Western Community Primary School
March 2021
Welcome
We all enjoyed a wonderful Science Week with many wild and wonderful Science experiments going on around the building. World Maths Day was also a huge success as children explored how essential maths is in a range of careers such as architects, chefs, and soldiers! Children enjoyed learning about Comic Relief and how money raised is used to help communities. They also enjoyed some fun activities and sharing jokes too. Children have been given as many opportunities as possible to learn outdoors, as you will see from some of the year group news. Nursery blew us all away with the wonderful Art Gallery they set up in the amphitheatre for classes to visit and enjoy.
Whilst there have been lots of exciting opportunities for children to get involved with across the month we know that for some children the return to school has been an understandably anxious time. Hopefully if your child is feeling anxious or worried we are aware and offering support via our Care, Guidance and Support team as well as our teachers who are there to speak to you about any worries you or your child have. If you feel this applies to your child and school are not aware please don't hesitate to get in touch and we will be happy to help in any way we can.
Hopefully you will find the time to relax over the break and maybe even enjoy some long awaited reunions with those you love and miss as on Monday (29 March), the rules preventing small gatherings of people outdoors will be relaxed. The rule of six will return, meaning up to six people or two households will be allowed to gather outside or in private gardens.
We wish you all a wonderful break and can't wait to see everyone again on Monday 12th April for the summer term.
Baby News!
Miss Hill wanted me to send you all lots of love and to thank you so much for your kind thoughts and messages.
Nursery
We have been preparing art work over the last few weeks to create an art gallery. We had an opening ceremony where we dressed up and Gary the caretaker gave a speech and cut the ribbon. We then showed him our pieces of artwork. The other pupils in school have had opportunity to come and see it too and some of them even sent us video messages telling us what they enjoyed.
During science week we did a range of experiments outdoors and indoors. This one is mixing ingredients to make a volcano. We also explored these ingredients indoors when painting to create fizzing pieces of art. We use science to talk about what we observe and to predict all of the time at nursery but enjoyed exploring further during science week.
We cook every week in Nursery. This is us following the instructions to make a lemon cake independently. We use a special recipe to bake cakes where we use the egg to balance the weight of the other ingredients.
Reception
We found a mystery poo!
The children have done an extensive investigation into animals and the different types of poo they make. We focused on the story of ''The little mole who knew it was none of his business'; this has inspired a lot of work in creative, writing and maths.
Marble Painting
We have been very creative and used marbles to generate pictures by rolling them through the paint. It took a lot of concentration and hand eye coordination to get the marble to go where we wanted it to, but we persevered and the results were beautiful.
Stinky Investigation
The Reception children tested the different types of 'poo' to find out which one was the runniest. We tested the viscosity by letting it run down the slope and timing how long it took. We have used some superb vocabulary to write up the investigation and describe the poo!
Year 1
A definite highlight during March was our participation in World Maths Day! The day is designed to raise awareness among young people and children of the real-life application and uses of Maths in everyday life. In Year 1 we decided to focus on 3 different careers and how they might use Maths in their daily work. The children took on the role of a chef, an architect and also a soldier. As they undertook these roles they did some cooking in small groups which involved lots of weighing and measuring of ingredients to make their own burgers. After that we changed our focus and the children acted in role as an architect as they designed, measured and built small models to help us design an area of our outside garden space that we would like to improve. Finally, in their role as soldiers the children worked in small groups to solve a series of orienteering problems and find clues around the school site including the field and the forest area. The whole day was a great success and the children certainly enjoyed their time and came away with a greater sense of enjoyment and understanding about how and why Maths is so important. Well done Year 1!
Year 2
Welcome Back Year 2
We have been so happy to welcome back all of the children into school and have missed them lots! Miss Armstrong and Mrs Patterson have been so proud of the children and their resilience coming back into our routines and working very hard on their handwriting. We are so proud of the children and their supper attitude to learning.
Delicious ice cream
As part of our science week activities we made our own ice cream! It wasn’t easy however as we didn’t have a machine…we made it in a bag! Lots of us were unsure if it would work or not but we combined the cream, sugar and vanilla and shook it with ice and salt. We couldn’t believe it when the ingredients turned from liquid to a solid. It was delicious!
Outdoor learning
We have had lots of opportunities to learn outside since we have returned back to school and have enjoyed exploring the forest. We are really keen to develop the forest area further as we love spending time there with our friends. We realised that when we were in Reception they were the ones who designed the things that were in there. We are excited to develop our ideas now that we are a little older so watch this space!
Year 3
Welcome back!
Forces, Fun and Fizz!
