Junior School Newsletter - May 24 2019

JUNIOR SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER

Friday 24th May 2019 Dear Parents

Looking around school today, one would be forgiven for thinking the children and staff were on their half term break already as most of them appeared not to have bothered getting dressed! It was, of course, the children sporting their nightwear as part of our Pyjamarama raising money and awareness of The Book Trust.

That’s not the only good cause we’ve been looking into this week. On Monday Becca Edwards used Meeting for Worship to launch our Eco-Brick initiative. As you’ll see below, we’re looking for as many 2 litre plastic bottles as possible both in order to reuse them in a creative way to make something to benefit the school, and to generate an understanding of the impact that plastic usage and disposal is having upon the planet and its eco-systems. Thank you in advance you for support with the initiative.

Elsewhere, when not out at fixtures or gambolling in pyjamas the children have been finishing off their end of year assessments. A quiet hush has transcended much of the school as they’ve put their minds to the challenges set, however we’ve still found time in the afternoons to make the most of the clement weather and take our learning outside.

On Thursday morning the children in Key Stage 2 had the opportunity to compete in a Triathlon or Aquathlon. The results are being tabulated as I speak, however I can at this stage say that we were very impressed with the endeavour, endurance and energy shown from all of them. A huge thank you as well to all the parents for the support on the day and for the logistical organisation involved in getting bikes ship-shape and to school.

We will be finishing the week with Year 1 and 2 presenting the Celebration Meeting to us in the Ensemble Room. I am completely in the dark with this one as I have been otherwise engaged all week and haven’t made it down to the classroom. They set a very high bar at their last one though and I look forward to what they have in store for us!

This week we are delighted to announce several new appointments for September 2019: • Helen Hoy will be (re)joining the Junior School team as Head of Support for Learning. She is currently undertaking this role in the absence of Amanda Levett who is presently off sick.

Amanda is retiring at the end of the Summer term and we wish her all the best for the future.

Helen has lots of experience as a SENCO in supporting a range of learning needs and an excellent understanding of the children and curriculum in the Junior School.

• Sukey Symes, currently teacher in EYFS, has been appointed as Head of Early Years from September. Sukey is very experienced in all aspects of EYFS and we have been very impressed with how she has overseen the department since Christmas, particularly how she has continued developed a nurturing relationship with the children and an innovative and engaging curriculum.

• Lynne McArdle will join the Junior School teaching staff in September in order to replace Helen Arnold who, in case you missed previous newsletters, is off to teach in Bergamo in Italy (what an opportunity!) Lynne will join a Key Stage 2 class and we will be announcing the staff for all the year groups after half term.

A special congratulations to Logan in Year 5 who has been successful in his audition to “tread the boards” as part of a Shakespeare production at Blenheim Palace over the summer. Logan will play a young MacDuff in the play-that-can’t-be-named and gleefully told me this morning that his character gets bumped off and that he has been practising his dramatic death scene already!

Sibford has been bathed in beautiful sunshine this week (which has kept the children busy at lunchtime helping water the plants in the greenhouse). Year 5 and 6 have got their fingers crossed that these mild conditions will continue beyond the half term break when we head North for our Activities Week in the Lake District. It promises to be great fun and will be a rewarding experience for all involved.

Congratulations to the following children who received Celebration Certificates: Darcey – Y1/2, Thea – Y3, Lotte – Y4KS, Oliver – Y4MA, Phoebe – Y5, Rory and Marty – Y6AP and Audrey – Y6NH. I wish you all a pleasant half term break and look forward to seeing you all in June.

In friendship Edward Rossiter Head of Junior School Sibford School

PS. Did you know that around 70% of sea turtles found dead have ingested plastic bags?

Foundation and Reception At lunchtime we sit together and encourage discussions (as long as their mouths are empty).

Last Friday at lunch time the children were bubbling over with questions. How are jeans made? How do you make glass? (One child was sure it was made from ice.) What is the floor made out of? How do you make a door? How did they make the tissues? Why are some doors metal? How do they wash up so many dishes at lunch time?

It was a fabulous lead into making our models using the workbench. We have been exploring natural and man-made materials, those that are magnetic and watching videos showing how glass, jeans and Lego are made. After exploring the materials available to them the children thought about what they wanted to make and created a plan. We encouraged them to annotate their plans using their writing and number skills. We also thought about sharing in maths. How could we share 6 corks between 3 people? The models are coming along beautifully. So far we have a robot, cheetah, boat, submarine and a tiger and we are busy making sure every child gets to make something before the end of term.

The butterflies are still hiding away in their Chrysalis and should be emerging soon (hopefully before half term). At the time of going to press our fifth one was still munching away on the food showing no signs of wanting to build a Chrysalis :-/

Mark in the kitchen agreed to let us have a little look at the giant dishwasher in action at lunch time so we could see how they manage to wash so many dishes. We also made some drinking glasses out of ice. They are good for the environment and keeping your drink cold but not so great for longevity, especially on a hot day. One child wanted to know how long it was going to take to melt so we got a timer out – it took 15 minutes.

