Parkers Dec22

Termly News

Winter 2022-2023

Welcome from Mrs Disney There has been so much going on across The Dove Federation, that summer seems an age ago and autumn very quickly gave way to Nativity rehearsals and Christmas excitement!

We are keenly aware that there is far more happening at both Caston and Parkers than we are able to cover in the weekly letters. So welcome to this, our new termly publication, which we hope will be more of a magazine to keep you up-to-date with news, events and opportunities.

We also hope it will be a two-way street, so if your child is involved with something exciting outside school, or has an achievement to celebrate, please send details to the office. Do let us have your feedback too - if there's anything we've missed, you've enjoyed or would like to see more of!

Mrs Sarah Disney Executive Headteacher

It's Christmaaas! (Oh yes it is!)

What a cracking last week of term - and a busy one! Lunches, jumpers, nativities and a faster in-house Christmas postal service than the rest of us are currently enjoying...

We were delighted to welcome to both schools the Norfolk Institute of Performing Arts with their travelling production of James and the Giant Peach. Full of energy and catchy tunes, the children loved it and they can come back any time! Thankyou NIPA!

The Dove Federation, proudly part of the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust

Around the School As you probably already know, I retire from teaching at the end of the term.

Teaching was my third career over the years and it has certainly been the most challenging but also the most rewarding.

During my three years at Parkers, I have particularly enjoyed working in a small rural school with a close knit team. Miss Head, my TA, has been exceptional in her support of both the children in our class and myself over the last couple of years and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank her for all her hard work and help.

I would like to wish all staff, both old and new, every success and happiness as they return to school in the New Year.

Sustainability We have been thinking hard about how we can act more sustainably as a school, and you'll see some new initiatives over the coming months which will encourage all of us to make some more sustainable choices. They may help our pockets, too win, win!

Caston's 'waste not' food stall is open to the Parkers community too - it has been really well received and we hope to be able to source more supplies which would otherwise go to landfill. If you can make use of anything, please take it and donate when you can! The stall is the the entrance foyer do come have a look. Thanks to Mrs Quick for getting it up and running.

Miss Annette Cooper, Head of School

House Competition Well done to Yellows who won the House competition this term and chose an additional playtime as their prize!

Who will win next term?

Starting off the New Year, Yr2 and above will be working in class to achieve their green Blue Peter badges. The hope is that every eligible child in the Federation will get theirs! The badges qualify children for free and discounted entry to all sorts of attractions. Where would you go?!

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.

Use them well to serve one another.” 1 Peter 4:10

Around the School Tuck in for lunch Our caterers, Aspens, are committed to serving a balanced, nutritious men. All of our meals are freshly prepared on-site at Parkers by Mrs Savory, who has worked with us for some time and knows our schools well! With vegetables already coming from Downham Market and Norwich butcher Rooses on board, we are really pleased that Aspens are working to ensure that more of our ingredients are locally sourced.

We value your feedback - please contact the school office if you would like to get in touch.

We are so fortunate to receive a huge amount of support from our academy trust, DNEAT, who have made major capital investments at Caston and Parkers. You will all have noticed the smart signage, and we've all benefited from the new boilers.

Our Reception classroom with its own toilet area is the envy of many!

Federation News From the Local Governing Body The promise of a new year feels a good time to reflect on the things the Governors have been observing so far this academic year.

All of the Governors will agree that it has been an absolute joy to see the children at work and play. It's just not the same on Zoom! We have been able to ask the children many questions and get some fabulous responses. The School Councils always challenge us which is brilliant.

Equally it has been great to see how all of our staff are engaging, supporting, and encouraging their pupils. So, a big thank you all. What we need to do more of again, post-covid, is collect parental feedback.

This may be electronically, in person at events, or informally through the offices. I can always be reached via either school.

We have big expectations for 2023 and look forward to seeing how our children grow and thrive in their learning.

Now on a practical note - we have two vacancies on the Board of Governors and I would urge anyone interested in supporting our schools to consider joining us. I'm happy to meet and discuss what this entails and how you can become an active member of the team.

Mike Dwyer, Chair

Changing faces Across the Federation we have some key staff changes - some people you may have already met, or your children will have, as staff spend time in school getting to know everybody.

Over at Caston we welcome two new members of the teaching staff: Mrs Wickers to lead Yrs 5&6, and Mrs Neale to ably hold the fort in Reception whilst Miss Lindop enjoys her maternity leave.

In October Mrs Jeffries became Business Manager, working across both schools supporting the Heads and Governors.

Here at Parkers we are of course bidding farewell and thankyou to Miss Cooper, who is very much looking forward to a welldeserved retirement and lots of mini breaks!

The Head of School baton passes to Miss Landsell, of course well known across the Federation as RE Lead as well as Reception teacher. Mr Davis will join us as Yr5&6 Teacher - he joins us from another DNEAT school so knows the Trust well.

We're in good hands!

Welcome to...

Caterpillar Class (Rec)

We have been learning lots of new things this half term! We have established good relationships with our teachers and peers and are becoming more confident every day. We are familiar with all the routines of the school and have made many friends with children across the year groups.

As part of our maths learning we have talked about positional language, shapes and working with numbers 1-5. We particularly enjoyed creating obstacle courses as part of our learning about positional language. We have practiced pencil control and many of us have started to write words and phrases.

