Newsletters

Newsletter 19th April 2024

 

 Welcome back!

Robins: This half term, we will be learning all about minibeasts! This week, we learnt about the story ‘Snail Trail’ by Ruth Brown. We learnt about the adventure the snail went on, all around the garden! We discovered lots of snails around our school grounds and decided to take them back to class to investigate! We were excited to see the different patterns on their shells and noticed that each snail had a unique pattern of their own! We also learnt that the slimy trail they leave behind is mucus! We came into school this week, to find a new and exciting roleplay area in our classroom! We have our very own Minibeast Investigation Lab, where we can go and become scientists! In the lab, we are busy finding out about different insects!

Woodpeckers: we started the term looking at the book Martha Maps it Out by Leigh Hodgkinson. We loved looking exploring the maps of different parts of Martha's life. We then thought about making our own map using adjectives to describe ourselves, and statements and questions to describe our thoughts. We then put these together and made our own beautiful and insightful maps. In Maths this week we have been working on addition and subtraction. Year 2 were adding and subtracting using tens and ones, and year 1 were adding using known number bonds. We started our new topic 'We are Geographers' this week by learning about compass points and using them to navigate to the pirate's treasure. We then designed our own treasure maps. In Science this week we started to think about famous Scientists and inventors. In PSHE this week we thought about communities, and how we can help in the school community.

Kingfishers: This week in English, we began to explore our new text this term, Escape from Pompeii. In Maths, we learnt how to use the grid method for multiplication and how to do short multiplication. In Topic, we created a mind map of everything we know about the Romans so far and we learnt lots of facts about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In Science, we also created a mind map about our teeth and healthy living and recapped our knowledge of omnivores, herbivores and carnivores. In RE, we looked at our Big Question and thought about what it means. In PSHE, we discussed the importance of personal space and respect other people’s bodies. We explored different scenarios and what we would do. Please refer to the school website for information regarding school trips, homework and MTC information!

Owls: This week we began to think about our new piece of writing – writing from different points of view. We are using a section from our class novel – Skellig – to base our writing on. In Maths we are investigating shapes, angles, symmetry and reflection. In RE we began our new topic – religious journeys and thought about what a pilgrimage is. We are coming to the end of our suffragette topic in History and this week we looked at jobs women would have done pre-war, during the war then post-war. We also made suffrage rosettes. In Science we started to look at Evolution and began to explore the evolutionary tree. In computing we looked at flow charts as a precursor to using different coding systems. In PSHE we start to look at what makes up our identity.

Change of Date

Our May Day celebration has been moved back a week, from Wednesday 1st May to Wednesday 8th May at 2pm in the playground. The ‘court’ (Year 6 children) will be announced soon. Fingers crossed for no rain!

A healthy school

As a healthy school we encourage healthy eating, can we remind you that children should have fruit at break time and no chocolate bars either at break or in their lunch box. Grapes and tomatoes present a choking hazard, if you put some in your child’s lunch box, please can you ensure they are halved or quartered. Thank you.

Have a lovely weekend!

 

Summer 1 Dates

School Value – Resilience             British Value – Individual liberty

Friday 26th May: Woodpeckers and Robins Shining Star Showcase 9am

Wednesday 8th May: May Day Dancing 2pm in school

Thursday 9th May: Kingfisher trip to Chedworth Roman Villa

Week beginning 13th May: KS2 SATs

Friday 17th May: Big Question

Week beginning 20th May: Arts week

Tuesday 21st May: Year 6 transition day to Marlborough 9:30 – 12:15pm

Friday 24th May: INSET

Monday 27th May:  Half term

Monday 3rd June: INSET

Tuesday 4th June: Return to school.

