Weekly Newsletter
Friday 2nd December 2022
This week in school
Parents' evenings We hope you found this week's parents' evenings useful, especially with staff from Y2 upwards sharing individual reports from the termly tests we do across STAR MAT. The combination of video appointments and an in-person session worked well, as well as everyone being based in the Hall. We hope this saved people with more than 1 child lots of moving between buildings, and helped everything run more smoothly. Thank you to everyone who came along on Wednesday for keeping to the appointment slots, which meant that no-one had a really late night.
Christmas church services These will be taking place at St Wilf's on Tuesday 13th December.
Moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Meteor, and Constellation will make up the first service starting at 9:30am.
Galaxy, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, Asteroid and Nebular will make up the second service at 10:45am.
We haven't forgotten about Pluto class: they will be busy on their swimming lesson.
If you are able to walk down to the church with us, please meet us on the Green at 9:15am/10:30am.
Starting school in September 2023 If you have a child who turns 4 before 31.8.2023, you will need to apply for a school place in the Reception year from September 2023. Applications should be made online at www.northyorks.gov.uk/apply-place-primary-or-secondary-school
The deadline for applications is January 15 2023: applications after this are treated as 'late' which means they are considered after all the others and you may not get your preferred school.
Even if your child attends our Nursery, you still need to apply for a primary school place.
Term dates 2023-24 The term dates for the next school year are now on the school website at https://brayton-cofe-primary-school.secure-primarysite.net/term-dates/
Year 6 SATs tests 2023 Due to the additional bank holiday on Monday 8th May, the Y6 SATs Test week will run from Tuesday 9th May to Friday 12th May. Details about the timetable and which tests are taking place on which days will be shared by Mr Close and Miss Rushworth after Christmas.
Jewellery No necklaces, bracelets, rings or other jewellery should be worn to school. If your child has earrings, these must be removed for PE sessions, or earrings can be left at home on PE days. Earrings for school should be small stud types so they don't get caught and cause any injuries.
Leave of absence during term time & attendance Please can we gently remind you that, unless the circumstances are genuinely exceptional, holidays in term time will not be authorised. Lower prices are not an exceptional circumstance, and the guidance is very clear that Headteachers would not be expected to class any term time holiday as exceptional.
Where our replies to requests for holidays have included reference to Fixed Penalty Notices, the paperwork for these can only be sent through when you have returned from the holiday and after a certain number of weeks have passed. We send through summaries to North Yorkshire County Council who then make the decision around proceeding with fines.
Wreath workshop
The florist was very impressed and would love to come back and work with us in the spring. Details to follow.
Free School Meals
Free school meals: save up to £450 a year With so much in the news about the cost of living and now energy prices going up, you can check whether your child could be eligible for a free school meal, whatever school year they are in. All the information is on the NYCC website at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/free-school-meals Some of this information may be out of date, especially around eligibility, so please get in touch if you are unsure.
If you would like any advice or support with this, please contact the school office. We treat these matters with complete confidentiality and are always happy to help if needed.
Thank you for your continued support.
Allyson Buckton (Headteacher) & Mel Walmsley (Deputy Headteacher)
Whole School Attendance
If your child's attendance is below 90% they will have missed at least 20 days over the year: this is like missing a whole month of school.
DIARY DATES
Monday 5 December - Reception Nativity 2pm
Tuesday 6 December - Reception Nativity pm 2pm
Wednesday 7 December - Nursery Christmas sing-along 2.15pm
Thursday 8 December - Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Lunch
Tuesday 13 December - Christmas Services at St Wilf's
Friday 16 December - School closes for Christmas
Tuesday 3 January - Staff training day
Wednesday 4 January - School opens for spring term
Sunday 15 January - Deadline for primary school applications for September 2023
Happy Birthdays!
Many many many many happy returns this week to.....
Cuinn Stubbs
Oscar Miller
Alexander Auker
Roan Catton
Benjamin Turner
Ashleigh Bramhald
Katelyn Major
Teagan Dos Santos
This week in classrooms
Nursery - Stars
What a festive start to December and the beginning of Advent! We have started our own Advent calendar and begun our countdown to Christmas, exploring the theme of stars through the stories of How to Draw a Star, and How to Catch a Star. We have fished for stars in the water, played with starry play dough, made starry calendars and tried to melt the frozen stars. We have enjoyed making nursery all Christmassy and we even have a Christmas tree in our home corner to decorate! We have also had fun in our ‘dark den’, using torches to help us see.
We have been learning our Christmas songs ready to share with you at our Christmas sing-a-long. In phonics we have continued learning about instrumental sounds. We have added sounds to stories, playing our instruments in different ways. We have also played ‘Hidden Instruments’, where we have to find all the instruments hiding around nursery and then make our own orchestra. In maths we have continued to make repeating patterns and also spotting where there are mistakes in a pattern.
Star of the Week- Gracie-May Alderman
Reception - Moon and Mercury
The excitement of nativity rehearsals has reached new heights this week! The children are now so confident with the songs and their lines. We are all really looking forward to the performances.
This week Advent has been a huge focus in our classes. The children have all helped to create our own advent calendars in the classrooms and will be taking turns to look behind the numbers each day.
In maths, we have been thinking about 2D shapes, in particular squares and rectangles. Did you know that a square is actually a rectangle? The children love to hear fascinating facts like this.
In phonics we have been reviewing the sounds that we have learnt so far this half term. The children have really impressed us with their phonic knowledge and have been writing words and sentences.
In our RE work we listened to the parable of ‘The Lost Coin’. The children talked about how they feel when they lose something special to them.
Thank you so much to those of you that attended parents evening. It was wonderful to celebrate the progress that the children have made so far this year.