Forest Fun
Year 4
Year 4 were shocked to hear the true story behind the fairy tale of The Three Little Pigs. We found a bag full of clues and worked hard to uncover the truth. We just can't believe that poor Mr Wolf has been so misunderstood for all this time! We are busy writing a new version of the story so that finally the truth can be shared with everyone. After hearing Mr Wolf's tale, we have no doubt as to whose side you will be on!
World Maths Day
In Year 4 we celebrated World Maths Day by spending our entire day participating in fun and exciting Maths games. We also explored Maths in a real life context and discussed why we need Maths as a skill in every career path. For example, did you know footballers need to understand the points system, angles and measurement in order to be successful? We really enjoyed learning about Architects and even created our own 3D skyscraper! Year 4 absolutely loved the Maths Escape Room and we can't wait to do another one!
History
In History we have really enjoyed finishing off our learning on the Anglo Saxons. We found it really interesting how the Anglo Saxons chose to live in the countryside because they needed more space than the Romans did. Our favourite unit was exploring Anglo Saxon Gods! Did you know that the Anglo Saxons believed in Thor, the God of Thunder? We were surprised at how many links there are to England and the Anglo Saxons, for example, the name England comes from 'Angle-and'.
Year 5
They also carried out investigations into balloon rockets. Some of them used Clips on the iPads to record and present what they had done from beginning with a question to investigate to planning and actually carrying it out.
Year 6
Eco Council March Update
We are currently working on our 'Green Flag Eco Book' to detail all the steps that were involved in achieving this award and will be sharing with the rest of the school very soon. We hope to continue and introduce new Eco topics over the coming months to help maintain our Eco Schools status, which we will apply to renew in two years time.
Online Safety Update
Parent Safety Tools for Social Networks and Other Online Services
Children are spending more time using social media and the internet during lockdown as they want to stay in contact with their friends and family. This is good for them but must be done in a safe way. Most online services have settings that will filter content and allow users to manage access to age-appropriate content, report concerns or protect privacy.
Now may be a good time to look at the sites your child is using and check that the filters have been applied and that they are not accessing adult content when spending time online with their friends. You could discuss these options with your child so they understand why the filters are being put in place and know how to apply them to their accounts.
The following links will give you more information for social media accounts, internet access and on demand TV which access the internet
Instagram Live Rooms
New to Instagram 'Live Rooms' is a new feature that is being rolled out to all accounts. This allows users of Instagram to go 'live' with up to three of their friends at the same time with an audience. As this is new, many people do not have the feature yet but it will be available to everyone soon.
For more information click the link below from Ineqe safeguarding Group.
Omegle App
It has been brought to our attention a risk linked to the APP Omegle. As young people spend much more time online due to ongoing restrictions, there is an increased chance that they will come across these sites and be using them. Content from Omegle is now being shared by popular influencers which could encourage young people to visit this platform.
Omegle uses anonymous chat rooms where people can chat with strangers. People can communicate via instant messaging and video chat, some of these APPs use random matching to pair users (a bit like a dating app).
Young people are likely to use these chat rooms because they are fun, and they can find talking to strangers as a way of making new friends.
We’re aware of content from Omegle being shared widely across other platforms with trending hashtags, which could encourage young people to use the APP more. Young people do not see the risks of using these APPs and they do not always understand the risk involved in using them from people with malicious intentions.
You can find lots of information about Omegle from reliable sources here
https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides/omegle
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/blog/what-omegle-key-things-parents-and-carers-need-know
Thrive Update
We are working hard to make sure that all children and families have access to Thrive activities to support mental wellbeing. We have activity packs available to support children to understand their worries and fears using Worry Monsters. Worry Monsters help children to understand how their body may feel when they are showing different emotions. If you feel your child would benefit from some activities to do at home please contact Gemma Robson on 01912630202
Breathing exercises help children to regulate their body when they are feeling stressed or anxious see our breathing technique sheets below.
Thrive Parent Tool Kit
You can access the Thrive parent tool kit by visiting the link below. There is a wide range of information on the Thrive approach. By signing up you will have toolkit strategies and resources available for support, access courses for parents and carers as well as videos and online support groups.
Care, Guidance and Support Update
ParentLine
ParentLine is a confidential text service for parents and carers living in North Tyneside.
Caring for a child can come with its worries and concerns about their health and wellbeing, leaving parents feeling overwhelmed and looking for answers. ParentLine is an anonymous texting service you can use to ask questions to qualified nurses. You may have queries about feeding and nutrition or need advice about development and behaviour issues.
The texting service offers an informal and quick way to communicate with health professionals about any issues that may come your way.
Friendly teams will answer your queries or point you in the right direction to find additional help.
