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Police Visit to Reception

On Tuesday, Reception were visited by an array of farm animals.  All the children had the opportunity to get close to the animals from the story 'What the ladybird heard' and explore all the sights, sounds and smells of a real farm.  They particularly enjoyed brushing the animals as well as trying out 'milking a cow'.  

 This week Nursery shared the story of 'The hungry caterpillar'.  They then enjoyed learning about how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.  They enjoyed developing their fine motor skills by 'threading' their own caterpillar as well as having a go at printing their own caterpillar.  In the sunshine they had fun developing their gross motor skills and trying to score a goal!  In maths they looked at developing their understanding on 1 to 1 correspondence by matching numerals to the spots on the ladybird's wing.  Enjoying the outside area, they went on a mini beast hunt!

Well done Nursery!

This week Reception have read 'What the ladybird heard'. The children began their learning by writing sentences about the noises all the different animals made. 

On Tuesday, the farm visited.  The children all wrote about which farm animals they were most looking forward to seeing as well as writing sentences describing the animals. They then had an amazing time actually meeting some animals.  They also learnt what we get from different animals and how milk gets from the cow to our kitchens. 

They then drew and labelled a map from the farm in the book and predicted how the story would end. 

The number of the week was 13 and finding out what is 'one more' or 'one less' of a given number. 

Can you ask your child 'What is one more than 4?'

What an exciting week we have had!

Year 1 have had a busy week of learning. We were very proud of the Year Ones who performed at the Big SIng, they sang so beautifully. 

In English the children have begun their new book 'Pattan's Pumpkin' by Chitra Soundar.  They have enjoyed reading and learning about an Indian flood story. They loved learning facts about India and were fascinated that India invented the flushable toilet and you can see cows walking along the streets! The children have been doing some wonderful writing using time adverbials. The children have re-written the beginning of the story and have tried to include time adverbials, adjectives and conjunctions in a sentence.   

Can your child remember any of the time adverbials they learnt? 

As mathematicians, the children have been learning to divide by sharing into equal groups. They have practically shared 12 cubes into groups of  2, 3, 4, 6, 12 and recorded this. 

As scientists, the children are continuing their learning about plants. This week they have been labelling their own flower and have been discussing the function of different parts of the plant.  The children come in every day and have a look to see if their bean and sunflower seed is sprouting, it is a joy to watch how excited they are, as they are starting to sprout. 

Can you ask your child - What are the parts of a plant? 

As geographers, the children have learnt about the United Kingdom. They have been learning the UK is made up of four countries and their capital cities. The children have looked at the capital cities and facts about Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England. 

Can you ask your child what is the capital city of England or Wales? 

Acting as an Artist, the children continued their learning on 'Flora and Fauna'. They have made continuous line drawings of insects. They found it very difficult to not take their pencil of the paper, they really enjoyed the challenge. 

The children are enjoying Forest School, Wrens and Finches were investigating pollinators and made seed bombs using seeds, soil and flour. 

This week, Year 2 continued to read Roald Dahl's 'George's Marvellous Medicine'. This week they made their own 'marvellous' medicines in preparation for writing their own set of instructions.  They also looked at adverbials of time.  

Can they give you any examples of adverbials of time?

Acting as scientists, they dissected a range of seeds including pumpkin, sunflower and broad bean.    

Can they tell you what they found inside the beans?

In PE, the developed their skills of catching and balancing - great coordination.    

Working as mathematicians, they have been continuing to look at fractions.  This time using cubes to help them find fractions of different amounts.    

Can they tell you what a 1/4 of 12 is?

Please check the dates section regularly as dates may change and new dates will be added.

Friends Update

There are many different views about physical chastisement, but it is widely accepted there are much more effective ways to teach children right from wrong. 

As a local authority, Sutton has seen a number of children coming to the attention of police and social care due to the use of physical chastisement and as such has worked with other local authorities on an initiative to reduce this number. 

In line with this initiative, we agree that anything that causes harm to a child is unacceptable.

As a school, we have a duty to report incidents of suspected or confirmed physical chastisement to social care and the police and this can be with ot without visible bruising, grazes, scratches, minor swelling, cuts as well as stress injuries from prolonged standing, position holding as these are banned by law in the United Kingdom.

Smacking or chastising that does not leave a mark is now illegal in Wales and Scotland, and there is currently pressure being placed on the Government to make it illegal in England and Northern Ireland too. It is therefore important to understand that even if a child has been smacked but no injuries are visible, social care or the police may still choose to take further action.

If you would like support on how to manage your child’s behaviour at home, please do not hesitate to contact us, we are here to help. 

Safeguarding Team

Sutton Community Uniform 

As some of you will be aware the Council runs a Community School Uniform shop to support families with the costs of living and as an effective way of recycling clothes that children quickly grow out of. 

It was originally established as a response to Covid but has since grown and has proved to be something that families really appreciate and value.

The service is provided through LBS Family Information Service and runs out of Tweedale Family Hub. 

If you are able to donate old uniform through to the community shop please use the contact details here

This is a free service and they do not charge parents for anything. 

More information can be found here

Surrey County Council encourages residents to foster

Fostering is an incredibly rewarding experience that can transform the lives of both the children being fostered and the foster carers themselves. Children who enter the care system have often experienced trauma and instability in their lives, and a caring, stable foster family can make a significant difference in their wellbeing and development.

Nationally, there are currently over 70,000 children living with foster families in the UK. However, there is still a significant shortage of foster carers, with around 9,265 new foster families needed in the next year alone. In Surrey, there are over 1,000 children in care and Surrey County Council have just under 400 foster families.

Foster carers come from all walks of life and backgrounds, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to fostering. Whether you are single or married, young or old, own your own home or rent, you can still become a foster carer. The most important thing is a willingness to provide a safe and loving home for a child in need.

This is the message that Surrey County Council is promoting in national recruitment film ‘Any of Us’. The short film has been jointly funded by over 80 councils across England and aims to raise awareness about fostering, particularly among those people who may not have previously considered themselves suited to fostering. The film looks at the potential of three people from different backgrounds to become foster carers, and the potential of children they care for to grow and thrive. ‘Any of Us’ will be available to watch from 26 September.

If you have ever thought about fostering, now is the time to take that first step and find out more. The more people who consider fostering, the greater the chance of finding loving, stable homes for children in Surrey who desperately need them.

You can contact Surrey County Council Fostering Service on 0800 096 9626, via email at fostering.recruitment@surreycc.gov.uk or by visiting the website; www.surreycc.gov.uk/fostering

You can watch ‘Any of Us’ via Any of Us - YouTube and connect with the Fostering Service on social media via @surreyfostering

Dads' Football

Some Cheam Common School Dads get together on a weekly basis to play football and have a good chat. 

Join us in our WhatsApp group! ( https://chat.whatsapp.com/FwN7SksNXnBIxanYRJ9TEc) 

See you on the pitch!

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