Furze Platt Juniors 2023-24 Newsletter
Newsletter 26th January 2024
Newsletter 26th January 2024
Welcome back!
Being back on the main school playground gate has given me the chance to welcome so many children and families into school every day. For those that I have not seen yet, I would like to wish you a belated Happy New Year. This term has started off as last term ended with so many amazing enrichment and curricular activities across the year groups. We have captured the key celebrations to share in this newsletter so we hope that you enjoy reading about life at FPJS.
Attendance
The Department For Education have launched a new toolkit for schools aimed at improving children's' attendance in school. The campaign strapline is “moments matter, attendance counts”. We will be sharing some of the key points, resources and expectations from this over this academic year. For now, please do remember that it is not only the academic learning that children lose not being in school, it is also the enrichment days and activities as well as the social interactions and development of friendships that are so key to a child's time at school. On average, if a child misses the equivalent of half a day a week that leaves their attendance at 90% (our school target is 97% and our current average is 96%). A child with 90% attendance over the year would miss the equivalent to 19 days of school being missed, nearly 4 full weeks! It is clear that "moments matter".
Morning arrival time
Please can families ensure that children are not on the playground until 8:35am in the mornings. From 8:35am we staff the playground but before that time there is not a member of staff to supervise the children. Recently, we have had dozens of children arriving before 8:35, unaccompanied by an adult. On top of the potential for the child to walk back off site before the playground is staffed and for no-one to know they have until morning registration, there are also cars on the driveway until 8:30am.
Update form Mrs Pierron
As you may be aware, Mrs Pierron has been on maternity since last Spring. I am sad to say that she will not be re-joining us at FPJS. Mrs Pierron actually lives on the south coast and has commuted to work for a number of years. I am pleased to say that she has found a lovely school, much nearer to home, where she can spend time with her family whilst enjoying being back in a school. Mrs Pierron will be visiting us at the end of this Spring term and joining an assembly to say goodbye to the children and staff.
Emergency schoool closure procedure
We seem to be in slightly better and less worrying weather right now but we all know that can change quickly. Closing the school is always the last resort but, in the event of the school needing to close, we will send out an App message as well as displaying a scroll message on our website to inform everyone that the school is closed. In line with the borough's procedures, we will also notify the borough and they will list our school as closed on their website and through their communication channels.
Tuesday 30th January - SEND coffee morning at FPIS 9.15-10.15
Wednesday 31st January - Y4 in school visit from Al Sylvester
Wednesday 31st January - Rhos parent meeting for current y5 parents 5.30-6.30
Friday 2nd February - TTRS Day ***CHANGE OF DATE*** (optional dress up as a rockstar)
Thursday 8th February - Eagle Class at Braywick Leisure Centre for Dance Festival
Friday 9th February - Safer Internet Day workshops for all children
Monday 12th - Friday 16th February - HALF TERM
Monday 19th February - Children return to school
Tuesday 27th February - Road safety workshops for y3 and y6
Wednesday 28th February Road safety workshops for y4
Friday 8th March - World Book Day (optional dress up as a hint of a character)
Friday 15th March - Dress Down for Red Nose Day
Thursday 2nd May - Multiplication Tables Check information evening for Y4 parents via Zoom 6pm
On Friday 12th January, the children in Year 3 were lucky enough to attend a trip to the British Museum based on our Ancient Egyptian topic. The children had a truly wonderful day exploring the mummies, canopic jars, Egyptian paintings and statues. We also had a talk on 'The Mummification Process' which the children were fascinated by. They saw a cat scan of a real life mummy as well as pictures from the 1900's when tombs were discovered. We had such an amazing day full of learning and fun. Well done Year 3!
On Wednesday the 10th January, Adisa the Verbaliser paid us a visit and delivered a whole school assembly in the morning. For those who don't know Adisa from last year, he is performance poet and delivered a high-energy, interactive assembly based on his own poetry. Lots of laughs were had and the children thoroughly enjoyed conversing with him.
In the afternoon, Adisa then worked with Year 5 to kick-start their poetry unit in writing. He delivered two workshops which helped to inspire the children's creativity in the world of words and I think some of the children were amazed at what they had produced by the end of the workshop. They learnt about using figurative language (similes, metaphors, alliteration, personification etc) and the effect it has on the reader. Lastly, they learnt that poetry doesn't have to be difficult to write, it can be fun!
We hope that his visit has challenged if not changed some of the children's perspectives on poetry in general and that they are able to write more creatively.
Well done to Adya P in Swift class. Adya recently wrote a book review and had it published in The Week Junior magazine. Her review was about Dog Man Twenty Thousand Fleas under the Sea by Dav Pilkey. Adya received a badge from The Week Junior!
