Maynards Green CP School 

'Growing the community one child at a time'

HEADTEACHER'S UPDATE

Dear Mums, Dads and Carers, 

The Christmas festivities have arrived at Maynards Green! We have already been treated to two amazing performances of 'The Inn-spectors' by Years 1, 2 and 3 and Years 5 and 6 have visited Oaklands Care Home in Horam to sing carols and hand out Christmas cards to to the residents. Next week the fun continues with the EYFS Nativity on Tuesday and the Years 4, 5 and 6 Carol Concert on Thursday. Wednesday is our 'Christmas Day' with a mini fair in the morning, followed by Christmas lunch and then parties in the afternoon. All children are asked to dress up their uniform with the addition of a festive jumper.

The end of the term means a 'house-point' total and this term with 5, 024 points, the winners are Water! Their reward will be on Friday 15th, when they have chosen to bring in a toy or game from home, which they can share with a friend whilst they enjoy some sweet and salty popcorn! We will also be giving certificates to children who have achieved 98, 99 or 100% attendance across this term. The names of the children who receive these certificates each term will be entered into a prize draw at the end of the year. 

Once again this has been a busy and successful term. Amongst the various visitors we have had, were Katie Brill a local dog trainer and her dog Nala. They led workshops and an assembly on Dog Safety, explaining how to read a dog’s mood, how to approach/not approach a dog with or without an owner and what to do if a dog jumped up at you - all very relevant bearing in mind our location. Both Katie and Nala were enthusiastically (but calmly) received by the children.

Finally, I would like to mention Henry in Year 4 and Kaitlin -Mae in Year 3, who recently represented Maynards Green in the South East Regional Schools Trampoline Competition in Worthing. Both children were a credit to our school, Henry, coming 4th in his category and Kaitlin-Mae coming first. As a result of coming in the top 5, both children will be going through to the next round. Congratulations both of you and thank you to Miss Street who supported you at the competition.  A great end to our term.

To celebrate the end of another amazing term we will be inviting you in to school next Friday to see some of your children's work. This will be an informal drop in after lunch, just before we finish at 13:30, more details to follow. 

Kind regards

Karen Cromwell

Headteacher

Gentle Reminders

Useful Information

A plea from the school office - We have been working hard to improve communication between home and school, through our newsletters and by regularly updating our website. 

Please do use these as you first port of call if you need information rather than calling the school office. If there is anything that we do not have and which you think would be useful, please let us know.

https://maynardsgreenschool.co.uk

Staff Car Park

Please remember - The car park is for staff use only. This is to ensure the safety of the children, waiting to enter the school in the morning. We also ask that children remain with their parents when arriving at school.

Safeguarding Update

United Against Bullying School Status 

As previous newsletters have mentioned, one of our main priorities this year is to achieve the United Against Bullying School Status. As part of this process I have worked with teachers and representatives from Y2 to Y6 (ABCs - Antibullying Champions) to write our new antibullying policy. This has already resulted in changes across the school:

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) annual consultation


Please read my Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) annual consultation letter. 

Our  PSHE (including RSE) policy has been reviewed by staff. Now before I go to the school governors and have the policy ratified, I would  once again like to consult with parents and carers to help to inform our schools' decisions on when and how certain content is covered. As part of our curriculum review we would appreciate your views on this policy. Your views are important and will be genuinely reflected on. As a result of the previous year's consultation, we have changed the amount of time spent on PSHE in particular year groups and made some changes to when certain parts of puberty are taught. Please could I have your views by Friday 13th January.


Carly Townsend 

Deputy Headteacher and PSHE Lead

ctownsend@maynardsgreen.org

Reception 

On Tuesday we visited Horam Chapel. We found out why this was a special building for some people and read the Nativity story. We also listened to some traditional carols to see which part of the Nativity story were mentioned in the songs. We also donated some food to the Hailsham foodbank. We were also very lucky and had a delicious biscuit as a treat. 

A big thank you to Mrs Delves and Ms Barnard for opening the chapel up and serving us our delicious snack!



Year 1

We have been really busy in Year 1 over the last few weeks. We have done a lot of learning and preparing for the Christmas play. 

In English we have been learning about traditional tales. We have written our own endings to the stories 'The Three Little Pigs' and 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. 

We were really lucky to have a toy workshop this week. We got to play with some old toys, see what they were made from and how they used to be made. This was a really fun workshop! 

Year 2

We have been learning about digital photography in computing this term in year 2. We have been exploring different angles, lighting, and learning the difference between portrait and landscape. The whole class agreed that this picture of Alfie was the best taken in our final lesson as it was portrait and "captured his smile". 

Adding to the excitement of the festive season, we look forward to going to Christ Church in Horam to learn all about the birth of Jesus, a topic we have been covering in RE.



