ST GILES ACADEMY
Success and happiness for every child.
We seek to inspire greatness in every child and to equip them with the outcomes, life skills and personal attributes to lead successful, happy and safe lives
For more information please visit our full website by clicking here.
Welcome from Mr Kite
IMG_0050.MOVWhat are we reading?
As part of our enjoyment of reading, each class has a class novel that they read every day. Here is a list of what each class is reading:
Dragonfly, and Butterfly classes are sharing a range of books linked to their learning and based on the children's interests.
Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 - A variety of poems.
Class 5 - The Ghost in Annie's room by Philippa Pearce
Class 6 - Fizzlebert Stump - The Boy who Ran Away from the Circus and Joined the Library by A. F. Horrold
Class 7 - Charlotte's Web by E B White
Class 8 - The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
Class 9 - The Secret Deep by Lindsay Galvin
Class 10 - The Nowhere Emporium by Ross McKenzie
Class 11 - Wonder by RJ Palacio
Class 12 - Wonder by RJ Palacio
Lincolnshire Reading Pledge
As part of our work towards the Lincolnshire Reading Pledge, we have been given the opportunity to take part in the Open University's mini reading challenges. There are fun ways to recommend books for children of all ages and the chance to see what other children and their families would recommend. To find out more, visit https://ourfp.org/supporting-rah/sharing-the-love-of-reading/
.Our Words of the week
Year 1: continent & avoid
Year 2: ghastly & scent
Year 3: nestled
Year 4: sanctuary & smouldering
Year 5: pelt & plagued
Year 6: perspective and plausible
TT Rockstars
As part of our continued effort to improve times table recall in Key Stage 2, the children take part in a range of challenges and activities each week. Below are the children from each class from years 3-6 who have really impressed their teacher recently with their times tables.
Class 5 - Mia and Mason Class 6 - Jacob and Evelina
Class 7 - Yahia and Katie Class 8 -Freya and Ava
Class 9 - Kian and Mia Class 10 - Luana and Oliver
Class 11 - Noah and Naeema Class 12 - Leo C and Leo M
Attendance
Well done to those classes that have hit over 96% attendance over the last two weeks and to those children who have been in the academy every day over the last two weeks!
You can see below how each class has fared over the last two weeks with Green being above 95% attendance, Amber 90-95% attendance and Red below 90%. We would like all our pupils to be in the Green Zone.
Please can I remind parents/cares that it is your responsibility to let us know if your child is ill or if they have a medical appointment as early as possible. There are a number of ways you can reach us e.g. ClassDojo, private message on Facebook or by contacting the school office on 01522 786760. Thanks, Mr Milner.
Dragonflies - 89.95%
Butterflies - 95.24%
Class 1 - 98.03%
Class 2 - 92.86%
Class 3 - 86.77%
Class 4 - 88%
Class 5 - 93.88%
Class 6 - 89.05%
Class 7 - 90.15%
Class 8 - 91.24%
Class 9 - 91.43%
Class 10 - 97.25%
Class 11 - 99.44%
Class 12 - 97.78%
The Coronation of King Charles III
Following the coronation of King Charles III, we have held a special celebration day at St Giles Academy on Friday 12th May. Look out for more information about what we got up to in our next newsletter.
Year group focus - Year 3
This week Year 3 have been working on a project in DT. They have previously learnt about healthy and balanced diets in Science and PSHE so this week they had the opportunity to apply their understanding.
The design brief was to create a healthy snack, a fruit salad. The classes looked at and discussed fruits that they had tried and had not tried before.
Each class created a tally chart to find out their least and favourite fruits. Using the findings from this, they were then given a selection of fruits to choose from that they would like to include in their own fruit salad. Each child designed a fruit salad, listed their ingredients and the tools that they would need. The most popular fruits were apple, banana, pear, orange, grape and pineapple.
Following this, the children went on to make their fruit salads applying different preparation techniques. These included peeling, cutting, chopping and dicing.
Being allowed to eat their creations definitely went down very well and most children emptied their bowls. The children were also encouraged to try other fruits that they had not tried before, such as mango and kiwi fruit.
Finally, the children completed an evaluation of their product. They considered its strengths and how they thought their product could have been better.
Year group focus - Year 4
This week Year 4 have been on a fantastic trip to the Jorvik centre in York to support their learning about the Vikings. We greatly enjoyed our ride around an authentic Viking village complete with smells!
It was a chance to learn how ordinary Vikings lived their everyday lives, what they ate and what they made. We looked at artefacts found in the centre of York that date from over 1000 years ago! We watched as a replica Viking coin was struck by a craftsman in the museum and learnt what we would be able to buy with the coin in the past.
After the museum we went to the DIG archaeology centre and learnt about the importance of archaeology and how it helps us understand how people lived their lives in the past. We had the chance to do our own excavation and uncovered some interesting objects including a human skeleton!
We then had a fascinating talk from a Vikings weapons expert who demonstrated battle tactics and the weapons used. Very gruesome!
Year group focus - Year 6
This week, Year 6 have completed their SATs tests. We have started the day with our very own breakfast club and then the children have shown an incredible attitude to completing their tests, making all of the staff incredibly proud of them. There have been ice creams and pizza to celebrate and throughout the week, as part of our DT learning, we have tasted, designed and baked our own celebration cakes!
A massive thank you to all of the Year 6 families and to the staff at St Giles Academy for all of their help and support in the build up to and over this week.
Enjoying our time at breakfast club!
Baking and decorating our celebration cakes!
Safeguarding
As a school community we must remember that keeping our children safe is everyone's responsibility. We always appreciate your support and thank you for reporting concerns when you see or hear of incidents outside school.
