News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 13th March
Next Friday (20th) is Red Nose Day and the children can wear something red for an optional donation to Comic Relief. Please be aware that if you do make a donation, due to banking restrictions we cannot accept coins less than £1!
The Department for Education has recently published its schools white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, and is inviting parents to take part in the consultation on SEND reform, Putting Children and Young People First. The proposed reforms are extensive and your views are important. Please follow the links for the white paper and the SEND consultation.
For our most recent attendance letter, please see here.
Dates for the diary:
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- Class photos will be taken on Tuesday 17th march
- Spring Disco Friday 27th March. Reception – Yr 2 5-6pm amd Yr3 – Yr6 6.30pm-7.30pm
- Coffee, cake and raffle FOAS fundraiser for the school, Saturday 28th March, 10am-12pm, Royal Pub, Appledore
- For a range of football activities at Kingsley over the Easter holiday for all ages, boys and girls, with free places for those receiving benefits see here, here, here and here for more information
- Over the Easter holiday there is a holiday activity and food programme at West Croft Primary School for children aged 5-13 years. This programme is free of charge for children on benefit related free school meals and in care (see here) and there is a charge for children who are not (see here).
- Sports Day Wednesday 20th May all day for Years 1-6 and the afternoon for Reception/Dolphins. Tuesday 16th June is back-up day should the weather be bad in May. More details to follow nearer the time.
Wishing you all a super weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have been learning about the word ‘special.’ We have talked about who is special, where is special and what is special to us.
We have been busy making Mothers Day presents and cards for you all.
In Year 1 this week we have finished off our What Happens When Book and started looking at instruction writing. We made a jam sandwich together and then wrote the instructions for how to make it. In Maths we have started a new topic- Length and Height. We have been using the words taller, shorter and longer and used cubes to measure items around the classroom. In topic we learnt about the UK and what countries it includes. We then talked about the capital cities and labelled the countries in the UK on a map. In PE we have been doing different jumps which have been testing our balance! We have been working on taking off and landing on both 1 foot and 2 feet.
Year 2 have had a great week. On Thursday they spent a session in the Art Studio and on Friday they enjoyed an outdoor learning session looking at seaweed. In English, they are beginning to write their own Creature Features book and we have been impressed with how well their writing is progressing. In Maths, they enjoyed measuring in centimetres and then going around the school measuring different items in metres
Year 3 recorded their spooky stories into their original soundtrack in Yu Studio. They adjusted the gain and the threshold to make their audio track clear and audible. They also used reverb and delay to make it sound as spooky as possible. Year 4 had already recorded their vocal track and were now able to add it to their arrangement and mix the final track. They also used FX to manipulate the audio track, in some cases reversing it to astonishing effect. We worked very smartly in year 6 this week. To avoid the need for recording individually, the whole class primed their Chromebook to record into Yu Studio As a class we then read the opening to “The Highwayman” which meant that every child had an audio file of the class recital which they then added to their arrangement of ostinato, drone and drum line, by matching the galloping of the horse and the marching of the King’s men to the appropriate drum rhythms they have created. I have tentatively suggested that if they want to create a melody line at home and sing the words of the poem they could do so and record it in the privacy of their bedroom. Not sure there were any takers!
Year 3 have continued to develop their writing skills about Arthur and the Golden Rope story. This week we have used adverbials to describe when, where and how something takes place; used powerful verbs to describe a journey and used ‘as’ to create multi-clause sentences. In maths we have been placing fractions on a number line and finding equivalent fractions. We had a great afternoon in the art studio. We can now thread needles and do a running stitch on our painted fabric to create a sea/forest landscape textile picture. We went for a walk around Appledore to find OS cut marks and learn about why these were used. We designed a healthy meal for our science session and had an update about the seaweed project.
In Year 4 this week, the children have finished writing their explanation text about how volcanoes erupt. They have edited and published them and they will be displayed in the corridor for everyone to enjoy very soon! In Maths, we have been learning about improper fractions and mixed numbers and the children have been practising converting improper fractions into mixed numbers. In Science, the children looked at how to group living things in ways they are similar. We recapped features of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish and the children looked at grouping animals in different ways, for example vertebrates and invertebrates. In PE, the children worked on their sending and receiving skills with a tennis ball and football.
Inspired by our class text, Year 5 created their own versions of a “Teacher Pleaser Machine.” We have focused closely on the writing and editing process, carefully checking our work and reading it aloud to improve it. The children have also received individual feedback on how to develop their writing, particularly focusing on grammar features such as commas, semicolons and apostrophes for possession and contraction. We have been thinking carefully about how authors craft their writing and applying these skills to our own work. In reading, we took part in an online workshop with author Emily Hourican, which was a great opportunity to hear about her writing process. In maths, we have been learning about decimal numbers, including working with thousandths. In science, we explored the physical and emotional changes that take place during puberty and continued learning about the human life cycle. In geography, we explored Iceland using Digimaps and added a range of physical features to our maps, including volcanoes, mountains and glaciers. Bikeability is next week so please remember your child’s bike and helmet on their allocated days. Thank you!
Year 6 have been busy with decimals using then to answer problems using the four operations this week in Maths. They have also used a protractor to measure angles and find missing angles in triangles. In Literacy, they have been completing a writing about their own festivals. They have been very creative and have come up with some very unusual celebrations! In Spelling, they have solved crosswords using the Year 5 and 6 Statutory Spellings.. They have completed some practice SATs papers which will come home when we have gone over things in class.
