Telephone No: 01525 755444 Fax No: 01525 75546 Email: flitwicklower@gmail.com

FLITWICK LOWER SCHOOL Temple Way, Flitwick, Bedford, MK45 1LU www.flitwick-lower-school.net

9th May 2020

Whilst we are all in lockdown we are thinking about those that are giving up so much to help those of us in need and it is particularly important at this time of year as we are remembering the Soldiers who fought on in WWII. Friday 8th was VE day and I know that many families were celebrating in their own way, decorating the outside of the house and/ having stay at home street parties. I’ve seen lots of images on the local groups of these and they looked amazing. We have decorated the outside of the school and also provided a display for Box of Delights to help with the celebrations.. look on the Flitwick Lower Association face book or our twitter account. I hope that you are all managing to keep in touch with friends and family during this difficult time… I know at school we love to have a little chat with the families out on their walks and find out all the lovely things they have been doing at home or in the garden. I know that we hope that we can return to school sometime soon.. however there are lots of things that we have to think about before that is possible. We recognise that this has been a challenging time for children and their families and that we are greatly looking forward to children returning to school when this can happen safely. The school will be following government guidance, as it is released, to enable this. Should any announcement be made, there is likely to be some decision making and planning at a local level and the school will be working as quickly as possible to make the arrangements and to ensure compliance. To support the school in enabling this work, please try not to contact the school about reopening arrangements unless it is an urgent matter. Please be assured that, should there be any announcement, we will communicate with you as soon as we can. We also recognise that some of you may not be working at the moment due to situation that we find ourselves in and may therefore be entitled to apply for FSM. We are currently providing a £15 voucher for families entitled to FSM to spend at a supermarket of their choice. During the COVID-19 emergency, if your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 and is not attending school, you may be able to apply for a free school meal until schools return to normal opening. Families with children in Yrs 3 and 4 may be eligible to apply as well.

If you think you meet the free school meals eligibility criteria, please call us on 0300 300 8306. When you call to apply for free school meals, please have the following information ready:

National Insurance numbers and dates of birth for you and your partner dates of birth for your children if you receive support from the National Asylum Support Service, your NASS number

Schools receive extra funding called the pupil premium for children from families who receive a qualifying benefit for free school meals.

The qualifying benefits to receive free school meals are:

Income Support Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Head Teacher: Mrs J.New

Chair of Governors: Mr.D.Blair

Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit Child Tax Credit (provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and your annual gross

income does not exceed £16,190 as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit) Universal Credit (during the initial roll-out of this benefit)

Keep Safe and Keep sending through your fabulous work and photos they help to brighten our day. I know that many of you have been working hard at home in completing your learning,alongside other activities to enhance the well-being of your children and yourselves!!!! And we want to celebrate and share with you some of these things so……………………………

Lots of you have been busy on Times Table Rock Stars… the competition is gearing up at the last review by the staff the score board looks like this….

Results for TTRS Top 5 players as it stands at the moment are: 1st - Jaiden (Kingfishers) with 30,749 coins earnt. 2nd - Victoria (Toucans) with 17,880 coins earnt. 3rd - Jamie W(Owls) with 15,849 coins earnt. 4th - Elise (Kingfishers) with 15,750 coins earnt. 5th - Sadie (Hummingbirds) with 14,004. Top Flamingo currently is Jessica BW Top Robin currently is Remy Top Parrot currently is Oliver R Top Eagle currently is Bailey

Keep working hard at this and your daily reading to ensure you keep up with your learning. … look at what you’ve all been up too !!!

Hello Bluebirds!

I hope you are all safe and in good health. The school has been a very quiet place without you and I miss you all

lots! Thank you for sending me so many lovely messages and emails. It has been so lovely to see all the great

things you have been busy doing at home and I’m looking forward to sharing all of your learning when you come

back to school. Ryan has been super busy practicing his yoga and baking cakes! Esme has been taking care of

strawberry and sunflower plants. Finley has loved making a bug hotel and made a super cool sword! Lily has been

very creative, drawing beautiful pictures and Annabelle has been keeping fit by riding her bike! I look forward to

hearing more about your learning soon.

Take care. Love Miss Giles x

Hello to all of Doves and their families and a very Happy Birthday to those of you that have turned five!

