Weekly Newsletter
Friday 14th May 2021
This week in school
Here's the headlines
NSPCC Number Day
Cheep as Chicks
Art Competitions
The Royal Mail stamp competition and the Diocese Art competition.
What a busy 'thank you for helping us' kind of week!
Over the time I've been at Brayton, I have grown to depend on and be very grateful for the support and help we get from our parents.
I am always blown away by your kind comments and generosity. This week we've benefitted from both of those again. Over £300 for NSPCC! That's a great amount for this worthy cause.
I have received lovely emails and supportive messages from you after hearing that I am going to be taking a career break in the next few months. Very soon the StarMAT and Local Governing Body will be in touch with you all about this. The recruitment process will take time to complete of course but we will keep you updated when we can. I will be here until the new Head is appointed and I will be working tirelessly along with the staff to continue to improve our lovely school and create a hopefully seamless handover. It won't be for a long while yet though.
Due to the fact that our numbers have increased so significantly over the last three years we are opening a new class in September. We will need to find a new name for the class so please get your thinking caps on! We are not yet sure whether this will be in the Infants or the Juniors.
The extra class will be taken by a newly appointed Deputy Headteacher - we have the funding available to reinstate this role in our staffing structure - our first Deputy since 2017. The Deputy will work closely with our existing brilliant Senior Leaders and of course the new Headteacher when s/he arrives. Deputy Head interviews are next week - we are looking forward to welcoming another leader to Brayton to help us with actioning our School Improvement Plan and Covid Recovery Plan.
Thank you for your encouragement and care. No wonder our children are so great - they take after you!
Have a really lovely weekend everyone!
Mrs R - Proud Headteacher
Whole School Attendance
Well done and thank you.
A fantastic 328 children had 100% attendance this week.
This week in classrooms
Stars
This week we have journeyed under the sea. We have enjoyed the story of ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by Marcus Pfister and ‘Sharing a Shell’ by Julia Donaldson. We have created an underwater scene in the water tray, played in the sand, added scales to the fish by printing with celery and made our very own collage rainbow fish. We have used the magnetic fishing game to improve our number recognition and have done lots of mark making in the sand.
In Phonics we have introduced the ‘qu’ sound and practised lots of blending with the sounds we know. We have also focused on body percussion.
FS/Y1
We are very proud parents and we would like to announce the arrival of 15 baby chicks!
The children have gained so much from such a worthwhile experience, seeing first hand new life and all the awe and wonder that it brings. It’s amazing to see how much the chicks have changed already this week. They have all really fluffed out and they are looking super cute! It has been amazing watching the children’s faces (and the staff) as they held the chicks. Over the course of 21 days, the children have observed the eggs in the incubator. They also participated in “candling” experiments, which allowed them to take a peek at the chicks’ progress inside the eggs. We have incorporated lots of learning experiences related to chicks during the month, as well.
Our classrooms are full of new life as we are also enjoying watching our seeds grow and our caterpillars turning into chrysalis. This has all linked into our RE theme on God's creation, the creation story and about what God is like. The children came up with some very thought-provoking ideas as to what God looks like and where he is. “God is in the whole world because our God is a mummy to everyone”
We have continued reading the story of ‘Jim and the beanstalk’ and in maths, we have been practising our measuring skills. We have used these skills to design and create a pair of fitting glasses (or nearly fitting!) just like the giants.
There’s no need to worry about the chicks over the weekend! They are going home with the teachers so they will be well looked after and most importantly of all they will have lots of cuddles!
Year 2
What a fun-filled week we have had performing rhyming poetry and using expression and rhythm to entertain an audience. We then planned and wrote a verse based on the 'spotted hyena' from our class text - The Ugly Five. In Maths we have been telling the time to 5 minute intervals. In DT we have begun to decorate our vehicles by adding features - they are looking 'wheely' great! We have continued to learn about habitats in science and discussed how animals are suited to different environments.
Year 3
Year 4
This week, in maths, we are working on trying to become decimal experts while attempting to beat our own times tables scores and move up our championship league table. We have written a lively selection of volcano poems showing off our figurative language skills. Learning about the causes and locations of earthquakes, we are thankful we live in a part of the world which does not experience major shakes. What a perfect week to make our French board games, learning how to pronounce weather conditions accurately, with il fait du soleil in the sunny mornings and il y a de l'orage in the stormy afternoons. We have also made time to acknowledge and experience the importance of nature during mental Health Awareness Week in our school grounds.
Year 5/6
This week, the year 5 and 6 children have been delving deep into the world of fractions in maths. We have compared fractions to decimals, simplified and found equivalency; and found fractions of amounts. The children's' hard work and perseverance has been wonderful to see. In guided reading we are continuing to find out the origins of the Yelnats family and now Stanley is showing his true colours - not what you would think for a convicted thief! In English we have been writing letters home from Camp Green Lake; two of them to be precise. The first, telling 'Mom' that everything is fine and that the place is a haven! The second, telling her the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... oh, dear! In topic, we have been looking at the wondrous, and occasionally, odd attractions along the route, in preparation to rewrite the famous song (Route 66) with more information about the sights that there are! Well done guys, a good week.
Superstar Awards
Thea Platts, Ellis Dyson, Ada-Rose Evans, Evie Priest, Abigail Lawlor, Lily Cole, Scarlett Scott, Luke Toone, Sienna Gibson, Billy Wright, Joshua Smart, Millie Rowan, Madison Turner.
Honey Pot Prize Winners
Extra bee points
10 extra bee points go to:
Best attendance
Yellow Hive - 98%
No red slips
Red Hive