Diversity is a great force!
Headteacher Newsletter - Monday 1st February 2021
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ - Gal 3:28.
Contents
1. Diversity Is A Great Force Towards Creativity
2. Class Updates
3. Weekly Tweets
4. Jasmin & Harry make the local PEW News!
5. Children's Mental Health Week
6. Reading 'Remote Learning' Help for Families
7. OPAL Digging Pit
8. School Improvement Activity
9. Safeguarding
1. Diversity Is A Great Force Towards Creativity
Hello and good morning,
This past week has been one of many stories about aspiration. Reflecting on Martin Luther King and his 'I had a dream!' speech (the previous week) we moved on to the stories of Saint Peter and his aspiration with being handed the (metaphorical) keys to heaven by Jesus. Then, on Wednesday, we learned, sensitively, about the Holocaust and the many stories of aspiration by Jewish people, most notably Anne Frank.
As a relatively monocultural county, village and school, it has been great to talk with the children about diversity and the importance this brings. I have been so impressed with our children, in school, and how they have maturely considered the aforementioned characters. It is definitely something we, as a school, are working on raising awareness of so please do support your child(ren) with the understanding that difference is so important in order to brighten and make the world a better place. We are all different, whether it be our personality, nationality, race, or religion, yet together we can be united.
Have a safe week ahead everyone!
Mr. Francksen
Executive Headteacher
2. Class Updates
Class 1
I have been bowled over by our super impressive home learners this week. We have some very creative and supportive parents who have thought of some fantastic alternative learning opportunities. Chester and Harry have been shooting tricky words with their nerf guns, Piper was super resilient with her fantastic crown making. However well done all for keeping the children engaged and reducing screen time.
This week in addition to the live phonics session we added a storytime both of which were attended by nearly all class members.
Our daily play activities have proved popular too; I particularly love how Charlotte is now using her den for her learning and live sessions!
Class 2
We have had lots of aspirational learning from everyone this week in our live sessions. I especially want to congratulate Hollie for earning 10 house points for using her courageous cog! Sophie impressed me too this week; she used her inquisitive cog and aspirational cog to do some fantastic research answering her own question ‘What was an allosaurus?’
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Malachi this week as he relocated to the USA but we gave him a lovely virtual send-off!
Remember, if your child is learning at home they are invited to a group meet each week which gives them the opportunity to chat with friends and share what they have been up to during the week. I know Ruben has something exciting to show on Tuesday so come along and find out more if you are in the Tuesday group.
Class 3 & Class 4
10:15 a.m is the new Story Time slot this week, as we are trialling this to see whether more of you can join in with this fun live session; you can see your friends at the same time. We are writing instructions this week, so get out your pizza recipes! We’re looking at bossy verbs and sequencing words to help us! We have had some amazing Collective Worship experiences, including a fantastic Junior Open the Book re-enactment of Jesus calming the storm in Galilee. Mrs. Welch enthralled us all with a Foxy Forage of Facts, too, testing how much we could remember the story.
A first for Crawford's was last Friday’s ‘virtual swimming and diving’ lesson, led by Mr. Waters with an enthusiastic Mr. Hurkett as his wing-man! Science lessons focus on Space, and you can all watch the exciting lessons to learn more about this fascinating topic. This could well become a favourite: a regular fixture for our Funday Friday!
Absolutely fabulous assignments and submissions this week - much praise to:
Jasmin H, Charlie, and Bethany - getting 10 dojos for aspirational learning (St Peter would be proud!) for The Firework Maker’s Daughter reading comprehension and answers;
Olivia - getting 10 dojos for aspirational writing in her R.E. essay about Hinduism, including a really impressive upskilling following feedback from Mr. Waters;
Jasmine and Harry T - getting 10 dojos each for reflective leadership, as they encouraged younger children to participate in their Junior Open the Book collective worship.
Keep up your amazing efforts during our remote learning - you are all superstars in our eyes!
