Weekly Newsletter
Thursday 26th October 2023
This week in school
Reminder Friday 27 October This is a training day which means the school is not open for children on Friday next week. We will see them all again on Monday 6 November. Have a lovely half term everyone!
Operation Christmas Child shoebox appeal As part of our way of living out our school values of Thankfulness and Compassion we would like to invite you to take part in the Shoebox Appeal.
Preparing a shoebox for a child who wouldn't otherwise receive any Christmas presents is a fun thing to do with your child.
Please follow this link to download instructions and a label for your own shoebox.
https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
The same link will also enable you to create a filled shoebox online if you would rather do that. Your child can still help you to decide what they would like to put in the shoebox. Please bring any completed shoeboxes into school by 10th November or alternatively take them to a local collection point such as St James Church in Selby up to 20th November.
If you are unable to create a whole shoebox yourself, we are also collecting donations in school which we will put together into a shared shoebox. Please look on the above website for ideas of what to send. If you would rather send a monetary donation of any amount that is also fine. Please send any donations to your class teacher by 10th November.
Thank you for your support in helping our children to help others.
Y6 residential This week the Y6 children enjoyed 3 very busy days of outdoor & adventurous activities at the Kingswood Dearne Valley Centre. They really challenged themselves with activities like zip wire, leap of faith and climbing and came back having exhausted themselves! Huge thanks to the staff who gave up their own beds and time with their families to support them on this visit: Mr Close, Miss Goddard, Mrs Walmsley and Miss Bishop.
Spirit of Christmas We have been asked by some parents if they can support the Selby Spirit of Christmas charity by making donations of items that can be donated to families in need of support. A bit like the food bank but for toys, games and books! We now have a big red box just outside the school office for any donations of new or very good condition toys, books, games, puzzles, craft kits etc if you would like to bring these in
Brayton Christmas Lights The PTA are working with the Parish Council on the Christmas Light Switch On/Christmas Market event.
This will be on Friday 1st December 5.30pm-7.30pm on the Green, with some stalls and refreshments in the Victoria Hall.
Job vacancies We are currently looking for 2 new part time members of staff: an Administrative Assistant to work from the school office, and a Teaching Assistant within Early Years. Further details are on our website https://www.braytonprimary.com/vacancies/
Closing date is the end of Friday 27 October.
Medicines in school We have had a few instances over the past couple of weeks of over-the-counter medicines being brought into school, sometimes by the children. In school we will only administer medicines that have been prescibed by a health professional, and the consent form must be completed and signed by a parent or carer.
Starting school in September 2024 Applications are now open. If your child is due to start school in September 2024 (if they will have their 5th birthday btween 1.9.2024 and 31.8.2025) then you need to apply for a primary school place for September 2024. Applications should be made online at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/education-and-learning/school-admissions and the deadline is 15 January. You can still apply after this, but your application will be dealt with after all the others and you may not get your first choice school.
Even if your child already comes to our nursery, you still need to apply for a place in Reception.
DEADLINE 31.10.2023 Y6 applications for secondary school September 2024 Information has been coming out about applying for secondary school places, and the local schools are having their open afternoons and evenings. We would definitely recommend that you go along to these with your child so that you can make your decision. The deadline for applications is 31 October 2023: applications after this date are treated as 'late' after all the others, and may mean that you don not get a place at your first choice of school.
Term dates 2023-24 The term dates for this school year are on the school website at https://brayton-cofe-primary-school.secure-primarysite.net/term-dates/
We have had to make a slight change to the training days in 2024: children are now expected back in school on Monday 8 January 2024 after the Christmas break, and there will be a training day on Friday 24 May 2024 instead of this.
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.
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
Attendance picked up again last week so thank you for encouraging your child into school. Unless your child has a high temperature or has an upset stomach (sickness and/or diarrhoea) they really need to be in school. We are noticing a lot of absence with the reason being given as 'feeling unwell' but really children should only be absent if they have physical symptoms of illness.
Please remember, we will always contact you if your child is unwell during the day, so please make sure they are here as much as possible. With your help we made massive improvements in attendance over last year and this is now better across school than it has been in a very long time!
We would also remind you that, according to the new guidance for schools, ANY leave for holidays should be unauthorised: there is no longer the 'up to 5 days/10 sessions' which can be authorised at the Headteacher's discretion. Last year we put forward 38 requests for Fixed Penalty Notices to be issued, which the Local Authority have advised us that they have actioned.
