Friday, 10 February 2012

Issue 20 2011-12


Newsletter Issue 20

Friday 10th February 2012


Dear Parent/Carer,

We have members of staff out visiting our European Partners in Pisa, Italy, this week.  This represents the last ‘mobility’ for this Comenius project.  During the project our children have sent books, stories and resources to schoolchildren in Norway, Czech Republic, Italy and Austria.  The Comenius project is fully funded by the European Union. It aims to bind the countries of Europe closer together through education and it provides many positive benefits for the staff, school and pupils.  The school benefits from international links and additional resources for children that it would otherwise not have.  Our international projects connect our children with their world, helping them to become powerful, connected, informed, tolerant and responsible twenty first century world citizens.

Year 34 Event
My thanks to those parents, families and friends who joined Year 34 for their fabulous VE Day Celebration in the Hall this week.  The children all looked absolutely stunning in their VE Day clothes… all very authentic indeed, it was like going back in time.  We celebrated some incredible learning from the topic that included Evacuee Diaries and Anderson Shelters.  My thanks to Miss Thackeray and the Y34 team for their brilliant efforts with this Topic. The staff, too, looked great in their uniforms and led the spirit of the day.  Look out for photographs of our VE Day celebration in next month’s Rothwell Record.

Brilliant Teams
The current Rothwell Record carries the story of our Art Installation at Lofthouse Children’s Centre.  My thanks to Mrs Chin and Mrs Mistry, the inspirations behind this work.  Mrs Chin’s and Mrs Mistry’s influence can be seen everywhere in school.  The artworks that we have on display all around the school are absolutely incredible.

Mrs Chin, Mrs Mistry, the Year 34 team (as reported above) and every team throughout school are creating incredible learning opportunities for our children.  I am delighted that our curriculum – described by Ofsted last year as ‘exceptional’ – is scaling exciting new heights that I am certain you as parents will be well aware of.  The ‘buzz’ of excitement amongst the children is incredible.  We challenged ourselves as a staff after the Ofsted inspection last year to improve even further.  I am delighted that we are doing that, every day. We have brilliant teams at Robin Hood who are working brilliantly together.

International Week of lunches
We are having an International Week of Lunches during the week commencing 27th February.  Children taking School Dinners will be treat to a menu from around the world, a different country every day.

Have a fantastic weekend and Half Term,
Mr Wilson



KS1 Newsletter

Well another half term of outstanding learning has flown by in Key Stage 1. The children have continued to impress us yet again with the amazing progress that they have made and their dedication to their learning. Our Rainforest Topic has been a great success with the children relishing in their achievements and their contribution towards protecting and saving the animals of the Rainforest. Year 1 have adopted an orang-utan, Year 1/2 a Leopard and Year 2 chose to save the endangered polar bear. Thank you again to all those parents that have supported us with this topic across the half term.  

Reading ChallengeYour child will have brought home a copy of their reading passport this week either alongside their home learning or within their reading record. The children must log the amount of time they have spent reading in order to read their way around the world. The journey will come to an end on World Book Day 1st March. Those children within school that have read their way around the world will be entered into a national competition. Please record daily in your child’s reading record the amount of time spent reading each day, as this will provide the teacher with the evidence to support their reading passport journey.

Next half terms topic – LONDON!Across the next half term the children will be learning about London in the past, including the Plague and Great Fire of London. We will also be learning about London today including popular landmarks and tourist attractions before concluding the topic with a look into the future of London with the children developing new buildings for the famous London skyline!
As part of our topic the children will be spending the first day back in school with a visitor from the past. For the WHOLE WEEK could all children please come to school dressed as a child from 1600’s in order to really start the topic off with a BANG! If you’re stuck for ideas girls could wear a simple brown tabard and white apron and hat and for the boys an oversized shirt and tattered brown trousers.

For the last week of topic we would like the children to attend school dressed as a business person in order to support our theme of London in the Future with the children designing and pitching ideas to the whole class.  

This Week in School
In literacy the children have been writing a letter of thank you that could be given to those that attended our amazing open afternoon. The children have been encouraged to use all of their writing skills that they have acquired from this past half term to develop an engaging interesting letter.

In Numeracy the children have extended their understanding of fractions into number. They have worked through a range of problems including helping their class teacher’s work out how much they spent in the half price sales!

This week in topic we have provided the children with the opportunity to be real life scientists. They have been developing their own investigations to find out more about the forces around us.

Enjoy your week off, a chance to recharge and rest ready for another fun filled half term!

LKS2 Newsletter

We have had a thoroughly fantastic week in year 3/4. Our highlight has to be our VE Day Celebration which took place in the hall on Tuesday afternoon. The children entered singing traditional WW2 songs and all looked fantastic in their outfits. We all loved sharing our amazing learning from the half term, which included our beautiful Evacuee's journals, Propaganda posters and Anderson Shelters. Thank you again to everyone who came along, your involvement really helped us celebrate the children's learning in style!

