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

Message from Mrs Cook

As we approach the end of the Spring 1 term, we officially reach the mid way point of the academic year! 6 weeks of learning and laughter, it has been truly joyous to witness and I for one am very proud of all that has been achieved. What a great last week of the half term it has been! The children have been busy creating high quality publishing ready to display during the first week back. They always show our value of effort and are so proud of the excellent learning they produce. Here are some extracts of writing from across the school. 


On a happy, friendly street there was a lovely, old house. One day something strange happened. A ginormous, dark cloud appeared. The people gasped! - Mishael, Year 1 


It was late at night when Angus was woken by the sound of an old, rusty steam train. It was crackling down the steep, bumpy tracks. Angus could see white mountains that tickled the blue night sky. - Ellie, Year 2 


Freedom is whispering grass, Freedom is laughter, Freedom is refreshing water, Freedom is what we all need - Jake, Year 3 


My hands were shaking, my legs felt like jelly. I don’t know if I can do this. There was a sea of people beaming at me like the sun. I see the medal as it shines and calls my name. As I receive the award Mr Tushman says, ‘Good job, I’m very proud of you’ I can’t look down, I can’t hide - I’ve got to look at them, looking at me’ - Sophia, Year 4 


The misery took it’s place, causing fear and chaos all around - Charlotte - an eye witness, s survivor, a victim explained how the accident destroyed the community forever’ - I’la, Year 5 


Day after day I have a voice inside my head saying the word … TRAUMA, it gets louder and louder each time. Trauma must be the reason why mum mum doesn’t eat, talk or even sleep at night. Will these voices ever end? I am still haunted by the memory - Eniola, Year 6 


This week, we say some goodbyes. Firstly to Miss Kalam, Miss Kalam has been teaching Year 5 since January. We thank her for her passion and commitment and wish her well in the future. As Miss Kalam leaves us, we welcome back Miss Lambert from maternity leave. Miss Lambert will return after half term to take on the Year 5 teacher role. Miss Lambert is very much looking forward to being back with us and we know the children are excited too! 


We also say goodbye (for now!) to Miss O’Connor who is leaving us to begin her maternity leave. Miss O’Connor has been working with Year 4 and will be greatly missed. We look forward to sharing the news with you once her little bundle of joy arrives. Year 4 have had lots of fun voting for whether they believe it will be a girl or a boy! 


We are happy to share that the cake sale run by the Parent Nurture Group raised £89.70. Thank you to all who organised, ran or supported this. The donations will be used to enhance our nurture resources. These resources are essential in supporting all children across the school with emotional regulation. We are proud of our nurture based ethos and know items ordered will support many.

 We also wanted to say a big thank you to you all for embracing our non school uniform day today, all money collected will be donated to the cause via Time to Help’s Turkiye and Syria appeal. At the end of today you all helped raise £359.89. This is an amazing response from our school community which will be gratefully received by those affected by this disaster.


If you have not yet had the chance to donate and you would like to, you can donate directly to Time to Help via this link https://timetohelp.enthuse.com/cf/turkey-earthquake 



Have a wonderful half term, we look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 20th February. 


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


Learning this week


Let’s take a look at some of the learning that has happened this week…


In Nursery this week the team have been working hard on the environment and it looks great! The children have been eager to explore the provision and have loved expressing their creativity on the new easels they have. 


Reception… Reception have worked fantastically! They have learned about endangered animals, habitats, deforestation and reforestation and how humans contribute to all of these. Isabel said that she made a prison with Daisy ‘for the hunters because they’re not very kind to the animals’. It has also been great hearing their views and passion towards this through recall and retention displays and activities; Tillie said ‘I know polar bears are endangered because the ice is melting’ and ‘I know monkeys are endangered because there’s not enough food and their trees are being cut down’. Divine has said that he really enjoyed learning about the animals and that he ‘liked building a zoo because he wanted to make the lions safe’. A huge well done to all of the children and their efforts inside and outside of the classroom as they begin their journey as change makers. 