Finally, the children across Early Years and Year 1 and 2 have been exploring all the ways you can play with tyres.

Year 1 and 2

You’d have thought a four week term would have been perfect for our topic focusing on the seasons of the year, however, it’s been hard to make sure we’ve had time to pack everything in!

Though it’s been great to be able to use the celebration meeting preparations to focus on and work towards.

Some of the children have been out and about using the school grounds to think about how to use natural materials to share equally into 2, 5 or 10s, but also how they could represent different number bond facts.

After investigating colour mixing last week, the children in Year 1 and 2 had a somewhat calm and relaxing afternoon of art. Kandinsky was an abstract painter who was influenced by music and believed that colours had a soul. Therefore, in an attempt to help the children chanel their inner Kandinsky, Becca Edwards played Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ and allowed the children to paint in his style, using varied colours, shapes and forms to display how the music made them feel.

Once again, they ventured up to the ICT suite to present their understanding of London landmarks in a different way and explaining why they were so significant with the capital city.

What another busy topic and Becca Edwards can certainly guarantee that next term will be equally busy!

Year 3 Amongst the flurry of assessments and sporting fixtures, Year 3 have had an exciting week in their lessons as well. Monday brought with it a lesson on Celtic tribes and hill forts, whereby the pupils, having moved to their hillfort for safety, continued with their drama around the roundhouse. They were happily getting on with their allocated jobs when, once again, they were called into the roundhouse for an emergency meeting. Their tribe leader (Helen Arnold) had received a message from a neighbouring tribe that there were some people moving from tribe to tribe, stealing valuable animals and weapons. The tribe anxiously decided what they should do. There were many suggestions from, hiding all of the items of value to the middle of the hillfort, to making the surrounding wall higher to make it more difficult to get in. They decided that whatever they do, they needed to strengthen their defences, and that one way to do that was to make some strong, iron shields.

Later in the week, they studied a range of Celtic shields, and realised that many of them contain beautifully intricate symmetrical patterns. They designed their own equally as intricate and symmetrical shields, which they will later be able to bring to life.

Year 3 have also been venturing outdoors in their Maths, where, seeking to cement their understanding of long multiplication, they did their sums on the playground in the sunshine!

Finally, year 3 have been finding out about this exciting time in the Islamic calendar, Ramadan.

They have been learning about the significance of this holy month, the rituals which take place and have been looking at the beauty of Islamic places of worship, Mosques.

Year 4 The Vikings (793 AD) have certainly invaded in Year 4MA and 4KS now. All things Viking have arrived with Viking singing, Viking Runes, Viking jewellery and Viking ships. Children have enjoyed working out secret messages using the Rune alphabet. Looking at where the Vikings came from and where they invaded has also been a task this week.

In 4MA English children are preparing to have a debate while in pottery they are combining techniques such as coiling and pinch pots to create Romanesque type pots. We hope you like our photos.

In 4KS Maths, the class enjoyed being able to make the most of the sunny weather this week.

We ventured outside to consolidate our knowledge of Roman Numerals through some highly competitive games of snakes and ladders!

Year 5

Whoops! Year 5 have taken their eyes off their willow maze for a few weeks whilst tending to other matters (not least our raised beds planting) and in the meantime in the beautiful weather, the grass has grown tall with the lack of regular footfall. The weeds have obviously not found the correct route out of the maze either! At the end of the afternoon on Wednesday after finishing their last assessment in the morning, the children were granted some “golden time� and spent it happily trampling down some of the undergrowth that has sprung up and learning different uses for a hoe. They like nothing better than getting stuck into an outdoor project and really show off their teamwork skills whilst doing it.

Year 6 This week, a flurry of maths challenges and Sporting fixtures – with fantastic results for both!

Year 6 have also been continuing their study of Lake Windermere and considering the positive and negative impact of tourism on the area. They have also been researching other World Famous Tourist attractions. Did you know that The Great Wall of China is over 2,300 years old? Or that the Statue of Liberty was built in France, and transported to America in 350 individual pieces?

Year 6NH have been drawing cityscapes using their new perspective drawing skills, and 6AP have been busy writing ‘sandwich sentences’. Of course, we have also been making the most of the beautiful weather, with outdoor PSHE and a lovely farm walk.

Lots of exciting homework projects have appeared and Year 6 is resplendent in Pandora’s boxes and Poseidon’s Tridents! Thank you for your help and support.

