COLBY PRIMARY SCHOOLBridge Road

ColbyNorwich

NR11 7EATel: 01263 733381 Fax: 01263 731300

E-mail: office@colby.norfolk.sch.ukWebsite: www.colby.norfolk.sch.uk

Headteacher: Mrs Christine Mead

School News Issue 5 – Friday 7th October 2016

The Week AheadMonday 10th October: Breakfast Club from 8am. £2.50 per session. Keyboard lessons continue. Cross Country Timed Running for KS2 at lunchtime. School Council meeting at 11am. Dodgeball Club continues 3 – 4.15pm. £3 per session.

Parent Interviews 3 – 6pm.

Tuesday 11th October: Breakfast Club from 8am. £2.50 per session. Knitting Club with Mrs Wymer at lunchtime. Eco Club led by Lucy (Head of Eco) at lunchtime. After School Club. 3 – 4.30pm. £3 per session. Table Tennis Club £3 per session. 3 – 4.15pm spaces available.

KS2 Boys’ Football Club 3 – 4.30pm with James and Ed. £3 per session.

Parent Interviews 3 – 5pm.

Wednesday 12th October: Breakfast Club from 8am. £2.50 per session. Stay and Play 9 – 10.15am. £1.50.

KS1 Football Club at lunchtime. Cross Country Club at lunchtime. Leadership Club with Mrs Moulton at lunchtime. Year 4, 5 and 6 Girls’ Footie Club continues 3 – 4.30pm. £3 paid in advance.

After School Club. 3 – 4.30pm. £3 per session. Parent Interviews 3 – 6pm.

Thursday 13th October: Breakfast Club from 8am. £2.50 per session. After School Club. 3 – 4.30pm. £3 per session.

Library open to parents 8.40 am – every week. KS2 Girls’ Footie Club with James at lunchtime. NO SWIMMING TODAY.

Friday 14th October: Breakfast Club from 8am. £2.50 per session.KS1 Harvest Festival 9.15am. KS1 Parents invited.

Tug of War at lunchtime. House Championships at lunchtime. Science Club at lunchtime.

Headteacher Awards Mia, Rosa and Milly (Amethyst) for awesome mathematics

Ben (Amethyst) for awesome mathematics Ben (Amethyst) for even more awesome mathematics

Felix (Emerald) for great place valueLily and Harvey (Emerald) for excellent partitioning

Lily (Emerald) for super shape knowledge Emily (Amber) for writing “cat” independently Shelbi (Amber) for great joining in in Spanish

Axel (Amethyst) for super science Freya (Amethyst) for marvellous maths

Oren, Iggy, Evan, Reuben and Oliver (Amethyst) for good scores in a test William (Amethyst) for marvellous maths

Rosa (Amethyst) for marvellous maths Jim, Rosa, Freya, William and Rose (Amethyst) for super scene setting

Sophie, Daisy and Jim (Amethyst) for great computing Edward (Amethyst) for excellent maths Milly (Amethyst) for marvellous maths

Sophie and Iggy (Amethyst) for awesome Pung Fu Harry (Amethyst) for being first in maths word problems

Harry and Freya (Amethyst) for multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000Ben (Amethyst) for accuracy in maths

Ben (Amethyst) for even more accuracy in maths Philomena (Ruby) for running 5K

Elise (Amethyst) for super swimming Alastair, Grace and Felix (Emerald) for wonderful descriptive writing about castles

Grace (Emerald) for doing loads of LEXIA at home Jack C, Rhys and Darcia (Amber) for excellent phonics

Freddie, Alfie, Phoebe and Jack M (Amber) for great guided writing Bella, Amelie, Toby, Sam I-G, Oscar and Isabelle (Amber) for great guided writing