Well done for doing all of your super learning at home whilst the school is closed and to your mummies and daddies for being really good teachers; thank you for all of your support. We can’t wait to get back and see you all! I am looking forward to seeing and sharing all of your learning with you and your friends, seeing what everyone has been doing. I know some of your friends have been enjoying watching their vegetables grow in their garden and keeping them healthy by watering them and making sure they have enough sunlight. Lots of you have been on daily walks where you’ve spotted horses or even stopped to enjoy the Box of Delights display that your friends at school have been creating. I’ve seen lots of photos of Joe Wicks, keeping you all busy with his PE sessions as well as calming, Cosmic Kids Yoga and fun in your gardens; using chalks, going on treasure hunts or even making dens! I can imagine many of you have been creative like the Dragon Learning Buddy or Problem Solving like the Monkey, when completing your learning from ‘You Choose’. It’s such a tricky time, not being able to see our friends, families and teachers but you are all doing really well, staying at home and keeping safe. We will have so many things to talk about and share with our friends when we get back to school. Lets all continue to be like the Persevering Tortoise and keep positive. I am looking forward to sharing all of your learning in your books, or the photographs that you have taken or the drawings and writing that you have done, to show all of the things you’ve been up to. Take care, keep smiling and see you soon. Mrs Ficuciello.

Robins class have been very busy completing lots of fabulous learning at home! It has been lovely to receive so many beautiful pieces of artwork that the children have completed to link in with their Maths, Literacy and Science learning. I have seen some fantastic dragons and robots drawn out of different 2D shapes; exciting adjectives used to describe drawings of different insects, as well as some colourful aliens drawn next to some ‘nonsense’ words the children have created and broken down using sound buttons. I must also say that I have been very impressed with the writing the children have completed. I have loved reading a range of different text types from non-fiction explanation texts about dragons, to story writing about the Gingerbread Man. It’s great to see the children’s love of reading also continue at home, with lots of exposure to books and also when answering comprehension questions about what they have read. I have loved seeing some of the children engaging in other areas of the curriculum, such as History when learning about the Titanic, Geography when labelling the names of places in some of the world’s continents, and some of you have even challenged yourselves by learning a new language! Fantastic! I’m also really enjoying seeing some of you learn and develop new skills such as cooking and model building. I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you for supporting your children’s learning through lots of rich experiences at home. I have loved looking through their work, it really brightens up my day. I look forward to seeing some more super learning from you all over the coming weeks. Stay safe, Mrs Groves

Dear Owl Class, I hope you are all well and enjoying your time at home. It has been lovely to hear that you are all working hard and completing lots of work with your grown-ups. I am missing you all very much and I can't wait until we're all back together again at school. Thank you for all of your lovely emails and messages, they have really brightened my day and they always make me smile. I have really enjoyed looking at the videos and photographs you have been sending. I have also received some wonderful letters telling me all about what you have been doing at home. Keep working hard and stay safe, you are doing a great job. Sending you all a big hug!! From Mrs Tatford

As always, please contact us if you have any concerns which you need support on and keep sending in examples of the lovely home learning to your classes.

Hello Flamingos I have really enjoyed seeing the work being sent in. I have seen some of the children taking part in their daily exercise by doing PE with Joe, including dress up Friday! I would also like to say thank you for getting so involved with introducing our new topic ‘Wild and Wonderful’ and ensuring the children are not missing out on learning about some fantastic topics. They have also been working hard to make their sentences more interesting and exciting, I look forward to seeing this put into practice when they come back to school. Many of you have emailed me for the login details for Times Tables Rock Stars so that the children can practise at home, thank you for encouraging them to do this and continue with their learning. The mathematics we have provided has included division, multiplication and money, I imagine the children have taught you some new ways of learning while doing this. I am really looking forward to the time when the children can come back to school, I miss them all terribly. Mrs Wallis.

