Newsletter Issue 38
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Friday 12th July 2013
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Dear Parent/Carer,
What an incredibly busy week we have had for all the right reasons. We have had such a lot of fun this week and seem to have had plentiful opportunities to welcome parents into school. I must say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to come into school and support the very many brilliant events which have taken place this week. Your support is invaluable to us and really does add huge value to the events that we hold.
Arts Week
The children in Key Stage 2 started the week with 3 days of incredible learning experiences, which saw them engaging with local arts practitioners of all kinds; from solo musicians, to photographers, to Shakespeare actors, to girl bands- it’s been incredible. The buzz from the children during the workshops, independent learning time and even after the event itself has been tangible. The feedback from the children has been incredibly positive. To make the whole event even more meaningful is that by hosting the arts week, our pupils will qualify to receive UCAS points, which would contribute towards a qualification in the arts. We heavily advocate the arts at Robin Hood so this opportunity is one that we have really embraced. Miss Thackeray must take the credit for leading the week, which culminated in a somewhat moving showcase of performances from the children. Thanks to the PTA for the funding.
Punch and Judy
Again, thanks to the PTA for funding and organising the Punch and Judy show enjoyed by our youngest learners in Nursery, which by all accounts was absolutely fantastic. I was very sad to have missed it but I know that an absolutely brilliant time was had by all.
Welcome Miss Bailey
Last week, we made an excellent appointment. In September, we will welcome Leanne Bailey to join our team of brilliant teachers. Miss Bailey will initially be based in Year 3/4 and will replace Miss Snowden when starts her maternity leave.
Oscar’s night
Thursday night was a perfect opportunity to get a little bit glammed up as our Drama Club hosted a fantastic Oscar’s night. This was a wonderful event, which really celebrated the fabulous singing, dancing and acting talents of our children who have attended each week. Miss Pyatt and Mrs Comstive have been a fantastic team in encouraging the children to take to the stage and in some cases to overcome some confidence issues. Another example of how our staff go above and beyond to put our children first.
Sweets in school
I have had reports that some children have had sweets in school this week. I must politely remind you that sweets are not allowed in school- tic tacs included! Thank you.
Mini Maestros
Tiny baby classes for babies 3 – 9 months will be running every Friday from September 2013, telephone 07976154890 for more information. We have a limited number of free session vouchers available in the office.
Dinner Money
Could all outstanding dinner monies up to Tuesday 23rd July please be paid in to the office no later than Wed 17th July.
Even MORE happy news
I have the pleasure to announce that Miss Darroch has this week, given birth to a bouncing baby boy. Huge congratulations to Miss Darroch and Robbie and we can’t wait to meet little William soon.
PTA News
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All the children have had an exciting 2 weeks, with KS1 enjoying a circus skills day last week, KS2 learning all about the Arts this week and nursery who, along with their parents and carers, enjoyed a Punch and Judy Show on Wednesday. This is all due to you as parents and carers, from those who have helped out over the year to arrange and run fund raising events to everyone else who came along to lend their support and spend their hard earned cash. On Thursday next week we are having out last PTA meeting of the year where we will be celebrating our success, so please come along if you can and raise a glass to everyone's hard work. We will be meeting at Salute (just for a drink) at 8pm 18th July. Finally we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us over the year and look forward to raising even more money next year for our wonderful, exceptional children.
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Can I please add to the above message by voicing my heartfelt gratitude to the PTA for all the fantastic events they have both held and funded this year. I started the year wanting to get together a positive and proactive group of parents who would work together to create brilliant opportunities for the benefit of our children and community and my expectations have been surpassed. The PTA involvement really is making a difference to our school and I feel that our community is as positive as it ever has been, largely because of this. I can’t wait to see what we can all achieve together next year.
Have a great week end.
