Leaping Over Mountains
Headteacher Newsletter - Friday 30th April 2021
The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. Song of Solomon 2:8
Contents
1. Leaping over Mountains
2. Class Updates
3. Weekly Tweets...
4. PEW News
5. Thorpe Woodlands Trip, Friday 7th May - Reminder
6. Clubs
7. Bank Holiday Monday
8. Travelling Book Fair
9. Haughley Nature Walks
10. Half Term Activities Clubs
11. 'School's Out' Summer Half Term Camps
12. Players Wanted
13. Norwich City FC Girls Development Programmes
14. Safeguarding & Wellbeing
1. Leaping Over Mountains
Good morning all,
In my last newsletter, I spoke about being 'Ready to Fall'. Well, as you will see shortly, this week has been all about 'Leaping Over Mountains'...or a high jump bar. Either way, it has been amazing to see the children attempt new things, show their courageousness, and aim high! One of our key cogs is 'Aspiration.' This is exactly what stimulates our children and I would implore you all to discuss the concept of aspiration and encourage them to have the belief that they are indeed future change-makers and can achieve whatever they set their mind to. Sometimes, all they need is the belief and backing that they 'Can' as opposed to 'Can't. And, if they can't right now, the language of 'YET' appears to be extremely powerful e.g. 'You can't yet'. The subtle addition of the word 'Yet' seems to set the premise that not everything is achievable immediately. However, 'Yet' definitely appears to present as an expectation and belief that they can and will if they continue to show courage, resilience, and aspiration.
From today, I will be absent for a few weeks due to having a long-awaited operation. Miss Mitchell and Miss DP will be deputising on an interim basis until I return. Mr. Berry and Mrs. Clark will also be supporting the school, therefore, you're definitely in safe hands!
We've definitely entered the Summer season and as Solomon once proclaimed 'Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.' Song of Solomon 2:8
Have a wonderful weekend - I will see you in a few week's time.
Mr. Francksen
Executive Headteacher
2. Class Updates
Class 1
Class one has settled back in beautifully after the Easter break. We have launched our new writing scheme in which the children have been very engaged! They are doing a fantastic job of learning some new vocabulary and building upon their descriptive sentences. The fact it centered around jellybeans may have helped just a little bit! : )
Class 2
Wow! What a lot of effort Class 2 has put into developing their concentration and listening skills this week. We have really enjoyed exploring the book “The Secret Sky Garden” together and can’t wait to expand our vocabulary with words like 'definitely', 'completely', 'descending', and 'missing' next week. In the afternoons we have enjoyed exploring some of our OPAL resources in more detail. We built a train from crates and a village out of the sand.
Class 3
We have had a lovely week back and are feeling refreshed, ready and excited for an uninterrupted full term of learning. Mrs. Singleton has been a very welcome return to our classroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our key text in English for the next three weeks is ‘FLOOD’ by Alvaro F Villa. We will be following the Jane Considine approach to writing, and hopefully, this will result in some fantastic narrative writing at the end of the unit. In maths, Hedgehogs have been continuing to work on multiplication and Llamas on addition and subtraction. In Friday’s Collective Worship, the children had a chance to revisit and share with the whole school; the persuasive letters that they wrote to the Brazilian president, Mr. Bolsanaro, last term. These letters asked Mr. Bolsanaro to reflect on his decision to allow and actively promote the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest, and to persuade him to reconsider before it is too late. Our week ended on a real high by completing the ‘Golden Mile’ in the glorious spring sunshine - what a fantastic way to end a great start to the term!
Class 4
What a great week for thinking, for sharing positive thoughts, and being kind communicators. We have started to reflect on Jesus’ Resurrection and spent a really philosophical afternoon considering life and death. Here is an example, from Charlie A: “How can I treasure life so much, knowing one day I will die?” Some truly contemplative, deep thinking from Class 4. We walked over to St Mary’s, with Class Four taking care of the younger children: so lovely to see such kind communicators and a whole school approach to both our Collective Worship and again at the end of the week in our Golden Mile. Our maths has seen Year 5 and Year 6 learning to add and subtract decimals up to 1. There is a fantastic new text to inspire our reading, and it has already started to excite us because it is an adventure story set in the Amazonian rainforest: The Explorer, by Katherine Rundell. We are also continuing to read Wonder by R J Palacio, and this has encouraged us to think not only about character development but about inclusion and diversity. A great start to the Summer Term, everyone, well done!