A huge congratulations to Mollie H in Finch class who competed in the British Ice Skating Britannia Cup with her synchro team at Nottingham Ice Rink on Sunday 14th January. Mollie came away with a silver medal - a fantastic achievement. We are very proud of you, Mollie!
Well done to all our children who use TT rock stars regularly to practise times tables! In this edition we have an updated top ten and the top ten children who have made the most progress this term.
Well done to our top ten spelling pupils this week!
What a great start to the year!
The children have been doing tag rugby and dance this term. In dance they have been learning about mirroring, formations, travelling and cannon and creating their own dance routines with everything included. The year 3's have been adding Egyptian shapes into their dance reflecting back to their topic they are learning: Ancient Egypt. In tag rugby, the year 3/4's have been working on their skills of passing, dodging, and tagging. The year 5 and 6 have been developing their skills on passing, dodging, tagging, defending and attacking.
Miss Gill
The next netball match will be Wednesday 7th February at Oldfield Primary School.
Miss Gill
On Tuesday 23rd January, a group of year 4's went to Altwood School to take part in a Badminton festival, we had 15 children that we took to this event from year 4 - Jes, Riddhi, Amy, Sofia, Fatima, Aizah, Toni, Liam, Harrison, Edward, Taran, Rayyan, Muneeb, Sam and Sulaiman.
This Badminton event consisted of developing their racket skills and working with different size shuttlecocks. The children learnt many different skills including: seeing how many time they can hit the shuttlecock up, underarm throwing the shuttlecock, getting a rally going over the net, reaction skills and many more. The children really enjoyed themselves and they came 2nd out of 9 teams.
Miss Gill
The Lions Club Swimarathon 2024 took place on Sunday 14th January. Seven teams from the Infant and Junior schools took part, swimming in relay for 50 minutes. The teams swam a whopping 320 laps, which is 16km!!! At the time of writing, these swimmers have raised over £1800 which will be split between local charities and our schools. Congratulations on such a fantastic achievement! A massive thank you to Mrs Parkinson for organising such a fabulous federation wide event.
We have had a great start back into the New Year in Year 3. We started our Ancient Egyptian topic with a visit to the British Museum where the children showed impeccable behaviour.
In English we have been looking at recounts and the features of these including chronological order, time adverbials, first person pronouns and past tense verbs. The children have enjoyed using these to write their own recount of the trip.
In maths we have been working on multiplication and division. The children have used the inverse operations as well as what they know to multiply and divide a 2 digit by a 1 digit number.
In science our topic is plants. The children have looked at what is needed to make a plant grow as well as the different parts and their functions.
As part of our Egyptian topic the children have been designing and making their own collars using a variety of sewing stitches which they have thoroughly enjoyed learning.
Our topic in French this term is instruments and so the children have been working on the French names for piano, trumpet, clarinet, drums, recorder, cymbals, triangle, guitar, violin and harp.
Mrs Barry- Y3 Team Leader
Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks!:
What is the French word for drums?
What are the stages of the mummification process?
What facts do you know that will help you to solve 23 x 4?
I am the seed that grew the tree by Frann Preston-Gannon
Matilda - Roald Dahl
We have had a really creative start to the new term this year and are excited to share some of the children's highlights.
In English, the children have been hard at work creating exceptional oral hygiene posters for the infant school- discussing ways to keep our teeth clean and healthy. The focus on fronted adverbials and possessive pronouns has allowed them to express themselves with precision and creativity. The posters are not just informative but also a testament to the awesome artisitc skills the children possess.
Art has been an inspiring journey into the world of Impressionism. The children have dedicated themselves to developing their brush strokes in line with the artists' styles. The results are impressive, reflecting both individual expression and an understanding of the artistic techniques involved.
In Music, our Year 4 musicians have been exploring the enchanting chords of Swing music. From mastering C, F, and A minor on the glockenspiel to singing Swing-style tunes, they've immersed themselves in the rhythmic and melodic elements of this genre. Be sure to check your child's Seesaw account for a delightful glimpse into their latest musical composition.
As we reflect on these achievements, we look forward to the exciting events on the horizon. Next week, we eagerly anticipate the visit from Al Sylvester (Everest Explorer!), promising an enriching experience for our students. Additionally, Safer Internet Day is approaching, providing an opportunity for important discussions about online safety.
Miss Keating-Bell Y4 Team Leader
Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks:
Can you tell me one of the ways you can create a pointillism effect?
How does sound travel through the ear to the brain?
What is an algorithm and why/where do people use them?
Everest - Alexandra Stewart
Planet Omar Ultimate Rocket Blast - Zanib Mian
The Sheep Pig - Dick King Smith
What a fantastic start Year 5 have had to the New Year! Everyone has come back raring to go and taken on new learning which has been fantastic!