Talking to a professional can help you to feel less anxious and worried and identify the best way forward. Our teams will do their best to provide you with up to date information and support.
The service is available Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm (excluding Bank Holidays). Any enquiries sent outside of these hours will be answered as soon as possible.
- For parents and carers of children aged 0-5 text 07480 635 592
- For parents and carers of children aged 5-19 text 07480 635 908
You can find out all about it on their facebook page here:
WWF- Earth Hour
Take part in the World Wildlife Fund's ; Earth Hour' on Saturday 27th March at 8:30pm. This is when people from around the world will do one simple task of switching of their lights at home to show solidarity and respect to the world around us.
Earth Hour is one of the world’s largest movements for our planet. At 8.30pm on Saturday 27th March, hundreds of millions of people across the world will turn off their lights for one hour to show their commitment to protecting our planet. Last year a record -breaking 190 countries and territories supported Earth Hour, with over 9.5 million people taking part in the UK alone. Over the years, the big switch off moment has seen entire city skylines go dark. But this year, we’re encouraging individuals, organisations and landmarks to take part at home and online .
If you would like more information please check out the WWF website - https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-03/Individuals_and_Community_Toolkit.pdf
Young Carers Action Day - 16th March 2021
Spotlight on young carers
Did you know that Young Carers are children and young people aged 5-17 who help to look after somebody in their family because that person has a disability, illness, mental health difficulty, or because that person misuses drugs or alcohol?
Many children and young people help out at home with things like washing dishes and keeping their room tidy but young carers do more than that. There are lots of different things that young carers might do to help, these could include:
● Helping to do the shopping
● Cooking
● Cleaning
● Looking after younger brothers or sisters
● Giving medication
● Helping the person they care for go to the toilet or have a shower
● Keeping them company when they’re feeling down. Lots of young carers
say that they worry about the person they care for when they aren’t with them and feel they need to check they are okay.
Caring can sometimes be a very positive experience and can help young people to develop useful skills like communication, time management and empathy, which can be very useful when applying for jobs or further education. Sometimes caring can be difficult and can affect different areas of a young person’s life, including how they feel, their family life, social life and education, among others.
Recent studies have shown that there are over 800,000 young carers aged 5-17 care for an adult or family member in the UK Having to care for someone can often mean missing school or having to bail on friends. It can put their childhood on the back burner. Many young carers, and the people around them, don't even realise they're carers.
Within the past five years two new pieces of legislation have been brought in, giving significant new rights to carers in England - the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Care Act 2014.
Young carers have the right to a “carer's assessment”, which is the duty of the local authority. These assessments measure the effect on young carers’ wellbeing - health, education or friendships – and whether they should continue carrying out that level of care.
“There are many children in this country whose burden of care is so extreme that it would be really difficult, if not impossible, for many adults to do those kinds of care-giving roles for other people – but we are expecting children as young as five and six to [do them]. They need to be assessed and... receive services that reduce the amount of care-giving."
If you think you think your child or a child you know maybe a young carer, please feel free to contact the Care, Guidance and Support team here at Western where we can support any concerns you or the young carer may have.
You can also contact your local young carers projects here:
North Tyneside Carers Centre
https://www.northtynesidecarers.org.uk/young-carers/what-is-a-young-carer/
Newcastle Carers Centre
https://www.newcastlecarers.org.uk/young-carers-who-is-a-young-carer/
Wallsend Online
Have you checked out Wallsend Online website or Facebook page yet
Full of useful information including parenting tips, advice on community resources and much more
Wallsend Children's Community
This short survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, is a follow up of the recent Wallsend Pupil Survey and aims to understand the experiences of parents and carers in Wallsend during the pandemic. Insights from this survey will be shared with local schools and organisations for the purpose of improving services for families in the area.
To be entered into a prize draw with a chance to win £150 in vouchers, please see the relevant section at the end of the survey.
Your individual responses on the survey will not be shared and all your information is regarded as confidential.
Survey: https://bit.ly/wccsurvey190321
Thank you!
Reading Update
I want to start by saying thank you for all of your contributions to our parental survey. It was fantastic to hear about all of the wonderful things you are doing at home to support your child. We are very grateful that so many of you responded and we will be using your feedback in school to help support both you and your child in their Reading journey at Western.
This half term we celebrated World Book Day! We know that the children thoroughly enjoyed being in their pyjamas all day at both home and school whilst enjoying their favourite stories and taking part in lots of exciting activities!
This year we added three new activities to our usual World Book Day celebrations.
-We included a 'Masked Reader' challenge. Each teacher read a poem and the children had to guess who was behind the mask! It was a great way to allow the children to enjoy some poetry whilst reconnecting with some of their teachers from both past and present. Miss Patterson's 'Noodles' poem was one of the children's favourites!
