Dear Parents and Carers,
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas this week. After kick-starting the festive season with the fayre last weekend, we have been busy with decoration mornings and even had an elf join us for the Santa dash today! The fun continues next week with Christmas dinner, our annual carol service at St Margaret’s and Christmas jumper day. There is always so much going on at West Leigh but we hope that the children will have a fun and memorable time over the next couple of weeks. Full details of the upcoming events can be found below.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mr Aggus
Diary Dates
Please note that there will be no After School Club on the last day of each term.
December
- 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
- non-uniform day
- Friday 20th - INSET
- Monday 22nd - 3rd January - Christmas Holidays
January
- Monday 6th - Spring Term begins
- Thursday 9th - Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics
- Friday 10th - Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics
- Monday 13th - Individual and sibling photographs
- Year 3/4 girls' football trials
- 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
- Monday 20th - Visit to The Natural History Museum (5F & 5K)
- Tuesday 21st - Visit to The Natural History Museum (5G & 5L)
- Year 6 RSE talk for parents @ 2.30pm
- Thursday 23rd - Young Shakespeare Company Year 6
- Monday 27th - Years 3/4 Boys' Football V Downhall
- Friday 24th - Year 3/4 Boys' Football Competition
- Tuesday 28th - Basketball B 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
Last week you purchased a staggering £1600 worth of books!! This surpassed our expectations as we know that the festive season can be a time for more careful spending. We are delighted that our West Leigh families continue to value books and support the school so wholeheartedly. In the new year, we will consider how to spend the hundreds of pounds that the school has earnt through the book sale.
Year 3
It has been a very exciting week at West Leigh Junior School and the Christmas magic has officially begun!
In English, the children used their plans to start writing their Stone Age narratives. They used last week’s expanded noun phrases to write detailed setting descriptions of both The British Museum and The Stone Age. They worked incredibly hard on developing captivating stories, including writing gripping problems and effective resolutions. To develop the relationship between their characters, they learnt how to write direct speech and included a conversation within their writing.
In maths, the children began learning about measurement. They explored mm, cm and m and found the equivalent lengths of each. They worked in small groups and applied their knowledge to real-life scenarios. They carefully considered which type of measurement was most suitable and ordered them from smallest to largest.
In science lessons, the children continued learning about various soil types. They used detailed observation to compare and contrast different types of soil and recorded their results. They conducted a fair test to explore the correlation between air space in each soil particle and water drainage. The children enjoyed using the apparatus to measure the volume of water and made predictions about their results.
In our Connected Curriculum lessons this week, the children learnt about the geographical changes to Britain during the Stone Age. They learnt about the glacial shift that caused Britain to separate from Europe and explored the evidence which proves it is true. They used map-skills and explored ‘Dogger Land’ - an area of land in Northern Europe that is now submerged beneath the sea. The children also completed a scavenger hunt to compare animals in Britain from the Stone Age to present day. They identified which animals are now extinct or living and accurately drew a selection, ensuring to include identifiable features.
A special thank you to the adults that managed to join us for our Christmas decoration morning. Year 3 had a delightful time, and our corridor looks fantastic and very festive!
Year 4
It was lovely to see so many adults on Tuesday for the Christmas decoration morning. Thank you for joining us. The Year 4 corridor has now been decorated with some beautiful creations.
On Wednesday, 4B went on their Coastal Schools visit. There, they enjoyed collecting interesting items and used these to create beautiful examples of beach art. The children had lots of fun from this exciting experience.
The focus in English has been on information texts where the children identified their purpose and features. Using supplied notes, the children devised effective sentences containing coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. After a discussion about question types, they generated their own questions about a particular topic linked to the Ancient Egyptians. From this, the children were able to create their own subheadings.
As mathematicians, the children have calculated the area of shapes by counting squares. From this, they were able to compare the areas of shapes. Some groups have begun to apply their knowledge of multiplication facts to work out the area of squares and rectangles. Some classes also applied their knowledge of area to solve problems.
It was 4E’s turn to use the Lego WeDo this week. They enjoyed building and coding a robot tomb-raider to move and explore. As geographers, 4B, 4SW and 4C have continued their research on The River Nile and its importance during ancient Egyptian times and have used this to produce informative posters.
Year 5
Many thanks to all of the parents who came to help with our annual Christmas decoration morning. The children were thrilled to see so many of you and were so proud of their stained glass windows that have helped make our corridors extremely festive.
It has been our Brilliant Book Week in English lessons this week. The children have been thrilled to find out that a book they studied in Year 3 has a sequel. The Quest continues the story of The Journey - a picture book all about adventure, discovery, rescue and friendship. After studying the illustrations, the children considered the type of portal they would travel through and what the world on the other side might have looked like. This led to some excellent figurative descriptions of a wide range of different worlds. In some classes, machines were imagined and developed with consideration as to how someone might travel through this new world of adventure.
Throughout this week, the children have had the opportunity to review the papers from their recent tests, build their resilience to face different types of questions, bridge gaps within their knowledge and clear up misconceptions.
