NEWSLETTER - Eastwick Junior School

NEWSLETTER
SUMMER TERM (1) 2015
MESSAGE FROM MRS O’BRIEN
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you had a wonderful Easter break with your families and that you are ready for the
term ahead. We have already enjoyed a wonderful Grandparents Day across both schools
and have received many enthusiastic and positive comments. It was wonderful to welcome
so many grandparents and the Y6 prefects did a fantastic job meeting and greeting them in
the junior school. The infant children gave a great performance including songs and poems
as part of their day. Well done to the children and a huge thankyou to the many
grandparents who travelled far and wide to come along!
Looking ahead, the Summer term is always a busy and enjoyable time with the Summer
Fair, sports days, school trips, celebration evening, transition programmes for all children to
get them prepared for their next steps, and much more to look forward to. In addition, the
Eastwick staff will be taking part in a training day on Monday 1st June (Inset day) looking at
a new approach to assessment; I will share feedback from this training and our future plans
in the Newsletter next half term.
Value of the month is
Honesty and Trust
As you will see within this newsletter, the staff have carefully planned another series of
lessons which are fun and engaging for your children to enjoy whilst promoting as much
progress as possible. As you know, every day at school counts for your children both
socially and academically and I would like to take this opportunity to thank many of you for
booking your holidays outside of the school term. Currently our whole school attendance is:
95.5% for the infant school and 95.7% for the junior school.
I hope you have a wonderful term and look forward to catching up with you over the next
few weeks. Please remember that we promote an ‘open door’ policy at Eastwick Schools. If
you have any questions or concerns you would like to discuss with myself or another
member of staff, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best wishes,
Kareen O’Brien
YEAR GROUP NEWS
YEAR R
Spring is here and in Reception it heralds the beginning of our new topic “What a Wonderful World!” Our
outdoor learning environment provides us with fantastic opportunities to watch the changes that happen in
springtime and we will care for the new plants and trees which have been planted in our developing
Reflective Garden. We will be learning about life cycles and new life by watching tadpoles and caterpillars
develop and an annual highlight is the arrival of our Living Eggs where children can watch chicks hatch.
In May we will visit the Surrey Wildlife Trust’s educational reserve at Bay Pond, where we will join in with
activities to explore the natural environment.
We look forward to parents and carers joining us in May for our class assemblies when you will be able to
find out what we have discovered about our wonderful world!
YEAR 1
The Circus has come to town in year 1! We have already taken part in a Circus Skills workshop where
the children had lots of fun learning how to balance plates, juggle and spin hoops. We will be using this
together with Julia Donaldson's book The Singing Mermaid to write our own chapter books.
In maths we are continuing to learn about place value and the different equipment we can use to help to
add and takeaway and applying these skills to problem solving and maths investigations. We will be
using money in practical situations and learning how to accurately describe the properties of 3d shapes.
Year 1 are looking forward to sharing their learning with you at the year 1 assembly at the end of this half
term.
YEAR 2
This half term we have a history based topic as we are learning about the plague of 1665 and the great
fire of London. This is always an excellent topic and the children become very involved producing some
excellent writing in their literacy and history lessons. Each class will take part in a drama workshop run by
the excellent Open Box theatre company which really brings the whole thing to life!
In maths we will be focusing on choosing the best method to solve problems involving addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division. Children will be reminded of methods involving partition as well as
the use of a blank number line if appropriate. In practical areas of maths we will be learning about
capacity and how to tell the time so now is the moment to practice these skills at home!
The focus of our RE lessons this half term is to ask the very challenging question ‘Is the world a safe
place?’ We will be discussing what is not fair in the world and producing a piece of artwork inspired by fair
and unfair trade.
In music lessons we will continue to learn to play the recorder but we will also be watching film clips and
listening to professional musicians playing classical music including James Galway playing his golden
flute.
Science this half term is all about plants. The children will be encouraged to learn the names of the plant
parts, each child will plan then keep a record of a sunflower growing and we will all learn to identify the
best growing conditions for plants.
We have a busy half term ahead but will be ensuring that we keep talking about important issues such as
making and keeping friends, using our values of trust and honesty and ensuring we all know how to keep
safe in the sun.
YEAR GROUP NEWS (continued)
YEAR 3
Unbelievably, the final term of Year 3 is upon us! The spring term seemed to fly by and the children were
totally immersed in our topic ‘Up in the Air, Down on the Ground and Under the Sea.’ Throughout the term,
all of the children worked incredibly hard to produce some fantastic pieces of work, which hopefully you had
the chance to see at our recent parents evenings. The weekend homework that the children completed
was absolutely brilliant, and we were blown away with the quality of work produced!