In maths, we have continued with fractions from last term and then moved onto formal written methods for multiplication and division. Those that are fluent with their times table knowledge and related division facts have enjoyed working in such a methodical way with larger numbers.
In writing, we were incredibly lucky to have Adisa the verbaliser in to work with us to bring our poetry writing to life which has really inspired some of our children to write creatively on their own poems. Based on Adisa's own poem, 'Barbershop Blues' where he writes about having his haircut in a dramatic way, the children have had a go at writing their own dramatic poem based on a subject of their choosing and have used figurative language. At the end of the unit, the children will be performing their poems at the Year 5 poetry slam. We hope to capture some of these on video so we can show you via Seesaw.
In other areas of the curriculum, the children have enjoyed art lessons where they have learnt about the work and lives of Stephen Wiltshire and Vincent Van Gogh. We hope to bring together their techniques to compose our own 'Cityscape Escapism'.
Year 5 have also enjoyed music and used the glockenspiels to create a drone.
We look forward to sharing more of the children's wonderful work with you at the end of the term.
Mrs Dean, Y5 Team Leader
Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks:
What is a thermal conductor and a thermal insulator?
In Art, we have been using 1 point perspective. Explain what this means.
Describe how a similes and metaphors are both similar and different.
Bunny Vs Monkey - Jamie Smart
The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice - A.F Harrold
Amazon River - Sangma Francis
Year 6 have had a brilliant start to 2024 and we have already covered lots of learning and started some fun new topics!
In English, we have been writing diary entries as a response to a short spooky story. We have been including a range of tenses and punctuation throughout our writing. These have taken on an informal tone and the teachers have thoroughly enjoyed reading them.
In maths, we are finishing our unit of decimals and we are soon going to be moving onto percentages.
In science, we have started our new topic of evolution. We have been looking at what offspring inherit and how species adapt over time in order to survive. We are soon going to be researching the work of Charles Darwin.
Over the last three years at FPJS the children have covered three main Ancient Civilisations: Egyptians, Greeks and Mayans. We are putting our knowledge to the test to try and decide who out of these three was the most advanced. We are going to be comparing their hierarchical society, writing and number systems, architecture and much more to try and answer our question!
Miss Morales, Y6 Team Leader
Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks!:
What is the difference between a semi colon and a colon?
What Ancient Civilisation had a democracy?
Name three things that offsprings may inherit from their parents.
The Little Match Girl Strikes Back - Emma Carroll and Lauren Child
How High the Moon - Karyn Parsons
The Wolf Wilder - Katherine Rundell
A happy new year to all parents and carers at both schools from the FPSA! We look forward to seeing you at our different events in 2024.
Foreign Currency Collection
The FPSA (and their little helpers) have been collecting unwanted currency (notes and coins) during 2 days this week. Many thanks to those of you that have donated. The collection buckets are now in both school receptions until after February half term and you can make donations at any time during that period.
Dates for your diary
Disco Night - Friday 9th February (8pm - 11pm)
It's disco time for the grown ups! Join us at the Junior School as DJs Sawle and King bang out some 80s, 90s and 00s classic hits! There will be a licensed bar. Doors open at 7.15pm. It promises to be a fun night!
Book tickets (£10pp) at www.pta-events.co.uk/fpsa
Happy School Bags Collection - Friday 22nd March (drop off)
Bring your bags filled with unwanted clean clothes to help raise funds for both schools. You can leave bags at the Infants gates between 8.30am and 9am.
Mr T's Quiz Night - Friday 22nd March (8pm - 10.30pm)
The FPSA quiz night is back! Join us at the Junior School hall for a fun evening as we raise money for both schools whilst testing our general knowledge and having a drink or two. The quiz includes 4 picture rounds, a music round, a connections round and another mystery round. Book tickets at www.pta-events.co.uk/fpsa. Enter as a full team of 6 or come along as an individual/pair and we will join you with another friendly team on the night. Tickets include lovely food from Palmieri's. A licensed bar will be available.
Look out for further details soon on how you can help raise £500 for both schools simply be having a board outside your house advertising the quiz night. We have teamed up again with Oakwood Estates and you don't even need to be attending the quiz night to help out.
FPSA AGM - Wednesday 27th March (8pm - 9pm)
Come and find out about our fundraising in 2023 and hear from the school heads about what they have spent FPSA money on and what is on their wish list for 2024. Everyone is welcome. We would love to have new members join the team so this is a perfect opportunity to meet us, find out more and hopefully join us!
Summer Fair - Saturday 22nd June (11.30am - 2.30pm)
Fun for all the family at our biggest fund-raising event of the year.