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Message from Mrs Cook

And just like that, today is the end of the Summer 1 term, and what a term it has been!


There have been lots of enrichment opportunities this week with several classes out on trips; Nursery and Reception had a lovely trip to Maryon WIlson Park to support their English learning, the children had the opportunity to see lots of different animals and loved being able to connect their learning to real life experiences. During the trip they began to repeat refrains from traditional tales that they have been learning about, relating them to the animals they could see such as ‘Who’s that trip trapping on my bridge’. The teachers shared that all children represented Rockliffe Manor so positively on this outing and Mr Harracksingh is planning on creating more opportunities for EYFS to take trips together!  


Year 2 this week had a lovely trip to Greenwich Park as part of their geography unit. The children explored the geographical features which enabled them to further consolidate their understanding. The real-life experience of finding these features helped bring their lessons to life, making it both educational and memorable for everyone. The children returned to school excited to share what they had learned and eager to apply their new knowledge to their geography lessons. 


Year 4 were also out and about! They had a great time visiting the Queen’s house. The children took part in a hunt for different facts and information around the museum and enjoyed having a go at drawing different aspects of the paintings and sculptures. The children loved seeing paintings of the different Tudor monarchs and were very excited to see first hand portraits of the kings and queens they have been learning about in both English and History. The fun did not stop there as the children then took to Greenwich park and spent time playing and making memories!


And today, Year 5 visited the Picturehouse cinema in Greenwich to watch an insightful and moving documentary from award-winning journalist Nadine White, Barrel Children: The Families Windrush Left Behind. It peels back the layered tales of the Caribbean children who grew up away from their parents, who migrated to help rebuild wartorn Britain following WWII. This links beautifully with their learning on the Windrush movement and WWII. The children have been so inspired by both of these topics and have produced some wonderfully descriptive writing linked to both. Exemplifying the richness behind our curriculum and imparting valuable historical understanding. 


Along with the above, we had some year 3 and 4 children chosen to represent the school at The Blackheath Rugby Festival. This was an exciting opportunity for them to showcase their skills and teamwork. The children played exceptionally well, demonstrating great sportsmanship and determination.  The Year 4 team also came home victorious bringing home a trophy that will be showcased with pride. Well done team Rockliffe! 


We also end the half term with a fantastic learning showcase, led by our Year 3 children. The children spoke so articularly and were so excited to share all of their learning that has taken place over the half term. Their French skills were very impressive as the children beautifully sang their number song. The singing didn’t stop there, as the class also showcased a song on how to use inverted commas correctly, well done Year 3! Next half term will see the final sharing assemblies from both Year 4 and 5 and look forward to welcoming in more families.  


Our value for the next half term will be individuality, we will explore themes such as pride, humanity, open mindedness and confidence, it will be a great time to reflect on the success of this academic year and we will begin to think about moving on, for some children transitioning to their next class and for our Year 6’s transitioning to their new schools. We look forward to the term ahead and the amazing opportunities that are planned for the children. 


I hope you all have a wonderful half term and we look forward to seeing you back on Monday 3rd June. 


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



Learning this week

Let’s look at some of the learning opportunities this week … 


Nursery have been busy this week creating their very own homes and gardens. To complement their topic on growing the children laid their own grass in front of their decorated homes and each child has chosen different flowers to ‘plant’ in their gardens. Nursery have also looked at how plants grow from seeds to a beautiful sunflower and had a go at planting their own, they are very excited to bring theirs home with them. 


Children in Reception this week have been enjoying learning all about 3D shapes! We began the week by exploring the differences between 2D and 3D shapes, we then went on a 3D shape hunt around the classroom to see what shapes we could find in our learning environment. As the week progressed the children used their knowledge to identify all the properties of 3D shapes such as vertices, edges and faces.        


Year 1 have been writing some letters in English this week. They wrote to Dougal asking him to help save the sea creatures that are being harmed by plastic. Children used their knowledge of plastic pollution to explain what was happening in the seas and oceans and what Dougal could do to help. The children were surprised to see that Dougal had replied to their previous lesson and he agreed to help but he wanted to know how plastic was ending up in the oceans. Isabel articulated her knowledge very well when she wrote, ‘When people litter, the plastic bags get blown by the wind and they end up in rivers. The rivers all end up in the ocean and that is one way plastic can get into the oceans.’ The children are so emotionally engaged with their learning journey and it’s lovely to see them talking so passionately about it. 


Year 2 this week have enjoyed writing their final outcome of a newspaper article linked to their core text ‘The Promise’. Creating effective headlines, the children discussed the language choices they had made and worked together to edit and improve their drafts. They were particularly proud of their attention-grabbing introductions and the way they structured their articles to include key details. This outcome has not only enhanced their writing skills but also deepened their understanding of the story and its themes.


This week, Year 3 have been busy writing their final outcomes in English, they have created fantastic manifesto’s which are thought provoking and ask questions that make the reader think. They had an amazing time going to the library and enjoyed looking at new books. The class also had an amazing sharing assembly where they wowed us with songs about French numbers and inverted commas. The children spoke clearly and made everyone proud!


Year 4 have been busy this week finalising their written outcome in English, a newspaper on the Mary Rose. The children have worked so hard in it and their knowledge is amazing! In DT the children designed habitats for animals and have been busy creating motorised fans to keep the animals cool. 


In year 5 this week, they had a great DT day linked to their science topic on Earth and the moon. For this, they learnt about geared pulley systems and how this can be transferred into making an orrery for the solar system. The children worked in different groups to make a collective class model. These included some making the gears, some making the planets, and some making the sun using paper mache. 


In year 6, they have been working on their thriller core text - The Landlady - this has the children fully engaged as it puts their inference skills to the test as to whether or not a dastardly deed has occurred by the end of this classic short story. Mrs Redhead was very pleased that they managed to draw negative inferences from the landlady’s seemingly cheery persona. 


Twitter

Here are some of the tweets that can be found on our Rockliffe Manor Twitter page this week

Birthdays, Merits & Attendance

Jessica - Year 6

Arlo - Year 6

Eliana - Year 2

Paul - Nursery

Sefa - Year 4

Zechariah - Year 4

Holly - Year 3

Irene - Year 5


Reception - 89.4%

Year 1 - 88.0%

Year 2 - 88.9%

Year 3 - 96.5%

Year 4 - 91.0%

Year 5 - 92.2%

Year 6 - 94.0%

Total - 91.4%

Reception -   Eden

Year 1 -   Ollie

Year 2 - Nikoleta

Year 3 - Lasharnte

Year 4 - Darcie

Year 5 - All

Year 6 - Lottie


Dates for your diary

Friends Of Rockliffe 

Messages from the office

Lego/ Duplo



Rockliffe Coffee mornings


PE Kits



Scooters in Playground




Uniform reminder


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 8:50am, Rockliffe will be holding a Coffee morning in the Music Room. Please feel free to pop along and join us. Friends of Rockllife joining to start the planning for events. All welcome


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.



Due to incidents in playground with scooters, can parents please ensure that your child does not ride on the playground and other areas of the school. Children to not to be riding passed the school gates, Many thanks.



School Uniform - can we please remind you that all children are requested to wear school colours - Not Hoodies. Also now that the colder weather has begun your child should come dressed accordingly - Coats, Jumpers or Cardigans and appropriate footwear. 


Community Information

“Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”