Junior School Newsletter – Lent Term 2021 – Week 8

This week’s newsletter for Rossall Junior School and Nursery.

YEAR 6

Attention! Has anyone seen Year 6? They were last spotted driving a Delorean sports car and disappearing through the Archway at 88mph; all that was left were scorched tyre marks and a puff of smoke!

Wherever they are, they have been sending back amazing work from the Victorian era. We have received fascinating facts about Queen Victoria, powerful posters on the Industrial Revolution and even news reports about Charles Darwin’s dazzling discoveries, with striking sketches of Galapagos creatures!

Their artwork and creative writing have been incredible; it is as if they are completely immersed in Victorian times! I just hope they return back in time for Monday morning for our welcome back to Rossall celebrations.

We cannot wait!

YEAR 5

Another action-packed week for Year 5! 

This week, we have started reading our new book, The Darkest Dark. The children have written some super character profiles about Chris, who is the little boy the book is based on. We have only read the first few pages but the information the children have managed to gather is incredible! They have looked carefully at the language that the author has used and taken all the information from the illustrations to write detailed descriptions about Chris. 

In Topic, we learned all about Icarus, the young man who unfortunately did not heed his father’s advice, flew too close to the sun and suffered the consequences. The children designed their own wings, showing what super imaginations they have. 

World Book Day was a success despite it being virtual this year! The children had great fun guessing the book from the variety of props that they found lying about! We had a plastic boat (Swallows and Amazons) a jar of green liquid (George’s Marvellous Medicine) and many more! Well done to all of the children for their participation! 

The extreme reading photographs were fabulous! Showers, baths, trees, chickens and wardrobes all made for giggles and laughter.

Well done Year 5, you have made this period of remote learning a good experience. Your kindness, ability to adapt, resilience and hard work has been a privilege to see each and every day. 

I cannot wait to see you all on Monday!

YEAR 4

What a busy last week of Zoom schooling we have had in Year 4!

The children have impressed me with their fraction knowledge as we have gotten to grips with tenths, hundredths and equivalent fractions!

We have investigated some of the worst natural disasters ever to have happened and have written diaries as if we are Pacific Islanders!

The children have also had a tough decision to make in Science, as we think about living things and their habitats. Should we keep the wooded area at Junior School or swap it for an adventure playground?

We have some very environmentally conscious Year 4’s – the majority thought we should keep the woods – this certainly bodes well for the future of our planet!

To finish the week off, we enjoyed lots of book-themed activities as we celebrated World Book Day! We now have Monday to look forward to and I cannot wait to see the Year 4s back in our classroom!

YEAR 3

Our last week of online learning and Year 3 cannot wait to be back all together in school and our classroom!

We have ended lockdown with a bang. We have continued to learn about whales through our book ‘Big Blue Whale‘ and this week the children wrote their own whale poems using similes and commands.

In our topic, we continued our case study into the rainforest learning about what wildlife lives there are and how they are affected by deforestation.

In Science, we have started an investigation into what plants need to grow, and we anticipate the results next week!

In Maths, we continued to look at measuring length in centimetres and millimetres. We had a fabulous time for World Book Day, sharing stories and our favourite books, and Year 3 became authors, writing their very own storybooks.

Not long until we are all back together, we are all so excited!

YEAR 2

What a super nine weeks Year 2 have had! I could not be prouder of everything that the children have achieved. They have become multiplication experts, persuasive writers and historians investigating the Great Fire of London!

This week, in Maths, we have learned what centimetres and metres are. We have been measuring a range of objects and been comparing lengths.

In English, we have learned more about Amelia, one of the children in Major Glad and Major Dizzy’s life. We have described her using adjectives and noun phrases.

On Thursday, we had a super day, guessing books through props, reading in extreme places and describing our own potato characters!

YEAR 1

In Year 1 we are so excited about Monday and the return to school.

We cannot wait to see all of our friends, in person and not on a screen. We are looking forward to learning and exploring together again!

As we have felt the warmth of the Spring sunshine, we have started to think about the seasons and the changes happening all around us. We have thought about what Spring will bring and have been outside to search for signs of Spring. We have found buds on trees, flowers starting to grow and birds building nests.

It was still a bit too cold to spot any insects, and a little bit early to see any baby animals.

In Language, we have continued to write some amazing descriptions, this time about the main characters, Mouse and Lion. Here are some more examples of our fantastic work:

“The lion roars loudly to show how important he is.” – Stanley.

“He loved to show-off his giant, loud roar which could be heard 5 miles away.” – Roman

“The mouse was unhappy because nobody spoke to her.” Matilda

On Thursday, we also enjoyed celebrating World Book Day with a story prop Show and Tell, and a quiz. We were also challenged with trying to find the most extreme places to read and have had some excellent
efforts!

