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Weekly Newsletter
Friday 14th October 2022
School Vision and Values
Working with the Governors and the Church School group, we felt that the Bible extract still works for us as a school: "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see the good things you do and praise our Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). We have updated our motto from 'Together we Shine as One' to 'Let our Light Shine' as we feel this is clearer and closer to what we are aiming for as a school.
We have also chosen to focus on 4 key values as a school instead of seven as some of the seven were not very easy for children to relate to. These are now Compassion, Courage, Forgiveness and Thankfulness.
We will be talking about these with the children over the next week, and exploring what the values mean to us through Collective Worship and in class.
This week in school
Sports update The sports teams have started this year well, with wins at football of 8-1 (vs Cawood) and 10-0 (vs Hambleton). Last week we also sent a group of Y6 girls to Fulford Golf Club for a Tri-Golf tournament organised through Totally Runable: despite this being our first ever golf experience, the girls came back with a win!
After half term we will be picking up the after school sports clubs again once Mr Pooley is back from his jury service.
Bake sale Thursday 20 October Some of the Y6s are organising a bake sale next week to raise money in support of Sadie & Amelia's dad's fundraising for Guide Dogs. Cakes, buns and biscuits will be £1 or 50p, and there will also be a 'guess the name' of a cuddly toy guide dog competition for 50p a turn. They would really appreciate donations of cakes, buns, traybakes, biscuits etc (NO NUTS PLEASE) to be brought to Nebular class (Mr Close) on Wednesday or Thursday morning. Thank you!
Half term reminder School closes next week on Thursday 20 October. On Friday 21 staff will be updating their first aid training, so we are closed to children. We are open again on Monday 31 October.
School meals We have had a really positive response to the new STAR Eats menu & meals since they started in September. Last week we served over 150 more meals than in the same week last year, so they are very popular! We know that the increased choice, with a main and vegetarian option as well as either a jacket potato or a cheese melty, has been very well-received. Families can either opt for their child(ren) to have a school dinner every day, or can choose according to what is on the menu, or depending on what is in the fridge/cupboards at home.
Book look session and parents' evenings this term Remember it is our book look/open classroom session this half term on Monday 17th October from 2:45pm to 3:15pm. Come along and see your child's teacher, classroom and some of their work from the new school year!
Jewellery No necklaces, bracelets, rings or other jewellery should be worn to school. If your child has earrings, these must be removed for PE sessions, or earrings can be left at home on PE days. Earrings for school should be small stud types so they don't get caught and cause any injuries.
Leave of absence during term time & attendance We are getting more and more requests for leave of absence during term time due to families having booked holidays. Please can we gently remind you that, unless the circumstances are genuinely exceptional, these will not be authorised. Lower prices are not an exceptional circumstance, and the guidance is very clear that Headteachers would not be expected to class any term time holiday as exceptional.
The government is currently consulting on approaches to improving school attendance with updated guidance and new legislation coming with effect from September 2023. This is likely to lead to much quicker involvement from the Local Authority where a child's attendance is showing their education to be at risk. Currently if a child's attendance is below 90% we send an initial warning letter, which can be followed by more formal processes if attendance does not improve.
Under this consultation, as many of you will have seen, 1 single session of unauthorised absence will generate a Fixed Penalty Notice, and this shows how seriously the Government is taking attendance as a key part of education recovery.
If your child's attendance is below 90% they will have missed at least 20 days over the year: this is like missing a whole month of school.
Free school meals: save up to £450 a year With so much in the news about the cost of living and now energy prices going up, you can check whether your child could be eligible for a free school meal, whatever school year they are in. All the information is on the NYCC website at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/free-school-meals Some of this information may be out of date, especially around eligibility, so please get in touch if you are unsure.
If you would like any advice or support with this, please contact the school office. We treat these matters with complete confidentiality and are always happy to help if needed.
Thank you for your continued support.
Allyson Buckton (Headteacher) & Mel Walmsley (Deputy Headteacher)
Whole School Attendance
We are tracking attendance closely and if we see a pattern that we are worried about, such as children missing lots of Fridays, we will be contacting you directly to follow this up.
