http://www.netacademies.net/abbotsweld Issue 8 13th January 2017

Attendance

Well done to these classes for excellent attendance!

Week beginning 4th January:

1st: Tanzanite 97.4%

2nd: Topaz 96.7%

3rd: Aquamarine 94.4%

ABBOTSWELD PRIMARY NEWS ‘ASPIRE EXPLORE ACHIEVE SUCCEED'

STARS OF THE WEEK

Well done to the following

children who have been chosen by their

teachers for the ‘Star of the Week Awards:

Opal: Maya-Rose Yaxley

Citrine: Tyler Jenkins

Emerald: Keita Janson

Topaz: Titas Kurtinaitis

Aquamarine: Dylan Golding-Smith

Sapphire: Dylan Maddison Alfie Jones

Amethyst:: Jack Navin

Tanzanite: Jekaterina Bibiceva

Dear Parents/ carers,

I hope you have all had a lovely break over the holidays and

managed to spend some quality family time with each other. I

wish you a prosperous and peaceful New Year.

Welcome back to an action-packed term at Abbotsweld. The chil-

dren have already returned to some stimulating experiences and

learning opportunities as you will read about later in this newslet-

ter. As usual, they have engaged with their normal energy and

enthusiasm for all aspects of school life so let’s hope the year

continues in this manner.

We are very excited about our new extended provision we will be

offering before school. We no longer wish to just run a ‘breakfast

club’ – we want to extend the learning time for your children so

that they leave with the very best platform to go to secondary

school. We will be delivering English, mathematics and PE activi-

ties. There are also other spaces for lessons to take place e.g.

computing, art, extra reading, yoga and music to name a few.

Please make sure that you have completed and returned your

reply slip to secure your free place! This will start on Monday

23rd January so make sure this date is in your diary!

We have one of our pupils, Regan Cooper, who is going to have

her hair cut for the charity ‘Little Princess Trust.’ This organisation

provides real hair wigs free of charge to boys and girls across the

UK and Ireland that have sadly lost their own hair due to cancer

treatment and other illnesses. On order to help further, Regan

has organised a Mad Hair Day at the school on Friday 20th Janu-

ary. Pupils can wear their favourite hat/cap/hair accessory or

come in with a special or crazy hairstyle for the day and bring a

minimum donation of £1 which will be donated to the charity.

Please support her with this but remember the pupils are still to

wear full school uniform.

Reminder: Please make sure the computer/ X Box/ PS games

the children were given for Christmas are age appropriate as we

have had reports of children receiving and playing games well

above their age range. The rating is there for a reason. Thank

you for your support with this.

HOUSE CUP

Congratulations to Nightingale who won

last week’s House Points award!

Remember to telephone the school if

your child is absent/late. If leaving a

message, please leave a name,

class and reason for absence.

PE STAR OF THE

WEEK

Macie-Leigh Flint for some fantastic individual and linked skills in gymnastics!

FAMILY LEARNING

Free Stay & Play Session for parents and pre-

school children. Open to everyone with pre-school

children.

Starting Tuesday 17th January and then every

Tuesday during term time.

1:30 until 3:00 p.m. Meet at the

school office.

Any further questions please con-

tact Sharon Newton, Family Support

STUNNING STARTS

Years 5 and 6 enjoyed a stunning start to their topic

of Earth and Space this week when they took part in

a workshop, exploring the position of the planets

within the solar system.

DOG’S TRUST ASSEMBLY

The Dog's Trust kindly visited Abbotsweld this week to discuss safety around dogs we are unfamiliar with. We discovered the safest way to meet a new dog by asking the owner first, allowing the dog to smell your hand and then asking where the dog liked to be stroked. These are valuable tips to keep us safe. Maria from the Dog's Trust will be joining us again soon to carry out some workshops in KS2.

DIARY DATES

January 2017 20th January Parent workshop English 9.15am 20th January Mad Hair day for Charity 23rd January New Breakfast Club begins 26th January Citrine Class – Play in a Day Workshop 27th January Opal Class – Play in a Day Workshop 30th January Garnet Class visit to Tesco February 2017 2nd February Ruby class visit to Pizza Express 2nd February Emerald Class assembly 2.45pm 3rd February Parent workshop Maths 9.15am 7th Parent Forum 9.15am 8th February Smoothie Bikes for KS2 9th February Opal Class assembly 2.45pm 10th February End of Term for half term 20th February Return to school 23rd February Parent consultation meetings 1.30pm-7.30pm School closes at 1pm 27th February Emerald visit to Layer Marney Tower March 2017 2nd March World Book Day 9th March Citrine Class assembly 2.45pm Week beginning 13th March Science week Week beginning 20th March Special Ladies’ Day workshops- dates and times to be confirmed 23rd March Topaz and Aquamarine visit to Colchester Zoo 24th March Comic Relief- charity event 27th March Years 3 & 4 production 1.30pm 27th March Sapphire, Tanzanite and Amethyst visit to the Royal Observatory – Planetarium. 28th March Years 3 & 4 production 6.00 pm 30th March Sapphire Class assembly 2.45pm 31st March Easter parade End of Term for Easter April 2017 19th April Pupils return to school 21st April Curriculum letters sent out 24th April St George’s Day celebration