Science lessons involved learning about how levers work. The children considered the purpose of a lever and what it does. They had the opportunity to make a simple lever with a ruler and some multilink cubes. They were also given tinkering time to see how moving the position of the fulcrum affected how much the machine would lift. Making links to learning from history lessons in Year 4, the children were tasked with making a simple mangonel. They experimented and tested the mechanism to see how far their catapult would travel. There was a lot of healthy rivalry, enjoyment and learning as each group attempted to launch their object the highest or furthest, making adjustments worthy of a F1 team!
Year 6
The week began with much excitement, enthusiasm and creativity - and that was just the adults who came to join us for our Christmas decoration morning. Once again, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and set the mood for another fun-filled week!
In English, we have been thrilled by Michael Morpurgo's The Giants Necklace. The pupils have been captivated by the twists and turns of the narrative, actively locating clues and evidence to unravel the construction of this highly engaging story. Alongside the enjoyment of the storyline, the pupils have been developing a range of active reading strategies, honing skills in locating evidence and making predictions.
Although our Connected Curriculum topic has related primarily to the war years (1939 - 1945), we have recently been developing understanding of life in post-war Britain. The focus has extended to the development of new towns in addition to the challenges faced by the Windrush generation during this crucial period. The pupils seemed genuinely shocked by how these people were treated upon arrival in Britain.
And finally…puppets, puppets and puppets!
Santa Dash
It was a festive Friday at West Leigh as Enzo the Elf joined us for our annual Santa Dash. Despite their excitement, the children did brilliantly to run their daily mile with high fives all round from our special guest. Along with lots of running, the children enjoyed a dance with the elf and were able to sing along to some Christmas songs!
Collection for St. Vincent's
We would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who sent in food items with their children this morning. All your generous donations have been taken to the St. Vincent's Centre in Southend where they will be used to create food parcels for families in need, this Christmas.
Online Safety
The rise in awareness of mental health issues has given way to several easily accessible services to help with such problems – for example, wellbeing apps promising to serve as an assistive tool for anyone in need of support. While these can be useful to some, there are a few risks which are important to consider – especially if a child or young person is using the app.
Of course, it can be tricky to know exactly where the safety concerns lie with a service intended to help and support its users – and it can be harder still to safeguard younger users. This guide breaks down the online safety risks of mental health and wellbeing apps, before letting you know how best to keep children and young people safe if they ever wish to use these services.
Decoration Mornings
It certainly felt like Christmas this week as children and parents worked collaboratively to create decorations as part of our annual decoration mornings.
Each year group spent a morning crafting a variety of decorations, including stained glass windows, 'make-do-and-mend' style gingerbread men, personalised snowmen and origami stars - all of which have made the corridors look incredibly festive indeed!
More photos can be found here
Year 6 Handball Match v Greenways
The Year 6 handball team competed in friendly matches against Greenways on Tuesday. It was the team's first experience of competing against another team and they grew in confidence throughout the matches. The team developed promising attacking plays, better defensive tactics and a greater understanding of the rules. Despite being beaten in both matches, it was great preparation for the handball competition which takes place next Wednesday.
Santa Netball
Today, eight Year 6 girls attended the annual Santa netball competition at Alleyn Court school.
With their Christmas hats at the ready, they played six games in total, winning 4, drawing one and losing one.
A fun day was had by all with a hot chocolate and cake to finish.
Well done to all the girls involved and a big thank you to Alleyn Court for the invitation.
Inspirational Person
A huge thank you to all children who participated in last half term's Showbie challenge - we had so many inspiring entries!
This half term, we have focused on someone who has demonstrated integrity. We discussed the fact that it is very hard to find examples of people who have demonstrated true integrity - as by definition, they do the right thing when no-one is watching! However, we did look at the actions of James Doty, a very successful neurosurgeon and entrepreneur. James pledged a part of his fortune to charity - but was then hit by the 'dot com' crash. He lost all of his money - apart from the money he had promised to give away. Despite it leaving him with nothing, James still gave away his remaining fortune in order to benefit others.
The Showbie challenge for this half term is to choose one of the quotes about integrity on Showbie (or find your own!) and use it to produce a piece of artwork. This could be a drawing, painting or poster – or whatever else you decide to come up with!
Take a photo of your finished piece and upload it to the Showbie folder, or put it on Mrs London's desk.
Key Notices this Week
Are you having a pre-Christmas clear out? We are in need of these items for our playground provision. If you are able to spare anything from the list below, please leave at the school office for the attention of Mrs London. Thank you in advance.
- Jenga pieces (doesn't need to be a complete set)
- toy hairdressing items / doll hair brushes
- toy microphones
- puppets
- percussion
- toy instruments
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 - 🎄 CHRISTMAS DINNER🎄Roast Chicken and Chipolata Sausage - Roast Quorn and Vegetarian Sausage - Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding and Mixed Vegetables - Chocolate Yule Log or Fresh Fruit
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
Congratulations to 3M who achieved the highest attendance this week.
Messages from FOWLS
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
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.
Credits:
Created with images by hanmaomin - "A handball on the playing field" • alswart - "Santa Mailbox" • epicraw - "Close up man hands holding champion golden trophy on transparent background Generative AI"