16 May 2022 - Maths Monday - Place Value

This week's Maths Monday parent video is on Place Value. To get to it click on 'Place Value' just above the video. There is also a useful sheet to read about Place Value in primary schools

VIDEO
https://whiterosemaths.com/maths-with-michael
GUIDE TO PLACE VALUE
https://assets.whiterosemaths.com/web-pages/maths-with-michael/A-guide-to-place-value.pdf

If you have any questions please speak to you child's teacher who will be happy to help.

10 May 2022 - Curriculum Focus News

Across the school in PE this term we are working on our coordination when sending and receiving a ball. We share these videos with the children to show them how to progress. This is part of how we develop the children's fundamental movement skills as part of our realPE teaching.

Yellow is for starters, Green is for growth and Red is for challenge. Can you have a go sending and receiving at home?

Yellow
https://vimeo.com/136099296/f78f4a7b00
Green
https://vimeo.com/216669028/011cc8fe34
Red
https://vimeo.com/136098858/e8fe83c333

6 May 2022 - Get Physical For FONS

Wishing our brilliant team of parents and staff GOOD LUCK for the Nettlebed 10k on Sunday 8 May and to Mrs Williams (Heron Class) for her triathlon event tomorrow.
Our PTA (FONS) are hoping to raise the final amount needed to purchase new iPads for our school.
Please show your support and sponsor the team: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/FonsRun2022

4 May 2022 - Wellbeing Wednesday

This week in PSHE we are discussing the question ‘What is change?’. The children will be thinking about moments of change such as new siblings, losing a pet, moving house, growing new teeth and changing class.

They will be discussing how these events make them feel and what they can do if they are feeling blue about changes.

The ideas in the pictures are also helpful if your family is experience change. For staff to help children manage their wellbeing it is helpful for your child’s teacher to know if there is change at home so they can support you and your child as appropriate. We might also be able to suggest some stories to help you explain specific changes, just let us know.

3 May 2022 - PE

In PE this term we are thinking about the cog Health and Fitness. Everyone in the school is working on their Coordination when sending and receiving and their Agility when reacting and responding. These are two of the Fundamental Movement Skills (FUNS) which under pink our PE learning. We start at the Yellow skill, then Green, then Red. 

You could work on this at home by:

 Rolling a large ball and tracking it around a space

 Rolling a ball against a surface such as a wall and collecting it - how accurate is your catching?

 Throw a tennis ball and catch it on the rebound

 Strike a large ball along the ground

 Kick a ball between two people

 Catch a large ball dropped from shoulder height after one bounce

 Catch a tennis ball dropped from shoulder height after one bounce.

2nd May 2022 - Maths Monday
(coming to you on Tuesday - we hope you had a good bank holiday)

We understand that many parents feel like maths has changed since they were at school and that it’s sometimes difficult to keep up to date with modern teaching methods. Well don’t worry, we’re here to help.

We use White Rose Maths to teach Maths and they have produced some videos that help to explain how we teach Maths. We will be posting one a week this term. This week the video is called 'Has Maths Changed?'

https://whiterosemaths.com/maths-with-michael

If you have any questions please speak to you child's teacher who will be happy to help.

28th April 2022

Exciting this are happening on the playground this lunchtime! The children warmly welcomed Hannah from St Mary’s Church who will be running craft activities on Thursdays during lunchtime. Children who chose to join in today will be bringing home a plant they planted 🌱.

27th April 2022

Wellbeing can be linked to self-esteem. In PSHE this week the children are starting to think about this by identifying what they are good at.

Self-esteem is how we value and perceive ourselves. It's based on our opinions and beliefs about ourselves, which can sometimes feel really difficult to change. 

Here are a few ideas of how to consider your own self-esteem and in turn you can then act as a role model for the children in your life:
• Get to know yourself. Try to learn more about yourself – for example what makes you happy and what you value in life. Some people say they find it helpful to write in a journal.
• Let yourself have feelings. It's important to remember that you're a human being who can experience a wide range of emotions.
• Consider what self-esteem means to you. You might realise you're basing your sense of self-worth on things that aren't useful or helpful for you.
For further information visit: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/self-esteem/about-self-esteem

26th April 2022

It's Chatty Tuesday!

