Falconer's Hill Academy OUR CHILDREN, THEIR FUTURE, OUR RESPONSIBILITY

Learning Round-up

Maple: What a start to the new half term, in year 3 we had a visit from a tiger, it made a lot of mess! The children have enjoyed learning our new text ‘Tiger attack’. We enjoyed our house afternoon this week learning our mission statement and vision, in science we learnt about William Beaumont and fascinating things about the digestion system. The children have worked very hard this week, well done to all!

Silver Birch: What a great start to our new half term! We have kicked off this week by having a House afternoon where the children enjoyed joining forces with their House teams to learn about Falconer’s mission statement and creating songs about the names of their houses! In writing, we have been investigating the mysterious creature who ransacked our classroom. In reading, we have continued to read Stuck, learning to read it fluently and with tone. Our focus in Geography, this week, has been major rivers around the globe. We are looking forward to seeing where this half term will take us!

Elder: We have had a great start to the new half term. We have had a house afternoon focused on our school mission statement. In Science, we have also learnt about Galileo and his relationship with our new sound topic. In Talk for Writing we have been using our skills to work out what our new text is about and have started to story map the text. I look forward to this new half term!

Pine: What a great first week back after the half term holiday. To start this half term we were able to work with different year groups in our houses to discuss our school’s values and how they link to the historical figures our houses are named after. In class, we have introduced our new texts in Talk for Reading and Talk for Writing: The Jabberwocky and Elf Road! We are also looking forward to some exciting science lessons all about sound after our introduction to Galileo Galilei this week! I can’t wait to find out what this half term will bring!

Willow: Welcome back Willow. It has been a great week starting our new topics. They have enjoyed starting our multiplication and division unit in maths. We have started to compare the Olmec’s to the Mayans in History, looking at what is similar and what was different. I am looking forward to another great term.

Sequoia: Welcome back Sequoia, we have had a great week, kicked off by the House Afternoon where we all enjoyed joining with different year groups to create and discover more about our house. In Science we learnt about our focus scientist, Mary Anning and in RE we looked at how we can each recall events differently as this will lead up to our key question. We enjoyed being introduced to our new texts in Talk for Reading (The Day War Came) and Talk for Writing (Should animals be kept in captivity?) and are looking forward to exploring them more over the term. I can’t wait to see what this half term brings Sequoia!

Acer: We’ve had a busy first week back in Acer! On Monday, we enjoyed working in house teams to embed our understanding of our school mission and vision. In maths, we’ve been revising multiples and factors, as well as prime, square and cube numbers and we’ve also been practising efficient strategies for multiplication and division. In reading, we explored the context of our new text, ‘No Ballet Shoes in Syria’ and in writing we’ve had fun creating a story map with actions, to help internalise our new model text, ‘Little Vixen Street.’ A super start, Acer - well done!

Oak: Welcome back Oak! It’s been an exciting beginning of the term. During House afternoon children, in their House teams, learned more about our school’s mission statement by creating songs and poems about their houses’ names. In maths, Oak class revisited multiples and factors as well as prime, square and cube numbers. In Talk for Writing, children made a discovery of an extraordinary fox, which inspired us to discuss facts and myths about foxes. Durin Conscience Alley drama activity, children shared their ideas about how we should behave if we were to encounter a fox. Talk for Reading was a nice surprise too, as the children met Aya, an eleven-year-old girl, who had to flee her country to escape a civil war. The children are thrilled to hear all about Aya’s life before the war and her struggles as a refugee in the novel “No Ballet Shoes in Syria”. Well done Oak class, keep it up!

Reading

Your child should have come in with their Accelerated Reader book and reading journal. Please remember to record when your child is reading at home. A target of 3 times a week or more is great.

Attendance

Overall Attendance: 96.1%

Maple: 94.1%

Silver Birch: 96.2%

Elder: 95.0%

Pine: 95.8%

Sequoia: 93%

Willow: 98.9% 1st Place

Acer: 98.5% 2nd place

Oak: 97.6% 3nd Place

Healthy Eating Award

We are working towards out Healthy Schools Award. Please take a look at our draft Healthy Food and Physical Activity policies. Please remember to send your child in with water in their water bottle and a healthy packed lunch. Don't forget to consider the fresh cooked balanced meals from Caterlink.

Reminder - snacks at playtime must be healthy e.g. fruit, low sugar/salt bars. This should not be crisps. Water bottles need to contain water and not squash OR fizzy drinks.

Allergy awareness - we are a nut-free school. Please ensure Nutella sandwiches and Celebrations and other sweets containing nuts are not brought into school.