WILLESBOROUGH JUNIOR SCHOOL OCTOBER NEWSLETTER Dear Parents/Carers and Children, As usual in October, we have had parent consultations for all children in all Year Groups. It was good to see and chat to many of you and hear the positive comments that you made about the learning that your children are doing, the staff and our school. The online booking seems to have been popular with parents despite the teething problems that we have had. We would welcome any feedback that you have on this whether it be good or how it could be improved. After the holiday we will be contacting any parents/carers who have not managed to make an appointment as we believe that the home school contact and liaison is essential. This has been a very busy term with many exciting learning opportunities. Year 3 children have settled very quickly into life at Willesborough Juniors and are busy getting used to our routines. The children and staff of Year 6 have completed their successful Enterprise Project and visited the Willesborough Windmill. Our Year 5 children completed a local walk and Year 4 have also visited the windmill. The learning that takes place during and after these local visits/projects is very powerful and the children remember it for a life time. One of our targets this year is to work more closely with our local community and to welcome parents and carers into our school. Each year group will be inviting you to join in with trips, or putting on events and asking you to get involved. We hope to see lots of you in school and joining your children on local visits. Please let us know if you have any feedback on any events that you join in with. Thank you to the new and existing parents who have signed up to our fundraisers. As you know, the money that the fundraisers raise goes towards ‘extras’ for your children to enjoy. Every child has benefitted from the new outdoor play areas and this year we are working towards other purchases such as play equipment for wet play times. We are always looking for new members and helping hands, so don’t be shy and join us whenever you can. Thank you once again for all your support and help Yours sincerely Mrs J King Willesborough Junior School Open Day Come and see how we work, visit the classrooms and meet the team Thursday 20th November 2014 Admission to Willesborough Junior School 2015 For children who are due to start Junior School in September 2015 now is the time to start thinking about applying. Apply online at www.kent.gov.uk/ola th Online applications open 11 November 2014 and close on 15th January 2015 Year 4 have being doing lots of exciting activities based on our new topic – Our Place. The children enjoyed an exciting trip to Willesborough Windmill, where they not only learned how to grind wheat to make flour but also studied the wide variety of other objects that are housed there. Using Willesborough Windmill flour, Year 4 have designed, made and decorated their own biscuits. We would all like to thank the lovely parents and grandparents who came in to help us do this. Your help was greatly appreciated by us all. As a year group we are discovering the treasures on our doorstep too and learning a lot about the rocks and trees that are a part of our everyday environment. As part of our project, Year 4 have also thought about what we can bring to our year group. The children and adults have written what they can give to our year group community. We used our handprints to do this and have made a beautiful year group tree. As our topic continues until Christmas, we look forward to updating you in our next Pilgrims newsletter. Look out for invitations to come in and see the work we have been doing and admire our tree for real! Year 5 visited the local Aylesford Stream, as part of “Our Community” project, to study its formation, many meanders and escalating erosion. Both natural and un-natural features were recorded, including over 100 pieces of rubbish, the largest being a fridge freezer! Year 6 has been very busy this term, researching our community as part of the school-wide topic. We started by walking around some of the main areas that are used by our community, such as the shops, parks and the recreation ground. Year 6 looked at maps of the local area and researched how Ashford had changed over the years. We were lucky enough to be able to interview Reverend John Mackenzie about the changes that have taken place at St Mary’s Church since it has been built and the changes that will happen in the future. We were amazed to hear that the church is the oldest building in Willesborough. This week every class visited Willesborough Windmill. The volunteers were fantastic and explained how the windmill works and the way it has changed. We had a wonderful time and look forward to presenting the information we have found out about Willesborough in leaflets and posters. Thank you very much to all the members of the community that helped make our learning come to life. School Dinners Just a little reminder that school meals are £2.10 per day paid a week in advance on a Monday. You need to provide a week’s notice if your child’s dinner pattern is changing or you will be charged for meals booked. If you wish to pay for the whole half term in advance the total will be £73.50. This is from 3rd November to 19th December (35 days @ £2.10). Please ensure that if you send dinner money in with your child, it is in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name and class. Thank you Author Visit—Eamon Reilly 10th November 2014. He will be talking to the children about his work and giving them ‘top-tips’ for writing stories of their own. You can visit the website at: www.er-reilly.co.uk where you can read extracts from the books. The children will have the opportunity to purchase his books from school where Mr Reilly will be only too happy to sign any copies. Sporting news Already this year Willesborough have competed at the annual Godinton cross country event with some outstanding results. Year 6 Results Boys Callum Westby 19th James Liall 21st Girls ` Faith Kingsland 2nd Grace Whittingham 8th Robyn Deacon 22nd Holly Richards 29th Well done to the year 6 girls team who were 2nd overall! Year 5 Results Boys Iain Bremer - 3rd Ethan Kelly - 6th James Margerison - 30th Freddy Chandler - 64th Girls Teagan Hurst 2nd Evin Kelly—5th Alexy Kingsland—14th Amy Dobson-Godfrey—24th Well done to the year 5 girls team who were 3rd overall. Year 4 Boys Conlan o’Donnell 5th Tayden McHugh 14th Harvey Rudd 32nd Nathan Guthrie 48th Girls Ella Roper—4th Courtenay Mills—36th Ellie Dobson-Godfrey Girls Ella Roper 4th Courtney Mills 36th Ellie Dobson-Godfrey 37th Year 3 Unfortunately the event was cancelled due to weather conditions. At all the events we attended, the children took part enthusiastically and were determined to do their best, which resulted in some superb placements! Thank you to all the parents for their support. Whether you have offered a lift to an event, turned up to support your child and cheered them on, we are incredibly grateful! As ever we are always looking to offer more sporting opportunities to our children. If you have a sporting talent or have coaching experience in a sport and would like to offer your skills for an extra-curricular club, we Available to purchase from reception …. Handwriting Pens, Pencils, Rulers, Erasers, Pencil Cases (with and without contents), Whiteboard Pens etc. Diary Dates Monday 3rd November Wednesday 5th November Wednesday 5th November Monday 10th November Wednesday 13th November Thursday 13th November Friday 14th November Mon 17th—Fri 21st November Wednesday 19th November Thursday 20th November Friday 21st November Wednesday 26th November Wednesday 26th November Friday 28th November - Tues 2nd —Thurs 4th DecemberWednesday 3rd December Wednesday 11th December Friday 13th December Friday 13th December Tuesday 16th December Tuesday 16th December Wednesday 17th December Wednesday 17th December Thursday 18th December Thursday 18th December Friday 19th December Friday 19th December Friday 19th December - First Day of Term Week of Happy Families Course Fundraisers Meeting (3.30pm) - All Welcome Visit by Author Eamon Reilly Week of Happy Families Course School Disco Class 6.1 Assembly to Parents (2.50pm) Anti-Bullying Week Week of Happy Families Course Open day for Existing Parents and New Year 3 Parents Sept 15 Class 6.3 Assembly to Parents (2.50pm) Week of Happy Families Course Parent Forum Meeting (2.30)—All Welcome Class 4.2 Assembly to Parents (2.50pm) E-Safety for Year 5 & 6 Week of Happy Families Course Year 6 to Norton Knatchball Children’s Christmas Jumper Day Pantomime Year 3 & 4 Christmas Parties Year 3 Nativity to Parents (9.30am) Presents Room Year 5 Christmas Party Choir Singing at Care Home Christmas Fayre Mid-Term Reports Christmas Church Services Year 6 Christmas Party School Holidays Monday 5th January 2014 - First Day of Term