-Across the week ,we also had 'Virtual Author Visits' in every class from Reception to Year 6 The children at both home and school were really inspired by the sessions and had lots of fun learning about how to become amazing story tellers and writers.
-Year groups also participated in World Book Day events put on by various authors across the day. These ranged from developing storytelling skills to how to draw amazing story characters. This gave children the opportunity to see some of their favourite authors (such as Humza Arshad and Tom Fletcher) at work.
We hope that you and your children had lots to talk about following our World Book Day events and we know that you will agree that time encouraging children to read for pleasure is time well spent.
Mrs Howe
Lateral Flow Test Information
There's some advice for parents of school children about Lateral Flow Tests here bit.ly/LFT-Parents
Lateral flow device testing (LFD/LFT) is a fast and simple way to test people who do not have symptoms of coronavirus, but who may still be spreading the virus.
Values
This month our values have been empathy and forgiveness. We have spent time discussing what empathy means to us as we returned to school at the beginning of March. This has been really critical as coming back to school has meant different things to different people. We have talked about ‘being in other people’s shoes’ and considering how others might be feeling in our class.
Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself
Mohsin Hamid
By seeing things from somebody else’s point of view we can understand how they might be feeling in a situation which we think is really useful at school. It lets us be compassionate to others and to support them and help them when they might need a friend.
Free School Meals
If your circumstances have changed, you can check if you are eligible and apply using the online portal via the link below. Just select: 'How to apply', click ‘Apply for free school meals’, register or log in and just follow the instructions: https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/238/free-school-meals
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
School App - SchoolGateway
Here at Western, we use SchoolGateway for all home to school communication. SchoolGateway allows us to message you and also enables you to reply directly to us. This makes communication between home and school much easier for families and school.
As you know, we have now moved to a completely paperless communication system. All letters and school communications are now sent via the SchoolGateway app.
Furthermore, we are now a cashless school. All trips, clubs and activities are loaded and paid for using the new SchoolGateway system.
This is a much more secure and convenient system than paying by cash or cheques. Payments can be made any time of the day and will normally reach the school within one hour. An electronic record is kept of all payments made to your son or daughter’s account for your information. This prevents payments from being lost or stolen.
Cash or cheques are NOT accepted at the school office but you can request a PAYPOINT voucher so that you can pay at your local shop or supermarket. Please click here to find your local PayPoint store.
Downloading the App:
Please download School Gateway from your app store (Android and iPhone). Once you have downloaded the app, you will need to click "Sign Up". It will ask you to enter your email address and phone number. A pin is then sent to your phone, which you will use to activate your account.
OR
For those parents or carers without a smartphone, you can visit the website:
www.schoolgateway.com and click on ‘New User’. Enter your email address and mobile phone number and you’ll receive a text message with a PIN number. Use this PIN to log into School Gateway.
Trouble logging in? It might be because school doesn’t have your current email and mobile phone number on record. Please contact school and we’ll update the details on our system.
Please contact Mr Ashard on 0191 263 0202 or western.office@ntlp.org.uk if you have any problems getting started or have any questions regarding SchoolGateway.
Social Distancing on site
Families should use their appropriate designated gate (West Street/Rutland Road) and ensure that they leave school premises as quickly as possible after dropping children off. Please do not socialise with other families on school premises or congregate to chat around the gate areas on the street. Children should be supervised at all times and are not allowed to play on site before and after school e.g. on tyres, hill or yard. This is to ensure mixing is minimised and to keep numbers as low as possible on the yard. Please ensure you observe social distancing at all times. Only one adult will be allowed on the grounds to drop off or collect for each family. Please remember not to step on the cross-hatched grids outside classroom doors as they are there to ensure a safe distance between staff and families. Thank you for playing your part in keeping our school site as safe as it can be for our children, family members and staff.
School Pick up and Drop off times
Please can we remind parents and carers to only come onto school grounds when it is the scheduled time to either drop off or collect your child. You may arrive at the start time of your youngest child if dropping off more than one child. When collecting siblings we request you collect at the time of your eldest child. The aim is to minimise numbers on the yard and outside classroom doors at any one time and to maximise teaching time for children.
Please see the image below to check your child's year group times.
Thank you for your continued support.
School Term Dates 2020/21
Have a lovely Easter break, we look forward to welcoming all of our children back on Monday 12th April.
Western Community Primary School
Email: western.office@ntlp.org.uk
Website: westerncommunityprimary.org.uk
Location: Rutland Road, Wallsend, UK
Phone: 0191 263 0202
Twitter: @westernprimary