Weekly Newsletter
Friday 19th November 2021
This week in school
What a busy 'serving others and getting our Strictly on' kind of week!
The kitchen staff served the children with Pudsey buns, the children had fun in their classes and the adults had fun in their ball gowns, tuxedos and Pudsey ears.
But we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't explain why we dress up like this and how it serves others. It's important for the children to know that the real reason is not just to raise money but to raise awareness of social injustice and teach us how to serve others better. This is what we call 'Courageous Advocacy.'
By way of a working definition, when using the term ‘courageous advocacy’ we are referring to the act of speaking out against an issue of injustice, often on behalf of those whose voice is not heard. Speaking out, at whatever level this takes place, requires an element (and sometimes a great deal) of courage! Becoming a courageous advocate for change, therefore, must involve being informed about an issue and it must move beyond simply knowing, to saying and doing. Educating for courageous advocacy must embody an ethos of action-taking, challenging injustice and becoming agents of change in the transformation of ourselves, our relationships and our communities from the local level to the global.
Service of this kind involves social action. A government policy paper providing guidance on enabling social action defined it as, ‘people coming together to tackle an issue, support other people, or improve their local area. It involves people giving their time and other resources for the common good, in a range of forms – from volunteering to community-owned services, and peer networks to community organising.’
So, while we are having fun, we are also modelling our commitment to serving others - looking after those children whose family can't cope with looking after them, those whose family can't afford their basic human needs and those whose lives have been impacted by tragedy. If you would like to have that conversation with your children this weekend, please have a look together at the Children in Need website:
Have a great weekend and keeeep serving!
Thank you for your continued support and generosity!
Mrs R - Proud Headteacher
Whole School Attendance
That's well below target attendance but there's no wonder this week!
However - an amazing 271 children had 100% attendance this week.
An amazing 123 children have had 100% attendance this year so far.
Happy Birthdays!
Many many many many happy returns this week to.....
Braxton Walton, Carmen Mahon, Edward Possnett, Elliott Vernon, Jaxon Lamb, Oliver Short, Lucy Harper.
This week in classrooms
Our school values
Nursery - Stars
We have had such a busy week celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week. The children have learnt a different rhyme each day as well as singing lots of other nursery rhymes too. Our provision has been all about nursery rhymes and we hope that you enjoyed the photographs we posted on Tapestry. We have used tweezers to rescue the spiders out of the web, made our own Baa Baa Black Sheep in the creative area, had Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star playdough, built walls for Humpty Dumpty and looked after Miss Polly’s dolly in the home corner amongst other things. In our phonics sessions we have revisited instrumental sounds and have enjoyed playing the instruments as we sang the nursery rhymes.
On Monday we celebrated Odd Socks Day and we have talked a lot about how we are all different, yet can all be friends. The children also enjoyed our ‘sparkly’ Children in Need day on Friday. We had lots of special enhancements - decorating Pudsey’s bandana, putting different amounts of spots on Pudsey, making spotty biscuits and sparkly wands. We talked about the importance of Children in Need. What a busy week!
Superstar - Jack Priest
FS - Moon and Mercury
This week in Reception, we have been reading the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which we all enjoyed listening to. The children have acted out the story, sequenced it, retold it and wrote a letter to the Three Bears pretending to be Goldilocks. The children gave reasons why they were sorry and they were amazing at talking about their emotions and they would feel if someone broke their chair or ate their food! We even made some porridge. We had some mixed reviews about the taste of the porridge but we all had lots of fun making it. We finished the week by supporting Children in Need for a whole day of fun, learning and feel good fundraising!
Superstars - Edward Horgan, Beatrice Robson
Y1 - Galaxy and Venus
This week in Year 1, we have explored the moon and stars, sharing the story of The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers. We have investigated the phases of the moon, star constellations, seasonal change and how plants, humans and animals are affected by it. In Maths, we have explored 2D and 3D shapes, designing and making rockets to blast off into space and creating nets and models. We have studied Mae Jeminson, adding to our historical timeline and we have created aliens of different sizes and guises. We have continued to develop our phonological awareness, reading and writing skills across the curriculum and provision.
Superstars - Alfie Longhurst, Teddy Deakin
Year 2 / 3 Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune
Well, what a 'full of kindness and showing we care' type of week we have had! Of course, our children all know how to follow our Christian Values and show respect all year round but this week they have thought about how they can perform random acts of kindness during 'Anti-bullying Week' and then showed we could truly shine (and sparkle) as one whilst raising money to help others for 'Children in Need'. We certainly had fun doing 'Pudsey maths' and learning the 'Strictly Dance'. Aptly, we have had more practise counting notes and coins in Maths this week. For English, we have continued to enjoy our class book, writing a recount from the point of view of one of the children on the island where the volcano erupted. The children have also enjoyed learning the song from the film, 'Lava'; they even made Hawaiian hats for the occasion.
Superstars - Ellie Graley, Isla Dockray, Emily Westwood, Thomas Wilford
Year 4 Mars and Earth
We’ve had a very busy week in Year 4. In English we have been working hard to show off our year 4 writing skills and have been independently planning our own narrative story based on a very thought provoking picture. This has given the children the opportunity to use their imagination to write a story and take it in whatever direction they want. In maths we have continued to expand our knowledge of measure and have applied that to drawing, measuring and counting the perimeter of different regular and irregular shapes. The children have really enjoyed building on their previous knowledge. In French we have explored the months of the year and found that surprisingly they look and sound very similar in some cases.
Superstars - Arron Hartley, Isla Harrison
Year 5 Asteroid and Pluto
We have been getting to grips with multiplying and dividing by powers of 10 this week in Year 5. We have learned how to use Gattegno charts along with our place value knowledge to show our understanding. While learning about irreversible changes in science, we discovered that, sometimes, our investigations are not as spectacular as we hope for. This is true working science. The wind affected our burning demonstration ( by our teachers), but we understand that the ash produced from burning paper can not be reversed. We created carbon dioxide while making warm, elephant's toothpaste, albeit for a baby elephant rather than the leader of the pack. Despite modest results, we understand the irreversible changes in our investigations. We are working hard on our Tudor clay roses, many of which would not have looked out of place as decorations at King Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace. To end the week, we have supported and learned about Children in Need, past and present, enjoying a bit of 'Strictly' sparkle in the process. Thank you to all for your kind donations.
Superstars - Harley Stansfield, Harry Longhurst
Year 6 Nebular and Constellation
In year 6 this week we have battled disruption and overcome it with aplomb! In class and home learning, in maths, we have continued with our work on fractions, multiplying and dividing fractions. Who would have thought that the process was so simple? Keep it, change it, flip it! English has focussed on creating an in depth narrative with a multitude of different grammar conventions. Where will the characters go? What will they see? Will they get home? The adults cannot wait to see what you create. In guided reading we have come to the end of our first novel and what a journey it was. You will be all glad to hear that Liam and the other children all made it safely home. In topic, we looked at the prophecies of Nostradamus, creating mobiles to display the learning. Was he accurate or are his predictions purely individual interpretation. You make your own mind up! The week concluded with the glitz and glamour of our Strictly Come Dancing themed Children in Need day. We must say, that all of the children looked... Fab...u...lous!
Superstars - Millie Rowan, Molly Brook
Hive with the most bee points so far this year
So far this year:
49945
Green Hive
Well done - keep it up!