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Dates for your diaryWednesday 12th October 6 – 8pm: North Walsham Open Evening for Year 6 children. Friday 21st October: School closes for half term at 3pm. Tuesday 1st November: FOCS meeting to discuss the Christmas Fair in the school hall at 9am. Thursday 3rd November: FOCS Jumble Sale after school.Friday 4th November: FOCS Jumble Sale at 8.50am. Monday 7th November: Phil the Bag recycling collection.Monday 14th November: FOCS meeting in the school hall at 9am. Monday 21st November: Flu Immunisation for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 children.Friday 2nd December: Year 6 watch The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at AHS.Friday 2nd December: FOCS Christmas Fair 3 – 4.45pm. Tuesday 6th December: Height and weight measuring for Reception and Year 6. Tuesday 13th December: KS2 Christmas Performance rehearsal at The Atrium.Wednesday 14th December: KS2 Christmas Performance at The Atrium pm. (Time to be confirmed.)Friday 16th December: School closes for Christmas holiday at 3pm. Thursday 5th January: School reopens for the Spring term.

Harvest Praise ServiceSunday October 9th at 11am - St Andrew’s Church, Felmingham

Erpingham 5k Rural Fun RunCongratulations to Philomena (Ruby)

for completing the Erpingham 5K Run with her Mum on Sunday 25th Sept 2016. Well done to you both!

FOCS Christmas Fair Friday 2nd December 3 – 4.45pm

The FOCS Christmas Fair is one of the highlights of the Colby School year – a time to have fun, get excited about Christmas and raise money for great projects. Laura (Ava and Oscar’s Mum) and Jo (Jack and Ben’s Mum) have volunteered to organise the Christmas Fair this year and they are very interested in having input from you. They will be holding a meeting on Tuesday 1st November at 9am in the school hall to give you a chance to come and share any ideas you have. If you would like to contact Laura or Jo before the meeting or you are unable to attend and would like to give your input, please contact them by email on:laura-webb77@hotmail.com or Jo.mindenhall@hotmail.co.ukThank you.

National Trust & Aylsham Cluster Free Activities DaySaturday 8th October 2016 at

Blickling Hall, Aylsham 2pm – 4pmCome along to this free event hosted by the National Trust and the Aylsham Cluster Friends and PTA

groups offering families the opportunity of enjoying a large range of FREE activities in conjunction with the

“50 things to do” programmeActivities will include woodland art, apple pressing, mud faces, conker run, fairy houses, tree

decorations, twig stars and either mini raft or kite making.No booking required – just turn up on the day. You can stay for as long as you please.

PLEASE NOTE – ALL children MUST be accompanied by an adult.

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Well done Year 6 2015 – 2016 I was delighted to receive the following letter from Tim Coulson, Regional School Commissioner for the Department for Education this week:

“Dear Mrs Mead,

I was very pleased to see the school’s provisional Key Stage 2 results for this summer. Everyone is aware of the higher demands of the tests than in previous years and it was very impressive how well and quickly your staff have adapted and taught children to the standards required.

These results come about through back-breaking work.

Congratulations to you and your colleagues for doing so well.

Very best wishes for the coming year.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Coulson”

We are very proud of last year’s Year 6 – they worked hard, had fun and left Colby School as kind, confident and enthusiastic young adults. Well done to them all.

Congratulations to Elise (Amethyst) for competing in a swimming gala in Norwich last weekend. She was awarded a Gold Medal for Backstroke, a Silver Medal for Freestyle and a Bronze Medal for swimming one mile! What a swimming super star!

Reading Regular reading is such an important part of developing in all areas of the curriculum, and we hope you will be able to help your child read at home. All children should aim to read at home at least three times a week. For younger children 5 – 10 minutes of reading can make a huge difference to their confidence and enthusiasm for reading. Older children may prefer to read for longer periods. Any type of reading is great – magazines, newspapers, websites etc. More ideas for reading at home and some competitions will follow in future newsletters.

Please keep a record of the reading your child completes at home in their Reading Diary. Their Reading Diary should come back into school every day. If you have any questions about your child’s reading please do not hesitate to speak to their class teacher.

