Autumn term Issue 6: 13th October 2023
Dear families
Next week is the last week of this half term and we look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to our celebration of Black History Month at our exhibition on 17th Oct from 1.30-3pm.
Bookings are open for parents’ evening, please make sure you have booked appointment, you will have received a link on ParentMail.
Remember that next Friday 20th October, the school closes at 1.50pm for all children. Collection points are the same as normal - spaces are available at Magna if needed.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week started with mysterious footprints… we’ve been visited by Wild Things! The children have really enjoyed discovering who made the footprints and have been sounding out and writing what they would like to feed the Wild Thing. We’ve also been busy spotting and making patterns. We have explored the artwork of Lubaina Himid and learnt about how and why patterns are so important. We have then printed our own patterns to make our puppets for our Black History Month display next week!
Year 1
This week, we’ve been observing the change in the seasons. We noticed the changing colour of the leaves, seeds scattered on the floor, fruit ripening on trees and a chill in the air as the temperature finally begins to drop. We then recycled the leaves to make artwork that revealed their intricate details and varying colours.
Year 2
Year 2 have grown cress over the last few weeks which was amazing to see! We studied our cress and looked at the roots, the stem and the leaves – learning what each part did for the plant. We then made egg and cress sandwiches so that we could try the amazing produce we had grown ourselves! It was a fantastic afternoon and the cress in the sandwiches was delicious!
Year 3
In science this week, Year 3 were busy making bionic hands. Last week, we identified the structure of the hand, did a scientific drawing of a hand and planned what materials we would use to design a bionic hand. We used plastic for the fingers, cardboard for skin, string for tendons and straw for bones. The challenge was to design a hand that manages to pick something up!
Year 4
As a class, we talked about what World Mental Health Day means to us. To look after our mental health, we believe that it’s important to take care of ourselves, eat a balanced diet, and get plenty of sleep. Then, we had some fun and played ‘Lets Connect Bingo’ to find out more about each other and finally created ‘shout outs’ giving positive feedback to people we know.
Year 5
Today, we have been performed poems from Overheard in the Tower Block by Joseph Coelho. We watched perfromances by the author and then we enjoyed reading and performing Binley which was full of similes and metaphors which are types of figurative language.
Year 6
In Year 6 we have been using GarageBand and DJ Mixer Studio to make remixes of songs and to change the genre of songs to make them our own. We are loving the lessons because we can be super creative and have fun while learning.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art Studio, Year 5 have explored shades of colour. Using magazines, they gathered shades of colour that were similar to each other and collaged these to create an iris.
Hearing Resource Base
On Tuesday, the children from Hearing Resource Base year one and two and some of their peers attended a workshop at the Pizza Express in Dulwich village. It was great fun learning names of ingredients to make dough and pizza toppings. It was even more fun eating pizza in the park!
Sport this week…
KS1 Multi-skills
This week, two coaches came in from the PESSN and taught both year 2 Classes some fantastic jumping skills. The children focused on finding space, jumping forwards, backwards, into space and then in a sequence. After 50 minutes each everyone was ready for a well-earned break. Both coaches commented on how resilient, respectful, and talented the children were. Well done Year 2!
In Year 2 children have been focused on sequencing. Over the past few weeks, we have explored balancing, travelling and jumping. This weeks lessons have been based around the culmination of these in order to create a routine. Children explored apparatus in order to link a balance, a jump and a different way of travelling. Well done!
The playground continues to be a busy area in school, with sports being played with enthusiasm and teamwork. This week in red zone, children have been developing their cricket skills, tennis and basketball. Watch this space for some exciting updates with regards to basketball next week!
Gormley Football
This week, Gormley class took part in a football competition with 4 other schools, each entering 3 teams. Our three teams were amazing, showing dedication and sportsmanship. We are very happy to announce that one of our teams also won the whole competition! Can I give an extra big shout out to Lizzie and Florence who both showed tremendous skills and determination and also to our fabulous parent volunteers who made our trip happen. Well done everyone.
Values Certificates
Stars are celebrated because they have demonstrated the school values, or gone above and beyond.
Well done to all our stars this week …
Join our Reading Community as a Volunteer Reader!
With the new year now well underway, we are excited to announce the opportunity to join our team of wonderful volunteers.
If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer Reader, please email Miss Cosby for more information.
From the Friends of SJSC
Christmas art & fundraising
The Friends of SJSC are getting ready for Christmas! Help us fundraise while creating bespoke Christmas cards and gifts through xmas4schools or enter or art contest to design the Christmas Fair board, sponsored by Truepenny’s.
Information was sent out in backpacks this week. For convenience, we have attached flyers with today’s newsletter. If you need an additional copy of the xmas4schools form, please contact the office.
Remember these key dates - due to tight turn arounds we won’t be able to accept late entries
30 October: Truepenny’s art contest deadline
5 November: xmas4schools order deadline
.
Have a wonderful weekend - see you next week!