Year 1 and 2 enjoyed their trip to the Royal Festival Hall where they were excited to see a performance based on the book The Colour Monster. The Year 2 children were surprised to see a statue of Nelson Mandela who they have been learning about in their history lessons.


This week year 3 have been finishing their final outcomes:poems about freedom! They used similes, metaphors, personification and wrote beautiful poems based on human rights from their core text. ‘I enjoyed adding movement to my freedom poem’ explained Elaina. They have also been showing resilience in maths; using counters to identify the quotient of division sentences with 2 digit numbers. Dennis shared ‘I have had to show a growth mindset in my maths this week - it has been tricky but I know it is getting better!’


Well done year 3!


Year 4 have been getting their times table knowledge into shape through continuous practise, low stake quizzes and TTRS practise!! well done year 4 - their progress is impressive!


Year 5 has been learning how to identify decimals to two places in maths this week. And in Geography they have been learning about why or whether or not tourism is a good thing in places like the caribbean. Madison thought that tourism was a good thing for the Caribbean as it generated money for the local economy which meant people could then build more shops, restaurants and hotels in the area. 


Year 6 have been working hard on their publishing this week and were lucky enough to have Amy Bairstow, our art specialist come and assist them with their Islamic inspired final outcomes - these were achieved by using a compass to create a symmetrical design, oil pastels to create a resistant outline and then filled in with water-based paint. ‘I loved making my Islamic-style prayer mat design with the compass but it was quite tricky to get the patterns to be exact.’ shared Bonnie. They have also been focused on publishing their contrasting narratives in English which describe the difference in a setting. ‘I found writing my story hard at first but my adults helped me with sentences and spelling. Now I think it's really good.’ beamed Alice. ‘I've really enjoyed our core text this half term, especially when we used a video of a refugee crossing to inspire our writing in English.’ Jaslyn reflected 



Twitter

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

Birthdays, Merits & Attendance

Tommy -Year 5

Ayden - Nursery

Hazel - Year 5

Clara - Year 2


Reception - 93.98%

Year 1 - 96.91%

Year 2 - 95.09%

Year 3 - 95.24%

Year 4 - 89.95%

Year 5 - 99.55%

Year 6 - 97.06%

Total - 93.98%

Reception - David 

Year 1 - Quinn

Year 2 - Quincy

Year 3 - Sefa

Year 4 - Liya

Year 5 - Jonny

Year 6 - Bonnie


Dates for your diary

Special Notice

Messages from the office

Jungle Gym

Closure




After School Clubs


Friends Of Rockliffe     Coffee mornings


Pokemon Cards



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 - will resume from Monday 9th January 2023. Please login to Arbor for access to the clubs we are offering. 


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.

Community Information

Link Learning are offering piano and guitar lessons at Rockliffe Manor Primary School. Lessons are held weekly during the school day on Thursdays. We’ll be in touch with you once we receive your registration to answer any questions you may have. All our tutors are enthusiastic musicians able to teach up to a high level and have recent DBS certificates. For any queries please get in touch via telephone at 07305507504 or email at james@linklearning.education.

Royal Greenwich has warm spaces across the borough, ready to welcome you inside. Many also offer activities, advice and events to tackle loneliness and isolation. 

We'll also be on hand to provide advice and support to Stay Warm Stay Safe.


World Book Day - Scholastic Book Fair will be at Rockliffe Manor from Thursday 23rd February 2023. 

Any child in Royal Greenwich can get a free lunch this half-term as the Council’s holiday meal scheme returns to libraries and leisure centres.

Grab a healthy, nutritious packed lunch throughout the week, with no forms or fuss. Just turn up and tuck in!

Serving times vary so check our website for details.  www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/holidaymeals 

https://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/visitor-information/community-access-scheme?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=video&utm_campaign=CAS-NHLF-3-pound-1-Feb

Helping more people visit our Zoos 

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom” — Marcel Proust