Marden Lodge Primary School & Nursery End of Summer Term Update
Dear Parents/ Carers,
I can not believe that we have come to the end of the academic year, this year seems to have flown by so quickly. The first academic year that we have not had a lock-down for 2 years, however as you know there as still been disruption due to Covid through absences, let's hope that this will lessen in September for the new academic year.
Despite the disruption learning has continued and the children have been given lots of opportunities for experiences through our curriculum offer, which you will be able to read about throughout this newsletter.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff for all their hard work during the year. Good luck to children and staff leaving Marden Lodge this year, we wish you well for the future.
I would like to conclude by thanking you for all your support over the last 4 years. I will miss Marden Lodge, but I know Mrs Young will continue to move the school forward enabling your children to get the best that they deserve.
Have a restful Summer
Denise Coady
Head of School
School is closed from today. The children are due back in school on Monday 5th September. Our Family Support Workers will be working for part of the summer so may be in touch if you work with them regularly.
If you require any help for your family whilst we are closed, the following numbers may be of use:
Childline 0800 1111
NSPCC 24/7 helpline: 0808 800 5000
Surrey Children's Services 0300 4709100
Caterham Foodbank 01883 348385
The Samaritans 116123
Good bye to the following members of staff. We wish you well in your next adventure!
Miss Cushman - Y6
Miss Goldsmith - Y4
Miss Bradbury - Y3
Miss Duran - TA
Miss Roberts - TA
Mrs Coady - Head of School
We look forward to welcoming Miss Rose who will be teaching Y4, Miss Steer who will be teaching Y5 and finally Miss Staples who will be our Deputy Headteacher.
Star Values
This term, we have focused on demonstrating the following values:
Respectful - April
Fair - May
Active Citizen - June
Trustworthy - July
Children are awarded certificates from Class Teachers in our Celebration Assembly every Thursday and also earn individual Dojo points from staff whenever they are seen to demonstrate the values. Our children are becoming more and more confident in articulating the meaning of each value and recognise where they feature in every day life.
Marden's Marvellous Learning Behaviours
This term, we have focused on the following learning behaviours:
April - Concentration
May - Challenge
June - Curiosity
July - Resilience
Children are awarded certificates from Class Teachers in our Celebration Assembly every Thursday and also earn individual Dojo points from staff whenever they are seen to demonstrating the learning behaviours. Our teachers make reference to them whenever they are relevant to the children's learning.
Our Curriculum
We have had a brilliant term. The children have worked so hard this term and we are incredibly proud of them all. See below to see what each year group has been up to.
Nursery- Caterpillars & Butterflies
The first half of the Summer Term was all about our topic “Roots, Shoots and Muddy Boots”. Our core story was Jack and the Beanstalk and we used this as a platform to explore growth, plant life cycles and sequencing. We put ourselves in the characters’ shows and considered how Jack might feel when he had to sell Daisy the cow, but how he then feels differently when a magic beanstalk grows right outside his house. We explored what it might feel like to climb the beanstalk – reflecting on our own experiences of climbing - and all agreed that he must have been very brave! With our knowledge of the story secure we began to draw and create our very own beanstalks, exploring art skills such as collaging and bark rubbing, and even built the Giant’s castle out of sand. Next we moved on to explore 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', hatching real butterflies of our very own here at Nursery! The children showed great patience and responsibility in caring for them and took advantage of the beautiful weather during the Marden Lodge Jubilee celebrations to release them. The children were in awe and wonder watching as the butterflies stretched their wings and flew away.
