Week Ending 24th January 2020
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Sid – Blue 2 – For completing a fantastic piece of writing about a Hindu pilgrimage. He wrote more than normal and was so enthusiastic. Keep it up, Sid.
Harlee – Green 2 – For using ambitious vocabulary when writing a paragraph about Pompeii. He was great during the lesson an shared lots of different ideas.
Archie – Green 1 – For remarkable progress with his handwriting quality and vocabulary choices. A HUGE well done. We are very proud of you, as the progress is just incredible and VERY noticeable!
William – Blue 2 – For sharing his ‘teeth knowledge’ so clearly to the rest of us. He could have taken over and been the teacher!
Current attendance results are as follows:
1st place goes to orange 1, yellow 1 and violet 2 for 100% attendance.
Throughout one of the coldest weeks since Christmas, we have still managed to keep upbeat and power on through our learning. This week, I have continued to watch lessons across school and I have seen some great learning. The enquiry questions for each year group that I shared last week, continue to be a focus for the sessions and children are continually deepening their knowledge in the different areas and embedding skills.
Again, the focus has been on writing (both in English lessons and across the curriculum) and I have been impressed with how our new approach to writing, with ‘sentence stacking’ and vocabulary development, is having an impact. Lower down the school, I have also seen how phonics is being effectively used and applied to help the children to spell and apply this to their sentences.
I asked the children in every class what they thought of their writing experiences throughout their lessons, and the pupil voice has been very positive so far…
One factor of the writing that is going to continue to be a success is the authentic outcomes that are going to progress as the topics develop. Writing to people in the community, writing for a ‘real’ purpose and engaging the children in first-hand writing experiences.
Another way in which we are providing the opportunities to write, is to plan in trips and experiences for the children that engage them. This week, the reception children visited the Erewash museum as part of their learning on transport and occupations. The children explored the museum and I am told that they had a super time and asked some good questions.
Yesterday, Mrs Jamson and I went on a course about wellbeing - building and creating a happy and resilient school community for all. We listened to the ‘SUMO guy’ (Stop, Understand and Move On) and some of the key messages we took away were also for the children :
“Stop…Think…Reflect”
“Don’t be afraid to say what you’re not good at”
“No questions are stupid questions. Don’t be afraid to ask questions as they lead to answers”
“Have kinder conversations with yourself”
“Bad choice, bad day…reflect…and move on!”
“Think about who you can talk to and why they are your ‘go to’ person”
“Change is possible. Don’t be against yourself!”
“Being stuck is ok, but don’t stay there and move on”
Some really key messages for us all to think about!
Have a great weekend everyone.
Warm regards,
Michelle Bates
Head Teacher