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Phil The Bag and Jumble Sale – Thursday 3rd NovemberMost of you will be familiar with ‘Phil The Bag’, but for new parents it is a service which takes old clothing and textiles, recycling them and giving the school money in return. Please see their website for further details of what can and cannot be recycled. Www.philthebag.co.uk. We are asking you to bring in bags of your unwanted items on Thursday 3rd November.

Alongside the recycling, we will be holding a jumble sale of donated children's clothes Thursday 3rd November after school and Friday 4th November after drop off. If you have clothes that your children have grown out of but may be of use to others, please bring them to school at the same time as the recycled items, but in a bag labelled as jumble sale items.

We will giving the class that collects the most bags £50 so be sure to include your child's class.

Quiz NightWe will be holding a quiz and chips night in November – date tbc. It's great fun, and you really don't need to be a whiz at quizzes or have a team. Just come along for a night of laughs!

Easy fundraising If you haven't had a chance or you are a new parent, please sign up to www.easyfundraising.org.uk. It donates a small amount to FOCS on purchases made online, at no cost to you.

Please use this link as we get extra for referrals:

Www.easyfundraising.org.uk/invite/3CLF63/

Christmas FayreSomeone had to mention it! The date for the Christmas Fayre is Friday 2nd December at 3pm.

Childminder AvailableLittle Treasures Childcare

If you would like extra after school childcare, we have been contacted byMaria Lynch who is an Ofsted Registered Childminder, based in North Walsham.

Please contact her direct for more information of availability:-07780 667876

Maria196768@yahoo.co.uk

Flu ImmunisationPlease could all consent forms sent out for pupils in Yrs 1, 2 and 3 to have the flu nasal vaccination be returned to school as soon as possible. Thank you.

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Amber Class Animal WeekAmber Class absolutely loved all the activities in Animal Week. They put on gloves to hold the hedgehogs and were very brave, despite the prickles! The stick insects were a big hit too. The children loved looking closely at their feet.When the zoo came to school I expected there to be a few children who would be reluctant to touch or hold the less ‘cute’ animals like the snake and the millipede. Not at all! Almost all the children happily reached out to the animals and enjoyed the experience.The visiting owls were another experience which Amber Class enjoyed immensely. Again they were very brave with each of them holding or stroking one. Some of the owls with large wing spans flapped their wings and the children holding them enjoyed the breeze!

Here are some of the children’s comments:

Sadie: I held a snake. He felt hard and cold. I held a medium-sized owl and I had to wear a glove. It was quite light. And I held a big stick insect. I thought it was fun.

Callum: Last week I saw a snake and owls. We visited the guinea pigs. I stroked a hedgehog and it was spiky! My favourite were the snake and the meerkats.

By Mrs Williams

Sapphire Class Animal Week Sapphire class had a fantastic Animal Week! Children really enjoyed going outside and holding hedgehogs, giant stick insects and lots of mini-beasts they found in our garden. The owl workshop was so interesting and we got some fantastic photos of the children holding a variety of different owls. Children had to work really hard to hold the largest owl! The mini zoo was mesmerising as children got a chance to hold such unusual animals. It was wonderful to see children being brave enough to touch animals that may appear scary or dangerous.A brilliant week all around – thank you FOCS!By Mrs Ward

Here is Bonnie’s account of the Mini Zoo day:On Monday a mini zoo came to school. First we touched a turtle and it was bumpy. Then we saw a red leg millipede - it was very smooth. Next we saw an armadillo and it was called a hairy armadillo and it had a hard shell. After that there was a snake and it went around my neck! We saw a few more animals and then we went into class. What a great day I had! Thank you.