Hello Toucans, I hope you and all of your family are well and keeping safe! I have been so impressed with all of the fantastic learning that you have been doing whilst the school is closed. It sounds like your Mummy’s, Daddy’s and even your Brother’s and Sister’s have stepped up as amazing teachers. So, I want to say a big thank you to them, but I also want to say a ginormous thank you to you… Lots of you have continued to make great choices, you have been working really hard and you have produced some brilliant pieces of work. I have been sent emails with beautiful drawings about our new topic Africa, as well as lots of interesting facts, some even presented in PowerPoint presentations. Lots of you have been very creative at home; designing and creating Papier-mâché sculptures/models, carrying out science experiments and cooking/baking lots of yummy food for all of your family. I know many of you have been continuing with your reading, spelling, handwriting and of course practising your times tables. We have been very lucky with the weather and I have heard that you have been enjoying the sun by playing in the garden, going out for walks, bike rides, scootering and even helping with the gardening. Sometimes it can be a little bit tricky to stay at home and stay happy as we are all missing everyone, but I know lots of you have been talking to your friends and family; either by emailing them, ringing them or video calling them. This is such a lovely thing to do, not only to help you feel positive and happy, but it also helps to put a smile on the face of the person who you are talking to. Thank you for continuing to be absolute super stars, I am so proud of you all! Keep up all of the hard work and don’t forget to keep having lots of fun. I can’t wait see you all again soon, I look forward to hearing all about your time at home and I’m excited to share all of your learning with everyone. Take care, stay safe and keep smiling. Miss Scott.

Hello Kingfishers! I hope you are all well and keeping safe. Despite being at home, you have been very busy and I have received lots of fantastic pieces of work! After getting many Times Table Rock Star login requests from your parents, it is clear that you are all practicing your tables relentlessly and many of you have aced your current times tables and moved onto new ones which is brilliant. Not only this, but many of you have been practicing your spellings weekly and some of your parents have even challenged you to some dictation – wow! Over the last few weeks, I have also received lots of work focussed on our new topic ‘Paradise Gardens’ and it is clear from your comments that you are enjoying learning about rainforests. Many of you created fantastic work on canopy layers, labelling each layer correctly as well as learning about its function and which animals and plants live there. I am also astounded by some of the plant booklets you have been creating as well, which explain the function of each part of a plant. You are all super scientists! Not only this, but you are all working so hard on improving your sentences by adding in powerful vocabulary as well as fronted adverbials, which is amazing. Many of you have also sent in some fantastic poems, from acrostic to haiku to cinquain, and I have to say you have smashed them all – well done! Along with all the work you have been tirelessly doing at home, you also have been very busy with bike rides, making astounding indoor dens for movie days and many of you have been catching up with friends and family on FaceTime. I am so glad that you are enjoying this time at home, spending quality time with your family. Throughout the weeks, I have also received many beautiful paintings and drawings of rainbows in my email box, which has really brightened my mood, as it would have done with many of the residents in your neighbourhood. Keep creating these beautiful drawings and spreading the positivity, as they are needed now more than ever! I am really looking forward to when you can all come back to school. I have missed watching you grow and flourish, but am so thankful to receive so many emails from you. I am missing you all terribly, but I am sure I will see you very soon. Keep in touch and keep on smiling.

Miss Edwards

Thank you Hummingbirds for all the lovely emails you have been sending in. Mrs Steele and I have loved looking through your photos. They really have cheered us up each day. We can see you have had great fun baking, exercising, crafting and even creating your own scientific experiments!! We have started our new topic ‘Paradise Gardens’ and can see that you have really enjoyed learning about the different animals and plants that live in the rainforests. Some of you have been very creative with your fact files, maps and artwork and we have loved all the different approaches you have used to attempt these activities. We have been learning all about fractions in maths and we can see lots of you have been practising your times tables on Times Tables Rock Stars. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at famous artists, creating an adventure story and learning all about time – we can’t wait to see how you get on. Just like your parents, we are both so proud of how you are all doing. Keep up the great work! Mrs Pekszyc and Mrs Steele

Hello Parrots and Eagles Our topic is called Paradise gardens so we started locating rainforests on a world map. We have been learning about the rainforest and the different layers within it. Some of us have written a non-chronological report about each of the layers. We have enjoyed watching clips about the rainforest and researching the animals that live there. In Maths, we have been working on decimal numbers, some of it has been quite tricky! RE is all about how different faiths look after the world. Some of us have been finishing off last term's topic work (Rise of the Machines) and have been writing Robot poems and finding out about transport such as Stephenson's rocket. I have really enjoyed seeing what you have been up to at home in addition to the school learning. Through video messages I have loved seeing that Henry has been baking cakes and Harrison has been working hard to ride his bike. Amelia and Ellen have continued with their dance and gymnastic training at their home training grounds! Bailey has been in training for his sponsored bike ride … Good Luck Bailey. Several of you have been sending me photos of your work which has been brilliant. I am also pleased to hear how everyone has been getting on with their times tables rock stars. I think the competition is hotting up. Thank you so much to all the Parrots and Eagles that have been emailing me with messages and work. Your emails have lifted my spirits and brightened my day.