Owl Post Summer 2023

July 2023

Curriculum and the 6 ‘C’s

Throughout this academic year, the staff and children have worked together to renew the vision for our curriculum. After a careful piece of consultative work, we agreed that the intent for our curriculum is for: A Curious curriculum, explored in Collaboration, enabling Comprehension, developing Connectivity, Creativity and Compassion.

Each of these 6 ‘C’s frame the way in which our curriculum is structured and delivered. From curiosity in lesson questions and questions in termly topic maps, to connectivity and comprehension in the ways in which our children are developing such impressive knowledge across the curriculum.

Compassion is a very important ‘C’ for the school as we aim for our children to develop this in a number of different ways. In their compassion towards each other to their compassion and appreciation for their locality and their pride for Greater Manchester. Mature and relevant themes in topic delivery show the impact of this compassion through developing children’s understanding of world issues such as plastic pollution and human rights.

We are excited for our next steps with this vision. Next academic year there will be a renewed approach to the learning environment and the

ways in which these 6 ‘C’s will be represented for the children within their daily lessons. We are excited to share this vision with you in September.

At this time of year we sadly say goodbye to well-loved staff, including Mrs Ward, our midday first aider, who is retiring after being with us for 28 years!

We will miss our staff who are moving on to new ventures and look forward to welcoming some new staff, who you will be introduced to in September. We thank all our staff for their incredible commitment and effort this year. They do so much for the children and offer such wonderful experiences to enrich our curriculum.

As we conclude this academic year, we reflect on the progress we have made and the impact this has had. Our results across all key stages are some of the strongest we have ever seen. Equally, we were very proud of the feedback from families from our recent parent survey, where 94% of families said they would recommend our school and 97% strongly agreed or agreed that their children are happy at school. As always, we seek ways to improve, and we will be using this data along with other data to form our next school priorities, which we will share with you soon.

Progress is also captured in so many other ways. Importantly, the children have continued to make significant progress in their personal development. Their confidence and behaviours for learning are so very evident, and impressive, as you walk around school and see the children in classrooms. We are so proud of their achievements this year, as I am sure you are too! They really do deserve a lovely summer break.

We hope all families have a lovely summer and we will see you all again on Tuesday 5 September.

Mrs Norman, Headteacher

Year Groups

Nursery

Beginning to Grow

As we ended the Spring term, our strawberry and pea plants were just beginning to grow.

As we reached the end of Summer 1, our plants had fully grown and we had strawberries and peas to try! The children loved trying their very own home grown fruit and vegetables. We also had some caterpillars join us in Nursery where we watched them turn into a cocoon and then into a butterfly! This was such a magical experience that we got to share together.

In addition, we have been busy exploring our learning question, ‘What Happens When We Travel?’

Reception

The children impressed me with their knowledge of their local area! The children drew some fantastic maps of Gatley which included Tesco and our school! We also travelled around our school building and discovered some new and exciting places we hadn’t been to before! The children then came back into our classroom and drew a map which represented their journey around school.

One of our class texts this term has been ‘Harry and the Dinosaurs go on Holiday.’ We loved watching Harry travel to Australia and reading about what he saw on his journey. The children then re-enacted scenes from the story using props in our communication hub which had been set up as an airport.

Why Is the Sea Special?

We have thoroughly enjoyed watching the children flourish this term as we have thought about our overarching question –“Why

Is the Sea Special?”

We have thought about the sea as a habitat and compared it to where we live. The children were very excited to share their knowledge of different sea creatures, such as jellyfish, crabs and turtles. We also spent some time considering the influence we have on our oceans and how important it is to look after them. We used the book, “Somebody Swallowed Stanley” to explore this topic. All the children demonstrated how socially responsible they are and considered the impact that they could have. We used this to support us in learning about recycling and reusing things instead of throwing them in the bin. We had our very own recycling centres in our classrooms and we all became experts at putting the items in the correct colour bins. The highlight of our term had to be our expressive arts and design experience day. We had an amazing time at the beach, playing in the sand and paddling in the pool while enjoying a delicious ice-pop. We created beautiful watercolour seaside pictures, complete with sandy footprints.

