Weekly Newsletter
Friday 20th January 2023
This week in school
Job vacancy We are looking for a new teaching assistant (full time) to join our team. Full details are at https://www.braytonprimary.com/vacancies/
Y6 SATs meeting Thankyou to everyone who came along to this week's meeting: we hope you found it useful around what to expect. Mr Close and Miss Rushworth are always happy to answer any queries so please contact them if there is anything you are not sure about. The slides will be sent out by email if you and your child want to look over them again.
Winter illnesses update from the DFE UKHSA advice remains clear that children can continue to attend as normal unless they are unwell and have a high temperature. Further information on when a child is too ill for school or nursery is available. There is no requirement to be absent from school on a precautionary basis. Schools should continue to maintain their high expectations for face-to-face attendance.
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/
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.
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
Another really strong week for us, keeping our attendance above the national and regional figures. This is so positive and makes a huge difference to how settled the children are. We do appreciate that it's a hard decision if you child is saying they do not feel well, but we would always contact you if they were struggling at school.
The legal duties around attendance for both schools and local authorities are being strengthened, and North Yorkshire have assigned us a designated Attendance Enforcement Officer who will be liaising with us where we have concerns around this area.
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
Tuesday 24 January - School SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools) inspection visit
Thursday 9 February - School closes for half term
Friday 10 February - STAR MAT training day at Tadcaster Grammar School (school closed to children)
Monday 20 February - School opens
Friday 31 March - School closes for Easter
Monday 17 April - School opens
Happy Birthdays!
Many many many many happy returns this week to.....
Alex Beaumont
Aoife Brown
Jordan Smallman
This week in classrooms
Nursery - Stars
We have loved learning the stories of The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Little Red Hen this week. We have retold the stories through role play and small world activities and the children are getting really good at joining in with the repeated refrains. We have enjoyed creating our own trolls out of playdough and built bridges with the construction. In the creative area this week we have enjoyed free painting and mixing colours.
In phonics we have been learning to recognise words in a sentence and practising loud and quiet sounds. Our maths has focussed on weight. The children have enjoyed holding objects and talking about heavy and light.
Star of the Week - Nellie Mattinson
Reception - Moon and Mercury
We began the week ‘Walking through the Jungle’ which took the children on a whirlwind tour around the habitats of the world, through the jungle to the ocean, up the mountains to the river and the Arctic. As we walked and swam, climbed and trekked, we encountered a whole host of wild animals that roar and growl or snap and howl before chasing them all the way back home. This inspired our surprise safari trip to Africa and you wouldn't believe the animals we saw along the way! In phonics we introduced the new graphemes ow, oi, ear and air. We are really focussing on the correct letter formation, consistency in size and instant recognition of the harder to read and spell words. In Maths we have continued subitising and the composition of numbers to 5. We finished the week comparing mass and using the correct vocabulary of heavier and lighter. In RE we shared the story of Jesus blessing the children from the gospel of Mark 10:13‐16. We then retold the story and gave each child a happy and sad face. This time they held the masks up to show their feelings and those of Jesus. We ended the story with some I wonder questions.
Moon: Jack Priest
Mercury: Alfie Penrose
Year 1 - Galaxy and Venus
In Year 1 we have been exploring the many physical and human features which can be seen around England and studying the famous landmarks which can be found in the capital city of London. We have been on a virtual tour of London and sequenced the landmarks we saw and then wrote a recount of our experiences.
In maths we have been learning about place value and using number lines.
We have been reading The Queen’s Hat by Steve Antony and discussed the vocabulary used, answered questions and sequenced the order of events.
In Geography, we have been identifying characteristics of England and using aerial photographs of London to recognise landmarks. In art we looked at the skyscapes of London and made our own.
In RE we have listened to a story about the Prophet Muhammad and how he cared for living things. We then thought about how we could be caring too.
Stars of the Week:
Galaxy - Miles Smith
Venus - Anna Sorrell
Year 2 - Earth and Mars
We are still playing a waiting game in Year 2 as our dragon eggs have still not hatched; we keep checking on them every day and we are keeping them warm despite the freezing temperatures. Meanwhile, some of the children thought they should read them stories like the boy in our guided reading, ‘The Egg’. This story has also taught us how to train a dragon when it hatches. However, if we have trouble with it, we have been thinking about how to capture a dragon in English as well as writing some excellent sentences containing prepositions, adverbs and exciting vocabulary. If we have to go hunting for our dragons, we have been learning how to read map symbols in Geography and in Science we have been learning about the properties of materials so we know which ones are best suited for our dragon traps.
