Western Community Primary School
January 2021
Welcome
January has certainly been an eventful month for all of us with the country entering a third national lockdown. We completely understand just how challenging the stay at home directive issued by the Government is for everyone.
We would like to to say a huge well done to families who are doing an admirable job of supporting home learning as best they can whilst juggling work and home commitments in such difficult circumstances. This can often feel like a completely overwhelming and impossible task. You are all very important to us and we know how challenging and stressful managing home learning is for both adults and children. Please remember we are 100% behind you. It's very important at this time that you prioritise the emotional well being of both you and your children. Please be kind to yourselves and remember that we can only ever do our best. If things are feeling tense and stressed please take a break and remember this too shall pass! Children don't learn well when they are stressed and it's much better to have some down time or fresh air and come back to a task another time.
We are all here to support you and help you to prioritise if you're feeling overwhelmed. Our staff care about you; many of us are parents ourselves and we're all spinning plates and juggling behind the scenes too. It's not an easy time. We understand the challenges you face so please don't worry if you're struggling. This time will pass and brighter times are ahead.
With restricted opportunities to relax and refresh, and do the things we love the most with the people we care about, we hope you might enjoy some of the weekly optional opportunities we are providing such as stories, singing, scavenger hunts, quizzes, dance sessions, craft sessions, wellbeing sessions or even drumming sessions.
Staff in school have absolutely loved seeing children in their class who are learning at home during their weekly Zoom session. Despite the inevitable teething problems, families and children have told staff that they really enjoy the sessions and that they are a lot of fun!
In other news, we are delighted to formally welcome Anna Fox to the staff team at Western as our new Care Guidance and Support Leader. Anna has made a fantastic start and is thrilled to be in post. She very much looks forward to working with you all.
We hope you enjoy this newsletter. Please don't hesitate to call us at school if we can be of any help or support. We're always here for you and happy to give advice, offer suggestions, be a listening ear, chat about how you're finding things or even offer a virtual shoulder to cry on!
Thank you for all of your support, resilience and positivity. Your feedback over the last few weeks has meant a lot to our staff. We are proud of our community and will get through this challenging time together! Here's to lighter evenings and early signs of spring.
Best wishes from all of us at Western
Katherine Hill
Headteacher
Remote Learning
Seesaw (Y2 - Y6) and Tapestry (EY & Y1) are designed to work on a range of devices including smartphones. If you are experiencing any difficulties accessing your child's home learning, either due to devices, internet access or problems logging in, please do not hesitate to contact school so we can support you with this.
We know that it is challenging for many parents and carers who are balancing work and family commitments, so we have chosen to use pre-recorded lessons to allow families the flexibility to juggle devices and work commitments. This allows work to be completed at a time to suit your family routine. The work is designed to be accessed independently with minimal support. If your child is struggling to work independently or lacks motivation please contact your child’s class teacher who will happily support you with this.
We are proud of the range of additional activities to support learning and to engage pupils that Western provides. For Early Years and Key Stage 1, Mrs Duigan uploads stories three times a week, along with a weekly singing session for children to access and enjoy. In Key Stage 2, Mr Craven hosts a story and discussion, while Miss McCarey provides regular French stories and songs. Mrs Hogg provides a ‘Cosy Craft Corner’ and regular quizzes and fun activities for families to do together. Each week, a Wellbeing Workshop especially made for Western from Louise at The Calm Folk is uploaded. There are special sessions for EY/KS1, KS2 and parents and carers.
Move it Dance Studios are also providing weekly bespoke sessions for EY/KS1 and KS2.
TARDIS Education are providing drumming sessions free of charge to schools they work with so we are also uploading these on Seesaw and Tapestry. Children do not need a drum to join in with these fun sessions.
Nursery
Magic Maths
Harry and the Jaggedy Daggers
Forest and Fire Fridays
Reception
Marvellous Maths
Incredible Inventing
Fantastic Fine Motor Practice
Year 1
Going on a quest!
Year 2
How to Find Gold
The wonderful world of plants
History Makers
Year 3
Rocks rocks and more rocks!
Children at home and at school have been learning about how rocks are formed, types of rocks and have even been sorting rocks either in school or ones they could find at home.
We have been so impressed with the children's research skills and some of our exploration has led us to find out the differences between rocks and minerals as well as the types of soils in families' gardens!
The brilliant Bronze Age!
TTRockstars- who will win the battle of the classes?
This times table work is really helping us all with our maths unit of multiplication and division. We are really proud of the resilience, resourcefulness and reflectiveness of all of the children tackling this new learning from home and in school.
Year4
Science – All About Sound!
This half term we have begun to investigate how we hear and how sound is made. We have taken a closer look at the workings of our inner ear and couldn’t believe how intricate it was. We then discovered that sound is created when something vibrates and sends waves of energy (vibration) into our ears. We are currently exploring why some sounds are louder than others and already have some theories of our own.