The children are enjoying our new topic this term about ‘Community’. As part of our immersion afternoon,
the children worked together to start to build their own class community using Lego (something which they
were incredibly excited about!) They then decided on a name for their community before thinking about the
values that they want to promote so that all people can live together successfully. In literacy, we have been
using our new cross-curricular topic ‘Community’ as a tool to develop our skills in writing. After learning all
about the features of persuasive writing, we have been using some lovely texts that have stimulated roleplay and extended our writing about a new resident who moved in to the community we have created and is
causing mayhem.
In art, we have been learning all about the famous artist L.S. Lowry. We have started to look closely at
some of Lowry’s masterpieces, his exploration of community and the balance between life and work. This
week, we are going to work collaboratively to explore and develop the techniques Lowry used to create his
works, thinking carefully about what is happening in the communities around us today. Finally, we will apply
what we have learnt to create our own artistic masterpieces in the style of Lowry.
YEAR 4
We can’t believe we are starting our last term! Last term we found out about the Romans and this half-term
we are looking at ‘Survival’. We have already explored the woodlands in the school ground for animals that
live there as well as creating a map. We will continue to observe changes that are happening in our
environment, for example the leaves on the trees, flowers growing and butterflies fluttering! We will be
imagining what it would be like on a deserted island and will write about our adventures as well as
instructions of what we would need to take with us. We will create symmetrical pictures combining maths
and art.
A reminder that we have a meeting on Tuesday 28 th April at 2.30pm in the school hall about the residential
visit to Hatfield House on Thursday 18th to Friday 19th June.
YEAR 5
This term we have dived straight into our exciting new topic 'Roaming in the Rainforest' and have been
busy gathering exciting information about the rainforests from the informative displays in our classrooms.
Using this knowledge, the children will be investigating the layers of the rainforest and how the animals
survive there.
We have been 'reading all about it' in our thrilling unit of work in literacy on newspaper reports about sugar
consumption and have been applying the features of newspaper reports to our own writing. Inspired by
Henri Rousseau, we will become creative artists and create layered art work based on the vibrant colours
of the rainforest during this term.
YEAR 6
Building on the amazing success of our production ‘Ye Ha!’ Year 6 will be getting involved in a number of
exciting activities while studiously preparing for the SATs in May. The first Friday back saw our children's
grandparents getting stuck in assisting in the construction of the children's water powered rocket cars, there
were some great successes as well as some spectacular crashes!
We will soon be welcoming The Cat's Grin Theatre Company to school to kick off our unit of work on
Macbeth. There will be both a performance as well as theatre workshops for every class. The group come
with some great reviews and we are sure it will really peak the children's interest. Obviously it wouldn't be
the summer term without preparation for the SATs and the children are working incredibly hard in
preparation!
JOINT SCHOOL INFORMATION
UPDATES
September 2015 Inset Dates
Governors have confirmed that Wednesday 2 nd and Thursday 3rd September 2015 will be Inset days.
Therefore, children will be expected back in school for the start of the new academic year on Friday 4 th
September 2015. Dates for the remaining three Inset days will be confirmed shortly.
Term Dates
Surrey County Council have now published the school term dates for the academic year 2016-2017 which
parents may find useful. The link for term dates is http://new.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-andlearning/schools/school-term-dates. Please note that there will be 5 INSET days over the academic year
2016/17 with dates to be confirmed.
REMINDERS
Email Addresses
May we please remind parents that the main school email addresses are as follows:
Infant school:
infantinfo@eastwickschools.net
Junior school:
juniorinfo@eastwickschools.net
Please ensure your email address book is up to date as the previous school addresses are no longer in
use. Thank you.
Diary Dates
We have provided overleaf key dates for the rest of this academic year which include the dates for a
number of year group and class assemblies to which parents are invited. Please take time to ensure the
dates are in your diary!
Parking
Unfortunately, we have already received complaints from residents this term regarding inconsiderate
parking by parents at drop off and pick up time. Can we please remind parents that when parking to
collect their children, to consider our neighbours and ensure that enough space is left to allow residents
easy access in and out of their driveways. In particular, we would draw your attention to the small cul de
sac that leads off Eastwick Park Avenue through to a footpath onto Park View. A number of cars have
been parking on the grass verge and parallel parking along the small cul de sac which is causing
difficulties for the residents to turn their cars sufficiently when exiting driveways.
Within the next few weeks, we will be undertaking the Golden Boot Challenge across both schools, which
encourages children to walk or ‘park and stride’ to school during June. We hope that, where possible, you
are able to support this initiative to help to decrease the traffic around the school and to encourage
children to have some fresh air and exercise before coming into school!
Dogs on Site
May we remind parents of the school policy regarding dogs on site:
• Under no circumstances are dogs allowed to be taken into the Infant school playground;
• Due to the number of parents and children waiting outside the Junior school, we ask parents with dogs
who are collecting from the Juniors to wait by the green pedestrian gate halfway down the driveway or
by the bike shed – dogs are not allowed in the area immediately outside the Junior school;
• Dogs must not be left tied up and unattended;
• Dogs must always be kept on a short lead and held by an adult, and must not be allowed to jump up
or bark at children.