RECEPTION

The definition of a ‘family’ changes according to your experience and culture and, as new social dynamics emerge, family structures everywhere have transformed significantly, redefining the notion of the family and its members. But, while the definition of family may have evolved, its value remains as important today as it has ever been. In our book ‘The Journey Home’, Hattie Peck has collected eggs from all over the world, hatched them, and raised her blended family of cockatoos, storks, owls, anything from an egg – even reptiles.

For children, in particular, caregivers in a family unit are essential to their development, their sense of security and their ability to create and sustain healthy relationships in the future. It is, after all, family members who provide basic needs like food, shelter and nurturing.

But the role of the family extends beyond those basic needs too, helping to create a sense of belonging and community, a support system, security, and especially at the moment, an education!

The children will look closely at families and differences, learning how to make hard decisions, letting go, and inclusion through this term’s storybook.

Children whose families support their learning and take a keen interest in their education do better at school and in later life. Working in partnership with parents and/or carers is central to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). We believe in consulting parents about their children’s experiences to help us plan for effective learning in class, and helps us support parents in continuing their child’s learning development at home.

We encourage and welcome all contributions from parents, sharing interests or information about your culture, but also by informing us when your child achieves something new or wonderful.

We are, therefore, reintroducing our Wow Moment cards, and ask you to record these moments and pass them onto me. These Wow Moments are added to your child’s learning journey and support assessments throughout the year.

Feel free to send in as many as you would like, parents/guardians usually complete a page of wow moments each half term. Look out on Google Classroom for more details.

Finally, I cannot wait to welcome all the children back into the classroom, where we should be … as one big happy Reception family!

NURSERY

Spring is on its way……

What a lovely weekend you all had with the sun shining and the feeling that summer is almost here. 

Pre-school were lucky to walk into a brand new room this week and they have enjoyed exploring all the areas that are available to them.

The kitchen area has been a big hit and they have cooked some great delights up in there this week. Their imagination is amazing to see when they bring you a plate of cakes and a cup of tea – when its actually a plate with some lego on and an old yoghurt pot. 

This week sees the introduction of a new story ‘Jack and the Beanstalk‘.

We have started some growing this week and we will be monitoring slowly what happens over time. They have enjoyed getting their hands dirty in the soil and using tools they may not have experienced before.

Sanderlings have had lots of children move up from the baby room this week, so we have had to adapt the area to suit their needs. The furniture has become smaller and lower so they can move around better and see over the top. They have introduced ‘Shark in the Park’ as their story of the month which has provided them with a variety of activities.

The children at this age use lots of schemas in their play and the staff have created a large shark for the children to hide things in its mouth. This is called ‘Enveloping’.  The children are trying to work out what happens if they hide an object – Can they still see it? Can they still feel it? And is it still there?

The baby room has seen new children arriving this week which is lovely and the staff really enjoy getting to know new personalities. They have enjoyed the nice weather and nothing beats a nice a walk in the pram in the sunshine.

Messy play is a big hit with the baby room and this week they have been using carrot shavings in the tuff tray to create a farm scene to go alongside their story of ‘That’s not my Goat’. They even managed a little visit to see the real goats.

To help the children with early language skills, they have been singing ‘Old McDonald had a farm’ and they have been practising their animal noises.

AWARD WINNERS

Reception – This weeks certificate of achievements go to Rocco and Harry. Rocco has tried really hard with all his remote learning and continues to make superb progress with his phonics and reading. Harry has tried hard in all his remote learning activities and I have been especially proud to see how hard he has been trying with his handwriting and has made super progress as a result.

Year 1 – This week’s certificates of achievement are awarded to Roman for fantastic descriptive writing in his Language work, and Abrianna for the amazing effort and increased confidence in all of her work.

Year 2 – Spencer for his super enthusiasm and contributions in Zoom lessons, and Nilanth for being amazing in Phonics learning.

Year 3 – This week’s certificates in Year 3 go to Jasper for always having a positive, curious attitude towards his learning and for always being happy for his peers, and Christiana for always having a smile on her face and always trying her best even when things are tricky. 

Year 4 – Zizi for consistent effort and enthusiasm and Roman for showing brilliant IT skills throughout our online schooling.

Year 5 – Aimee for always working hard and producing some fabulous work in all subjects, and Charlie for fabulous participation in lessons. 

Year 6 – Coco (6S) for outstanding contribution in all activities. Rafael (6s) for outstanding Artwork and Creativity. Bella (6R) and William (6R) for outstanding artwork.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICTURES FROM THIS WEEK