Atwood Newsletter 24th January 2025

This week Nursery has seen the return of Forest School. The children started by recapping the rules of Forest School and having time to explore the environment independently. Some children engaged in helping to creating a den! The children have begun their focus on the traditional tale ‘The Three Little Pigs’ which has influenced many of the activities in the provision. For example, using materials to make pigs and going for a walk to collect sticks for a stick house. In squiggle wriggle, the children learnt the actions to ‘Side to Side’, building up those core muscles to help with early writing skills.

In Reception this week, the children have been designing and making their own junk model monsters in preparation for the museum day displays. The children continued reading the story ‘The Gruffalo’ and children explored exciting descriptive language to describe the Gruffalo’s features; a class favourite being ‘his eyes are orange like the burning sun’. In maths, the children have been learning their number bonds to 5 with the help of 5 little speckled frogs.

This week Year 1 have been writing a recount about the toy workshop that visited this term. The children wrote about which of the old toys they played with and why they enjoyed playing with them. In maths, the children have moved on to subtraction, learning different ways to subtract from two-digit numbers including using number lines and ten frames. They have begun to look at materials in science and worked out how many things in the classroom were made out of metal, glass, wood, plastic, fabric and paper. The children have also been experimenting with tinting and shading in art in order to paint their favourite toys.

The children in Year 2 are full swing into a new maths topic looking at Fractions. In English, they have been doing some amazing fairy tale writing on Little Red Riding Hood. The children have been adapting the story in their own ways and have added a unique twist. In thematic, the children have been looking at The Great Fire of London and finding out about what took place during that event. In science, they have been investigating different materials and learning about their uses.

Year 3 have been publishing their versions of The Hare and the Tortoise. The children have reproduced their own fables making sure to include fronted adverbials. They have also been learning about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and how he learnt to become an engineer from his father. The children learnt about the different type of bridges there are: suspension, arch and truss. This leads into work the children have been doing to design their own bridge in DT. In maths, the children we practised ‘estimating’ as they finished their money topic. In Science, the children learnt about Mary Anning and her life.

Year 4 have worked hard this week to produce some fantastic writing about a day in the life of Pompeii. They have also been multiplying by 10s and 100s and learning the importance of place holders. In thematic, the children have been researching all about the Romans and their legacy in Britain.

Year 5 have been publishing their non-chronological reports abut the Amazon rainforest this week. They have also begun designing habitats for their moving pictures and exploring using cams to make moving parts in a toy. The children have also been developing their knowledge of fractions in maths.

In Year 6, the children have been building their narrative writing based on The Red Pyramid. They have also started preparing their Egyptian death masks. However, the highlight of the week was performing at the O2 as part of the Young Voices choir. This annual event involves thousands of children from hundreds of schools gathering together to sing as a mass choir. The children have been rehearsing for weeks and all their hard work paid off with a spectacular show. It was a late night and the children were tired on Wednesday but it was worth it. Many thanks to the staff who gave up their evenings to facilitate this event.

Sports News

A venue change saw the SLH cross country on Saturday 18th January taking place at Oasis Academy, Coulsdon for the first time in many years. The run course was a little shorter than usual and so runners had to make sure they started strong and continued to push hard throughout.

We had an amazing set of results individually and, due to a strong Year 3/4 boys’ team, we have accrued enough points to be placed first in the team event for this age group.

Well done to the whole team and we look forward to seeing you at the next cross country. Dates are below and letters/google forms will be sent closer to the time.

15th March and 5th April – Oasis Academy

8th March – Farthing Downs

Results:

Year 3&4

Evie 3rd

Zac 1^st, Michael 3^rd, James K 6^th, Jack 12^th, Caleb 38^th, Archie 43rd

Year 5&6

Grace 8^th, Arianna 30th

Nikolai 5^th, Damir 21^st

Birthday Sweets

Whilst we are always happy to celebrate children’s birthdays in school, may I remind you that teachers will not give out birthday sweets in the classroom during school hours so please do not send your child in with sweets. This will help us to continue to promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce the risk of any allergic reactions in children.

If, as a parent, you would still like to share celebratory sweets with other children and parents on the playground then please do this after school. Children should be advised that they should only eat the sweets once they have checked with a parent that they are allowed even if this means putting the sweets in their bag and taking them home.

As an alternative to sweets, parents may like to consider buying a book to share with the class. We will soon be sending out more information about our class reading spine which will contain a selection of recommended reads for each year group.