Newsletter Issue 26
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Thursday 28th March 2013
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Dear Parent/Carer,
I must start my newsletter this week by thanking all parents who came along for the parent consultations this week. The meetings are an invaluable way to find out about your child’s achievements and attainment.
We had the wonderful Teddy Bear’s picnic events in Foundation Stage last week, which were a joy to be a part of and this week parents have been given further fantastic opportunities to celebrate the joy of learning.
Key Stage One
Thanks and well done to all children in every year group for their incredible achievements this half term. I must give a special mention to Key Stage 1 who this week provided us with a fantastic exhibition in the hall of the outcomes from the Romans topic. They also led a brilliant assembly this morning to celebrate Easter. Amazing learning could be seen at both events and the children were clearly very proud of what they had to show.
Reading Focus Day
Our Reading Focus Day has been a real success. Children have dressed up; they have engaged in some fantastic book themed learning in class and the Book Club can look forward to an exciting sleep-over in the hall tonight. As usual, a whole host of parents, carers and school staff turned out to support our Reading Breakfast and promote the enjoyment that can be had when sharing reading with the children. What a lovely way to end the term.
Amazing achievements
Shannon Girvin has been selected to be in the pool of contestants for Jamie and Anna Live! Boys vs. Girls the Ultimate Challenge at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax Shannon and show their support. This is a great achievement.
Amisha Teeluck in the meantime, has been approached by industry professionals and offered a place at the Future Music Academy Sheffield City Hall
A word from Councillor Mulherin, Chair of Governors
On behalf of the school governing body, I am delighted to announce that after a competitive recruitment process Mrs Dale has this week been appointed to lead Robin Hood Primary School
Children were heavily involved in the selection process with candidates each being asked to hold a whole school assembly, year 5/6 being involved in an exciting maths lesson observation and a rigorous interview with some very tricky questions for the candidates to answer, which was undertaken by the school Council. Ms Hinton supported pupils wonderfully well throughout their roles in the selection process.
Mrs Dale has the full support of the governing body and school staff and I am sure that you will join us in congratulating Mrs Dale on her successful appointment and that you will share our excitement for the future as we look forward to supporting her to make Robin Hood Primary School the very best that it can be!
Wishing you all a very happy Easter and a well earned rest, on behalf of the school Governors,
Lisa Mulherin
Chair of Governors
It goes without saying that it is an honour and a privilege to have been appointed as the permanent Headteacher of Robin Hood Primary School. Our school is a fantastic and unique place to be every day. We have incredible learners, fantastic teachers, wonderful parents and a very supportive governing body. I am thoroughly looking forward to the future and continuing to provide an outstanding quality of education to our children
PTA NEWS
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We hope all the children enjoyed the visit from the Easter Bunny. For your information, although Nestle have recalled some Kit Kat chunky bars and eggs, the ones that were given to the children were not affected.
Over the holidays the busy PTA Mums and Dads are still continuing their hard work. We have some contacting companies for donations for future events, we have another looking into a summer treat for the reception and nursery children (KS1 and KS2 treat has already been agreed so watch this space), we even have a Dad thinking of interesting quiz questions for our family quiz which is to be held on 10 May, tickets and information to be provided after the holidays. Should anyone be able to help with donations of any kind especially those parents and carers that work for generous companies please contact robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com
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My thanks to the PTA for providing our children with a lovely chocolate treat.
Have a great Easter and a wonderful break.
Mrs Dale
Nursery newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
It was lovely to see so many of you at the parent drop in sessions this week and it was lovely to show you the wonderful progress the children have been making in Nursery. We really appreciated your positive feedback and comments. Any suggestions or comments will always be taken into consideration, so please feel free to suggest anything to us that we may be able to do better. Such strong relationships between home and school are the foundation for your child being a successful learner.
THIS WEEK
This week we have been learning all about the Easter story and why we celebrate Easter. The children have spent their time making lovely Easter cards for you, which you will hopefully now have received and they have made some yummy Easter rice crispie buns which we have all enjoyed eating. The children have really impressed us in mathematics as they have really grasped the concept of sharing and now can fairly share things between 2 and 4 children. In phonics we revisited Aspect 4 rhyming the children are a little more confident in this but please continue to play rhyming games at every opportunity. Thank you.
