Newsletters

NEWSLETTER NUMBER TEN 2023

Newsletter No 10                                                               24th November 2023

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A message from Mrs Shipp

As we approach advent, I can feel the excitement beginning to build - I can hear Y1 and Y2 children practising Christmas songs in their music lessons; the PTA Christmas Fair preparations are underway; and I am selecting songs for Carols with Mrs Shipp, which will take place over selected lunchtimes from 1st December. I will let the children know - all year groups are welcome. It's a lovely time of the year in school!

One of the highlights of this week was the performance yesterday from the Theatre Of Widdershins. Andy told two stories: The Magic Porridge Pot and The Gingerbread man, and they were both brilliant. We have not yet covered the cost of this event, so we would appreciate families paying online over the weekend, if you are able to. It is £4 per family, and payments can be made here.

This week's collective worship focussed on Thanksgiving. We heard the story of the first thanksgiving, and looked at some traditions. We hope that our families who celebrate thanksgiving had a wonderful time. The Open The Book team will be in school on Monday, and our Collective Workship Committee will hopefully lead Thursday's Collective Worship.

Just a reminder of non-uniform day next Friday (to support the PTA Fair), and Christmas Jumper Day in two weeks' time. Please do not ever feel obliged to buy special clothes. On Christmas Jumper Day, anything that makes your child feel Christmassy, and is suitable for school, is fine. If your child struggles with not wearing school uniform, we can share a social story with you, which will help to prepare them for each day. We plan to share them in class with all children. If you would like a copy for home, please let me know. 

Please only park in the two accessible parking bays if you have a blue badge to display, or if you have prior permission from a member of the leadership team. For safety, please do not open the gates to the drop-off zone. Only staff members should open these. Thank you. 

Special Mentions: Well done to Aaron (Y2) for his super morning circuit work this week. Thank you to Daisy (Y4) and Grace (Y4) for looking after some injured younger children earlier today - such kindness and compassion. Thank you to the following Y6 children: Alfie, Artie, Ben, Taylor, Alice, Leo, Jacob, Ethan H, Elizabeth, Erin, Ava and Toby for their excellent contribution to our open morning this week. They showed parents to each classroom, and answered lots of questions. The visiting parents were extremely impressed and gave positive feedback. Well done to Izzy (Y4), who has shown lovely manners and maturity twice this week with me. A huge well done to our Y5 Messy Messiah singers, who did us proud at the cathedral on Saturday: Zoe, Daniel, Noah, Chloe, Riley, Everleigh, Hugo, Amber, Maisie, Eleanor, Edward and Lily.

I hope that you have a lovely weekend - see you on Monday! 

 

Reading Cafe: Friday 1st December

Our Reading Cafe is next Friday, starting at 9.10am.  Please do come and enjoy a story or an activity with your child in their classroom. 

Please remember, we are unable to accommodate any younger siblings, we simply do not have the space. 

Thank you  

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Breakfast Club 

Can we please remind you, the cut-off for children having breakfast each morning is 8.15am.  Could you please make sure your child is in school before then, if he/she needs something for breakfast? 

The breakfast club team are trying to make sure the children have a run around before starting school, so by 8.25am they are all heading out to the playground.

Many thanks 

Messy Messiah 

This term Year 5 have been lucky enough to receive singing lessons from one of the musical directors from St Edmundsbury Cathedral.  This culminated in a group of 12 children representing the school in a performance of Handel's Messiah adapted to include children's choirs, 'Messy Messiah'.  We were lucky enough to be part of a team of 140 children, including dancers, that performed on Saturday evening.  It was such an amazing experience to be involved in. Not only was there a children's choir, but Cantus Firmus (an adult choir) were singing, and the music was played by a live orchestra.  The trumpeter in the pulpit was rather a star, as was the loft organ.  I was lucky enough to chaperone our children in the day and evening (the true stars in my eyes), and I do class myself as lucky.  The children were fantastic, and I was very proud of each and every one of them.  Standing up and singing to a full Cathedral (500 plus people) is no mean feat.  I shall remember every amazing goosebump moment.  Well done to the Messiah dozen.

Mrs Chittock

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Learning Updates 

The year 1 and 2 classes will continue with their weekly Learning Updates.  The older classes will have a weekly update here on the newsletter, as below.  If your child is in year 1 or 2, please click on the links below to see the class learning update:

Year 1: Here

Year 2: Here

2nd & 3rd choice School Dinners 

Our 2nd and 3rd choice dinners are very popular with our children.  We have issued a link as show below, to make the sign-up process easier for parents and carers.  For the 2nd & 3rd choice dinners please use this link: Here

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Theatre of Widdershins 

Wow...what a show!!  Many thanks for all your donations towards this amazing performance.  

The children had a brilliant day, getting totally involved in all the glugs and chants for the pot to stop over flowing.  The stories were imaginatively told, keeping the children's interest until the very end.  Well done Andy, for giving us another great show!!

