Dear Parents/Carers, Welcome to the summer term and what a
20th April 2015 Dear Parents/Carers, Welcome to the summer term and what a glorious start we have had with the weather. Straight away we have been talking to the children about sun safety and the need to wear suncream, drink lots and not wear too many layers. Many children did not know that the suncream is protecting them from the UV rays of the sun which damages the skin, this website is really fun and informative: http://thesunwiseset.co.uk/ If you would like your child to wear a summer uniform, the girls can wear a purple or yellow gingham dress, white sandals with socks to avoid toe scrapping. Boys and girls can wear formal school shorts in black or grey. Our policy is that trainers or pumps are not acceptable as shoe alternatives as they make the feet sweat and do not provide support for the foot. Children can bring in a hat to wear during breaktimes or buy one at the office when in stock. The classes have all begun new projects and you were sent ideas for homework this week, we have included them in this newsletter as well to make sure everyone has received them. This week saw lots of “wow” moments as the children had experiences in the travelling planetarium and with the visiting farm. See the pictures in this newsletter. Tomorrow is national club day, the children are welcome to come to school dressed in a club outfit, if they do a sport, hobby, are scouts, brownies, etc… they can wear this to school instead of their uniform. Thank you to everyone who completed a questionnaire at the end of the last term, it is very interesting to see what everyone thinks of all we do. The results were overwhelmingly positive and we thank you for your support and encouragement. A couple of parents expressed some dissatisfaction and I would welcome the chance to discuss and address the issues raised. As the questionnaire is anonymous I will wait for you to come and book an appointment with me. As you have no doubt noticed Mrs Bell and Mrs Mohammed are getting close to their maternity leaving dates. Mrs Bell leaves next Tuesday, 28th April and Mrs Mohammed at the end of this half term. Mrs Hurford and Mrs Hebberd will cover the class in their absence. I have heard from Mrs Philips that she is not coming back after her maternity leave. Congratulations to Charlie and Ollie West, Mum and Dad, on the birth of baby Henley weighing in at 6lb 6oz I hope you’ve seen the screens in the entrances are showing lots of wonderful pictures, many taken by Alfie and William’s mum. As you can see we are revamping the newsletter, please let us know what you think and pop any ideas for it or anything else in school in the suggestions box that is by the office. Also, keep your eyes on the website to see all the improvements we are making in the coming weeks. Kind regards, Mrs Curtis. New Projects and Homework Ideas The new projects run for the first half of the summer term, Monday 13th April to Friday 22nd May. Homework contributions can be made throughout the half term, please make sure your child brings in something that they have worked on at home. Below are a list of ideas for each project, try one of these or something else project related. Reception Class Project - Are Eggs Alive? Make a picture of creatures that come from eggs, add labels. Write a story about something that hatches from an egg. You can start your story.... Crack went the brightly coloured egg.....( A grown up can do the writing for you and you can draw the pictures) Make a split pin egg with something hatching out of it. Collage, paint or make an egg model. Write some sentences including the words you are learning for your spelling test. Make a clock at home as we are also learning about time. Year 1 Paws, Claws and Whiskers Make a scrapbook all about your pet, or a pet belonging to someone you know. What is the pet’s name? What type and breed of animal is it? Add photographs and information about interesting things they do or things they need to stay healthy. Find out about your family’s and friends different pets. Record the results as a block graph or pictograph and highlight which type of pet is most popular. Find out about unusual pets using non-fiction books and the web. Download a photograph of the most interesting pet and write their name. What does it eat? How should it be cared for? Visit your local library to find stories, poems and non-fiction books. Choose your favourite and draw a picture to show what it’s about. Can you write some sentences about why you like this book? Choose an endangered animal to draw or paint. Find out where it lives and why it is endangered. Bring your painting to school and tell your friends about your animal. Make an animal mask or hat using junk materials. Year 2 Project - Wriggle and Crawl Go on a minibeast safari with your family. Investigate your garden, local park or woodland to search for creatures! Take photos or draw any minibeasts you find, then use your knowledge to identify them. wriggly and crawly Create a graph to show how many of each minibeast you find and identify the most popular habitats. Visit your local library and find stories, poems and non-fiction books about minibeasts. Write a review about your favourite book and display it at school. Use the web to research a weird and wonderful minibeast. Find out about the Borneo walking stick, the longest insect in the world, and the Goliath beetle. Make a poster to display amazing