NEXT HALF TERM
We are all very excited for next terms royal topic of “Kings and Queens ”. We have lots of exciting fairy tales and stories to share with the children. Currently our classroom is being transformed into lots of exciting new areas including; a glitzy Cinderella carriage and a real castle fit for a king and guarded by his knights and dragon. We start the topic off with the wonderful story of Cinderella. We will read the story and re-tell it using our fabulous acting skills. We will then write an invitation to our friends to the ball we will be hosting on Wed/Fri. In topic they will be making their very own crowns and princess hats to wear to the ball. In maths we will be thinking about time just like Cinderella. The ball will take place on Wednesday (17th April) or Friday (19th April) and the children are invited to dress up as a beautiful princess, handsome prince, grand king, elegant queen or a brave knight.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
· Please listen to your child’s fabulous reading once a day and comment in their reading record. Please feel free to drop in and change their books when you pick them up.
· Please practice counting to 20 and beyond with your child at any opportunity. Please also practise writing and recognising the numbers 1-10 with them. If your child can do both of these, then please help them go even further.
· Please practise writing the first letter of your child’s name and if they can do this try going even further with them.
· Please look at our foundation stage blog which you can access through the school website and see if you can spot any of your child’s wonderful learning,
Have a lovely Easter break and fingers crossed for some nice weather! School reopens Monday 15th April.
Mrs Steel, Mrs Chin & Miss Fox
Reception newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
Thank you all for attending the parent consultations this week it was lovely to see you and to tell you about the wonderful progress your child has made. We have sent out their recent assessments in the home learning this week, which will allow you to see your child’s next steps to help them reach or even exceed their end of year Robin Hood target of a 1b. We really appreciated all your positive comments and feedback and any suggestions or comments will always be taken into consideration, so please feel free to suggest anything to us that we may be able to do better. Such strong relationships between you and us are the foundation for your child being a successful learner.
THIS WEEK
This week we have been learning all about the Easter story and why we celebrate Easter. The children have spent their time making lovely Easter cards for you which you will hopefully now have received and they have made some yummy Easter nest buns which we have all enjoyed making and eating. The children have really impressed us in mathematics as they have really grasped the concept of number bonds to 10 and they are getting really good at the Farmer Pete song. The children are now able to write all their number bonds to 10 and recognise that as one number gets smaller the other number gets bigger. You are very clever children Reception! In phonics we have read the tricky words; looked, called, asked and could. Well done to all those children who got their 100% certificates and a head teacher sticker from Mrs Dale.
NEXT HALF TERM
We are all very, extremely and majorly excited for next terms royal topic of “Kings and Queens ”. We have lots of exciting fairy tales and stories to share with the children next half term. Currently our classroom which is being transformed into lots of exciting new areas including; a glitzy fairytale castle, a real castle fit for a king which is guarded by his knights and dragon and a potions lab where wizards and witches will create their magical spells. We start the topic off with the wonderful story of Cinderella. We will read the story and think about the adjectives we will use to describe the magical castle, as well as sequencing the story and using time connectives such as then, next and in the end to move our stories on. In topic they will be designing and creating their very own transport to the ball using a variety of materials. In maths we will be thinking about time just like Cinderella had to, to make sure that she wasn’t late. The children will also be making their own crowns and princess hats which they will then be able to wear to our Cinderella ball. The ball will take place on Friday (19th April) and the children are invited to dress up as a beautiful princess, handsome prince, grand king, elegant queen or a brave knight. In phonics we will be moving on to phase 5 and we will be learning to read the tricky words; water, away, good, want, over and how and learning to read and write the sounds wh (what), ph (photo) and the zh sound in treasure.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
· Over the holidays please read with your child as often as possible and encourage them and help them to work on their personal targets.
· Please take a look at the blog to watch any recent videos of your child learning. We have also uploaded some videos to Robin Hood TV which can be accessed via a link on the home page of the school website. We have put on the videos of the Teddy Bear’s picnic and the children taking part in a PE. lesson using the apparatus.
Miss Pyatt, Miss Lambert and the Reception Team.
