Dear Parents and Carers,
The weeks are flying by, as the Easter break seems to have been an age away, and classes are in the full swing of new projects learning about Greeks, Romans, British rulers and the history of the school in humanities; weaving, sewing, architecture and James Russi in art or design and in Science plants or properties and materials.
First of all, an enormous THANK YOU to all of you for supporting and ensuring your children coming to school. Attendance is in the government’s spotlight, with a drive to ensure high attendance by all pupils. I am pleased to say Stower Provost ‘s attendance is currently sitting at 97% and above the national average. We have therefore been awarded a certificate from the Fisher Family Trust (which collects data from schools across the country), for our school’s attendance rate being within the top 10% of schools nationally.
Marvellous Me
Please be aware staff are using the Marvellous Me app to inform you about any positive/notable achievements or behaviours your child/ren have displayed in school. MarvellousMe tells you about the wonderful things that your child is learning, and pings you when they’ve been praised for good work, a great character skill, or received school rewards. It makes you smile, feel proud, and inspires better home learning support and encouragement.
MarvellousMe is free for parents. You’ll get exciting alerts if you use it on your smartphone or tablet. If you have not already downloaded this app on your devices then I would encourage you to do so. Your child will come home with an invitational letter today and a unique parental joining code.
Download the MarvellousMe for parents app.
Enter your Parent Join Code.
Tap ‘Sign up’.
Enter your name and email.
To sign up and use MarvellousMe on your PC, please use Chrome as your internet browser.
Need help? Tap here for a walkthrough, or please visit our Help Centre.
OFFICE NOTICE
Please would all parents and carers contact the school office if their child/ren is/are NOT travelling by school bus for the afternoon journey. Many thanks for your help with this matter.
THIS WEEK
Hazel Class trip to Duncliffe Woods
Hazel class ventured to Duncliffe Woods today to explore the flora and fauna of our local beauty spot. The bluebells were in bloom and the scent a delight, I have no doubt. See class news below to learn more.
Assemblies
Our Monday assemblies this half of term will be focusing on the elements contained within Pandora’s Box including: madness, sorrow, disease (health), greed and hope. We started this week with the story of Pandora and the box.
Lego Club
This week’s challenge was to create a sea turtle. The winning team on Monday was Fred and Ophelia, with Matilda and Amelia winning on Wednesday. Congratulations to all.
Sporting Events
On Tuesday a representative of Dorset Cricket visited the school and led an engagement cricket session. All pupils experienced the sessions, with all enjoying the experience.
If this has ignited a spark of interest, then there are a number of local clubs which have junior training sessions, and also play junior competitive games. Stour Provost has its own local team. Do please ask me if you would like further details of local clubs.
THIS TERM
School Clubs
Breakfast and After School Club, staffed and run by Prime Sports in the school hall can be booked online at:
https://primesportscoaching.classforkids.io/ (Select Stower Provost Community School in the specific venue box and scroll down to Wraparound Care.
Breakfast Club runs daily 07.45 – 08.45, and After School Club from 15.30 – 17.00 daily. Please see the Prime Sports website for costs.
We also have a number of ‘hobby’ clubs being offered this term including:
| Club | Day | Time | For year groups | Run by | Cost |
| Lego | Monday | 15.20 – 16.30 | Year 1/2/3/4/5 | Miss Buxton | £3.99 + VAT per session |
| KS1 Multi-Sports
(summer sports) |
Tuesday | 15.30 – 16.30 | Years 1 & 2 | Prime Sports | FREE |
| Gardening | Tuesday (starting 30th April) | 15.20 – 16.30 | 4 spaces (sign up by emailing Mrs Pike) | Mrs Berwick | £6 for 4 sessions i.e. until half term |
| Lego | Wednesday | 15.20 – 16.30 | Year 1/2/3/4/5 | Miss Buxton | £3.99 + VAT per session |
| Eco Club | Friday | 12.30 – 13.00 | All | Mrs B | FREE |
| KS2 Multi-Sports
(summer sports) |
Friday | 15.30 – 16.30 | Years 3/4/5/6 | Prime Sports | FREE |
Signing up for Clubs
Sports Clubs are free for children to attend and subsidised out of the school’s PEPPSA (sports funding).
Please book any Prime Sports Clubs on:
KS1 – https://primesportscoaching.classforkids.io/info/212
KS2 – https://primesportscoaching.classforkids.io/info/213
Lego Club is booked through https://www.kidswithbricks.com/online-store/Stower-Provost-Community-School-YEAR-1-Dorset-Summer-Term-1-2024-Wednesday-p632155811
Gardening Club with Mrs Berwick. There are 4 spaces available. Please sign up with Mrs Pike by emailing or dropping in.
Pyjamarama Day – 17th May
Pyjamarama Day is to raise money for the Book Trust Campaign, which supports disadvantaged children giving access to books and other resources. Children are invited to wear a pair of pjs all day (other clothes can be worn underneath), and bring in their favourite book to share with the class. We ask children to bring in a £1 donation, which will go towards helping ensure all children can reap the life changing benefits of reading. Please see the attached letter for further information.
