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Week Ending 29th March 2018
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Isabelle – Year 5 – for being very creative with homework by baking an edible Viking longship
Ollie – Year 5 – ‘Going “above and beyond” in his creation of the Viking longship for homework
Mya – Year 2 – For the amazing transformation in her writing and presentation. Lots of commas, conjunction, apostrophes and more with her postcard.
Caitlin – Year 3 – For an excellent piece of independent writing, using paragraphs great sentence structure and improved handwriting.
Week Ending 29th March 2018
Well, what a brilliant way to end the final week of the term. The week has been filled with the assessments to show the progress and attainment of the children for spring. However, today was a true celebration of what we stand for at Greasley Beauvale and how exciting our curriculum can be.
The morning started with year 5 children showcasing their Viking homework projects. The children had focussed on the Long boat and there were many different versions and creative adaptations. The children were very proud of their work and the whole school came to view.
Our assembly this morning celebrated many achievements. The science awards went to 6 children across school and the whole netball team received awards for winning their latest tournament and getting a whopping 31 goals.
Following this, the EYFS did their Easter bonnet parade in front of the whole school and they were truly fabulous. Many wonderful designs and creations; all encompassing the true idea of spring. They were amazing and my winners were (which was incredibly difficult to decide on):
Jonah
Jessica
Evie-Leigh
Throughout the day, I also saw Beth (from year 5) and Jessica (year 4) for receiving merits in their Grade 1 recorder exams – very impressive!
The day ended with Easter excitement and the whole school received an Easter egg, which was a delight to all of them. Miss Marvin arranged an array of Easter jokes and a super egg hunt – very exciting!
On that note, have a great Easter with your families and enjoy the start of summer – let’s hope for some sunshine!
Warm regards,
Michelle Bates
Head Teacher
Week Ending 23rd March 2018
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Freddie – Year 2 – For brilliant resilience and improved attitudes to learning. He is determined to do well and always very happy!
Attendance figures this week are as follows:
WILF will be visiting class 14 for 99.07% attendance.
Jessica will be visiting class 12 for 98.85% attendance.
3rd place for attendance goes to Class 1 for 98.67%
The ‘Top Table’ VIP lunch awards goes to:
Class 1 - Lauren
Class 1 - Abigail
Class 2 – Thomas
Class 9 – Adam
Class 3 – Amber
Class 10 – Corey
Class 10 – Taiya Leigh
Class 12 – Ravina
Week Ending 16th March 2018
Well the penultimate week of term has certainly been very busy and eventful. Monday morning was a fabulous start to the week as Mrs Clarke held the science exhibition in the hall. During this time, the children shared what they had been previously doing as part of science week. I saw all sorts of experiments and I can honestly say that the conversations that the children held, and the vocabulary that they were using, was very impressive. I am sure we have some budding scientists of the future. I has also been great to see the work displayed around school, and through the corridors, showing once again true scientific potential.
On Tuesday, it was great to be part of a Pupil Parliament meeting with the governors also. The children really showed their confidence when talking to our governors and shared with them what we have been doing as a school really well. The governors challenged them with questions and they showed resourcefulness and resilience to give them the detailed answers that they required. The children also had a string of questions for our governors on their role in school and how they hold me to account through meetings and links with the school. They also had questions for me and I was certainly put through my paces. They also shared their Greasley newspaper and questions arose from that also. It was a great hour-long meeting and one where I was really proud of the Pupil Parliament team.
Thinking to parliaments and working together as teams to improve the school, Mrs Barrowcliffe and I met with Parent Parliament on Tuesday evening at the Horse and Groom. This was an open forum to discuss life at Greasley Beauvale primary and in particular ways we could improve or how time in school would be ‘even better if…’ As part of the meeting, we discussed playground provision, school residential, dog fouling in the local area, homework and the attendance policy. Mrs Barrowcliffe minuted the meeting and we have taken the point on board. In school, I will now share the points raised with the senior leadership team and the staff and look at ways in which we can make improvements. On the flip side, it was fabulous to hear that parents feel very welcome in the school, that the parental engagement events have gone down very well and are well-loved by parents and that our aimed vision is beginning to be recognised and noticed in school.
