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Message from Mrs Cook

Welcome to the Summer 1 term! We hope you had a wonderful break and are ready for an exciting term ahead. We have lots of exciting things planned for this term and we cannot wait to share them with you and your children.


A new term means a new core text, and this week the children have had a range of experiences to explore these and hook them into the learning for the term ahead. Here is what some children from each year group had to say..


Year 1: Henry - “Our new core text is called Dougal’s Deep Sea Diary’. When he goes to work nobody talks to him but when he goes to the sea he feels happy and excited.” Quinn - “Dougal got a submarine because he found a treasure chest. I think Dougal will stay in Atlantis because he doesn’t like his job”


Year 2: Carlo - “Our core text is ‘The promise’. It is about people who are not kind but then plants made them happier”. Arthur - “The town is bad and ugly and a boy found an old lady with a bug and tried to snatch it. The old lady gave the boy a seed instead and he planted it and everything got better!”


Year 3: Zechariah - “Our new core text is ‘accidental prime minister’. Joe argued with the prime minister who visited the school - the prime minister was really angry and left and Joe got in trouble. If I was Mrs Cook for the day I would change the jungle gym to a real jungle!”. Mitchell - “I predict Joe will become the prime minister. I think AJ, Joe’s best friend, will be the deputy prime minister. If I was Mrs Cook for the day I would build a trampoline park!” 


Year 4: Sophia - “Our core text is called ‘The divers daughter’. So far we found out that Eve has nearly drowned twice in deep water but her mum saved her as she is a great diver. I can’t wait to find out what happened the third time she was in deep water.” Asante - “The story is set in Tudor England and so far Eve and her mum live in poverty and really need some money. I wonder how they will get some. I am very curious about the character George Symons because the blurb told us that there is lots of ‘danger and betrayal”


Year 5: Jonny - “We are reading ‘Letters from the lighthouse’ and it's about WW2. The main character's sister is missing and has been pronounced dead although they have never found her - I wonder what is going to happen!” Jess - “Olive’s mum was packing her a suitcase and Olive knew she was going to be evacuated - I would feel relieved to be evacuated as I would be safe but sad as I would miss my mum”


Year 6: Olivia - “Our new core text is ‘Stella by starlight’ I am excited because the book sounds interesting - I wonder if she is going to go to space.” Chloe - “I am excited to find out what our DT is going to be about!”


On Monday, I led the first assembly of the term exploring the value of responsibility and how we can look after our world. We had a great discussion on how plastic can find its way into the ocean and the devastating impact it has. The children showed a great understanding of the issue and we were pleased to see them eager to learn more and consider our personal responsibility as global citizens to make a change. 


We have many exciting events and activities planned for the term, including our learning showcases and our stay and learn sessions. I hope you all received the letter detailing all of these along with some dates and information about our newly launched coffee morning! The first of which was held this week on Tuesday in the Music Room, with guest speakers from Home Start sharing information about their service. It was a great start and we hope many more of you will join us for a coffee, a chat and a chance to connect.


Today is a special day for some families within our community and we would like to wish those who are celebrating today a happy and blessed Eid al Fitr. We hope you have a joyous day, enjoying the festivities with loved ones and family. Eid Mubarak!


And, just like that the first week has flown past wishing you all a wonderful weekend and we look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday. 


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






Learning this week

Let’s take a look at what has been happening in the classroom this week… 


The atmosphere in Nursery has been vibrant this week with the new intake. This term, the global theme is power and governance so the children have been making choices from their core text and using ‘because’ to explain their answers. Tiwa said ‘I have chosen the castle because I am a princess’ and Aitor chose the roller coaster and began to show this through actions.


In Reception their summer topics this term are linked to fairytales and they have been looking at Goldilocks and the Three Bears. When discussing Goldilocks’ choices and the possible impact on others, Freya said that she made ‘a bad choice because she went into the house’ and the children decided to rectify, she should knock and if nobody answered, then she should go home. Divine challenged this and asked ‘what if she doesn’t have a home?’ and Daisy C then suggested that ‘she can wait’. 