3. Weekly Tweets...
4. PEW News
Our Junior Open the Book Stewards (JOBs) are coming on leaps and bounds; they have now become regular authors of the local PEW News. Please see their extract, this week...
Here at Crawford’s we have our Crawford’s Cogs, which is what we call our life values: Courageous, Aspirational, Inquisitive, Reflective, Kind Communicators, and Resilient. Courageous’ biblical character is St Thomas ‘Let us go with Jesus’ and our Courageous Cog means we are brave and try new things. Aspirational’s biblical character is St Peter ‘I will make three tents’ and it reminds us to aim high and don't stop when we have done what we think we can do. Inquisitive’s biblical character is Nicodemus ‘Nicodemus asks Jesus questions and goes from darkness to light' and it means we always ask questions and are curious. Reflective’s biblical character is St Mary ‘Treasured all these things in her heart and it reminds us to think back about what we do say and say. Kind communicator’s biblical character is St Barnabus ‘Encouragement’ and it reminds us to always be nice and think about what we do before we do it. Resilient’s biblical character is St Paul ‘missionary journeys’ and it reminds us to keep trying and if we don't get it try other ways.
Here is the prayer we chose:
Keep us, we pray,
in perfect peace,
help us to walk together,
pray together, sing together,
and live together,
until that day
when all God’s children,
Black and White,
will rejoice in one common
band of humanity,
in the kingdom of our Lord,
and of our God, we pray.
Amen.
5. Thorpe Woodlands Trip, Friday 7th May - Reminder
If you have not already done so, please log in to Arbor to give permission for your child(ren) to attend.
IF YOU DO NOT GIVE CONSENT FOR YOUR CHILD TO GO THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND THE DAY; INSTEAD, THEY WILL STAY AT SCHOOL FOR AN ALTERNATIVE LEARNING PROVISION!
If your child is in receipt of income-related Free School Meals, we will supply them with a school-packed lunch on the day. We will be leaving school at 09.00 am and travelling by coach, returning at approximately 4.45 pm. Note that Mr. Hurkett’s After School Club will not run on this day, but if you are not able to pick up your child until 5 pm, he will be here to supervise them until then.
Children should wear clothing suitable for outdoor activities. Please see the list below for what will be required:
Waterproof jacket;
Jogging bottoms/trousers;
T-shirt;
School jumper;
Trainers;
A spare set of clothes and a spare set of old trainers (for the water-based activities);
A towel;
Sun hat and sun-block, insect repellant (hot-weather dependent);
Plastic water bottle;
Packed lunch;
A daysack/bag to carry the above.
Please note: No new or expensive clothing or equipment is required - old sports kits and trainers are best.
We would strongly recommend that pupils are discouraged from bringing mobile phones or any other expensive items which could easily be lost or stolen such as valuable jewellery, electronic items, etc.
No money needed at Thorpe Woodlands!
6. Clubs
It has been brought to my attention that breakfast and after-school clubs are not always booked for. Please be aware that for the coaches to plan safe, active, and engaging sessions, you need to book your child's place on the School's online Arbor system. Failure to do this will mean your child will not be able to attend.
7. Bank Holiday Monday
8. Travelling Book Fair
9. Haughley Nature Walks
10. Half Term Activities Clubs
Due to the low numbers of the previous two, FREE half-term activities clubs, we have decided that these will not be possible for the forthcoming half-term break.
The Gipping Valley Sports Partnership will be running PAID-FOR clubs from Thurston Community College, Beyton Campus at £10 per session (£20 per day). If you are interested, please click on the link below.
11. 'School's Out' Summer Half Term Camps
12. Players Wanted
13. Norwich City FC Girls Development Programmes
The Girls Elite Player Development Centre offers gifted and talented girls the chance to receive quality technical coaching sessions.
The primary focus of the Girls EPDC is to deliver a 32-week technical training programme for one and a half per week while providing potential selected opportunities for players to represent the EPDC in fixtures, festivals, training camps, tours and matchday experiences.
The technical syllabus for the EPDC Programme is delivered in line with the philosophy and DNA of the Club and Academy.
Each individual invited on to the programme will receive a mid-season and end-of-season report.
This is the highest tier for Girls within the Cambridgeshire & Suffolk Regions.
14. Safeguarding & Wellbeing
About Us
Email: admin@crawfordsprimary.suffolk.sch.uk
Website: crawfordsprimaryschool.com
Location: Haughley, Stowmarket IP14 3QZ, UK
Phone: 01449 673253
Twitter: @CrawfordsPSchl