desk thursday 23 october 2014
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Head’s desk
We have all had a busy and highly productive start to the Autumn term. The class
pages enclosed will delight as ever.
To begin a big thank you to the 52 families who returned their parent questionnaires.
The results demonstrate a very high level of satisfaction and we are grateful for
your positive feedback (further details to follow shortly in a separate letter).
We have had one parent chat this half term where we discussed some of the
headlines in our new school development plan (SDP). The SDP is really a road map of
how we develop as a school where we want to be in the future. It details specific mile
stones that we will work towards. We will be circulating an over view soon of the
school development plan having consulted with all parts of our school community.
How to communicate most effectively with our parents is always something we keep
under review. As a direct result of an idea at parent chat, Wen Mann has volunteered
to produce a parent diary which is circulated weekly. Also we a several steps closer to
our new website which is in demo form and awaiting the finishing touches.
With our first parents evening of the year now complete, we will be looking to adapt
the format for the spring term to enable both you and your child to be as fully
involved as possible.
Our cultural activities continue to enrich our children’s holistic development and with
a cinema visit to listen to classical music (Y3 and 4), trips out to the Victorian
classroom in Hitchin (Y2) , Celtic Harmony(Y3), Stow Anglo Saxon village (Y4) and
‘history off the page’ visiting (Y1 ) we believe your children access high quality
provision above and beyond the basics. For an overview of how we are implementing
Thursday 23rd October 2014
the new National curriculum do visit our class pages on the website for the curriculum
maps at www. layston.herts.sch.uk
Our sporting provision goes from strength to
strength and it is a delight to announce that we have
been awarded a Gold Sports Kite Mark from the
Sainsbury's School Games initiative. This is a
Government led awards scheme launched in 2012 to
reward schools for their commitment to the
development of sport competition across their
school and into the community. It also promotes and
celebrates the provision of high quality sporting and healthy life style opportunities
in schools. The gold standard is the very highest award to achieve and relatively rare
for a smallish First school. We are therefore thankful to the NE Sports Partnership,
Sports Link, local sports clubs and to our own PE
coordinator and staff at Layston who provide such a
range of activity everything from BMX to Sports
Olympiad, multi – skills and swimming festivals to
football, netball, gym and fit for life clubs. Finally of
course we thank our children who week by week good
naturedly and with determination participate with such
gamesmanship and enthusiasm.
As always our Christian ethos is
enriched by our links with St
Pater’s church and it is always a
great pleasure to welcome so many
families to our annual harvest
service there. With nearly 300
adults and children as
congregation, the service was a
joyful and uplifting reminder of
all that we have to be thankful
for, not least the children’s own
gifts and talents. Each child brought a food
contribution to be laid on the altar and afterwards the produce was
distributed to our nearby sheltered housing community by our year 4 children. Thank
you cards from residents to the children are a reminder of the gratitude felt by the
recipients and how little acts
of practical support and
kindness can never be
underestimated
As we conclude our half terms
study on the Christian value
of thankfulness, we have
indeed so very much to be
thankful for; as one of our
youngest children has
written:
Dear God,
Thank you for our world and for making
us in it.
Amen
Kind regards
Myra Bloomfield
Reception
We started by looking at the work of Jackson Pollock and then
decided to make our own pictures in the same style. I am sure
many of the children came home with paint in their hair but
look at the
photographs. I am
sure you can see we
all had great fun.
We had to think of
others as we flicked
or dripped our paint
on the paper. We had
to think about where
other people were standing and where the paint would land.
Surprisingly Mrs Handy did not get too messy!! All our fantastic
pictures are on display in class so please pop in and see them.
We have also been
spending time settling
in to our class and
getting to know each
other. The children
have taken advantage
of the fantastic
weather to take most
of their learning
outside.
We have been learning how to help
each other and to encourage each
other. Can you make a track for the
train to run on? Can we share the carriages so that everyone
can play?
We discovered that if you are making the tallest tower that you
can, you need the help of a tall person to reach the top.