Have you considered why talking is so important? We use talk at school to teach skills such as comprehension when reading. For example we might use pictures to teach about inference. What can you infer from this picture to answer these questions?

How did the octopus get here?
Why is it wearing a hat?
Is it speaking your language? Do you understand what it’s saying?
Where did the plants come from?

Have a go answering these questions with your child! Can you come up with multiple answers.

I'd love to hear your ideas via ClassDojo or on a piece of paper via your class teacher!

Miss Horne

22 March 2022 - World Water Day

World Water Day is on 22 March every year. It is an annual United Nations Observance, started in 1993, that celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2 billion people currently living without access to safe water. This will the children of St Nicholas will be thinking about how they can celebrate water and will be learning about how lucky we are to have access to safe water and how we can treat water with respect.

How can you treat water with respect at home?

21st March 2022 - Forgiveness

In Collective Worship today we have used the story of Zaccheus, a tax collector who climbs a tree to see Jesus and who later changes his ways to become a follower of Christ. We talked about how Zaccheus turned over a new leaf and was afforded the value of forgiveness - our value of the term.

We made a giant leaf from sugar paper and collated ideas about things to say sorry for one side and then ideas about how to change on the other side. You could do the same at home.

If you would like to share the story of Zaccheus you can find it here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0115lgy

Science Week Continued....

As part of Science Week the children have shared all about a scientist in assembly that their class have been learning about this week. We found out about the 'Shark Lady' from Kingfisher Class whilst the Grebes told us about Marie-Curie. The Herons shared their learning about Isaac Newton then the Swallows told us about Rosalind Franklin's work on DNA and the Moorhens explain what Charles Darwin was famous for. Final we were treated to a documentary made by the Swans in the style of David Attenborough. Well done everyone!

If you would like to watch the talented Swans you can view their documentary via ClassDojo

18th March 2022 - Comic Relief

To mark the occasion, we are inviting children to come dressed in a colour from the rainbow and/or to wear an accessory to make people smile. They may wish to wear a funny wig, hat, hair decoration or maybe funny glasses!

We will not be collecting money via school directly but are instead suggesting you make the donation online – follow the link on their website https://donation.comicrelief.com/.

‘Comic Relief continues to make a difference to the lives of millions of people across the UK and around the world. The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on us all, especially the people and communities helped by Comic Relief funding. So, any amount raised will make a big difference in a very difficult time.’

We will also be using Red Nose Day as a learning opportunity to help our pupils explore the issues facing young children across the world, and how the money we raise can help.

We really appreciate your support and hope that you’ll have fun helping us to raise lots of money for Red Nose Day.

Science Week 2022

Science Week is in full swing here this week! Take a look at the awe, wonder, experimenting and fun that we are all having!

7 March 2022 - Travelling Book Fair

Thank you to everyone who visited the Travelling Book Fair last week we raised over £225 to spend on books for school. Take a look at some of the new books we will be enjoying.
Thank you

1 March 2022 - Travelling Book Fair

The Travelling Books Fair is in school this week. Come and buy a book and earn us free books for the school library!

The fair will be located in the hall which can be accessed via the main entrance. In the event that it is very busy we will be operating a one in one out system for Covid safety but hope that with being open on multiple occasions this should not be a problem.

Opening times:
Wednesday 2 March 8.20-8.40am
Wednesday 2 March 3.00-3.30pm
Thursday 3 March 8.20-8.40am
Friday 4 March 3.00-3.30pm

We are trialling a cashless book fair this year Payments are now made via the travelling book fair online payment form https://bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/pay/1170627/checkout you will be able to do this via a phone or via school ipad. Alternatively you will also be able to pay via vouchers purchased in advanced from https://www.scholastic.co.uk/search/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search%5Bsite%5D=corporate&search%5Bquery%5D=gift+voucher&search%5Bregion%5D=uk&log=t

1 March 2022 - Celebrations!

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus
(Happy St David's Day!)

It's a busy day today as it is Shrove Tuesday and St David's Day. We will be talking about why Christians celebrate Shrove Tuesday in Collective Worship today and finding out about St David tomorrow.

You can find out more about St David's Day here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000st7s/my-first-festivals-series-2-3-st-davids-day

28 February 2021 - World Book Day Challenge

Take a look at the fabulous entries for the World Book Day Challenge that have already come into school.

