William Barcroft Junior School
'Success and happiness for every child'
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 our newsletter. First of all, can I say a huge well done to our year 6 children who have been working incredibly hard this week on their last practice round of tests before SATs. We have some fantastic scores coming in so well done all! Also well done to all of the children who helped with our tree planting last week. Unfortunately the weather was not kind to us at all, so apologies for the washing we created for you! However we do have some lovely new trees to enjoy, and hopefully many of you have taken advantage of the ones remaining that we are giving away for you to enjoy at home.
Just a reminder that next Friday (8th March) we will be celebrating World Book Day. Children are invited to dress up as a book character, and to bring in any books they have read and no longer want for our book swap. We don’t want anyone to feel they need to buy anything for dress up so please ask your child to chat to their classteacher if they need ideas using items from their wardrobe.
We are looking forward to welcoming you into school for parents’ evenings next week. You should now have received your slot but if you have any problems with this please call the school office.
I have been speaking to the children and reminding them of our rules on bringing items into school from home. They should not be bringing in any toys/miscellaneous items and do not need pencil cases as we provide all stationery they need. These items distract from learning and also cause issues when things are lost. Thank you for your support with this.
Finally, a message for the year 6 parents. The Back to Bear trip deadline has been extended until next Friday (8th) therefore if you would like your child to be added to the list please indicate on Parentpay/see staff in the school office.
Thank you everyone. Please enjoy looking at what the children have been up to in their learning, and have a lovely weekend.
S Sargent
Principal
This year in school, we aim to improve attendance and punctuality as a key priority. Thank you to all parents putting in exceptional effort to get their children into school since coming back from February half term. Our attendance figures are increasing which means that our children are getting the best opportunities possible whilst they are with us.
We have an attendance treat before Easter half term for all children who have achieved 98% and above since the start of January until the last week of term.
Week beginning 19/02/2024
Congratulations to 5HS and 4V who topped the attendance tables this week with a fantastic 99%!
We're still aiming to get all of our classes to 100% so lets keep at it WBJS team!
Week beginning 26/02/2024
Congratulations to 5HS and 5D who topped the attendance tables for upper school this week with a fantastic 99%! This is two weeks in a row for 5HS!
Also, a big well done to 3C and 4V for winning the attendance trophy this week for lower school.
Here's an example of how your child's attendance is calculated:
5 absent days = 97%
10 absent days = 95%
It is important that you try to get your children into school as much as possible so that they receive the best education and school experiences possible. If your child's attendance drops below 97% the school will monitor this and offer support to parents to help improve this.
If you would like to discuss this more, please contact the school office.
Monday 4th March - Parents evening Y3
Tuesday 5th March - Parents evening Y6
Wednesday 6th March - Parents evening Y5
Thursday 7th March - Parents evening Y4
Friday 8th March - World Book Day
Monday 11th March - Year 4 Zoo Lab workshop
Wednesday 13th March -Science Boffins Year 3 and Year 6 workshop
Wednesday 13th March - Cross Country at Weelsby Wood
Friday 15th March -Planeterium Year 5 workshop
Friday 15th March - Comic Relief Day
WB 18th March - HLT Football League - Healing Academy (Home)
Thursday 21st March - Opera North Hall - Music workshop (in school)
Thursday 21st March - Easter crafts with parents 3.15 - 4.15pm
Monday 25th March - Year 3 Learning Showcase AM
Tuesday 26th March - Year 6 Learning Showcase AM
Wednesday 27th March - Year 5 Learning Showcase AM
Thursday 28th March - Year 4 Learning Showcase AM
Thursday 28th March - Last day of Spring term 2 - Easter holidays begin.
Tuesday 16th April - Return to school for Summer term 1
RED NOSE DAY!
We will be celebrating RED NOSE DAY on Friday 15th March 2024 at WBJS.
Staff and children are being asked to go "RED TO TOE" to celebrate and raise funds for Comic Relief this year. So dust off your ruby slippers, pop on your lobster suit or simply don your scarlett socks - how far you take it is up to you!
Our pupil governors will also be selling RND themed cookies at breaktime for 50p.
Please note, we do not have any red noses for sale in school this year.
