ATW Newsletter 19th January 2024

As ever, It has been a busy week at Atwood.

The children in Early Years have been exploring in the cold weather. This morning they discovered some strange ‘Ice Eggs’ in their outdoor learning area. They have been learning all about Monsters. They wondered which monster could have laid the eggs. They also took delivery of some new bikes. The children are very excited about riding them although some have already mastered the skill of cycling around the field.

In English, this week Year One have written their own version of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and they enjoyed changing the main characters. When they had finished writing their story, they read through their work to check for capital letters and whether they had included the correct punctuation. During maths, Year One have found one more/less of a number to 20 using diennes. They also used a number line to 20 and compared teen numbers. In science, the children discovered new and exciting facts about a materials scientist called Dr Pearl Agyakwa. They discussed the skills, which they would need to be a materials scientist and debated whether they would like to be this type of scientist. Many of the children said ‘yes’ as they would enjoy breaking things to find out how they worked or to see what it would look like under a microscope. As part of their thematic learning (art), the children used an HB pencil to sketch the toys they had brought in from home.

This week in Year Two, the children have been developing a tweaked version of ‘Little Red’; they decided to change the wolf into a warty troll and the forest into a squelchy swamp. The children have been exploring different adjectives to use in their expanded noun phrases when describing characters and settings. In Maths, they have continued their division learning looking at division as sharing and grouping. In thematic, the children used watercolour to create their own Great Fire of London front covers for their books. They especially enjoyed splatting the paint to represent the fire.

In Year Three, the children have been finding out about the Victorian female artist Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale as part of their thematic learning. She was an artist who came from a wealthy family and lived in Upper Norwood, near the Crystal Palace. She didn’t see herself as a particularly good learner but she loved visiting art galleries with her father. These visits inspired her to enrol in an art course at The Crystal Palace School for Science, Literature and Art. As she was a woman in Victorian society, she was only allowed to study art. She experimented with many types of media until she decided that watercolours were her favourite. She became an illustrator and many of her paintings were based on historical events or old stories and legends. One such painting featured ‘Katherine’, one of the wives of Henry VIII. Jade class used this as inspiration for creating collaborative paintings in which they could explore and develop their painting skills as well as using different media to create tone, shade and texture with colour. Just like Eleanor, they began by experimenting with pastels and crayons and then moved onto using watercolour paints to create their part of their group’s final composition.

They found their paintings quite tricky to put together (a bit like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle!) but they persevered, worked well in their teams and created some lovely compositions.

In Year Four, the children have enjoyed writing their own raps and performing them. They are still practising their multiplication and division and have been considering the various factors that led to the Romans invading Britain. In computing, the children have been developing their coding skills to build their own computer games.

In Year Five, the children have been comparing life cycles – the stick insects came to visit- and we looked at their various life stages. Elsewhere in their PE lessons the children have been learning the skills for dodgeball and are very much enjoying the new resources provided for these lessons.

The highlight for Year Six this week was their trip to the o2 to sing in the Young Voices concert. Young Voices was a big hit and both children and staff agreed it was the opportunity of a lifetime! Singing and dancing with all the other schools in such a fabulous setting has given the children a great boost. “I thought it was a great experience because it was a once in a lifetime chance to sing in front a big audience including my parents. I really enjoyed everything and being at the 02.” said an enthused Daniel. Back in the class the children have been continuing their work on The Rosetta Stone in preparation for visiting the British Museum next week. They have also been getting to grips with Fractions, Decimals and Percentages.

BUILDING WORKS

The Trust is continuing to invest in refurbishment and sprucing up the school. This week, we have seen new graphics put up in the key stage one hall along with some further signs around the building. Work has also started on the Year 6 classroom and we have had new external doors fitted in key stage one and two to replace the old fire exit doors that were no longer fit for purpose. An old office space has also been repurposed and fitted with new windows to provide a space for teachers to meet when planning lessons. The next big job will be an upgrade to the radiators and heating system in some corridors and hall spaces.

SPORTS NEWS

The swimming team have been along to Warlingham High School for a practice session before the gala. Mrs Bayliss was very impressed with the standard and we look forward to seeing how the team get on next week. The cross country team have also been training hard despite the cold weather.

Congratulations to Amber in Year 5 who represented London in the Inter Area Korfball finals last week. She did an excellent job and the team came second overall narrowly losing out to Kent in the final.

PYJAMARAMA

On Friday the 2^nd February the children are invited to come in to school in support of World Cancer Day which falls on Sunday 4^th February. As well as raising awareness, we are trying to raise funds for Children with Cancer UK. Many children undergoing treatment will stay overnight in hospitals and their familiar pyjamas can be a great source of comfort. During recovery, families can go through multiple pairs of sleepwear in a short space of time as their child will spend most of their time in bed or on a sofa. By asking children to participate in Pyjamarama, we can raise awareness of childhood cancer and create a sense of solidarity as every child can relate to being in their pyjamas when unwell. Children are invited to make a suggested donation of £2 on the day. If parents would like to make a donation online, we will provide details of the giving page in due course. In support of this event, Year 2 will also be selling cakes from the library at the end of the day.

And finally…

This week has seen the roll out of our after school clubs offer. We have 26 separate clubs running this half term with over 400 places on offer covering everything from football to photography and magic to musical theatre. Over 250 children have taken up places in at least one club. Many thanks to Mrs Christopher for arranging all of the clubs and working out the logistics.