Year 3

No Pen Day

Wednesday 29th November was National No Pen Day and at Maynards Green we celebrated it in style. Everyone was asked to bring a small item to remind them of something they liked or a hobby. Year 3 were very enthusiastic and spoke beautifully about many subjects, ranging from their favourite animals to computer games, dancing to Brownies and chemistry sets to make-up tutorials. We all learnt a lot about each other's hobbies and might even give them a go ourselves.


The Inn-spectors

Years 1, 2 and 3 worked very hard on creating this wonderful production, with the majority of the speaking parts going to Year 3. The children exceeded all expectations by not only learning their lines, but performing them so beautifully clearly and with feeling. The singing was angelic and they all negotiated the stage with aplomb. Any Inspector watching our would have to agree that it was Outstanding!

Year 4

Year 4 enjoyed an incredible visit from Mr Gerard Thraves, a former secondary science teacher and a proud owner of a real Egyptian mummy called Esmeralda. He brought Esmeralda for us to inspect and carefully handle and even smell! 

We were all shocked to find out that an almost 3,000 year old mummy has quite a pleasant smell and it was incredible to see all the preserved detail like her teeth, nails and and even the inside of her skull. 

Mr Thraves also showed as a digital reconstruction of Esmeralda's face so we could better image what she would have looked like when she was alive. 

Year 5

As part of their topic on Earth and Space, Year 5 was fortunate enough to have a visit from a member of the Wealden  Astronomer team. The visitor gave an interesting and interactive presentation on Earth and Space and amazed the children with close up images of the solar system. I was particularly impressed with all the interesting questions the children asked the visitor, as well as the scientific knowledge many of the children possessed. 

 

Sporting News

On 15 November, five members of Year 5 class competed in the second round of the Cross Country Tournament at Beacon Academy. It was a 2km course with over a hundred runners in each race.  The children performed magnificently with one of the team members placing 3rd and going through to the next round.

Year 6

We have had a busy few weeks in Year 6 completing assessments and preparing for our Carol Concert later in the term, but we have continued to work extremely hard and make the most of our learning time.

In maths, we have been learning how to represent remainders as decimals and divide numbers by 2 digit divisors and taking turns to go up to the board and model how to do this to the class. We call it 'Shh! Silent modelling!' and, not only does it give Miss Francis a small break, it also allows us to show that we are secure in our written methods: a win/win!

We learned about the highs and lows for the Vikings in England in our history. In teams, we had to construct a 'living graph'. This meant debating which events could be considered a 'high point' for the Vikings and which could be considered as 'low points'. It was interesting to listen to each other's different opinions; this resulted in an interesting class discussion! 

Science around the school

Year 1: We have finished our first term on everyday materials. The children have enjoyed describing the properties of different materials and sorting them into natural and man-made....with a discussion that really this means human-made as it's not just men that make things!

Year 2: Materials have also been fully investigated in Year 2 too! We've squashed, stretched, twisted and bent materials in experiments and also explored how inventors such as Charles Mackintosh and John McAdam changed materials to improve them for specific purposes. 

Year 3 : We have discussed the different types of skeletons and matched them to the animals. Human skeletons were made and labelled identifying the main bones and we discussed how skeletons not only gave structure but also protected key organs in the body. 

Year 4 : Lots of classifying of animals have taken place this term and looking at how different species of animals adapt to their habitats in order to survive the different conditions. There are certainly some budding Zoologists in Year 4 with some amazing "Did you know..?" facts expressed in class discussions!

Year 5: With an informative visit from Verity Stannard, a Wealden Astronomer, Year 5 have certainly developed a good understanding of Earth and Space with great discussions and lots of questions about the universe! Looking at how the tilt of the Earth links to our seasons and the Earth's rotation provides us will day and night and aspects such as Time Zones across the planet. 

Year 6: Using knowledge about shadows and how they change throughout the day Year 6 worked in groups to design the perfect sunbed and shade model so that there was just the right balance of sun and shade for the holiday makers!


If your child carries on their science learning at home I'd love to hear about it so please email me: nalexander@maynardsgreen.org


Mrs A 

Science Lead

Interventions 

We continue to develop our interventions at Maynards Green to support a range of children across our school. Below are some of the many interventions we offer.  The text with images is called Widgit and we use it across the school to support all learners with visual prompts.

Mrs Jones SENCo

SEND Information

Please see the information below shared on behalf of ESPCF

 Parent carer survey 2023 – your views needed

East Sussex Parent Carer Forum (ESPCF) is the independent parent carer voice organisation for families with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in East Sussex.

 

We recently published our first ever annual survey to hear from you about what is working or not working in relation to support and services for SEND children and young people – diagnosed or not.

 

It is important that we hear from as many parents and carers as possible in East Sussex and we’d be very grateful if you can take 10 minutes to complete our survey. All responses are anonymous.

 

Click here to complete the survey (Microsoft Forms)

 

The closing date is midnight on Sunday 17th December 2023.

