We are very proud of our school, the children, staff and environment and of course the great support we receive from our parents.
For more information, please visit our full website by clicking here.
In a recent parent questionnaire, parents said the following:
99% of parents say their child is happy at William Barcroft Junior School
98% parents say the school have high expectations
99% of parents said their child does well at school
100% of parents say their child felt safe in our school.
Message from the Principal:
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to this week’s newsletter. Firstly, can I thank you for your wonderful support with our two sports days, it was great to see so many parents in school supporting their children and enjoying the sunshine!
As always, the final few weeks are packed with events. We have year 5 graduation on Tuesday and then our transition days for year 3,4 and 5 pupils on Wednesday and Thursday. Year 6 pupils will be at their new schools next week too (Mon-Wed for Clee Academy and Thursday and Friday for all other schools). Another reminder that the school is closed for training day next Friday 5 th July. Year 6 results will be in on 9 th July and will be shared that same day.
We would also like to invite you to our final learning showcases of the academic year. These will be as follows:
Monday 8 th July 9.15 Year 5
Wednesday 10 th July 9.15 Year 4
Thursday 11 th July 9.15 Year 3
Year 6 will have their leavers’ assembly on Friday 19 th July at 9.15.
Please can ALL parents wanting to attend either the learning showcases or the leaver’s assembly tick on Parentpay as soon as possible.
The final week will then see the year 6s on their beach trip, the Matilda production for those in club, the behaviour treats and the leavers’ party. We will have one final newsletter before the summer holidays to share the photos of these events.
On another note, please can I ask that any queries regarding incidents in school are brought to class teachers, learning mentors or myself rather than teaching assistants on the playground. TAs are there to monitor the children coming in and out of school but will not have all of the information about incidents that have occurred. We can then make sure that the correct and full version of an event is relayed to you.
Finally, thank you to those who have responded to the survey about wraparound childcare. If anyone would like to add a response please do so before the end of this week.
Thank you everyone, and enjoy the Armed Forces weekend and hopefully an England win!
S Sargent
Principal
Week beginning 17/06/2024
Attendance winners this week:
Lower school - 4LB
Upper school - 6B
Week beginning 24/06/2024
Attendance winners this week:
Lower school - 3C
Upper school - 5D & 5HS
Reminder - we can administer medication in school which has been prescribed by the GP. We just need you to complete a permissions form at the office. If you need any more information, please don't hesitate to contact the office.
The table below shows some of the impact of missed school whether through days off or being late to school. Time out of school has a far bigger impact than you may realise. For example you may think that 90% attendance is good but that is 19 days lost. Likewise, arriving 10 minutes late every day is the equivalent of missing 32.5 hours or 6.5 days in a school year.
Learning Showcase Dates
We hope that you can join us for our final learning showcase of the year and celebrate the children's learning with us before the Summer term ends. Places for each showcase will be posted on ParentPay soon and we will send a text home to make you aware that they are now available. Please see the dates below:
Monday 8th July - Year 5 Learning Showcase
Wednesday 10th July - Year 4 Learning Showcase
Thursday 11th July - Year 3 Learning Showcase
Year 6 will not have a learning showcase this term as they will celebrate their learning with you in their leavers assembly on Friday 19th July. This will also be live on ParentPay soon.
Summer Term 2
Tuesday 2nd July - Year 5 Graduation 9.15am
Friday 5th July - Training Day - School will be closed to children for the day
Tuesday 9th July - Year 6 SATS Results Day
Friday 12th July - School reports out
Friday 12th July AM - Attendance treat
Monday 15th July - Year 6 Beach Trip
Tuesday 16th July - Matilda Production for Parents 2pm and 4pm
Wednesday 17th July AM - Year 3/ Year 4 Behaviour Rewards
Wednesday 17th July PM - Year 5/ Year 6 Behaviour Rewards
Thursday 18th July PM - Year 6 End of School Disco
Friday 19th July AM - Year 6 Leavers' Assembly
Friday 19th July - Last day of the school year - 2pm finish
General Information
At William Barcroft Junior School we pride ourselves on having high expectations about the school uniform. Recently we have noticed that a number of children have not been wearing appropriate school shoes. If your child arrives at school without the correct footwear they will be provided with a pair of plimsolls to wear for the day. Thank you in advance for your support
Please do not ride bikes and scooters on the school grounds, this is for children and adults. This is for the safety of our children, thank you.
