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
Wow what a fantastic last two weeks we have had at St Giles Academy!
The children have been at the centre of all of our thoughts and activities as we have been keeping them incredibly busy in the run up to the summer holidays.
We have celebrated the arts at the Trust Factor at the New Theatre Royal in Lincoln, where we showcased some super ukulele playing and singing of Kookaburra and danced to Confidence by Demi Lovato. We have celebrated the graduation of our EYFS into Key Stage 1 and from year 5 into year 6, where they were presented with their purple jumpers, clearly distinguishing them as role models to the rest of the school.
We have congratulated more than 160 children for having more than 96% attendance for the term - a super achievement. They will be getting an ice-cream for their commitment and dedication.
Our Year 6s have shown will real entrepreneurial spirit in their Fiver challenge. Using creativity, imagination and teamwork, the children had a variety of ways in which ti make their money grow. It was amazing to see the whole school supporting their efforts.
We have had our very well attended Summer Fair, organised and run by our Parent Committee. They are always looking out for new members to help them organise events that bring the whole school together. If you are interested, please see Kirsty Martin, Kayleigh Jassie or Sally Shields at the school to find out how you can help.
It is however with great sadness that we are saying goodbye to many wonderful people. We are saying farewell and good luck to 60 year 6 pupils who will be moving on to their secondary schools in September. We also say farewell to some members of staff: Carol Hudson a wonderfully patient and caring Teaching Assistant who has taught and cared for several children for the last 4 years; Kat Brooks, a member of staff who started here at St Giles 8 years ago in foundation as a teaching assistant, moved into year 6 and has now qualified as a teacher. She will be starting a new school with her very own class. Jenny Fenwick started four year ago as well in Foundation. She has been an excellent member of the EYFS team, with a fantastic knowledge of Maths and has led the school by developing the art curriculum.
Finally Craig Richards. Mr Richards started at St Giles 10 years ago. He has taught in many classes over the years and has led in developing a new curriculum and developing our subject leaders. He has led in English, becoming a moderator and leading on our Reading for Pleasure Agenda. The school has seen many changes whilst he has been here and he will be greatly missed by all.
I am sure that you will all join me in wishing all of our leavers well in the future.
You will have received a copy of our Safety and Wellbeing Newsletter- a link is given below.
Finally, we hope you have a fantastic summer and stay safe.
We will see you all back on Wednesday 6th September!
Mrs Smalec
What 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 Julia Donaldson
Class 5 - A collection of books from Mrs Hodgson's book boxes!
Class 6 - The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams
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 - Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
Class 12 - Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
Lincolnshire Reading Pledge
We are very proud to announce that, as a school, we have been awarded the Lincolnshire Reading Pledge Silver award.
This is the result of lots of work including introducing reading spotlights, investing in our reading for pleasure books and raising the profile of reading across the school. A huge thank you and well done to everyone involved.
Changes to the school day
Earlier this week, a letter was sent out regarding some changes to the school day from September. Click here to find a copy of the letter.
The key timings for September are as follow and are for the whole school:
Gates open at 8:35am School begins at 8:45am School ends 3:15pm
Our Words of the week
Year 1: gasp
Year 2: devastated & crouched
Year 3: persevere & resemble
Year 4: vacate and vital
Year 5: vindictive & vocation
Year 6: sublime and trepidation
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 - Qasim & Darcie Class 6 - Deliah & Daniel
Class 7 - Holly and Scarlett Class 8 - Fardin & Ava
Class 9 - Sana and David Class 10 - Alan & Oliver
Class 11 - Maci and Aistis Class 12 - Alicja and Oliver
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 Kite.
Dragonflies - 91.77%
Butterflies - 93.44%
Class 1 - 93.81%
Class 2 - 92.86%
Class 3 - 83.27%
Class 4 - 86.4%
Class 5 - 90.41%
Class 6 - 90.41%
Class 7 - 91.45%
Class 8 - 87.9%
Class 9 - 83.79%
Class 10 - 90.77%
Class 11 - 91.94%
Class 12 - 87.91%
Athlete visit
On Tuesday 4th July we were lucky to be visited by five-times freestyle kayaking world champion Ottile Robinson-Shaw. The visit was organised through Sports for Champions and was linked to a fund raising. A huge well done and thank you to those children who helped raise money to put towards new sports equipment.
Harbour Learning Trust Sports Event
On Wednesday 5th of July, 40 children took part in a Harbour Learning Trust sports event at the Meridian Showground in Cleethorpes. There were different events throughout the day, with some children winning prizes for effort, performance and sporting behaviour. The event included pupils and staff from the other primary and secondary schools across the trust and everyone had a great time. The children from St Giles Academy were a credit to the school and the staff who attended the event were very impressed by their effort and attitude.
Rocksteady rock concert
At St Giles Academy, we are lucky that we can offer our children a diferent kind of music tuition! Alongside Ollie from Rocksteady, the children learn different instruments including singing, guitar, drums and keyboard, building to performances. Last week, these different bands performed in front of their classes and parents. All of the children did an amazing job and we very likely witnessed the first performances of some superstars of the future. Look at some of the pictures below!
Rocksteady music lessons will be continuing to run sessions next academic year and information has been sent out about this if this is something that your child(ren) may be interested in.
Harbour Learning trust 'Trust Factor' Event
On Tuesday 18th July, a group of dancers and ukelele players were chosen to represent our school as part of a trust-wide talent event, showcasing the performing arts at Lincoln Theatre Royal. Like the sports event, there were representatives from the trust's primary and secondary schools and everyone in attendance was thoroughly entertained.
Sports Day
To top off a busy week of sporting events at St Giles, we held our sports days for Y1-Y6 on Thursday 6th July, with Foundation Stage holding theirs on Friday 14th July.
It was a very closely battled result with the children taking part in a host of events including skipping, sprinting, egg and spoon races, long jump, triple jump, javelin and much more. In the end, the orange team won sports day and have their ribbon proudly on the sports day trophy.
EYFS and Y5 Graduation
On Monday 10th July we held our Year 5 graduation in the school hall and EYFS held theirs on Wednesday 19th July. There were some lovely songs and poems shared by our Year 6 and Year 2 children.
YMCA Social Action Project
On Friday, we had the pleasure of taking a group of 6 children to Wispington Care Home. This marked the conclusion of a Social Action Project that the children have developed with help from Jo from the YMCA. The childre initially identified an issue in the community that they wanted to help overcome. They chose to tackle loneliness in the elderly. Once their project was decided, they then had to plan an event. They chose to visit a care home with jigsaws, colouring, board games and cake and spend some time with the residents. The children were wonderfully patient and talked to the residents, one of who was 106 years old! They were wonderful ambassadors of the school and amazing role models.
Year 6 'fiver market'
This term, Year 6 have been flexing their entrepreneurial muscles! All of the children were given the equivalent of five pounds each to grow into profit. Most children put themselves into groups and came up with their own products and games to help raise money to put toward their leavers disco. We had people throwing wet sponges, cakes to buy, mocktails, sweet stalls and more!
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed their time, money and patience, as the children managed to raise a very impressive £254!
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.
To see a copy of our most recent safety and wellbeing newsletter, including some tips and advice for the summer, click here.
Online safety
National Online Safety produce online help guides known as #wakeupewednesday to keep children safe online. The first guide is about Rumble. Conceived as giving independent content creators equal representation in the online space, Rumble has found something of a niche in restoring a voice to influencers who have been blocked from similar platforms. It’s become particularly renowned as a forum for political debate, with some prominent account holders’ choice of subject matter attracting a degree of notoriety.
Indeed, a study by the USA’s Pew Research Centre found that the platform’s most popular topics included gun laws, the January 2021 Capitol riots and Covid vaccines. Many parents and carers may feel that these sensitive topics – when addressed in a less-than-sensitive manner – aren’t suitable for young users. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide attempts to get a feel for Rumble.
The second guide is an online safety guide related to the summer holidays. With the school summer holidays only a matter of days away, many parents and carers will already be planning outings and activities to keep their young ones entertained. In between those special summer moments, though, there are also likely to be occasions when children happily invest a whole afternoon in Among Us or spend most of their Monday on Minecraft.
As young people’s screen time almost inevitably increases over the holidays, parents like to feel confident that their child will stay safe while they’re exploring the digital world. So we’ve produced a #WakeUpWednesday poster with some simple solutions to help children avoid frequent online pitfalls and enjoy a more positive experience when they go online this summer.
← →
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
Our stars of the week
Congratulations to our most recent stars of the week, they are:
Dragonfly Class - Lilly for and exceptional year in reception, Zuzanna for an exceptional year in recption and Peter for and exceptional year in reception.
Butterfly Class - All of the chidren fir their brilliant peformance during their graduation.
Class 1 - Isabelle for a fantastic attitude to her learning and Robyn for always being respectful to adults.
Class 2 - Kobi for showing fantastic sportsmanship during sports day and Alexa for being an amazing role model during the school trip.
Class 3 -
Class 4 - Reggie for his great sportsmanship in sports day & Austin for his resilience and hard work with all his learning. He is a superstar.
Class 5 - Betsy and Mia for growing in confidence over this year & Ali for having a brilliant attitude towards his work all year.
Class 6 - Hooman for being a team player in class and joining in & Jayden for kindness to others
Class 7 - Lily for her dedication to learning this year and Jahleel for a fantastic first year at St Giles.
Class 8 - Daniel for his effort this year, Mason for his improvement across the curriculum amd Fardin for his St Giles attitude.
Class 9 - George for working hard on improving his writing and being a role model to others & Tommy for always wanting to do his absolute best in his work and not being afraid to ask for help.
Class 10 - Ollie for a fantastic sporting effort on Sport's Day and Lottie for always making the right choices
Class 11 - Noah for being a great role model and for being a brilliant helper with KS1 and LKS2 sports days.
Class 12 - Jackson for good demonstrating sportsmanship during sports day and for continuing to work on his presentation and Mark for showing a great attitude to his learning and to others.
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:
Skyla-Mai, Lavina, Maddie, Noah, Niall and Reece
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/
Upcoming events
Thursday 20th July (morning) - change up day 2, where the children meet their new teachers for next academic year.
Friday 21st July - Y6 leavers assembly 9:30am in the school hall
Friday 21st July 2023 - Last day of the academic year, school closes at 1:15pm
Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th September 2023 - INSET Days, academy closed to pupils
Wednesday 6th September 2023 - Autumn term begins, academy open to all pupils
General links
Pupil links
School twitter feed
School Pastoral Twitter feed