Topic Homework
Next Half Term's topic is "Our Mysterious World". We will be uncovering the secrets of the world's greatest mysteries including Big Foot, The Loch Ness Monster, Stonehenge, UFOs and many more unsolved phenomena. For the children's home learning we would like them to investigate an unsolved mystery of their own choice and present this in the format of a new report (a video, radio broadcast or newspaper report).

Literacy
This week the children completed their final entry for their wartime journal and we must say that we have loved seeing the children's beautiful handwriting when copying up their fantastic writing. We are currently displaying some of the journals in school and others will be returned after the holidays.

This weeks spellings:

Group one

1. boat
2. coat
3. road
4. soap
5. book
6. bookcase
7. cook
8. could
9. would
10. should
Group two
1. taught
2. caught
3. straight
4. weight
5. eight
6. tough
7. cough
8. rough
9. enough
10. through

Next half term our focus will be on Newspaper reports. If you are looking for a good resource to use, the BBC Newsround website offers a wealth of news and information as well as fun activities for the children to complete.
  
Numeracy
This week, the children have been using the relationship between multiplication and division number facts in the form of a trio.
E.g.
                    5                                  5 x 9 = 45

                                                        9 x 5 = 45
                                                       
       9                       45                     45 / 5 = 9

                                                        45 / 9 = 5

We have also held our times tables challenge. The children have been practising their mental multiplication skills all this half term and we are really noticing a difference.

Next half term we are developing our mental and written strategies for multiplication and division. Please practise the children's times tables regularly. We expect all children to know all their times tables to 12 x 12 and the related division facts by the end of year 4.

Here are some great activities to support your child's learning:

http://www.mathszone.co.uk/ (There are lots of great games to play here)

http://www.primarygamesapps.co.uk/ (Great apps for itouch, iphone and iPads that we are currently using in class)

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=gridmethodpvcardsv3 (A resource we plan to use in class to support place value when multiplying)


Topic
On Thursday the children had a fun filled practical Science day planned by Miss Snowden. The children developed their understanding of series circuits. They then used their findings of how the brightness of a bulb alters when more bulbs are added to a circuit, to help them create parallel circuits including a number of switches. The children have presented their learning in the form of a poster which we will be displaying in the classroom.

Please ensure your child has a warm, outdoor PE kit in school. 3/4T and 3/4N on Tuesdays, 3/4M on Thursdays.
Have a great holiday,

Year 3/4 team

UKS2 News Roundup:
  • Our achievers this week are Miss Darroch's ICT Club who include Rhys and Finlay from Year 5/6! The club have been busy producing short animations around school on the theme 'Robin Hood Comes Alive' and developing their skills on iMovie to collate these together. Well done to all!
  • Well done to the many children in Year 5/6 who are now on their journey around the world as part of the Global Reading Challenge! This week, the children were given their Reading Passport to record their miles (10 minutes of reading equals 500 miles) Please record the times read in your planner over the half term holiday. We're sure that the children will make great progress with their journey over the next week.
  • Half Term Home Learning:
  • The Year 5 children are to research an element of Japan which they would like to present and share with the rest of the class on Monday 20th February. The children may wish to choose from one of the following themes: Japanese culture/traditions, Japanese food, Japanese clothing, Education in Japan, Japanese History or local areas in Japan.
  • The Year 6 children will be receiving another SAT paper pack to complete with parents at home. Please bring this back by Thursday of the first week back. (23rd February). Feel free to engage with the Japan home learning. The more good quality outcomes, the better.
  • Reminder: As part of our Topic on Japan after the holiday, each child will need a plain white pillow case. Please can these be brought into school for the start of the new half term. Thank you to those children who have brought theirs in.      
Numeracy:
  • This week in Numeracy, our focus has been on time. We've been practising telling the time on both analogue and digital clocks and applying our skills to solve problems. 
  • Home Learning: 'Maths Mission' - How many different 2D shapes, drawn with a ruler (with exception of a circle!) can you incorporate into a picture? Make sure you are able to name the shapes you have chosen to use though!
Literacy:
  • This week, we have been planning and drafting letters to pupils in Japan. We're very fortunate to have established a link with a teacher in Japan who has sent letters from his students as well as a parcel, which we'll open after the half term break! We've also written a descriptive paragraph based around a narrative prompt to show off the skills we've been focusing on this half term.
  • Home Learning: Please read regularly and record the number of minutes you are reading for the Global Reading Challenge!
Other areas of the curriculum:
  • In Topic, the Acting Teams and members of the Technology Teams have been rehearsing the drama performance of each class' Greek Myth. Each team has also been finalising and rehearsing their presentations of their historical research. We have a super range of art, written and ICT outcomes which reflect the children's learning about Ancient Greece this half term. Our blogs: http://56bgreeks.blogspot.com/       http://56dgreeks.blogspot.com/    http://56gancientgreece.blogspot.com/