My name is Miss Moshwe and I will be teaching Year 4. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching Year 1 with Miss Rich during the summer term and spending some time getting to know your children while they were in Year 3. I am excited to share my creative mindset on all aspects of learning and my enjoyment of looking back at historical events, I look forward to starting the year with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah with the children. On that note, working with me will be our Jewish Studies teacher Mrs Braham. We will also have the support of our teaching assistants Miss Katz and Miss Raja.

In this upcoming academic year, we will be celebrating Etz Chaim’s 10th Anniversary. There will be a range of fun activities for your child to participate in, allowing them to delve into the history of the school and explore what community means to them. In addition to this, we will be returning to pre-Covid practices, reinstating the much-missed whole school community feeling,  allowing the children to be with children from the other classes; including sharing break times, participating in whole school assemblies and other whole school celebrations.

We intend to continue the implementation of an integrated and creative curriculum. This pedagogical approach allows the children to pursue learning in a holistic platform, without restrictions or subject boundaries. Through the various topics, children will be able to engage in explorative, investigative learning, expanding on existing knowledge and acquiring new ones. They will be able to develop practical experiences and challenges, by working both collaboratively and independently. By encouraging children’s enquiry, resilience, respect, thoughtfulness, adaptability and development of positive communication, organisational and cooperative skills they will enhance their social skills and therefore have a more responsible attitude to their own learning and growth.

We will offer your child a weekly guided reading session with the opportunity of reading a large variety of texts to help develop their understanding of different genres and styles. With your support, your child should aim to read at home daily for at least 5-10 minutes. Please sign and date your child’s reading record book each time you have read with him or her. We have put in place a variety of opportunities for children to visit our fantastic school library to borrow from the wide selection of books. Children will be able to take a book home with the option of renewing or returning it during their next session.

We are dedicated to support the children to develop their writing skills, focusing on making appropriate choices of vocabulary and exploring how different sentence types can have a different impact for the reader. We are placing an emphasis on their development of legible and consistent joined handwriting.

The children will build on their mathematical skills, encompassing number and calculations, mental recall, problem solving, geometry and time and lots more. Lessons will be practical and interactive and children will be working both independently and collaboratively.

In Jewish Studies, we will be sharpening and deepening our knowledge and understanding of the Tishrei festivals: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah. We will continue to build on our Chumash textual skills, focusing on the narrative of Avraham and Sarah’s hospitality to the three men visiting their tent. Linking to Literacy, Art and ICT we will explore relevant ways to apply the values we learn to our own lives.

We will continue to use a blended learning approach, which includes the use of SeeSaw to set activities and record explanation videos, and record the children’s ideas and responses using photographs, videos, text and voice clips.

Children in Year 4 should bring in two fresh fruit or vegetable snacks each day. Following the advice of medical professionals, we ask that any grapes or fruits and vegetables of a similar shape are cut into quarters as this greatly reduces the risk of choking. Please be assured that your children will always be monitored when eating and will continue to have to remain seated.

We would like to continue building upon the home school relationship established in previous years, as I am fully aware of the vital role that you play as parents in your child’s education. Please use the Home School Liaison book any time you would like to ask questions, raise concerns or keep in touch.

As a team, with restrictions easing, we most definitely, look forward to bringing the community feeling back into the school; it is going to be an adventurous year ahead!