We also enjoyed making up
imaginary underwater
stories.
Mrs Handy, Mrs Chowdrey
and I look forward to a very
rewarding year.
Year 1
In Year 1 we have been thinking about how a space shuttle manages to launch into
outer space!
We discussed how rockets need a special fuel to create enough energy to lift a heavy
rocket off the ground.
Several members of Year 1 assisted Mrs Freeman in creating our own rocket and
exploring how we could create our own lift off!
We discovered that because a balloon is much lighter than a rocket we were able to
create our own 'blast off' using the air in the balloon as the energy, which created a
thrust, when we let the balloon go.
We had tremendous fun counting down from 10 to 0, shouting 'blast off' and
watching our balloon rocket soar to.....the other side of the room!
We have also been trying our hands at becoming weather reporters! We have been
thinking about the words we use to describe the weather and practiced recording it
too. We each took home a weather recording sheet and marked down what we
observed over a week. We were pleased to report that the sun came out a lot that
week! Not too much precipitation and visibility was good!
Year 2
We’ve had a lovely start to the year in
Year 2! We’ve all got to know each other
and have made our classroom ‘ours’ by
making our own owl table signs, finding our
own table space and earning our super
bolts for our super heroes!
With so much going on that we love like recorders with Miss Lomax and Mrs
Doncaster, music time with Mrs Watkins, times table practise through fun maths
songs, writing workshops, P.E with Mr Green, swimming on Wednesday afternoons, Art
with Mrs Cooper and practising our Harvest song we have so much to tell you about!
Instead of talking about it all, we have chosen to talk about our favourite – The
Victorians!
We have been learning lots about Victorian clothes,
homes and toys as well as school life in the Victorian
times.
“We had lots of fun at the Victorian school museum!”
(Oliver K)
“We’ve been doing lots of writing too! Every week we
have been describing the Victorians and writing down
what we have learnt.” (Emily)
“We’ve been watching Mary Poppins too and wrote our
own nanny advert.” (Jonny)
“I like the songs from Mary Poppins. Miss Bowman lets
us sing along!” (Aiden)
We are all very excited for the year ahead especially
after making such a wonderful start! Well done and
thank you to YEAR 2 for working so hard!
Year 3
We’ve had a busy start to the year, but everyone seems to have settled into Year 3
really well which was confirmed during a short conversation I had with Jake last
week.
Jake: “You’re the best man teacher I’ve ever had.”
Me: “Thanks Jake. Have you ever had a male teacher before?”
Jake: “Well… no.”
Back in the first week of September the
children were let loose outside with the
iPads, where their filming and directing
skills were put to the test. With a little
editing, we managed to produce a class
video which the children have really
enjoyed watching in class.
The children did a
fantastic job with their
first homework. With
topics including Lego,
hairdressing, Costa
Rica and the Premier
League, we enjoyed
watching a diverse
range of presentations. I was
delighted with the enormous
amount of effort that had clearly
gone into them so very well done!
With the new National Curriculum comes a greater
emphasis on teaching programming as part of the newly
renamed ‘computing’ subject. As a result, we have been
learning how to code using Espresso Coding. This is an easy
to use program which, step-by-step teaches children basic
coding techniques in a fun and engaging way. Within a
couple of weeks, lots of the class had already designed
and published their own apps on the website. If any of
the children would like to use this
at home that is allowed as part of
the school’s subscription and the
login details are as follows:
www.espressocoding.co.uk
Username: student16080
Password: layston (all lowercase)
We have also been composing and performing
our own pieces of music with Mrs Watkins and
we enjoyed the trip to Watford to see the
BBC Ten Pieces film at the cinema.
We have been
using the new
Numicon sets in
maths to help
learn about
place value and
number bonds
and some
children have
been learning
how to tackle
some really tricky addition questions.
Before experiencing a round house at Celtic
Harmony, we made our own model versions last week.
We had to weave wood
(art straws) between
stakes (sticks) to
create the wattle walls
before making a cone
for the roof. We had
to work really
carefully as the
models were fragile, but everyone did a great job and
we saw some excellent team working skills along the
way.
