What's been happening in school this week
I hope that you all enjoyed the wonderful weather over the Bank Holiday weekend and were able to make the most of it. Our whole school attendance last week was 94.6%, which is below our whole school target of 97%. Well done to Mr Causon’s class who had a fantastic 99.6% attendance. We are having a high number of holiday requests coming in. Just a reminder that term time holidays are not authorised unless in unavoidable and exceptional cases.
We have had a very busy week in school this week.
Mini Meteorites have been exploring the season of Spring, talking about the changes we can see outside; blossom on the trees, beautiful flowers and seeing the sunshine (some days!). We have also loved creating our own blossom artwork and making potions and soups with natural resources.
Early Years have been learning about bees and writing facts about them. We've also been sharing equal amounts in maths and continued our learning about odd and even numbers. In the Creative Area, we have been planning the models we want to make and then chosen the resources we need. We've talked about painting models and adding extra detail – super Creative Chameleons!
Key Stage 1 have been continuing to work on our model text in English. We have talked about the words ‘habitat’, ‘diet’ and ‘appearance’ for various animals to help us write reports next week. In the afternoons, we have labelled body parts of animals and explained how they help that animal. We have also started a dance unit in PE which was very exciting! In maths, year 2 have been working on their mental arithmetic whilst year 1 have started learning arrays.
Lower Juniors have continued their new Topic unit, ‘Flow’. This week, we have further developed our learning about rivers by looking at some of the word rivers – can the children remember any of these at home and any of their key facts? In English, we have had a vocabulary focused week, considering our words choices to make them really specific.
Upper Juniors have been comparing life cycles of different animal groups; insect/amphibian/bird. We are really excited to begin our next Topic unit next week – Stargazers – where we will learn all about Space. In English, we have been learning new text, 'The Old Mill', and have been creating our own text maps for the narrative. Year 6 have also explored arpeggios in music and had a go at playing them on the glockenspiel!
Next week, our year 6 pupils will sit their SATs tests. All of the children and staff have been working incredibly hard to prepare for these and I would like to pass on my thanks to everyone involved. I just wanted to share this with you all -
REMEMBER, SATS ONLY TEST TWO SUBJECTS…
At the moment, you’re doing a lot of English and Maths, but you’ve got lots of other skills. Unfortunately, SATs don’t test these. They don’t test whether you’re a creative person, good at I.T. or brilliant with animals. They don’t test your speaking skills or whether you’re fantastic at mending things. They don’t measure whether you’re arty or sporty, a musician or someone who really cares for other people. Although subjects like Maths and English are important, never forget you’ve been given talents in plenty of other areas too.