‘What happens when we win?’ launches with a bang!

We have enjoyed an amazing array of experiences this week for the children as we launch the new topic. Y5 and Y6 were able to start stage blocking, and rehearsing the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet in preparation for their play at Phoenix Theatre. With the help of RSC trained Shakespearean actor, Richard Kidd they learned unusual facts about the Bard. The children now know who he was, how he impacted on Tudor times and what a significant influence he was – as well as the fact he grew up in a really disadvantaged home, and probably had traits of autism! And then they learned about the two families/gangs at the centre of the Romeo and Juliet play.

And then on Tuesday it was circus time for EYFS. They walked the tight rope, juggled and used diabolos to see what they were good at and how they could create physical targets. They were overjoyed with their own achievements and the photos show how much they concentrated, particularly on the tight rope walks!

On Wednesday it was Y1/2’s turn when they visited St James’s park to see the stadium, meet some of the Newcastle United staff, visit the changing rooms, and see some of the shirts hung up and ready for the next match.

(Bruno was very popular!). For some, their highlight was still the bus and the lunch – but for many more their love of football has grown even more. Some families have told us they are booking family tickets to go to see a match after seeing their children’s enthusiasm. Needless to say the children (and the staff!) were all very tired when they got back.

And with a Newcastle United’s womens’ team player visiting school, basketball coaches and the usual swimming and trumpet lessons, the school has been a thriving community. It’s been a long time coming but we are so pleased that we can return to the normal hustle and bustle of a busy, thriving, exciting place to be.

Last but not least Y3/4 are due to visit Moat Brae, the birthplace of the creator of Peter Pan, JM Barrie in Dumfries in Scotland next week. More photos of this next week!

Health and Safety updates

We have a wide range of health and safety and e-safety advice that we intend to share with you, now that the Covid guidance has more or less ended for schools!
We are still vigilant about sensible precautions such as good airflow throughout school and taking positive approaches to hygiene from hand washing and teaching children to be mindful of how to cough and sneeze.

We are also keen to minimise staffing issues by ensuring that if children have signs and symptoms of Covid they stay at home, but now no more than 3 days!

E-Safety News

As parents are you aware of the dangers of ‘doxxing’?

Doxxing is the publishing of someone’s personal or private information online – such as their address, phone number or email address – without their permission. Doxxing is an invasion of privacy and can put individuals in real danger. Publishing someone’s personal information with malicious intent is a criminal offence. Remind your child that it is never safe to share this kind of information about either themselves or another person online.

Book Look – we are so excited to share the children’s work with you!

Friday 29th April (today!) we are hosting the first in person Book Look in classes as reported in the past couple of newsletters. We hope you can make it – please start with children in older classes, coming into school from 1pm. Through the main front door for adults of pupils in Y3 to Y6. Through the side gate from 1pm for adults of pupils from Nursery, reception, Y1 and Y2 classes. Please remember only one adult per family please.

Payments for residential

Please ensure that your child’s payment for the upcoming residential are paid up by the deadlines. Chasing the payments causes a lot of extra work for the admin team. All the payments have been added to Parentpay accounts.

Family Support Worker Amy’s Update

What a first week back! Summer 1 is a very short term – only 3 weeks left! That means you only have 14 days left to make sure you are Here, Ready, On time, Everyday. It is great to see 3 classes with 99% attendance this week. I was hoping to see less lates though since it is only our first week back! Please remember to get children to school before the gates close at 8.30am. It is especially important for our Y6 children to be on time as we are getting closer to the SATS. We do our best learning when we are settled in class after a good start to the day. It is only a short term, but it is an exciting one and we don’t want the children to miss out on any of the opportunities. Attend today, achieve tomorrow!

Paul’s Outdoor Idea: Dandelion art

This week’s activity is Inspired by the discovery of a double headed dandelion by two Year 3 girls and the beautiful array of dandelions around school and on the drive to school, I thought we could look at some simple dandelion art work.

The first one looks at the dandelion clock. You need one toilet roll and some scissors and some paint

1. Snip lots of small slits across one end of your toilet roll.
2. Fold them out to make a flower head shape.
3. Paint and print.
4. Add the stem.

Other ideas to use dandelions for art :

Dandelion facts :

1. There are over 250 different species of dandelion.
2. Dandelion plant’s every part is useful –roots, leaves, flower. Its uses include dye for colouring, food, and medicine.
3. The dandelion flower has a yellow-orange hue and comprises many individual, miniature flowers called ray florets. The dandelion flower opens at the time of sunrise and closes at night.

Finally, get out and about and explore the dandelions – they are an amazing plant.

Easter Egg Competition

Well done to everyone who submitted an entry into our Easter Egg Competition, the standards were very high and we can see from the entries that the children worked very hard! We didn’t have as many
entries as we have had in the past so we have streamlined the categories as follows. Huge well
done to the winners!

Our winners are….
Early Years – Mia Younger
Key Stage 1 – Avie Morrow
Key Stage 2 – Miles Straker

Punctuality for statutory assessments

In Y1, Y2 and Y6 we will be starting statutory (compulsory) assessments from next week. Please make an extra effort to get all children in these classes into school as

HERO children –
Here
Every day
Ready to learn
On time

We appreciate this is the case for most families, but there is an emergent pattern with some families which we will start to follow up in the coming weeks. 5 minutes late every day amounts to 25 minutes a week and a whopping two days a year of lost learning.

Bye bye Angela!

And finally – some staff news! After being at CVPS for nearly the full ten years (in a number of different admin related roles since we opened), our admin and marketing manager Angela Hall will be leaving next Friday. Angela has been a familiar face to many of you, as she has been on the gate, chasing any overdue payments due to the school and coordinating all the holiday activity clubs that have taken place over the last couple of years. Angela will be a huge miss. She has an upbeat, positive personality and has been so passionate about the provision at the school, having personal experience as a parent too. We are pleased that she will continue in her role as a parent until the end of this academic year and for longer as a school governor! We wish Angela all the best for her new role at Seaton Valley Schools where she will be the marketing and publicity manager and we all thank her for the vast support and commitment she has given to CVPS over the past ten years.

We are exceptionally fortunate to have been able to recruit a new Office Manager with excellent credentials who will start with us on Monday the 6th June. More news in next week’s newsletter about that!

Achievement Awards

Kindness champions – YN – Holly Anderson-Reid Y5 – AJ Jefferson
Swimmer of the week – Nicole Sharp