Mrs Dale
Nursery newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
We love this time of the year as it is very busy and the children get to take part in lots of exciting activities. It has been arts week all week in Nursery, so our usual literacy tasks have been replaced by creative activities which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. On Tuesday we went on a trip to the seaside (into our outside area) and the children got the chance to take part in lots of seaside games and activities. Then to top off such an exciting week it was sports day on Friday. The children all really impressed us with their, stamina, determination and team work and they really were a credit to themselves and us. We felt very proud!
THIS WEEK
The art outcomes the children have produced have been fantastic and demonstrate just how much the children have progressed since September. They made some fantastic yummy ice-creams and beautiful beach scenes. They used lots of different resources including glitter, sand and extremely gloopy paint to achieve such fantastic effects. Outside we created a large scale beach scene which made our playground feel like we were really at the seaside. In maths we were learning all about symmetry and the children made some beautiful symmetrical butterfly paintings which no doubt you will have seen because the children were so excited to take home their paintings and show them to you. In phonics the children learnt the sound l and the digraph ll. They are becoming really confident with their sounds and now only have one more sound to learn before they have learnt all the Phase 2 sounds which is amazing!
NEXT WEEK
Next week we have another exciting week planned. In literacy we will be learning all about the importance of staying safe in the sun and on holiday. To help us with our learning we will be reading the story George the sun safe superstar. Following our lessons about sun safety we will all be boarding a plane and jetting off to the Caribbean where we learn about their culture and we will have a go at tasting their food. In topic the children will be designing their very own beach bag to put all their safety items in and they will also get to have a go at making an ice-cream sundae which they will pay for using the correct coins. In numeracy we will be learning about data handling and the children will get to question their friends about their favourite ice-cream. In phonics our final Phase 2 sound is the digraph ss and then we will be reviewing all of the Phase 2 sounds we have learnt over the term.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR CHILD WITH THEIR LOVELY LEARNING
· Please read with your child for 5 minutes every day.
· Challenge them to show you how well they can write their name.
· Please practise recognising all the letters they have learnt so far with your child and blending and segmenting at every opportunity!
Have a fantastic weekend.
Mrs Steel, Mrs Chin & Miss Fox
Reception newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
We love this time of the year as it is very busy and the children get to take part in lots of exciting activities. It has been arts week all week in Reception, so our usual literacy tasks have been replaced by creative activities which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. On Thursday we went on a trip to the seaside (in our outside area) and the children got the chance to take part in lots of seaside games and activities. Then to top off such an exciting week it was sports day on Friday. The children all really impressed us with their stamina, determination and team work and they really were a credit to themselves and us. We felt very proud!
THIS WEEK
The art outcomes the children have produced have been fantastic and demonstrate just how much the children have progressed since September. They made some fantastic sunbathing lizards, yummy ice-creams and beautiful beach scenes. They used lots of different resources including glitter, sand and extremely gloopy paint to achieve such fantastic effects. Outside we created a large scale beach scene which made our playground feel like we were really at the seaside. In maths we were learning all about symmetry and the children made some beautiful symmetrical butterfly paintings which no doubt you will have seen because the children were so excited to take home their paintings and show them to you. They then extended their learning even further and many of them drew symmetrical butterflies on our playground using chunky chalks. In phonics we learnt to read the words; first, work, lots, need, that’s and baby and we will learn the sounds that make the oo or u sound u (unicorn, use, unit) and oui (Louis).
NEXT WEEK
Next week we have another exciting week planned in literacy. We will be learning all about the importance of staying safe in the sun and on holiday. To help us with our learning we will be reading the story George the sun safe superstar and then we will be making our very own fact files to help inform the older children in the school of what they should do to stay safe. Following our lessons about sun safety we will all be boarding a plane and jetting off to the Caribbean where we will learn about their culture and have a go at tasting their food. In topic the children will be designing their very own beach bag to put all their safety items in and they will also get to have a go at making an ice-cream sundae which they will pay for using the correct coins. In numeracy we will be learning about data handling and the children will get to question their friends about their favourite ice-cream. In phonics there are no specific sounds to learn this week but we will be reviewing all the Phase 5 sounds we have learnt this term. The words of the week next week are; fish, gave, mouse, something, bed and may.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR CHILD
· Help your child practise their letter and number formation.
