ATW Newsletter 12th January 2024

Welcome back and a Happy New Year to you all. I hope you had an enjoyable break over the Christmas period. The children have made a great start to 2024 and returned to school refreshed and ready to learn.

The children in Early Years have been exploring outside and noticing how the cold weather has frozen all the water in buckets and pots left outside. The children studied the ice observing how hard and cold it is. They also noticed the tiny air bubbles glistening inside. They then left the ice in the sun and made predictions about which pieces would melt the quickest noting that smaller pieces melt faster.

Year One have been been learning the story of The Three Little Pigs. They invented actions to retell the story and took turns pretending to be characters, then answered questions from the other children. On Friday, they wrote as much of the story as they could. In maths the children have looked at numbers up to 20, finding out how many tens and ones they have. The children also started their new thematic topic of toys. Everyone brought in a toy they wanted to share with the rest of the class and they thought of what they wanted to find out about toys from the past.

This week, Year Two have been looking at ‘Little Red’ by Bethan Woollvin, a twist on the classic fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The children have enjoyed learning the text and exploring how Little Red is portrayed in this story. In maths, the children have continued their learning of multiplication using arrays and solving word problems. They were introduced to their new thematic learning ‘Looking at London’. They discussed what they already know and what they would like to find out during their topic.

In Year Three, the children have been looking at traditional tales and are reading The Stone Trolls which is an Icelandic tale. They have also started their science topic of Rocks and Soils and are investigating Mary Anning as their famous scientist study.

Year Four have had a busy week. They have performed poetry based on ‘The Cat Rap’ by Grace Nichols. They have combined their scientific knowledge and their DT skills to make a ‘failed project’ based on the book ‘The Barnabus Project’ by the Fan brothers. Elsewhere in maths, the childen have been practising efficient methods for multiplication.

Year Five have been busy immersing themselves in the rainforest. They have been learning where these forests are in the world as well as reading The Great Kapok Tree. The children have been thinking about all the products and materials that we get from rainforests and how they are so important for our planet. In maths the children have been learning about perimeter.

The Year Six children have been preparing for their visit to The British Museum by debating whether or not the Rosetta Stone should be returned to Egypt. This opens up a wider debate about artefacts in museums in general and who they really belong to. The children have also started to develop their hockey skills in PE. In other exciting news, Magenta class have moved upstairs into a newly refurbished classroom while their classroom downstairs is refitted. Some of the children are already saying they love the new classroom so much that they don’t want to move back. We’ll see how they feel when the downstairs one is completely refurbished.

Sports news

Well done to all the children who tried out for the Croydon Schools’ Swimming Gala this week. The team has now been selected and the children will be preparing for the event later in the month. Many thanks to Mrs Bayliss for leading the team and to the staff and parents who helped out with the trials this week.

And finally…

Looking ahead, please save the date of Friday 9^th of February. This will be our in-school Museum Day when we open the doors to parents and give you the chance to come and see the work that the children have been doing in their Thematic topics. The Atwood Museum will be open in the morning and again after school. Parents will be able to visit classrooms and tour the school to find out all about the learning that has been going on. More details will follow nearer the time.