West Leigh Juniors Weekly News 15th November 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you to everyone for your generous donations for Children in Need. As one of the school’s chosen charities, it is lovely that we can continue to support it year after year. To mark the day, some very brave teachers took part in a special Strictly Come Dancing assembly! They were fantastic sports and danced in front of an appreciative crowd and a panel of judges. They did brilliantly well! I would like to say a special thank you to Mr Dunn for organising the show and compering. Bruce Forsyth would be proud!

Have a lovely weekend.

Mr Aggus

Principal

Diary Dates

Please note that there will be no After School Club on the last day of each term.

November

  • Monday 18th - Coastal Schools 4E
  • Tuesday 19th - Year 6 Book Look 3.30pm - 3.45pm
  • Coastal Schools - 4SW
  • Year 6 netball @ Our Lady of Lourdes
  • Wednesday 20th - Assessments until Friday 29th
  • Flu Immunisations
  • Year 4 Dodgeball Competition @ Garons
  • Thursday 21st - Year 3 trip to Barleylands
  • Friday 22nd - Girls' football @ Alleyn Court
  • Monday 25th - Friday 29th: Book Fair
  • Test Week in Years 3 - 5
  • Monday 25th - Girls' Essex Cup Final
  • Year 5 & 6 Boys' football
  • Tuesday 26th - Year 4 Book Look 3.30pm - 3.45pm
  • Wednesday 27th - Year 5/6 Dodgeball A Team 9am - 12pm
  • Year 5/6 Dodgeball B Team 12.15pm - 3.30pm
  • Friday 29th - Non-uniform day - bring a prize for the fayre
  • Football Trials - 3T and 4SW
  • Saturday 30th - FOWLS Christmas fayre

December

  • Monday 2nd - Year 6 Christmas decoration morning
  • Tuesday 3rd - Year 3 Book Look 3.30pm - 3.45pm
  • Year 4 Christmas decoration morning
  • Singing at the Community Centre
  • Wednesday 4th - Year 5 Christmas decoration morning
  • Coastal Schools 4B
  • Thursday 5th - Year 3 Christmas decoration morning
  • Santa Dash
  • Year 6 Santa Netball @ Alleyn Court
  • Friday 6th - Christmas Food Collection @ St. Vincent's
  • Monday 9th - Carol Concert rehearsal @ St. Margaret's
  • Tuesday 10th - Carol Concert @ St. Margaret's 7pm
  • Wednesday 11th - Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day
  • Year 6 Handball competition
  • Thursday 12th - Late Book Look 6pm - 7pm
  • Friday 13th - FOWLS Christmas Gift Sale
  • Thursday 19th - last day of term - no After School Club
  • Friday 20th - INSET
  • Monday 22nd - 3rd January - Christmas Holidays

January

  • Monday 6th - Spring Term begins
  • Thursday 9th - Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics
  • Friday 10th - Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics
  • Monday 13th - Individual and sibling photographs
  • Late Book Look 6pm - 7pm
  • Tuesday 14th - Year 3/4 RSE Talk for parents @ 2.30pm
  • Thursday 16th - Year 5RSE Talk for parents @ 2.30pm
  • Friday 17th - Year 3 disco
  • Tuesday 21st - Year 6 RSE talk for parents @ 2.30pm
  • Thursday 23rd - Young Shakespeare Company Year 6
  • Friday 24th - Year 3/4 Boys' Football Competition
  • Friday 31st - Year 5/6 Hockey Festival

February

  • Monday 3rd - Young Voices at the O2
  • Tuesday 11th - Safer Internet Day
  • Year 6 Girls' Netball League
  • Wednesday 12th - Year 6 Cyber Security Workshop
  • Thursday 13th - Late Book Look 6pm - 7pm
  • Monday 17th - Friday 21st - Half Term
  • Monday 24th - INSET Day
  • Wednesday 26th - Year 6 Netball Competition
  • Thursday 27th - Year 6 Netball Festival
  • Friday 28th - Year 3/4 Girls' Football Competition

