Autumn term Issue 5: 6th October 2023
Dear families
This time last week we were enjoying the fun, food, and festivities at International Evening. Once again, we would like to thank everyone who came and made it such a great event, and the PTFA for the bar! Xayan said ‘this is the best party ever’, and we had to agree. Below are some photos of the event.
Following on from enjoying the steel pan performance from Kishan last week, today we were lucky to have a performance from the Steel Pan Agency in assembly and our children from year 2 upwards enjoyed workshops with Shereen.
It was wonderful to see so many of our reception parents at the Phonics Parent Café this morning. Thank you to Freyja Costelloe for leading the session. Slides will be emailed to reception parents for those who couldn’t make it. Next week, our KS2 Reading Parent Café will be taking place – please come along to find out more about how reading is taught in KS2 and how you can support your child at home.
Have a great weekend everyone
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
International Evening
Reception
This week in Reception, we have been using our senses of sight and of touch in Maths to compare objects. We learned lots of new descriptive language to help us describe what we found out longer, shorter, taller, smaller heavier, lightest. The best bit was when we became human weighing balances and all had to predict which items would be heavier. In Literacy it was a Drawing Club week. We have been Reading What I like Most by Mary Murphy, and then drawing the view from our windows, our best toy and our favourite clothes. Outside we have been building dens and exploring the water area using the drainpipes. In Phonics we learned 4 more new phonemes (sounds) so now we know 12! And we can hear the blends when we sound out words. t-o-p j-o-b !
Year 1
This week Year 1 have been putting 2 digit numbers into sequences – identifying patterns as they go and using dienes to represent the numbers pictorially and physically. We’ve also taken things to the next level for Frank and built him his own city with a swimming pool, dog ice cream shop, bone shop, toy shop and windmill to power the electricity!
Year 2
This week Year 2 have been looking at how seeds germinate. We received a letter from the bear in ‘The Bear and the Piano’ asking us to help him grow cress to eat on his way to the city. We learnt that seeds needs water, oxygen, soil and sun light to grow and thought about where we would store our cress seeds to give them the best chance of germinating. Next, we planned our instructions for planting the seeds. Finally, we followed our instructions and had a go at planting our cress seeds—we are so excited to hopefully see them start to grow over the coming days!
Year 3
This half term in year 3, we have been improving our football skills. We have been learning how to stop, control and pass the ball with confidence and accuracy. We have them been applying these skill on smaller game situations through passing and moving and the introduction of a defender.
Year 4
To help us understand some of the key terms used throughout our science topic ‘Living Things and their Habitats’, we considered how links could be made between images and key scientific vocabulary We discussed the meanings and worked in small groups find links before labelling on post-it notes.
Year 5
This week Year 5 have been learning about forces during their science lessons. The children have learnt how to measure forces using a newton metre and as a class have explored the different types of forces. We are looking forward to continuing our investigations next week.
Year 6
Year 6 have been learning all about The Windrush as part of our Migration topic. We looked at posters that encouraged people from countries such and Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to live and work in Britain. We were inspired to make our own posters as part of our preparation for Black History Month.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art Studio, Year 6 were mixing and inventing colours. Using randomly chosen words to create colour phrases: angry dawn blue, or hide queen pink, then mixing colours to represent each word. After mixing all of their new colours together, they had created a brand-new colour!
Music this week…
Children in reception were listening to the music from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas and discussing how music can tell a story. We thought about whether the music was loud or quiet, high or low and how it made us want to move.
Year 1 children used untuned percussion to find the beat to The Menu song. They moved on to finding the rhythm played by the double bass.
In Year 2 the children were given tuned percussion or keyboards and had the challenge of finding the tune to Tony Chestnut. The only clue was that is started on a G.
In Year 3 the children had to make their own 3 note ostinato (a repeated rhythmic or melodic pattern) which we then layered on top of our favourite sounding 2 note chords.
In Year 4, children were playing the bass notes to accompany This Little Light of Mine using tuned percussion. They then made up their own rhythmic ostinatos using words to represent crotchets and quavers.
Year 5 children were making body percussion rhythms to accompany their favourite sea shanty selected from a medley which we listened to. They had to think about using crotchet or quaver sounds on each beat of a 4-beat bar.
In Year 6, we listened to the music of Ella Fitzgerald and learnt about arpeggios, syncopation and the meaning of “scat”.
Across the school we are trying to use musical vocabulary to explain what we like or dislike about piece of music we listen to.
Please find the link to a clip of Ravi Shankar’s Symphony which had some of the children transfixed this week. Note that Ravi Shankar was the composer of this piece of music and not the performer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/classical-music-ravi-shankar-symphony-finale/znk8bdm
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 …
500 Words is back!
500 Words is a competition hosted by the BBC that encourages children to have fun writing stories, building creativity and imagination.
Since the competition was first launched in 2011 by Chris Evans on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, it has received over one million stories from children throughout the UK.
This year, the two age categories will be 5-7 year-olds and 8-11 year-olds and the competition will be judged by Malorie Blackman, Charlie Higson, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Francesca Simon.
50 finalists, along with their parents or carers, will be invited to attend a grand final next February at Buckingham Palace!
Not only will the bronze, silver and gold winners of each age group have their stories read by celebrities, but the event will be shown on a special 500 Words programme with the The One Show, on World Book Day on 7 March 2024.
If you are interested in entering the competition, please go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words for more information
Deadline: Friday 10 November
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
16 October: xmas4schools forms and art due
30 October: Truepenny’s art contest deadline
5 November: xmas4schools order deadline
Friday 13th October: PTFA bake sale & uniform stall
The Friends of SJSC are holding a bake sale and uniform stall next Friday. Please see below for donation and volunteer requests, as well as what to expect on the day.
Bake sale
We we will be selling tasty treats in the playground after school on Friday 13th. In addition to cakes and other baked goods, we will be selling miniature bottles of Mother Root, a delicious non-alcoholic spirit. Come and get yourself a sweet treat or a tipple to start your weekend! Cash and card will be accepted.
Donations required: please bring baked or bought cakes, muffins and cookies (no nuts) to school at 8.45am or 3.15pm on the day (13th October).
Volunteers required: please message Jessica on 07834 604807 if you can help on the day. We need volunteers to collect bakes in the morning or help set up and run the sale in the afternoon (timing flexible).
Uniform stall
We have some great new stock, all clean. Please come and grab what you need for the winter ahead. As always, all items are good quality and free of charge. Note: we are not accepting donations at this time.
Have a wonderful weekend - see you next week!