Emerald Class Animal Week

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At the beginning of Animal Week someone brought in hedgehogs and Harvey brought in his stick insects; they let us hold the hedgehogs and the stick insects, I was too scared to hold a stick insect though!After that the manager of Amazona Zoo came in and talked about things like what animals they look after and asked us to identify animals from some pictures she showed us.Then Kimmy's mobile zoo came in, Emerald class got to see: meerkats (we got to stroke one of them), a tarantula (we didn't get to stroke it), an exotic millipede (we got to stroke it but I was too scared!), a young Royal Python (we got to stroke it and even hold it, I didn't hold it), a very hairy armadillo (we got to stroke it) and a Leopard Gecko (we got to stroke it).Next day a vet came in, she showed us a tapeworm, a REAL bone, some iguana eggs and an X-ray print; we also talked with her about how long it took to get through the university course to be a vet – it takes a long time and lots of hard work! After the excitement of the vet, some owls came in there was a Barn Owl, a rare BLACK Barn Owl, a Tawny, an Asian Tawny and two others. I think they were Crested Owls or something like that.They talked to us about their owls and I answered one or two questions.You also got to hold one of the owls if you wanted to, I held the Black Barn Owl! Mr B had one sitting on his shoulder for ages!Thank you to Friends of Colby School for this wonderful week :-)By Felix (Emerald)

Ruby Class Animal Week

I really loved Animal Week because there were lots of things planned for us. I'll start with my favourite day and that was Wednesday when Kimmy’s Zoo came in so we could feel their animals. My favourite animals were the snake, meerkat and the armadillo. My least favourite was the tarantula because I hated it’s huge, black, thick legs and the way it walked.On Tuesday there was a lady that came in with some hedgehogs and we were allowed to hold them. They were a bit spikey but they weren't as bad as I thought. On the same day Harvey brought in some stick insects and told us all about them – they were huge!It was a great week – thank you very much for all the fun. By Isabelle M (Ruby)

On Monday Imogen the zoo keeper came to school to tell us about her animals at her zoo. She works at Amazona Zoo in Cromer. All of the animals came from South America.I saw hedgehogs on Tuesday and they were so cute. I held a hedgehog in my hands.On Wednesday Kimmy’s Zoo came to school and I had a fantastic time. I touched a skunk, an armadillo, a snake, a millipede and a tortoise.On Thursday I saw some owls and I didn’t touch the owls because they didn’t like it.On Friday it was Animal Dress Up Day and I was a lion. A vet came to talk to us about how to look after animals.My favourite part of the animal week was seeing the hedgehogs. I had a lovely week.By Joel (Ruby)

Amethyst Class Animal Week Last week was fabulous. We had so much fun seeing all the animals and doing animal type activities.First we had the manager from the Amazona Zoo in to see us. She told us lots about what she does. We got to see pictures of the animals that they have at the Zoo, which was really cool. It was great to see animals we hadn’t seen before like the enormous anaconda!

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Next we held hedgehogs as well as a stick insect; it was really fun. Even though the stick insects were quite creepy, they were fascinating. The hedgehogs were prickly but holding them was a unique affair. Thank you so much to the lady who works for the Hedgehog Sanctuary that came in because we really enjoyed the experience.On Wednesday it was truly exciting when an actual mobile zoo arrived at the school gates and showed us meerkats, a skunk, an armadillo, a tarantula, a lizard, a millipede, a tortoise and a snake. It was fabulous! Learning about the animals was intriguing and we had a really good leader who explained everything very well. We discovered some incredible facts, for example how the lizard can shed its tail when in danger. A vet visited us and explained what vets do. It was very educational but some of us were a bit squeamish. We saw an awesome Xray. The dog in the X-Ray had clearly eaten a pen and paper clip! Lastly we had someone from Happisburgh who kept his own owls. He showed us some great ones! There were tiny ones and massive ones. The biggest owl was the Eagle owl, which was from India (But one of the baby owls came very close to his height). At the end we were allowed the privilege of holding the owls. They were actually surprisingly heavy and quite energetic. It was really enjoyable and we loved every second.To conclude the week, it was an amazing 5 days and each activity was met with enthusiasm. Thank you to Harvey and Fred’s mum, FOCS and everyone that helped make this week so fun! By Freya and Lucy (Amethyst).