Online safety
National Online Safety produce online help guides known as #wakeupewednesday to keep children safe online. The first guide is about smartwatches. Wearable tech is increasingly big business. More than 170 million smartwatches were sold globally in 2022, for example, with Apple biting off the largest chunk of the market (26% - some distance ahead of Samsung, in second with 9%). That's partly because they have more than 21,000 apps available for their devices, allowing users to customise their smartwatch experience.
Both Apple and Samsung’s products, of course, lean towards the higher spec end of the market – usually with price tags to match. Sourcing a less expensive alternative, however, often also means inferior safety features to protect young wearers. That’s just one of the potential hazards highlighted in our #WakeUpWednesday guide to smartwatches. In the guide you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as location tracking, causing distractions at school and the danger of theft.
The second guide is about Telegram. With more than 700 million users worldwide, Telegram is a popular alternative to the likes of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger; indeed, in some countries, it’s overtaken that pair to become the most-used instant messaging app. Telegram’s no stranger to controversy, however, and has occasionally been made unavailable for download in some nations (including the UK).
There are various reasons for these suspensions, but the primary trigger for the authorities’ concern has been that Telegram’s robust encryption, sadly, all too often encourages the app’s use as a conduit for extremist political material and illegal sexual content. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide this week brings trusted adults the lowdown on Telegram.
In the guide you'll find tips on a number of potential risks including a lack of age verification, inappropriate content and cyber-bullying.
Click on the guides to see them larger on your screen. For access to all of the National Online Safety guides around a range of areas of E-Safety, click here.
National Online Safety have now produced an app with lots of useful advice, support and guides around being safe online. Find out more by going to https://info.nationalonlinesafety.com/mobile-app
Jasmine for showing Our stars of the week
Congratulations to our most recent stars of the week, they are:
Dragonfly Class - Peter for his persistence and resilience towards learning and Jasmine for her amazing attitude and behaviour.
Butterfly Class - Rosa for always being a positive role model and Isabelle for being punctual and having an amazing attitude towards her learning.
Class 1 - James for trying hard in all his learning and Esther for her amazing Maths this week when grouping and sharing.
Class 2 - Onyedikachi for his effort in all lessons and Abduljamal for his hard work in topic.
Class 3 -
Class 4 - Sofia for always trying her best with everything that she does and persevering when things are tricky.
Class 5 - Faith for being a good friend to others and Arkadijs for putting in 100% effort this week.
Class 6 - Declan for his amazing attitude in school and willingness to join in and Bailee for coming back to school with a broken wrist and putting in 100% effort.
Class 7 - Yahia for a super first week in our school and Katie for excellent progress with her TTRS.
Class 8 - Sharon and Sophia for settling in well in our class and Mason for his superstar attitude.
Class 9 - Willow for her excellent progress in all lessons and Alex for his increased onfidence in maths.
Class 10 - Jasmine for showing excellent resilience throughout a difficult week
Class 11 - Deman for hard work and effort, especially in PSHE and English
Class 12 - Ruslan for his contributions in lessons, especially History and Reading.
Year 6 superstars
Every week, the Year 6 staff choose some children who have worked exceptionally hard and made real progress with their learning.
As always, it was another tough decision and the year 6 staff have chosen the following children over the last week for their academic achievements:
Riley-James, Myla-Rae, Aston, Brody and Lavina
Breakfast Club
We are so pleased to be using our Pupil Premium funding to ensure that it remains FREE for anyone on free school meals. Please do take advantage of this as it provides an excellent start to the school day. The children have great fun and start their learning well nourished! No need to book. It opens at 7.30!!
If you are not eligible for Pupil Premium or free school meals, the cost is only £1 to be paid at https://www.parentpay.com/
Extra Curricular Clubs
Monday lunchtime: Knitting and Crochet Club (Years 5 & 6), 3:15-4:00pm, Miss Forman in Class 2;
Tuesday lunchtime: Coding club in Class 8
Tuesday after school: Times Table Boosters (Year 4).
Wednesday after school: Y5/6 Rounders Club - 3.15 - 4.15pm on the field with Synergy Sports
Times Table Boosters (Year 3).
Thursday lunch: KS2 Singing Club. 12.45pm - 1.15pm in the Hub. Mrs Atterby & Mrs Brown; KS2 reading club with Mr Richards and Mrs Hodgson
Year 5 and 6 athletics club with Mr Starbuck
Thursday after school: KS2 Choir (Selected children) 3.15pm - 4.15pm in the hall. Mrs Atterby & Mrs Brown.
BSL Club (Years 1-4), 3:15-4:00pm, Miss Forman in Class 2
Year 3/4 Tri-Golf Club - 3.15-4.15 on the field with Synergy Sports
Times Table Boosters (Year 4).
Friday after school: KS1 Athletics Club 3.15 - 4.15pm on the field with Synergy Sports
Upcoming events
Thursday 18th May - Y6 trip to the International Bomber Command Centre
Friday 26th May 2023 - Last day of half term
Monday 5th June 2023 - Children return to school
Tuesday 13th June - Foundation trip to Skegness Aquarium
Thursday 15th June - Year 5 trip to the National Space Centre
Friday 16th June - INSET Day - academy closed to pupils
Friday 23rd June - Monday 26th June - Y6 residential
Thursday 6th July - Sports Day for Y1-Y6
Friday 7th July - Sports Day for EYFS
Friday 21st July 2023 - Last day of the academic year
General links
Pupil links
School twitter feed
School Pastoral Twitter feed