*****Key Stage 2 News This Week*****

Year 3:

Another wonderful week of learning, with the added treat of the Widdershins theatre visit! Our focus in maths is on multiplication and division. The children have been using arrays (please see the school calculation policy if you are not familiar with these), grouping, sharing, and exploring multiples of 2, 5 and 10. In English, they are using increasingly adventurous adjectives to describe prehistoric animals and have consolidated their use of capital letters for starting sentences and proper nouns (we sometimes forget them, or add a rogue capital in unexpected places). Amongst lots of great learning, we were particularly impressed by their teamwork and independence this week, working in groups to create informative posters about different rock types – well done Year 3! Have lovely weekend.

Year 3 class teacher

Mrs Harper (Monday – Wednesday), Miss Murphy (Thursday-Friday)

 

Year 4:

‘Well done on the homework front. Our new arrangement with homework being set on a Thursday and due the following Monday is working very well. I can also extend this to spelling homework with brilliant scores this week. Over the course of the week, we have been learning all about King Alfred once again, choosing fabric for our book sleeves,

adding in maths, building circuits in Science and, building our story setting ideas within English. This is all without mentioning super P.E., PSHE and French learning.  

Finally, please remember to spend time learning all of the key facts on the Topic knowledge Organiser over this next week. On Friday there will be a quiz’

 

Year 5:

We’ve had a super week this week. We have been consolidating our knowledge of short multiplication and have been using it to multiply multiples of 10 (20, 30, 40 etc) We’ve had lots of children passing levels on TTM this week. On Tuesday, we had 5 move ups!

In English, we have been writing a letter as Tostig Godwinson. If you haven’t heard about him, he was the annoying younger brother of Harold who was exiled, joined the Vikings and then launched an invasion against his big brother. Definitely one of history’s more interesting characters!

Homework this week was comparing Edgar the Atheling and William’s claims to the throne in early 1066.

Have a wonderful weekend

Year 6: 

In Year 6 this week...

In English, we are innovating a text, thinking about a range of vocabulary and sentence structures. From what I have read  of what has been written so far, they are fantastic.

In maths, we have been continuing to calculate fractions - this week, it has been multiplying and dividing fractions.

In history, we have been looking at the rise of the dictators in WW2, knowing that not all dictators were not supporting the allied forces.

In PE, the children have been practising their dodgeball skills.

In art, the children have been working on dazzle camoflauge of the RMS Olympic - stunning results!

Home learning this week:

Each child has been set a maths task to complete. (due Tuesday)

Each child has been given a list of spellings on which they will be tested next Friday. All of these spellings are available to be played on Spelling Shed.

Please continue to encourage your child to read: reading stamina is so important at this stage.

Have a super weekend!

Nuala Gilmore

PTA Christmas Fair Friday 8th December 2023 3.15pm to 5pm 

The arrangements are continuing for our Christmas Fair.  The raffle tickets have arrived. Please do not feel that you have to buy the whole book, as it is £1.00 for each ticket.  Please can you send back any unsold tickets. Some families may find they have multiple books, as each child brought a book home.  

The non-uniform day for Christmassy OR Toy tombola donations will be on Friday 1st December (same day as Reading Cafe).  Please bring any items with you, to leave at the office, as we will have some boxes for bits to be put into. 

Details of the stalls and requests for helpers will be sent out next week.  All help is very gratefully received, as you all know "many hands make light work". 

Thank you 

NSFT Parent Workshops

The Psychology in Schools Team from Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) would like to remind schools and those who work with parents and carers, about the series of free workshops they have coming up over the next few months to help provide advice and support to families on topics, such as, supporting young people with challenging behaviours, and helping children and young people manage big feelings. There is also a programme of workshops that explore nurturing the unique strengths of neurodivergent children and young people.

To view all the workshops available and to book a place, please click here.

 

DATES / TIMES

Supporting our Young People with Challenging Behaviours (Tuesday 12th December 1:00pm)

In this workshop we will explore child behaviour that parents or teachers find challenging to manage, such as: hyperactivity, difficulties with attention, aggression, difficulties with friendships and relationships and irritability. We will cover practical strategies to help manage these behaviours positively. This workshop may be helpful for parents who have concerns around possible ADHD in their young person.

Supporting our Young People Manage Big Feelings (Tuesday 12th December 5:00pm)

As our children grow, they experience many changes in themselves and the world around them. During this time, our children will feel a variety of feelings which they do not know how to manage. This workshop is aimed at parents of young people aged up to 11 as we breakdown what leads our children to have these feelings and ways in which we can support them to manage if they become overwhelming.

If you miss an event, or would like to watch recordings of previous events, you can find them on NSFT's YouTube channel here. 

 

Dates to Remember

Monday 27th November:  Open The Book in for assembly

Thursday 30th November: Girls & Boys Football finals in Needham Market 

Friday 1st December:  Reading Cafe 9.10am to 10.10am 

Friday 1st December: Non uniform day for Christmassy gift or toy tombola gift

Friday 8th December: Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Dinner Day

Friday 8th December: PTA Christmas Fair.  3pm to 5pm.  

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