Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - 5th May 2023

Year 6 SAT's - We wish our Year 6's all the best in their SAT's next week.

Reporting absences - If your child is unwell or will be absent from school, please leave a short message on the answer machine clearly stating your child's name, class and nature of the illness.  Please advise what exactly is wrong rather than 'feeling unwell'.  Absences must be reported by 9am, either by phone or email.

Lateness – The number of children arriving late in the mornings is high. Gates close at 9am and learning starts promptly at this time.  If your child is 5 minutes late every day, this equates to nearly 3 whole days of missed learning, plus it’s disruptive for other children.

Important Dates for Diary

Monday 8th May - BANK HOLIDAY (no school)

Tuesday 9th May - Friday 12th - KS2 SAT's week 

Friday 12th May - Year 6 doughnut sale 

Monday 15th May - Friday 19th May - Walk to School week 

Tuesday 16th May - Year 6 poetry with Cheryl

Attendance week ending 05/05/2023

Overall school = 95.79% Lates = 50

Best attendance: 1st Daffodil 100% 2nd Bluebell 99.4% 3rd Elm 99.36%

Punctuality: Well done Odysseus, Sioux and Daffodil with 100% for punctuality 

Reception Class

We have been busy preparing for King Charles’ coronation celebrations! We enjoyed making our own bunting, threading paper crowns and painting the Union Flag. We wrote invitations for our friends to invite them to a traditional English tea party we set up in the classroom. The children excitedly were writing lists of all the delicious foods we would like to enjoy at the party. We used our phonics skills to segment the sounds in the words independently.

The sun was shining on Wednesday and we basked in the sunshine whilst enjoying our reading area outside. Some of us chose to dress as royalty as we read fairy tales and some non-fiction texts about our royal family. 

Year 1

This half-term Year 1 are looking at the religion Alevism. Last week, we discussed the Alevi rules and values.  The hand over the heart is a symbolic gesture of respect in Alevism, reflecting their belief that Hakk (God/Truth) is in all people. This helps them to remember that we should respect ourselves and other people. We discussed how we follow rules in the classroom and that Alevis have rules too. They believe that people need to be careful when using their body, hands, and mouth. We looked at ways that we could use our body, hands and mouth to show kindness towards others. 

Chloe said, "I can use my body to hug people that I care about"

Aaron said, "I can use my hands to hi5 my friends when they do something well!" 

Kaleem said, "I can use my mouth to say kind words to others". 

Year 2

This week Year 2 have enjoyed taking part in a minibeast hunt at the playing fields.  We discussed habitats, microhabitats and the difference between them.  We also discussed what a minibeast is and how their habitats suit their needs.  All children showed great excitement during the visit and found a range of creatures, using their magnifying glasses carefully to get a closer look.  We also had another opportunity to create our own version of a dot picture, inspired by the Aboriginal artwork we looked at last week.  The children chose things that were important to them and sketched them before adding dots of paint of different sizes.  They also continued to practise using their knowledge of primary and secondary colours to mix the correct tints and shades that they wanted to use in their work.

Year 3 

In Reading, we have been looking at the book 'Danny, the champion of the world' by Roald Dahl. Year 3 are really enjoying this book and are working on being detectives and improving their inference skills to answer set questions. 

Understanding key vocabulary is an important part of our reading lessons. We have worked as a class to match key words in the chapter to the correct definitions. 

Year 5 

On Tuesday, the children spent a fact-filled and fun day learning about life in Ancient Egypt. There were plenty of artefacts for the children to examine and explore. They took time to examine and sketch some of the pieces, whilst trying to work out what they had originally been used for. These included axe-heads, wooden pillows, fish bones that had been shaped to be used in the mummification process and armour that had been worn by Tutankhamun. Some of the children even got to try on the armour and hold the shields and weapons that Ancient Egyptians would have used. They even got to mummify a human! 

Year 6 

Next week marks a huge week in Year 6... SATs week is finally here!!

The children have worked incredibly hard throughout Year 6 and are looking forward to the week ahead! The progress that the children have made is incredible and we could not be prouder of the hard work, determination and resilience that they have shown.

The Year 6 teachers will be close by all week to offer support, encouragement and ensure a calm and collected environment.

For parents of Year 6 children, please remember the following to ensure your child is the best that they can be next week:

• Early nights
• Wake up in plenty of time for school
• A nutritious, healthy breakfast
• Be on time for school
• Bring a water bottle
• No last minute cramming
• Lots of praise and encouragement

Year 6, we wish you all the luck in the world! No matter how you feel that you do in the tests, just know that we could not be prouder of you and the commitment that you have shown to ensuring that you progress as far as you can.