Gray's Farm Primary Academy

Lock down Weekly Newsletter


12th February 2021

http://www.graysfarm-tkat.org/ admin@graysfarm-tkat.org


BELIEVE, ACHIEVE, SUCCEED

Gray's Farm Primary Academy has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This responsibility necessitates a child protection policy and procedures which are available to view on the website as are all our policies, or a copy can be requested from the School Office. Our designated Child Protection Officers are Mrs Morley and Mrs Marsh. Information may need to be shared with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare.

Gray's Farm Primary Academy is committed to gender, racial, religion and disability equality in every part of school life.

A message from Mrs Appleton

Wow! I cannot believe the whirlwind that has been Spring Term 1, is complete! The last six weeks have flown by and we are all so proud of how well everyone has adapted and persevered with on-line learning. We know that it hasn't always been easy and how home-schooling, whilst working and being a parent during a national lockdown and dealing with internet glitches, often feels at times like a juggling act (believe me, I can totally relate and have a few extra grey hairs as proof!) but thank you for sticking with it and for supporting your children every day with their learning.

Thanks must be extended also, for your support in making the Great Gray’s Farm Bake Off last Friday such a success. All of the staff were amazed by the Show Stoppers our students produced – I would even go so far as to say that Bake Off’s very own Paul Hollywood would be impressed and dishing out his famous handshakes in abundance! The joy on the children’s faces as they created their imaginative delicacies, in their kitchens with their family, was a pleasure to share and made the no-screen day even more worthwhile.

Building on from the success of the Bake-Off Day, we have decided to introduce more non-screen, well-being opportunities. After half term, Wednesday’s will now be known at Gray’s Farm as Wellbeing Wednesday! Every Wednesday afternoon, an enrichment activity will be shared with your children for you to complete as a family away from the screen. We hope that you will enjoy these activities as much as you did baking and look forward to seeing your photos each week. More information will be given about Wellbeing Wednesday when we return after half term.

Talking of half-term, we are sure that lots of you are looking forward to having some no-screen fun! We know that it can be tricky, what with lockdown at the moment, to do the things that you usually would during a week off school, so we have come up with a few ideas that you might like to try. If you do complete any of our suggested activities, we would absolutely love it if you shared your fun with us on our Facebook page. Click here to see our ideas!

Take care, keep smiling and have a restful break. See you on the 22nd!

School Notices and Reminders

Absence Reporting

Please remember that if your child is unwell for any reason and won't be able to participate with online learning that day, then please call the office and leave a message on the absence line as you usually would.


COVID-19 Symptoms

Colds, flu and Covid-19 are caused by different viruses, but can have similar symptoms. It can be hard to judge which one you may have.


Most people who feel ill with coronavirus will have at least one of the key symptoms:

  • a high temperature

  • a new, continuous cough

  • a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste


If you child or a family member has one of these symptoms, you should self isolate and take a test. If you have a negative result you may stop isolating.


What are we learning next week? - W/B 22.02.21

NURSERY


This week we shall be exploring the world of dinosaurs starting off with our story. Children will be learning to use new skills to manipulate play dough to create their own dinosaur using a variety of materials. They will be looking at similarities and differences and comparing and ordering dinosaurs according to size. Remember, we enjoy seeing all the work you post on tapestry.

RECEPTION


It's a new term with lots of fun new topics to learn about in Reception! First up we will be learning all about 'Our Bodies'. How they work, what the different parts are for, how we can look after them and what foods we should eat to help us do this.


In maths we will be continuing our topic of doubling, so why don't you practise the doubling bingo game over half term to help you come back as a doubling superstar!

YEAR 1


This half term,in English we are starting a new book about a Beast. We will be making predictions, writing sentences with verbs (action words), and adjectives (describing words).


In Maths we will be revisiting place value (tens and units/ones) and doing more work on addition and subtraction.


Our new History topic is ;The Seaside' and we will look at what seaside trips were like a long time ago.


Our Science topic will be 'Are all leaves the same?'. We will be looking at the parts of a plant and investigating what they need to grow.

YEAR 2

In writing, we will look at story predictions at different events in the story and focusing on our word classes e.g. noun, adjective, verbs and adverbs.


In Maths, we will be looking at place value with a link to money.


In History, we will be starting our new topic of Nurturing Nurses and we will be comparing hospitals then and now, what nursing was like back then and what it is like today.


