Maynards Green CP School
HEADTEACHER'S UPDATE
Dear Mums, Dads and Carers,
The children have returned to school refreshed after the half term break and got straight down to work. I am sure that like the rest of us you are enjoying the lighter mornings and evenings that are the first signs that spring is on it's way, however, the current weather is letting us know that it is not yet time for children to discard their warm and water resistant coats/ outerwear, even if we do have the occasional sunny start to the day!
Our talent contest last week was a great success and everybody who took part in either the knockout rounds or the grand final deserves a huge well done. The range of talents displayed by the children was extraordinary - more below. All the children performed with great enthusiasm and should be congratulated for the courage they demonstrated by performing in front of a live audience. A big thank you must also go to Mrs. Jones, for arranging such a fun event, one which could even go on to become a Maynards Green tradition!
I know the teachers have been busily writing reports on the children over the break and will be sending them out to you next week. Whilst there are no formal parents' evenings this term (we are saving that for the end of the year), there will be an opportunity for you to 'drop in' after school between the 11th and 14th of March if there is anything you would like to discuss with your child's/childrem's class teacher.
Finally, I would like to update you on some staffing changes. Year 1 parents and carers will already be aware that Miss Turner will be commencing her maternity leave from today, a little earlier than we anticipated. I am sure you join me in wishing her all the very best for the future and urging her to make the most of the peace and quiet of the next few weeks. Behind the scenes we have been working hard to secure the right teacher to replace her and I am pleased to say we will be welcoming Ms Salotto to Maynards Green on Monday, as the new full time class teacher for Squirrel Class. As you know, we have also had a new member of staff in the school office this week, Anna Vigor, who has asked me to pass on her thanks to everyone who has made her feel so welcome.
Kind regards
Karen Cromwell
Headteacher
Gentle Reminders
Head lice & nits
Head lice and nits are very common in young children and their families. They do not have anything to do with dirty hair and are picked up by head-to-head contact.
There's nothing you can do to prevent head lice however, you can help stop them spreading.
If you think your child has nits or headlice or has been in contact with someone who has them, please follow the advice below.
Don't forget...
The children were reminded at our celebration assembly last week, that it is their responsibility to remember their reading folders and PE kits. Obviously, it's helpful if you can give them a gentle reminder, particularly the younger children. If you are unsure which days are PE, then please ask your child's/ children's class teacher.
Zig Zag Lines
Please remember, the Zig Zag lines outside our school are there for the safety of our children. Even parking on them for a short while could put a child at risk.
The Highway Code states: “You MUST NOT wait or park, or stop to set down and pick up passengers, on school entrance markings.” (Highway Code rule 238, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.)
Nut-free zone
Please can we remind you that children should have no nut products in lunch boxes or brought into the school as treats.
Children who suffer from nut allergies can develop a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
If someone has a nut allergy it is not just eating nuts that can cause a severe reaction, just being touched on the skin or smelling the breath of someone who has had nuts or a product containing nuts can trigger anaphylactic shock (which can cause breathing and swallowing difficulties).
Attendance
Link to our attendance policy - click here
Year R - 97.2%
Year 1 - 94.6%
Year 2 - 96.5%
Year 3 - 96.2%
Year 4 - 96.5%
Year 5 - 97%
Year 6 - 96.6%
Safeguarding update
Link to our Safeguarding policy and Anti Bullying Policies
Online Safety Information for Parent
The Internet Watch Foundation TALK Checklist is useful guide for parents and carers. See their website for further information.
The UK Safer Internet Centre produced information, including a short film, for parents and carers. This was intended to support Safer Internet Day, but is obviously still useful after the event.
The NSPCC have recently revamped their online safety pages on their website. There is a mixture of information for parents and professionals.
Picture News
We are using Picture News for our assembly focus every week. They are brilliant at catching the children's attention and highlighting current news items in a child friendly way.
To find out more click on the linked documents:
Reception
At the end of last term we were very lucky to have Gina and Julie come and teach up about oral health and how to care for our teeth. Julie brought in her dragon and set of teeth for us to practise brushing and we learnt which foods were good for our teeth and which foods were no so good. Julie also gave us our own dentist mirror to take home so we could check our teeth!
We were also very lucky as The Dental Barn surgery in Hailsham heard about our learning and donated a goody pack to the children which included a 2 minute timer and a toothbrush. Thank you very much to The Dental Barn!
Year 1
This term we have started our English learning by talking about the Queens Hat. We got to write our own stories about where our hat went on this journey. Some of our hats went to Legoland, some went to London and some went to Disneyland!