DIARY DATES
Thursday 26 October - School closes for half term
Friday 27 October - Training day (school closed to children)
Tuesday 31 October - Closing date for secondary school applications
Monday 6 November - School opens
Tuesday 12 December - Christmas services at church (am)
Friday 22 December - School closes for Christmas
Monday 8 January - School opens
Friday 9 February - School closes for half term
Thursday 21 March - School closes for Easter
Friday 22 March - STAR MAT training day (schools closed to children)
Monday 8 April - School opens
Monday 6 May - May Day Bank Holiday
Thursday 23 May - School closes for half term
Friday 24 May - Training day (school closed to children)
Monday 3 June - School opens
Friday 19 July - School closes for summer
Monday 22 July - Training day (school closed to children)
Happy Birthdays!
Many many many many happy returns next week to.....
Reuben Hick
Ella Larner
Jude Cooper
Harry Hardy
Maisie Webster
Harper Lea
Daisy Bispham
Lewis Yesil
Phoebe Smith
Bethany Horsman
George Waugh
Harris Lonsdale
Reuben Shooter-Slack
Ellis Dyson
Finley Yeowart
Logan Firth
Daisy Trotter
Lewis Huthart-Smith
From St Wilf's
As autumn rapidly approaches it is time to think about the Autumn Fair.
The date has been set for Saturday 11th November between 10am and 1pm.
There will be time to set up late Friday afternoon or earlier in the morning.
The format will be very similar to last year.
If you are able to help in any way please let Pat Jarvis or Lis Middup know.
We will need volunteers for all the usual stalls; tombola, raffle, toiletries, nearly new children's things, along with a cafe.
If you have a new stall you'd like to introduce please let us know!
This week in classrooms
Nursery - Stars
This week we have had great fun exploring pumpkins. We have read lots of stories about pumpkins, including ‘Pumpkin soup’. We used our funky fingers to wrap bands around little pumpkins and tap golf tees into large pumpkins using wooden hammers. We have used all our senses when scooping out the insides of the pumpkins. In the creative area, we have collaged pumpkins, made pumpkin prints and practised mixing red and yellow to make orange. We have even counted pumpkin seeds.
In phonics we have begun to explore instruments and the sounds they make. We have played them loudly and quietly and quickly and slowly as well as making high and low sounds. We have also played while we sang nursery rhymes which is very tricky to do. In maths we have been comparing amounts and learning about the number 2.
Thank you for all your support this term. Please have a well deserved break.
Star of the Week: Kiera Grimshaw
Reception - Moon and Mercury
So, we have come to the end of the children’s first half term and it has been a very long one. We have lots of very tired children and staff! As a team we have been reflecting on how well the children have settled into class and what a pleasure they are to teach.
In Drawing Club this week, we have enjoyed watching an episode of the classic show ‘Bananaman.’ The children have thought of some really imaginative ideas where he can run faster than a cheetah and they invented a machine to turn Bananaman into something else. We had some very imaginative and strange ideas! In maths there have been lots of number rhymes as we explored the concept of one more and one less. In phonics we have supported the children with their individual gaps in knowledge. Please look out for these in your child's reading record and take some time over the holiday to work on their next steps. In RE we asked the question: How do Christians know that children are special to God? and shared the story of Jesus blessing the children from the gospel of Mark 10:13‐16
Thank you to the parents who were able to make it to the phonics meeting. We are really excited to work with everyone to ensure that your child becomes a quick, confident and fluent reader.
Wishing you all a lovely half term.
Star of the week Moon: Louis Bland
Mercury: Gracie Alderman
Year 1 - Galaxy and Venus
Can you believe that we have been at school for 8 weeks? The children have had a fantastic start to Year 1 and we couldn’t be more proud of them. In maths, the children have begun to develop their understanding of subtraction by finding the part. We have been using plenty of part-part-whole models to help us practically explore the whole and the known part before finding the missing part. We will continue building our subtraction knowledge after the half term. On Tuesday, we concluded our P.E unit of field hockey. The children took part in a carousel of activities, fine tuning our stick skills by weaving our ball through cones and passing the ball to other children. This week we’ve explored the text Salwe, in this story we read about a girl who was upset because she had skin the colour of the night sky rather than looking like her sister and mother. The children tried to put themselves in the shoes of Salwe to infer what she might be thinking or feeling in the middle of the story.