I just wanted to say that I am so proud of all of the children’s achievements this year. Thank you to all the parents as well for all of your support.

Enjoy your Summer holidays and enjoy Reception!

The girls from Gatley’s PTI Dance School came and helped us learn an ‘under the sea’ dance and finally, we took part in an African drumming workshop to create our own ‘under the sea’ music. It really was the most magical day!

The children displayed super collaborative skills on our Sports Day. It was so lovely to see them all supporting each other and cheering everyone on. It was very exciting to take part in this event in front of our families.

Finally, we have really enjoyed meeting and getting to know our new teachers in the recent transition weeks. The children have shown really mature attitudes and are ready to embark on their Year 1 adventure!

Year Groups

What Makes a Person Significant?

What a wonderful last term it has been in Year 1! We began this term by looking at the significant figures

David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg.

The children learnt about the important role that they play in helping to protect our planet. We looked at the different types of pollution and climate change and the negative impacts these can have. We came up with some suggestions about how we can help to support looking after the world we live in.

Year 2

We then began looking at the inspirational figures Rosa Parks and Emmeline Pankhurst. We learnt about the influential actions that they took to change society (and the world!) for the better. So inspired by these events, we created our own protest signs in Computing and created chants in Music.

To finish off our term, we went on our trip to the Lowry. We were able to showcase all our knowledge of the significant people from Manchester including the famous artist L. S. Lowry. The children took part in Art and Drama workshops and they even

How Do Animals Help the Environment?

What a wonderful Summer term we have had in Year 2!

The children have learnt lots in their Summer term topic about animals in the environment, exploring bees and different wildlife from woodland habitats. We enjoyed our time out in Forest School, finding lots of different organisms that inhabit woodland habitats. Their vocabulary and knowledge has grown tremendously: in English, we have used our grammatical knowledge of word

Governors

Congratulations to pupils and staff, what an amazing year you’ve had!

The list is endless - from the expansion of the school’s play provision designed by the children and supported by families, to the ‘Great Debate’ during which the children were so passionate

classifications to create detailed writing about different character and setting descriptions for a creative story.

Earlier this term, our production showcased our fantastic learning from across the year, encapsulating all three topics in one performance! The children immersed themselves into their roles and WOW’ed us with their confidence.

We were so lucky to have sunny spells during our Sports Day,

and articulate about their chosen causes (and let’s not forget bringing back the pop-up pool!)... so many opportunities for development!

At our last AGB we were also presented with the children’s attainment results for the year, and we are all so proud of you and your achievements. Whether you’ve joined

got the chance to visit the gallery full of L.S Lowry’s original paintings! They were so excited to move around the venue and eat their lunch overlooking the Quays.

where the children excelled in their sportsmanship and athleticism during the sporting events.

We could not be more proud of each and every one of the children this year. They have worked their socks off and tried their very hardest with everything they do.

Gatley Primary this year, or you leave us to move on to your next stage in education, it has been a great year and we hope you have a well-deserved break!

Lisa Dennis Chair of Governors

Year Groups

Year 3

Is Water Powerful?

What a great final term we have had in Year 3! We have explored our learning question, ‘Is Water Powerful?’

Within this, we have considered how water was used during the time of the Roman Empire, learning about their rise, power and collapse. We have explored Roman baths and aqueducts, as well as significant Roman Emperors. The children have been so enthusiastic about the Romans and have even become skilled in Roman numerals!

We shone as artists when studying David Hockney and exploring to see if we could be creative with water. The children produced wonderful pieces of art inspired by this artist using oil pastels and ink wash. We have also developed our scientific understanding of water when learning about the water cycle. We even applied this knowledge to make our own water cycle model using levers and linkages in DT.

It has been wonderful to see the talents of the children in a range of subjects. From music to English, RE to PE, the children have all shown their unique talents throughout the year. The children impressed us on Sports Day and showed fantastic sportsmanship and skills in the field events.

