After school hockey club

General 

Elliott was really good after school today and said that at school they'd learnt to create a circuit that lights a light bulb. He also said Miss Woods was ill today so Miss Miller had taught them instead.

Activities

After school he had his first after school hockey club and when I picked him up he said he'd enjoyed it and they practiced push passes. Then it was straight to swimming where he did really well and he managed to swim to the bottom of the pool to pick an object off the bottom for the first time. After swimming he had a shower and then we came home for some ham sandwiches for tea. We also watched a Deadly Pole to Pole about cold climate before Dangermouse and then he read his school book for 10 minutes. Then it was time to brush his teeth and go to bed.

The Chase

General 

Elliott was good after school today and he had sausage and mash for lunch.

Activities

After school we went home and he watched some Pokemon while I finished off some work. Then we had ham sandwiches for tea and we watched The Chase together. After The Chase Elliott read some of his school book and before we went to football training. After training it was straight home and time for a quick bath before bedtime squash and then time to go to sleep.

Hockey training

General 

Elliott was very good today.

Activities

Hockey training was very organised today. After a warn up they split into 4 teams and two games were set up and then after the games they split in to 3 groups to do some skills training. He enjoyed himself again. After we got home we had cheese on toast for lunch.

After lunch he did his homework which was adding speech punctuation to sentences. He got a bit dispirited at one point, but after a chat and some encouragement he sat back down and finished it on his own and did a good job. Then we went for a walk in to Wokingham and back with Andrea and did some Pokemon hunting. When we got back we did some research in to the different between rich and poor Ancient Egyptians for his home learning using the iPad. Then he watched some Pokemon on the iPad while I made spaghetti bolognese for tea. After tea he had his bath before we did some reading together with our different books. Then he drank his bedtime squash, brushed his teeth and read some more before bed time.

Pikachu

General 

Elliott was good after school today and he had chips and beans for lunch.

Activities

After we got home we watched the first part of Roald Dahl's most marvellous book whcih I recorded on Channel 4 a few weeks ago while we ate tea (ham sandwiches). Elliott said that his favourite Roald Dahl book is Danny Champion of the World (because it has "Doc Spencer" in it). After tea we went for a Pokemon hunt and walked in to Wokingham and back which was good fun. We even caught a Pikachu. After we got home he had his bath, drank his bedtime squash, brushed his teeth and read some of his Pokemon book before bed time.

Year 4 curriculum evening

General 

Elliott was in a good mood after school today and told me he'd been doing Maths today and was on the middle table for Maths with Aaron. 

Activities

After school we went home for ham sandwiches before his swimming lesson. He enjoyed his swimming lesson and said he'd almost cracked jumping in to the pool and keeping his head above water. After swimming we went to the Year 4 curriculum evening and Elliott sat next to Charlie who was also there. The curriculum evening was interesting. The main messages this year were:

- Homework will be either English / Grammar Punctuation and Spelling or Maths each week, should take 20 to 30 minutes, should be done in the orange homework book, is set on Friday to be handed in on Wednesday and Elliott should be able to do it independently as it reinforces what they've been learning in the week leading up to it's setting - if they can't do it independently or it takes longer than 30 minutes make a note on the homework and support as much as possible

- Reading every day is a really good thing, even if it's only for 5 minutes, and they should record reading in their reading record

- Home learning is more creative and about what they will learn in the next week - it might only be a discussion, or it might involve research or could even be making a poster or similar

- They're learning either Clarinet, Flute or Trombone this year (Elliott says he's chosen Clarinet) and they'll be sending a letter home soon about small charge to rent the instrument to take home with them (to cover insurance costs) so they can practice at home if they want (Elliott sounded like he'd be quite keen to practice at home if he can, we'll see)

- There will be a few trips during the year, a trip to the URE museum and an RE Christmas trip in the Winter Term, a trip to a Science Dome and a visit from an Anglo Saxon in the Spring Term, and swimming (same cost and system as last time), another RE inspired trip and an overnight residential trip to Ufton Court on 10th July to 11th July - the Ufton Court trip will cost £85 to £90 but can be paid for in installments if requested - it's a Tudor House but the two days will focus on The Vikings and include lots of Viking related activities - it's not obligatory but could be good development for the children - a letter will be sent home soon explaining more and allowing sign up

- Finally a typical day consists of 8.50am - Registration, 9am - English or Maths, 10am - Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling, 10.15am - Break, 10.30am - Assembly, 10.50am - English or Maths, 11.50am - Guided Reading, 12.15pm - Lunch, 1.25pm - Registration, 1.30pm - Foundation Subject 1, 2.30pm - Foundation Subject 2, 3.30pm - End of School

Blue Peter

General 

Elliott was very happy after school today as on the way to school his 10km Pokemon egg hatched and gave him a Lapras that had over 1000CP. He was still talking about it when I picked him up.