· Try to read with your child for 5 minutes every day and ask them lots of questions about what they are reading.
Have a great weekend!
Miss Pyatt, Miss Lambert and the Reception Team.
Key Stage 1
Home Learning:
To tie in with our Stop Motion Animation learning in topic and to help them understand how small the movements and changes to an illustration need to be so that they look realistic as you move between them, we are asking for this week’s home learning that the children create a ‘moving picture’. They can use Sport’s Day as a stimulus for this and draw at least 8 pictures which show them running (with their legs and arms moving place in each picture), them throwing the javelin or maybe even them lifting the house winner’s trophy! They can set this out in boxes, akin to a story board or in a flow chart. Some might even choose to make a mini ‘flick book’ with one picture on each page so that it really looks like the animation is moving when you flick through the pages!
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News:
Well what an amazing (or as the children would say, “epic”) day we had on Monday! The children were bursting with excitement from the off and after a one hour coach drive, multiple games of eye spy punctuated only by cries of, “Are we there yet?”, we arrived at the park! Each class took a different route around the park taking the time to visit the lions, giraffes, zebras, tigers, appax (a screw horned white antelope from Africa ), capybara, lemurs and so on. As we walked around there were loads of really interesting facts that the children really enjoyed reading to themselves or as a group and we certainly all learnt a lot! Every class also had the opportunity to take part in a Park lesson that YWP had tailored to meet our specific needs and in school learning. We all went to their on-sight classroom and were able to hold some real life animal parts. These included a tiger’s tooth, a lion’s claw, an appax’s horn, a rather smelly camel hide and an enormous ostrich egg! This was such a novelty and felt so special for everyone involved, which was reflected in the children’s questioning and engagement. Luckily we left it to the end of the last group before we dropped the ostrich egg, oops! But I can tell you with confidence and evidence now, that that was the biggest yolk I’ve ever seen (it was the equivalent to 20 chicken eggs, otherwise known as a Big Breakfast!).
Sport’s Day:
Well Sport’s Day was a huge success! The children have really enjoyed taking part in our athletics unit throughout this half term. It has harvested a real sense of camaraderie and competition amongst the house teams, developed each individual’s sporting determination and drive as well as having introduced the children to new physical experiences, such as hurdles and javelin. Today certainly played host to the children’s new found competitive streak! They really enjoyed the morning; there were 11 different stations to move across and try to earn points for your house team. These included activities based around speed, strength and balance such as the classic egg and spoon, balancing a quoit on your head whilst running, javelin, jumping from spot-to-spot and the all-time favourite dressing up race! Whilst we have been encouraging the children’s sense of competition and celebrating this, it was also really lovely to see how supportive they were of one another.
Topic:
Our learning about animals continued this week as we introduced a 2 week project around Stop Animation to the children. The way we explained this to them was through reference to Wallace and Gromit productions – explaining that each tiny movement is captured as a still shot before the hundreds of photographs are merged to make a film. The children chose a group of 4 friends to work with and together elected their favoured habitat. They then used a piece of A3 card to create a backdrop suiting their chosen habitat using paints with rollers and sponges as well as brushes, glue, glitter and sand for texture. We explained to the children that next week they will be creating a short story about an animal that they would create that has adapted its features to suit that habitat. This task really showed the depth of understanding the children have gained throughout this topic; we saw scaled, cold-blooded creature features being amalgamated into the ultimate desert animal and we saw powerful and sharp extremities from lions and leopards merging into the carnivore to fear in Africa ! Next week the children will use Play Doh to make their creature and will film their chosen story in front of their backdrop. We’re sure that everyone will really enjoy learning this new skill and becoming film makers! Keep an eye out on Robin Hood TV!
