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Issue 6 – Easter 201513
Head teacher:
Mr Damien Turrell
Happy, Healthy,
High-Achieving
The Newsletter for Pupils, Parents, Carers, Governors and Friends
Attendance Matters – We are aiming to beat last year’s attendance record of 96.1% – please avoid term-time holidays
Message from the Head Teacher
Dear Parents and Carers
The Spring term has been very busy for
Brownlow’s children, and they are ready for
the Easter holidays.
Children across the school have continued to
‘raise the bar high’ as they have worked hard
all term in so many respects, whether in the
classroom, the playground, on school trips or in
sports fixtures.
Dining Hall Update
The work has started on the demolition of the
old dining hall, and we’re excited to be able to
watch over the next few weeks as the building
gets taken apart bit by bit. It will be amazing
when we have the new dining centre open, so
we are all very interested to see the changes
taking place. Thanks to all the children,
parents, staff and local residents for your
support; like you we know that the short-term
challenges will be long forgotten when we
have the grand opening in the not too distant
future!
A big focus for us this term has been children’s
progress in their books and I am particularly
proud of the efforts children are making.
I
have seen many examples of good
presentation, children responding to their
teacher’s marking, children taking the time to
complete corrections as well as a rich variety
of work linked to the theme.
I often review children’s learning and will look
at the learning completed by a child at the
beginning of a school year, and the current
learning to see if there is a noticeable
improvement in content and in presentation.
Hopefully many parents took the opportunity
to see the children’s learning recently during
the ‘drop-in’ sessions prior to Parents’ Evenings.
Thank you to all those parents who support us
by helping children at home by hearing them
read: this regular additional time with an adult
helps
accelerate
children’s
reading
development and is the single most important
task which parents can undertake to support
teaching and learning.
Howard Rose
The children enjoyed a visit from Howard Rose,
one of the rising stars from ‘The Voice’ TV show, at
the start of March. He used to come to our
school when he was younger, so he was keen to
come back and perform some of his songs in two
different assemblies. The children (and staff!)
loved listening to him, and were clapping along
like they were in a proper concert! It was inspiring
to see, especially as we have so many budding
musicians around school.
Children return to school on Monday 13th April
2015, ready for a hard-working Summer term. I
wish you all a relaxing Easter holiday.
Yours sincerely
Damien Turrell
Headteacher
Brownlow Primary School
@BrownlowPrimary
Newsletter 27.03.15
School Nurse – Andrea Fiford can be contacted on the following numbers: 01664 502410 or 07786 976374
Page 1 of 4
Issue 6 – Easter 201513
Happy, Healthy,
High-Achieving
Head teacher:
Mr Damien Turrell
The Newsletter for Pupils, Parents, Carers, Governors and Friends
Attendance Matters – We are aiming to beat last year’s attendance record of 96.1% – please avoid term-time holidays
Year 5 – Move It! Dance Workshop
at John Ferneley College
21st
On Friday
March Year 5 were invited to John
Ferneley College for a preview of their upcoming
Dance Show – Move It!
We watched 11 different dances performed by
students from Years 7 to 11. Some Year 11
students showcased their individual GCSE exam
pieces linked to showing depression, whilst Year 7
Dance Club showcased modern pieces using
‘Move It’ by Sacha Baron Cohen. There were
many inspirational and fun dances in-between,
including two Year 11 girls performing a dance
from Moulin Rouge, whilst another pair (including
an ex Brownlow pupil) performed a fun piece
from Cats.
Following a short break, Year 10 students led a
workshop based on the ‘Move It’ dance. What a
wonderful morning we had, watching the Dance
students showcasing work and teaching our Year
5’s a modified version of the routine. Both John
Ferneley and Brownlow staff were extremely
impressed with the motivation, enthusiasm and
standard shown by Brownlow pupils and
watching the Year 10’s (some ex pupils of
Brownlow) get heavily involved in teaching was
super.
As the morning progressed they really got into the
swing of things and modified sections easily and
taught very effectively indeed. The feedback
from all those who participated was excellent
and both Brownlow and John Ferneley students
cannot wait to repeat the experience on future
projects. All those who participated should be
proud of the part they played – well done!
Year 6 Pioneer Centre Residential
During the week of 9th to the 13th of March the
Year 6 children were lucky enough to visit the
Pioneer Centre – an amazing residential site
which offers challenging indoor and outdoor
activities.
High Ropes
Located in the beautiful rural environment of
Cleobury Mortimer, Kidderminster, the centre
kept us fully occupied from morning until night.
Just some of the brilliant activities everyone
enjoyed were: archery, abseiling, high ropes,
indoor caving, climbing, raft building, night
walking, games and even a disco! Although
some children were scared, the friendly and
qualified instructors encouraged them to
conquer their fears and persevere.
In addition, we learnt how to work as a team
because at the beginning of the week we
didn’t realise how important it was.
After an action packed day we looked forward
to the home-made meals.
Every evening we had an activity and it wasn’t
long before we were all zzzzzzzzz!
A great week. Thanks to all the staff for taking
us!
By Maisy Farmer on behalf of all Year 6 pupils.
