ARDEN NEWSLETTER

We are nearing the end of another successful term. Arden children continue to impress us and all visitors with their smart uniform, their enthusiasm for learning, their excellent manners and behaviour and their continued good atten-dance. It is lovely to see such lovely work, including some fantastic homework tasks, as well as so many successful clubs throughout the day. Well done to all our outstanding staff, who have also been supporting two local schools, Nansen and Chandos, in or-der for them to learn from us and to support their staff and pupils to improved education. As the weather gets cold and the dark days loom, please make sure children have named coats and hats, are picked up on time and stay warm and safe. Staff at Arden would like to wish all those who are celebrat-ing Christmas, a very joyful and fun time. We wish you all a happy holiday and prosperous new year.

December 2014

T H I S M O N T H ’ S V A L U E : P A T I E N C E

Inside this issue

Message from Mr Lacey

Page 1

Christmas facts Page 2

Year 4 fun learning

Page 3

Dads and Lads Page 3

If there is heavy snow and we can not keep children and staff safe because of health and safety (e.g. food can not be cooked, there is shortage of staff), the following will happen:

∗ We will text to let you know school will be closed (please make sure the office has your current

mobile number; please do not ring the school) ∗ Listen to WM and Heart FM radios, who will let

you know names of schools that are closed.

Ready, steady, cook

Page 4

Animal magic Page 4

Dates for your diary

Page 5

Year 5 activities Page 6

Awesome Arden F.C.

Page 7

A Day in the Life of…

Page 8

ARDEN NEWSLETTER Page 2

Fun Interesting Christmas Facts

∗ Christmas is an annual Christian holiday held on December 25th

celebrating the birth of Jesus.

∗ Christmas trees are also known as the Yule-tree.

∗ Christmas trees are evergreen trees, usually either a fir tree, pine tree or spruce tree.

∗ Christmas trees were first decorated with foods such as apples, nuts and dates.

∗ In the 18th century Christmas trees began being decorated with

candles.

∗ Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895.

∗ Santa Claus is also known as St. Nicholas, Father Christmas,

Grandfather Frost and Kris Kringle.

∗ If you received all the gifts from the song “The Twelve Days of

Christmas” you would have 364 presents.

∗ Santa is believed to bring gifts to good girls and boys on the night before Christmas (December 24th).

∗ Santa Claus has 8 reindeer are named: Comet, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer,

∗ Prancer, Vixen, Donner Blitzen.

HOLIDAYS

Once again can I remind parents that under new regulations the school can NEVER authorise holidays in term time, so please do not request them. If you still choose to go, then you must inform the school, telling Mr Khan the dates and showing him confirmation. It is important that you do this, as it could lead to your children being considered as ‘missing’ and this will lead to fines. Non return can lead to loss of a school place. Thank-you for working with us.

The children in Year 4 have had a busy half term learning about Habitats in Sci-ence. They have focussed on the animals that live in British forests, from the tree tops to ground level. They have studied how the different animals have adapted to their surroundings as well as their life cy-cles. Zara in 4N said how she had en-joyed the topic and learning about differ-ent animals. In Literacy Year 4 have been reading the Michael Morpurgo story The Butterfly Lion which was linked to the centenary of the beginning of the First World War.

The children were able to study a character in depth as well as developing an empathy for Bertie the main character.

A unique mentoring programme for fa-thers and sons to form stronger rela-tionships has been launched at Arden. To tackle underachievement of boys, ‘The Dads and Lads’ mentoring initia-tive has proved to be a great success. The 12 week programme focuses on different themes for the dads and lads to work together, including doing ac-tivities outside school. The Dads and Lads compile a ‘scrapbook’, which in-cludes photographs and commentary of things they have done together. The participants have already learnt about the importance of being part of a com-munity, played badminton and cricket. One session taught them of the impor-tance of doing activities in a local park, where they enjoyed building tents and cooking. Further sessions will include bowling and learning about role models, where they will be visited by Nisar Chowdhury (BG hockey player). The Dads and Lads will ‘graduate’ in the celebration ses-sion. Arden is working in partnership with organisations to improve oppor-tunities of all of our children.

The cooking club has been a great hit this term. Due to its popularity we had a high vol-ume of children showing interest in joining. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t accommodate everyone that wanted to take part. Children that had been attending had the opportunity to make a variety of deli-cious foods and drink such as fruit smoothies, pizzas and flap jacks. In making these things children picked up cooking skills such as chop-ping, baking and blending. The cooking club will be continuing after the Christmas holidays for those children who have received an acceptance letter.

Children in The Hive have been learning about pets and how to look after them. We thought it would be interesting to look at some animals that live in the wild too. On the 17th November a lady called Melissa came to the Hive with some of her animals. Our favourite was Sox the raccoon, she ate through a whole container of grapes! We also saw an eagle

owl he was very big! Melissa had to wear special gloves because the owl has very sharp talons. We all had a lovely morning and learnt a lot about the animals that Melissa was kind enough to bring in to show us.