Speaking of weather … we have had some marvellous and spontaneous learning opportunities with this weather roller coaster we have been on! From heatwaves with shadow drawing and ice lollies, to torrential rain and puddle jumping, the weather has kept us on our toes this Term! Our topic “The Sky, The Land, The Sea” has been a great starting point for talking about the children’s interests including the oceans, pirates and vehicles. Our fire engine visit could not have been better timed if we tried, igniting the children’s imaginations and bringing their learning to life. We were incredibly proud of the children during this experience and were blown away by their questions, language and confidence. We then dived into the story, 'Grandad’s Island', where we explored desert island life and reflected on journeys we have each been on. We have also been talking about our upcoming journey, whether to Butterflies or Reception in September, and linking our feelings to 'The Colour Monster'. It has been a jam-packed Summer 2 full of stay and plays, meeting our new teachers and friends and even taking part in our first sports day. We cannot believe there is only a short time left, but it is safe to say that our Nursery children (and adults!) are ready for a well earned Summer break. Well done Nursery! As we say every day, “Teamwork makes the dreamwork”.
Reception- Gruffalo
Wow! What a year we have had! I am so proud of every member of Gruffalo Class this year for working on their attitude to their learning. At the beginning of the year, many children would sit and watch others around them or get upset if they found something tricky. Now the whole class has a go at everything and are not afraid to make mistakes! This attitude is why the children have all achieved so much this year. Whether its climbing to the top of the climbing wall at the Adventure Playground or writing amazing sentences.
Thank you to everyone for helping me on my journey to become a Forest School Teacher! We have all learnt to build and light a fire, cook on it and sometimes, just enjoy it. Again, the children's attitude in every session has been give everything a go and not give up until they have achieved what they set out to do.
The non-fiction text, 'If Sharks Disappeared' really caught the children's imaginations and I love how wherever we are they continue to pick up rubbish and put it in the bin. It prompted some amazing writing too!
This year we have planted all sorts of fruit and vegetables and it has been fantastic to get to try it at snack time. We planted strawberries, tomatoes, green beans and chilli peppers. Unfortunately, these are not ready yet, therefore, I have promised the children that they can try them next year. I hope everyone has a well deserved rest and a lovely summer.
Miss Drury xx
Year 1- Elmer
Elmer Class Summer newletter.docx.pdf
Year 2- Paddington
What a busy summer term we have had!
In English, we have written lots of stories and learnt lots of new vocabulary. We have all worked hard on our reading skills and enjoyed listening to different stories. In maths, we have practised our 2s, 5s and 10 times tables and worked on adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers.
We enjoyed our seaside topic. We have learnt about how seaside holidays were different in the past. We learnt about different seaside resorts and labelled them on a map. We enjoyed learning about the RNLI lifeboats and Grace Darling. We have created some lovely seaside paintings and lighthouse collages.
In Science, we have looked at different plants around the school field. We have investigated what plants need to grow and have tried to grow some cress.
We had a lovely Jubilee day and created some lovely finger painted flags. Our PE lessons have been great fun and we have especially enjoyed the parachute games. Year 2 has been great fun!
Mrs Bell
Year 3- Tigger
We have had a wonderful final term in Tigger class!
The children have worked so hard and have reaped the benefits in dojo rewards, enjoying a doughnut and movie afternoon, teddy bears picnic and a cooking experience.
We have loved learning all about the ancient Greeks and examined all the ways that they have influenced our modern world. We had our own debates, made top trump cards on the Greek gods and goddesses and we have shared many wonderful Greek myths and legends. We had a great time creating our Greek vases with papier-mâché, mainly because we enjoy making such a mess when we are getting creative.
In our writing lessons, we enjoyed the story 'Wolves in the Walls' by Neil Gaiman and we tackled some complex and challenging grammar. We enjoyed our own wolf party to bring elements of the book to life and then we wrote our own scary animal stories, conducted our own research and added suspense and tension to our tales.
It’s been a great year! The children have really grown and matured and I hope that they take many happy and lasting memories with them. Well done, Tiggers!
Miss Bradbury
Year 4- Fantastic Foxes
Summer term newsletter.pdfWritten by Miss Goldsmith.