In Science, we will be starting our new topic of plants.

YEAR 3


This week Year 3 will be working on:

In English revising some of the skills we learnt last term, main clauses, conjunctions and expanded noun phrases.

In Maths we will be focusing on addition, subtraction and missing number.


YEAR 4

This week in English we are going to be continuing to learn how to use speech punctuation correctly within our writing. We will be using images to enhance the language and flexibility of our work.


In Maths we will be comparing numbers up to 2 decimal places and multiplying/dividing by 10 and 100.


We are starting our topic about the Romans and in Science, our topic about sound.

YEAR 5

This week in Year 5 we are excited to be starting a new fairy-tale story with an interesting twist in English. We will be focusing on using speech punctuation, verbs and actions in our writing. In maths, we will be calculation problems involving squared and cubed numbers and will be developing our understanding of prime numbers.

YEAR 6

In year six, we will be learning about the impact that World War 2 had on people's lives. We will be reflecting this in our Literacy lessons and will be using a range of extracts to support our writing in role.

In science, we will be learning about the importance of having a healthy heart and staying healthy in general.

PE @ HOME during the School closure

There are lots of fun activities that Mr Morris has put together to keep us all active during the School Closure.

Have a look on our school website for more information.

Don't forget to do the daily challenges - you can find them all here!

Don't forget to take photos and send them into us so we can see all the fabulous active learning you are doing whilst you are at home.

Remote Learning Celebration

Nursery

Nancy

Nancy has been very creative and used her imagination to re create her owl from the Owl Babies Story. Well done Nancy



Reception

Freya

For always going above and beyond with her learning and always trying her best, in all areas of the curriculum!! You are a superstar Freya, keep working hard!

Year 1

Nicole

For her amazingly beautiful Great Gray's Bake Off contributions. So much of her own work, and stunning results!

Year 2

Blessin-Rose

For using different materials to make an interesting sculpture.


Year 3

Harrison

For his Bake Off Day Cake. We we're all so impressed with his design - Angry birds complete with sling shot. Lots of careful measuring using his maths and a great effort in writing his recipe instructions and plan.

Year 4

Connor

For the cake Connor made with his younger brother for the Bake Off. I was very impressed with the attention to detail and a little afraid to ask him what it was made of...Chocolate sponge! Phew. Quote from Connor "It was so big we spent all weekend eating it". It is great to see that they dressed for the occasion.

Year 5

Arjun

For working incredibly hard in all areas of the curriculum which is evident from this wonderful art work. This art work was drawn in the style of Canadian artist Kenojusk Ashevak

Year 6

Zac

For a clear explanation on how a periscope works.

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School Life

The school continues to remain open for those children of key workers and children who are deemed to be vulnerable. Fruit is being provided daily for the children.

Our EYFS and KS1 bubble wanted to share:


Reception have been exploring what makes a kind heart as part of wellbeing week and created beautiful artwork to show off their learning. They have really enjoyed thinking about different attributes of being kind and have been discussing what it's like to be helpful, respectful and caring.


While Goodluck from our KS2 bubble wanted to share that:


On Friday, we were making paper aeroplanes, we made about six of them and tried them out. We were comparing how far they could fly and what effect the design had on this. After this, we did an experiment called dancing raisins!! Later, we went on to make a wooden aeroplane and tried them out. They were cool.


Staying Safe and Well

This week has brought with it snow and ice. Please enjoy the weather but also remember to take care and stay safe!

  • Wrap up warm

  • Wear appropriate footwear

  • Be mindful of slippery ice

  • Avoid unnecessary journeys. If you do need to make a journey, take it slow!

  • Only drive if it is safe to do so

SEND SUPPORT FOR PARENTS

Thank you to the parents and staff who have made me aware of this fantastic and free online resource! If your child reads / writes on coloured paper at school it may be useful for working on the screen.

It changes the colour of the computer screen to create a coloured overlay for learners with visual stress and/or dyslexic tendencies:

https://www.aurelitec.com/colorveil/windows/

(Please note, once installed it puts a little icon in the task bar area near the clock, you just click on this to open the settings to change the colour or turn it back off again).


If you would like advice on other useful resources for children with dyslexia, or anything else, please do get in touch via the school office.

Ella Morley (SENCO)

TKAT NEWS

The TKAT termly newsletter has been published. Please have a look on the TKAT website to read about the exiting things that have taken place across schools in the TKAT family.