A message from Miss Quarmby
Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. It's definitely starting to feel more autumnal this week, with big coats making a return!
It’s been an amazing week here at Whitkirk. On Tuesday, we had a photographer in school taking photos for our website, and on Thursday, our governors visited. Both days involved visits to classes, and the feedback was exceptional. Both the photographer and the governors highlighted the incredibly positive and supportive atmosphere within our school. As always, our children were welcoming and eager to showcase their learning. We visited the Templegate Forest School for Welly Wednesdays in Reception, saw speedy recall of number bonds in Year 1, outstanding stories in Year 2, phenomenal artwork in Year 3, very impressive French in Year 4, and superb science in Years 5 and 6. They were especially impressed by how much our staff care for the children and by the fantastic learning behaviours on display. Our visitors were also blown away by the displays around the school, especially our Art Gallery—we can’t wait to share the pictures with you when they’re ready! I hope you all have a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing everyone bright and early on Monday morning.
School meals: On Thursday 3rd October, all the children in Reception class, Year 1 and Year 2, will receive a school meal to try. Your child can still bring their packed lunch, if they wish, but we would like them to try a school meal - it is free for all children in Reception to Year 2.
PTA updateS
Just to remind parents and carers that the Whitkirk Primary 'Communi-Tea' takes place every Friday from 2pm. Everyone is welcome and we would love to see you for a chat and a cup of tea.
Attendance
This week, finishing in first place with 99.72% are 2KD. In second place are 5/6AR, with 99.44% and in third place are 5KD, with 97.92%. A shout out also goes to RJS, RLE, 1LR, 1JL, 6NT and 2CH, who have also finished the week above our school target of 96.5%. The whole school attendance this week is 95.93%: 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 to look at the NHS guide Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Let's take a look AT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON THIS WEEK
School Council
Miss Emery was blown away by the letters, poems and photos that were sent to her by the children that applied. We truly have some amazing leaders at Whitkirk, who we cannot wait to see in different roles, such as Eco Warriors, Art Ambassadors, Diversity Ambassadors and many more. You put a lot of effort into your applications and should be extremely proud of yourselves!
On Monday, Whitkirk pupils visited the Whitkirk Polling station and cast their votes for the 2024 - 2025 School Council. We spoke about democracy and how everyone has the right to vote and have their view heard. Miss Emery counted the votes and is proud to announce that the 2024-25 School Council , as voted by the children of Whitkirk are....
Well done everyone! Miss Emery cannot wait for her first meeting very soon!
EYFS
This week in Reception, we had our first art lesson and shared the story 'The Dot'. This special story teaches children to always have a go and be brave, to make your mark! The children then created their own art work, using a range of different resources including pens, chalks, paint and coloured pencils. It was wonderful to see the children incorporating the movements they have used in 'Squiggle whilst you Wriggle' into their art work, using large and small circular movements. Miss Emery and Miss Sanderson think we have lots of budding artists in Reception this year!
Key Stage 1
What incredible artists Year 1 have been this week! We delved further into our study on William H Johnson and experimented with line style and tone, creating our own patterns for effect! In Geography this week, we have enjoyed becoming weather reporters and role playing a weather forecast. It might be gloomy and dark outside, but Year 1 have definitely had the brightest of weeks!
This week, Year 2 have published their exceptional stories based on Edward the Emu. We have created our own books to feature in our class book corners. In science, we are investigating which cress seeds will grow the best in a variety of different conditions. We have also continued creating brilliant weather dances in PE.
Lower Key Stage 2
We have had a super week in Year 3. We have loved reading the children's own renditions of The Iron Man. We have had The Brass Man, The Copper Woman and The Titanium Man! In PE, we have enjoyed practising our fitness and fundamental skills using a variety of equipment. This week, we have enjoyed getting stuck into learning about democracy and applying this to voting for our new school council!
Year 4 have been very active this week, showing off their amazing fitness! 4AS were very flexible during gymnastics while 4JF were busy in the swimming pool! In Computing, we have been learning about animation and have practised using the keynote app. It was wonderful to see how quickly everyone discovered how to animate characters and backgrounds - we may have some future computer programmers in Year 4!
Upper Key Stage 2
Year 5 have been amazing us with their language skills this week! Learning French as a new language is something we're really enjoying and we seem to be picking it up very quickly! This week, we have learnt how to greet each other, including "Hello", "How are you?" and different ways to respond. In addition to this, we visited the Whitkirk Primary School Polling Station to vote for our school council representative. We had an interesting discussion about our British Value 'Democracy' and how we feel it is important that we live in a democratic society.
In Year 6 this week, we have been recapped our knowledge of value (shadow and light) in Art and applied this in our drawings of 3D shapes. We can't wait to see these skills in your final pieces in a few weeks time! We have also been incredibly lucky to have a paramedic join us as part of our science topic, to teach us the invaluable skill of CPR - it was hard work!