 

Your response to our survey will help us to influence change in education, health, and social care services. Please help us to make a difference. Thank you.

 

About ESPCF

Our role is to bring the voices of parent carers to the table when decisions are being made about local services our families use. We are parent carer run, and we work alongside organisations such as the NHS and East Sussex County Council to try and influence positive change and put families at the heart of decision-making.

 

To find out more about ESPCF, please visit our website: www.espcf.org.uk

 

To become a member, please complete our short membership form: www.espcf.org.uk/become-a-member

Mrs Jones SENCo


Headteacher Awards     


Dormice 

Yianni- having a good understanding of how lights are important in different celebrations


Squirrels

Ellie - amazing digital art.

Juniper - for learning her lines and saying them with expression.

Emilia - for amazing progress with her number formation.

Year one - For learning all your songs and lines for the Christmas play. 


Hedgehogs

Herbie- for beautifully detailed writing in his English book.

Albi- helping his friends learn by using his prior knowledge in music and RE.

Rose- for always staying focussed during her learning. 

Elin- for putting her maximum effort into all of her learning and motivating her peers with their learning too. 




Rabbits

Alex - incredible independent writing detailing the journey of a pebble to the sea

Stella - an outstanding piece of writing 


Foxes

Freya - for her excellent non-chronological report

Toby - for his perseverance and determination during his reading assessment.

Cooper - for his commitment to improve his writing using a Chromebook.



Badgers

Matilda - For excellent skills in writing

Joey - for working really hard on his handwriting

Lucy - for working really hard on her handwriting



Deer

Jamie - for great work in maths, both independently and with support 

Oscar - for a mature approach to his assessments (and excellent results, too!)

Ryan - for a great effort presenting to a group during 'No Pens Day'.





Citizenship Awards     



Dormice

Isabelle- showing kidness towards her friends.



Squirrels

Hugo - for always showing kindness to adults and his peers. 

Avery - for showing perserverance in the Christmas play. 


Hedgehogs 

Dylan- for always showing kindness to his classmates. 

James- for always showing respect to everyone in school.


Rabbits

Aliza for always giving of her best in all her work

Jesse for being kind and supportive of others' learning


Foxes

John and Pippa C - for a wonderful start to their role as Year 4 ABCs.

Skyla - for always being the first to offer help with jobs around the classroom.


Badgers

 Rupert - for being a kind and supportive friend

Nevaeh - for being a supportive and willing friend 


Deer

Alice - for a great effort with learning her multiplication and division fact families



Dates for your Diary


Term 2


Tuesday 12th December - Reception Nativity- Performances at 9:30am and 14:15 

Wednesday 13th December - 🎄School Christmas day - Christmas Fair, Jumpers, Lunch and visit from Santa 🧑‍🎄

Thursday 14th December - Y4, 5 & 6 Carol Concert to parents - 9am and  14:00 

Friday 15th December - last day of term - 13:30 finish

Dates for your Diary


Term 3


Thursday 4th January- First day of term

Thursday 11th January- Y5 Assembly to Parents- 9am

Tuesday 16th January- First Aid Workshops 

Monday 22nd January- Aladdin performance


INSET DAYS:     2nd Jan '24       3rd Jan '24       28th Mar '24       24th May '24   

Clubs in term 3

Please visit our website for more details about how to sign up


REMINDER

 There are no after school clubs running next week 

Arbor Parent & Guardian app

From January 2024 we would like to communicate via the Arbor Parent & Guardian app.

Please follow the link below to our website which gives more infomation:

https://maynardsgreenschool.co.uk/esussex/primary/maynardsgreen/site/pages/parentsletters/arborparentportalandapp


Please note: Make sure you allow notifications when installing the app. The notifications will alert you when you receive a message from the school. 

The Eastbourne, Wealden & Lewes Family Grapevine WINTER 2023/24 digital issue is now live. Click on the image below

It is filled with ideas of things to do this winter: activities, days out, Christmas events; they are also offering 4 fantastic competitions for a chance of winning some fabulous prizes, from days out to a family camping weekend, as well as the chance to win tickets to a Pantomime!

We wanted to make sure your families knew about a FREE holiday club for young people ages 7 to 14 years receiving free school meals.

A great opportunity for young people to socialise, learn new skills and enjoy a healthy meal whilst they’re not at school.

Best regards

The HAF team

We rasied a total of £272.77 for the Royal British Leigion's Poppy Appeal. 

Thank you!

The Friends of Maynards Green School

School Christmas Day- Wednesday 13th December 


The Friends Children's Christmas Fair will be taking place on Wednesday 13th December during the school day. Please see below for details. A contribution of £5 per child is requested please via ParentPay . 


Thank you for your support,

The Friends Committee

Maynards Green CP School - Newsletter 

'Growing the community, one child at a time'