Everyone seemed to really enjoy the trip to Celtic
Harmony. It was a busy day which included making
flour and dough, weaving, trading, a warrior demo and
the childrens’ favourite part…… lunch! Earlier this
week we wrote recounts detailing what we got up to
which the children have worked really hard on.
“At the end I
was tired but it
was really fun!”
Rachel.
Year 4
It has been an incredibly busy term so far in Year 4 but that’s the way we like it.
We have been learning to be persuasive and judging by the homework that came in,
the advertising industry will be thriving in the years to come! We used our persuasive
skills to create posters for our Cake Bake that helped raise over £100.
Thinking of the Cake Bake, we all took inspiration from Mary Berry and Paul
Hollywood and created some edible masterpieces. Using our mathematical skills we
measured, poured, weighed and mixed our way to the culinary creations you feasted
upon.
Furthermore, we have been very active and been taking part in all kinds of sports.
We have been in training for the Tag Rugby Festival and trying out lots of exercises
and routines to get us ready. In addition to the rugby we have been racing BMX
bikes and practising all kinds of tricks.
We had a phenomenal trip to the cinema to watch ‘Ten Pieces’. We learned about
many new composers and the music they had created. The surround sound in the
cinema was incredible, it was almost as if we were there. We also listened out for any
ostinatos that we had been learning about in music.
As Year Fours we have got many new responsibilities, one of which is setting up our
Collective Worship times. We take it in turns to select songs to sing, set up
projectors and layout the hall the best way for each type of Collective Worship. You
may well see some of us being hired on The Apprentice in a few years time!
We have enjoyed researching fascinating facts about the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in
preparation for our visit to West Stow. As part of our learning we had to form a
tribe with our class mates and decide upon a good location to set up our settlement.
It’s not as simple as it first seems! We had to take floods, access to food and
materials and attacks from wild animals into consideration. In the end we all picked a
great location and as far as we’re all aware, our settlements never succumbed to any
of the dangers mentioned.
We are all looking forward to an exciting year ahead in which we will learn lots from
each other, and learn more about ourselves as well.
FOL (Friends of Layston (formerly PTA))
Autumn Term
Our first announcement is that the PTA has changed its name to Friends of Layston
(FOL), this has enabled us to invite new members from our community, grandparents,
Aunts and Uncles along with us parents to play an active role with the events we hold
for our children. As a parent of a child at this school you are automatically a member
of FOL. If you would like to become more involved please contact a committee
member. A list of our members is displayed in our notice board. As always our aim is
to raise funds for the school to pay for equipment and projects which benefit all the
children and in which would not otherwise be provided
Being a member is very rewarding, fun and a great way to meet other parents and get
involved in school life or contributions of help no matter how small is always
appreciated.
At our AGM on 1st October we had a change of our officials and we would like to take
this opportunity to welcome back Steph Strachan as chairperson and thank Julia
Nicholas for her leadership over the last year and her continuing support.
Clothes Bank, despite a couple of hiccups, two collections have already taken place
and raised £80:00 each. So a big thank you for your contributions, please continue to
use this service.
Autumn Term is a very busy one for the children and for us as you will see from the
list of events and activities which have been and are coming up!
Recent Events
Thursday
2nd October
Year 4
Cake Bake
Well done to Year 4 on raising an amazing £104:00, thank you to
all parents who donated and bought cakes and those who kindly
set up and sold the cakes. Our morning sale was a one off due to
lack of helpers We appreciate this caused some concern to
parents as their children had just eaten breakfast, like all FOL
events we rely on volunteers and unfortunately there was
insufficient numbers who were able to sell the cakes after
school and we did not want the children’s and parents efforts to
go to waste. The intention was that you could buy your cake and
be eaten after school and not to replace breakfast, as many of
you did hence the money raised.
Christmas
Cards
It’s been lovely seeing all the children’s Christmas card designs
and we know the children love enjoy this. Now we anticipate
their delivery for distribution.