We planned our stories and published them into zig zag books which we got to read to our friends. They then told us things they liked about our work.
Year 2
In year 2, we are beginning to learn about different explorers. We have started with Ernest Shackleton, an explorer from Ireland who recruited a team to help him sail his ship 'Endurance' to the south pole. We made zig-zag books to highlight the key events in Ernest Shackleton's life. We have been discussing the wonderful possibilities of the adventure and also the hardships it comes with. We're excited to delve in deeper to our topic of explorers and begin to compare Shackleton's journey to those of others.
Year 3
Anglo-Saxons in Britain
This term, we begin our learning about the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. We will be learning all about daily life and having a go at some domestic skills, such as weaving. We will be exploring where they came from and why they came, what they ate, what they wore, what they did for fun and will also be going on an Anglo-Saxon welly walk.
To begin our learning, we looked at some ancient artefacts and decided what they might be, what they might be used for and, exactly how old they might be. We were quite surprised to find out that, just because something looks new, it was in fact very ancient indeed!
Can you identify any of the items and what they were used for?
Year 4
Year 4 finished Term 3 with a bang! We performed our Class Assembly in front of the school and our parents and carers, teaching everyone about Europe's geographical features through our very own version of Eurovision.
At the start of Term 4, we had some very special visitors in school. They came all the way from the Netherlands (not Holland!) and talked to us about some physical and human features of the country, the colours of the flag and the pennet and the differences between the British and Dutch schools. The children were particularly enthused about the 'Bring your own pet day' celebrated on the 4th October.
We also started our new history topic - changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. So far, we look at sequencing the periods of prehistory.
Year 5
Year 5 are continuing their study of Crime & Punishment through the ages. We have arrived at Saxon times and looking forward to learning about the different crimes, laws and punishments of that particular period. In Maths, Year 5 have moved on to decimals and equivalent fractions and have started to recognise the relationship between the two. Finally, the children are working particularly hard on their dance routine and are very excited about their upcoming performance later this month.
Sporting News
Children form Years 5 and 6, took part in the Heathfield Area Netball Tournament at Heathfield Community College on Wednesday 28th February. Maynards Green had two teams representing the school, in what was a very cold, wet and windy affair. Both teams performed brilliantly, with the A team winning their league and the B team coming in as runner's up in their league. The A team will now progress to the next round at Beacon Academy on the 6th March. Once again, congratulations to our magnificent netball players.
Year 6
Year 6 welcomed another visitor this week: Neal Baker (a geologist). He brought with him his fossil collection and explained about different types of fossils. It was a fascinating and interactive talk and, at the end, we were allowed to investigate the different fossils using a magnifying glass. Neal seemed impressed with how many details the children noticed!
Our new PE areas are Tag Rugby and Gymnastics. During our first gymnastics lesson, we had lots of fun getting the mats out and revisiting the different jumps that we learned lower down in the school. Not everybody is a fan of taking their shoes and socks off for PE, but we are looking forward to getting more of the equipment out later in the term and being able to safely use it without wearing trainers!
English News
WORLD BOOK DAY
THURSDAY 7TH MARCH
World Book Day is nearly here! This year, our theme is “Adventure” and as such, we invite the children to dress up as their favourite character from an adventure book and bring along a copy of the book too.
Each class will have a small prize for the most creative costume: remember, often the best costumes are the most simple and need not cost anything! If you need any further inspiration, please speak to your child’s teacher who will do their best to help.
Monday 11th - Friday 14th March
KS2 Poetry Recital Competition
Term 3 is a busy time for English! We have the finals for our short story competition, World Book Day, the Book Fair and also the inter-school KS2 Poetry Recital Competition. For the first time since the lockdown, the final of this competition will be held in person, which adds an extra layer of excitement. I hope the children are well underway with learning their poems and look forward to seeing the fantastic performances during the week commencing 4th March 2024.
Short Story Competition
Thank you to everyone who entered the Short Story Competition. I was delighted with the response and will be reading all of them carefully over the weekend. Winners will be announced at the next Celebration Assembly!
SCIENCE NEWS
This month we will be celebrating British Science Week from Friday 8th March in school.
There will be a number of different activitities going on throughout the week which will link to the theme 'Time' including visitors to school and additional science themed lessons.
One of the activities that we will be asking the children to get involved in at home is the Big Plastic Count.
Join thousands across the UK and tally all the plastic packaging you throw away for one week – 11-17 March.
