Parkland Newsletter Issue 1: – Friday 28th September 2018

Website: www.parklandprimary.co.uk Tel: 0116 278 2142

Dear Parents and Carers, It has been a pleasure to walk around the school over the last few weeks and see the fantastic learning that is happening in the classrooms. The children are showing enthusiasm for their topics and are always keen to talk about their learning. Showcase books and their learning journeys are getting filled with some fabulous work. You will have the opportunity to see these at parent’s evening in a couple of weeks. We have worked hard to develop our planning at Parkland so that the children are given an inspiring learning journey that allows them to develop a range of skills, knowledge and understanding. Our learning journey approach allow the children to make links between subjects and apply their skills and knowledge in different ways. Feedback time is given to pupils as part of their timetable which enables teachers to share with them what they are doing well and what their next steps are. This year we are focussing on developing children’s ability to reflect on their own learning which will help them to make even more progress. Last week was our annual Aspirations Week. This provided an opportunity for pupils to think about what they would like to do when they’re older. As part of the week, we focussed on developing a good work ethic including dressing smartly, arriving on time and good attendance if we are going to be successful along with thinking about how different subjects that will help us to get the job that we want. We continue to remind children of our whole school focus of grow, believe, achieve and succeed which we use to remind children that they and dream big and work hard to achieve these dreams. At parent’s evening we will be asking you to think about what your aspirations for your child are. Best wishes, Mrs Bishop Headteacher

EYFS

The children in

EYFS have settled

into school very

well. They are

enjoying meeting

new children

and doing new activities. In

English, we have started our

topic ‘Can We Explore It?’ We

have read ‘We’re Going on a

Bear Hunt’ and have used

actions to memorise the

story. The children were

excited to discover large,

paw-sized footprints in our

playground and we

discussed as a class who it

could have been. In maths,

we have been naming and

describing 2D shapes. We

have also been comparing

amounts and exploring

different representations of 1

and 2. In phonics, the

children went on a listening

walk around the school. The

children could identify lots

of different sounds and

enjoyed exploring their new

school!

Year 1

The children have been enjoying the

‘Splendid Skies’ topic. They have learnt

about the seasons and different types of

weather. We have also made lots of

weather themed art work. In English the

children have been writing simple

sentences about extreme weather such

as hurricanes and blizzards.

In computing the children have been

learning basic computer skills including

using a mouse, opening/closing

programs and minimizing and restoring

windows. We also started to learn the

names of the different parts of a

computer.

In maths the children have been learning

how to order and compare numbers up

to 10. We have been practising drawing

objects to represent a given number.

Year 2

In Aspirations week the children

“aspired to be creative”. We looked at

the work of the artists Jackson

Pollock and Mondrian. This helped us

to create our own versions of their

work using a variety of materials,

including ICT. We think the results are

great!

We also went to a Skype session with

Dr Leigh Fletcher from Leicester

University, who talked to us about

how he nearly became an astronaut.

He taught us lots about Space too!

Year 3

This half-term Year 3 have really enjoyed learning

about their new topic of “Gods and Mortals”. So far,

this has included learning lots of new facts about

Ancient Greece. We have enjoyed learning the story of

Theseus and the Minotaur, which we retold, then

adapted and retold with our own mythical monsters.

Last week we wrote a non-chronologcal report on how

boy and girls lived in Ancient Greece, and compared

the city states of Athens and Sparta. We have been

using a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts in Guided

Reading to learn more about our topic, and we have

enjoyed using Greek Myths as texts to master our skills

on retrieving information from a shared text.

In Maths, we have started to learn about adding

multiples of 10 to a 3 digit number. We are becoming

more confident in this and hope to consolidate our

knowledge as we continue with this learning journey.

We are currently learning our 2x and 5x tables and we

are enjoying our improving scores in our TT Rockstars

times table tests.

We have enjoyed sharing homework that the children

have brought in.

Year 4

This half term, Year 4 have been exploring

the human body. We started by finding out

the name and purpose of each of our teeth.

Through a scientific experiment, we then

explored the effects different liquids have

on our teeth before using disclosing tablets

to highlight plaque in our mouths.

Next we learnt about the human

digestive system. Everyone

enjoyed finding out what happens

to our food after we swallow it!

Within this busy half term, the children also

enjoyed our whole school Aspirations Week!

Year 4 thought about jobs they aspire to

have in the future and the skills and qualities

they need to reach this goal. Classes then

completed application letters and practiced

positive interview etiquette.