Year 1 has had a lovely week getting immersed in their new topics. They are enjoying their new core text, ‘Dougal’s Deep-Sea Diary.’ The children role played being reporters asking open ended questions. 


Year 2 children have shown great learning behaviours this week. They seem very engaged and motivated to learn. It was commented on how focussed Year 2 looked on all of their tasks and they were very eager to show off their learning to many adults. 


Year 3 has been beginning their learning on their new core text 'Accidental Prime Minister.’ They have done some excellent writing based on what they would do if they were Mrs Cook for a day with so many creative, fantastic ideas. Kristina wrote ‘If I were Mrs Cook, I would make every day a party!’ Zuzia asked Miss Basi ‘Does Mrs Cook know we are doing this?’


Year 4 have been busy this week exploring their new core text ‘Diver’s daughter’ which has allowed them to research ‘Jacques Francis’ the salvage diver. The class really enjoyed learning new facts that will further help their learning this half term.

 

Year 5 have enjoyed their new science topic space, Malachi said “there’s no air resistance in space, and it's fun learning about it because we’re watching cool videos that tell us loads of facts.” In English the children have been learning about World War 2 in line with their core text  ‘letters from the lighthouse’. They learned that tube stations were used as bomb shelters when there were air raids.


In year 6, they have been working hard on their revision, only a few weeks to go now. Mrs Aliaj joined for a maths lesson and helped address some misconceptions. They’ve also started their PE sessions with Mr O’Reagan, which they love. And they got their summer library visit, which was eagerly anticipated as many of the children were so keen to change their books and get a new one. 



Twitter

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

Birthdays, Merits & Attendance

Douglas - Year 1

Isaac - Year 6

Jake - Year 3

Reception - 92.64%

Year 1 - 93.02%

Year 2 - 96.12%

Year 3 -91.33%

Year 4 - 92.5%

Year 5 - 90.83%

Year 6 - 95.71%

Total - 93.55%

Reception -  Kevin

Year 1 - Henry

Year 2 - Erica

Year 3 - Zuzanna

Year 4 - Oliver

Year 5 - Jessica

Year 6 - Tyrece


Dates for your diary

Special Notice

Messages from the office

Jungle Gym

Closure


Lego/ Duplo


Rockliffe Coffee mornings


          PE Kits



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.


 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.

Tuesday 25th April  - we will be joined by Families Information Officers from Royal Borough of Greenwich. 

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.



Community Information

Come and join us in our warm and welcoming spaces 

Information

We know the rising cost of living is worrying for many of our local families.

We have a wide range of children’s centres offering support and advice about childcare services as well as funding to support childcare costs.

Now with backing from the Royal Borough of Greenwich, some of our children’s centres also offer warm and welcoming spaces.

Among those is Quaggy Children's Centre which is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday between 3.30pm and 5.30pm offer a warm space, hot drinks and toys for your little ones.

And on Fridays between 11am and 1pm the centre offers a creche room.

Do you need to find a warm and welcoming space near you? Take a look at our map.

HPERLINKED: https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/warm-spaces-map

Madeleine Burch - Cost of Living Project Officer 

0208 921 3606

Cost-of-Living@royalgreenwich.gov.uk 

Emergency Alerts system  The Government’s new Emergency Alerts system will be tested nationally on 23 April at 3pm.The system will warn people when their lives are in danger. An Emergency Alert is a loud, siren-like sound with a message on your mobile phone screen.

https://www.gov.uk/alerts?utm_source=e-shot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GreenwichInfo-13April2023




Entry: Adult £2

Children under 16 £1

Family £5 (2 adults and up to 3 children) 

Sun 23rd Apr 11:00 - 16:00

The Woodlands Farm Trust, 331 Shooters Hill, Welling DA16 3RP


“Remember that if you don't prioritise your life, someone else will.” - Greg McKweon