Plastic waste can take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to decompose, and even then, it never fully disappears; it just gets smaller and smaller.
More details about the count will be sent out nearer the time but have a look at the website to find out more if you are interested. https://thebigplasticcount.com/
Mrs A
Science Lead
Maynards Green has got talent!
Never a truer word said!
What a brilliant time we all had joining in with Children's Mental Health week by giving the children the opportunity to share their fantastic talents. It was wonderful to see so many children from each class who were keen to audition for Maynards Green has got talent! Class teachers let me know that it is was really difficult for each class to select the top two performers to go through to the final. On Wednesday 21st February we had most of the school watching the Grand Final in the hall where the twelve selected finalists showcased their talents. Myself, Mrs Townsend and Mrs Cromwell were the judges and what a final it was! We saw a wide variety of terrific talent from wonderful whistling to marvellous magic tricks.
All finalists wowed the judges and the audience with their confidence, enthusiasm and of course talent! The tallied up scores were really close with only a few points difference between some of the placings but there had to be a top three, who were (drumroll please)......
1st Pippa R in Year 4 with her exceptionally creative and confident original story telling through art that she had painted herself!
2nd Max, Rupert and Ivy in Year 5 with their amazing acapella performance of Katy Perry's Roar
3rd Olivia-Rose and Neveah in Year 3 with their delightful dancing
It was great to hear some pupil voice describing how the talent show made them feel.
"It made me feel more confident" "I felt really proud of myself" "I was nervous at first but I enjoyed it once I started" " I loved watching everyone"
Well done to all of our talented finalists Jasper L, Juniper and Charlie in Year 1, Rose, Mollie and Emilia in Year 2, Olivia-Rose, Neveah and Stella in Year 3, Ruby-Mai, Evie, Lottie and Pippa in Year 4, Mollie, Grace, Dolly, Freya. Orla, Ethan, Tony, Orla, Max, Ivy and Rupert in Year 5, Daisy P, Preston and Jessica in Year 6
Congratulations! You all shone on stage and should be incredibly proud of yourselves.
Mrs Jones SENCo
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place
School Council
We are happy to share that we are going to celebrate the Red Nose Day on Friday 15th March. Each class will take part in a fun activity on the day, organised by their class School Council Representative and their Class Teacher.
In Reception and KS1 this will be a Red Nose Bingo and KS2 classes are going to take part in a team quiz. Children are welcome to wear their red noses during the activity.
If you would like to donate in support of the Comic Relief, please click here.
Headteacher Awards
Dormice
Ava - Amazing independent wishing tree writing
Isabelle - Excellent writing this week
Squirrels
George - for his amazing systematic work in maths.
Levin - for amazing work on her phonics which has helped her reading improve amazingly.
Emilia - for her hard work in all areas of her learning, especially in her phonics.
Hedgehogs
Charlie- For working so hard to improve his reading, particularly in his precision teaching with Mrs Delves.
Penelope- for using beautiful descriptive language in her writing.
Elliott- for his great reasoning skills in maths.
Rabbits
Jamie: for working so hard on letter formation and using phonics for spelling.
Mason: for working independently in maths and using fact families to help solve problems.
Xena: for settling into Year 3 so well.
Martha: for taking the STAR assessments in her stride and being successful!
Foxes
All the Year 4 children - for their amazing performance in our Class Assembly. Super Stars!
Ava - for excellent work in maths using concrete resources
Kendra - for the growth in her confidence. It has been wonderful to see you take an active part in your learning!
Badgers
Jenssen - for having a great first week as a new member of Maynards Green School
Lucas-for his excellent art work in the style of Picasso and for explaining the processes involved in creating his painting.
Grace-for always giving 100% in all that she does
Deer
Peony - for writing an exciting story opener and reading it to the class so beautifully and clearly.
Joey - for settling in so well to our routines and expectations.
Daisy P - for great work converting measures in maths. Your work is ALWAYS neatly presented, too!
Clara - for an excellent effort with her assessments.
Citizenship Awards
Dormice
Robyn - for always being a friendly member of the class
William - for following the school values
Squirrels
Riley - for always showing kindness to his friends and teachers.
Oliver - for resilience with his reading.
Lyra - for being kind and respectful to all adults in school.
Hedgehogs
Mollie- for showing great responsibility in the classroom.
Alfie- for showing fantastic resilience with his school work.
Kaiser- for always showing kindness towards his classmates.
Rabbits
Toby: for showing levels of responsibility in the classroom and the playground.