We must say a special thanks to yourselves for the support you have shown towards your child’s learning this year and the support you have shown to us as a staff team. The successes of the children in Year 3 are very much a combined effort and we thank you for providing the support that you do.

Enjoy your Summer holidays!

Year 4

What Makes a Culture?

Over the Summer Term, we have been asking the question

‘What Makes a Culture?’

It has been a brilliant opportunity for us to explore not just our own local culture but those around the world. We have immersed ourselves in Japan through our Geography learning, writing persuasive travel guides and creating beautiful oil pastel works inspired by Japanese cherry blossom.

In Science lessons, we considered whether natural life is the same around the world, and practically explored flowering plants, dissecting them to see the internal workings for ourselves. This work inspired us within our DT project to create planters for our school environment. Using saws, screws and tape measures, we worked sensibly and accurately to create a fully functioning final product.

PE lessons saw us introduced to a new sport –hockey. Inspired by local legend Holly Hunt, we have considered offensive and defensive tactics, and also how to ensure we are showing top sportsmanship as we play.

We are very proud of what the children have achieved throughout Year 4 – well done, everyone!

Year Groups

Year 5

How Does Power Affect Our Lives?

Our term started off with excitement, as we planned for our production.

The children were able to draw upon their knowledge of Ancient Greek myths to create a brilliantly funny production, demonstrating their own unique spin on the myths.

Following this, we loved developing our knowledge of History this term through the lens of power.

The children have explored the political significance of 19th Century Manchester, exploring the working class Chartist movement as well as

the influences our city had on other significant political thinkers. We then studied the rise and collapse of the British Empire, considering whether or not the empire used its power for good. Throughout this unit, we explored concepts such as culturalism, colonialism and the slave trade. Before learning about World War 2, we headed to the Imperial War Museum to think more critically and empathetically about war. We were able to meet some veterans and find out more about the human cost of war. This really helped the children to approach their learning of this topic with sensitivity.

Goodbye and Good Luck!

Year 6 have had an incredible term and have made the most of their final few weeks at Gatley Primary.

A highlight has to be the residential trip to Kingswood where we all had a wonderful time and relished the chance to try our hands at a range of adventurous activities. A top favourite was the 3G swing- some of the children’s screams could be heard across the entire site! The whole trip was amazing and it was fantastic to spend quality time together and to make lots of new memories.

Before this, Year 6 were working hard towards their end of key stage exams and we could not be more proud of all they have achieved. All of the children performed to their very best and can go onto their new schools full of confidence and with a great sense of achievement.

This term, we have also been answering our big question “How Do We Grow a Civilisation?” As a year group, we have been learning about healthy societies and the formation of the NHS. We have also learnt about civilisations who have invaded Britain and the reasons behind why civilisations may fall or fail.

Year 6, you have been truly amazing and we wish each and every one of you lots of luck as you begin your new journeys to high school.

Year 6 Team

Alongside History, we also enjoyed an exciting Science unit on forces, with a particular focus on friction, air resistance and water resistance. The children completed a thorough investigation into the effects of surface friction on a moving object. They were able to predict and hypothesise, draw conclusions and evaluate their investigations brilliantly.

Forest School

Throughout the year, all classes have enjoyed some time in our Forest School area.

We have covered a range of activities to link in with topic themes, ranging from clay art work on the trees to celebrate the Mexican festival of ‘Day of the Dead’, building fires for The Great Fire of London, making picture frames, weaving, face painting, making stick men and of course, plenty of marshmallow toasting!

This half term, Year 6 celebrated reaching the end of their time at Gatley with ‘I’m a Year 6 Get Me Out of Here’ style forest sessions; this saw children taking part in physical as well as ‘bush tucker’ challenges! We had blindfolded mustard tasting, doughnut eating without licking your lips and press ups into a very muddy puddle to name but a few.

Year 5 have concluded forest fun with den building and cooking on an open fire- sweet pizza wraps have been a big hit!

Pretty much everyone enjoyed success when lighting their own mini fire using the ‘dragon’s sneeze’ (flint and steel).