Dear Parents,
Welcome to the 5th Class section of our school website! A warm welcome, or Fáilte, to Ria and to Christian who have joined the class from Australia and America and who are settling in well with their new friends.
A few reminders on routine and some information on and a request to join the E-Twinning programme.
Reminders:
If you haven’t sent in any items on your child’s booklist, please send them in as soon as possible. PE will take place this term on Tuesdays and Fridays – your child should wear runners and a tracksuit on these days until Halloween. Please ensure that your child’s name is written on all items of clothing and equipment. If possible, attach your child’s memory stick onto a keyring to minimise the risk of loss.
Homework will be given on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. When projects are assigned, children may complete them if they wish at weekends. Children are encouraged to read for leisure 7 days a week. Children are expected to do their homework to the best of their ability within a 50-60 minute time frame. Ideally, homework should be done as early in the day as is possible in an area free from distractions. Homework will contain a balance between reading tasks, learning tasks, computer based tasks and written tasks. Homework time devoted to reading and learning is as important as written work. Homework will regularly contain reading, spellings, tables, Mathletics, Recorder, written work, projects and finishing work started in class. Please make sure that your child has completed all reading, learning, computer based and written tasks before you sign your child’s homework journal at night. If your child experiences significant difficulty with any aspect of homework, please note this in your child’s journal.
E-Twinning:
As you may be aware, children in 5th Class have been involved in an E-Twinning programme with European schools for the last three years. E-Twinning is a European wide programme which encourages schools to develop projects, to share ideas and to communicate with other schools across Europe. See www.etwinning.net for information.
To commence our E-Twinning activities this year, I propose to run a traditional pen-pal project again with children attending the École Française de Luxembourg. Our children will write letters and cards using our school address to children aged 9-11 years in the school in Luxembourg. Each child will be paired with a child who becomes his/her pen-pal for the year. No personal contact information will be included in letters. I will collect the letters on a regular basis and will post them on to the school.
Please sign the note in your child’s journal if your child may participate in E-Twinning. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes,
Anne Malone.
(Class Teacher)