Filter Content
Dear Families,
I cannot believe that it is half term already; where have the weeks gone? At least it looks like the weather has decided to perk up in time for the bank holiday (no guarantees though, this is the UK after all!).
I have continued to get to know the children (and they me) and would say I now know many more names than when I last wrote a newsletter. I know there are still names I don’t know and some I get confused over but I am trying! The learning has continued apace and the buzz of excitement within the classrooms is palpable.
Class 1 have been so excited to share their learning with me as they try writing with feather pens and practise using a ruler; Class 2 have continued to learn about a Midsummer Night’s Dream and have been mastering their weaving skills to create underwater scenes. Class 3 have possibly been the noisiest class with all the excitement around their history topic; how amazing the power of social media has been. The children have received information from families of previous pupils who were here over a hundred years ago and now live hundreds of miles away – thanks to parents for posting on Facebook! Class 4 have been continuing with Odysseus’s journey turning the Battle of Troy into animated films and are now beginning an exciting music project which will see their recording of a piece of music combined with other schools for a choral masterpiece.
It was lovely to see all the entries for the Royal Mail stamp competition – I have sent them off and wish the children good luck with their designs; thank you to those who entered.
This week, I took our Chair of Governors on a tour of the school and I was so impressed with the way in which the children conversed with him and myself and the enthusiasm with which they shared their learning; it made me feel very proud of our school.
I hope that you will be inspired by the Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild information out today and manage to get out everyday in half term – even if just to look at the clouds – so that the children can try to complete one wild activity every day for the month of June. I wish you all a very happy half term holiday.
With best wishes,
Rowena Silk
Hello from The Office!
We seem to have crammed an awful lot into this short half-term. There is bumper crop of photos in this month's newsletter to prove it! It feels like we're almost starting to return to normal in school, and that is thanks in large part to your continued support of our COVID safety measures. Keep up the good work!
On the theme of COVID-19...
Contact Tracing During the Holidays
Schools are being asked by the DFE to remain on call for any cases of coronavirus so that we can participate in contact tracing.
Therefore, for children who attended school on Friday 28th May, you are required to contact the school if:
- children develop any of the top 3 symptoms, or
- have a positive home LFD test, or
- have a positive PCR test
This is anytime from leaving school on Frdiday 28th May to midnight on Sunday 30th May.
Please contact the school via the admin email on [email protected]
Please remember that all families are entitled to supplies of home LFD tests – these can be obtained for free from the COVID test site at Stratford Leisure Centre – no appointment is needed.
Thank you for your support and assistance in this matter.
Music Lessons
Look out for an email from school today with details of instrumental lessons for next September. These are available to all children in Key Stage 2. If you are interested in registering your child, please contact me by Friday 18th June!
Super Swimming Superheroes!
Henry and Noah in Class 3 are donning their swimming goggles and diving into the pool to raise money for the Shakespeare Hospice with a sponsored swim on 14th June 2021 - we are incredibly proud of their efforts! If you would like to donate in support of the boys, please follow the link below. They have already smashed their target of raising £1000 - it would be wonderful if th eschool community could push their total even higher! Good luck boys!!
Enjoy the half-term break, whatever you do and wherever you go. Lets hope that the next half term sees completion of the governments roadmap and the promise of 'normal' summer!
Stay Safe!
Mr Berry (aka Wayne)
Yesterday we enjoyed a virtual literary festival.
Class 1 and 2 learnt about the life of Pippa Goodhart who wrote the book You Choose. The children loved the bright pictures and being able to tell the story themselves by selecting different pictures on each page. Pippa Goodhart had been inspired by her own children who loved looking through catalogues of things when they were children.
Class 3 learnt about Tanya Landman's career as an author. She spoke about her book The Fisherman and his Wife as well as her new book The Song of the Nightingale which is a traditional tale about how animals got their colours. The children then wrote book reviews about the books written by Tanya Landman after we listened to her reading them.
Class 4 learnt about the author and playwright, Saviour Pirotta. He specialises in historical fiction and fantasy, and often combines the two to produce award-winning retellings of myths and legends. In his talk he gave advice to young and aspirational authors.
What a busy half-term its been in Class One!
Along with the rest of the school, we really enjoyed Numeracy Day - the children took part in a variety of activities exploring shapes, numerals and lots more mathematical fun!
The children have also been using our outdoor space to explore "Now & Then" sentences.
Following the appearance of a mysterious yellow ball in the skies above school this week, Class One managed to get outside for PE!!! They even managed to combine the lesson with some PHSE to learn about how their bodies react to exercise!
Class Two have been continuing their work on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and had lots of fun learning to right with quill pens! They have also been using the polydron kits to make 3-D shapes.
For Numeracy Day, the Year 1 children worked on fractions, whilst the Year 2 children designed their own treasure maps and used directional language to find the teasure!
Class Three threw themselves into Numeracy Day with their usual gusto! (See photos below!) They have also been really enjoying their History topic this term. The children have turned historical detectives as they have researched the history of the school and the village of Snitterfield. They have engaged with the local community and analysed secondary sources to uncover the fascinating story of our school and the surrounding area.
Class 4 have been very busy, especially during Numeracy Day. The costumes were fun, and some were downright genius in their idea. We tried to build a sculpture using cubes but as we needed over 200, we are still working on it. Finally, we have enjoyed the sun by using the playground as a notepad to work out fraction sums.
Yesterday,
School Council were able to have a socially distanced meet up. It was so nice to be able to see each other face to face and not just on a screen.
30 Days Wild
We discussed activities that could take place in the month of June at school. All children will be able to do an activity at school. It will be linked to nature every day in June that they are in school. We are hoping parents will also do this in the days of June that the children are at home.
British Values
We also talked about what we know about British Values and how we could help children at our school become more aware of what they are about. The values are:
Democracy
The Rule of Law
Individual Liberty
Respect and Tolerance of Those With Different Faiths
School have signed up to participate in the Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild: the UK’s biggest nature challenge which asks everyone to do one wild thing for every day in the month of June. It can be as simple as gazing at a cloud, spotting a wild bird or mammal or identifying some flowers on a walk. Of course, you can take on a larger project and build dens, bug hotels, bat boxes and bird feeders or even a pond!
There are fact sheets and ideas galore on their website https://www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/activities
I know many of you are hoping to get out and about this half term (Wales is looking popular) perhaps download one of their spotter sheets (a sample can be seen here) and see what you can find while you are out and about.
We look forward to hearing what wild things the children have been up to for the first 7 days of June when they come back to school on the 8th and hope you enjoy doing them together as a family.
Families Warwickshire Magazine
Please click the link below for the latest digital issue of Families Warwickshire magazine.
https://issuu.com/familiesonline/docs/families_warwickshire_may-june_2021?fr=sZjNjMTM2MzY3NTg