Dates for your Diary ♦ Wednesday 17th December

Year 1 Solihull Arts

Complex

♦ Thursday 18th December–

Nursery finish

♦ Thursday 18th December–

parties afternoon

♦ Friday 19th December–

school closes at 12pm for

holiday

♦ Monday 5th January–

Children return to school

♦ Thursday 8th January– Year

5 Science Museum

♦ Tuesday 13th January–

Reception Maths

Workshop, 9.00-9.30am

♦ Friday 16th January, 4N

Leopards Assembly

♦ Friday 30th January– 3M

Tigers Assembly

♦ Friday 13th February– RC

Leopards Assembly

♦ Friday 13th February–

School closes for half term

National Competition December 2014

Primary Mathematics Challenge Winners

Students at Arden competed in the Primary Mathematics Challenge (a national competition). The following students were awarded medals.

gold: Adil Nasaar Sumaiyah Siddique

silver: Zakria Zaman Aisha Pervez

bronze: Abdullah Abdul-Hakeem Humza Ghouse Alisha Mahboob

The children in year 5 and year 6 had the opportunity to experience a show titled ‘Science of Sound’. It was held at the world famous Symphony Hall, which is right here in Birmingham. Aimed at students in key stage two (years 5 & 6), Science of Sound introduced the science behind our world famous concert hall, including the stunning acous-tics, in a fun and interactive way. Presented by a team of experts and musicians, along with two live performers, the theory behind how sound is made, travels and how we hear was made simple and interesting to understand with demonstrations and real-life examples. Children enjoyed learning about sound, vibrations, changing the pitch of sounds as well as scientific language and terms. It was also an exciting opportunity for our children to experience the Symphony Hall, its impressive 6000 pipe organ and hear live musical performances.

Autumn has struck but this doesn’t stop the fearless children and

teachers of year 5. Undeterred by the howling winds, the children

took to the streets of Birmingham on the look out for ‘nature’.

They found it not too far away as luck would have it. Each group

was armed with ‘spotter’ sheets to help them identify different

trees, animal tracks and even twigs! The 2 mile walk took us through a range of

habitats where the children were able to take bark rubbings from the trees in the

local environment. Leaves were also collected by the children to take rubbings of

back at school. Although cold and wind swept the children were fascinated to find

nature on their doorstep. As part of their science topic about lifecycles, the

children have learnt a lot about the variety of animals, plants and trees that we

see every day.

Do you know the names of the trees you see every day? Why not try some spotting when you are out and about?

As you will have noticed there is a Clothes Bank pro-vided by Islamic Help outside the school office. If you have any clothes, towels, sheets, blankets, curtains or shoes in good condition, please put them in the Clothes Bank.

HOME AWAY OVERALL

POS

P W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A DIFF

PTS

1 Leigh 4 2 0 0 4 1 2 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 6 1 5 12

2 Arden 6 3 0 0 12

1 0 1 2 1 5 3 1 2 13

6 7 10

3 Audley 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 7 0 2 0 0 8 0 8 6

4 Mansfield Grn 2 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 5 6

5 Parkfield 6 0 1 2 0 8 1 0 2 2 7 1 1 4 2 15

-13

4

6 Birchfield 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 3 1 0 2 1 4 -3

3

7 Prince Albert 5 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 2 1 3 0 2 3 2 5 -3

2

8 Manor Park 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 2 0 6 -6

0

Arden FC are playing in the Aston Schools League at Villa Academy. The season started with a few bad results in October, but now the team is playing competitively and winning matches. Arden FC’s manager, Mr Bates, commented, ‘the hard work in training is starting to pay dividends’. With two points off first position, the boys have a really good chance of top spot. The team is aspiring to finish top for the very first time. We wish them all the best!

Arden’s Year 5 journalist have been working hard interviewing staff. The budding reporters talked to people in our school about their roles and responsibilities. Read about a day in the life of...

...Mr Lacey

Job title: Head Teacher

Main responsibilities: Day to day responsibility of

everyone in the school which includes safety of staff

and education.

Q. How many people are you in charge of ?

A. Roughly 130 (not including students)

Q. What time does your duty start ?

A. 7:45am

Q. What time does your duty finish ?

A. 5:30pm

Q. What jobs/duties do you do in the morning ?

A. I check the post and e-mails, check the staff and

meet with Mr. Flood. I also go on to the playground to

greet children and parents.

Q. What do you like about your Job ?

A. I like working with teachers and seeing children

maturing.

Q. What do you dislike about your job ?

A. When teachers are told ,by the government, to do

things that aren’t right for the school and doing pa-

perwork.

Q. What do you like the most about Arden Pri-

mary School?

A. The people (adults, children and their parents).

Q. What do you like about the parents of Arden?

A. I like meeting parents, discussing how their chil-

dren are doing.

Interview by Zainab Akhtar (5T) and Alisha Mahboob (5S)

...Mrs Colley

Job Title: Early Year’s Leader Main responsibilities: I make sure all of the children are making progress. Also, I deal with parents whether it is about teachers or children. I also make sure all the teaching and learning is of a high standard. I enjoy looking at the children’s books. How many people are you in charge of? The people I am in charge of are five teach-ers, six Teaching Assistants, three Teaching Assistants, who work one to one with chil-dren. What time does your duty start? My duty starts at 7:45 am What time does your duty finish? My duty finishes at 5:30pm, Monday to Thursday and Fridays I finish at 4:30pm. What jobs/duties do you do in the morning? Three days a week I do a year six booster reading club, sometimes an early morning duty on the playground. As well as a list of things that need to be done, I collect data (information) of people in the morning and email the staff. What do you enjoy about your job? I enjoy working with children and making sure everything is running smoothly in my phase. What do you dislike about your job? My least favourite thing is having to do lots of things on the computer. What do you like the best about Arden? Arden is a very happy, friendly, supportive and modern school. What did you want to be when you were a child? When I was a child, I wanted to be a teacher. What do you like about parents of Arden? Having discussions about their children and I enjoy meeting parents before their child starts school.

Interview by Myesha Imran (5T) and

Fiza Shah (5R)