Nits
Please would all parents be vigilant, check their child’s hair and take appropriate action. The aim is to eradicate this problem in our school, it does however take a ‘team parental effort’ to make this possible, and I thank those parents who are fastidiously checking their children’s hair and understand their frustration when, week in week out, their children are re-infested!
PTFA
Easy Fundraising
Just a reminder that if you are buying any forthcoming gifts or doing any online shopping, to please sign up and use the Easy Fundraising site for your searching and purchasing. This will generate money for the school, without costing you a penny! If you need a helping hand to sort this, then do please ask.
Class news
Oak
This week, Oak Class have completed writing their recounts of the trip to Feltham Farm last week, including many interesting details and giving their overall opinion of the trip. The children moved on to begin a writing unit based on the book Kick by Mitch Johnson, about a young boy who lives in Indonesia making football boots. The unit focuses on writing a persuasive letter to Jesse Lingard to persuade him to help stop the use of child labour in the manufacturing of football kits – which prompted lots of very interesting discussion. In maths, the Year 5s have been converting units of measurement: millilitres/litres, millimetres/metres and seconds/minutes/hours/days. The Year 6s have been looking at ratio and scaled drawings, identifying the scale factors between similar shapes. In History we started our Ancient Greek unit, looking at the chronology of Ancient Greece and its place in world history, from the Minoan civilisation to the Hellenistic period. In DT we started our unit on Architecture and identified key architectural changes in buildings, from Stonehenge through to modern eco-friendly buildings. (Mrs Toy)
Chestnut
This week, Chestnut Class have been exploring the structure of letters in English. They have written a letter pretending to be Lydia Grace from ‘The Gardener’ and included lots of interesting facts about plants which they have been researching. In Maths, the children have continued to explore Money and have been comparing and adding money which has deepened their understanding.
In Computing, the children looked have been learning to edit and improve posters by changing the style, size and colour of font. In French, we have been continuing to introduce ourselves and answer the question ‘Ca va?’ in different ways. (Ms Gardiner)
Beech
This week, Beech class have been planning and drafting their Bird Feeder Instructions using imperative (bossy) verbs and learning how instructions are laid out. In maths, the children have continued to explore fractions narrowing in on quarters and thirds this week.
In other learning areas, the children went to Forest School to explore mini beasts to create their own bar chart on what mini beasts were found. In History, the children looked at the different monarchs that Britain has had since the Anglo-Saxon period all the way to the present day, focussing on how to use their reigning dates to put them into chronological order. (Mrs Whelan)
Hazel
In Science, the children have been furthering their knowledge of plants by investigating the different types of plants we have within our surroundings, learning about wild and garden plants, the different leaf structures and features, and working out what grows from a bulb and what grows from a seed. This learning was supported by our walk to Duncliffe, where the children had a brilliant time investigating all the different plants they found.
In History, we have continued our learning about the school and its history, looking at old photos and comparing these to the school as it is now.
FS2 have made incredible strides in their phonics learning, and this has been seen in their writing, as you will see from their Tapestry. (Miss Buxton)
Diary dates (dates in red have been added this week)
| 6th – 10th May | All | Key Stage 1 testing week |
| 9th May | 15.30 – 18.00 | Year 2/3 Gillingham Schools Multiskills Festival |
| 10th May | One session during the day per class | Stour Provost Flower Club supporting with art-based activities linked to the Stour Provost Flower Festival. |
| 13th – 16th May | 4 days | KS2 testing week |
| 17th May | All Day | Pyjamarama Day |
| 21st May | 10.00 – 14.30 | Year 3/4 Gillingham Schools mini tennis festival at Port Regis. |
| 24th May | Timings tbc | Sports / Swimming Day |
| 6th June | Timings tbc | Yrs 3 – 6 Gillingham School Athletics Competition at Yeovil |
| 8th June | Timings tbc | Stour Provost Open Gardens – display at 2pm |
| 10th – 16th June | 1 week | Phonic Screening week – year 1 pupils |
| 19th June | 13.45 | M&M show and workshops |
| 28th June | 10.00 -12.00 | Y2 Gillingham Schools Mini Olympics at St Gregory’s school |
| 5th July | Tbc | School play dress rehearsal |
| 8th July | Tbc | Jungle Book visiting performance |
| 9th July | 14.00 | School play performance |
| 10th July | 9.00 – 12.00 | Year 4/5 Gillingham Schools Swimming Gala at Riversmeet |
| 10th July | 16.00 | School play performance |
| 16th July | 9.00 – 11.30 | Year 6 girls PE transition project at Gillingham School (invitation only) |
| 19th July | 14.30 | Leavers Assembly |
| 19th July | 15.20 | Last day of school before the summer holiday |
| 22nd July 2024 | INSET DAY | |
| 23rd July 2024 | INSET DAY |
Best wishes,
Ailsa