INFANT SCHOOL INFORMATION
INFANT SUMMER TERM DATES
Thursday 23rd April
All Day
St George’s Day – Rainbow, Beavers, Cubs,
Brownies, Scouts, Guides welcome to wear
uniform
Friday 24th April
All Day
Friends’ Sponsored Event (sports mufti in
exchange for new children’s gift for Fair)
Monday 27th April
All Day
Year 2 Openbox Theatre
Tuesday 28th April
All Day
Class Photographs
Wednesday 29th April
All Day
Class Photographs
Friday 1st May
All Day
Mufti in exchange for adult’s new gift for Fair
Tuesday 5th May
All Day
Year R trip to Bay Pond
Wednesday 6th May
All Day
Year R trip to Bay Pond
Friday 8th May
All Day
Mufti in exchange for bottles (unopened and
in date for Fair)
Tuesday 12th May
9.00am
Red Class Assembly
9.00am
Yellow Class Assembly
Thursday 14th May
9.00am
Orange Class Assembly
15th
All Day
NOT a mufti. Year R plant donations, Years
1 & 2 cake donations (nut free) for Fair
Saturday 16th May
12.00pm – 4.00pm
Joint Friends’ School Summer Fair
Wednesday 20th May
9.00am and 2.15pm
Year 1 Assembly
Thursday 21st May
3.30pm and 4.45pm
Friends’ School Discos
Monday 25th – Friday 29th
May
All Week
HALF TERM
Monday 1st June
All Day
INSET day. School closed to children.
Tuesday 2nd June
8.45am
All Day
Back to School
Year 1 trip to Chessington
Monday 15th June
PM
Sports Day (children to wear Sport Mufti)
Saturday 20th June
All Day
5pm
Bookham Village Day
Friends Summer Family BBQ
Tuesday 23rd June
All Day
Year 2 trip to Nower Wood
Wednesday 1st July
All Day
‘Move Up’ Day – children visit their new class
Thursday 9th July
9.00am & 2.00pm
Year 2 Celebration Assembly
Monday 13th July
PM
‘Rain off’ Sports Day
Thursday 16th July
5.00pm – 7.30pm
Celebration of Work Evening
Saturday 18th July
TBC
Joint Friends’ Summer Ball
Tuesday 21st July
2.00pm
End of Term
Wednesday
Friday
13th
May
May
JUNIOR SCHOOL INFORMATION
JUNIOR SUMMER TERM DATES
Thursday 23rd April
All Day
St George’s Day – Rainbow, Beavers, Cubs,
Brownies, Scouts, Guides welcome to wear uniform
Friday 24th April
All Day
Mufti in exchange for new children’s gift for Fair
Thursday 30th April
9.00am
Wolves Class Assembly
Friday 1st May
All Day
Mufti in exchange for adult’s new gift for Fair
Thursday 7th May
All Day
Years 3, 4 & 5 Class Photographs
Friday 8th May
All Day
Mufti in exchange for bottles (unopened and in date
for Fair)
Thursday 14th May
7.00pm
Year 3/4 School Production
Friday 15th May
9.15am
All Day
Year 3/4 School Production
NOT mufti. Year 3 Plant donations, Years 4, 5 & 6
Cans and Cartons for Fair.
Saturday 16th May
12.00pm – 4.00pm
Joint Friends’ School Summer Fair
Wednesday 20th May
7.00pm
Junior Choir at Mid Surrey Primary Music Festival,
Dorking Halls
Monday 25th – Friday 29th
May
All Week
HALF TERM
Monday 1st June
All Day
INSET day. School closed to children.
Tuesday 2nd June
8.45am
Back to School
Friday 5th June
All Day
Sports Day and Sport Mufti
Thursday 18th June
9.00am
All Day
Dingoes Class Assembly
Year 4 Residential trip to Hatfield House
Friday 19th June
All Day
Year 4 Residential trip to Hatfield House
Saturday 20th June
All Day
Bookham Village Day
All Day
Year 3 trip to High Ashurst
All Day
‘Rain off’ Sports Day
All Day
‘Move Up’ Day – children visit their new class
Thursday 2nd July
All Day
Year 5 to Thames Young Mariners
3rd
9.00am
All Day
Year 6 Leavers Assembly (for Year 6 Parents)
Year 5 to Thames Young Mariners
Monday 6th July
All week
5.00pm – 8.00pm
Year 6 to PGL
Friends’ School Discos – Years 3, 4 & 5
Thursday 16th July
5.00pm – 7.30pm
Celebration of Work and Achievement Evening
Saturday 18th July
TBC
Joint Friends’ Summer Ball
Monday 20th July
TBC
Year 6 Leavers Disco
Tuesday 21st July
2pm
End of Term
Thursday
25th
June
Friday 26th June
Wednesday
Friday
1st
July
July