Stars of the week:
Mercury - Sofia Nunnari
Moon - Arlo Bryant
Year 1 - Galaxy and Venus
We have had a week full of Rock and Roll in our classes, studying the life and works of Elvis Presley. In English, we have studied the Little People, Big Dreams story by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara.
We have retrieved and deducted the key facts and figures, created a chronological report, and written in character as Elvis, writing a diary entry.
In maths, we have continued to explore subtraction, and in history we have created a timeline of Elvis’s significant events.
In D&T, we have designed and created our own Christmas decorations, developing our sewing skills.
Both children and staff have enjoyed the beginning of Advent, sharing their hopes, prayers, and preparations for the season ahead.
It was wonderful getting to speak to you this week at parent’s evening, thank you for your attendance and ongoing support.
Stars of the week:
Venus- Georgia Legg
Galaxy- Jaxson AcasterYear 2 - Earth and Mars
This week we have begun writing the stories that we planned last week. There are some wonderful creative ideas flying about the classrooms, with everyone trying hard to put in adventurous vocabulary and exciting sentences. In maths we have been solving problems involving subtraction, addition and finding missing numbers. We used maths in our computing lesson this week too as we started to look at data handling. In RE, we learnt about the gifts that the three wise men brought Jesus and what they might symbolise. We thought about how a king might look and how Jesus is welcomed as a king but doesn’t look like one. In music we enjoyed creating our own group compositions about Antarctica and in our history, we learnt more about Ernest Shackleton. Our science this week involved using our learning about a healthy diet to plan a lunchbox for an Antarctic explorer and in PSHE we talked about ways to keep ourselves safe online. A brilliant week again, Year 2.
Star of the week
Earth: Roan Catton
Mars: Jemma Richmond
Year 3 - Jupiter and Saturn
Another busy and productive week in Year 3! Our Christmas trees are up, lit and beautifully decorated with prayer chains. Without warning, a family of mischievous elves have infiltrated our classrooms!
In Maths this week, we have recapped numbers that are multiples of 5,10 and 3. The children have revisited and consolidated their understanding that division can be solved using both sharing and grouping, and have been encouraged to check their answers using the inverse. In English, we have continued writing about the Incredible Book Eating Boy, stacking up sentences using a variety of revisited or newly learnt grammar features. Next week, the children will be planning and rewriting a similar story, but with a different main character and an exciting new plot. In Science, the children tested the permeability and drainage of chalky, sandy, loam and clay soils to find out which is the best for planting. The children found that loam soil is the most permeable and offers plants the best conditions for growth. In Art, the children learnt the skill of relief printing using styrofoam. This week the children sketched their print design on paper, then etched the design into the foam ready for printmaking next week. In DT, the children created authentic wartime stew recipes using only seasonal vegetables grown at this time of year. Next week the children will prepare the vegetables and sample their recipes. Great work, Year 3!
Star of the Week
Saturn: Emily Westwood
Jupiter: Aoife Brown
Year 4 - Neptune and Meteor
In Meteor, we’ve been catching up on all of the learning opportunities Neptune took part in last week. In Science the children have been able to revisit some previous learning that needed recapping. Children were able to dissect and label different parts of flowering plants and we discussed the role of each part. In History, the children were able to put their researching skills to the test to search up information about Vikings. Using this information they were then able to present their findings in a fact file. Finally, in R.E we’re continuing to learn about what it means to be a Hindu in Britain today. This week we compared how some Hindu celebrations such as weddings share similarities to Christian weddings. It was interesting to watch videos of Hindu weddings to see that there’s still plenty of music, dancing as well as taking part in different traditions compared to what we may be used to.
Neptune class have really enjoyed swimming this week! It’s been so lovely to hear all the wonderful comments about the children from the swimming instructors. We are so proud of them all! It’s amazing to see the progression they have made throughout the week. They have learnt new skills such as water safety, new strokes and even holding their breath under the water! In RE this week, the children have looked at Holi- the Hindu festival of colour and watched a video of a Hindu wedding. The children then discussed any similarities and differences between celebrations in Hinduism and Christianity.
Star of the week:
Meteor: Ellie Graley
Neptune: Katie Adams
Year 5 - Asteroid and Pluto
A bit of a strange week for the Year 5s this week. We have had a lot of illnesses, children coming, going and then coming back in again. However, The children, who have been well enough, have really pushed on and worked really well this week, and helped the children coming back from their illness. We have continued working on fractions, it is tough but we will eventually understand it. In English, we have been writing dialogue, and using our text in Guided Reading (A Christmas Carol) as inspiration. The children have enjoyed learning about A Christmas Carol. There have been great discussions about Scrooge, Bob and Tiny Tim. In Science, we created new materials by mixing known materials. The reaction to mixing mentos and coca cola was fantastic. Only two weeks left, and Asteroid will start swimming next week!
Star of the week:
Asteroid: Reuben Evans
Pluto: Freddie Simmonds
Year 6 - Nebular and Constellation
In year 6 this week, the children have continued to work to the exacting standards of their teachers. In English, we have been adding the foundations to our knowledge that will help us to establish just who is to blame for the loss of life on Titanic. After in depth research, the children held a debate, to fully determine who they think was at fault. This will then lead into a balanced argument that contains varied conjunctions and passive voice. In maths, we have completed our using known facts tasks and moved on the wonderful world of fractions. In science we investigated using different outputs and increased the number of cells to understand what occurs if there are varied components. In music, we identified the different instruments within a classical orchestra and when they are used within the theme music to the Titanic motion picture. In PSHCE, we created posters to share the message that regardless of their members, a family is a family, and love is love! Have a good weekend everyone.
Stars of the week:
Nebular: Taylor Wanless.
Constellation: Alfie Jessop