facts that you can show your friends at school. Write an information page comparing an insect to a nocturnal animal. You can include facts about both creatures and display this at school. Watch "Antz", "A Bug's Life" or "Epic" with your family. Make a comic strip that shows part of the film or a write a review and include a star rating. Write a list of adjectives to describe what spiders look like and a list of verbs to describe what they do. Use the lists to write 6 facts about spiders and make up a story about a spider adventure! Create a table to collect information about minibeasts and nocturnal animals, including their main body parts, legs and wings. Identify whether or not each animal is a minibeast or not! Create a minibeast wordsearch containing all the minibeast names you have learnt. Give it to your family and friends to solve. Download and print a large image of an insect and label each body part. Make a non-fiction book about minibeasts or nocturnal animals. Include headings, contents page, index. Download images and drawings. Make a minibeast game like "Build a Beetle". Allocate each body part a number, for example, head=6, body=5, leg=4, antennae=3, eye=2, mouth=1. Take it in turns to throw the dice and collect the parts of the body that corresponds to the number. The winner is the person that builds the beetle first. Read "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl, then write a description of the main characters. Write a letter to Miss Muffet and explain why she shouldn't be scared of spiders. Look for information on-line and in nonfiction books to support your ideas. Write out your favourite animal nursery rhyme or poem in your best handwriting. Illustrate it, then practise reading it aloud with lots of expression. Perform it for your family and friends at home before your big performance at school! Which animal is the fastest, heaviest or strongest? Write down the most exciting facts and bring them to school to amaze your teacher and friends. Locate on a world map or globe where all your favourite animals come from in the world. What type of weather would you get in each country? Explain to your family what it means if an animal is carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. Find pictures of animals that belong in each group. Make a simple PowerPoint presentation or book with a separate page for each group of animals. Watch documentary footage of animals in the wild. Try making a mini ‘wildlife’ documentary about your own pet. Don’t forget to add a hushed voiceover! Draw or paint the camouflage markings of a range of animals such as leopards, giraffes or tigers. Why does each animal have those particular markings? Collect some ‘Amazing Animal Facts’ about fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Year 3 Project - Mighty Metals Go on a magnetic treasure hunt in your house. How many magnetic objects can you find? What materials are they made from? Research some of the tasks carried out by robots. What tasks do you think robots could do in the future? What jobs would you like a robot to do in your house? Ask your parents – they’re sure to have some ideas! Investigate the best surfaces at home for toy cars to travel on; carpet or tiled floor? Measure the distance travelled for each type of surface and rank each one in order of effectiveness. Make a table or bar chart to show your results. Which force is acting, to slow down and stop the cars from moving? Use non-fiction books and the web to find out and write facts about a metal of your choice. Read stories and poems about robots. Choose your favourite, then write or film a review for classmates. Design your perfect playground. What (real or imaginary) equipment would you include? web for to find artwork made using metal and make a collage or scrapbook of downloaded Search the images. Learn to spell the names of some common metals such as iron, gold, platinum, lead and Create anagrams for your friends and family to solve. aluminium. Choose and find out all you can about a musical instrument made from metal. It could be an instrument or something more unusual! orchestral Create a presentation with photos and sound clips of your chosen instrument. Design and make a fridge magnet, either as a gift for someone or to commemorate a special event. Imagine… you wake up and all the metal in the world has vanished! Write story about your day. How is everyday life different without metal? Find out about King Midas and his golden touch. Year 4 Project - Blue Abyss Why is the ocean blue? Go on...find out! How many amazing shark facts can you find. Build them into a Powerpoint Presentation to show the rest of the class. Remember to include images and perhaps some video clips too. Write a "True or False" quiz with fascinating facts about creatures and plants underneath the sea. Create Top Trumps-style fact cards about creatures of the Great Barrier Reef. Create a picture dictionary of plants and creatures of the ocean. Visit your local library and find non-fiction books about the oceans and seas. Use them to find out about sea creatures of the world. Look for information using contents, glossary and index pages. Write down any new facts you have learnt and share them with your class. Visit the web with an adult to find out about famous under sea explorers such as Robert Ballard, Sylvia Earle, William Beebe and James Cameron. Record your information to share with the class. Year 5 Project - Pharoah Create a fact file about the River Nile and compare it to other famous world rivers. Make a model pyramid form building blocks. Photograph your pyramid and record the number of blocks you used. Find out who (or what) 'Ka' was. Design a colourful symbol that might represent 'Ka' in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Use the words 'Egypt' to create an acrostic poem. Make flatbread and serve it to your family with authentic Egyptian dips or salads. Find out more about the food of Ancient Egypt. Visit a museum exhibition on Ancient Egypt and write a recount of your trip. Design a 2D or 3D Egyptian-style jewellery. Use hieroglyphics to write a message to a friend or family member. Can they crack the code? Make an illustrated scroll to show the journey to the afterlife. Find out why animals were so important to the Egyptians. Create an information collage to show your findings, combining text and images. Find out what happened to Egypt after the death of Cleopatra VII, the last pharoah. Draw the view of the ocean you might see when looking through the window of a submersible. Design an "Under the Sea" board game. What creatures might your counters represent? Write a story about a diver's exploration of the coral reef. Learn The Beetles song "Yellow Submarine" and write a new verse of your own. Write a poem about the creatures living in the Blue Abyss. It might be an acrostic, shape, haiku, cinquain or free verse poem. Research how to scuba dive and write a set of instructions for a new diver. Make a tourist leaflet for people visiting Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Year 6 Project - Darwin's Delights Look at photos of the different Archipelago islands that Charles Darwin visited. Design and draw your own Archipelago Island. Make a fact file of different fossils and, if possible, with an adult, visit a local museum that has fossils on display. Create a true or false quiz about Charles Darwin and his scientific expedition on HMS Beagle. Explain how animals such as polar bears, monkeys and sharks have evolved to suit their environment. Design a new fantastical creature that has evolved to suit its unique environment. You can learn more about Charles Darwin and his work on the Natural History Museum website. Create your own Darwin’s Delight word search using words you have learnt during the project. Challenge a grown up to solve your puzzle! Research the ship, HMS Beagle, and make a fact-filled poster to display the information you find. Find out more about other famous scientists who had an interest in evolution and inheritance, such as Alfred Wallace or Mary Anning; make a short quiz about them. Imagine you are the young scientist, Charles Darwin, out on his scientific expedition on HMS Beagle. Write an extract from his journal, (diary) that describes part of the journey. It could be the start of the voyage, arriving at one of the islands, or discovering different animal species. What can you discover about Lonesome George, the last giant Pinta Island tortoise? Research conservation charities, such as the World Wildlife Fund, to learn about current endangered species. Visit the Great Plant Hunt website and be a plant detective – just like Charles Darwin! P.E Kit For those parents wishing to purchase P.E kit we are running a special offer for the next two weeks ending Friday 1st May where you can purchase our AG1 tshirts and shorts for a combined price of £ 7.00. Sizes start from 3-4 years through to 14-15 years. Reading Records The new half term’s reading records were sent home last week. This record is designed to briefly capture your child’s reading experiences at home each week so that the teacher has a complete view of their reading skills. The teacher records their school experiences at school. The teacher needs to know what your child has read over the week (older children can fill this section in) and how much understanding they have of it. There is then a small section for you to say if there are any new words that they are finding tricky to read or have any other difficulties with their reading. This record will come home on a Monday, you don’t need to sign off and return the record every day, just add your comment about how they are doing with their reading at the end of the week and then send it back to school on a Friday. Remember to use your child’s reading certificate to know which colour of the reading band they are currently working on, it tells you what they can now do in their reading and all the things they need to do to get to the next level, a mini certificate will be stuck in this record when they move levels. Please ask the Classteacher if you any questions about reading or completing the record. Update….. Update…. Update Last Term our children entered a writing competition and some of you purchased copies of the book. We have been told the book is being published and we should receive them by the end of April. Second Hand Uniform In the school office reception area we have a “second hand uniform “swap system . If your child/ children have outgrown their uniform and it’s still in good condition, bring it in to us and we will pop it in the unit. We are hoping once there is a bank of uniform there will be enough of an assortment for you to swap it over for a bigger size. Don’t worry if you haven’t got anything to bring in, all we ask if possible you give a small donation to help towards the cost of purchasing new uniform. The