7th October 2022
Dear Parents and Carers,
I believe I have started each newsletter to date with a thank you of some kind, and this newsletter is no exception! An enormous thank you to all within our community for their exceptional generosity with our harvest festival collection. The Gillingham Food Bank volunteers were extremely grateful for the car load of goodies, which will go some way to supporting many local families.
The MacMillan Coffee Afternoon, which preceded our Harvest Festival, raised an incredible £74.75 for MacMillan Cancer Care, with a further £28 raised from the raffle of fresh items donated to the Harvest Festival. The raffle money was handed to the Gillingham Food Bank as a cash donation.
Once again thank you to all for your generous donations, the baking of cakes, buns or biscuits and for your support of these events. I only hope you enjoyed our Harvest celebration as much as I did – I know two Harvest samba ‘groovers’ in the back row that certainly seemed to!
PTFA
The PTFA met for their AGM last Friday, with the meeting arranged for Monday 10th October at 2.40pm. Please come to the front door and Mrs Pike will direct you to the meeting room.
Open Classroom
Our Open Classroom afternoon is on 12th Oct at 15.00.
This is an opportunity for children to share their books with parents/carers. Reception pupils do not work in books at this stage of their education, as much is play based learning, therefore this is an opportunity for your child to show you areas of learning within the classroom which they particularly enjoy. If you have more than one child at the school, you are welcome to share your time between your children’s classrooms. Class teachers will not be available to comment regarding work in books as they will be caring for children within the class whose parents and/or carers may not be able to attend.
The aim is to offer an opportunity for you to see your child’s work prior to parents evening on 17th and 18th October.
Please gain entry to the school via the door which your child uses to enter the school each morning. You will be signed in at these points. You are welcome to take your child home once you have seen books and classrooms. Please ensure you sign out on leaving at your entry point.
Pupil Premium Paperwork
I would urge one and all to check if your child is eligible for the Pupil Premium payment. Eligibility details can be found attached. Website login details are: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/pupil-premium.
Data Sheets
Please would everyone return their data sheets to Mrs Pike. There data sheets contain information with updated contact numbers and allergy information, which is vital to us to ensure the well-being of your child.
Volunteers/Helpers
We would welcome any parental help in school, particularly to hear readers. Anybody with a free hour or two would be welcomed with open arms! Please let Mrs Pike or your child’s class teacher know if you are able to help, be this on a regular or on an adhoc basis.
Lunchtime supervisors (Approximately 5 hours per week)
If anyone would be interested in either a lunchtime supervisor role in school, do please get in contact. I would be very happy to discuss what each role entails and give further details.
The Rotary Club Shoebox Appeal 2022
Mrs Pike has 20 boxes for the Rotary Club of Gillingham (Dorset) Shoebox Scheme 2022, sitting ready and waiting for collection and filling by any willing parent. Collection for these boxes has been requested for Monday 17th October, so time is running out for them to be filled.
Class Room News
Oak Class
This week Oak class have been looking at the need for time zones, and wondering why some of them are odd shapes! The children have been writing a recount about landing on the moon and adding detail to their writing. In maths, they have been exploring multiplication, including a quick dip into the grid method – just to see what it is like. Next week the class are looking forward to their history lessons, which have been blocked together to enable as much in-depth study as possible. Ad astra!
Chestnut Class
This week Chestnut class have been focusing on addition in Maths and the different methods they can make use of. They’ll be continuing this next week and then the children will be moving on to subtraction.
In English, the class have been working on instructions and setting the instructions in the context of how to wash a woolly mammoth.
The class enjoyed a workshop put on by the Gold Hill Museum. Next week, pupils will be looking at Stonehenge and the theories behind why it was built.
The Gold Hill Museum have announced that they are providing free workshops now and kindly didn’t charge the school for the presentation Chestnut Class had. Please see Mrs Pike if you would like your voluntary donation returned.
Beech Class
Beech class have been focusing on traditional tales this week, including Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. Child have sequenced the stories, created sentences linked to the tales and created their own storylines with the traditional storylines adapted to show their own versions! In maths children have been consolidating their understanding of symbols including more than, fewer than and equal to.
Thematic work has focused around the theme of leaves in art, exploring and developing an understanding of habitats in science and the introduction of the story of Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot in history and music.
Hazel Class
This week Hazel Class have been looking at colour mixing and people who help us. Next week the focus will be looking at what jobs the children might like to do in the future and their aspirations. We also have a visit from a paramedic on Thursday afternoon, who will talk about their role and there will be the opportunity to look at a paramedic’s equipment and how to carry out very simple first aid.
Diary dates for the forthcoming week and beyond. (Additions are marked in red)
| 10th Oct | 14.40 | PTFA Meeting |
| 12th Oct
|
15.00 | Open Classroom afternoon
(An opportunity for children to share their books & work with parents) |
| 17th Oct
|
15.30 – 17.30 | Parent Meetings |
| 18th Oct
|
17.30 – 19.30 | Parent Meetings |
| 21st Oct
|
15.20 | Half term |
| 31st Oct
|
08.50 | Second half of term starts |
| 18th Nov | All Day | Children in Need Day
|
| 1st Dec | 09.00 | Christmas Tree Service & decorating the tree
|
| 7th Dec | 14.30 | Nativity in the Hall
|
| 13th Dec | 16.00 | Carol Service at St Michael and The Angels’ Church, Stour Provost – all welcome. |
| 16th Dec
|
15.20 | End of Term |
Best wishes,
Mrs B