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Year One have been very busy with Mrs Parr potting Marigolds and Tomato plants.

They had great fun shoveling the soil into their pots, placing the plant in and then adding their label.

Once the plants have grown a bit and the frost has passed, it is hoped to place them in the school grounds.

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This term, the topic in Reception is ‘Seaside and Pirates” so today, the pupils (and staff)  had great fun coming to school dressed up as pirates.

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Last Friday three of our year 6 School Council representatives entered a Dragons Den style competition whereby they pitched an Olympic based project idea to three businessmen via video conference.  They were trying to secure £250 of funding to ensure the art based project could take place.  With some clever planning and well thought out answers, our children were successful, and won the money. 

Well done to our year 6 entrepreneurs. 

Children will be reading, writing, illustrating, working on their own and working in groups. We will be checking to see how well your child has learned through particular activities and by asking the children to explain their work, perhaps to you. We already know the interest you take in your child’s work. If you can, please discuss with your child the work they have done as the term progresses and let them teach you if they can.

In particular, you might want to talk to your child about the memories you have of previous Jubilee celebrations and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.  To complement the work that will be undertaken in the classroom we have planned a trip to The Tower of London on Friday 18^th May .

By the end of the unit, we hope that your child has achieved all of the learning targets.

We hope they have had an enjoyable time in the classroom and that you have enjoyed seeing your child work with enthusiasm. If you have any comments about the work that your child has done, please get in touch.

Thank you once again for your support.

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Six of our year 6 children went to the YMCA in Romford to take part in a borough Basketball Tournament.

With some excellent play we made it all the way to the semi finals before losing by one basket to St Josephs.

All of our players played exceptionally well and we were the only team where all of our players scored a basket.

A fantastic team effort.

During the Summer term, children in Reception shall be finishing their topic on growing.  It has been lots of fun and the children have learnt so much.  A huge thank you again for all your support and the resources donated to enhance your child’s provision.

Next we shall be learning through the theme of ‘Pirates and Seaside’  and finishing the term learning about ‘London and the Olympics’.

Some of the exciting events planned include a trip to Gray’s Beach, which was hugely successful last year.  We are also aiming to organize a bus tour of London.

We shall be making and following maps, writing wanted posters and finding out about the seaside in the past.  We shall be singing sea shanties and burying treasure.  We will be finding out about famous pirates and might even be lucky enough to have a visit from Pirate Pete.  Some of the books we will read include:

• Pirate Pete series

• The Night Pirates

• Non fiction about the seaside

When learning about London and the Olympics the focus is the book ‘Big Red Bus’.  This will lead to lots of work on number and calculating with tickets and prices.  Children will find out about famous landmarks and where they are.  As there will be global visitors, children may come home using words from other languages.

If parents and carers have any talents or interest linked to our topic, please be brave, and let us know.  The children love to have visitors.

To further enhance your child’s school experience, we would like to request any donations of the following

• Decking planks

• Thick rope

• Buckets

• pirate paraphernalia and dressing up

• buckets and spades

• shells

• treasure/treasure chests

• deck chairs

• cool box

• picnic blankets

• red, white and blue bunting

• union jack or Olympic artifacts

• buss timetables

• tube maps and maps of London

• tickets

If there is anything missing off the list that your child is particularly interested in or you think will be great benefit, please bring it in.  I’m sure we will find a use for it.

Phonics will continue throughout the summer term, gradually building up to an hour a day as it is in year 1.  Please ensure you practice phonics at home as it makes a difference.  When children have a book, please make sure it is brought to school daily as it is needed for the session.

There will be a couple of transition sessions later in the term to prepare children for Year 1.  Look out for dates for this and other events in newsletters.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a pleasant Easter break and look forward to seeing the children back for the Summer term.

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The topic in Year 2 this term is “The Circus”

The children had great fun turning themselves in to clowns using

the ‘Clown Booth’ app on the i-pod touches.

On Tuesday, the children in Aspen visited the Apple Store at Lakeside.

After an exciting ride on the 372 bus from Elm Park to Lakeside, the children were welcomed into the Apple store by cheering staff, who then gave everybody a bright yellow ‘Apple” t-shirt to wear.

 Working two to a computer, the children were shown how to create a movie trailer using i-movie.  Then, armed with this knowledge, they were given an ipod to film each other in the store.

They then returned to their computer and began to edit their trailers. Finally, each child burnt their film to a DVD which they were able to take home with them.

 After eating their packed lunch in the Food Court, it was time to jump back on the bus to school.

 A great day out!

During this half term Year 2 will be studying a unit of work based on the theme ‘The Circus’. This will include entertainment and movement. We will be focusing on Art, History, Technology, Geography, Physical Education, Music, ICT as well as International issues.

On Tuesday 24^th April 2012, the children will take part in a circus afternoon, further details will follow For this we ask that your child comes to school dressed up as something related to the circus (e.g. clown, ring master, acrobat, animal, etc.).

 For Literacy lessons children will be continuing with the Read, Write Inc. programme, as well as Guided Reading and handwriting. Children will also be writing within their topic lessons and looking at the following genres: balanced and biased arguments, persuasion and advertisements.

 In Mathematics this half term we shall be studying: aspects of number, multiplication and division. We will also be looking at halves and quarters of numbers and shapes along with different measurements for capacity.

During Art lessons we shall be looking at how expressions are used to portray feelings and moods and how painters used these within different images of the circus.

In History lessons we will be studying some of the famous people who have made circuses famous and how they have changed over the years.

Within Geography sessions we shall be looking at creating plans and maps to show how a circus might be set up along with using maps and atlases to find out about countries some circus animals originate from.

As part of Physical Education lessons we will be learning how to juggle balls and practising some movements used within circus performances.

In Society lessons we will be looking at staying safe in busy places.

During Music lessons we will be studying music used within the circus and composing rhythms that make us think about circus performers.

Please continue to read at home with your child as well as talk to them about their day and the activities they have done.  Your help and support is greatly appreciated.

In this half term Year 5 will be following a unit of work on a theme which focuses on ‘A Mission to Mars and Beyond’.

In Science we’ll be finding out about:

• How to grow seeds and plants, which may be suitable for providing our food on Mars
• How to stay healthy
• What materials we could use to build a space station

In Physical Education, we’ll be finding out about:

• How to stay healthy in an extreme situation (e.g. in a small space with little water available)
• How physical activity affects the body
• How to plan performances

We will also be learning about:

• The sorts of people and skills that are needed to build a successful community
• The responsibilities we all have living in a community
• Pollution and overcrowding
• How to write an International Treaty for the Mars colony

All of the work we are going to do has been specially designed to help your child reach the learning goals. Children will be reading, researching, writing, illustrating, working on their own and working in groups.

We hope this topic will inspire your child to learn more independently. If you have any comments about the work your child has done, please get in touch.