Star of the week
Galaxy: Arlo Bryant
Venus: Talisha Lowther
Year 2 - Earth and Mars
This week we have had fun writing free verse poetry about fireworks. We ‘ve explored our senses, onomatopoeia and alliteration. In maths we have been adding and subtracting tens and adding two 2 digit numbers. Our RE has been learning some stories about the Prophet Muhammad and thinking about how these stories help Muslims know how to behave. We have finished off our artwork based on the work of David Hockey. The children have produced some fantastic pieces. In PE we have enjoyed our unit on hockey and have been working hard on our team building skills. We’ve also enjoyed the book Grandad’s Island and have been creating animations in computing. Well done year 2 on a fantastic half term. Enjoy a well deserved rest!
Star of the Week
Earth: Albert Heslop
Mars: Charlie Penistone
Year 3 - Jupiter and Saturn
This week in English the children have planned, designed and created their own holiday brochures trying to persuade people to visit Skara Brae. The children have worked really hard on these and the pamphlets they have produced are stunning. They have really thought about the choice of language to use and after reading them we have decided we need to pack our bags and pay the Orkney islands a visit.
In maths the children have been making connections between addition and subtraction answering a range of fluency, problem solving and reasoning questions.
It was our final lesson of football in PE this week and the children showed great teamwork when we had another tournament on Monday afternoon and showed us they have all improved since the start of term.
It’s been such a great first half term, we have been so impressed with all the children and are looking forward to welcoming them back after half term.
Have a lovely break.
Stars of the week:
Saturn: Eleanor Watson
Jupiter: George Watson
Year 4 - Neptune and Meteor
Brilliant work from all of Year 4 this week. We have been extremely impressed with their determination and attitude to learning. In English, the children have been writing their independent piece of work, based around a newspaper report. They have been fantastic at identifying the different features of a newspaper report and applying these within their own independent piece of work. The children have also been editing their work and have been amazing at spotting silly little mistakes they have made in their writing. In Maths, we have been consolidating our knowledge on previous work we have found a little tricky, this includes; number lines to 10,000, roman numerals and addition and subtraction. They have really surprised us with quite how much they have remembered from these previous topics! In DT, the children made their amazing pizzas. Not only did they do an excellent job making the pizzas but they also did an amazing job ensuring the classroom was clean and tidy afterwards. We even had children offering to hoover the classroom for us! I’m sure the children will tell you, but the pizzas tasted amazing! In History, we have focussed on the history between ‘Catholics’ and ‘The Church of England’ in Tudor times. We have plotted key events from each religion on a timeline.
We are so proud of the children and the amazing start they have had to the year. We hope everyone has an amazing half term and we look forward to seeing you in a week's time!
Stars of the week:
Meteor: Sienna-Rose Stewart
Neptune: Noah Whittaker-Doherty
Year 5 - Asteroid and Pluto
It has been a week of pulling all our learning together. We have completed all the lessons for hockey and football, so we have been mixing the classes together to play small games. This has been a great opportunity for all the students to show us what they have learnt, while we assess them on their knowledge of the rules and their ability. In History, the children had to compare how we used to view the Vikings 30 years ago, to how that opinion has changed slightly, as archeologists have discovered more about them. Yes they were brutal raiders, but in the end they did settle and help create the cities we now know. In Science, we learnt how to create new materials by mixing gases, liquids and solids. Of course, we had to end the unit by mixing mentos and coca cola to create a gas. Finally, the children have been working hard on their drafts for their innovative narratives. Three days worth of drafting has been a challenge, but the children are doing their best to keep at it and include all the objectives that are expected of them. Next week, we look forward to their write ups and showing us their joined up handwriting to achieve that objective as well. Well done Year 5, only four more days to go!
Stars of the week:
Asteroid - Bella Smith
Pluto - Lily Cole
Year 6 - Nebular and Constellation
What a way to finish the final week of this half term…3 days of food, fun, friendship and fear conquering at Kingswood! Most of the children took part in a range of off-ground challenges including the climbing wall, Jacob’s ladder and the Leap of Faith. These challenges required each individual to push themselves further and further (or should we say higher and higher), with many reaching heights they didn’t think possible. When the challenge seemed too great, the support and cheers from their friends down on the ground proved immeasurable in giving them a boost to take that next step up. When the children weren’t up high, the dorms and the canteen also proved highly popular… how many sausages with your breakfast? It was wonderful to hear the staff at Kingswood comment on the lovely manners of all our children. From the amount of sleep children got, we weren’t expecting them to complete their Art Deco skyscraper art work quite like the way they did. What a stunning display they will create! We were also visited by leaders of Selby High to give children an idea of their options (Remember, high school deadline is the 31st of October) and past members of Year 6 telling children about their experiences so far of Year 7. Well done on all your hard work this long half term- rest up and be prepared for even more on your return!
Star of the Week
Nebular: Zachary Foulger
Constellation: Ava Wells