How has art changed at CVPS? Staff researched the skills they wanted the children to have in art and design last summer, and we have changed some of the approaches to meet the challenges of developing these skills. So you may well hear your children discussing some of the language of artists when they come home after their lessons. They will talk
about tone, line, shading, the perspectives, the shading, as well as the subject of their creations.
They now all have a visual diary which is a diary of their artwork, their thoughts and aspirations for art and what they have learned about their experimentations. Rarely will the entries in the visual diaries be finished articles as the children embark on a voyage of discovery uncovering their talents for what they see in the world around them, being able to describe their visual perspectives and record their artistic learning journey.
We had fantastic feedback from our artist in residence Jane McCracken and you can see her responses to working with us on her facebook page, ‘Where did all the Animals Go’ describing our children’s work as ‘stunning, amazing, diligent, incredible, spirited
and hard-working’. She certainly got to know our children’s strengths in a very short time in class. I love her description of Sienna’s deer as a ‘complex drawing to achieve, capturing the deer’s dainty form.’
Children in early years, and year 1 and 2 are working hard with natural materials too and have made some amazing work creating replications of natural artists and using natural materials in counting and sorting activities. Y2 have been practising how to describe their work and how they can articulate what they like about a painting or a piece of art.
Year 4 trumpets
Y4 is the year when we promote the opportunity for children to play a musical instrument and we have an amazing trumpet tutor who comes to school. They started this week and use the yurt for lessons (saving our ears in school) and sticking to Covid rules by it being well aired in the yurt. Trumpet lessons are every Thursday morning.
Forest school
The autumnal weather is definitely upon us, so please ensure that your children have wellies to bring to school. If you struggle to fund these let us know. Trainers and school shoes are not appropriate footwear for the driving rain that we have had in school this week and many of the children were not adequately dressed to spend 2 hours in muddy, wet conditions. In preparation for winter please consider a hat, gloves and warm thermal socks too.
Ashleigh’s outdoor idea
Are you nuts about squirrels? Then you will love National red squirrel awareness week this week. Red squirrels are an endangered native species and have almost been completely
pushed out of their habitats. Can you help save the squirrels? Create awareness of red squirrels by using a vlog, building a drey (nest) or even by going squirrel spotting to monitor the squirrels left in our local area.
This week’s COVID update
We have been asked to share that there is a new NHS app that can be downloaded called the NHS Covid-19 app. You can see the icon to look for on your app store above! We are pleased that the national testing situation is gradually improving. Huge thank you to everyone for volunteering your confirmations of negative Covid test results. It really helps
school to reassure all families that we are following the same processes. We really appreciate that everyone has made the extra effort to get the drive through tests rather than home tests when possible. Drive thru test results have been returned within 24 hours as opposed to 2 to 3 days for the home tests.
Some families drove to Carlisle or spent hours online trying to access the refresh buttons to get next available tests. This has meant that children have been able to return to school so much more quickly when they’ve been well enough. There are now walk in test centres in Ashington and North Shields but you must always book a slot before going.
Attendance and Punctuality
- YN 88%(3)
- Y3 82%(2)
- YR 86%(1)
- Y4 88%(0)
- Y1 91%(2)
- Y5 93%(3)
- Y2 83%(2)
- Y6 92%(2)
Well done to Y5 this week for excellent attendance and Y4 for no lates.
Achievement Awards
Dates for your diary