March

  • Tuesday 4th - Southend Makes Music
  • Wednesday 5th - General Knowledge Quiz Club Area Heat
  • Friday 7th - Year 6 Dragonball Competition
  • Wednesday 12th - Years 3-5 assessments until Friday 21st
  • Year 4 Tag Rugby Competition
  • Friday 21st - Comic Relief
  • Monday 24th - Year 6 Mock Week
  • Tuesday 25th - Year 6 Girls' Netball League
  • Year 4 presentation @ 2pm (4B & 4C)
  • Thursday 27th - Year 4 presentation @ 2pm (4E & 4SW)
  • Friday 28th - Year 5/6 Aquathlon

April

  • Tuesday 1st - Learning Conferences
  • Wednesday 2nd - Cross Country Essex Finals
  • Thursday 3rd - Learning Conferences
  • Monday 7th - Monday 21st - Easter Holidays
  • Thursday 24th - Year 5 Transition and Selection meeting
  • Friday 25th - Year 3/4 Tennis Competition @ 9am
  • Year 5/6 Tennis Competition @ 12.15pm
  • Monday 28th - Year 5 Geography Field Trip
  • Wednesday 30th - Year 3/4 Quad Kids

May

  • Thursday 1st - Dance Festival @ Alleyn Court
  • Wednesday 7th - Year 5/6 Quad Kids
  • Monday 12th - Year 6 SATs Week
  • Tuesday 20th - Year 3 Presentation @ 2pm (3M & 3S)
  • Wednesday 21st - Maths Quiz Club Area Heat
  • Swimming Gala @ Garon Park
  • Thursday 22nd - Year 3 Presentation @ 2pm (3T & 3H)
  • Friday 23rd - Year 6 Rounders Festival
  • Monday 26th - Friday 30th - Half Term

June

  • Monday 2nd - INSET Day
  • Wednesday 4th - Year 6 Cricket Competition (boys)
  • Thursday 5th - Year 6 Cricket Competition (girls)
  • Monday 9th - Wednesday 18th - Assessments in Years 3 - 5
  • Monday 9th - Thursday 19th - Year 6 Bikeability
  • Wednesday 11th - Borough Sports
  • Monday 23rd - Friday 27th - Ilam Hall Residential and Southend Activity Week

July

  • Tuesday 15th - Open Evening 5pm - 7pm
  • Friday 18th - Annual School Reports
  • Wednesday 23rd - Last day of term

Just in time for Christmas, we have the Scholastic Book Fair in school from Monday 25th November to Thursday 28th November. The children will be given an opportunity to browse the book fair during school time on Monday 25th. The Book Fair will also be open for parents to purchase books every day after school. Follow the signs which will take you to the fair – cash and payments via QR code can be made. For every book sold, the school is given credit to buy additional books to be used in classrooms – anything from reading books to dictionaries and atlases.

View the brochure

Year 3

In English, our learning has been focused around our layered reading book, Ug. The children have thought about the key events that have happened so far in the story and have considered how different characters may feel. They completed diary entries from one of the main characters' perspectives and used emotion wheels to help think about different feelings. To finish the week, children enjoyed staining paper to age it, before copying their diary entries into best. They thought carefully about their presentation and worked hard on their joined handwriting.

Multiplication and division has been the key theme in this week’s maths lessons. We began by looking at doubling and halving using partitioning. The children have also looked at what happens to different numbers when they are multiplied or divided by 10 and 100 using practical resources.

The children became inventors in Connected Curriculum lessons this week. They created advertisements for a new invention from the Stone Age. Later in the week, they designed their Stone Age shelters ensuring they were linked to the design brief. This will help form their learning in the upcoming weeks as they will create and evaluate their own shelters.

In science, children have been identifying the three types of rocks: sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. They have begun to classify these rocks based on their properties and how they are formed.

A reminder that Year 3 are visiting Barleylands on Thursday 21st November. Children need to arrive at school at 8:30am with a packed lunch for the day.

​Letters sent home this week

Year 4

We have come to the end of another hard-working, busy week in Year 4.

The children have embraced the new topic in maths where the focus has been fractions. In some groups the children have completed addition and subtraction of fractions with the same denominator, some groups extending beyond one whole. Some children have also used their prior knowledge of division to calculate fractions of amounts and have used this skill to solve problems. Using various resources, the children have also been able to calculate equivalent fractions.

This week’s focus in English has been science fiction stories where the children have identified their features. They have examined the 5-part story structure and have summarised a science fiction story in their own words. They have also used their creative skills to write descriptions of an alien and a sci-fi setting for their stories.

