This week's book recommendation is suitable for Lower Key Stage 2 children. 

The Magic Finger
By Roald Dahl

For some, people find hunting birds is fun, especially for the Gregg Family; for the little girl who is living next door, this is not fun at all. In fact, it makes her extremely angry and when she gets angry, she has the power to curse people. Although, things don't always go her way and she doesn't always mean to punish people but her magic finger lights up bright and red and inflicts punishment on her target. This book is great at teaching children kindness, forgiveness and being in someone elses' shoes and how they impact others.

Mulberry Class have settled into the challenges of year 1 fantastically and have already shown curiosity and persistence in their learning. Through our PSHcE learning, the class understand the importance of our school and class rules and have engaged in all of their learning so far.

Since returning to school, we have been studying a book called 'Coming to England'. Mulberry Class have learnt all about Floella, the main character in our story, who moved to England as a young girl. We have studied the differences in weather between Trinidad - where Floella is from - and England. The children have written sentences to compare the two climates.

In maths, Mulberry Class have been exploring numbers and developing their understanding of place value. They have looked at ways of representing different numbers, including through concrete resources such as counters, multi-link and ten frames. 

In the wider curriculum, the children have been enjoying developing many different skills, including team work and listening. In PE, we have been developing fundamental skills such as running and jumping; in geography we have been looking at maps and recognising where we come from; and in science we have started to look at different materials and their properties.

Finally, in art we have started our studies of pop art and the artist Roy Lichtenstein; we have been thinking about the colour and pattern choices of the pop art movement.

School Improvement Focus 2023-24

In our first assembly back, I shared with the children all of the success of the school and our focus areas.  The children were very understanding  and agreed that they would work hard on behaviour and reading alongside the rest of the Central Team this term.

What can parents do to help?  

Reading: We strongly believe that the engagement of parents/carers in reading at home makes a huge difference to our children and we know that one of the most important components of their reading journey is you.  With this in mind, we would like to ask you to ensure you hear you child read at least 5 times a week for 5-20mins (depending on their age) and sign their reading records.  In addition to this, reading or telling your children a favourite story at home regularly would be very beneficial and would help to build the love of reading we are aiming for.

Behaviour: Using some of the language and strategies we use in school would be beneficial.  Please talk to your child about the school rules and refer to them at home too so they are familiar.  When a child displays anti-social behaviour, please use the zones of regulation vocabulary to help your child regulate their emotions.  A useful question to ask them that we use is:  Is it kind? Is it necessary?

In a future newsletter, I will keep you updated on our progress as a school and share with you aspects of the other areas we are focusing on.  We are very much looking forward to continuing to work with the parents and carers of Central Primary.  Thank you very much for your ongoing support.

Mrs Wright

Headteacher