Newsletter
March Week 3
Friday 19th March
We are so pleased, but not at all surprised, to tell you how brilliantly the pupils and staff have all settled back into school life together this week. As you would expect, pupils are thrilled to be back with each other and at school as we return to some normality. Staff have been building back routines, rehearsing our expectations and starting to see where the pupil's strengths are now and where we will want to put more focus through our planning and teaching.
Red Nose Day
We have been celebrating Red Nose Day by playing 'Keepy Uppy' with red balloons as well as selling cakes and Red Nose Merchandise. Thank you to everyone who has contributed, we've had a fun-packed day.
Comic Relief has helped to support 19.1 million people across the UK and around the world. That's 767,000 people across the UK and 18.3 million people internationally. They raised £74, 000, 000 last year, so hopefully they can break that number this year.
Don’t miss this year’s night of TV for Red Nose Day which includes the Vicar of Dibley and an exclusive UK performance from Justin Bieber. Here's a sneak peek of some of the many highlights from our comedy packed evening. https://www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday/ whats-on/
Creative Reuse - From Old and Unwanted to New and Interesting.
Before Christmas, as part of our Enterprise lesson, we were given some phone cases that could no longer be used. So instead of throwing them away, we decided to "up-cycle" and turn them into note books, mirrors and photo frames. It was important to us that we did not cause damage to the environment and that we didn't just waste something that could be turned into something new!
These cases will be 'showcased' in the library next week and Diane will arrange for pupils to buy them in a socially distanced way with profits shared between the pupils and an ecological charity of their choice.
Sammie & Scarlett
Nursery
As you know, Nursery have been working hard on improving the outdoor classroom, including adding lots of different opportunities for building and construction. Pupils have really enjoyed constructing with the Duplo, making all sorts of different animals!
"These are snakes that are all different colours and sizes ... they are the good guys!" Samuel
Pupils have been learning about how tractors and other machines transport, push, pull and lift different objects.
"I can scoop things up with the bulldozer." Billy.
This week's awards go to Filip, Mikey, Samuel, Cody and Billy for great learning with the outdoor farm and construction vehicles.
Reception
Reception continued to explore rainbows and discuss the people in their lives that they treasure most. The activities were based on the story The World Made a Rainbow. Pupils chose their favourite colours from the rainbow as well as drew and labelled objects that were that colour. Diane took us to the pond area to find treasures in nature too!
Pupils have also been finding 'one less' in their maths activities, using tens frames to help them subitise. They have been painting using watercolours, exploring colour mixing to create the colours of the rainbow and cutting out silhouettes to go on top of their pictures.
Well done on another fantastic week in Reception!
Mrs Segal
This week's awards go to Keojah for her positive attitude, sharing with her friends and for giving all of the activities a real 'go.' Well done on all of your hard work in Phonics, Writing, Maths and Art!
Our other award goes to Zachias for his warmth, cheerful disposition and enthusiasm. Zachias has also worked hard across all areas of learning this week, especially in his subtraction work. Keep up the great work!
Year 1
Year 1 have been working at home this week and what wonderful work they have done! Pupils have been joining daily zooms again to enjoy stories and share their knowledge of Spring. They have learnt more about 2D and 3D shapes in Maths and how to write riddles in English.
We are so proud of how hard they work whether they are in the classroom or learning at home.
We are so good at following the rules but cannot wait to get back to school on Monday!
Miss Purse
To the whole of Year 1!
Awarded this week for the fantastic effort all pupils have put in since being at home. They all deserve recognition for their efforts, cheeriness and hard work every day. Keep smiling!
Year 2
This week Year 2 have been working on fractions of shapes and numbers. Pupils have used diennes to show halves and quarters. As a treat for their hard work, they had the bunnies in the classroom on Wednesday. They all had a chance to have a cuddle with our furry friends Toffee and Coco.
Miss Grant
This week, Olivia is awarded for her wonderful Rainbow acrostic poem and Abdullah for his amazing fraction knowledge of halves and quarters.
Year 3
Year 3 have thoroughly enjoyed their science topic all about rocks and fossils. Pupils have made their own compost bins and went on a worm scavenger. The wiggly new additions to the class have been getting first class treatment! They have also participated in a science experiment to test the different permeability of different soils.
In Maths, we have been learning about fractions, focusing on identifying and finding halves.
Miss Fairley
This week's awards go to Bianca for her fantastic partner work in all lessons and Ruby for her growing confidence and contributions in all subjects.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 have continued to enjoy their explosive art topic. They have observed, explored and experimented with three different artists and their artistic styles.
First, they looked at recreating the sky after an eruption in the style of the Scream by Edvard Munch. Then, they explored drip art by Jackson Pollock to create the explosion, and finally, they looked at how Margaret Godfrey used collage to create cross sectional pictures of volcanoes. Their creative talents have blown Mrs Craddock and I away.
Year 4 are excited to use all the inspiration they have gathered to create their final pieces next week.
Mr Boucon
This week's awards go to Aaliyah for her positive and hard-working attitude, and to Alyssa her brilliant times table knowledge - well done!
Year 5
This week, Year 5 have continued their work on Beowulf in English. Pupils have learned how to write effective direct speech between characters, and how to use hyphens in compound adjectives, such as fog-infested and blood-thirsty. They have enjoyed learning new language for their writing next week.
In Maths, they've impressively learned how to subtract fractions and mixed numbers; their confidence and effort has been fantastic.
Finally, in History, Year 5 have enjoyed the start of our topic on the Viking invasion of Britain, which began in 793 CE. They've learned about King Alfred the Great and how the Vikings conquered many different kingdoms.