Year 5- Fizziwick
This year has had so many highlights and memories I will take away with me. There are some which stand out though and they are our visits to the library. We started out with most of the class not having library cards, needing support to choose appropriate books for their age and reading ability. Each visit we had more and more children able to check out books which took them to another place, another world. Our final visit, when we took the bus, stood apart from the rest as not only were the children excited about the prospect of finding a books for themselves but also younger siblings. Some children walked around with other children showing them books which they felt their classmate would enjoy or recommending authors. This is what reading is all about, a shared love of reading and books, and I am so proud of how their love of reading has developed over the year.
Miss Tollafield
Year 6- Poppins & Dragons
news letter Year 6 Poppins and Dragons.pdf
Thrive
Thrive Six Weeks of Summer 2022.pdf
Summer Reading Challenge
Starting now until 17 September, Surrey Libraries are excited to launch the Summer of Reading. Children can join the free Summer Reading Challenge at their local library, help six Gadgeteers and become a party-planning science visionary!
Organised by the Reading Agency, the theme this year is Gadgeteers, and has been developed in partnership with The Science Museum Group, whose leading
exhibitions inspire over 5 million visitors each year. This year's Challenge will be a celebration of reading, science and innovation. Gadgeteers will inspire children to discover the science in everyday things like music,
fashion, sport and cooking.
Designed for all reading abilities, children can choose whatever books, audiobooks, comics, ebooks
or eAudiobooks they like to complete the Challenge. Every participant receives stickers and other incentives along the way. Those children who read or listen to six books are presented with a personalised certificate and a golden medal. To find out more, please have a look at the Summer Reading Challenge 2022 YouTube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43n21gNcR5A
It is great fun, so visit our local Surrey Libraries to enjoy
reading throughout the summer holiday. Surrey Libraries will organise plenty of events and activities, both in libraries and online so please make sure you check Surrey Libraries' webpage for more information.
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/libraries/children/5-to-12-year-olds/summer-reading-challenge
Anti-Bullying Update
As part of our ongoing anti-bullying work, in every newsletter we will provide you with useful information about bullying, online safety and friendships.
United Against Bullying Programme
As you know, we work closely with the Anti-Bullying Alliance as part of our anti-bullying work. There is a FREE interactive online information tool for parents and carers. See the poster below for information about how to access this.
2021_ABA_Flyer_Anti-bullyingTool_ParentsCarers.pdf
Attendance Update
Marden Lodge Primary School and Nursery firmly believes that all children benefit from regular school attendance. A full and interrupted presence gives children the opportunity to fulfil their academic and social potential but also contributes significantly to establishing a positive leaning and work ethic.
Thank you for your support with making sure your child attends school. Here are our attendance winners from the last term.
1st – Elmer class – 92.24%
2nd – Fantastic Foxes Class - 91.88%
3rd – Dragons Class – 86.9%
Congratulations!
Being late to school can have a considerable impact over the whole school year. The table below shows you just how much time can be missed over a year just by being 5 minutes late to school every day.
We understand that the school mornings can be hectic, but when your child is late for school they are missing out on vital parts of their education.
Our gate to the playground closes at 8:50am so please make sure your child arrives before this time. If you don't, you will need to take your child to the school office to enter the school.
If you have any queries or would like to talk to anyone about attendance and punctuality, please do not hesitate to contact our Senior Office Administrator on 01883 343014
Safeguarding
If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please use the contact below:
dsl@marden-lodge.surrey.sch.uk
The safeguarding leads at Marden Lodge Primary School & Nursery are Mr Williams, Mrs Coady, Mrs Young, Miss Cushman, Mrs Bell, Mrs Kirkpatrick, Miss Bullman and Mrs Jelly.
Marden Twitter @mardenlodge
You can now find us and follow us on Instagram here.
Parent Mail
Please check your emails as most communication will be through Parent Mail.
Class Dojo
Please check Class Dojo throughout the year for information about school.
Who to contact in school
If you need to contact school for any reason, please use the email address below or call us on 01883 343014.
admin@marden-lodge.surrey.sch.uk
Free School Meals
If your circumstances have changed and you feel that you may now be eligible for pupil premium funding, please contact the office.