Another great week has come to an end at Rockliffe Manor and as always there is a lot to  share. Yesterday, we had the pleasure of leading a phonics review at Rockliffe Manor, inviting leaders from across the trust into our phonics lessons and interventions. It was fantastic to showcase the wonderful learning across the school. The children shone as they showed off their blending and segmenting skills, their grapheme knowledge and how their phonics translates into their reading. We hope parents of children in EYFS and KS1 will join us for our parental engagement session on Tuesday 6th February to further celebrate the children’s progress and learning. 

We are beyond proud to share with you all that yesterday, Thursday 1st February, our school has been awarded the Bronze Attachment and Trauma Aware (ATA) certification. This recognition reflects our commitment to fostering a nurturing environment where children and young people can thrive and learn. Achieving this award signifies our dedication to promoting better learning and mental/physical health outcomes for all learners, and it serves as an external testament to our culture of compassion and nurture. We are immensely proud of this achievement and grateful for the hard work and dedication of our entire school community. This milestone represents a significant step forward in our ongoing commitment to embracing inclusion, removing barriers to learning, and creating a supportive environment where every child can thrive.

We love reading! This week Year 5  had a great trip to the Slade library where they enjoyed reading for pleasure and sharing their favourite books with their friends, even having a sneaky peak at their core text for after half term; Windrush child. Continuing on the theme of reading, we are pleased to share that on Thursday 22nd February, our book fair will be arriving and will be with us for a week. There will be a variety of books to capture the children’s imagination and further foster our culture of reading for pleasure. We will send out a letter shortly with further information. 

As we come to the end of the half term, all of our children are working hard to complete their final outcomes in English. The children in Year 1 and 5 are both creating newspaper articles documenting the events of their core texts. The children in Year 4 are becoming the main character Auggie and are writing an internal monologue about him winning the Henry Ward Beecher Medal. Similarly to Year 4, the children in Year 3 are busy writing their final outcome of a diary entry as their main character; Isabelle. Immersed in their core text, Year 2 children will be creating their own story based on their core text Angus and the Goods Train and are so excited to innovate their own story! Also, in Year 6, the children are writing a flashback narrative that promises to captivate readers with their depth and intrigue.

Next week here at Rockliffe Manor, we're gearing up to promote children's mental health through active participation in Children's Mental Health Week. Each class will delve into discussions on how to nurture our own and others' mental well-being. Here, at Rockliffe Manor, we firmly understand the significance of prioritising children's mental health and this commitment is ingrained into our curriculum throughout the year. By engaging in meaningful conversations and activities, we aim to empower our students with the tools and awareness they need to navigate their emotional landscapes with resilience and empathy.

Have a lovely weekend, we look forward to seeing you all back on Monday. 

With very best wishes, Mrs Cook and the Rockliffe Manor team