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. My first mention
has to be for our superb Year 6s who have worked so hard and completed all of their
SATs. Their attitude has been fantastic and I am very proud of them all. We’ve had a
busy fortnight, with a number of visitors supporting our learning including a team
from Opera North, specialists from Coastal Voices and members of the Fire Service
who delivered our assembly.
After half term, we will be making a change to one of our rules. On PE days we will
be trialing letting our pupils go home in PE kits on their two PE days. There are a
few reasons for this: having to leave changing time does cut short our afternoon
lessons, particularly when we have a 3-lesson rotation, we are also frequently
dealing with missing items of school clothing when children are rushing to change in
busy classrooms at the end of the day. Children will of course still come to school in
their uniforms as normal and will change before lunchtime with teachers. It will be the
end of the day that they come home in kits. We will need your help in ensuring that
they then remember to bring their kit back into school for their next PE lesson. We will
evaluate whether this is successful or not so please feel free to give any feedback
from your perspective next term. Can I also remind everyone that children should be
in their red PE top and black shorts for these lessons.
On the subject of missing clothes can I take this opportunity to remind everyone of
the importance of clearly naming your child’s belongings. I completely understand
the frustration of children coming home with missing clothes, but this is so difficult for
us to help with when items are not named. Thank you for your support with this.
Please enjoy reading through the newsletter and I hope you all have a lovely half
term break (fingers crossed for sunshine!) .
S Sargent
Principal
This year in school, we aim to improve attendance and punctuality as a key priority. Our attendance figures are increasing which means that our children are getting the best opportunities possible whilst they are with us. Thank you to parents for continuing to support school with raising attendance in 2023/2024
Week beginning 13/05/2024
6B and 6F managed to achieve a fantastic 99% attendance last week which was great to see during our SATS week and celebration.
A special mention for 4LB, 4V and 6S who also had great attendance last week and were able to light up their traffic lights in the office in green daily!
Week beginning 20/05/2024
Well done to 6B who had the highest attendance in upper school this week and also to 4B in lower school.
We have had so many more green lights on the traffic lights in the office this week, well done everyone!
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.
Parent information regarding attendance:
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.
Summer Term 2
Monday 3rd June - Return to school for Summer term 2
Monday 3rd June - School Photographs
Wednesday 5th June - Friday 7th June - Back to Bear Year 6 Residential
Monday 17th June - Year 5/ Year 6 Sports Day
Tuesday 18th June - Year 3/ Year 4 Sports Day
Friday 28th June - Summer Talent Show Case
Tuesday 2nd July - Year 5 Graduation
Friday 5th July - Training Day
WB 8th July - Learning Showcases - Dates TBC
Tuesday 9th July - Year 6 SATS Results Day
Friday 12th July - School reports out
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 AM - Attendance treat for 100%
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
This fortnight, in English, we’ve been writing acrostic poems based on our Butterfly Lion book. We’ve enjoyed learning about poetic devices, and then presenting our poems attractively and performing our poems to the class. Please look out for some examples on Twitter – we’re very proud of them!
In Maths we’ve been learning how to tell the time to 1 minute intervals, followed by reading digital clocks and learning about AM and PM times. It’s been a tricky Maths topic so please encourage your child to regularly look at clocks at home too and practise telling the time. Here’s a great online resource to try https://www.topmarks.co.uk/time/teaching-clock .
Last week in our Science topic, we learnt more about the life process of nutrition. We investigated the importance of staying healthy with a balanced diet by identifying the different food groups and creating an ‘eatwell’ plate – ask your child to tell you all about it. This week we are moving on from animals and humans, to the fascinating life of plants! Why not spend some time over the half term break planting some seeds of your own and tell us all about it after the holiday.
YEAR 4
Over the last 2 weeks, year 4 have been getting up to all sorts of fun!
In English, we have started a new book called 'Who Let The Gods Out' which is about a boy named Elliot who meets Virgo (the constellation) and gets up to lots of trouble by accidently releasing Prisoner 42.
In Maths, we have been trying really hard to improve our time skills. We are starting to get the hang of it but if parents could support this at home too this would be fantastic.
Here is a reminder that children will be taking their national multiplication check when they return after half term so we advise that they get practising on TTRS whilst gathering all their coins to spend. This will really help with their speedy retrieval of timestables.
During our afternoon sessions, we have been exploring sound further and have even carried out an investigation with string telephones. We have created sand scultures in art and we have perfected our dance skills in PE, even delivering a little performance at the end of our sessions.
YEAR 5
Year 5 have been looking at features of a persuasive letter in English over the last two weeks. In pairs, we were given a fake scenario, where Mrs Sargent was going to abolish playtimes. We wrote a letter to Mrs Sargent explaining why playtimes are important and why we should have them. We are now beginning to prepare our persuasive letter to persuade Norway, Iceland and Japan to stop whaling.
In maths, we have completed our position and direction unit and are now beginning to learn about adding and subtracting decimals. In topic, we are researching different rivers in the UK and have began to explain a rivers journey from source to sea. We are not experts on how a river starts and where it ends. In science, we have learnt about different life cycles including: mammals, birds, insects and amphibians. We enjoyed looking at the process of metamorphosis and how species if insects and amphibians change their form as they develop from young to adult.
YEAR 6
Year 6 have completed their SAT’s tests and we are all so incredibly proud of their efforts on what was a tough week for them. The children gave it their all across each of the different papers and they should be incredibly proud of themselves and their achievements so far this year.
