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Week Ending 31st January 2020
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Alfie – Yellow 1 – For his retelling of the ‘Great Race’ story. He has included a clear story structure, which he has brought to life with his careful sentences. Super presentation too!
Layla – yellow 1 – For her retelling of the ‘Great Race’ story. Fantastic writing and presentation; but most importantly, an enjoyable story for any reader.
Ella – Orange 1 – For writing her name all by herself, using an example model as a guide. She really is developing her letter formation and independence.
Isabella – Orange 1 – For an amazing storyboard of the ‘Beegu’ story that we have read so far. Isabella is trying really hard with her handwriting and punctuation. It was beautifully neat too. We are very proud of you.
Aaron – Blue 2 – For mastering short multiplication AND fantastic presentation and concentration.
Imogen – Orange 2 – For writing a beautiful letter to Beegu, asking her to come to our playground. Imogen has tried really hard to keep her writing super neat also.
George – Orange 2 – for working really really hard on his writing, which he did with Miss Schofield today. He used his phonics well and remembered finger spaces.
This week, the following children have received positive praise:
Hope – Violet 1 – For achieving fantastic results outside of school at Scouts. Hope has achieved her silver award for all of her hard work. She gained the top award for Cub Scouts at 1st Greasley Cubs group. Well done, Hope!
Alfie – Green 1 – For becoming a role model within his class and showing some of the other children how improved decision-making and choices can really make a difference. Alfie is engaged in his learning, making lots of effort and becoming more curious and inquisitive. He is polite and a pleasure to have in school! Well done, Alfie, very proud of you!
Current attendance results are as follows:
1st place goes to orange 1, yellow 1 and violet 2 for 100% attendance.
Another hard-working and busy week in school. Following the writing focus from the previous two weeks, children have been working on their use of vocabulary, perfecting handwriting and considering the ways in which sentences are ‘stacked’ and put together to form a coherent piece of writing. I am very proud of the progress that children are starting to make! With the persistent approach from the teachers, and high expectations, I hope for some great pieces of finished writing and authentic outcomes over the course of the spring and summer term. I think that the number of Head Teacher Awards this week (for writing) shows the impact the work is having already.
Unfortunately, this week, I have once again received complaints about the parking surrounding school. I am told that parents are once again parking up curbs (onto the pavements) and blocking driveways of the residents. There have been reports of parents not being considerate to other drivers and blocking people in also. I once again urge you all to be careful when driving/parking near school and please let’s keep the children’s safety at the forefront our minds at all times please. I would hate to hear of a child being hurt during these busy times of the school day. Thanks for your support and understanding on this matter in advance.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Warm regards,
Michelle Bates
Head Teacher
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
Week Ending 17th January 2020
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Noah – Green 1 – For his fantastic explanation of what sedimentary rock is and how it was formed from his learning out of school
Myah – Green 1 – For her incredible progress in her letter size, formation and accurate joins
Teegan – Orange 2 – For working really hard on some brand new maths learning. She was counting on using a number line and applied herself well. Teegan completed the activity all by herself.
Isabella – Orange 2 – for doing not 1, not 2, but 3 fantastic pieces of maths work. She has worked really hard this week and I’m very proud of her.
Current attendance results are as follows:
1st place goes to Indigo 2 for 100% attendance.
2nd place goes to Red 2 for 99.3% attendance.
3rd place goes to Blue 1 for 97.7% attendance.
Another super week in school. I have been observing this week and so far, I have seen some lessons from year 2, 3, 5 and 6. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the classes. During the sessions, I was focussing on writing across the curriculum. I saw and read some fascinating pieces and I am seeing great progress.
During my time with the children, I have also focussed on ‘pupil voice’. I.e. what they think of the writing opportunities in their year group and the way in which the teachers support them with the writing process. Feedback from the children was very positive. Across the board, the children are saying that they enjoy writing; that the class texts are engaging for them to write about and they are holding their attention and enthusiasm. The children know exactly what they need to do to improve their writing, and they were very articulate about what they thought they need more of. All of the feedback has been provided to the teachers, who have been watched so far, and they continue to think about the provision in their rooms. One comment I was very proud of was regarding wanting to write more at home, especially with a history focus from the ‘Discover’ work last term.
This term, all year groups have their Geography and STEM focus through the ‘EXPLORE’ term within the whole school curriculum. The questions that the children are currently exploring are as follows:
Transport and occupations – Reception
How do our choices affect how other people live? – Year 1
Home or away? – Year 2
Does adversity make us stronger? – Year 3
How can small actions eventually change the world? – Year 4
Should we all be treated the same? – Year 5
Are we always on a journey? – Year 6
Enjoyment and enthusiasm is key, and we certainly have that currently. I look forward to more authentic outcomes as the term and writing progresses and I cannot wait to visit more lessons next week.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Warm regards,
Michelle Bates
Head Teacher
Week Ending 10th January 2020
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Eleanor – Indigo 1 – For amazing work to consider how impressions are made by the use of photos and texts. She used great presentation and independence and her inferences from the photos were impressive.
William – Orange 2 – For completing a lovely piece of addition work in maths. It was his first time at using a bar model to count on and he smashed it! He also set out his work neatly and got all the right answers!
Maizie – Violet 2 – For independently writing a story from the book ‘x’, which required her to write using pictures. She used retrieval and inference well from the pictures and used some great vocabulary. She also did an amazing re-write after support with spellings and punctuation.
Neave – Indigo 2 – For writing very creatively and ‘hooking’ the reader into wanting to read on.
Conor – Green 1 – For trying so hard at news time to be patient and wait his turn to speak. He asks appropriate questions and listens to what the others have to say. He is no longer wandering off from the sofa at news time or getting frustrated.
Current attendance results are as follows:
1st place goes to yellow 2 for 99.3% attendance.
2nd place goes to Orange 1 for 99.2% attendance.
3rd place goes to Violet 2 for 98.6% attendance.
What a fabulous start to 2020! The children have returned to school settled and ready and raring to go. They have launched themselves into their new Geography topics and are engaged already with the subject material and lessons. We are hoping for a truly inspiring and engaging term and look forward to working with you on our journey throughout our new curriculum. More news next week as to the opportunities throughout this term and what is in on offer. A reminder that there will be a parental workshop from the local authority on internet safety within the home on Wednesday the 12th February at 2pm.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Warm regards,
Michelle Bates