Please support your child's learning and friendships by keeping their attendance as high as possible. We understand the pressures on families but when school is open for 190 days out of 365 over the year, children need to make the most of that time, and it still leaves 175 other days for breaks, holidays and days out.
DIARY DATES
Monday 17 October - Book look/open classrooms 2:45-3:15pm
Monday 17 October - NSPCC Online Safety workshop, Tadcaster Grammar School, 6-7pm
Thursday 20 October - Bake sale to support Guide Dogs
Thursday 20 October - School closes for half term
Friday 21 October - Training day
Monday 31 October - Deadline for secondary school applications for September 2023
Tuesday 22 November - Open session for September 2023 admissions 1:30-2:30pm
Thursday 24 November - Christmas shopping evening (5-7pm)
Thursday 1 December - Christmas wreath making workshop (6-8.30pm)
Tuesday 13 December - Christmas Services at St Wilf's
Sunday 15 January - Deadline for primary school applications for September 2023
From St Wilf's...
As autumn rapidly approaches it is time to think about the Autumn Fair. The date has been set for Saturday 12th November between 10am and 1pm. There will be time to set up late Friday afternoon or earlier in the morning.
The format will be very similar to pre Covid times. If you are able to help in anyway please let Pat Jarvis (churchwarden) or myself know.
We will need volunteers for all the usual stalls; tombola, raffle, toiletries, nearly new children's things, along with a cafe.
I know Craft group are getting organised and hope that Mother's Union will be able to provide another delicious cake stall.
If I have missed anything or you have any ideas for other stalls or activities please get in touch. Maybe some entertainment?
Best regards
Lis Middup
07770440214
Happy Birthdays!
Many many many many happy returns this week to.....
Melody Wildon
Emily Westwood
Evie Priest
Connie Lonsdale
Jamison Morgan
Leo Willis
Reggie Russell
This week in classrooms
Nursery - Stars
If anybody needed a doctor or a firefighter this week, nursery was the place to be! We have had great fun exploring the emergency services and people who help us. In the enhanced provision, we have used police equipment to capture fingerprints, squirted water at the pretend fire in our outdoor area and treated many poorly dollies (and teachers!!). We have talked about the importance of cleaning our teeth.
In maths we have practised showing different amounts to 5 on our fingers and making repeating patterns. Our favourite phonics activity this week was picking sounds we like. We are becoming great listeners.
Star of the week
Mason Corbally
Reception - Moon and Mercury
This week, in Reception we have been learning about the five senses. The children have tasted different food items such as a sour lemon, an olive and a salty crisp. Next, they explored materials that are smooth, rough and bumpy. They listened to different sounds, used their sense of sight and observation and had fun smelling different spices and herbs. In phonics we introduced the new grapheme <ss> and the harder to read and spell word ‘pull’. We then assessed and reviewed to help identify any gaps in learning. In Maths we have read ‘Dear Zoo’ and discussed who or what will fit inside a range of different sized boxes, using the correct vocabulary ‘long and short’ and lots of repeating patterns. In RE, we are learning that God is the King of the world and that Christians must use the name ‘God’ with care, like looking after something precious. We enjoyed reading one of Jesus’ stories from the Bible about a really special pearl. It reminded us that God’s name is precious and holy because God is precious and holy. The children then painted and decorated their own names because we are precious too! Finally, we have celebrated Black History Month and it’s been a great opportunity for the children to develop their awareness of all ethnicities and a range of different cultures through stories. Hair Love by Matthew A Cherry was definitely one of our favourites. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sz3xfxdirE
Star of the week
Moon; Emily Holmes
Mercury: Rosie Durnin
Year 1 - Galaxy and Venus
We have had a fantastic week in Year 1 this week, exploring carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores, categorising animals into groups, and learning how to write animal riddles. In English, we have explored the features of riddles, developing our deduction skills, whilst in Guided Reading we have focused on the text ‘How Many Legs’ by Kes Gray and Jim Field. In maths, we have focused on developing our number understanding, investigating number sentences and the part whole model. Through scientific enquiry, we have sorted animals based on their feeding habits, and we have continued to develop our computing skills. In art and design, we learnt how to sketch using pencils, focusing on types of insects, such as beetles, ladybirds, dragon flies and bumblebees.