Activities

After school we went to Wokingham before swimming and had a wander around. Then we went to swimming and he did really well in his session. After swimming we went home and had luncheon meat sandwiches for tea while we watched Blue Peter. Then he read some of his school book, which was a bit of a struggle, but it's a good time to get him back in to the habit of reading every night and recording it in his reading record. After his reading he watched some Pokemon on the iPad before bedtime squash, brushing his teeth and going to sleep (he'd already had his shower after swimming).

Football training in the dark

General 

Elliott was good today and had spaghetti bolognese for lunch. He said he'd had a good day at school and had enjoyed Maths with Aaron who he sat next to.

Activities

When I picked him up he showed Aaron some of his best Pokemon on my phone (Aaron seemed impressed) and then we headed home for some luncheon meat sandwiches for tea. We watched an episode of Dengineers before heading out to football training. Training was a bit lacklustre today and a lot of the boys were being silly and not listening. Elliott joined in a little bit but was far from the worst offender. Also as the session progressed it got darker and darker and by the end I think the fading light wasn't helping some of the messing around. After the session Sally called all of us together (children and parents) and told everyone off, which I think was probably a good move, but perhaps would have been better earlier in the session so the boys could respond. Anyway next Monday training will move to the astroturf so at least there will be lights. After training we rushed home and he had a quick shower, followed by bedtime squash, teeth cleaning and then straight to sleep. He looked a bit tired but hopefully he will sleep a bit later tomorrow.

Hockey

General 

Elliott was good today.

Activities

In the morning we headed to hockey training at Cantley Park. He really seemed to enjoy all the warm ups and exercises and really listened to the coaches. At the end of the session he did really well in defence during the game despite having to play with a pink hockey stick. After the session we went to John Wood sports in Wokingham and he chose a hockey stick of his own (a blue and black Grays one). When we got home we had luncheon meat rolls for lunch.

After lunch he went into the flat's gardens and practiced with his new hockey stick as well as playing some Pokemon Go (he did a lot of walking around to get closer to hatching his 10km egg) and Amelia and her friend also joined him outside to play for a while. He came back in for roast chicken tea and he ate his broccoli with no fuss at all and without even mentioning it so I gave him lots of praise. Then it was bath time and after his bath he watched some of The Chase while he had his bed time squash. Then he brushed his teeth, read some of his Pokemon Go book in bed and then it was time to go to sleep.

Panthers new season

General 

Elliott was really good today.

Activities

After breakfast we did some reading together in reading club as his homework this weekend is to do some reading and record it in his reading record. He was a bit worried about going to football as "we always lose" so we had a chat about whether winning and losing is important as I suspect this is a hangover from last weekends tournament when some of the Leopards cared more about losing. However after we got to football he really enjoyed it and the Panthers played really well in their first game of the season on the Woodford Park astro, which was a slightly smaller pitch to summer league. Elliott played on the right and then hurt himself so had a rest before playing up front and at the back in the second half. He did really well, some really good passing and one really good turn and the whole team played well, losing by a few goals in the end as they ran out of steam a little towards the end. After football we went home and had spaghetti bolognese for lunch.

After lunch he wanted to watch Ghostbusters as it was rainy outside. After Ghostbusters we watched Ninja Warrior UK before having luncheon meat sandwiches and a flapjack for tea. Then it was bath time, bedtime squash, time to brush teeth and then some iPad watching before bed time.

Reading record

General 

Elliott was in good spirits after school today and had roast chicken for lunch (as they'd had fish fingers on Wednesday).

Activities

When he came in to the playground to be collected he told me all about the his new reading system which is like a library and uses bar codes (and he has to write in his own reading record) and about how he is going to be trying the clarinet. He seemed really happy with Miss Woods and Year 4 so far. He also told me that Libby was getting on well. On our way home we went shopping at Sainsburys and we bought a guide to Pokemon Go which we both found useful. After we got home he read some of the new Pokemon Go guide, watched Blue Peter, played with some of his Spiderman toys and we had cheese on toast for tea. Then it was bath time and after his bed time squash he brushed his teeth and read some of his current school book (a collection of stories by lots of authors) before it was time to go to sleep.

Roald Dahl museum

General 

Elliott was very good today.

Activities

After breakfast we had to do a few chores in Wokingham and then we headed to High Wycombe. We had a look around the shops and played some Pokemon Go before going to Pizza Express for lunch where Elliott asked for his "normal".

After lunch we drove to Great Missenden nearby and visited the Roald Dahl museum where Elliott got in free because of his Blue Peter badge. Elliott particularly enjoyed the mock up aeroplane (like the one Roald Dahl flew in the RAF), an interactive quiz about Roald Dahl characters to see how "sparky" he was and the Fantastic Mr Fox animated film set. After we got home he had ham sandwiches for tea before his bath, watching some iPad, brushing his teeth and going to bed.