Please find information regarding our Science Week from Mrs Hill (KS1 Science 1 Lead) and Mrs Garner (KS2 Science Lead).

British Science week @ScienceWeekUK is a 10-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), which will take place between 11^th and 20^th March. The theme for British Science week 2022 is ‘Growth’.

Please also find below links from Birmingham Museums promoting fun activities to do with your child.

ThinkTank Museum - KS1 & KS2 Science experiments 

Please find attached a flyer regarding British Science Week Projects. We look forward to receiving entries by 14^th March 2022, Good Luck everyone!

National Literacy Trust - 'Take 10' Event - Friday 8th October 2021

Did you know that reading for just 10 minutes a day can improve your wellbeing?

In the run-up to World Mental Health Day, we at Olton are supporting the National Literacy Trust by encouraging our teachers, pupils and families to take part in the #Take10ToRead challenge. You can join us by reading for 10 minutes at 10 am on Friday 8th October, and by sharing your experience on social media using the hashtags: #Take10ToRead and #ConnectingStories

We will also be joining in a special virtual author event at 9.45 am on Friday 8th October!

We will get to meet Tom Percival, superstar author-illustrator of many much-loved picture books and young fiction books.

As well as chatting about how reading helps us feel good, pupils will be treated to a sneak peek of Tom's brand NEW BOOK Silas and the Marvellous Misfits before it publishes on 14 October! Picked as a Marcus Rashford Book Club Choice, Silas and the Marvellous Misfits is an action-packed adventure that shows kids the joy of being themselves.

“Encouraging children to find joy in, and celebrate, their differences is so powerful. Tom inspires this mindset in the most fun, engaging, action-packed way. I would have loved to read this book as a child!” Marcus Rashford MBE

Scholastic Book Fair - Friday 3rd December to Friday 10th December 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are excited to announce that Olton Primary will be hosting a book fair in the penultimate week of term, which parents/carers are very welcome to purchase from! Please read carefully; due to Covid precautions, it will be running slightly differently to our normal fairs.

Scholastic have put a range of measures in place to make this Covid-secure, including deep cleaning the book fair cases. There will be plenty of opportunities throughout the day for children to view, collect or order books, as well as pre-pay for vouchers that your child can spend. There will be great bargains to be had on books for ages 2 to 11, especially if you have not been able to finish your Christmas shopping yet. The school will also earn rewards for every purchase you make - meaning we can buy more books for our school library!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me (or your class teacher, who can refer questions onwards!)

Many thanks,

Yours sincerely,

Miss S Ashington

Year 4 teacher Reading for Pleasure and School Council Lead

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30th November 2021

Good afternoon Parents/Carers

This Friday (3rd December 2021), we have the Scholastic book fair visiting Olton. The books will be available for a whole week where children will have the opportunity to explore new reading. This is an exciting opportunity for the children, as we now have the school libraries up and running which the children have shown great enjoyment in visiting. 

As you are aware from the letter, books and stationery will be available for the children. All fair materials can be found on our website under the Free Digital Resource Pack banner: https://bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/free_resources

The wish list below allows pupils to select their books as well as parents/carers to make payments from home.

https://images.scholastic.co.uk/assets/a/07/10/secondary-book-fair-wish-lists-scholastic-2034061.pdf

Thank you.

Listed below are some links which will help you find appropriate resources for your child’s learning:

MATHS

• Purple Mash –  Olton Primary Purple Mash. ‘To do’ activities set on Purple Mash. These can be updated remotely, so staff can add additional tasks to this each week as necessary.
• Olton Primary – Times Table Rockstars programme (Year 1 and up), so the children can be learning and rehearsing times tables.

• The Maths Factor was created by Carol Vorderman. The activities are matched to the National Curriculum and are suitable for children aged between 4 and 12 years old. You can sign up for free using the website link above.

• NumBots  login to TT Rock Stars and press the NumBots logo in the corner.
• Khan Academy– Some fantastic resources for teaching maths skills.
• Numberblocks – Sing and learn all about numbers
• Number fun portal Videos, songs, games and activities covering the primary maths curriculum
• Top Marks – Number Games
• Third Space Learning Advice for parents on home learning and get a free account to access some useful maths activities

     READING

• Audible Stories – Stream an incredible collection of stories.
• Read aloud – An extensive list of all the Primary School stories available online.
• Oxford Owl for Home – A range of free resources for Primary-aged children.
• Phonicsplay has lots of phonics resources and interactive games to play on the computer. 
• RWI Youtube lessons -  Read Write lessons from Ruth Miskin
• Teacher Read Aloud – Listen to our teachers read stories.
• Get Epic – Read stories online
• Alphablocks – Learn alphabet and phonics skills
• Teach Your Monster To Read – Download the app for free
• Read Theory – Reading Quizzes
• Storyline – Listen to stories read by celebrities.
• Bright Ideas – Range of links to support reading
• Authors reading their own books for children
• Wind in the willows
  Wind in the willows is streaming online for free – there is an option to donate to provide support to theatre workers
• Roald Dahl/things-to-do-indoors  Parents, carers and teachers, lesson plans, activities and videos suitable for home learning