Throughout the week, we have been taking part in a number of sporting activities in preparation for Sport Relief today. The children have been so engaged and very sporty. As a school, we aimed to reach ‘Russia’ for the World Cup through our step count and wow the children were very positive and competitive. As a school, based on our step counts, we were in the following places at different stages during the week:
Monday – Bruges, Belgium
Tuesday – Berlin, Germany
Wednesday – Minsk, Belarus
Thursday – Moscow, Russia!
On Monday, when all of Friday’s miles are added up, the final destination will be announced.
The top three groups in the 'Reach Russia’ challenge, from across the school, each received a cheque to spend, at Decathlon, on sporting equipment for their class. The winners were:
3rd place - £25 voucher – EYFS
2nd place - £50 voucher – Class 5
1st place - £100 voucher – Year 6
An exhilarating and somewhat sweaty afternoon assembly finished our school week, with children from each class (and teachers) taking to the rowers in a number of 30-second challenges.
What a brilliant end to an exciting week of sports challenges.
Have a great weekend and see you all soon.
Warm regards,
Michelle Bates and Lisa Clarke
Week Ending 16th March 2018
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Sonny – Year 1 – for some excellent work on his 5x tables
Attendance figures this week are as follows:
WILF will be visiting class 14 for 100% attendance.
Jessica will be visiting class 12 for 99.6% attendance.
3rd place for attendance goes to Class 5 for 97.7%
The ‘Top Table’ VIP lunch awards goes to:
Class 7 – Anya
Class 7 – Ella
Class 7 – Essie
Class 8 – Ollie Hallam
Class 8 – Lewis
Class 9 – Morgan
Class 11 – Poppy
Class 12 – Liam
Week Ending 16th March 2018
What a fabulously exciting and engaging week with Team GB at Greasley Beauvale. This week has been science week and what an investigative and explorative week it has been. I would like to thank all of the teachers for planning such exciting opportunities for the children and for the children being so engaged and enthusiastic. The children that Mrs Clarke and I spoke to were engaged by the topics, and texts that they you have chosen for them, and the excitement lasted all week...not to mention the annual arrival of the chicks. 🐣
As part of science week, Years 3 and 4 were lucky enough to spend time with four Year 7 STEM leaders from Hall Park on Wednesday this week. The pupils from Hall Park ran a workshop showing groups of children how to produce their very own paper rockets, which were later fired using a pressurised air canon. The children then had the opportunity to improve their original rocket by considering its shape, weighting, fin and cone designs before testing again in a competition against their classmates.
The rest of the school didn't miss out as they were treated to a demonstration and explanation of the STEM leaders current rocket car project - pretty impressive! We are looking forward to seeing videos they send of them testing their finished cars in the near future.
Across the school, all of the children were engaged in scientific activity and I feel that the children had a fun week, whilst also learning scientific facts, taking part in experiments and scientifically researching with good quality texts and materials. Thursday afternoon was also brilliant as we were able to invite parents in to share the scientific learning with the children. The following year groups, along with the parents, focussed on the following topics:
EYFS – Chicks
Year 1 – Scientific enquiry with Paddington Bear
Year 2 – Archimedes
Year 3 – Rocks and Soils
Year 4 – The Human Body
Year 5 – Forces
Year 6 – Light
It was great to see so many parents engaged in their child's scientific learning and it was also lovely to receive an email from a parent to share their pleasure of being in their daughters classroom for the afternoon:
Dear Mrs Bates,
I wanted to email to say thank you for a lovely afternoon in [my daughter's] class with her, her classmates and Mr Leyshon. It was really nice to have the opportunity to be there and see the children working! [My daughter] and I had a great time and the other children in her class were so polite and helpful and clearly happy in school. Mr Leyshon has a great relationship with all of his children and it was lovely to be able to see that as a parent.
Thank you so much again,
[Year 4 parent]
Following the week, I look forward to Monday morning, where there will be science exhibition in the hall for the whole school to view. All the work completed from the week, will be on show and I can’t wait to view what the children and teachers have achieved. I would also like to thank the TAs, who have also supported the classes and are currently beavering away displaying the science work around the school and through the corridors.