3. Weekly Tweets
4. Jasmin & Harry make the local PEW News!
CRAWFORD'S C.of E. PRIMARY SCHOOL. Bring you their News.
Jasmine W and Harry T, both in Year 5. have written to tell us what is going on at Crawford's School, even now, during the Lockdown. They are both Junior Team Leaders of the Open the Book Team, bringing Bible stories to life for the school. In their Collective Worship this week they began thinking about how St. Peter gained the keys to Heaven. They said, “ it is inspiring to learn the Bible stories together, even the Teachers join in”.
Last week we had new lively P.E.Sessions with our Enrichment Coach Mr. Hurkett. He made us all huff and puff with lots of exercises. Half an hour of Hi-impact jumps, turns, and crunches. This helps us all to keep fit and healthy. (We didn't see many Teachers doing the exercises this time). We now have 1:1 tuition so that some children can catch up as the CoronaVirus has made them struggle. In Lockdown we have Chromebooks loaned to us for remote learning. We enjoy these as we are able to speak to our friends on Google Classroom.
Thank you for reading about our lovely school and some of the things that we do. We will try to keep in touch with you from school when we can; it has been very nice to meet you through Pew News.
Keep safe-distancing and wear your masks, please.
From Jasmine (Aged 9 years) & Harry (Aged 10 years).
5. Children's Mental Health Week
Today marks the beginning of Children's Mental Health Week. I have enclosed a link, below, to the national website as well as a Wellbeing Toolkit. Try keeping a check on your wellbeing with these simple ideas! It's so easy to see well-being as something to do at the end of the day, but it should be the first thing we plan for at the start of each day instead! These top tips are like choosing our clothes in the morning - put them ALL on!
6. Reading 'Remote Learning' Help for Families
The Education Endowment Fund has provided some simple guidance for developing healthy reading habits to make your time together more enjoyable, more valuable, and more productive in terms of learning. The link, below, provides the 7 top tips - this is an easy way to get ideas for how to make the most of reading with your child whilst they are at home. It’s in a comic strip format, simple to understand, and using real-life examples of what to say to encourage understanding and to praise.
7. OPAL Digging Pit
8. School Improvement Activity
1f) Effective ‘Keep-up’ strategies and interventions enable children to meet the expected goals - 1:1 sessions, Third Space Learning Maths National Tutoring sessions for KS2 pupils, and new SEN support plans are ensuring close targeted support is provided;
1g) Daily read allowed texts enhances the curriculum and encourages the enjoyment of reading - 'Live', daily storytime and a video bank of CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) stories on children's timetables are supporting and encouraging a love of reading;
2b) A clear progression of maths skills and methods is in place for each year group - White Rose Maths plans built into the timetable, 'live' teaching input and 1:1 sessions are supporting a consistent and progressive provision;
5a) Pupils demonstrate a high-level of competence in religious literacy - Our new JOBS (Junior Open the Book Stewards), newly revised collective worship calendar and partnership, community work with our Foundation Governors and the Stowmarket Food Bank is supporting RE;
5b) Pupils demonstrate a broad understanding of diversity and difference in the world - Celebrating diversity in our Martin Luther King & Holocaust collective worship helped support knowledge and understanding of prejudice, difference, unity, and faith;
6b) Pupils enjoy a stimulating outdoor and play learning (OPAL) environment - A mud-kitchen, digging area, and sandpit are built to inspire the children with outdoor learning and play;
7a) Termly SGC meetings take place and include, safeguarding, HOS report, SIP, budget - The school governors met on Wednesday to discuss school matters and to provide critical friendship. The following policies have been updated (please see the links, below).
9. Safeguarding
About Us
Email: admin@crawfordsprimary.suffolk.sch.uk
Website: crawfordsprimaryschool.com
Location: Haughley, Stowmarket IP14 3QZ, UK
Phone: 01449 673253
Twitter: @CrawfordsPSchl