Parent Easter Crafts Session
It's time to get creative and join us for some 'egg-static' Easter fun at this year's Easter craft session. We'll provide everything you need to create something 'egg-tastic' with your child. This 'egg-citing' event will take place in the hall straight after school on Thursday 21st March 2024. The top 4 designs will receive an 'egg-cellent' prize. We hope you can all join us to celebrate! If you wish to join us, please sign up on ParentPay.
We have so many egg puns, it's not even bunny!
ALSO, KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING OUR EASTER BONNET COMPETITION AS WE GET CLOSER TO EASTER.
WORLD BOOK DAY!
We will be celebrating World Book Day on Friday 8th March! The children are invited to dress up as a famous book character for this day. Please note, this is not simply a non-uniform day and should have a particular link to a book character. The children could dress up as Matilda, Willy Wonka, Katniss Everdeen: the list is endless! The children will enjoy a day of 'Drop Everything and Read' centred around a particular book with a focus to promote our love of reading and reading for pleasure. There will also be hot chocolates with marshmallows and cream to enjoy as a treat! As well as all of this, Miss Stewart is planning a very exciting 'Barcroft Blind Book Date' event in school! Finally, please remember the children are invited to the 'Book Swap' - they can bring in some books from home that they've already read and would love to swap for a new book. These books must be of a good condition with no ripped pages or writing/scribbles. We're all very excited in school!
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 class at WBJS?
YEAR 3
Year 3 had a fantastic experience day with ONE Day creative exploring volcanoes. We learnt what volcanoes are, what causes them to happen and how humans protect themselves. Also in Geography we have explored active, dormant and extinct volcanoes and looked at how tectonic plates move using Oreo biscuits!
In maths we are learning about length and perimeter. We explored millimetres, centimetres and metres. We looked at how measurements should be recorded in the form “4 cm and 3 mm”, and why it is important to choose the appropriate unit before measuring a length. We know that perimeter is the distance around the outside of a closed 2-D shape.
In English we have started reading our new novel, Charlotte’s Web and describing the characters and setting. We are enjoying reading the book and this will assist us ready for writing a fable in the coming weeks.
In whole class reading, we really enjoyed the monster within text and learning to control our anger with breathing exercises.
In PSHCE we have started looking at money and jobs and to begin with we looked at goals to set ourselves. We looked at the boxer Olympian medallist Antony Agogo and his qualities and skills.
YEAR 4
Year 4 have started the new half term with a bang by writing a fantastic persuasive letter in English. We have written to Mr Logger (the CEO of a logging company in Brazil) and expressed our concerns about deforestation in the area. We hope that our persuasive techniques can change his actions.
We have also started reading a new book called Varjak Paw and we have made predictions based upon the front cover and first chapter. We can't wait to keep reading!
In maths we have been learning about mixed number fractions, how to write them and how to order them. This has been a little tricky but with the use of pictoral fractions we've now grasped it!
During the afternoons, we have started our new topic about the Mayans. We have been researching who they are, when their civilisation lived and discussing how they lived.
In PSHCE we have been disucssing how we earn money and where we can keep it securely. The children were very knowledgeable and we discussed the positive and negatives of using contactless when paying for items.
YEAR 5
We have started the term off brilliantly, learning lots of exciting things. In Maths, we have been looking at decimals all the way to thousandths! In English we have been reading our new book called the Escape Room. We started by completing an escape room activity to solve the title of our new book. Since then, we have been gripped by the story and are now starting to plan and write our own setting description.
In whole class reading we have read texts about Rumpelstiltskin and The Midnight Garden.
The fun doesn’t stop there! In the afternoon, we have been learning about forces and in particular gravity. We have investigated objects falling. We investigated an empty bottle and a half full bottle of water being dropped from the same height at the same time. We found that they both hit the ground at the same time because they are the same mass and that the weight didn’t affect how fast they fell! We have carried out enquiries such as: which shape makes the best parachute and whether the size of a parachute affects the air resistance.
YEAR 6
Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed reading a mysterious and suspenseful new book in English: ‘The Water Tower’. Set in the scorching desert, the solitary town of Preston is home to some strange events involving the water tower. We follow Bubba and Spike on their escapades, swimming in the water of the tower – but all is not as it seems…
In Maths, we have focused on all things ‘angles’ – angles in a triangle, around a point, in quadrilaterals and in polygons. There are lots of key facts to retain for this content – ask your Year 6 expert to tell you what the interior angles in a triangle add up to or how to calculate angles in a polygon!