Year 5

Year 5 have begun the new academic year learning

about the Black Death and the peasants’ revolt in

fourteenth century England. The bubonic plague struck

medieval England in 1348. Children learned all about

the symptoms of the epidemic such as buboes and

nausea, and why it was so contagious. They used their

learning to write a fantastic newspaper article on the

spread of the Black Death. Additionally, Year 5 learned

how the Black Death contributed to the peasant

uprising of 1381. We looked at the long term and short

term causes of the revolt as well as what the peasants

were hoping to achieve. Children fully immersed

themselves in history as they debated the rights and

wrongs of the actions of King Richard II during the

revolt. Following on from this, we wrote a recount to

showcase their excellent learning.

In Maths, the children have been focusing on place

value. The first week was spent reading and writing

numbers up to the value of 1,000,000, with subsequent

lessons concentrating on determining the value of each

digit. As a direct result of this learning, the children

then spent time ordering and comparing numbers.

Children learned how to round numbers to the nearest

10,100,1000,10000 and 100,000; using the rhyme ‘5 or

more, let it soar- 4 or less, let it rest’ the children were

able to successfully achieve this. Last week involved

the children exploring Roman Numerals and

interpreting negative numbers in a given context. The

children really liked exchanging numbers for letters but

were glad that they do not have to use Roman

numerals all of the time. The children will explore

addition and subtraction by learning how to effectively

use formal written methods, alongside mental

methods.

Year 6 - Our Child’s War

Year 6 have had a very

busy start to the Autumn

Term! At the start of

September, we went to

Caythorpe PGL for our

residential. We took part in

so many exciting

activities including

climbing, high ropes, zip

wire and orienteering. It

was fantastic, and the

pupils really developed

their resilience, perseverance and teamwork

skills – well done!

Our topic this term is ‘Our Child’s War’; we

have been learning all about World War II

from the perspective of a child. In English,

we have been learning to write a persuasive

text to persuade parents to evacuate their

children out of the vulnerable cities and now

we are learning to write a diary entry from

the perspective of William Beech (the main

character in our class text: Goodnight Mr

Tom by Michelle Magorian).

We enjoyed our

evacuation walk

morning, and used it to

help us imagine the

thoughts, feelings and

emotions children would

have experienced during

evacuation. In history,

we have been learning about The Blitz,

rationing and the role of women in the war.

Last week we spent some time considering our

aspirations for the future: we researched

information about our chosen future careers

on the National Careers Database. It was a

great week and we have now got a better

understanding of how to achieve our

aspirations.

IMPORTANT

Your child may be eligible for

Pupil Premium funding, FREE

School Meals, FREE school milk, DISCOUNT on school

trips and other financial assistance if you claim any of

the following:

Income Support

Income-based jobseekers Allowance

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Support under Part V1 of the Immigration and

Asylum Act 1999

The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit

Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to

Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross

income of no more than £16,190)

Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after

you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Universal Credit

If you are claiming any of the above benefits please call

into the School Office and ask for Helen Brown or Sonia

Hancox who will be happy to help you make the necessary

arrangements. All you will need to supply is your National

Insurance Number.

We look forward to hearing from you.

ATTENDANCE INCENTIVES 2018 - 2019

Weekly

Each week classes with 96%

and above attendance will

be given a golden ticket in

assembly, to add to the

attendance box. At the end

of each half term a winning class will be drawn from the

box. The winning class will be

awarded a special treat or activity

to enjoy together.

Half termly

Certificates will be awarded to

pupils with 100% attendance

for the half term.

Termly

Certificates will be awarded to pupils

with 100% attendance for the term.

Pupils with 100% attendance for the

term will be entered into a prize draw

for a family trip to the cinema.

End of academic year

Certificates will be awarded to

pupils with 100% attendance

for the whole academic year.

One lucky family, drawn from the pupils with 100%

for the whole academic year, will win a day trip for

the family to Twin

Lakes!

It has been a

great start to

this academic

year we are on

target with 96.24% attendance

Parkland Primary School

Bank

Our School Bank is open again

this academic year:

When: every Wednesday from 8.15am until

8.40am

Where: Year 5 block in the Key Stage Two

playground

It is easy to open an account and help your

child to watch their money grow.

Please help to keep our School Bank alive!

Call into the school office and speak to Helen

Brown or call into the bank on a Wednesday

morning. If your child already has an account

encourage them to save their pocket money -

there is no minimum amount to save.

We will shortly be interviewing pupils from

Year 6 who have applied for a position to work

in the bank.

We look forward to seeing you at the School

Bank on a Wednesday.

Helen Brown

Parkland Office Team

From left to right: Sonia Hancox, Helen Brown,

Hannah Eason, Rita Samji, & Ilona Goodwin

We have some new faces in the school

office and thought this was a good time to

introduce the team. The office is open

from 8am - 4.30pm everyday and closes at

4pm on Fridays.

ICT Safety