DT – Pop up Cards
We are absolutely loving our current DT topic. We have been exploring how to create our very own pop up cards and they are not as easy as you might think, but we have used our resilience and persevered and have been extremely happy with the results.
Literacy – The Quest
This half term we have been studying Quest stories and thinking about all the different ingredients that make a good Quest story. We know that the main character must go on a journey and on that journey they must encounter some danger. We have loved comparing different Quest stories and gathering ideas for our own. We are currently creating ‘short bursts’ of writing that focus around description and suspense to help us develop our writing skills before completing our own version of a Quest story – so watch this space!
Year 5
The Great Mayan Mystery
Since before the holidays, Year 5 have been investigating why the Maya people stopped living in their great cities in the Central American jungle. We began by researching where the people live today and what their lives are like. Following this we learned about the discovery of the lost Maya cities in the mid 19th century. These cities belonged to a civilization that had been lost to history for well over 1000 years.
Using a variety of historical artefacts and resources, the children were able to reach conclusions as to why millions of people left these incredible cities, leaving them to be engulfed by the jungle.
Jotun’s Quest
In Literacy we have been learning about the quest storyline. We have used the short animated film ‘Jotun’ for this. A mysterious artefact goes missing from a Viking village and a father and son (Jotun) discover this. Jotun volunteers to go on a perilous quest that will bring him face to face with the past.
The children began by writing their own version of this quest story before focusing on Jotun as a character. They explored his thoughts and emotions and how they could change during his journey. This then helped them to write in role as the character when writing letters and diary entries.
The Quest for the Stars
As we are learning about the quest storyline, we started to explore our solar system. The human quest to go further into our solar system has been making the news recently with all the research and development at Space X.
The children began by researching the solar system as a whole and were given the opportunity to find out interesting things that they didn’t previously know. They then focused on the relationship between the Earth, Sun and Moon. Most recently they have been researching and presenting information about each planet in the solar system. They have been allowed to present the information however they like. It has been interesting and exciting to see the brilliant choices children at home and school have made, from posters to fact files to Keynote presentations. Well done, team Y5!
Year 6
Science
History
Literacy
Eco Council January Update
This month, the Eco representatives in school have been working on our Eco Code. Dylan and Lewis have been thinking about our school projects to date around recycling, reducing electricity and how we can take care of our school environment. They designed a set of rules in the style of an acrostic poem so that they will be easy to remember for everyone to follow.
When all the Eco Council are back in school, we will aim to explain our Eco Code in depth with examples of how our rules work in action and copies will be displayed around school for the rest of school to see. Our Eco Code will form our final step to help us apply for the Green Flag Eco Award.
E-Safety Update
We have been alerted to potential risks to members playing Avakin Life platform.
Avakin Life is a virtual 3D game where you can create your own avatar. The game also allows users to chat with one another via an online chat room. The game was initially designed for users aged 17+ but now allows children aged 13+
The key functions of the game are that the platform uses real money, real people and real places, users can visit different venues (shopping mall, theme park and more) which each have a designated public chat, where users can ‘whisper’ or chat privately in the venue. Users can buy and gift items to dress themselves or flirt with other users and they can also ‘interact’ by high fiving or sending kisses.
Testing has found that users under 13 would see a message saying they were not eligible to play, but they could still enter the game, if they lied about their age to bypass the age verification process. Despite a fun design, it isn’t suitable for children due to the suggestive nature of chats, actions and ‘meet-ups’
More information about the game can be found here
This half term we are thinking about thoughtfulness. We have been exploring what it means to be thoughtful to others and how a simple smile or message can change the outlook of someone’s day. Something that might seem small to you can be huge to someone else! We have also talked about how it feels when someone does something thoughtful for us.
“A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.”
-John Ruslein
We will be thinking about the different ways we can be thoughtful and how it doesn’t always have to cost money. You might give a friend a compliment or do a job around the house without being asked.
Look out for thoughtfulness ideas on Seesaw and Tapestry to share with family while you’re having breakfast or getting ready for the day!
Care Guidance and Support Team Update
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
Thrive
Looking after ourselves and our own mental health is more important than ever right now.
You will find some really useful information from the Thrive Approach that we use in school here: https://www.thriveapproach.com/keeping-connected-during-and-after-lockdown/
The New Thrive-Online Parent Toolkit
Thrive has created a new toolkit to support parents and carers through the Covid-19 pandemic, you will find lots of hints and tips to help you ensure the time and interactions you have with your children make a positive difference. It is how you are with your child, rather than what you actually do that matters most.
You will find a selection of strategies and activities designed to help children feel special and safe during these uncertain times. These resources are designed to support the wellbeing of everyone in the family. To find out more visit this page https://www.thriveapproach.com/who-we-work-with/parents-carers/
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
School App - SchoolGateway
Our app 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.
If you are new to school and haven't yet downloaded the app, please follow the steps below.
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
School Term Dates 2020/21
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