West Leigh Juniors Weekly News 28th MARCH 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

I can hardly believe that we have come to the end of the Spring Term. It seems unusual to break up and go straight into the Easter weekend - the timing of the holiday has resulted in this having been a very busy term indeed.

I thank you for your patience in supporting our usual extra-curricular offering of a myriad sports, music, performing arts, quizzes, coastal schools, forest schools and trips! I can only imagine the number of notes on your phones and fridges, trying to ensure that the children have the right clothing and equipment for all these activities.

We are hoping that the first half of next term will be a little calmer for you, the children and for the staff.

It was lovely to see so many of you with us this week for learning conferences. It is wonderful that the vast majority of our parent community come to see us and we hope you find the details about your child’s progress informative

We wish you all a very pleasant Easter – don’t eat too much chocolate!

Best wishes,

Cheryl Woolf

Executive Headteacher

Year 3

Year 3 have enjoyed another fun-filled week during their last of the term. In English, they have turned their notes all about Heracles’ Twelve Labours into interesting non-chronological reports.

This week has also been our Awesome Art week, focusing on the painting ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ by Titian. The children have used detailed observation to plot their own constellations. The wax relief and brusho technique was then used to create a night sky with a constellation similar to that of Titian.

Maths has been all about tenths this week - especially when learning how to count up and down. The children finished with an Easter mystery to complete, bringing together lots of their learning from the term.

The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning all about the Ancient Greeks in our topic ‘Gods and Mortals’ but next term we move onto ‘Old Father Thames’ where our focus will be the River Thames and Leigh-on-Sea. To inspire the children, we have organised our Hook Day for Thursday 18th April. This will involve a trip to Old Leigh where the children will need to wear comfortable footwear and a weather appropriate jacket. We will also require parent helpers from 9am until 12pm so if you are able to help out, please contact the office.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Birthday treats, tuck and lunchboxes - 26.03.2024
• Whole School - Belfairs Easter Holiday Camp - 22.03.2024

Year 4

In maths, the children have enjoyed solving puzzles and challenges linked to money and decimal place value. They used their problem-solving skills and used evidence to explain their thinking. They demonstrated their knowledge of money even further by using iPads to play a range of games relating to money.

In English, the children have thoroughly enjoyed writing up their notes to their non-chronological report about Roman baths, entertainment, gladiators and toys and games. They included use of sub-headings, paragraphs and various conjunctions in order to make their writing cohesive.

As scientists, the children have continued creating posters to further establish their knowledge of solids, liquids and gases.

As artists, the children have worked incredibly hard to finish their Roman mosaics and have produced some incredibly creative designs.

In RE, the focus has been The Ten Commandments and Moral Code. The children generated their own ‘ten rules’ and ‘top tips’ which encouraged others to be the very best that they can be.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Birthday treats, tuck and lunchboxes - 26.03.2024
• Whole School - Belfairs Easter Holiday Camp - 22.03.2024

Year 5

Year 5 have had another exciting week. Every class has now completed their food technology lessons where they all created a chocolate-inspired chilli con carne. We hope you enjoyed the small sample that was brought home. The children have been asked to evaluate their cooking and ask others to provide a rating. We have many budding chefs in the year group, who tell us they want to do more cooking at home so we are hopeful you will get some help in the kitchen over the Easter break.

Life cycles have continued to be the focus in science. The children have deepened their knowledge and understanding about many different types of life cycles and have begun to classify them into groups, including mammals and amphibians. They have created some impressive work explaining all they have learnt this half term.

Building on their knowledge from music lessons, the children enjoyed a Samba Bateria workshop on Wednesday. It was lively, loud and thoroughly enjoyable. At the end of the session, the children learnt about the Quica - a type of drum from Brazil that uses a wet cloth to make the sound. This provided much laughter when our instructor made the sound of a dog with a stomach ache!

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Birthday treats, tuck and lunchboxes - 26.03.2024
• Whole School - Belfairs Easter Holiday Camp - 22.03.2024

Year 6

As one of the most busy half-terms imaginable comes to a close, we would like to congratulate the Year 6 pupils on their hard work and stamina during the previous weeks, particularly in light of their mock week and subsequent learning.

As mathematicians, the children have continued to tackle some of the more challenging aspects of the curriculum, and in particular, have tried to refine their problem-solving skills and recording.

As writers and scientists, they have combined a myriad of learning experiences in order to create a believable and imaginative report relating to a fictitious creature, whilst also writing with authority and the correct level of formality.

It was also highly enjoyable to be able to spend time together as a year group on Tuesday afternoon when all the children went to fields for an athletic session. We were thoroughly impressed by their effort and encouragement of each other.

We would like to wish both you and your children, a restful and enjoyable Easter break, and we look forward to seeing the pupils when they return ready to take on the challenges of the summer term in Year 6.

Letters sent home this week

• Whole School - Birthday treats, tuck and lunchboxes - 26.03.2024
• Whole School - Belfairs Easter Holiday Camp - 22.03.2024

Online Safety

While scrolling online, you’ll almost inevitably have come across posts or links with headlines like “You Won’t Believe These 10 Crazy Facts about …”. Such lurid language – and the often-dubious nature of the content it promotes – has become something of a running joke on the internet. Yet while these articles are often laughed at by communities online, they can have an insidious side.

Clickbait, as it’s known, can frequently function as part of a trap: intended to draw users in for the sake of advertising revenue or, in worse cases, masking an attempt to collect their personal information. This guide explores the various risks of clickbait and offers some top tips for evading the pitfalls of this controversial marketing technique.

The National College and Online Safety

We have recently sent out two short four minute videos about online influencers which we would like you to watch. This will have come from hello@nationalcollege.com and sent to the email address you signed up with. You may need to look at your email junk filters to check.

If you still need to sign up to the Online Safety portal, please follow the link https://nationalcollege.com/enrol/west-leigh-junior-school and add yourself as a parent.

Key Notices this Week

School Lunch Booking System: All school meals need to be paid for and booked in advance, before 8am, on ParentPay. If the 8am deadline is missed, children will no longer be able to order lunches in class as this is causing major difficulties with ordering from the Infant school kitchen. If a lunch has not been pre-booked, your child must be provided with a packed lunch that they bring into school with them. If the system does not allow you to book a school lunch, this indicates that your account is in arrears and needs to be in credit. Please also ensure that you discuss the lunch menu choices with your child. Lunches can be booked in advance as far as the Easter holidays.

Class Photographs:On Monday 15th April (the first Monday back) we have our class photos. If your child would usually wear their PE kit on this day, please send them to school wearing their school uniform and with their PE kit in their bag to change into for their lesson.

School Street: