Head of School’s Newsletter November 2019

Dear Parent/Carer

It is lovely to see all the children back after the half term holiday. I hope you all had a lovely break.

Our enquiry question this term is ‘What do you believe?’ We will be learning about different celebrations, festi-

vals, beliefs and about being a good citizen, all linked to British Values. Near the end of the term our focus will

be on Christmas from around the world. Each year group’s topic web is on our website, along with an overview

of our topics this year.

This term we are learning about the commitment ‘Celebrating Difference.’ This mean learning how everyone is

unique and special and how there are differences between people’s cultures, race, backgrounds, appearance and

personalities. Alongside this we are learning the values of tolerance, respect and fairness.

Events in Term 2

We have many activities and events coming up this term. A full list of dates can be found at the end of this news-

letter, but listed below are some highlights for your diaries.

On Tuesday 12th November is Odd Sock Day. We are highlighting anti-

bullying for Anti-Bullying Week and are asking all children to wear odd

socks to introduce the idea of difference. Alongside this each class will be

participating in a variety of activities to understanding this topic and how it effects people.

Parents Evening is on Tuesday 12th November and Thursday 14th November. If you haven’t already please book

a slot with the class teacher to find out how your child is getting on at school. You can book on our teacher to par-

ent service online using the link in the text or email message sent home.

We will be raising money for Children in Need this year by wearing spots or yellow on Friday 15

November and donating £1. There will also be a cake sale after school on that day. Any donations

of cakes will be greatly appreciated. Please can you bring the cakes in by Thursday 14th November.

Year 2 children will get to participate in a Fire safety workshops on

Tuesday 19 November. They will also be able to attend a visit to a

local Mosque in Swindon in December. A letter with more details on

the mosque visit will follow.

Thursday 21 November will be the Year 1 & 2 Friends Disco. More details about pur-

chasing your child’s ticket will be coming home in a separate letter shortly.

We will also be participating in Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 13th December to

raise money for Save the Children charity. Children can wear a Christmas Jumper and

donate £1.

Term 1 Summary

We have had lots of lovely events during Term1. It has been fantastic to see so many children and parents

join in where they can. I have highlighted a few below:

Roald Dahl Day. We celebrated one of my favourite authors during Roald Dahl Day and thanks again for all

the effort you put into the costumes for your child. Everyone looked amazing and got a lot out of the day.

Charity Events. I would like to say a big thank you for your contribution

towards MacMillan Coffee Morning and Jeans for Genes day last term.

All your efforts will help support many families and help improve lives.

We raised £127 for MacMillan. We raised £195 for Jeans for Genes.

Fabulous Friday. We had a great turnout of parents and grandparents

during our Fabulous Friday afternoon on Reading, it is always lovely to

see parents, children and school

working together and I know the children loved sharing their books and

successes with you.

Harvest Festival. Thank you for all of the wonderful food donations we

received for Harvest. The Filling Station were very grateful for all the

food we were able to donate towards their food bank which will be used

to feed the homeless. It was a lovely reflection of the community spirit

within Wroughton.

Year 1 Trip to Westonbirt. The children in Year 1 had a fantastic day at Wes-

tonbirt Arboretum, exploring the woods and even meeting the Gruffolo

which tied in beautifully as they had been discussing Julia Donaldson stories

in the classroom during Term 1.

Ofsted

As you all know we had a visit from Ofsted and we are very pleased with our grading. Many of you spoke

with the inspectors on the playground and I would like to say a big thank you for all your support. You will

receive a letter and the full report very soon.

Workshops

There are two workshops for parents planned for this term.

Calculation Workshop

We will be delivering a Calculation Workshop to inform you on the strategies we use for each year group for

teaching calculations in school. The strategies we use may vary from when you were taught at school so it is

important for us to share with you the methods. We will also put a video of the different strategies for each

calculation on the website. The dates for the maths workshops are as follows

KS1 Calculation Workshop—Monday 25th November at 5pm in Purple Class

EYFS Calculation Workshop—Tuesday 26th November at 5pm in Yellow Class

Bug Club Reading Workshop

This workshop is for Year 2 only. The workshop is to show parent how to access and use the online Bug Club

books. The Bug club books are for children who have finished Read Write Inc levels and have moved on to

Language and Literacy. The workshop will be led by Mrs Pileggi and will be held on Wednesday 20 Novem-

ber 2019 at 2.30pm in the School Hall or 5pm in Gold Class.

Mental Health Support for Children

ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by Educational Psychologists. It recognises that children learn

better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are recognised and supported.

ELSA is an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant

We have two staff members currently attending a six day ELSA training course. They have already been on

three of the training sessions and there are another three this term. Mrs Bishop and Mrs Bates are attend-

ing the training and will be our lead ELSAs however in Term 3, when they have fully completed the training,

they will share their knowledge with other staff so that all can benefit and use the resources and techniques

in their own classrooms.

The training covers a variety of areas. Examples of things covered on the course are social skills, emotions,

bereavement, social stories and therapeutic stories, anger management, self esteem and counselling skills

such as solution focus skills and friendships.

The ELSA work will go alongside our existing nurture programmes, social and emotional fix programme,

Lego self esteem programme and TAHMS outreach support.

Proud to Belong

We have now recruited our School Council, E-Safety and Eco Council members. They will be meeting

for the first time this term and will plan ideas for developing the school further, share their

knowledge about looking after the environment and keeping safe online.

School Council

E-safety Champion

Eco Council

It is our job to: Express our own views and views of other children. Communicate our feelings to adults. Attend regular meetings. Improve the school with new ideas. Help make positive changes.

It is our job to: Help others learn how to be safer online. Learn how to use new tech-nologies, apps and software. Suggest improvements to the ICT around the school. Plan and deliver online safe-ty assemblies. Promote Safer Internet Day and organise whole school activities.

It is our job to: Raise awareness on how to protect the world we live in. Encourage everyone to be good at recycling and saving energy. Improve the school with new Eco ideas. Help make positive changes. Encourage others to pick up litter and care for the plants and living things.

School Council

members

Eva

Alfie

Ruben

Molly

Isobel

Zach

Lucas

Willow

Sophie

Eco Council members

Kaela

Rio

Daisy

Iola

Sofia

E-Safety Champion

members

Edward

Charlotte

Amelie

Jacob

Sophie

Christmas Crazy

Christmas will soon be upon us and I want to take this opportunity to inform you of the upcoming events.

We will be giving more detail about the different events in a separate letter nearer to the time. Please save

the date if you would like to come along to any of the Christmas events.

EYFS Nativity—Wednesday 11th December at 9.30am and Thursday

12th December at 1.30pm.

Church and Marvellous Monday—Monday 16th December, children

will be attending church in the morning and there will be an oppor-

tunity for parents to join in classroom activities in the afternoon.

Carols by Candlelight—Thursday 19th December at approx. 4.30pm

Safety Reminder

There have been a number of near accidents that have been brought to my attention as some people are

scooting and cycling in the school grounds and down the driveway leading onto Wharf Road.

Please can I remind parents to ensure their children do not scoot or cycle on the driveway leading to the

school and in the school playground.

We will be putting up signs around the school to remind parents and children of our necessary safety rule.

School finishes at 1.15pm

Friday 20th December

Term 3—Hook Day

Children are invited to come to school dressed as an Eco Warrior on Monday 6 January 2020 as our topic is

Can Little Things Make a Difference. A letter will be sent out with more details nearer to the time.

Diary Dates—Term 2

Date Event Time Venue

4th Nov Hook Day—Celebrations All Day

Week Commencing 11th Nov

Anti bullying Week

12th Nov Anti bullying Day—Odd Sock Day (wear odd socks)

All Day Whole School

12th Nov Parents Evening 3:30-6:30pm EYFS—Blue/Red unit Year 1 - Purple/Green classroom Year 2 - Silver/White classrooms

14th Nov Parents Evening 4pm-7pm EYFS—Blue/Red unit Year 1 - Purple/Green classroom Year 2 - Silver/White classrooms

15th Nov Children in Need All Day Cake sale outside Octagon by Reception

15th Nov Families Together Afternoon (invitation only)

1.15pm– 2.15pm

Dining Room

19th Nov Year 2 Fire Safety Workshop (for children only)

School Hall

20th Nov Year 2 Bug Club Workshop 2.30pm or 5pm School Hall or Gold Class

21st Nov Year 1/2 Disco 4.15pm & 5.15pm

School Hall

22nd Nov Gold Book Assembly Year1/2 2.15 School Hall

25th Nov KS1 Calculation Workshop 5pm Purple Class

26th Nov EYFS Calculation Workshop 5pm Yellow Class

11th Dec EYFS Nativity 9.30am School Hall

12th Dec Year 2 Visit Mosque All Day Mosque, Gorse Hill

12th Dec EYFS Nativity 1.30pm School Hall

13th Dec Christmas Jumper Day (Donate £1 wear Christmas jumper)

All Day Whole School

16th Dec Church Morning Church

16th Dec Marvellous Monday 1.15pm Classrooms

18th Dec Christmas Dinner 12.00pm Dining Hall

19th Dec Gold Book Assembly EYFS/Year 2

2.15pm School Hall

19th Dec Carols by Candlelight approx. 4.30pm Infant School Playground

20th Dec Last Day of Term 1.15pm

6th Jan Back to School Hook Day Eco Warriors

8.50am

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY