect project we shared information about the holidays and festivals which we celebrate. The children could write about those that are traditional to Thailand or those that are from their own country. We have found out a lot of new information about what festivals people celebrate in Nepal, Egypt and the U.S.A. Some of these festivals are unique to those countries. We noticed that some are celebrated all around the world as people have moved to live in another country but take their traditions with them.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to meeting you all next week.

Notices

Book Week, March 26th-30th, 2018

Monday 26th: 

Children’s author, illustrator and storyteller Gail Clarke in Primary for Years 1-6.
After school signed copies of Gail’s books will be on sale at the main entrance or order forms may be obtained from the library.
To learn more about Gail Clarke visit her website: http://www.gailclarkeauthor.com/

Tuesday 27th: 

Dress up as a favourite book character. 8.10 am Book Parade in the Sports Hall. Parents are welcome as spectators. If you need easy and cheap ideas for an outfit for your child these sites may help:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/30-last-minute-world-book-10979884
https://www.pinterest.com/marcitate/book-character-dress-up-day/

Wednesday 28th: 

Primary Library BOOK SWAP.
Students are encouraged to bring own books that they have already read (maximum 3 per child).
The books should be age-appropriate for the student him- or herself (we don’t want to end up with heaps and heaps of baby books).The books should be in good condition. Books can be brought to the library from Monday, March 19. Children will get a token for each book they hand in. The token can be used on book swap day for a new book. Please encourage students to come to the library with the books themselves. We will keep a record of who has handed in books. Teachers will bring the classes to the book swap during the day. Books left over by the end of the book swap will be donated to a charity.

Thursday 29th: 

Children’s author, illustrator and storyteller Gail Clarke in Primary for Early Years.

Thursday 29th & Friday 30th: 

Children’s author David M. Schwartz in Primary for Years 1-6.
To learn about David M. Schwartz visit his website: http://davidschwartz.com/ .

Goal Setting Conferences

Goal Setting Conferences involving you, your child and your child’s teacher will take place from Monday, March 26th - Thursday, March 29th


There will be no teacher led after school activities during the conference week. Paid activities are likely to continue but please check with the activity leader. We kindly request that children are collected at the normal pick up time to enable staff to prepare. School buses will depart at 2.45pm on these days.


Parents can now book a 15 minute appointment online to see their child’s teacher through this link:

Access to Parent-Teacher-Child Consultation

Further detailed instructions on how to use this online system please see below. Please use this to plan who you need to visit. Instructions will also be posted on your child’s year group blog.


Any parents who would like to meet their child’s teacher on a different date are requested to contact the teacher directly to arrange a mutually convenient appointment.


Please ensure you have booked your online appointment by Friday 23rd March. If you have trouble using the online system please come to either the Primary Office or the IT helpdesk, on the ground floor, in the MTB.

How to book Parent-Teacher-Student Goal Setting Conference

To sign-up: Click on this link Access to Conference Sign Up
Select, by clicking the boxes, for all of the teachers you’d like to see for all of your children.
Complete the ‘Student Sign-up’ page by answering the questions. Ensure you use an active email.
To activate your account: open your email from do-not-reply@ptcfast.com and click on ‘Click here to select conference time.’ Please check your ‘junk’ box if you do not receive this.

This will then take you to the booking page. Select, by clicking the box, next to one 15 minute appointment time you want for each teacher. If you would like to deselect, click on the remove appointment box just below the teacher's name.

*Please note that this is a two-step process. You must sign-up and then activate your account through your email in order to book time slots. If you have any trouble using this system please come to the Primary Office or the IT help desk in the MTB.

Friday the 6th April, end of term, half day.

Weekly Update Term 2 Week 9

Dear Parents,

Today was a fabulous International Day. Thank you to all those that supported the event. The children had a wonderful time performing on the stage and enjoying foods from around the world.

We have continued with our Global Connect Project by sharing our climates, geography and environment with the other schools from Egypt, Nepal and America. We have also started a new maths unit about Capacity and Volume. 

3PJ have started to prepare for their assembly next week. All parents are invited to come and enjoy the show at 1.45pm Friday 23rd March in the secondary auditorium.

Notices

PE - Next week 3PJ will start a new unit of sponge ball tennis. This will last 4 weeks until we begin a unit on swimming survival.

Parent Workshop on Reading

The Year Four teachers will be running a workshop for Year 3 and 4 parents on reading. This will take place next Wednesday the 21st of March at 8.10am. We will be giving tips on helping your child to read with understanding and talking about how to improve your child's comprehension skills. Please come along at 8.10am to the Year Four classrooms next Wednesday to learn more.

