ARDEN NEWSLETTER

It looks like Spring is on its way and there is a chance for us to look forward to better weather and lots more outdoor learning. The staff and children have been working so hard this term, and the pro-gress across the school is looking encouraging. I know Year 6 and 2 are really striving hard to get the best results in the tests they can. We are very proud of them. Also, a huge thank you to Mr B. Ali and the staff that have made our ‘Dads and Lads’ and Mosaic programmes so suc-cessful. Did you see the amazing boys and their dads on TV and the man with the funny tie?! I was so proud when the Lord Mayor gave them their certificates and trophies. The school does so many amazing activities with your chil-dren, so keep looking at the website and asking them about what they did. For those of you who are celebrating Easter, we hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones. Best wishes for a restful, fun, family holiday.

March 2015

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

Inside this issue Message from Mr Lacey

Page 1

Dads and Lads Page 2

Dates for your diary

Page 3

Pupil postcards Page 3

The Value for March is ‘Humility’. Please talk to your children about the importance of thinking about and doing things for others. Why is it important to be humble?

Celebrating Mother’s Day

Page 4 & 5

We are the Champions!

Page 5

Health Week Page 7

Comic Relief (Red Nose Day)

Page 8

ARDEN NEWSLETTER Page 2

Our Dads and Lads had their 5 minutes of fame as they appeared on ITV’s Central News on Monday 16th March. Their Graduation attracted visits from The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Mr Shafique Shah, Super-intendent Basit Javid (West Midlands Police) and Nisar Chaudry, a Great Britain hockey player and was supported by Education Net-work’s Marie Quarterman and her team. They provided trophies and are funding future activities, including a residential. A huge thank you to everyone involved in the project for making it successful.

Left: Esa Khan (3K) and his Dad are presented with a certificate and trophy by Lord Mayor, Shafique Shah and Mr Lacey. Right: Superintendent Basit Javid (West Midlands Police) talks about his Dad, who inspired him to work hard and become success-ful.

The Dads and Lads at the Graduation Ceremony

Dates for your Diary ♦ Monday 23rd-Friday 27th March–

Science Week

♦ Friday 27th March– 4P Assembly

♦ Friday 27th March– School closes

for Easter holiday

♦ Sunday 29th March– Clocks go

forward 1 hour

♦ Monday 13th April– Children return

to school

♦ Wednesday 15th April– Year 2,

Animal Man visit

♦ Thursday 16th April– Year 5 to

Black Country Museum

♦ Friday 17th April– RA Class

assembly

♦ Friday 24th April– 2G Class

assembly

♦ Sunday 26th-Monday 27th April–

Dads and Lads residential

♦ Wednesday 29th April– Year 4 to

Cadbury World

♦ Monday 4th May– Bank holiday

(May day)

♦ Thursday 7th May– Nursery Animal

Man

♦ Friday 8th May– 1F Class assembly ♦ MONDAY 11th -FRIDAY 15th

May — SATs WEEK ♦ Friday 15th May– 5R Class assembly ♦ Tuesday 19th - Friday 22nd– Year 6

Peckwood camp ♦ Friday 22nd May– break up for half

term ♦ Monday 1st June- Start of Summer 2

Arden’s hardworking children have had post-cards sent home to celebrate their hard work, ef-fort, progress or attainment .These are the chil-dren who have received postcards at home dur-ing this Spring half term. Thank you for support-ing this wonderful initiative by encouraging your child to do their best!

Year 6: Sophie Akhtar, Taiba Khalid, Summaiyah Siddique, Nimrah Jan, Taiba Khalid, Isma Bi Year 5: Myesha Imran, Zain, Zainab, Umayyah, Faria Shafaqat, Sumaira Younis, Ishmail Khan, Abir Ali, Hasnat Khan, Aishah Siddique, Aarif ahmed, Aleena Ali, Year 4: Iqra Bi, Haris Khan, Harisah Imran, Hasan Ali, Tahmid Choudhury Year 3: Esa Khan, Jahidul Islam, Arisa Begum Year 2: Ayaan Khan, Yusuf Shah, Ru-qayyah Faheem, Hajrah Sultan, Mu-hummad Jibraeel Hussain, Ibraheem, Inaya Ahmed, Hafid Saleh, Hisham Al-Zubair Year 1: Mahnoor Siddiqui, Riyaan Egal, Tasnim Hussain, Mohammed Haider, Kardo Jahfar, Sana Ali, Mahfuzah Hou-que, Muhammad Awais, Ishmail Khan Reception: Syeda Faria, Awais Ali, Ilyas Hayat, Mirah Masood, Raheem Khan, Mohammed Musa Ul-Haq, Har-leen Singh (RB), Farah, Amna Mirza, Eisa Mohammed, Haaris Ahmed, Ish-mael Hussain, Kaci Allie Boulton, Iqra Khan, Nursery: Riyan Finnegan, Daveen Mzroy