Brownlow Primary School
@BrownlowPrimary
Newsletter 27.03.15
School Nurse – Andrea Fiford can be contacted on the following numbers: 01664 502410 or 07786 976374
Page 2 of 4
Issue 6 – Easter 201513
Head teacher:
Mr Damien Turrell
Happy, Healthy,
High-Achieving
The Newsletter for Pupils, Parents, Carers, Governors and Friends
Attendance Matters – We are aiming to beat last year’s attendance record of 96.1% – please avoid term-time holidays
Travelling Book Fair
Wild Bird School Starter Pack
Thank you to all children, parents and carers
who visited this year’s Travelling Book Fair.
As part of Wilko’s ‘Helping Hands Activity’ Brownlow
have been donated a Wild Bird Starter Pack to
encourage children and adults to protect birds and
wildlife.
The fat ball feeders, seed feeder, suet block feeder
and wild bird seed have been put to good use in
and around the pond area and have been
attracting many wild birds to feed there including
Robins, Blue Tits and Sparrows.
We raised £956.28 to spend on new books for
our School Library. All of your support is greatly
appreciated.
Many thanks to my helpers Mrs Townend, Mrs
Czuchaj and Mrs Baggott.
Mrs Roe
Living Eggs
We had some visitors in March.
Ten chicks
hatched; four
girls and six
boys. The
children
watched them
grow and
named them.
Chick Update
Here is one of the chicks
happily relaxing on Mrs
Mould’s farm. They’re all
doing well!
KS2 Choir
The Key Stage 2 Choir have been very busy this
term. The children performed to an extremely
high standard at De Montfort Hall in Leicester,
on Wednesday 11th March as part of a massed
choir.
They performed The Wind in the Willows and
worked very hard at both home and school
learning the words and actions! Well done to
all the children for singing so enthusiastically
and confidently. You were a credit to
yourselves and our school.
Mrs Goodman
Brownlow Primary School
@BrownlowPrimary
Newsletter 27.03.15
School Nurse – Andrea Fiford can be contacted on the following numbers: 01664 502410 or 07786 976374
Page 3 of 4
Issue 6 – Easter 201513
Head teacher:
Mr Damien Turrell
Happy, Healthy,
High-Achieving
The Newsletter for Pupils, Parents, Carers, Governors and Friends
Attendance Matters – We are aiming to beat last year’s attendance record of 96.1% – please avoid term-time holidays
The Winners of the
World Book Day
Competition:
Reception: Ben Roberts – Hairy McClary
Lottie Cardwell – Unicorn from Sugar Lump
and the Unicorn
Year 1 : Henley Cole – Captain Hook
Megan Houghton – Winnie the Witch
Year 2: Thomas Pead – Stig of the Dump
Natalia Wykocka – Winnie the Witch
Year 3: Tyler Hill – Mad Hatter
Emily Aldridge – Ice Queen
Year 4: Sammy Homewood – Horrid Henry
Madeleine Gamble – Gangsta Granny
Year 5: Ollie Hackett – The Boy in a Dress
Caitlin Craighead – The Cat in a Hat
Year 6: Thomas Fairbrother – Mr Stink
Piper Yardley – Winnie the Witch
Each won a £5 Book token
to spend at the Book Fair.
Well done to everyone who dressed up, you
all looked fantastic - and a special thank you
to all parents and carers who helped the
children with their costumes!!
Mrs Roe.
New Website
We hope you are enjoying the new website
(www.brownlowschool.co.uk). Please have a look
at it, and let us know what you think. So far we have
had over 1500 different users looking at over 24,000
pages between them – wow! There is lots of
information showing the great learning the children
are doing, as well as a copy of our Twitter account
(@BrownlowPrimary) and information for children
and parents.
Family Forum
The Family Forum have been meeting over the past
year to discuss issues parents raise.
We arranged for the last meeting to be attended by
one of our local police officers, who listened to
issues about parking around the school. She was
really helpful and agreed to a number of measures
which should encourage parents to think carefully
about where they park. We’ve also got some other
ideas, which you will see over the coming weeks.
Please remember the letter the children wrote last
week, asking parents to be careful where they park
so it does not cause extra danger for our
children. Also, don’t forget to fill in a suggestion
form and post it into the Family Forum suggestion
box at the front office if you would like an issue
discussed at the next Forum. We want to know
what you think!
Menu
Another issue raised by parents at the Forum is the
quality of the temporary ‘hot lunch bags’ that the
children are being given. Rest assured we are
listening to what you say, and have asked for a new
menu with new food choices to start after the
holidays.
The food is always nutritionally balanced and
healthy, but we’ve got some new ideas which we
think the children will enjoy! We will be sending
home information on the tasty new menu soon.
Dates for Your Diary
(Further details will be given during the term)
13th April/15th April
Year 4 Botanical Gardens visit
16th April
Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 Disco
4th May
May Day
18th – 22nd May
Year 4 Dukes Barn Residential
25th – 29th May
Half Term
3rd June
Foundation Stage Induction Evening
29th June/1st July
Year 6 Production
10th July
End of Term
Brownlow Primary School
@BrownlowPrimary
Newsletter 27.03.15
School Nurse – Andrea Fiford can be contacted on the following numbers: 01664 502410 or 07786 976374
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