lost property box will still remain by the office entrance. We Shine Handa’s Surprise Before Easter our Reception children took to the stage for their first ever performance. The children spoke clearly and remembered all their lines. Thank you to all the parents who attended I’m sure you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Do you know what a baby goat is called? How many fruits does Handa put in her basket ? Millers Ark Farm Visit Last week Farmer Charlie and Farmer Chloe visited our Nursery, Reception and Year 1 children. Each class spent time in the pens stroking the animals and finding out interesting facts including what types of food they eat. Farmer Charlie told the children that Rex the pig loved to sunbathe and enjoyed having his belly scratched! Science Dome Last week the Science Dome returned to give our children an opportunity to explore science in a 360 degree dome. Each class watched animations and learnt lots of facts about their topics for this term. Reception learnt about dinosaurs and fossils. Dinosaurs that eat meat are carnivores. What is a dinosaur that eats plants called? Reminders Bockett’s Farm Trip Nursery and Reception. For those that haven’t returned their reply slips please return with £10 deposit by Friday 24th April. Those wishing to pay in full the cost is £20; final payment due by 22nd May. Swimming The children have now started swimming the cost for the half term is £7.50. In order for your child to take part payment must be made in full. For those wishing to purchase swimming hats they are available from the office at a cost of £1.20. Years 1 & 2 are swimming on Mondays , Years 3, 4, 5 ,6 and Reception Tuesdays. School Dinners Please ensure your child’s lunch money is paid in advance. Cost per week £10.50 (£2.10 per day.) SUMMER TERM 2015 Children’s Centre Free Early Education for Two year olds (FEET) Free Early Education for two year olds (FEET) is an offer of up to 15 hours of free early education and childcare a week. Qualifying criteria Automatically funded criteria If your child is in one of the groups listed below they will automatically be eligible: Child looked after by Surrey County Council Child who has left care through either a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order or adoption order Child with a current statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education, health and care plan Financial criteria If your family receives one of the following benefits then your child may be eligible to claim FEET: Income Support Income based Jobseeker's Allowance Income related Employment and Support Allowance Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit Child Tax Credit and have a gross annual income up to £16,190 Working Tax Credit and have a gross annual income up to £16,190 Working Tax Credit 'run-on' – the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit Children’s Centre Outreach Team The Children Centre are changing the day the Toy Library runs and introducing a rhyme time during the session which is open to all families. The toy library will run Wednesdays from 9.15-10.15am. 9.15 - 9.30am Families are welcome to come and choose their resources from the Toy Library. 9.30 - 10.00am Rhyme time, all families welcome to attend. 10.00 – 10.15am Pick up resources for Toy Library. The start date for the Rhyme Time and Toy Library will begin on Wednesday the 6 th of May 2015. You can still use the Toy Library on Thursdays up until that time. For further information please contact the Children Centre on 01252 350225 Dates for the diary Monday Clubs and Swimming start Parent Council meeting with Mrs Curtis at 9am for the class and Children’s Centre reps. National Club Day today children come in dressed in their clubs uniform Full Governors meeting at 6.30am at the school. Open meeting for parents to observe please notify the school office if you would like to attend. Friday Year 2 Assembly 8.50am parents/carers/siblings welcome 24th April Badge week 1 – this is a 4 week inter class learning opportunity to gain new skills and knowledge School tuck sale after school * New Family swimming session 10.00-12.00 for children aged 0-5 years 20th April Tuesday 21st April Thursday 23rd April Saturday 25th April Monday (older siblings welcome but please contact the Children’s Centre prior to your visit) BANK HOLIDAY - SCHOOL AND CHILDRENS CENTRE CLOSED School/Eco Council Assembly – 9am in the school hall parents/carers and siblings welcome 4th May Friday 8th May School tuck sale after school Monday SAT’s week for Year 6—Government Test Week 11th May Assessment week for all other classes Thursday School spelling bee – an inter class spelling competition that takes place during the day Year 1 Assembly 9.00am parents/carers/siblings welcome Badge assessment week Whole of Ash Grange - PTA mufti day for the Summer Fayre, bring a bottle or chocs or a £2 donation School tuck sale after school Optional parent/practitioner progress meetings this week please book a mutually convenient time with your classteacher to discuss your child’s progress School tuck sale after school Saturday 23rd May * New Family swimming session 10.00-12.00 for children aged 0-5 years Monday 14th May Friday 15th May Monday 18th May Friday 22nd May (older siblings welcome but please contact the Children’s Centre prior to your visit) SCHOOL, NURSERY AND PRESCHOOL CLOSED FOR HALF TERM
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