Just a reminder that the challenge is to make a book character out of a wooden spoon or a potato. You could also reuse a shoebox, egg box or kitchen roll tube to show us your favourite story. Anything goes!

Bring your creations to school ready for World Book Day to be in with the chance of winning a book for your creativity!

If you need some ideas visit https://www.worldbookday.com/fun-craft-favourite-characters/

We are also looking forward to seeing your costumes - please bear in mind that we will still be outside at playtime and lunchtime so shoes and coats must be practical!

9 February 2022 - Children's Mental Health Week 

This Children's Mental Health Week consider how you nurture your child's mental health. Here are some ideas.

8 February 2022 - Safer Internet Day

Today is Safer Internet Day. It’s celebrated across the globe in over 170 countries, with thousands of young people joining in across the UK to explore how they can use the internet responsibly, respectfully, and creatively whilst making the most of their relationships online.

Today we have shared the story ‘Digiduck and the Magic Castle’ with your child: childnet.com/digiduck-magic

You can revisit this at home and discuss how Wise_Owl and Eagle_Owl help Digiduck and his family. Ask your child: Who helps you when you have a problem online? Work with your child to write or draw a list of people they could speak to if they had a problem online. This might include you, other family members, a class teacher or trusted family friends. You could even practise what they might say or come up with a code word that everybody knows.

7 February 2022 - Children's Mental Health Week

This week is Children’s Mental Health Week and the theme this year is Growing Together.

Growing Together is about growing emotionally and finding ways to help each other grow. Challenges and setbacks can help us to grow and adapt and trying new things can help us to move beyond our comfort zone into a new realm of possibility and potential. However, emotional growth is often a gradual process that happens over time, and sometimes we might feel a bit ‘stuck’.

As parents and carers, you play an important role in your child’s mental health. Check out the free resources for families available from Place2Be here:

https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/parents-and-carers/

4 February 2022 - Value of the Term

In Collective Worship this week we learnt about how small acts of kindness can have a great impact. We found out about Therese of Lisieux who live her life with the idea that ‘What matters not great deeds, but great love.’ We thought of some small acts of kindness we can do to show our value of love.

4 February 2022 - World Book Day

Did you know World Book Day has been celebrated for 25 years? Celebrate your favourite book by coming to school dressed as a book character on Thursday 3^rd March (first week back after half-term).

Don’t forget costumes can be easy if you wish, Oxford Reading Tree’s Biff, Chip & Kipper usually wear jeans and a jumper! Feel free to go all out with your costume or if it’s easier, just bring along your favourite book to share at school.   During the day we will be enjoying books in a number of ways Including DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), Book Quizzes and Mystery Readers.

For more costume ideas visit: www.bookaid.org/worldbookday

2 February 2022 - Wellbeing Wednesday

In PSHE for the next few weeks we are all thinking about how we can respect the environment. Our big question is 'How can we respect the environment?'. You can encourage children to care for the environment at home.

Explain why plastics go in one bin, while other products go in another, and let them help you sort your recycling. When you leave a room, ask them if they want to flip the light switch off themselves. Remind them not to leave the TV on if they’re not watching it, or not to leave the water running if they’re finished washing their hands. Children can take pride in their environment by helping out in small ways.

1 February 2022 - Safer Internet Support

On Tuesday 8th February we will be joining schools and youth organisations across the UK in celebrating Safer Internet Day 2022.

Using the internet safely and positively is a key message that we promote in school. We would be delighted if you could join us in celebrating the day by continuing the conversation at home. To help you with this, you may be interested in downloading the free Safer Internet Day Resources for Parents and Carers which is available at: saferinternet.org.uk/sid-parents.

Some other resources which you may find helpful in supporting your child online are:
● Tips, advice and guides for parents and carers from the UK Safer Internet Centre
(saferinternet.org.uk/parents)
● Advice for parents and carers from Childnet (childnet.com/parents-and-carers)
● Reviews and information about games, apps, TV shows and websites from
Common Sense Media (commonsense.org)
● Help on using parental controls and privacy settings from Internet Matters
(internetmatters.org./controls)
● Information and reporting of online grooming or sexual abuse from CEOP (ceop.police.uk)

If you have any concerns or questions about keeping your child safe online, please do get in touch with your child's class teacher,

1 February 2022 - Candlemas

Today in Collective Worship we are marking the church event of Candlemas. You could follow this up at home by exploring with your child the idea of light.