Great achievements! We have enjoyed lots of discussion about our class book 'Little Red' by Bethan Woolvin and have been pretending to be the main characters.

In other subject areas we have learnt about celebrations and festivals from all over the world. We also had the privilege of welcoming some Jewish visitors and learning about their faith. In the last two weeks of term we have focused on Christmas and of course the children have prepared and performed their first Nativity.

We are so proud of the progress that Caterpillars have made in their first term at school and look forward to seeing their learning journey develop further in 2023!

Mrs Landsell

We love...

Butterfly Class (Yr 1-2) We have had a busy start to our school year with the children developing their writing skills through the books 'Major Glad and Major Dizzy', and 'Rapunzel'. The children have been writing stories, letters and instructions. They have planned carefully how to catch any tricky elves that may be lurking around! We have all been developing our skills of adding and subtracting with some children now calculating confidently across 10’s. The children have all been exploring about shapes, and have investigated their properties through sorting and drawing.

Paddington Bear paid us a visit, but quickly went off on a trip around the UK. He sent us postcards and information about the different countries he visited. We have been noticing the changes in seasons with opportunities to explore the school trees to see first-hand what has changed. In PE we have been developing out gymnastic and dance skills with great collaboration from our friends. We were all intrigued to find acorns and beautiful coloured leaves.

Everyone is excited about the Nativity performance we are sharing with our families.

Mrs Walls

Hello from...

Firefly Class (Yr 3-4)

This term Firefly Class have enjoyed lots of exciting learning. In Science, we have carried out lots of scientific experiments including investigating magnetic and nonmagnetic materials, testing the strength of different magnets and investigating how different liquids can affect our teeth.

The children were visited by special guests from The Jewish community and we enjoyed learning all about their religion. They talked to us about their faith, we got to read some Torah scrolls and even got to try on some traditional Jewish clothing!

We enjoyed learning about the Ancient Egyptians and how they lived. We have learned how to write like an Egyptian and even wrote instructions on how to make a mummy! We had lots of fun making pyramids and painting our Egyptian pictures.

Miss Okoro

We are...

Dragonfly Class (Yr 5-6)

This term, as well as our normal lessons, we have: taken part in a cricket tournament with Ashill held our Remembrance Day silence in the church joined in the World Cup fever with some World Cup Maths joined in Road Safety Week joined in Anti Bullying week made a class advent calendar made our own Christmas decorations for our class tree made Christmas wreaths for the Church's Christmas fete It's been a busy term! Thank you all for your hard work.

Miss Cooper Hello, I'm Mr.Davis and I'll be your child's teacher as of January. I taught English as a foreign language before moving into Primary teaching, where I've been working at a school in Thetford. I'm so pleased to be joining the heart of this great community, and excited to inspire, motivate, challenge and support the members of Dragonfly class.

At this stage I ask you to carry on with reading with your child at home, continuing to make use of the various online platforms, so we can give Dragonfly class the best opportunity of being successful. I look forward to working with all of you to get the most out of the children's learning journey, so please don't hesitate to come and talk to me at the end of the school day.

Noticeboard Norfolk Recycles have some great ideas for sustainable Christmas decorations and food.

Give them a follow on Facebook (@FoodSavvyNfk) - there are some worthwhile competitions on there too.

Do you have any time or skills that could help our schools? We're seriously grateful for the support and time that our volunteers give. There are all sorts of ways to help: Hearing children read Accompanying swimming trips Being a Governor (it's actually really interesting and DNEAT offer training) Fundraising and social activities with the Friends Or if you have some time and are not sure what you could do, come and have a chat!

Did you know Norfolk Libraries have a reading club for 0-5 year olds? We all know how valuable reading, and being read to, is for emerging brains. If you have any little ones in your family, they can register for the Story Explorers scheme at their local library.

Each book borrowed counts towards their next milestone from 10 all the way up to 1000 books, earning certificates and stickers! Who doesn't love a sticker?

'Review what your kids are into (before they get into it)! www.commonsensemedia.org is a fantastic resource for movies, games, TV, podcasts, books and carries loads of straightforward guides on topics from screen time to TikTok, recommendations and avoiding pitfalls. Highly recommended.

Diary dates Dates are subject to change: please check the school website, weekly newsletters and ParentMail texts for amendments.

JANUARY Weds 4 - Return to school FEBRUARY Mon 13 - Fri 17 - Half term MARCH Fri 31 - Last day of Spring term Swimming (Years 3-6) - every Thursday in Spring Term (TBC) Collective Worship & Celebration Assembly - every Friday, 2.50pm. Parents are welcome to join us; we will send an invitation by text if your child is to receive an award.

Keep in touch Parkers CofE Primary Academy Pound Hill Saham Toney Thetford Norfolk IP25 7HP 01953 881601 office@parkers.norfolk.sch.uk

Mrs Carla Landsell (from Jan), Head of School Mrs Debbie Tumath, Clerical Assistant Across the Federation: Mrs Sarah Disney, Executive Headteacher Mr Mike Dwyer, Chair of Governors Mrs Helen Jeffries, School Business Manager Mr Marcus Halmshaw, SENDCO