A fantastic week and great opportunities for everyone to scientifically excel.
Have a great weekend and see you all soon.
Warm regards,
Michelle Bates
Head Teacher
Week Ending 9th March 2018
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Thomas – Year 4 – For some excellent homework, where he was able to ‘up-level’ simple sentences with a wide range of vocabulary and expanded noun phrases
Attendance figures this week are as follows:
Despite school only being open for 3 days last week, due to snow, classes 2, 5, 6, 9 and 12 all received 100% attendance – well done, all!
The ‘Top Table’ VIP lunch awards goes to:
Class 1 – Rylan
Class 2 –Poppy
Class 4 – Amy
Class 5 – Isabelle
Class 7 – Reagon
Class 10 – Jakob
Class 13 – Liam
Class 13 – Sam
Week Ending 9th March 2018
Welcome back to the first full week back after the snow. Apologies for the inconvenience caused once again, but we really did have the safety of the whole Greasley Beauvale community at heart. Thanks also for the emails of support and the reassurance that we were doing the right thing for the children also. We are aware that workshops and trips were booked during the snowy period, and the freezing conditions, and we are currently looking at reorganising those events.
Monday was so exciting being back at school and what a day to return too…World Book Day! The children looked amazing and thanks for all of your time, effort and purchases to ensure that the children looked truly fabulous. The array of characters was fabulous and the children ‘had a ball’. As did the teachers, who all enjoyed dressing up as Mr. Men and Little Miss Characters. I thoroughly enjoyed being ‘Little Miss Girl Boss’ for the day!
Throughout the past two weeks, I have been carrying out observations of the teaching and learning taking place at Greasley, and I can honestly say that I am truly impressed as school has been a hive of activity and positivity since returning after the half term holiday. I have seen new approaches to reading in school being embedded, writing really developing for their audiences and purposes and resilience when problem solving in Maths. I have seen resourcefulness in the classroom and a real sense of independence developing. The words that we have chosen towards our new vision of 2018 have really started to shine through and they haven’t even been implemented yet. We are just aware of them; beginning to talk about, starting to use them and already they are visible around school and starting to become part of the culture and ethos.
A reminder of the chosen words for the vision from children, parents, staff and governors:
Effective communication, social skills, independence, creative, resilience, respect, self-confidence, challenging yourself, risk-taking, aspirational, empathy, curious and forward-thinking.
This week, we had our parents’ evenings and thanks to all the parents, who managed to come to the appointments to discuss your child’s learning. It was lovely to see you all and the comments you made were lovely! Thank you.
Today ended well with the year 5 children experiencing their Viking visitor day. They all dressed up for the experience and looked absolutely fabulous as Viking warriors, men, women and children. Don’t be too scared when they come tonight as characters from the past.
Next week, we have an exciting week planned for the children with National science week. Monday starts with the delivery of the eggs in their incubators. I love watching the eggs crack and seeing the excitement on the children’s faces as the chicks hatch out. What a great way to start off an exciting week.
During the science week, we also have lots of science activities planned, visitors from Hall Park Academy to share some secondary science and art work to display in the corridors. We have also invited parents in on Thursday afternoon to take part in some of the activities. We hope you can make it. Sorry once again for the delay as we were hoping to get the letters out before the snow closures. All of the work will then we showcased for the children to see in the hall for the following Monday. I can’t wait to see what the different classes get up to and what scientific learning they have to share.
Have a fabulous weekend, everyone and enjoy the warmth!
Warm regards,
Mrs Bates
Head Teacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
After considering the weather conditions throughout the night and early hours of Friday morning (which is heavy snow in places and freezing temperatures), we have decided that school will be closed tomorrow, until Monday 5th March. The treacherous conditions on the roads and pavements, and around the school site, make it hazardous for families and children to walk to school, and I also have to consider the journey that some staff have to travel to get to school. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your continued support.
World Book Day will take place on Monday 5th March as we return to school. We look forward to seeing you soon. Try to stay warm and safe.
Best wishes,
Michelle Bates
Head Teacher