Leigh Academy Tree Tops Newsletter

October 2024

Message from Miss White

End of term message to parents from the principal

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we come to the end of this first term of the new academic year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what a wonderful start it has been. Our new Year R children have settled in beautifully, adapting to school life with enthusiasm and joy. It's been heartwarming to see their smiles and excitement each day.

Our Year 6 students had an unforgettable experience during their PGL residential, where they bonded as a group and created lifelong memories. The Year 5 children had an inspiring day at the STEAM event at Thorpe Park, engaging with science and technology in such a fun environment. Year 4 had an exciting trip to Howletts Zoo, and even though it rained, it certainly didn’t dampen their spirits!

However, amidst the joy and learning, we must also share some sad news. It is with great sorrow that I inform you of the sudden passing of Mr. Iddiols, a cherished member of our site team. He will be deeply missed by staff and students alike, and our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.

As we look forward to the next term, I want to remind you that school will resume on Monday 4th November. I hope everyone enjoys a restful and refreshing break, and we look forward to welcoming the children back for the new term.

Miss White | Principal

CLASS NEWS

Year R

The Robins and Sparrows have all made a fantastic start at Tree Tops. They have made new friends, explored the learning environments and quickly learnt the new rules and routines at school. We have talked about why our first school rule ‘Be Kind’ is so important and we know how to be kind to our friends. We have worked hard in phonics and are beginning to apply them to our reading and writing. We are excited to start PE next term.

Year 1

This term In year 1 we have been learning about ourselves, our families and our community. We have been learning new vocabulary to help us talk about who we are and where we live (community, relationships, emotions, events and torso). We have been identifying our body parts and the importance of each part in everything we do. We have been exploring our planet on google earth and have had great fun looking at the bigger picture down to our own town and street.

Year 2

Year 2 has worked really hard this term. In English we have been reading the series of books 'The DragonSitter' and from that, the children have created their own dragons. They entered their dragon descriptions into Adobe firefly which created an AI dragon for them, which was really fun. We have also used our dragons to write a descriptive piece, thinking about what the dragon looks like, how it moves and where it lives.

In forest school, we used our dragons and made them shelters and created pieces of land art in the shape of dragons using all the natural resources available to us outside.

Elsewhere, in line with our central idea this term ' The choices we make affect our health and well being', we have been looking at all the choice in food we have today, and how it can travel all around the world at any time of the year, and comparing that with how people used to gather their food, and the limited preservation methods available to them.

The children have worked incredibly hard in maths too. We have been doing lots of work around place value, and making sure we know that each number has a purpose and a value.

Year 4

This term, Kestrel class has been learning all about habitats and the different creatures that live in them. As part of our learning, we got hands-on by making bird feeders to help our local wildlife. We also built bug hotels, creating safe spaces for insects to thrive and exploring how important they are to our ecosystem.

Year 4

In Swift class this term, we have looked at the Romans in History. During these lessons, we looked at who the Romans were, what legacy they have left us and historical buildings such as the Colosseum. During Design and technology lessons, Swift class took part in designing and building their own Colosseum out of K - nex in groups. This helped to develop the pupils' communication skills, problem solving skills, listening skills and social skills. In geography, we looked at four different biomes across the world as well as exploring different habitats. In addition to this, as a year group we made individual bug hotels in the forest outdoor learning area. As a year group, to help develop our understanding of habitats and how animals have adapted to their environment we visited Howletts Wildlife Park.

Year 5

This term has been an exciting introduction to year 5 for Nightingale Class. We have explored daily life as an Anglo-Saxon and discovered the marks left upon Britain, particularly in Kent, by the Anglo-Saxon invaders. We have enjoyed learning about basketball in PE and have transferred these skills to other invasion games. In Science, we have learnt about the life cycles of different animals and plants. We have also learnt the parts of a flowering plant and the ways in which plants reproduce. Learning about Factors and Multiples has been fun and we enjoyed carrying out investigations- did you know that any number that is a factor of 36 is also a factor of 72? We began to develop our coding skills using Micro:Bits and are looking forward to entering a competition using these skills next term. Diving into the life and art of Andy Warhol was a really fun experience and we produced some excellent examples of our own art in his style. We have enjoyed our writing tasks particularly writing a diary as if we were an Anglo-Saxon coming to Britain and a narrative about an Anglo-Saxon living in a village. We also enjoyed a fantastic STEAM trip to Thorpe Park and got to test if we were as brave as the Anglo-Saxons (we were!). - Nightingale Class Pupils

Year 5

During term 1 Woodpeckers have been learning about the Anglo-Saxons and the impact their invasion has had on Britain today. We have explored how they would have lived and the houses they built after the Roman empire fell. Woodpeckers built their own Anglo-Saxon swords in art and have done their independent write, which is a diary entry during an attack from Guthrum (a viking warlord), trying to take over Wessex from Alfred the Great.

We Are A Nut Free School

We have a number of children who have a severe, potentially life threatening nut allergies. The school is therefore now with immediate effect a NUT FREE zone. Please ensure that your child does not bring any nuts or food items to school which have nuts as a listed ingredient, thank you.

Absences/late arrivals

It is really important that children are in school every day.

All absences are being marked as unauthorised and could result in a fine.

CucinA

School dinners cost £2.50 a day (£12.50 a week). Cucina have asked that this is paid on a Monday. Menus can be found on our website. Please pay in advance via the MCAS app.

Reminder:

Please only send in healthy lunches. No sweets and chocolate are allowed in school. Water only in bottles