May 2017 Week of 8th May Year 6 SATs tests Weeks of 15th and 22nd May Year 2 SATs 22nd May Parent Forum 9.15 am 25th May Amber Class assembly 2.45pm 26th May End of Term for half term June 2017 5th June Pupils return to school 8th June Aquamarine Class Assembly 2.45pm 9th June Class Photos 12th June INSET day – pupils not in school Week of 13th June Phonics screening for Year 1 pupils 15th June Ruby and Garnet Class assembly 2.45 pm 16th June Special Male workshop – times to be confirmed 23rd June New to Reception parent meeting 26th June New to Year 1 parent meeting 29th June Sports Day July 2017 3rd July Year 5 production 1.30 pm 4th July Year 5 production 6.00 pm 7th – 10th July Year 6 Kingswood visit 11th July Year 2 and Year 6 reports to go out 12th July End of year reports to go out 13th July Class swap 13th July Curriculum evening 3.30-6.30 pm 14th July Reserve Sports Day 17th July Year 6 production 6.00pm 19th July Class Parties 20th July End of Term for summer

NET Academies Trust (NET) –Football Representative Team Runners-

Up at the EFL Kids Cup.

On Tuesday 11th January, 7 students across the NET Academies (Abbotsweld, Latton Green and Longwood) travelled to

Colchester United’s Shrub End Community Centre for the 2017 EFL Kids Cup. Twenty teams from around Essex were

represented by over 150 pupils. The team had a nervous start to their first game but came back strongly to defeat

Gosfield 5-0. Their second game was against St Oysth. This game was a tense affair with NET creating chances but not

taking them, fortunately the team scored a vital goal to secure a 1-0 victory. NET knew now that the group was in their

own hands and that a win against a strong St Michaels would see them win the group and automatically qualify for the

Quarter-Finals. NET produced one of their best performances of the tournament with a comfortable 4-0 win to top the

group.

Then came the nervous wait to find out who would be NET’s next opponent. The team knew that the Quarter-Final fixture

would be against the third overall runner up and this was Lawford Primary School. The fixture was a tight game with the

team hitting the post and soon after, we secured a 1-0 victory. Onto the Semi-Final, and NET were up against Whitecourt

Primary from Braintree. After 12 minutes of football the game was tied at 0-0, penalties awaited. NET won the penatlies

by 3-2, meaning they had reached the final! The final was against Kelvedon St Mary’s School. Both teams looked up for

the final and the game was an open and pulsating affair. Kelvedon started well and NET had goalkeeper Caleb to thank

for keeping the score at 0-0. Unfortunately for NET, Kelvedon caught

them on the break and scored the first goal of the tournament against

NET in open play. The final whistle went and NET had suffered a 1-0

defeat. Although disappointed, the team held their heads up high and

soon came to realise what they had achieved in their first competition

together.

Mr Bailey was extremely happy with the team and added “For seven

students from the three schools in the academy to come together and

perform like they did is a real achievement. The students should be

proud of their performance and to only concede one goal in the whole

tournament is something I am immensely proud of. I am proud of eve-

TESCO TRIP

Ruby Class had a fantastic time at Tesco learning about where our food

comes from and how a supermarket works. The children had lots of different

things to taste and smell and even had a go at decorating their own hot cross

buns. They were delicious!

Reception Reminder: Please remember to bring your child to the Reception

Well done to Lee-Henry Heath who represented us in

the team.

FUN FITNESS WITH BODY CARE

This week, Years 5 and 6 began an 8 week Body Care programme with a qualified personal trainer. For the first session children took part in a fun fitness

lesson where they experienced a range of activities

such as: skipping, sit-ups, push ups, star jumps and

a bleep test to determine their current fitness level.

Their challenge is to improve their times by the end

of the course!

SPACE THEMED SPECIAL

DINNER

On Thursday 19th January,

we will be having a special

space themed lunchtime.

The children having school

dinners will receive a fun

activity sheet around space

to complete and the menu is

pizza and chips along with

jelly and ice cream for des-

sert! Don’t miss out!

HIP HOP ASSEMBLY

Hip Hop Pop is in the house! An exciting new dance club is starting very

soon. On Tuesday, our assembly turned into a dance off. We learnt moves

and bopped away with our Hip Hop Pop instructor. The teachers also

caught the dance bug and joined in. This club will be on Fridays and is

open to Years 2-6.