WRITING

• Spelling Shed – Practise spelling rules
• Small Town Superheroes – Use SPAG skills to be a hero
• Karate Cats – Learn punctuation skills
• Pobble 365 – Daily Writing Prompts
• Film Reviews (PDF) – Use the template to make your own review

COMPUTING

• Hour of Code Activities– lots of hour long programming tutorials based around popular games (including Minecraft, Angry Birds, Star Wars, Frozen…)
• Blockly Games– more coding games
• Scratch – programming tool – again, good tutorials and the ability to make your own game.
• Purple Mash – Computing challenges

SCIENCE

• Nature Detectives – Ideas great for being outside in the garden.
• Mystery Science – ‘open and go’ science lessons
• Tree Tools for Schools – A range of activities that could be done in the garden, or the park.
• Science at Home – 10 activities for families to try at home.
• Chester Zoo – 50 activities all about animals, science and conservation.
• Edinburgh Zoo – Visit Penguins, Pandas, Tigers, Koalas and Rockhopper Penguins

GEOGRAPHY / HISTORY

• National Geographic Kids – activities and quizzes for younger kids.
• World Geography Games
• Birmingham Museum – History
• Natural History Museum – Find out about Space, Dinosaurs and Oceans on their website.

MUSIC

• Smart music –  tools that support music practise online

LANGUAGES

• Duolingo  – Learn a language for free – there is also an app free to download

ALL SUBJECTS

• BBC Teach – Primary Clips (All Subjects) – tonnes of videos and ‘learn pages’
• BBC Bitesize  – Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
• Twinkl - resources are split into year groups and subjects so you’ll be able to choose what you want the children to do
• Classroom Secrets Learning Packs – These packs are split into different year groups and include activities linked to reading, writing, maths and practical ideas you can do around the home.
• Cbeebies Radio – listening activities for younger children. https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio
• DK Find Out– online encyclopaedia with games and quizzes
• Primary Homework – Facts for all subjects

Fun things you can do as a Daily Activity

• Chatta Club – Sign up for daily activities – Free access during covid-19

• PE with Joe – Daily 30 minute workout on YouTube.
• Radioblogging.net – Daily Blogging Podcast with ideas for blogging
• Taskmaster – Check out Alex Horne’s home tasks for individuals, families and friends.
• CBBC Newsround  – Kid friendly news  Coronavirus info

• PBS kids  – Sign up to get daily tips and activities to help kids play and learn at home

To give your brain a break

• The body coach  – Will be hosting a daily PE class for children of all ages at 9am Monday to Friday through his Youtube channel
• Just Dance – Dance along videos available to lots of songs through their Youtube channel
• Make your own toys
  Get creative and make your own simple toys – should be able to view the video without signing in to Facebook on this link or by googling “Oriental Cuisine making simple toys that every child likes”
• 30 day Lego challenge
  Lots of fun ideas to keep them busy if you have Lego at home – scroll to the bottom of this link to download a printable version of the 30 day Lego challenge
• Mo Willems
  A children’s author doing writing and drawing lessons online. A new video is posted everyday.
• Scouts
  Over 100 indoor activities to keep kids learning new skills and having fun
• The Louvre museum
  Take a virtual tour of some areas of the Louvre museum
• Supermovers
  Lots of fun videos that are linked to the curriculum and get you moving
• Go noodle
  Lots of videos and activities to encourage moving and mindfulness
• Cosmic kids yoga
  Yoga, mindfulness and relaxation for kids 3+
• Calm
  Lots of calming, mindfulness and meditation resources for kids and adults
  Anna Freud Centre
  Advice on supporting young people’s mental health during times of disruption
• Headspace
  Some free meditations – more available on the app and if you subscribe
• Young Minds
  Mental health support and questions to ask, answers to common worries.
• Brain Pop
  A video to learn about the Coronavirus for older students. 

• Into Film

  Into Film is an organisation that supports schools in learning linked to cinema.  They are keeping an up-to-date list of films that are available for you to stream at home, along with questions and discussion points you could use together. 

   

  This is at  https://www.intofilm.org/news-and-views/articles/feature-home-learning-streaming

  News & Views - Home Learning Films to Stream on BBC iPlayer and All4 - Into Film For any fans of animation and more specifically the films of Studio Ghibli, Mary and the Witch's Flower is a must-watch as it was created by many of those involved as part of a new animation studio. Based on British author Mary Stewart's children's book The Little Broomstick, this gentle and enchanting anime follows the magical adventures of a red-haired girl. www.intofilm.org

• Home-schooling helpline for parents – The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that STAR Academies Trust has launched StarLine – a national helpline for parents who are home-schooling in England. The free telephone helpline aims to offer confidential advice to families from qualified teachers and parenting experts, including advice on behaviour and timetabling, as well as help for those looking after children with special educational needs or disabilities.