In RE we have been learning more about the Gospel, the good news Jesus brings. This week we have found out that God always forgives those who say they are sorry so we should always do the same however hard that may be. One of our Christian values at school is forgiveness.
In Maths we have continued learning about money. We have been adding money together and giving change from £1.
Stars of the Week:
Earth- Nancy Mattinson
Mars- Isabella Leadbeater
Year 3 - Jupiter and Saturn
This week in Year 3 has flown by! As the Legend of Black Rock reaches its conclusion , we are desperate to find out the fate of Erin. In English our plot points have focused on synonyms, complex sentences and dialogue. In Maths we have been focusing on dividing 2-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers using flexible partitioning. We have even moved onto dividing 2-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers with remainders using practical aids such as lolly pop sticks (unfortunately no lollies to eat first).
In Science this week we carried out an investigation focusing on understanding how things move on different surfaces. We used Newton metres to measure the forces that were being applied. In French, we practised how to explain how we are feeling and saying ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ . Finally in RE the children made fantastic Mezuzah’s scroll covers this week and we discussed how important these are in Jewish homes.
Stars of the week:
Saturn: Imogen Herring
Jupiter: Tsvitoslava Medvid
Year 4 - Neptune and Meteor
What haven’t we done in Year 4 this week! We’ve tackled some tricky concepts in maths that had us scratching our heads at first. The children have worked really hard applying last week’s learning of multiplying by 10 and 100 to help them solve related multiplication problems and informal written methods. It’s so great to see everyone’s TT Rockstar practice paying off in lessons helping the children remain confident and quick at answering questions.
Monday generated plenty of interest as children were able to apply their newfound TinkerCAD skills to start building their first assignment project, to build a house and duplicate it!
In R.E, there were plenty of thought provoking conversations held. In class we explored Gospels, in particular looking closely at the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. One particular point of interest was looking on Google Maps at the river Jordan. Children studied a Bible passage to look for signs of the trinity within that section before drawing Jesus’ baptism while using artistic inferences to the trinity’s presence.
Star of the week -
Meteor - Isabel HarrisNeptune - Ellie Cooper
Year 5 - Asteroid and Pluto
Children have really shone bright this week in their English lessons, completing their biographies about the incredibly talented, rule-breaker, Katherine Johnson. Class teachers were so impressed at the range of writing skills demonstrated by all children throughout the piece. In Guided Reading, children are loving the Guided Reading text, Cosmic and enjoyed making predictions throughout chapter 6- it’s interesting to see how well the children know the main character, Liam, already as most predicted whatever happened, trouble would be sure to follow! Children will be pleased to hear that next week, we will work through the book at a greater pace, so we might start to have an idea how and why Liam is currently stranded somewhere in the great unknown! In Maths, we have learnt how to multiply 2, 3 and 4-digit numbers by a 2-digit number, we have moved through this new process using a CPA (concrete, pictorial and abstract) approach over the week, this will continue into next week’s learning, where we will have to apply this method to problem solving. Again, teachers are impressed with the resilience of all children beginning to learn something new, and understanding that mistakes are all part of the learning process. In RE, children began consolidating their learning from the Gospel texts we have used this half term to think about the key values and messages Christians could learn from them. Children will use these interpretations next week and make links to how a church could offer services to support these values in the Christian community. Well done all on what has been a brilliant week.
Stars of the week:
Asteroid: Beau Stubbs
Pluto: Roma Tate
Year 6 - Nebular and Constellation
Oh my word, we are packing it into Year 6 this week. Busy, busy…. as always! We are continuing with our theme of ‘Digging up Trouble’ as we explore our book character Lil’s experiences after the death of an eminent professor, her grandfather’s sudden illness and then finding a potentially cursed jar with an ancient letter which appears to reveal details of the life of a young pharaoh, Tutankhamun. We have also carried out some research into the life and works of Howard Carter as we prepare his biography in English. In maths we have continued to work with the multiplication of fractions. During our science lesson we have been considering the nature of our human circulatory system and begun to explore the intricate workings of the heart. Our RE this week has been exploring the notion of special and sacred places, reflecting on their value within our lives and that of the wider world. As we progress with this current unit of work we will explore the big question for this half term, ‘Is it better to express our beliefs in architecture and the arts or in charity and generosity?’ This has provided us all with much food for thought and made for a busy but very enjoyable week.
Stars of the week
Constellation - Riley Lee
Nebular - Ethan Sowersby