Book Week, March 26th-30th, 2018

Monday 26th: Children’s author, illustrator and storyteller Gail Clarke in Primary for Years 1-6.
After school signed copies of Gail’s books will be on sale at the main entrance or order forms may be obtained from the library.
To learn more about Gail Clarke visit her website: http://www.gailclarkeauthor.com/

Tuesday 27th: Dress up as a favourite book character. 8.10 am Book Parade in the Sports Hall.
Parents are welcome as spectators.
If you need easy and cheap ideas for an outfit for your child these sites may help:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/30-last-minute-world-book-10979884
https://www.pinterest.com/marcitate/book-character-dress-up-day/

Wednesday 28th: Primary Library BOOK SWAP.

Students are encouraged to bring own books that they have already read (maximum 3 per child).
The books should be age-appropriate for the student him- or herself (we don’t want to end up with heaps and heaps of baby books).
The books should be in good condition.
Books can be brought to the library from Monday, March 19. Children will get a token for each book they hand in. The token can be used on book swap day for a new book. Please encourage students to come to the library with the books themselves. We will keep a record of who has handed in books.
Teachers will bring the classes to the book swap during the day.
Books left over by the end of the book swap will be donated to a charity.

Thursday 29th: Children’s author, illustrator and storyteller Gail Clarke in Primary for Early Years.


Thursday 29th & Friday 30th: Children’s author David M. Schwartz in Primary for Years 1-6.

To learn about David M. Schwartz visit his website: http://davidschwartz.com/ .


Goal Setting Conferences

Goal Setting Conferences involving you, your child and your child’s teacher will take place from Monday, March 26th - Thursday, March 29th

There will be no teacher led after school activities during the conference week. Paid activities are likely to continue but please check with the activity leader. We kindly request that children are collected at the normal pick up time to enable staff to prepare. School buses will depart at 2.45pm on these days.

Parents can now book a 15 minute appointment online to see their child’s teacher through this link:
Access to Parent-Teacher-Child Consultation
Further detailed instructions on how to use this online system please see below. Please use this to plan who you need to visit. Instructions will also be posted on your child’s year group blog.

Any parents who would like to meet their child’s teacher on a different date are requested to contact the teacher directly to arrange a mutually convenient appointment.

Please ensure you have booked your online appointment by Friday 23rd March. If you have trouble using the online system please come to either the Primary Office or the IT helpdesk, on the ground floor, in the MTB.

How to book Parent-Teacher-Student Goal Setting Conference

To sign-up: Click on this link Access to Conference Sign Up
Select, by clicking the boxes, for all of the teachers you’d like to see for all of your children.
Complete the ‘Student Sign-up’ page by answering the questions. Ensure you use an active email.
To activate your account: open your email from do-not-reply@ptcfast.com and click on ‘Click here to select conference time.’ Please check your ‘junk’ box if you do not receive this.
This will then take you to the booking page. Select, by clicking the box, next to one 15 minute appointment time you want for each teacher. If you would like to deselect, click on the remove appointment box just below the teacher's name.


*Please note that this is a two-step process. You must sign-up and then activate your account through your email in order to book time slots. If you have any trouble using this system please come to the Primary Office or the IT help desk in the MTB.

Weekly Update: Term 2 Week 7

Dear Parents,

Another week has screamed past and the excitement in the pod has reached new levels. The children are all looking forward to our Year 3 Sleepover which will take place next Thursday and Friday. Thanks to those parents who were able to come for our information session on Tuesday. If you were unable to be there, don't worry. All of the information is available on the Sleepover tab on the blog. If you are viewing this from your mobile device, click on the blog post title and it will direct you to the blog page (you may need to click 'View Web Version' at the bottom of your screen).

One key point to note, on the packing list for footwear only trainers were suggested. It might be a good idea to also have a pair of flip flops or sandals for times when we are around the school. If you have any other questions or concerns about the trip that are not answered on the blog, please contact your school teacher.

In other news, Year 3 has started an exciting new topic called Windows to the World. This is run through a program called Flat Connections and we will be building a collaborative project with 3 other schools in Egypt, Nepal and the USA. This week the children all made a 'virtual handshake' video to introduce themselves to their peers in the other schools. They also learned a lot about digital citizenship and how to stay safe online before posting comments on others videos.

As this will be a cross curricular topic, much of our Literacy time in the next few weeks will be devoted to sharing our ideas on our four main topics for the project. Next week's topic will be all about food. We are sure there are going to be many ideas the children can share about this mouth watering subject!

In Maths next week we will continue to find out about fractions.

Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to let your child have a go at getting their own bag ready for the sleepover!