Miss Smith
This week's awards go to Rashed for his excellent work on subtracting fractions and mixed numbers, and to Stephanos for his brilliant sentences using compound adjectives - well done boys!
Year 6
In Art, Y6 are looking at London landscapes created by other artists such as Stephen Wiltshire and Anna Louise Felstead. They are focusing on the techniques they use before Y6 create their own London landscapes.
Here, Nikhil (6B) has analysed Stephen Wiltshire's sketching technique, Adon (6S) has explored different shades, shapes and sketching techniques in his fantastic work and Shannon (6S) has produced astute observations of Stephen Wiltshire's artwork.
6B's Achievement Awards
Zuzanna for always pushing herself particularly in situations where she has to speak or perform in front of the class and Maja for always having a positive attitude in whatever she has to do.
6S' Achievement Awards
This week's achievement award goes to Gabriela for working incredibly hard in all subjects. She has made such excellent progress which is a testament to how hard she worked during lockdown too!
The second achievement award goes to Sara for coming back to school with renewed independence and positivity. She always tries her best and has been challenging herself across all subjects - well done!
6L's achievement awards
6L's achievement awards go to to Intisam and Erin. Initsam worked extremely hard on her Letters from the Lighthouse letter and always gives 100% in every lesson. Erin always has the right attitude and continues to contribute to class discussions as often as she can.
Miss Breen, Mrs Speed and Miss Lax
Notice to all Parents and Carers
It is our aim to keep pupils in school. As you know a positive case in an adult or child shuts a class for 10 days! We still have a code-red Covid situation. Please help us by:
Being on time. Try not being too early or too late and congregating together.
Please wear a mask on the school grounds and keep your distance from each other.
Collecting your child and leave promptly.
Please do not allow your children to play on the equipment in any playground. We have to clean it after its use.
reducing the number of adults in the school, only one parent should be dropping off and picking up.
Together we can try and keep our pupils, parents and staff as safe as possible.
Year 6 Continued
In English, we have been writing letters in role as Olive from Letters from the Lighthouse. Here is Eleni's (6S) fantastic work.
Dear Esther,
I know I’m probably the last person you would expect to get a letter from but I would really appreciate it if you could read until the end instead of tearing it apart and chucking it in the bin. This is going to sound crazy but this is me apologising to you for the many times I have treated you wrong and behaved unacceptably (which admittedly has been quite a lot) when we have been together. Despite all of this, I am still willing to make things right between us, even though it may be quite challenging. Do you think there is a chance you could consider it as well?
I can’t believe that I am even attempting to write this but what have I got to lose? Am I right? Anyway, here goes...
So, when I lost my temper on the train the other week, all my words came out completely wrong. It was just because you grabbed Cliff’s magazine before he had finished reading it; that didn’t bring out the best of my emotions. In hindsight, I can’t really blame you: that Beano is the cat’s pyjamas! Perhaps, you can think of me and that incident in a different way now that you know what I was thinking at the time? Although this is going to make me sound like I am out of my mind, I'm not usually like that, in fact, not at all actually. Right, this is my next explanation that I feel I owe you as it might help you understand why I got so protective over Cliff. When we moved into Queenie’s house, it took us a while to get settled as we were just as new to this town as you. Therefore, when you moved in, it rather shocked me. Rummaging through my draws like that, I found a bit disrespectful but I understand now... you were just trying to find room to put all of your clothes in. The note – that you found – was from my older sister and she had gone missing so was really all the hope that I have to find her. That’s the real reason why I got so aggressive and took things way too far.
Lately, my attitude has been most impolite but this week I realised what you have gone through in your life and I couldn’t feel more inspired! Your courage and bravery, that I got to witness, are incredible and watching you be rewarded by seeing your dad again nearly brought me to tears. Crikey! Pull yourself together, Olive! OK, let me continue... I lost my Dad when I was young too so I know what it feels like. I mean, obviously my experiences can’t measure up to yours at all. Watching you two be reunited really got me thinking about my family and I wish I could have the endless time again with my father. You know when you shared your story with our class it really changed people’s point of view about children from the Kindertransport so I was wondering if you are going to continue with that? Or maybe you want to focus on your future; its looking pretty bright from here on out.
Well, that’s all from me. After reading this letter, I really hope you have changed your opinion about me. I am extremely sorry for my behaviour: it was definitely wrong and I realise that now. So.. please let me know if you what your decision is as soon as you can.
From Olive. Xx
Zahid (6B), Intisam (6L) and Kal-El (6L) have also completed brilliant pieces of writing in the role of Olive from 'Letters From a Lighthouse'.
They worked very hard to create the balance between narrative (in their second and third paragraph) and letter.
Kingfisher
This week in English, Kingfisher 1 have explored the story of 'The Tiger Child'. Pupils have looked closely at tigers and various other animals that can be found in the wild.
In Maths, they have been working on repeated addition and multiplication. Well done, Kingfisher 1!
Mrs Ferdenzi and Miss Kiazim
This week's award goes to Georgie for her brilliant attitude and effort in Maths this week. She has worked hard and enjoyed learning about repeated addition, counting in 2's and 5's.
Diary Dates
March 2021
Wednesday 31st
- End of Term - School closes at year group's normal time (No Cabin Club)
April 2021
Easter Holidays: Thursday 1st April - Friday 16th April
Monday 19th:
- Summer 1 term begins - pupils return to school
May 2021
Monday 3rd:
- May Day Bank Holiday - School closed
- End of Summer 1 Term - school finishes normal time
Half Term: Monday 31st May - Friday 4th June