Please note, electric scooters are not allowed on the school site due to health and safety regulations and not having the facilities to store them in school.
Please do not bring pets onto the school site due to health and safety regulations.
PE kit MUST be brought to school on your child's PE days,
Year 3 will have PE Monday and Wednesday
Year 4 will have PE Tuesday and Thursday
Year 5 will have PE Monday and Wednesday
Year 6 will have PE Tuesday and Thursday
What's happening in each year group this week?
YEAR 3
Wow what a busy few weeks we have had in year 3! We have mastered skills of angles, shape and statistics in maths. We have learnt to read and interpret data on pictograms and bar charts. Ask us how to read vertical scales and create a key of 2 or more pieces of data. We have recapped our multiplication and division skills and will continue to practise our x3, x4 and x8 times tables in our last few weeks of year 3.
We have been working extremely hard to finish our writing about “Beautiful Botanists” and we can’t wait to share as many with you as possible at our learning showcase in a few weeks time. We are continuing to enjoy our topic of ‘plants’ and have created detailed facts as part of our planning in English. It has been fascinating learning more about these interesting plants and using the facts to write our amazing non-chronological reports. Ask us for a fact on carnivorous plants!
This week we have been learning about differences: male and female, personal space and family differences as part of our Science and PSHCE: Valuing differences and keeping safe curriculum.
YEAR 4
Year 4 have been delving into their own myths this week and getting creative with their story telling. Keep your eyes peeled on the next news letter for some examples when they are fully published. Also in the morning, we have been maths pirates investigating coordinates and learning how to translate shapes around a grid.
During the afternoon, we have been great thinkers whilst learning about the water cycle. We have investigated what happens with materials in the heat and cold and how different environments can change their state of matter at different rates.
Our favourite part of the week was sports day where we were able to cheer on our friends and compete in a range of activities in the glorious sunshine. Thank you to all year 4 parents who attended and cheered on the children.
This week we have also discussed the human lifecycle during our RSE lessons and the children have asked fantastic questions with great maturity.
YEAR 5
Year 5 have been developing their understanding of negative numbers over the last 2 weeks. They have learnt what a negative number means, ordered negative numbers and found the difference between numbers including negative numbers.
In English, they have loved continuing to read our class book- The Lost Whale. We have looked at two chapters specifically and empathised with the main character- Rio. They have learnt more about the features of a diary entry and have written 2 extracts as thought they were Rio.
In the afternoon they have completed their RSE scheme and have learnt about how the body changes during puberty. This has been complemented by their work in science, where they have learnt about the life cycle of humans.
YEAR 6
Year 6 have been enjoying some problem solving and reasoning activities in maths over the past couple of weeks. We have worked in pairs and teams in order to solve some quite tricky problems.
In English, we have been writing a persuasive letter to the Governor of Texas informing him of the inhospitable conditions at Camp Green Lake. There were some very persuasive letters produced with some inclusion of language above and beyond year 6. Impressive stuff year 6!
In the afternoons we have been focusing on developing some artwork based around the South American artist Frida Kahlo.
We are now preparing the children for their secondary school journey- as a reminder- please remember that transition for secondary schools in the area is happening next week, remember to check information for allocated transition days.
STAR OF THE WEEK CELEBRATIONS
Every Friday, we celebrate the fantastic work and attitudes of our children during our Star of the Week assembly. Each teacher presents their Star of the Week, Reader of the Week and TTRS of the Week whilst our Learning Mentors award fastasic behaviour and kindess on the playground. We also celebrate our birthdays in style with a whole school sing-song and give out spot prizes for fantastic work and home reading.
If your child is chosen for this assembly, you will receive a message no later than Thursday. If you wish to attend, the assembly times are as follows:
Year 3 and Year 4 - 8.55am
Year 5 and Year 6 - 9.55am
Please can we remind all parents that children are required to read 3 times a week at home and their reading record is expected in school every day. There are a multitude of beneficial reasons why children should read at home: comfort and reassurance, confidence and security, relaxation, happiness and fun. It is essential that we are providing children with the time to explore stories, giving them time and full attention when reading them a story, asking questions to support comprehension and clear routines. Reading at home builds self-esteem, vocabulary, feeds imagination and even improves their sleeping patterns. Not to mention that it supports all areas of the curriculum and increases progress, development and understanding. We offer a well-stocked library and purple area which provides reading books to take home and children are rewarded when completing 3 home reads.