Our focus now turns to writing where we have carried out research into the great polar bear looking at how it has adapted to suit the harsh environment of the Arctic and the threats that it faces- scientists predict that by the year 2100 polar bears could become virtually extinct.
In topic we have been using our atlas skills to identify and locate the countries of South America. We have also spent some time looking at the biodiversity and physical geography across different South American countries.
A fantastic well done to all of our students who sat their year 6 SATs last week. Every child worked incredibly hard to achieve the best of their ability and we couldn't be prouder of the effort they have put in. Our year 6 students celebrated in style with a Fab Friday on 17th May where they were able to unwind with a range of sport, craft and mindfulness games throughout the day, topped off with a yummy visit from Harrisons Ices in the afternoon.
We would also like to take this moment to thank our parents for ensuring the children were in school nice and early so they could be as prepared as possible and for your continued support throughout this time.
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
Have a look at what we are currently reading in school with our classes:
3A - The Butterfly Lion - Michael Morpurgo
3C - The Butterfly Lion - Michael Morpurgo
3S - The Giraffe, Pelly and Me - Rolad Dahl
4B - Varjak Paw – SF Said
4LB - Maz Evans – Who Let The Gods Out
4V - Bad Dad - David Walliams
5D - Wonka- Sibeal Pounder
5HS - Escape Room by Christopher Edge / The Boy at the back of the class by Onjali Q. Raúf
5S - The Lost Whale- Hannah Gold
6B - The Last Bear - Hannah Gold
6F - Cogheart - Peter Bunzl
6S - The Titanic Detective Agency – Lindsay Littleson
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.
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
We know that finding activities to do at home can be tricky at times, please see below some useful websites to support with maths learning at home:
Adult learning support for mathematics.
https://www.nnchallenge.org.uk/
National Numeracy Parent Toolkit has a wealth of tips and advice for parents.
http://www.nnparenttoolkit.org.uk/
Oxford owl includes a range of activities, top tips and eBooks to help your child with their maths at home.
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/maths-owl/maths
Maths 4 Mums and Dads explains some of the milestones children make between the ages of 3 and 11 years old.
http://www.maths4mumsanddads.co.uk/
Nrich, a range of maths games, problems and articles on all areas of mathematics.
http://nrich.maths.org/frontpage
Ideas to see mathematics in everyday life
Can you imagine a world without iconic animals like orangutans or jaguars? Us neither. With Endangered Species Day on May 17, we shared some feel-good news stories that remind us just how incredible animals are.
NASA uses satellites to help keep jaguars safe in South America
Sumatran orangutan shocks the world by making its own medicinal treatment
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSuwgQcwkZc&list=PL_5OKef10sqeL_AVeStXr-GpKY2DYHyY2&index=36
For Parents - Wellbeing Apps for Kids
With wellbeing increasingly hot on the agenda, helping children manage their health and wellbeing is a top priority. Nothing can beat getting out in the fresh air, meeting friends and having fun, but some children may find apps useful for things such as learning about emotions, managing anxiety etc. There are thousands of these types of apps, but to cut through the fog Internet Matters have put together a list which gives details such as: suitable ages, purpose, how the app works and (where applicable) the cost.
You can find the list of apps here:
https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/wellbeing-apps-guide-for-kids/#wellbeing-apps-stay-active
Snapchat - My AI Chatbot
Parents via the Snapchat Parental Controls can now disable the my Ai chat bot from replying.
Please see the link below for more information:
Nintendo Switch Parental Controls
All tech devices come with parental controls, but they're not always easy to find or understand and they can differ quite significantly from device to device.
The Nintendo Switch, which is a very popular device, has a range of parental controls such as browser access, restricting games based on age, chat settings and more and more.
Internet Matters have a great guide for parents which can be downloaded.
www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/gaming-consoles/nintendo-switch/
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 drop-in’s postponed until September
Abi’s SEND drop-in sessions on Monday’s at Central Family Hub are postponed until September because the hub is being refurbished.
Abi’s last session will be Monday 20 May from 9:30-11:30.
If you still want to get involved Abi runs the SPACE Forum with Nicola Chapel which is a platform for parent carers and professionals to come together to share insight and ideas, gain experience from guest speakers and meet others like them. You could use this space to get information, advice and guidance and be signposted to support.
Cycle Coaching – Get a head start on Bikeability
Now children can get a head start when learning to ride a bike with Lincs Inspire’s after school one-to-one cycling sessions.
Experienced and qualified coaches who deliver Bikeability sessions in schools will be running these sessions.
• Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 4pm to 5pm (term time only)
• Bradley Football Development Centre
• £25 for one-to-one coaching for an hour (bike and helmet hire available at no extra cost)
Booking - https://lincsinspire.com/cycling
Our Future Starts Here
Grimsby-based creative organisation The Culture House is getting ready to present the next edition of its arts and culture programme – Our Future Starts Here, which is designed to get us thinking and talking about issues of our time while increasing our understanding of the future-facing innovation happening in Grimsby and the Humber. Please see the range of events (mostly free) by clicking on the following link:
https://ourfuturestartshere.co.uk/whats-on/
Friday 24th May - Sing Your Heart Out - Grimsby Minster
Saturday 25th May - Paint With Nature, Eco Cafe, Children's Circus Workshops, Print With Lego, Mughal Miniatures, - Alexander Dock
and more...
More events can be seen on the link above!