Sport Reports U11 Cricket v Cokethorpe

On a hot and sunny Tuesday the U11 girls lost the toss so batted first against a strong Cokethorpe team. The team defended well, losing only 2 wickets in 16 overs. We found the boundary nine times, Audrey standing out with a particularly impressive batting performance, scoring 20 runs in one over. Consistent bowling from Emma and Rosie kept Cokethorpe’s run rate down, however Cokethorpe were able to capitalise on quick singles to edge to a narrow victory. It was a solid performance, particularly given for some girls this was their first cricket fixture – well done girls. Player of the match: Elena U11A Cricket vs Cokethorpe

On Tuesday we travelled to Cokethorpe full of confidence after our win last week. After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, it was a great challenge against a good bowling attack. All batsman played some great shots to keep the score board ticking but unfortunately kept losing wickets that tied us down. Having set a total that was always going to be difficult to defend Sibford started bowling well restricting the runs. Unfortunately we didn’t take enough wickets to restrict the total and some good batting from Cokethorpe saw them win the game. The team

should be pleased with how they competed against a very good side.

U11B vs Cokethorpe

On a glorious Tuesday afternoon, the U11 Bs turned out against a well-drilled Cokethorpe side.

While ultimately resulting in defeat, their performance saw a significant improvement in the accuracy of their bowling as well as better communication when batting. Man of the match goes to Henry for some excellent bowling and bold stroke play.

U9 Rounders v Kitebrook 1, Kitebrook 2 and St John’s – 2nd place overall

On Tuesday afternoon the U9 rounders team travelled to Kitebrook to take part in their first rounders tournament, excitement levels were high on a glorious afternoon! Over the course of the afternoon the team played three matches back-to back. The first match was not easy.

Despite some excellent hits, the Sibford girls struggled to take advantage of these and scoring opportunities were limited (although Lotte managed to score an excellent full rounder to finish!). After losing this match, the team reflected on their tactics and embraced the second game. In this match, Sibford worked well as a team – tight fielding prevented the opposition from scoring and with increased confidence many of our girls scored half rounders by focusing on getting to second base. This secured a win. The final game saw Sibford in very good form – the players applied what they had learnt in the previous matches – increasingly accurate hits, good fielding and a little bit of risk taking resulted in another win. An excellent end to a fantastic afternoon – the girls certainly felt that they learnt a lot from this experience and should be very proud of their performance. The ice creams were well deserved! Players of the Matches – Lotte, Lieu Yen and Lucy Activities Week – Year 5 and 6 – Monday, 3rd to Friday, 7th June 2019

We will be leaving school as close to 8.30 am on Monday, 3rd June as possible, travelling on a Cheney coach. Children are to come to school in casuals. Please meet at the swimming pool car park from 8.10 onwards. If you have had a long journey to school please allow time to visit the toilets in the Music Block. Packed lunches will be provided. We shall be back at school on Friday 7th June at around 3.30pm depending upon the traffic. However, we cannot guarantee to be in Sibford before the school buses leave so please arrange to collect your child from school if they normally travel on the bus.

While we are away we will be using the Sibford School Communicator App as a way of keeping in touch with parents, especially when it comes to keeping you up to date with our return journey. The app is available for computers, tablets and internet enabled mobile phones and can be downloaded on as many devices as you wish. Visit the Sibford School website and click on the app button to download. You then need to ensure you select Year 5 or Year 6 in the personalisation menu. The app can also be downloaded from: http://www.schoolcommunicator.co.uk/download.php We will keep you notified of arrival and departure times using the Communicator App. Sibford Junior School has so much to sing about and share that it now has its own dedicated Twitter page. Give @SibfordJS a follow on Twitter and keep up to date with all the Junior School news and daily activities. https://twitter.com/SibfordJS’

Junior School Eco Council – Eco Bricks

Following the clarion sent out earlier in the week, we are working towards a Junior School project to collect as many Eco Bricks as possible! Please have a look at the information on Firefly (Class Info – Eco Council – Eco Bricks). We really need your help to collect as many good quality bricks as possible. Any completed bricks can be brought to the Junior School office, where there will be a collection box after half term. Once you have placed your bottle in the box, you can collect a sticker to put on the display outside the office to help keep track of our total number of bottles!

Thank you in advance for all your help.

SAVE THE DATE – ANNUAL OPEN DAY ON SATURDAY, 15TH JUNE!

Please save the date for our annual open day on Saturday, 15th June. This is a compulsory school day for all pupils. Families are encouraged to join and experience the wide array of presentations and displays put on by pupils, staff and parents. Junior School children are to arrive for 9.15am in full school uniform and school shoes (plus trainers for maypole dancing) and will be ready for collection at 1pm. A full timetable will be issued shortly.

Saturday, 29th June 2019 – 2pm to 6pm – PSFA Summer Fun in the Sun – Family Day

A note for your diaries that the PSFA Summer Fun in the Sun Family day will take place on Saturday, 29th June from 2pm to 6pm. Entry is £3 for Adults and £2 for children. Refreshments will be available, have fun in the music tent, join in the art and crafts and enter a team in the “Sibford Challenge”. If you would like to help please email PSFASibfordSchool@outlook.com.

Lost Property

Alice, Y2 has lost her PE top and Skort, both named. Please could everyone check their bags in case they have been picked up in error.