A MESSAGE FROM MISS QUARMBY
Brrr! It’s been a chilly week! With two short weeks back-to-back, things have been more jam-packed than ever. Just a quick reminder: school will be closed tomorrow (Friday) and Monday for training days. We hope you have some lovely plans for the long weekend! I’ve already started hearing Christmas songs being practised and lots of excited chatter about nativity roles—it’s such a special time of year. A huge thank you to our amazing PTA for funding resources for Forest School. Your support makes such a difference! Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you back on Tuesday.
ATTENDANCE
This week, finishing in first place with 100% are 2CH. In second place are YNAT, with 99.36% and in third place are 1LR, with 99.14%. A shout out also goes 1VM and 3RD who have also finished the week above our school target of 96.5%. The whole school attendance this week is 94.11%: can we beat this next week? The only way to do that is if we all come to school as often as we can. Please remember look at the NHS guide Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) This is used to determine which reasons for absence will be authorised or unauthorised.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT EACH YEAR GROUP HAS BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK!
EYFS
This half term in Pre-School, the children are focusing on the jungle environment, with the help of Tim the Travelling Turtle! This week we used warm water to create a sensory experience mimicking the rainfall in the jungle and the misty spray in the air around the enormous waterfalls! The children really enjoyed the feel of the warm water and all agreed that we would prefer it to our chilly, rainy weather today. They also used rice to create our own noisy shakers, representing the sound of the rain through the leaves!
This week, Reception found out that their artist of the term is Jackson Pollock. They learned about his ‘action’ style of painting and talked about what it reminded them of -many children said it looked like fireworks in the sky during Diwali! The children then enjoyed creating a class Pollock-inspired artwork. They used paintbrushes to flick, splat and sprinkle paint across the paper. The results were fantastic - well done, Reception!
LOWER SCHOOL
This week in Year 1, the children have loved continuing their learning about the five senses in Science. We focused on the sense of touch and carried out a fun experiment where the children felt objects hidden inside socks and described them to see if they could identify what they were. In History, we compared old and new toys, exploring how they have changed over time. In Maths, we have been learning about teen numbers, developing our understanding of how these numbers are made and represented.
What a fabulous week we have had in Year 2! We have been learning all about different materials in science and explored the best way to build a bridge for Billy Goat Gruff in history. We also visited Temple Newsam for a Victorian workshop, where we discovered what life was like for both the rich and the poor. We acted as brilliant servants and enjoyed a feast in the grand hall.
We have been very busy in Year 3 this week. In Science, we conducted a fair experiment to investigate friction and how objects slide on different surfaces. We made ramps of various materials and measured the height at which an object slid down. In History, we looked at how tools changed from the Stone Age and Iron Age and made a flow chart to showcase how this affected people's lives.
UPPER SCHOOL
This week in Year 4, we have continued to explore a range of artistic techniques inspired by the work of Lucy Arnold. The children practised hatching and cross-hatching using different grades of pencils, developing their shading and texture skills. In Science, we investigated sound by using data loggers to measure the vibrations produced by different musical instruments. The class enjoyed experimenting and analysing how sound changes. In English, we have continued working towards writing our own biographies of Charles Dickens, focusing on organising key facts and writing in a clear, engaging style.
Year 5 have had a fantastic week this week! We reviewed the story of Esther and researched the Jewish holiday of Purim. The children enjoyed learning fascinating facts about Purim and the various ways that people celebrate. Well done Year 5!
Year 6 have got stuck into Scratch over the last couple of weeks! They have really impressed the staff with their ability to explore new software and to learn how to use it so quickly! We'll soon be putting these skills to use by creating our own games!