 

 

Newsletter 26th April 2024

Robins: This week we learnt all about the story ‘The Very Busy Spider’ by Eric Carle. We were so excited to learn all about spiders and how they live. We learnt how it can take one hour for a spider to spin a web and that they use their webs to catch their dinner! We had a lot of fun at the finger gym this week! We found black playdough, pipe cleaners and googly eyes! We enjoyed shaping the playdough into a spider’s body, using our hands and different tools. We then stuck eight legs onto our body and finally stuck eyes onto our minibeast! In topic this week, we went on a treasure hunt, to find spiders in our playground! We worked in pairs to read a simple map to find where the spiders were hiding. We had to work together and mark off the spiders each time we found one. In Maths this week, the Reception children have been learning all about shapes! We learnt that 2D shapes are flat and 3D shapes are solid! We then learnt the names of 3D shapes and explored their properties. We learnt that 3D shapes have faces, but nothing like our faces! We then used the 3D shapes to build our own models!

Woodpeckers: This week we have been looking at the book Tidy, by Emily Gravett. We described Pete the badger and decided that he was a good character even though he got carried away and ruined the forest. We then wrote a letter to the other animals using the conjunction because, to explain his actions. In maths this week we have been making and drawing arrays to help with multiplication. We also practised mental multiplication using the times tables we already know. In art this week, we created portraits of inspirational women to share in our assembly. In Geography this week we learned about aerial views and created a plan map of our classroom. In RE this week, we thought about special places and discussed our special place. Thank you to everyone who came to our Shining Star Showcase, the children were amazing, and we are so proud.

Kingfishers: This week in English, we have been writing eyewitness accounts from the perspective of a character from our class text, Escape from Pompeii by Christina Balit. In Maths, we have been solving short division and multiplication problems. In History, we learnt about how the Roman Empire started and recapped on our learning of Pompeii so far. In RE, we reflected on our Big Question this term and discussed the importance of journeys. In Science, we explored food chains. We have also been practising our dancing for May Day coming up Wednesday 8th May. Kingfishers are taking part in a very exciting poetry competition for Young Writers, in which they could win prizes and have their poem published in a book! Children need to write their own poem based on 'dreams' and hand it in to Miss Jackson by Wednesday 15th May. Also, all information about this term's homework is on the Kingfishers page on our school website including links to resources.

Owls: This week we have been continuing our writing from different points of view with some drama. We focused on our movements and facial expression to show emotions. We are waiting with baited breath for Wednesday 1st May as that is when they announce the finalists of the Poetry by Heart Competition! In Maths, year 5 interpreted and drew line graphs while year 6 labelled circles and used BBC Bitesize for revision. In RE we continued to look at religious journeys by studying the way of St James in Spain – the third most important pilgramage in Christianity. In Spanish we learned how to tell the time.  In computing the children wrote their own flowcharts and algorithms.  

Shining Star Showcase

Thank you to every one who came to the Robin and Woodpecker Shining Star Showcase. It was another wonderful and exciting assembly! We are very proud of the children they worked very hard and performed beautifully.

May Day

Our May Queen is: Sylvie Mc Naught

Jack-of-the-Green: Sebastian Brouwer

Hobby Horse: Asher Mason

The May Queens Attendants: Caisey-Paige Whitford, Pippa Evans, Evie Howells and Raven Champion.

Torch Bearers: Ollie Bagnall, Alby Dunne, Regan McMahon, Ewan Barrett

Branch Bearers: Ted Merriott, Archie Allen,

Narrators: Luca Mills and Jack Mullane

We warmly invite you into school to watch the crowning of the May Queen with traditional dancing and singing at 2pm on Wednesday 8th May 2024. Gates will open at 1:50pm and close at 2pm. Fingers crossed for a dry day!

Children need to wear white shirts with either school skirt or trousers and a corsage. To differentiate the children in the May Queen’s Court - they dress slightly differently - dresses or school trousers, white shirt, bowtie, waistcoat, and a corsage.

Have a good weekend!

 

Summer 1 Dates

School Value – Resilience             British Value – Individual liberty

Wednesday 8th May: May Day Dancing 2pm in school

Thursday 9th May: Kingfisher trip to Chedworth Roman Villa

Week beginning 13th May: KS2 SATs

Friday 17th May: Big Question

Week beginning 20th May: Arts week

Tuesday 21st May: Year 6 transition day to Marlborough 9:30 – 12:15pm

Friday 24th May: INSET

Monday 27th May:  Half term

Monday 3rd June: INSET

Tuesday 4th June: Return to school.