We ended the week with a fantastic farm visit to Temple Newsam Farm- the children were amazing, as were the staff, and we thoroughly enjoyed our first school trip. Thank you for your continued support.
Stars of the week
Venus- Jenson Binns
Galaxy- Luca Grafton
Year 2 - Earth and Mars
This week we began our new topic in maths on addition and subtraction. This week has been all about number bonds. In English we have been working hard on writing expanded noun phrases and choosing exciting vocabulary in preparation for our setting descriptions of under the sea next week. We continued creating some music inspired by Elga’s Enigma Variations(who knew he wrote about a dog?!) and we are enjoying creating artwork in the style of Eric Carle. In PSHE we continued to talk about Black History Month and learnt about Rosa Parks, whilst in RE we talked about the different parts of a mosque and discussed which part we feel is the most important.
Star of the week
Earth: Arthur Shipley
Mars: Penelope Wood
Year 3 - Jupiter and Saturn
This week in English, we continued sentence stacking through our new text ‘The True Story of the Three Little Pigs’ by Jon Scieszka. The children have learnt how to compose complex sentences and when to use onomatopoeia and similes to make their writing more descriptive and engaging. In Maths, we practised using the mental addition strategy of jumping to the next ten or hundred using number bonds - quite tricky! Seed dispersal was our focus in Science this week; the children learnt about the many different ways in which nature transports seeds in order to increase its chances of survival. In History, we wrote a fact file about the key events of ‘The Blitz’ and in RE we shared our thoughts on the story of ‘Adam and Eve’ focusing on the times when we have been tempted. Great work, Year 3!
Star of the week:
Jupiter: Bettie Hanson
Saturn: Ethan Prosser
Year 4 - Neptune and Meteor
This term is flying by, only more more week and we’ll have half a term in Year 4. This week we have moved onto our first unit of addition and subtraction, the children have been progressing their addition skills to help them grow more confident working with larger numbers and with exchanging. Maths lessons are now full of children using their fingers, counters or base 10 and being particularly careful at ensuring each digit is in the correct place value column. In English, we’ve started our new text type, newspaper reports. We have explored the features of a newspaper and been able to read a page detailing the terrible Viking raid on the innocent monks of Lindisfarne. As the half term draws closer we’re also exploring Hinduism, the children are enjoying learning about this colourful festival and are even more excited about preparing a special project which we will reveal next week.
Star of the Week
Neptune - Melody Wildon
Meteor - Lacey Booth
Year 5 - Asteroid and Pluto
Another week has come and gone, and the Year Fives have continued to work hard in their lessons. We are getting closer to completing our Non-Chronological Reports on Victorian Punishments - inspired by our trip a few weeks ago. Hopefully, you will see the finished piece of writing on Monday, when you are invited to the Book Look. The children have created some fantastic William Morris art pieces, and learnt about printing with styrofoam. We have continued to read ‘Street Child’ every day this week. The children have really invested in the story. However, they have clocked that each chapter is ending with a cliffhanger. What will happen to Jim? Who is Grimy Nick? Will Jim ever see his sisters again? The questions that keep getting asked. Maybe we can start to answer them next week.
Star of the Week
Asteroid - Amelia-Grace Jackson
Pluto - Oscar Dyson
Year 6 - Nebular and Constellation
What? Friday again? The weeks are just flying by and there is only one more week left until half term. English this week has been focussed on the different recount genre of Newspapers. We have written dialogue, written using different past tenses and have begun to plan our newspaper about the Titanic disaster. We have continued our work using the operation of multiplication. Our topic lesson focussed on geography, and the use of longitude and latitude. With this we plotted the route of the Titanic across the North Atlantic. On Thursday, We were visited by Mrs Mouncer, the year 7 lead from Selby High to inform the children about what their experience would be like.
A wonderful week again everyone!
Star of the Week
Nebular: Ed Thompson
Constellation: Elliot Kelly