Wow! We can’t believe we’ve completed another half term and are now half way through the year. The children continue to make us incredibly proud every day by displaying marvellous manners and striving to try their very best.

Curie Class have spent the half term exploring mountains around the globe. For their Super Start, they ‘summited’ Mount Everest. They all made excellent mountaineers and worked well as a team to battle through blizzards to reach the top. The class have loved the class text, The Abominables, following the journey of the yetis as they try to travel from the Himalayas to England and wrote excellent story chapters. For their Marvellous Middle, we welcomed the OU’s Earth Science department who led a fantastic hands-on morning where the children used microscopes and handled fantastic fossils. To bring the topic to a close, the class were visited by James Whittle, a mountaineer and adventurer, who shared his experience of climbing Mont Blanc and El Capitan.

Parks Class have enjoyed investigating earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and tornadoes. For their Super Start, they assembled marshmallow structures, hoping to withstand a ‘jelly earthquake’, before creating salt dough models of the Earth’s main layers. Everyone demonstrated wonderful teamwork and problem-solving skills. The class have enjoyed reading The Pebble in My Pocket, Escape from Pompeii and various ‘explanation myths’ to expand their understanding.

For their Marvellous Middle, the class enjoyed an exciting lesson in the Secondary science lab with Mrs Sewell, where they participated in an explosive ‘elephant toothpaste’ demonstration before experimenting with their own baking soda and vinegar ‘eruptions’. As their Fabulous Finish, Parks class enjoyed an open classroom ‘Humans vs Nature Information Gallery’, sharing their learning with parents and carers.

Cookery Club was a real hit with nearly half the school attending! The children developed a variety of skills and produced fabulous final products. In Computer Club, the children got hands on with cameras and explored the use of Photoshop, as well as developing their coding skills on Scratch.

We had an action-packed day at the Secondary site where the classes took part in DT, a geography link-lesson focused on Ordnance Survey maps followed by very exciting science experiments. We have continued to enjoy our weekly visits from Year 7 and 8, who have supported the children to develop their reading comprehension skills this half term.

Mrs Maddocks held a Maths Methods workshop for Year 4 parents and carers. Those who attended experienced the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check before exploring the methods taught in Year 4. We received really positive feedback from those who joined us.

Year 4 have started brass lessons in their music lessons this half term and Year 3 have been exploring tuned percussion.

Our Bedtime Stories Evening was a wonderful opportunity for families to share stories together, in or out of the tents! Mrs Morley-Smith and Mrs Holland were guest readers and shared stories so everyone was ready for a good night’s sleep.

Reminders for next half term:

School Uniform

– Sensible flat black shoes – no boots please / plain black socks with trousers
– School fleeces are for outdoor wear only
– Hair bands / ties should be strictly functional – black, white or maroon – no large bows please
– All PE kits should contain shin pads with knee length black socks
– For colder weather, children can wear a plain navy or black tracksuit for outdoor sports

Late Arrivals

If your child arrives at school after the gate is closed (8.40am), please escort them to the school office in order to sign them in.

Water bottles are to be brought into school each day – water only please
Healthy snacks for break times – e.g. fruit, cereal bar

How you can help at home over the holiday:
• Keep practising times tables to strengthen recall – remember the related division facts too. Log in to TT Rock Stars and take part in the multiplication ‘rock battle’ as much as possible! Please see the label in the back of reading journals for details.
• Take the opportunity to share stories as a family and enjoy reading together. Visiting your local library can be a great activity for the whole family.
• Revisit words found tricky during the half term and revise word lists (in reading journals / on website)

Thank you for your continued support.
Have a wonderful half term break!