Collaboration matters   Excellence in everything   Community first   Equity for everyone   Continuous growth

Message from Mrs Cook

Whilst there have been signs of spring this week with the beautiful sunshine and milder weather, it has been a rather wet ending, but we won’t let that dampen our spirits! There has been an excitement through the air from children, parents and teachers as we welcomed parents and carers into the school for the second of our Parents’ Evenings this year. The teachers really do look forward to sharing all your child’s wonderful achievements with you, and it was lovely to see the children beaming with pride as you looked through their books. Meryem loved showing how she uses purple pen to edit and uplevel her writing!


This week we have seen lots of DT learning as the children come towards the end of their learning journey, with a whole school focus on DT the children have been immersed in developing skills such as sewing, testing materials and building. The children in Year 3 have shown such growth mindsets in beginning their cross stitches of constellations, although some of them found it difficult to begin with they showed their Rockliffe spirit and did not give up! 


On Friday, Mr Smith held an online safety assembly for all of the children. He spoke about what it means to be safe online and what to look out for. The children were reminded about not sharing personal information such as passwords and to not access websites that our parents or carers have not agreed to. The children listened closely and offered great contributions on how we can stay safe. 


We are excited to welcome parents into school next Friday after school for our Easter event organised by the Friends of Rockliffe. Please do let the office know if you are interested in attending what looks to be a fun event! The poster for this can be found around the school and also at the end of this newsletter! We hope to see you all there! 


A little reminder that we do currently have a parents and carer’s survey live to collect your comments and feedback. Your voice matters and we want to ensure Rockliffe continues to grow and this helps us make informed decisions that serve the whole community. QR codes can be found around the school or in the office that will take you straight to the survey.


Wishing you all a lovely weekend ahead. 


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







Learning this week

Let’s take a look at the learning this week…


This week, Reception have been exploring the nature garden during their forest school session. The children loved looking at the pond, minibeast hunting, playing on the swing and creating their very own nature bracelets using masking tape and leaves. On the mini beast hunt, they found some ants and snails and when they returned to class, the children couldn't stop talking about the snail that they had found! Ollie was excited to see its 'antennas coming out' and said that they were 'tickling' him. It is great to see the children apply their knowledge about bees and use key vocabulary to discuss how they want to 'repair the bee's habitats' that they found on their next visit, as some of them were broken. Albie said that 'we need to fix them before the bees come out'. When looking at some of the flowers that have begun to bloom, Remi found some that she said ‘the bees would like because they are yellow’. As the children continue to engage in the provision around the classroom and outdoor areas, they have continued applying their topic knowledge to their independent play and have enjoyed thinking about how they can save bees from becoming endangered.


Year 4 has been busy this week! The children have been introduced to their new glossaries that are used in whole class reading as well as other subjects. When they encounter a new piece of vocabulary that they do not know they find out the definition and write it in their book, ready to use in their writing. Isaiah has loved this new addition and enjoyed using vocabulary learnt from his reading book in his English. The class have also got new jobs as chief water engineer in Ancient Rome. They tested materials this week in a   bid to see what was the most suitable to create an aqueduct for the city of Aqueductis. Oliver said ‘cardboard is the best material for sturdiness but it will not be able to carry water as it is not water resistant’. Riley agreed but added ‘we could add plastic sheets to the cardboard so that the water can travel to the city!’ After testing, the children drew conclusions ready for them to create their prototypes before making their final outcomes. 


And if that was not enough … The children have been very persuasive in English. After researching the features ready to create our Himalayan travel brochure the children needed to persuade Miss Roper to give them 15 more minutes of playtime. The whole class surprised Miss Roper with their compelling words.  Julie wrote ‘if you give us more playtime, you will have peace and quiet to plan more amazing lessons for us’. 

‘We only have 4 more months together, don’t you want it to be the best 4 months?’ Asked Cairon. It’s safe to say that Miss Roper was swayed and the children thoroughly enjoyed their extra playtime which was very deserved.  


Year 6, have been working hard on their revision strategies for SATs strategies this week. They are now using dedicated revision books that they take home each day to practice any gaps they may have. "The revision book is really helping me because I can research my own gaps at home and make a revision guide for myself."   Eniola.  It's not all revision though, they have also begun auditions for their end of year production and it was great to see some budding thespians forward. They are now in their second term with our specialist gymnastics teacher and Stephanie is really impressed with how much progress in their strength and fitness they've made. "I'm so much better at gymnastics now, my knee-balance was very wobbly at first, but now I'm much better."  Joe. Also, we have had Mr Dhillon from Woolwich Poly on work experience this week, who delivered a great maths lesson on circles and has been a real help around the class. 



Twitter

 Here are some of our photographs from Twitter this week of the children enjoying their activities

Birthdays, Merits & Attendance

Olivia - Year 6

Shaheer - Year 6

Daisy - Year 5

Freddie - Year 1

Jasmine - Year 4

Reception -94.0%

Year 1 -90.0%

Year 2 - 95.43%

Year 3 - 97.47%

Year 4 - 98.4%

Year 5 - 92.68%

Year 6 - 94.2%

Total - 94.65%

Reception -  Reuben

Year 1 - Jack

Year 2 - Carlo

Year 3 - Lacey

Year 4 - Irene

Year 5 - Chidera

Year 6 - Lex


Dates for your diary

Special Notice

Messages from the office

Jungle Gym

Closure



After School Clubs



Lego/ Duplo


Friends Of Rockliffe     Coffee mornings


Pokemon Cards

          

 PE Kits



Parent/Carer Survey 


Due to health and safety, Mrs Cook has taken the decision to close the jungle gym both before and after school. Please may we ask that you help us uphold this decision when in the playground with your children.  The jungle gym will continue to be open during the school day when adequate supervision can be assured.


 

After school Clubs finish this week and will resume week commencing 24th April. You will be able to sign up in Arbor next week. GYMNASTICS will hold a club Friday 31st March 2023 from 08.30 - 09.30. 

FOOTBALL CLUB - we will hold a make up session on Thursday 30th March 2023 from 3.15 - 4.15.


We would like to increase our resources and maybe have a Lego/Duplo station at playtime. If any of our parents have Lego or Duplo that your child no longer plays with we would appreciate any donations. 

 Every Tuesday morning from 9am, Friends of Rockliffe will be holding a Coffee morning in Beachwood House. Please feel free to pop along and join us.



Parents/Carers -We have noticed an increase in children bringing in Pokemon Cards. These are causing some upset both within the classroom and in the playground. Please can we remind you that toys/ cards such as this should not be brought into school. 


PE Kits - can we please remind you that all children should bring their PE Kits in to School. The children will need a pair of shorts, T-shirt and socks.


At the heart of our schools, and Trust, lie our values. Therefore, working in collaboration with our parent community is really important to us. We believe that working in partnership and developing positive relationships with our families will have a positive impact on the outcomes for our children. 

With this being said, we would ask for your support in completing a parent survey which can be accessed on this link: https://bit.ly/RMParentsurvey

The closing date for responses is Friday 21st April. Your help in completing this form is very important to your child's school and the Inspire Partnership Academy Trust. We are very keen to keep improving our offer for our children and families so your voice is important. Please note that we will treat all responses in the strictest confidence. 

Thank you for your help.

Community Information

Ramadan Mubarak to all our families observing the holy month. 

"You are only as powerful as the stories you tell" - Jaz Ampaw-Farr