Newsletter 3rd May 2024

Robins: This week we learnt all about bees! We learnt about how bees are natures tiny miracles, and we have a lot to thank them for! We learnt that bees visit flowers to collect pollen. Each time they visit a new flower they leave a little gift of pollen, which helps the plants to grow and gives us food to eat! We had a lovely walk to our local church this week, as part of our learning about special places in R.E. The sun was shining and when we got into the church, we were excited to see the beautiful stained-glass windows. We also found a bell tower, a lectern with the Bible and an organ! At the creation station this week, we created our own bees! We used colourful paper and scissors to cut out different shapes. We cut out a yellow round body, long black stripes and white wings! We finally added an eye for our bee to see the beautiful flowers! In Topic this week, we learnt all about honey bees! We learnt that each honey bee has a specific job to do. We learnt about the Queen bee, who lays the eggs in the hive. The Drone bee helps the Queen lay the eggs and the Worker bees collect pollen and make honey. Outside, we acted out these jobs!

Woodpeckers: This week in English we continued to look at Tidy by Emily Gravett. We described the forest before and after it was tidied, we thought about using first person to retell the story and created a storyboard. In Maths, we have been dividing using cubes and sharing circles and thinking about using times tables to help. In Science, we learned about Louis Pasteur and his discoveries about germs. We also did an experiment with glitter to show how easily germs spread, and how effective using soap is! In Geography we went out into the school grounds and created aerial maps. In RE this week we discussed how our special places make us feel.

Kingfishers: This week in English, we have finished writing our eyewitness accounts based on our class text, Escape from Pompeii. We then began to explore newspaper articles and direct speech. In Maths, we completed our review of multiplication and division. In History and Art, we learnt about the Roman Army and designed our own shields. In RE, we explored what a pilgrimage is. In Science, we continued to learn about food chains. We have also carried on reading our class story, Butterfly Lion and did lots of practise for May day next week.

Owls: This week in English we continued with our writing from different points of view. We used a graph to see how the tension grows within the text, and noted what techniques were used to create that tension. We worked on our opening sentences making sure they hooked the reader. In Maths, year 6 continued with their revision, they studied reflection, translation and co-ordinates. Year 5 continued with statistics - retrieving information from tables. We have learnt our dances for May Day which are coming along very nicely!  We researched angels – to investigate the possibility that that is what the man in the garage from our class novel is. In RE we continued looking at religious journeys.

May Day

We warmly invite you into school to watch the crowning of the May Queen with traditional dancing and singing at 2pm on Wednesday 8th May 2024. Gates will open at 1:50pm and close at 2pm. Fingers crossed for a dry day!

Children need to wear white shirts with either school skirt or trousers and a corsage. To differentiate the children in the May Queen’s Court - they dress slightly differently - dresses or school trousers, white shirt, bow tie, waistcoat, and a corsage.

Arts Week

On the beginning 20th May, we are participating in Arts week. The theme is, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. The children will partake in art, drama, poetry and musical activities. We would like to invite you, into your child’s class to join in with the making of props and crafts. This is our end of term play, and we are hoping that some of the wonderful creations made can be used as props and decorations! Come and have a crafty afternoon!

Parents of Kingfishers and Owls: Tuesday 21st May from 1:30

Parents of Robins and Woodpeckers: Wednesday 22nd May from 1:30

 

Remember it’s a bank holiday weekend! Fingers crossed for sunshine!

Summer 1 Dates

School Value – Resilience             British Value – Individual liberty

 

Monday 6th May: Bank holiday

Wednesday 8th May: May Day Dancing 2pm in school

Thursday 9th May: Kingfisher trip to Chedworth Roman Villa

Week beginning 13th may: KS2 SATs

Friday 17th May: Big Question

Week beginning 20th May: Arts week

(Parents of Kingfishers and Owls: Tuesday 21st May from 1:30

Parents of Robins and Woodpeckers: Wednesday 22nd May from 1:30)

Tuesday 21st May: Year 6 transition day to Marlborough 9:30 – 12:15pm

Friday 24th May: INSET

Monday 27th May:  Half term

Monday 3rd June: INSET

Tuesday 4th June: Return to school.

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