In Science, we’ve been researching the life of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, ready to create an infograph and fact file regarding his early life, career and scientific theories.
This week in particular has been our final SATs week. We have been working hard in all areas and have been showing off what we know and areas we’ll be working on in the future. Your child will bring home their results on the SATS results slip – please look out for these in your child’s book bag.
Take a look at this week's Star of the Week, our Time Table Rock Star champions, our Readers of the Week and our exciting birthday celebrations.
Can you take photographs in school?
Please ensure if you do take a photograph of your child on school site, that this is ONLY when you are told to do so by a member of staff and that the picture is of only your child. For example: After our Star of the Week assemblies.
Home Reading Rockstars
Here are the percentages for home reads per class over the last week. 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. Well done to those classes with 100% and above! A special mention to 4LB this week who have smashed their 100% reads target for 2 weeks in a row!
National Science Week- 11th-15th March
The week of the 11th-15th of March is National Science week- in celebration of this all the children will be enjoying a curriculum enhancing workshop.
On Monday the year 4 children are being visited by Zoolab: as part of this they will be taken on journey through a rainforest, where they will meet real life animals.
Year 3 and 6 have a workshop with the Science Boffins- year 3 will experience incredible illusions and year 6 Great Gases.
Year 5 will enjoy the planetarium- a self-contained darkened classroom, where they will take a journey through space.
After school, on Wednesday 13th March, the Science Boffins will launch a rocket from our school field. We would like to invite you all to watch this after you have collected your children.
The Tree Planting Scheme
Last week, the school was so lucky to have been gifted over 500 trees by the East Marsh United team and Create Streets team. The biggest ones have been planted in the small playground area to create shade for the children and to help enrich the curriculum in many areas. The smaller ones at the bottom end of the field will help to create a wooded area for wild life. WBJS was also chosen to host the opening ceremony as this is a community project which other schools in the area are also taking part in. The children in Years 3,4 and 5 really enjoyed this experience - despite the mud, rain and cold - and gained so much from the event.
Everyday Maths!
We all use numbers every day, whether we think about it or not. Maths is not just for the classroom.
Spotting maths in the real world helps children understand this. It helps them see why it’s useful to learn maths. And it’s something you can do to support your child’s maths learning outside of school.
There are all sorts of ways to bring number skills into things you already do with your child.
For Parents - Interactive Stories
Internet Matters have put together some great interactive stories/lessons covering a range of issues from self-image and identity, online bullying, relationships and more. The interactive stories can b really useful for parents to go through with their children. The link is below:
www.internetmatters.org/digital-matters/modules/?user_type=parent
For Parents - What is Palworld?
Palworld is a new game similar to Pokemon and Digimon with a PEGI rating of 12 for fantasy-character-style violence. Given its similarity to Pokemon there's every likelihood that younger children will be playing this game and so Internet Matters have compiled some advice and guidance for parents about the game: what it is, how it works, safety settings etc.
www.internetmatters.org/hub/news-blogs/what-is-palworld/
BARCROFT DIGITAL LEADERS
Please welcome our new Digital Leaders for 2024! Our application process has taken place this week with a whopping 86 children wanting to gain the responsibility of a Digital Leader at WBJS! It is fantastic to see so many children wanting to make a positive contribution and promote change in the online world. We have selected 12 new Digital Leaders in school and they began their new role on Safer Internet Day.
Safeguarding
What is OSI?
OSI is an online, therapist-supported platform designed to help children overcome problems with fears, worries, and anxiety.
Online Modules
OSI is made up of 7 core modules, released weekly, plus a follow up module. Each online module takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, and includes videos, quizzes, and interactive worksheets, as well as built in questionnaires to help parents/carers and their therapists track how their child is doing.
Parents/carers are encouraged to have a go at the strategies that they learn through the modules with their child.
Please speak to Miss Baggott if you are interested.
Young Carers Action Day
It’s Young Carers Action Day on Wednesday 13th March 2024. This is an annual event that is organised and led by Carers Trust. They would like to try and encourage as many organisations, communities and individuals as possible to take part in the day by taking action, supporting and raising awareness of young carers.
This year’s theme is around:- Focussing on building a more equal future for young carers and removing barriers that many of their peers do not face.
If you have any questions, then please get in touch.
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/
SEND Support
