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We recognise that this has been a challenging week for our community both in school and for those required to remain at home. However, the level of absence appears to have not increased as we end the week, so hopefully we have peaked. On Monday, please keep your child at home if they are feeling unwell or they have been sick over the weekend and this weekend will hopefully help to break the spread of infection. You are advised by Public Health to use lateral flow tests and to seek a vaccine if you haven’t done so already.
There has been plenty of learning and activity this week and many events being planned for the weeks ahead. Next week, commencing 31st January, is National Story telling week and it is Read Aloud day on Wednesday, 2nd February. We are planning to use our oral story telling skills to learn to retell a traditional tale. Understanding the pattern of a story helps to improve the structure of your writing, and oral storytelling develops vocabulary and language choices.
We are fortunate to be a community rich in diversity and next week is Chinese New Year starting on 1st February. Year 2 are learning about Judaism and have a visitor from a Synagogue to lead a workshop to learn about Jewish traditions. Year 5 are reflecting upon the purpose and significance of places of worship for different religions.
To find out more about Chinese New Year take a look at https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/chinese-new-year
Our Art ambassadors have shared information about an art competition - see letter below. This is a great activity if you find yourselves indoors.
Covid Isolation:
Please note: the isolation period can only be reduced if 2 negative results are achieved on consecutive days, if not the 10-day isolation period should be followed.
Please see Government Stay At Home advice page -
PTA Social - Thursday 3rd February at 8pm - The Mall (66 The Mall, Clifton)
Save the date ! Come and meet the PTA committee and join us for some drinks on Thursday 3rd February at 8pm. At the agenda will be the organisation for upcoming events such as school disco, quizz night...
Please email [email protected] to let us know if you are coming.
Dates for your diaries - up and coming events:
Quiz Night (adults) Friday 18th March
School Disco (children) Friday 1st April
Mile of Pennies Friday 20th May
CampFest 9th & 10th July
Reception Gruffalo fun and number investigators
Wow we have been busy in reception this week. We started the week following clues to find out about our new book. We quickly used the clues to work out we were going to be learning about The Gruffalo and woodland animals. We enjoyed making Gruffalo crumble, going on a Gruffalo hunt and making our own Gruffalo’s using playdough and paint.
We have been working really hard to use whiteboards as a class in phonics to form our letters and to write words with vowel digraphs. We also went on a capital letter hunt and have been hunting for them in our reading books. We had fun matching lower case and upper case letters and spotting which ones are the same but bigger!
In maths we have really enjoyed learning about the composition of 6, 7 and 8. We used dominoes to make 6, 7 and 8 and looked at all the different ways we could make the numbers. We worked really hard and enjoyed exploring all the practical maths resources.
This week, the Bees group were invited to bring in a home project for their show and tell. Hettie chose to make a model of Kilimanjaro which delighted and intrigued Year 1. The model was accompanied by a presentation about the mountain which Hettie delivered with aplomb. Norah made a board game based on the book The Magic Bojabi Tree, which she had borrowed from Bristol Library. Her board game features elephant, giraffe, zebra and tortoise cards and is amazing fun to play!
Year 2 Sounds and facts of Africa
Year 2 got their week off to a calm start with a relaxing yoga session, involving rainmakers and feathers. This week in maths they have been working hard sharing equally in groups and using the division symbol. Both teachers have seen lots of lovely teamwork and willingness to have a go. Perhaps your child could show you at home- a large egg box and coins is a great place to start!
Year 2 have also been perfecting their letter formation and beginning to practise their cursive writing. If practising at home, teachhandwriting.co.uk is an excellent resource that shows interactive clips of letter formation. In Literacy the children have been researching Nigeria and producing super fact files that will be shared in the library to inform other pupils about Nigeria.
In music the children have been making lots of noise imitating the sounds of African animals! Dance rehearsals are also in full swing and the children are very excited about the prospect of dressing up and getting on a coach in a couple of weeks.
In French, this week, Year 2 children enjoyed being word detectives. With a clipboard and a worksheet, they had to recognise the French words, match them with the 8 Flashcards hidden around the classroom and draw the images. The 8 words were the ingredients to make bread (pain). They are part of the story the children are learning to retell this term: La petite poule rousse (The Little Red Hen).
Year 3 have squeezed so much in this week, it’s been amazing! We began by kicking off our new maths module on ‘Money’. We were really impressed with the children’s existing knowledge and loved building on this using coin problem solving.
We have continued our work on ‘Stone Age boy’ this week and have written instructions on how to make our own Stone Age stew (some delicious, some disgusting!) We may even test out some of the recipes next week if we dare…
Finally, we tackled DT focusing on textiles. This has been a roaring success and everyone has put so much effort into learning a new skill. The children have practiced cross stitch and applique and are now beginning the huge task of making their own cushion! (Pictures to follow next week). Well done year 3, what a talented year group!
This week, year 4 have worked hard to perfect some of their Netball techniques. We honed our skills in positioning, passing and communication to produce effective attacks, whilst also practising blocking to defend. We’ve loved every exhausting second!
Music has seen us continuing our learning about ‘loops’. We recapped our last lesson which saw us using body percussion to create loops and this week we focused on creating rhythmical loops using Chrome Music Lab. Thinking about rests, different patterns and instruments, we created 4 different loops which we’re pretty proud of.
In Literacy we have continued to write our own adventure stories based on our Power of Reading book Ice Trap. We’ve drawn maps of Antarctica and have also completed our own stories ready to be edited and published next week.
5RW have enjoyed testing our spelling skills whilst playing ‘Wordle’ this week. Despite some tricky words, we have really enjoyed putting our spelling knowledge to the test.
On another bright but chilly evening in South Bristol, our teams performed exceptionally well. Our 6 a side team were victorious in all games, scoring a barrel of goals. Our 7 a side team faced some stiff competition, winning one, drawing one, byt gallantly losing two matches. It was a great defensive performance only conceding two goals. Next week, we move on to the Year 5 and 6 Girls' Tournament.
Year 6 Map Skills and Mountains
We have dedicated our afternoon learning to Geography this week, concentrating on map skills and mountains. We have been comparing and contrasting the Cambrian mountains with the Himalayas. How many contrasts could you find? We considered elevation, climate, vegetation when thinking about similarities and differences. Furthermore, when we researched the Cambrian mountains, we found out that they are home to the Plynlimon hills: the source of the river Severn. (A fact we learnt in Y5!)
Here are some examples of our work:
Be one in a million!
In 2021, more than one million people took part in Big Garden Birdwatch, all coming together to look out for birds. Why not join in and be one in a million for 2022?
Shockingly, we’ve lost 38 million birds from UK skies in the last 50 years, so it really is vital we do all we can to look after our birdlife.
As a conservation charity, Big Garden Birdwatch depend on your support to save nature and to look after places where wildlife can thrive. By taking part in Big Garden Birdwatch, you can also make a difference. Wherever you are, whatever you see, it counts!
Why not share on Google Classroom what you find. There is a special assignment titled ‘Big Garden Birdwatch’, here you can upload your comments or even photos. You will also find the guide, giving instructions and a bird chart (The link to the guide is attached).
In school next week, we will be taking part to observe what we can observe in our school grounds.