Key Stage 1
Home Learning:
Having conquered the Romans this half term within our afternoon sessions, we will next half term turn our attention to the new topic of “Music through the Ages”. This unit will incorporate the usual strands of learning (science, geography, history, ICT and Art/DT) seeing us reproduce Andy Warhol style prints and our very own Stomp production. In order to support your child coming into this topic please encourage them to put together a fact file/poster/computer based presentation on their favourite musician or band. This can include pictures of them, popular songs and the genre, fashion and entertainment facts and the reasons they think they are so good.
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News:
Parents’ Consultations:
It was so great to meet with all the parents for the second time this academic year to discuss each child’s incredible achievements since September. As a school we are truly blessed to have such supportive and involved parents and hope that you shared all of the teachers’ feelings that both Monday and Tuesday were a celebration of how great our children are. It was really lovely to hear how engaged all the children were with last week’s home learning (on I am Learning) too, please do continue to support your child in accessing this amazing learning resource.
Assessment Week:
What a busy week it has been in Key Stage 1! Running alongside all of the events we have shared with you, the children have taken part in the usual sets of assessments and done wonderfully again. It’s quite staggering the improvements that children can make in such a short time (it was only 5 weeks ago that we ran our last set of assessments!). They have all once again tried their hardest, felt proud and interested in their own attainment and ways that they can now improve and help themselves and just amazed us. Well done all!
Roman Exhibition:
I think it is safe to say that everyone was blown away by the children’s efforts and learning on Wednesday afternoon at out very own Roman Exhibition. It wouldn’t be an over-exaggeration to say that every child within the key stage has totally embraced and loved this unit of study and that was seen through their pride and eagerness to showcase their learning. It was such an amazing event, made even more special by the amount of parents, friends and carers who could make it, so thank you! If you were unable to attend be sure to check our blog for some pictures of the learning!
Easter Performance:
Well Key Stage 1 performed another belter! I’m sure you’ll agree that this term’s Easter performance of The Three Trees rivalled that of the Christmas play. The children have loved learning all about Jesus and Easter, making stained glass windows and crosses from one long piece of card and the performance was a beautiful way to mark the end of all this learning. Thank you again to everyone who attended!
Reading Day:
This Reading Day was just as, if not more, successful than the last one! We had some fabulous costumes from the children and it was truly a delight to see so many of you enjoy your morning cuppa with your child and a good book in the hall. Never underestimate the positive effects your presence and support at such events brings to all the children. You can read more about how our day played out in the literacy section of the newsletter…
Literacy:
…On Thursday, as part of the whole school reading day enjoyed a day of dramatization around the fabulous story of The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. This is a story about the giant who has the most magical and wonderful garden imaginable. It is the place that all the local children like to play, until the day the giant bans them! From that day on it is constantly winter in his garden until he sees the error of his ways and invites the children back in. Throughout the day we built up the different sections of the tale through miming playing in our imaginary, fantastic gardens, doing a ‘role on the wall’ exercise in which we drew around a person and then banked adjectives to describe the giant’s personality both inside him and what he seems like to people on the outside, and used our persuasive language to write a letter to the giant begging him to let the children come back in his garden. Such days are refreshing and exciting for the children, which is something that could be seen through all the outcomes that you were invited to share after school.
Numeracy:
As we mentioned last week, after the Easter holidays we will move on to looking at length, capacity and weight in our numeracy and plan to dedicate one day a week to oral questions around all units of mathematical problems. The aim and focus around this is to consolidate the learning from throughout the year and ensure that all the children are secure in the vocabulary within every kind of mathematical problem and the strategies for working out questions whilst building their mental capabilities and number understanding (i.e. 5+2=7 therefore 50+20=70).Assessment week has once again shown how strong numeracy is throughout the key stage, which is something that we will continue to build upon next term.
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
We have had a super week in Lower Key Stage 2 and are very proud of the children’s mature and sensible attitude towards their assessments! We have also had a great reading day today and the children looked great in their costumes!
Home learning
Next half term, the children will be learning all about India
Literacy
This week, the children have had a chance to show off their super learning by writing a recount about a day out at the seaside. The children used a short video clip as a stimulus, and then planned their own day’s events at a pleasure beach. We were so impressed to see the children independently using a range of compound and complex sentences, adjectives, adverbs, powerful verbs and sophisticated word choices too! Ask your child for some new words they have learned this half term in their ‘Magpie Books’!