How does light make us feel? Light a candle (or turn on a light) to help you child with their reflection. In the dark, we can feel a bit scared, but, in the light, we can feel warm and safe.

We thought about when Jesus said he wanted us to shine our lights in the world, he didn’t mean he wanted us to go around switching on lights or lighting candles. It was his way of explaining how he wanted us to make other people feel. He wants us to be kind and helpful, friendly and caring.

Discuss with your child how they can be kind and helpful, friendly and caring.

26 January 2022 - Wellbeing Wednesday

Our big question in PSHE this week is ‘What is respect?’ Having looked at respecting others last week we will be thinking about building Self-Respect.

How can we help children develop healthy habits of self-esteem, responsibility and respect for others? Here are some ideas:

Allow children to say no sometimes. You may want your child to give great Aunt Hilda a hug, but he is horrified by the idea. Never insist on physical contact if your child is hesitant. By enabling your child to make their own decision, you help them understand that their body is their own and that they have a right to say no to any physical contact they do not want to have.

Praise effort. Building self-confidence is a process, and validating hard work is as important as praising the final product. “I can see how hard you worked on this” helps a child feel that their efforts matter and helps them persevere to reach other goals.

Model the manners you would like to see in your children. Children must observe respectful behaviour before they can repeat it. Greeting people politely and saying “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me” demonstrate self-respect along with good manners. At home, model polite behaviour and discuss why it is important.

Show appreciation. Tell children what you appreciate about them, from behaviour to taking action to just being who they are. When you identify the good things about a child, it helps them love and respect themselves

26 January 2022 - Chatty Tuesday

Today’s top tips are about sharing stories with children and come from Michael Rosen, author and poet.
• Enjoy the book, that way it’s an enjoyable experience together.
• Books tend to have a rhythm, find the rhythm of the story so your child can hook on to the words ready to join in with you.
• Talk about the pictures. Not only can it be a fun activity to do but it will also help your child to understand that there are clues in pictures that will later help them when they learn to read independently.
• Take the opportunity to answer any questions that your child might ask.

https://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/videos/

"You (the reader) are the bridge between the book and the child." - Michael Rosen

21 January 2022 - Value of the Term

In Collective Worship this week we have been thinking more about the value of Love you could follow this up at home by cutting out hears and writing on them all the people that love you and who you love. Discuss how you show love and why you show love. Maybe you could make a card for someone you love.

20 January 2022 - Switched on Science

Did you know that the teachers are busy becoming the best that they can be?

For the past week they have been learning more about teaching science to make it even more fun and exciting. They have been using Switched on Science to make science lessons hands-on and inspiring.

We would like to hear from any ‘scientists’ out there if you would be happy talking to children during British Science Week about your work. We will be explaining to the children that a scientist is anyone who tries to understand how out world, or other things, work. Scientists are also people who use scientific information to do their job for example people who work for the NHS, engineers, meteorologists and gardeners.

19 January 2022 - The Zones of Regulation

You may have heard your child say ‘I am feeling yellow’ or ‘I am blue right now.’ This term we are starting to introduce all the children to The Zones of Regulation.

The Zones of Regulation is a curriculum based around the use of four colours to help children self-identify how they're feeling and categorise it based on colour. The curriculum also helps children better understand their emotions, sensory needs and thinking patterns.

This picture shows you the colours at an age appropriate level. We will be sharing more information as the year progresses but at the moment we are just getting used to identifying which colour we are feeling.

You can support your child at home by asking them which zone they are in and using ‘I wonder…’

“I wonder if you are in the yellow zone at the moment, you seem a bit worried.”

Naming the emotion will help them with their emotional literacy and show them that you can see they are feeling uncomfortable.

17 January 2022 - Author of the Term

Our Author of the Term this term is Oliver Jeffers. During lockdown he recorded himself reading some of his books and talking about how he made them. If you would like to share an Oliver Jeffers story at home you can visit his website here: https://www.oliverjeffers.com/abookaday

10 January 2022 - Value of the term

Our value this term is Love.

Today in Collective Worship we have shared the story Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney to start us on our journey of exploring this value.

If you would like to share this story at home you can listen to it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio/story-time-guess-how-much