On Wednesday 11th March, mothers were invited to come into school to re-ceive a Mother’s Day card or gift from their children. It was a delight to see so many smiling mothers and aunts in school sharing in Mother’s Day activities with their equally happy children. There was barely a dry eye in some classes because Mums were so moved by the messages and poems their children had written about them in the cards! Year 6 children even sang a Mother’s Day song! The photographs give a sense of the very happy mood of the morning. An enormous thank you to all the mothers and aunts who came into school to share in this Open Class event.

Hope you had a wonderful HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Mummies in Nursery were invited to attend our Tea Party. It was a delight to see so many smiling mothers. We shared special quotes, sang songs and later sat down to yummy cake and biscuits baked by the children. Our mum-mies were so touched by this gesture and the photographs below give a sense of the very happy mood. An enormous thank you to all the mothers who came into school to share this special event.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Nursery’s Mother’s Day Tea Party

Friday 13th March

Children from year 5 were invited to a football tournament, held at Mose-ley Secondary School’s fantastic football coaching facilities. Only ten lucky boys were selected for the tournament and shortly after arriving at the venue they were whisked off for a coaching session. This lasted for an hour and the children learned a number of new skills that they would use in the subsequent matches. After a short break, the children were told there would be six games in a league format and the winners of the league would be the winners of the tournament. At the end of the games, Arden had won five and drawn only one, even managing not to concede any goals in the whole tournament! Wow! Arden were crowned champions and the delighted boys collected their trophy and medals before returning back to school triumphantly. The tournament was such a great success that Moseley School are planning a future tournament for girls later on in the year.

◊ Easter is the Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his promise of eternal life. 

◊ Easter is now celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on the Spring Equinox between March 22nd and April 25th. 

◊ Easter is celebrated at the end of Lent on the last day of Holy Week. 

◊ Holy Week starts off with Palm Sunday.  The following week there is Thursday, the day of the Last Supper, Good Friday the day of Jesus’ crucifix‐ion and Easter Sunday the day Jesus rose from the dead. 

This year’s health week has been focused on learning about the dif-ferent food groups, carbohydrates, proteins, fruit, vegetables, dairy and the role of these foods in our bodies. “The Eatwell Plate” has been used to support understanding of the importance of eating a balanced diet to maintain health and wellbeing. Pupils have undertaken lots of practical food activities, including food preparation, drawing and printing, to widen their experiences of the vast range of fruits which are available from all over the world. There have also been a lot of visitors in school who have enhanced learning opportunities.

Left: Birmingham University Dentists working with Nursery children Right: Years 5 and 6 Drugs Awareness

Arden children and staff know how to laugh and have fun! On Friday, pupils and staff came to school dressed up as famous book characters or in silly outfits to raise money for Comic Relief. Arden Primary School raised over £1,280. In our assemblies, the staff showed just what fun they can be when they were set dif-ferent challenges to perform in front of the children: Mr. Brown sang two Beatles songs dressed as John Lennon; Mr Couldrey, dressed as a dragon, pretended to be a drumming gorilla: Mr Strang (who really was dressed as a gorilla!) juggled brilliantly; Mr. Bates, dressed as Sponge Bob Square Pants, sang his famous song with lots of par-ticipation from the children; Mr. Banner and Miss Jones told uproariously funny jokes; and Mr. Wright (dressed as an Oompa Loompa from Roald Dahl’s book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, complete with a crazy green wig!) rode a tiny pink tricycle across the hall!  Take a look at the photographs! A big “Thank you” to all the staff who joined in to raise money for this incredibly worthwhile cause and an enormous “Thank you” to all the children and staff who bought red noses to help people less fortunate than themselves. Overall, Comic Relief fund-raising reached over £1 billion this year, the most ever raised! Wow!