In science, we have explored volume in terms of sound. The children enjoyed using a decibel metre to record the volume of different areas throughout the school.

Within Connected Curriculum, there has been a slight difference between the classes. 4B have been investigating robot explorers with the Lego Wedo. They completed a set of challenges to learn what tomb exploring robots would need to be able to do. They had fun building the models and then used computer code to control them.

The rest of Year 4 have been working as geographers. They studied the imaginary lines of latitude and longitude on maps, globes and grids. We have identified some of their names and how they assist in locating specific places around the globe. We have also used 4-figure grid references to locate points on a grid. We have compared two contrasting countries using images of the UK and Egypt.

Letters sent home this week

Year 5

It was so wonderful to welcome so many parents and carers to our performance poetry assembly this week – your support and enthusiasm really helped to bring out the best in the children. We are sure that you were all as proud as we were of the children’s learning and the demonstration of their creative talent in delivering such a wide array of different poems and performances.

This week, the children have also reviewed and built upon their learning from Year 4 regarding the correct use of fronted adverbials. They have also added to their knowledge of subordinate conjunctions, using these to form subordinate clauses in different ways within sentences. In some classes, their effective use was demonstrated in writing about fireworks. In preparation for the upcoming NFER tests, the children have also completed a timed comprehension to build their stamina and to iron out any misconceptions.

In maths lessons, the learning has focused on percentages and their links to fractions and decimal equivalents. Finding percentages of amounts and solving problems which include calculating percentages, have also been an area of learning in some classes.

The children’s weaving skills continue to be honed and they are thoroughly enjoying refining their design skills, considering colour and texture as their work progresses.

Our R.E. lessons this half term consider how in the modern world, we can still live by the values Jesus Christ taught. The children have considered the Christian teaching about love. They looked at three quotes from the Bible about love and were fascinated to discover that these could also be found in the Harry Potter stories. They considered what love is, the difference it could make and how it can be shown to our friends and family, our community and the wider world. The children then wrote short poems about their ideas of love, based upon the writings of St Paul in Corinthians.

Letters sent home this week

Year 6

This week, the Year 6 pupils have demonstrated great focus and determination tackling their autumn assessments in both English and maths. They have been eager to apply their learning and demonstrate their full potential.

In Connected Curriculum, following the excitement of designing their puppets last week, the children have begun to develop the necessary skills that will be required to manufacture their ideas. They have learned how to cast on and off, which is essential to ensure that their sewing skills are secured, and also practised how to use an over-stitch effectively. Those with higher levels of proficiency also developed the use of other stitches, which can be applied when adding decorative elements.

As scientists, they have further extended their learning relating to light by considering the factors that affect the creation of shadows, both practically and theoretically.

In PSHE, they have considered how mental health can be defined and also considered the signs of how mental health might be displayed visually and in the behaviour and characteristics of a person.

Letters sent home this week

Thorpe Hall Cross Country

On Friday 8th November, 40 children took part in the Thorpe Hall cross country relay.

Everyone who took part, put in a fantastic effort and really pushed themselves to achieve their best, demonstrating great resilience and determination. Along with great encouragement and enthusiasm for their team mates, it was great to see all the children supporting each other and enjoying this cross country event. Well done to all the teams.

Basketball

On Wednesday, six boys and seven Year 6 girls entered the year 5/6 basketball competition at Thorpe Hall School.

We played Thorpe Hall in our first game, winning 2-0 - our first time playing on an indoor court. Our second game against St Michael's was a lot more competitive and we lost 12-2.

Finally, in our group, we played Bournemouth Park and won 4-2.

As a result, we finished the group on the same points as St Michael's but they went through as group winners as they had beaten us earlier.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing on the indoor court and showed excellent sportsmanship and teamwork. Well done to all.

Online Safety

Most modern-day families probably use a multitude of devices at home. Sometimes, such devices are used more often by the children of the household, with many smartphones, laptops, consoles and the like being exclusively enjoyed by the younger members of the family. However, between the online safety risks that come with this technology and the physical, emotional and mental impacts of overuse, it can be a good idea to set some ground rules for the sake of children’s wellbeing.

Agreeing rules around the use of tech in the home can sometimes pose a challenge, and it can be difficult to know what's reasonable, what might be a step too far, and what doesn’t go far enough. That’s why we’ve created this safety guide, offering you top-level advice on how to successfully think up and enforce rules for using devices.

Writing Competition

The children learnt about this year’s story writing competition in the week before half term. We run this competition alongside the BBC's 500 words competition which means, if your child is able to write a story of 500 words, they can also submit it to this national competition here. Please note the BBC deadline is November 8th, whereas our deadline at West Leigh is the 18th November.

Happy writing!

Winter Wonderland Art Competition

We are inviting all of our junior artists to design an original and creative piece of artwork using the theme, Winter Wonderland. The winning design will be included in the St. Margaret’s Christmas carol order of service. For this reason:

  1. Complete your design on A4 paper (or smaller).
  2. Words are not necessary, however, if you decide to include text, please ensure spelling is accurate.
  3. You may want to outline shapes and illustrations so that they are clear and bold.

Please ensure your full name and class is written on the back of your artwork in pencil.

Entries to be handed into your class teacher or directly to Mrs. Wilson by Friday 22nd November. If you have any questions or require plain A4 paper, please see Mrs. Wilson.

This competition will be judged by The School Council, under the guidance of Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Carr.

Key Notices this Week

West Leigh Avenue Gate: If the West Leigh Avenue gate becomes very busy in the morning, please remember that you are able to drop your children off at the School Street entrance through the Infant gate.

Dinner Menu

Week 2

Monday - Homemade Tomato and Vegetable Wholemeal Pasta Bake - Jacket Potato with a Choice of Baked Beans, Cheese or Tuna Mayonnaise - Granary Baguette with Cheese - Coleslaw and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Fruit Doughnuts

Tuesday - All Day Breakfast (Sausage, Baked Beans, Hash Browns) - Vegetarian All Day Breakfast - (Vegetarian Sausage, Baked Beans, Hash Brown) - Jacket Potato with a Choice from Baked Beans, Cheese or Tuna Mayonnaise - Mushroom, Tomatoes and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt and Fruity Flapjack

Wednesday - Traditional Roast Chicken with Yorkshire Pudding - Quorn in Vegtable Gravy with Yorkshire Pudding - Granary Baguette with Egg Mayonnaise - Roast Potatoes, Carrots, Peas and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Chocolate Prune Cake

Thursday - Homemade Lasagne - Homemade Vegetable and 5 Bean Lasagne - Jacket Potato with a Choice of Baked Beans, Cheese or Tuna Mayonniase - Garlic Bread and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Fruit Biscuit

Friday - 100% Fish Fingers - Vegetable and Cheese Bake - Granary Baguette with Salmon and Sweetcorn - Potato Puffs, Sweetcorn, Peas and Salad Bar - Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt or Ice Cream

Don't forget to check out our new online bookshop here.

Swimming

Please ensure that your child has their full kit with them on swimming days as we will no longer be phoning home for forgotten kits.

Monday

  • 3H
  • 4B
  • 4SW

Tuesday

  • 3M
  • 5L
  • 5K

Wednesday

  • 3S
  • 4C
  • 3T

Thursday

  • 5G
  • 5F

Friday

  • 6D
  • 6A
  • 4E
  • 6P
  • 6W

PE Lessons

Please ensure that your child is wearing their full kit on PE days as we will no longer be phoning home for forgotten kits.

Second Half Term:

3M

  • Indoor PE: Wednesday
  • Outdoor PE: Friday

3S

  • Indoor PE: Tuesday
  • Outdoor PE: Thursday

3H

  • Indoor PE: Tuesday
  • Outdoor PE: Friday

3T

  • Indoor PE: Monday
  • Outdoor PE: Thursday

4B

  • Indoor PE: Wednesday
  • Outdoor PE: Thursday

4E

  • Indoor PE: Monday
  • Outdoor PE: Tuesday

4SW

  • Indoor PE: Friday
  • Outdoor PE: Tuesday

4C

  • Indoor PE: Monday
  • Outdoor PE: Thursday

5K

  • Indoor PE: Friday
  • Outdoor PE: Wednesday

5F

  • Indoor PE: Friday
  • Outdoor PE: Wednesday

5L

  • Indoor PE: Thursday
  • Outdoor PE: Monday

5G

  • Indoor PE: Tuesday
  • Outdoor PE: Monday

6D

  • Indoor PE: Wednesday
  • Outdoor PE: Monday

6A

  • Indoor PE: Thursday
  • Outdoor PE: Tuesday

6P

  • Indoor PE: Thursday
  • Outdoor PE: Monday

6W

  • Indoor PE: Thursday
  • Outdoor PE: Tuesday

Attendance

Our attendance award will return next week.

