Happy New Year !
Welcome to 2024 - Spring Term 1...

During this half term,  5/6B's Year 6 children will be enjoying Forest School sessions with Miss Berte. 
A letter, containing all the details, was emailed home before Christmas. 
Here are the important reminders:

Mondays: January 15th , 22nd , 29th , Feb 5th.

These sessions take place whatever the weather, so it is really important that your child comes into school wearing warm, old clothes. There will be no need to change at school. Waterproofs will be provided if you do not have your own, to ensure the children stay dry and warm.

Your child will need a pair of wellies, we kindly ask that children do not come into school wearing them, but to come to school wearing a pair of trainers/PE pumps/school shoes and then get changed.

WEEK 1 ...

It was lovely to receive an email during the holidays that celebrated years of hard work and commitment from two of our class friends; Ebony and Elspeth.  Both girls were award their BLACK BELTS in mixed martial arts following a gruelling few hours of assessment over the Christmas period.  Their success was also shared in our celebration Collective Worship on Friday.  Many congratulations to you both.

Well done to OLA who was the recipient of this week's award for showing the value of challenging - again for extra curricular activity.  Mr Barnes came to speak to me about Ola's return to the girl's football club, and how after fully participating in the 1st session back, her red face was covered in a broad smile, she stood tall with her shoulders back indicating her feelings of pride and achievement. Great for our children's self esteem - with the added bonus of filtering through to their work in the classroom!  Keep up the great work Ola!

Whilst Mr Barnes is enjoying teaching FOOTBALL SKILLS on a Wednesday with 5/6B, on a Friday we are busy perfecting our GYMNASTICS skills.... enjoying ourselves at the same time! 

Week 2 - has flown by...

Congratulations to LUCIEN who was the recipient of this week's award for showing the value of challenging.  All the phase staff have been singing Lucien's praises this week.  He is showing great learning behaviours and making sensible choices.  Mr Barnes also spoke to me about his participation in the class' PE sessions too !  Well done Lucien - keep up the good work! 

In Week 3...

It was lovely to receive another email from a proud parent to let me know of more out of school achievements.  This time, it was Evie and Gretel in the limelight !   They play for a netball team called Netstars. At the end of last term, they won the Autumn series - winning every match they played. They were awarded the Annabel Cup, which is being shared among the team member a week at a time, and were keen to bring it into school to share their achievement with us all during Friday's celebration Collective Worship. 

Tuesday this week, saw our Young Voices Club perform at Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, as part of a choir totalling 5871 children !  Whilst the children who took part from Years 4, 5 and 6 have to put in a lot of practise at home, attend an afterschool club and spend a long afternoon in final preparation at the arena, I am sure the exhilarating evening performance made their hard work all worth while. They loved the Urban Strides dancers, rapped along with MC Grammar, were wowed by 13 year old drummer Nandi Bushell and basically had a jolly good time being part of the largest children's choir in the world!

Many congratulations to EVANGELOUS, who received this week's certificate for the value of challenge.  He has settled so well into the class and is really building his confidence in completing work and putting his hand up to answer questions.  Well done - keep on challenging yourself !

Week 4...

On Tuesday, the whole school celebrated the NSPCC Number Day.  We all dressed up in numbers (of some description!) and spent the morning with a mixed group of our peers from across the year groups.  In 5/6B, we attempted to solved the mystery of the missing trophy on an Arithmetown adventure, eliminating suspects by solving maths problems.  Great fun was had by all !

Our Science topic this half term has been Living Things and their Habitats and we have been focussing on reproduction.  We completed two lessons on plants and made a lovely display and have since looked at the life cycle of birds and mammals.

It gave me great pleasure to present THEODORE with our values award for this week for kind and thoughtful.  He supported another child to make a mallet in Forest School this week and I've also noticed he has been making some sensible decisions and choices recently.  Well done Theodore!

It was 5/6Bs turn for the HEAD TEACHER'S award this week too !  I felt that RALPH was a worthy winner this time around for showing great perseverance in his lessons, particularly Maths and really challenging himself to move his learning forward.  Keep it up Ralph ! 

The 5th and final week of Spring 1....

We are now officially 1/2 way through this academic year and it has been another busy week!   I hope everyone at home enjoys reading all about it and I wish you all a restful half term break.  I look forward to seeing you all back in school on Monday 19th February.  

Our DT focus this half term had been MECHANISMS, and to link with our history topic, we have worked on a project to design, make and evaluate a Victorian style automata toy using cams.  We held a DT day on Tuesday to actually create our toy and build the working cam mechanism.  I think the children were very pleased with the results !

Whilst the Year 6s have been enjoying Forest School on a Monday afternoon, the Year 5s have been busy with another creative project in Art - Sculpture.  We have looked at the life and works of Alexander Calder, an American sculptor who initially trained as a mechanical engineer, which perhaps explains his fascination with movement. Calder pioneered the use of wire sculptures and mobiles, a type of kinetic art that he initially powered with motors before exploring the effect of wind currents. In the 1930s, he began creating monumental outdoor sculptures, with most of his public commissions coming in the 1960s.  A multi-faceted artist, Calder also created stage sets for theatre productions, designed jewellery, and was a prolific painter and printmaker.  

Perhaps the most enjoyable experience this week, for everyone, was our Victorian Day.  Thank you to all our families who helped to make this such a success by supporting their children to dress up for the occasion. Plus a very special thank you to Hector's Mum, who kindly gave up her time to come in and talk to the children about Victorian memorabilia, bringing in a selection artefacts and antiques to share with them.  Look out for our great display in the corridor, detailing all the day's fun, when you visit our classrooms on Parent's Evening next half term.  

Last but not least...our end of term TROPHIES were awarded on Friday!

In our 5/6B team the following children were awarded the coveted prize:

Reading - Heidi
Writing - Ola

Maths - Macey

Many congratulations to these children who have shown a consistent effort and focus in their work which has resulted in great achievements!  It is always very difficult to pick just 3 children each half term, as they all make it a hard choice !  Keep doing you best and your turn could come at the end of Spring term 2.