CoMPasS Registered Charity No: 1141329
Newsletter No: 16 Friday, January 28th 2022
You can follow us The children in Year 1 have designed spells and potions, made magic wands and created beautiful rhyming spells and cooked flatbreads at forest school on the campfire.
DIARY FOR WEEK COMMENCING 31st JANUARY 2022
MONDAY
In Reception the children have been wildlife photographers, taking close ups of leaves, plants, bark, minibeasts. There is a display in the Reception classrooms. The children have been large scale architectural designers, creating zoos, army bases and pirate ships. I have also been invited to many weddings this week in Reception.
This week the school council had a visit from the Eco School Council from St Peter’s 13-18. It was wonderful to see the two schools helping each other to work together to help and support our environment. The children loved the visit and huge thanks to Mrs Franey
who facilitates our school council and to the Eco School Council from St Peter’s 13-18 for giving us the time.
This week the St Peter’s 2-8 Friends held a meeting and discussed various events this term, there will be more information later in the newsletter about up-and-coming events for the children and for parents, including a Valentine’s Disco and a Quiz and Curry night. My thanks to the St Peter’s 2-8 Friends for all in support of the school.
Year 3 Football* Reception Film Club Year 1 Football* Year 2 Multisports Year 2 STEM (Group 1) Year 3 Language Year 3 Swimming
Year 3 Tennis* Reception Story Time (Group 1) Year 1 Creative (Group 1) Year 1 Cricket* Years 2 & 3 Choir TBC Year 1 Sign Language Year 1 Tennis* Year 2 Art (Group 1) Year 2 Multisports Year 3 Netball
Year 3 STEM Year 1 Film Year 1 Street Dance* Year 2 Coding (Group 1) Year 2 Football* Year 2 Tennis*
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and remember there is no swimming for the Reception children tomorrow. Best wishes,
Year 3 Cricket* Year 3 Groovy Greeks
SAT
their conservation. I must say I heard one of the children’s arguments for keeping them in captivity which was wonderfully presented and debated skilfully against all the remaining children in the class. Just brilliant! You can see Tilly’s and James’ letters to Sir David Attenborough here.
Teaching children to read is one of the most fundamental goals of early years and primary education worldwide, and as such has attracted a large amount of research. A landmark study https://bera -journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/10.1002/rev3.3314 has described the way primary school children are taught to read in England as ‘uninformed and failing children’, calling
on the government to drop its narrow focus on phonics. The use of synthetic or blended phonics to teach reading in schools in England has been the subject of debate since it was backed by former education minister Michael Gove. In the study it was reported that for the first time in more than 100 years we see that a balanced-instruction approach to the teaching of reading is no longer the norm in England. It is said in the report that most schools are now reporting the more frequent use of the narrower synthetic phonics approach. At St Peter’s 2-8 the children learn reading through a systematic delivery of regular phonics teaching in the classroom taught by trained members of staff. This then is supplemented by the reading book your child brings home which allows the children to practise the skills they have been taught in school. Our focus on the termly themed book in each year group is the vehicle of the learning journey. This is a book that is too advanced for the average child in the class and is read by the teacher, allowing access to a richer vocabulary and higher order comprehension skills for all children no matter of the level of their reading development. The book drives the learning and allows the child to be immersed in the story and develops a love of books. We believe that teaching reading should allow for a wider range of approaches which allow teachers to use their own judgment about which is best for their children and to encourage children to have a love of reading.
FRIDAY
On Tuesday Yarm Preparatory School visited to play football and netball at school. Miss Flockhart organised mixed groups of boys and girls from each school who completed a carousal of physical activities in football and netball. All the children from both schools had a wonderful time learning new skills, playing games and making new friends. My huge thanks to Harrison Savage and Shaun Crouch (sports grads), staff from Yarm Preparatory school and to Miss Flockhart who organised a brilliant afternoon for the children. I must mention that our children were wonderful ambassadors for our school being fabulous hosts – well done all.
Year 3 Film
THURSDAY
Year 3 have written letters to Sir David Attenborough about the importance of polar bear conservation. In each class there have been lively debates about whether keeping polar bears in captivity is a positive or negative approach to
Year 2 Engineers (Group 1)
Year 2 Cricket*
WEDS
At school the exciting learning journeys have continued throughout the week. There have been shape poems created about extinct animals, based on the dodo that appears in the story of Alice in Wonderland. The creations in Year 2 have been excellent and the children have enjoyed learning about the sabretoothed tiger, dinosaurs and great auk to name a few.
Year 1 Story Club (Group 1)
Year 2 Multisports
TUESDAY
It has been a busy week at St Peter’s 2-8 this week as we have been impacted by increasing levels of Covid-19. Many children and staff have had to isolate after testing positive and we have had to use cover staff to ensure that we could educate the children. A huge thank you to all the teachers, teaching assistants and the school nurse for covering lessons and duties as well as staff who have helped to plan lessons and administration whilst isolating from home. The school community has worked extremely well together to ensure the continuity of education for the children at St Peter's 2-8.
In Nursery, I was taught by the Acorn children how to put a coat on very quickly. Thank you for teaching me this new skill. The children in Conkers have enjoyed exploring the Café and being waiters, chefs and customers.
Reception Drama (Group 1)
St Peter’s Exeat: No Reception Swimming