Here are the percentages for home reads per class over the last two weeks. Our school expectation is 3 weekly reads per week and this is taken on a Thursday. Please ensure your child has their reading record every day to be checked.
Year 4 have reminded children of the above to ensure they are reading at home so we are asking parents to support children with reading at home to improve this.
Thank you for your support with this.
When school is out and the weather is nice, kids and adults alike can enjoy the freedom while stretching the brain. Summer is a rich opportunity to bring mathematical thinking into these fun indoor and outdoor activities. Explore numbers, engineering, measurements and more with structured maths activities or ask the right questions to evoke mathematical thinking in almost any activity.
Here are a few ideas below:
https://blog.mindresearch.org/blog/summer-math-activities-for-kids
On Tuesday 18th June and Wednesday 19th June, we all participated in the school’s annual sports day. We enjoyed showcasing our talents in a wide variety of activities. There were some excellent baskets scored in basketball and some extremely long javelins thrown across both days. We also completed long jump, discus, shot put, sack race, hurdles and boccia. The races were spectacular and everyone did their best. A massive thank you to all parents that came to spectate and created special memories with their children, your support is much appreciated. A huge thank you to all staff and especially TRIN Centre, who helped Mr Dawes to run the events smoothly.
Congratulations to year 3/4 green house, who had won the lower school sports day with 1744 points. Congratulations, also, to year 5/6 blue house, who had won the upper school sports day with 2772 points (winning by over 200 points).
Summer is a fantastic time to explore the outside: in gardens and parks there are many diverse living things. Why not go on a bug or plant hunt with your child and tally up your findings. You could even take some photos to bring into school. What living things can you find? How could you classify them?
As children make that move into secondary school it's likely that many will experience many 'digital firsts'. Internet Matters have a lovely, useful guide for parents about children moving to secondary school with advice such as:
What are children doing online.
Are they ready for a smartphone (if they haven't already got one!).
Activities children and parents can do together.
and more
You can find the guidance below:
www.internetmatters.org/resources/moving-to-secondary-school-online-safety-guide/
Of the more popular apps, here are ones that allow family pairing along with a link which describes what family pairing is, the features available and how to set it up:
YouTube - support.google.com/youtube/answer/10314940?hl=en-GB
Instagram - help.instagram.com/658522825492278
Rise and Dine!
There’s plenty of science to support the claim that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Often, breakfast is missed to save time in a morning, however this tactic can backfire. An empty tummy can leave children feeling fatigued and out-of sorts.
We realise that not everyone wants to eat first thing in the morning, however children are more likely to eat breakfast if you do too. Eating together also helps children adopt healthy eating habits.
A healthy breakfast that contains nutrient-rich foods such as whole grains and cereals, milk, yoghurt, fruit and fruit juice contains essentials vitamins such as vitamin A, C, zinc and iron.
Children who eat breakfast are more likely to have a healthier weight. Eating a healthy breakfast may also help your heart, digestion and bones.
The benefits of eating breakfast can include: Avoiding distracting feelings of hunger, improved brain function, better memory, attention and focus. Improved academic performance, increased energy levels, being more alert, achieving better test scores and having happier, healthier children!
Follow this link to visit the safeguarding section of our website, and for a copy of our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy. https://wba.harbourlearningtrust.com/our-academy/safeguarding/
A fun filled Summer Festival for children with SEND on Sunday 14th July at Grant Thorold Park.
Please check out the following links to our X (Twitter) accounts and see what each class have been up to this week in real-time!
#wbjsinthecommunity
Cleethorpes Athletics Club
7-10 Year olds
Tuesday and Thursday 6pm – 7:15pm King George Stadium
The Trin Boxing Club
Youth Academy Boxing (Primary School Age)
Our Youth Academy Boxing sessions run every Tuesday and Thursday 5pm till 6pm. A great introduction to boxing learning the basic principles and a great session to improve fitness and movement skills.
https://www.ccse.org.uk/sports/boxing
Cleethorpes Cricket Club
Junior Friday Evening Training « Welcome (cleethorpescricketclub.com)
Natalie Knights Tennis Club - Bannatyne Humberston