During our science lessons this week, the children have been learning about the rock cycle and the different types of rocks (sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic). The children have had a chance to make these different rocks out of chocolate, which enabled them to see the different characteristics of the rocks. The children have also enjoyed learning about earthquakes and volcanoes! Why don’t you ask your child how and why volcanoes and earthquakes happen?
RE
This week, the children have been continuing their learning about Ganesha’s birth. They have been retelling this story using comic strips, short plays, smart notebook and through story telling. We have enjoyed reading and watching all of the different versions of the story!
Spellings to be tested on Monday the 22nd April (the children already have their spellings for the first Monday back)
Group One
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Group Two
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Over
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Absence
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Old
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Sentence
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Half
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Commence
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Could
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Defence
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Should
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Offence
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Would
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Finance
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Ball
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Exercise
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Call
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Experience
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Your
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Announced
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Laugh
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Audience
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Reminders
· Please remember to bring indoor PE kit on the correct day (Tuesday/Thursday). The children will be starting to learn ‘The Big Dance’ routine.
· We check Reading Records every Monday morning; please ensure your child brings in their signed Record so we can reward all of their fantastic reading.
Team 3/4
UKS2 News Roundup:
· This week, 5/6G visited the Sinai Synagogue in Leeds to further their learning on diversity in our community as well as symbolism in religion. We were very impressed with the thoughtful questions children asked during their time the synagogue. The staff at the Synagogue have commented on how fantastic all the children have been during their visit.
· Dates for your diary:
19th April: This date is the deadline for the payments for our Year 5/6 trip to Jodrell Bank.
24th April: This is the deadline for the payments for the year 6 residential trip.
Please can parents and carers ensure that the final balances for the above trips are cleared by the specified date. If there are any issues regarding these payments, please contact Mrs Smith at the office.
Numeracy:
· This week, the children have been completing their numeracy assessments for the spring 2 term. This has included mental maths questions, a calculator paper and a non-calculator paper. The children have tried very hard to beat their last term’s level and we are really proud of their attitude towards their achievement.
· The Times Tables Challenge was held in school this week. Pupils were tested in class and a year 5 and year 6 child progressed to represent their class across the year group. Our times table champions for this term are familiar faces and have worked hard to retain their trophies. Billy and Ellis of 5/6M leave this term as the respective year 5 and 6 champions. Well done boys!
Literacy:
· This week, the children have been making some final amendments to their adventure stories, with a particular focus on their climax and resolution and ending. Children have spent the remainder of the week publishing their adventure stories.
· Spellings. For the first week back pupils will be tested on a random selection of spellings from the previous spellings that the children have received.
Other areas of the curriculum:
· This week in ICT, the children have continued to use Puppet Pals and Morfo on the iPads to create animations about climate change. Pupils have been assembling their footage in iMovie and finalising their animations this week.
· This week in Spanish, we have continued our focus on the weather and we have filmed presentations like real weather reporters.
· In PE this week we have been continuing our outdoor and adventure activities unit. Children have been introduced to basic compass skills and have been setting their own routes to navigate and record the correct compass bearings.
· In our Topic sessions this week, pupils have been continuing their art work on climate change and global warming. Pupils have been using a range of different mediums to present to express the threat of global warming to the Earth.
· In Music, 5/6G have continued to develop playing Yellow Submarine on the recorder. The children have worked really hard over the past few weeks and can now play Yellow Submarine independently. They have now had their final piece recorded as their final outcome. 5/6B have continued their new unit looking at playing tuned instruments including glockenspiels and xylophones. 5/6 M have made some final adjustments to their soundtrack for a silent action movie. Pupils have been focused on how the emotions and feelings of a film might be reflected in the music composition. They have linked the music to the film to create a movie with their own custom made music.
Easter home learning:
· Next term out topic will be space. Over the Easter holidays we would like pupils to create some space related outcomes for our classroom displays. Pupils are asked to choose at least one of the space related tasks which include:
o designing an alien planet
o creating an alien creature
o designing an alien spacecraft
Further details on the home learning task will be given to pupils to help them understand how they may like to present and some key criteria.