Golden Thank Yous

This week, we awarded a golden thank-you to 4 children who demonstrated empathy.

Messages from FOWLS

URGENT PLEA FOR HELP RE CHRISTMAS FAYRE

We are still short of volunteers for the Christmas Fayre 12-2pm. If you can help please speak to your class rep. or complete this form. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczApbYEDdZWDVn5Z1lpMdXVpdtOdZMgmt0E_NDSJAYb4z2gg/viewform

Raffle tickets have been given out so please check school bags as there’s lots of wonderful prizes to win. If you’d like to be in with more of a chance to win, raffle books can be collected from the school office.

We are delighted that Father Christmas has agreed to send letters to the children of West Leigh Schools once again. The deadline is 1st December so don’t forget to send your request if you’d like Father Christmas to send your child a letter. http://bit.ly/northpolepost-wls

Have you booked your child to see Father Christmas and Mother Christmas at the Fayre? Book now to avoid disappointment.

ALSO PLEASE SEE THE WEST LEIGH FACEBOOK PAGE FOR DETAILS

Do you know about Friends of West Leigh Lotto? The draw takes place every month with CASH prizes whilst also raising funds for the schools. It’s super easy to sign up so if you fancy a chance to win a cash prize or would like to find out more contact Oanh Ly who runs our Lotto:  fowlslott@gmail.com

ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THE ABOVE, PLEASE EMAIL simontaylor7472@gmail.com

This week, we held our first Parent Council meeting of the academic year. We discussed important items such as school trips/residentials and transport to sporting events.

The full list of councillors, along with their email addresses if you wish to contact them, can be found on our school website. The minutes from our meetings are also published on this page, which can be found using the following link: https://www.westleighjunior.co.uk/parent-council

A reminder that answers to many of the previously discussed items at parent council can be found on the 'hot topics' section of our website: https://www.westleighjunior.co.uk/hot-topics

This includes subjects such as lost property, lunchtime arrangements, clubs and much more.

We still have vacancies in 4E, 4C and 6P - if you are able to spare an evening each term to represent your class, it would be of great benefit to the school. Our meetings are held at 4.30pm and councillors are able to use our After School Club, free of charge to assist with child care during the meeting. Please contact Mrs London if you are able to volunteer.

Community News

  • 🔉 Call out to anyone in England aged 25 and under from RCPCH &Us
  • 💙The biggest ever NHS conversation with children & young people is happening this month!
  • 👉🏼 Have your say on the NHS
  • 🕛Deadline 17 Nov 2024
  • 🙏🏼 Thank you for helping children and young people’s views to be heard

JUST LAUNCHED CHANGE NHS RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE:

The biggest public conversation about creating a future facing NHS has been launched by the UK Government. RCPCH &Us has resources to help support children and young people's voices to inform and influence the 10-year Health Plan in England.

Download the survey, session plans, BSL video, symbols, FAQs, slide deck, flyer and more here

Deadline for submissions 17 Nov. Please get in touch if you have questions to and_us@rcpch.ac.uk

SEND Community Engagement – November 2024

If you are a young person with special educational needs and/ or a disability (SEND) or the parent carer of a child or young person with SEND and live in Southend, we want to hear from you.

Southend SEND Independent Forum, the parent carer forum for Southend and the SEND Local Offer team invite you to tell us about your lived experience and hear about local SEND system developments.

Ways to get involved:

Read more here

Credits:

Created with images by • undefined - A photo of a teal blue journal with a pen, an elegant diary, notebook or planner, shot from above with copy space • undefined - Child with credit card and phone in hands, online shopping and cybersecurity • standret - Mysterious winter landscape majestic mountains in winter. Magical winter snow covered tree. Photo greeting card. Bokeh light effect, soft filter • undefined - Gilded Elegance: A Luxurious Gold Envelope Resting on a Marble Backdrop • undefined - PTA • undefined - Silhouette of group happy business team making high hands over head in beautiful sunset sky evening time for business success and teamwork concept in company