On Friday the 26th we were lucky enough to have the manager of Amazona Zoo, Imogen White, visit our school. Unlike most zoos, Imogen's is only for animals that live in South America, ranging from a tapir to a guinea pig!Imogen started off her career at Wroxham Barns and I am sure many of you have been there. At school and at university she studied science and maths. She decided to create Amazona when she travelled all around South America and was inspired.Her zoo even includes a 21 feet long anaconda which is about the size of Emerald Class!As well as being the manager, she is head zookeeper which means she helps out the other zookeepers.Thank you very much to Imogen for giving up her time, everybody had an amazing experience and we all learnt a lot!

On Friday 30th September we had a very interesting visit from Eva’s Mum, a vet called Rebecca. She was extremely entertaining with her dog, Ralph. Her dog was lovely and well trained, and at the end some of us got to hear his heart beat and he was just amazing at being relaxed, calm and laid back.Rebecca talked about the most common and the most rare operations that dogs can have. Two of the most common procedures were dog vaccinations and neutering. She also brought in some worms that live in dog stomachs, causing them to have stomach pain and illness. Being a vet, she said, you don’t have to be the best at maths or science but you have to have a very good understanding of them so you must work hard.Because Rebecca came in, we all have a greater appreciation for our pets and animals in general – and that’s brilliant! Thank you soooooooo much! And we all hope you can come back another day with your lovely dog, Ralph.By Rosa and Milly (Amethyst)

More Headteacher Awards Maddy, Isabelle, Mae and Joel (Ruby) for great Animal Week reports

Sadie and Callum (Amber) for Animal Week comments Bonnie (Sapphire) for a great Animal Week report

Felix (Emerald) for a great Animal Week report Ezra (Amethyst) for excellent homework Ezra (Amethyst) for marvellous maths

Frank (Amethyst) for great play-writing Ben (Amethyst) for good vocabulary in play-writing

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Jacob (Amethyst) for homework Pung Fu writing Evan (Amethyst) for great play-writing

Phoebe (Emerald) and Theo (Amber) for great litter picking at the weekend Tom, Evie, Sophie, Freddie and George (Ruby) for great French

Luke, Imogen E, Maddy, Abbie and Erin (Ruby) for great multiplying Isabelle (Ruby) for being kind to a classmate

Isabelle (Ruby) for great presentationHolly (Ruby) for excellent chicken care

Abigail (Ruby) for great REGrace (Ruby) for wonderful computing

Mae, Daisy, Grace, Aston, Maddy, Freddie, Erin, Pearl, Holly and Imogen E (Ruby) for amazing fish descriptions

Pearl and Imogen H (Ruby) for marking landscapes on a world map Joel (Ruby) for great questions

Isabelle M (Ruby) for a great Animal Week report Joel (Ruby) for a great Animal Week report

Freya, Lucy, Milly and Rosa (Amethyst) for great Animal Week reports Will I-G, Gracie, Alastair and Felix (Emerald) for amazing descriptive writing

Jamie, Ben, Phoebe, Felix, Jessie, Ruby E, Finley and Theo (Emerald) for excellent reading diaries

Bonnie, Ethan, Gabriel and Reece (Sapphire) for amazing reading Isabel T (Sapphire) for a beautiful Autumn picture

Isabel T (Sapphire) for lots of spelling practice at home Jennifer and Beatrice (Sapphire) for great number line work

Honor, Ivy, Jennifer, Charlie and Henry (Sapphire) for brilliant news-writing Bella and Ava (Sapphire) for brilliant science questions

Lily Year 2 (Sapphire) for super PE Isabel N (Sapphire) for a beautiful sky poem

Bonnie and Bella (Sapphire) for great poems

Christine Mead

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