Return by Wednesday 8th October
Friday
10th October
School
Disco
Big Steve is as always a hit with the children, whilst sometimes
daunting for Reception children I’m sure you will agree all the
children who attended had a great time.
Forthcoming Events
Saturday
18th October
Quiz
Night
Always a popular event with parents and the wider community
and I’m sure you have seen the posters.
Doors open at 7:30pm for 8:00pm start
£8:00 per ticket including Ploughman’s Supper
Licensed Bar
Maximum 8 persons per team
To book a table please email :
friendsoflaystonschool@hotmail.com
or speak to Nina Kingsley or Steph Strachan.
Book by: Thursday 16th October
Friday
24th October
Non
Uniform
Day
Non Uniform day is always a favourite for the children and
Friends of Layston would ask for a donation of £1:00 to help
with our fundraising efforts.
We appreciate that those who have Forest School will not be in
uniform, however your child might like to change out of their
“Forest School Clothes” into something else.
Thursday
6th November
FOL
Monthly
Meeting
This is your opportunity to join us, find out how these events
are put together, take part and make suggestions of other
events. All are welcome.
Wednesday
12th November
Year 3
Cake Bake
Yes it will be Year 3’s turn to compete for the decorated Cake
Bake trophy and £104 to beat!!!!
Your Year Reps will be sending you details soon.
Friday
14th November
Movie
Night
This is a NEW event for us which we are sure your child will
enjoy.
Ticket for this event are £3:00 which includes refreshments
and a snack. Full details will follow shortly
Bookings close : Wednesday 12th November
Wednesday
3rd December
FOL
Monthly
Meeting
Our last meeting of 2014! What will 2015 bring?
Saturday
6th December
Christmas
Fair
As always we finish the year with our Christmas Fair.
Santa will be in his Grotto looking forward to hearing what
surprises the children would like on Christmas morning.
There will be a variety of stalls, tombola’s, Grand Draw and
Traders raffle and outside traders.
If you are able to help set up or man a stall please contact
Tanya Brears or Julia Nicholas
Many thanks to all of you for your continued support.
Governors
Layston’s Full Governing Body met last month. Key to the agenda was agreeing the
structure of the Governing Body for the next year, we are delighted that Claire
Shearn will be our new Vice Chair and Reverend Ian Hill the Chair of our School
Improvement Committee.
The Governors would like to thank parents for their feedback on our Annual Plan, we
are using this feedback in discussion in our forthcoming committee meetings.
At the end of September members of the Governing Body attended the schools
standards visit with our school improvement partner. The Governors are pleased to
report that standards at Layston remain high and are in the top 25% of schools
nationally. Further information on performance will be shared in the Governing Body
Annual Report in the Summer Term.
Finally, our longest serving Governor, Paul Ryman has stood down from the Governing
Body after four years of service. Paul has been an integral part of the team
throughout this period, serving as both chair and vice chair and chair of our school
improvement committee. On behalf of the whole school community, the Governing
Body would like to thank Paul for his time and the impact he has made. We expect to
announce Paul’s replacement as parent Governor next month.
Forthcoming events and updates
At last we have the start date for our heating / boiler upgrade. This is a significant
piece of work lasting 6-8 weeks. It is intended to begin over half term but to
minimise disruption to school routines during term time we have negotiated evening
working from 5pm-11pm Mon- Thurs and from 4pm -11pm on Friday. There will also be
weekend working.
Wed 5th Nov- West Stow Trip – Y4
Tues 11th Nov – 2.30pm – parent chat
Fri 14th Nov – Film night
w/b 17th Nov – Friendship (anti bullying) week
Tues 18th Nov – History off the page Y1
Wed 19th Nov – Book Fair
Wed 26th Nov- Assembly from County Library Services
Sat 6th Dec- FOLS Christmas Fair
Wed 10th Dec – Fri 12th Dec – Christmas Play
Mon 15th Dec – Travelling Theatre
Tues 16th Dec – Christmas Service St Peter’s
Fri 19th Dec- Break up 2pm
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