In Reception and Nursery, the children have been busy exploring the environment and learning some sounds as they begin their reading journey. You can read more through the link.
https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/eyfs/atw-reception-news-rainbow-fish-subitising-and-reading
This week, Year 1 have been putting numbers in order and using the language ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’ to compare numbers. In English the children have been writing about the hats they designed for the bear in ‘I want my hat back’ using adjectives and conjunctions. They also labelled parts of the face and what their function was in science. Finally, the children looked at the features of Sanderstead and determined if they were human or physical features.
This week, Year 2 have been tasting fruits to see what they might include in their healthy muffin. They completed their retelling of ‘The Bear and the Piano’ using past tense verbs and they look at various religious artefacts and learnt about how they should handle them with reverence.
In Year 3 this week the children have been looking at the features of non-chronological reports with a view to writing their own about dinosaurs. The children have also been adding 2 two-digit numbers in maths and learning about how to bridge the tens.
Year 4 this week, have been learning all about Boudica, the mighty Warrior Queen of the Iceni. The children have learnt about her life and her battle against the Romans. To celebrate Poetry Day, we performed the poem ‘Boudica Warrior Queen of the Iceni’ by Jon Bratton and Paul Perro.
In Year 5, the children have been immersing themselves in the short animated film, Alma. This mysterious tale tells the story of a little girl who visit a strange doll shop in a deserted town. The children have been working on building sentences using various openers to see which are the most effective for creating the eerie atmosphere.
After the fun and excitement of last week at Stubbers Adventure Centre, Year 6 were back in school and thinking about the year ahead. They have been having a first practice run at a set of Key Stage Two SATs tests. These will allow the children to become familiar with the format and timings. It will also help the teachers to identify any areas where the children need some extra input as the year progresses. All of the children did a great job of applying themselves despite some of the content being new to them.
National Poetry Day
Yesterday, the 3rd of October was National Poetry Day. National Poetry day was established in 1994 to celebrate and promote a love of poetry. This week, the children have all been learning poems that they then performed for each other in assembly today. Ms Newton also shared a poem that she wrote when she was just 11 years old reminding us that poetry is such a powerful form of writing that once learnt, we rarely forget a good poem.
Parking
I appreciate that the current traffic situation on Limpsfield Road will be making many people’s trip to school that bit more arduous but please leave enough time for your journey so that you can park responsibly. I know that the vast majority of parents park responsibly and wish to maintain our positive reputation in our community. However, this week, I have received four complaints from local residents about Atwood parents parking across driveways or in residents’ spaces. Responding to these complaints is time consuming and wouldn’t be necessary if people could be more considerate when dropping off or collecting their children. Please think about our neighbours when driving your children to school.
Sports News
The Atwood football team started their season with a resounding 6- 0 win over Regina Coeli on Monday. Goals from Courtney(2), Jacob, Ire and Olly C set up a convincing victory. Well done to all the boys who took part.
This week, also saw some children competing in a Cross Country event at Royal Russell school and we will have more news on that to follow.
Anaphylaxis Week
Anaphylaxis UK is a charity that is close to our hearts at Atwood. It is dedicated to raising awareness of allergies in the UK. The 1st to 7th October is Anaphylaxis Awareness Week and this year its theme is the emotional impact of allergies.
Many of you will remember our former member of staff, Mrs Dobson and the devastating impact having a food allergy had on her and her family. Her son and ex Atwood pupil, Joe, was only 19 when he died of anaphylaxis.
Next April, Mrs Dobson and her daughter Olivia will be running the London Marathon in Joe’s honour. It would be wonderful to raise as much money as we can for this important charity.
The link to the Just Giving page, should you wish to contribute, is https://www.justgiving.com/page/sarah-dobson-1726747415752?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fsarah-dobson-1726747415752&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share
And finally…
Some of you may have noticed that Mrs Lawrence is no longer working in the after school club. After many years of service, Mrs Lawrence has decided, following surgery and a recent period of recuperation, that she would rather spend her evenings with her grandchildren and family. We understand her decision to slow down a bit but we are grateful for all she has done and pleased that she will still be working in the school during the day.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Monday 7th October: Parents’ Evening
Tuesday 8th October – Year 1 walk to the local park
Tuesday 8th October – Year 2 Diwali assembly
Tuesday 8th October: Parents’ Evening
WB 14th October – Black History & Diversity week
Monday 14th October – Space workshop Year 1
Tuesday 15th October – Individual & sibling photographers
Tuesday 15th October – Multiplication tables check meeting (3:30 – 4:00 in Amber class)
Thursday17th October – Year 6 height and weight checks
Friday 18th October – Show Racism the Red Card – Wear Red day
Firday 18th October – Break for Half term
Wednesday 30th October – First day back to school
Sunday 3rd November FOAP Fireworks display.
Friday 8th November: Magenta Class assembly
Friday15th November: Cyan Class assembly
Friday 22nd November: Indigo Class assembly
Friday 29th November: Amber Class assembly
Friday 20th December: End of Term
Monday 6th January: Back to school