Literacy:
We have revisited our trip throughout the week in literacy in different formats. We were told by Yorkshire Wildlife park that they are running a poster competition at the minute to promote the themes, ‘Conserve, Share, Sustain’ to people everywhere. In order for the children to understand what these terms mean and why their message in so important we showed them images of the effects of littering, global warming and hunting for fur. These were strong and mature concepts to portray but the children did incredibly at understanding them and actually gained a real impetus and desire to change cruel or thoughtless acts and to share the importance of this with the world. Every class has made a group poster on a template of the world. The sea became the place where we wrote rhyming couplet poems outlining the sad events that we witnessed and the simple things that we can do (such as turning off the light) to start the change. The land was painted different colours according to climate and we added observational drawings of animals common to those regions. The outcomes are truly amazing and we are sure that one of us will be the YWP’s winning entry!
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
What an eventful week we have had in LKS2! The children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring a range of different arts during our Arts Week, and have documented all of their new learning in their Art Logs! The children have also really enjoyed sports day! It was great to see all the children being great team players and taking part in healthy competition.
Photography Workshop
The children thoroughly enjoyed learning a new range of photography skills this week, which I am sure they will show off during the summer holidays. The children have learnt to take photos at different angles, in different lights, and have also learnt how to take close ups a distance shots. We were blown away at how confident the children were when applying these skills. Well done guys.
Musicians
We have welcomed two great musicians into school this week; Voxe and Sian Fawcett. From watching these talented musicians, the children learnt about how to get into the music industry, and how important it is to follow their dreams. Voxe, a local girl band, taught the children a song and gave some children the opportunity to take on a solo role. The children had the chance to improve their singing skills by learning from the experts and showcased their learning by performing to parents and carers.
Drama
This week, the children have been learning about Shakespeare by watching some live performances of Romeo and Juliet. The children have gained an understanding of this tragic tale, and were able to verbally retell the main events of the story. The children have studied the balcony scene very closely, and after watching a Shakespearean version of the scene and a modern day version of the scene, they were able to retell the events through drama. We were really impressed with their understanding of the story and their expression when performing.
Sports Day
The children thoroughly enjoyed sports day today! They all had the opportunity to take part in a range of games and races, and we were really pleased with how all of the children supported their team mates. It was a great event, and we would like to say a big thank you to the Active team for organising it!
· Please remember that your child’s reading record is sent in every Monday morning.
· Please ensure your child has a water bottle with them every day, due to the hot weather.
Have a lovely weekend!
UKS2 News Roundup:
· Please can all year 6 pupils bring any old photos of themselves into school. These photos will be used for the year 6 leavers assembly at the end of term.
· Please can parents ensure that they arrive before the designated time for the parent performances on the 16th and 17th July to ensure they can get a good seat!
· Due to warm weather please can we encourage all pupils to bring a water bottle and hat into school. Thank you.
· Next Thursday, year 6 pupils will be having a fish and chip lunch. Please ask your child what they have ordered, as they will not require a packed lunch or school dinner on this day.
Dates for your diary:
· 16th July- Year 6 leavers production, performance for parents (2.00- 3.15pm).
· 17th July- Year 6 leavers production evening performance for parents (6.15-7.30pm).
· 18th July- Fish & Chip lunch- Year 6
· 22nd July- Year 6 leavers prom, Glitz & Glamour theme. (5.30- 7.30pm).
· 23rd July- Year 6 leavers assembly.
Arts Discover week
· This week pupils have been learning all about the arts. Throughout the week pupils have taken part in a range of artistic workshops, including singing, acting and photography. Pupils have reflected on their learning in a portfolio which has profiled the artists and displayed their learning in a visual and creative way. Pupils then showcased all their fantastic learning at the end of the week.
Literacy:
· Next week pupils will be using a range of ICT resources to present their narrative stories. Our year 6 pupils will be rehearsing their end of year production in this time.
Numeracy:
· Next week our year 5 pupils will be problem solving a murder mystery challenge using a range of mathematical strategies. Our year 6 pupils will be rehearsing their end of year production in this time.
Other areas of the curriculum:
· In PE this week year 5/6 pupils have been practicing the Big Dance in preparation for our sports day performance.
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