Olivia: for always being helpful around the class
Teddy: for showing fantastic resilience when returning to school after a week off ill. You showed great learning behaviour too!
Foxes
Jake - for his lovely manners when helping with the register
Emma - resilience in her learning and always trying her best.
Alice - for being a responsible learner
Badgers
Leo-for being a kind a responsible member of the Year 5 class
Deer
Freddie - showing so much care and respect towards our playground equipment
Theo - working hard to develop resilience and courage
Rufus - consistently displaying our school values through everything that he does
HEALTHY HABITS
What is Healthy habits?
You’ll get eight weekly one hour group sessions
We’ll look at different lifestyle topics such as healthy eating, being active, sleep and screen time
We’ll help you to start making healthy habits that are right for your family
You’ll have access to 1:1 support with a member of out team throughout
The programme can benefit the whole family.
When and where?
You can join a group in a community venue, such as a school or community centre
You can join a group online, you’ll just need access to a computer, tablet or mobile phone with internet, camera and microphone
Both online and face to face groups take place after school
Parents and carers must attend the group with their child, whether the session is online on in person.
Eligibility Criteria
• Must Be Aged 19+
• Must Claim Benefits (Universal Credit, JSA, ESA, PIP, Income Support, Housing Benefits or any
type of Tax Credit including Child Tax Credit). If you live in Merseyside, you do not need to claim any benefits.
• You Can't be a student or an International Student
• You Must have lived in the UK for a Minimum of 3 Years (Except if you are from the Ukraine).
Are you looking for a job that fits in with your family? Gain the necessary qualifications to support you, fully funded by the ESFA (Education Skills Funding Agency)
Levels 1, 2 & 3 for School Support Course with a Guaranteed Job Interview.
Our classes are based online - Run only in term time - During school hours to fit in with the school run
Course Times
• Total of 5 days per week (Mon-Fri) for 6 weeks
• There are 2 lessons per day (9.30am – 11am) & (1pm – 2pm)
• Must have internet access and a laptop or tablet.
-- No prior experience necessary --
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
INSET DAYS: 28th Mar '24 24th May '24
Term 4
Thursday 7th March- World Book Day
Thursday 7th March Y1 assembly to parents
Friday 8th March- FRIENDS Mother's Day Sale
Friday 8th March- Interim reports to parents
Friday 8th - Sunday 17th March - British Science Week
Monday 11th - Friday 14th March- Scholastic Book Fair
Monday 11th - Friday 14th March- 3.20-4 pm Optional parent drop-in session to discuss Interim reports
Wednesday 13th March- Y4 High Weald Heroes Stone Age Workshop
Thursday 14th March- Y5 Big Dance
Tuesday 19th March- Year R Sanctuary Farm Trip
Wednesday 20th March -Y3 High Weald Heroes Anglo Saxon Welly Walk
Thursday 21st March - FRIENDS Disco
KS1- 15:15-16:15
KS2 16:15-17:15
Wednesday 27th March 12:45- 13:15 - Parents 'Come and See' Opportunity
13:30 finish for Easter Holidays
Term 5
Monday 15th April- Swimming lessons start
Monday 15th- Friday 19th April - Y5 Bikeability
Wednesday 17th April - Y4 High Weald Heroes Stone Age Welly Walk
Thursday 2nd May Y2 assembly to parents
Wednesday 15th May- Y3 Trip to Wakehurst Place
Thursday 16th May Y3 assembly to parents
Thursday 23rd May- End of term
Term 6
Friday 7th June- Class Photos
Wednesday 12th June- Y5 Rye Watersports Trip
Thursday 13th June - Y3 Visitor Kim Phillips- Food production
18th June- Y5&6 HASP Olympics
Friday 14th June- Father's Day Sale
20 – 21 June - Y4 Residential
20th June - Reception assembly to parents
Thursday 27th June - Sports Day
Tuesday 2nd July- Y6 Transition Day- HCC
Friday 12th July- FRIENDS Summer fair and colour run from 3pm
Tuesday 23rd July- finish at 13:30 for summer holidays
On Thursday 7th March to celebrate World Book Day, Chartwells will be offering a special themed menu.
Parents 'Come and See' Opportunity
Wednesday 27th March
12.45 - 13.15
📖
We would like to invite all parents and carers to our 'Come and See' Opportunity, where you will be able to come along and take a look, together with their children, at all the wonderful displays of work which include pictures and pieces of writing.
The exhibition will run from 12.45 - 13.15 and you are welcome to arrive any time during this time.
🩳 Swimming Lessons 🩱
Mondays
09.00-10.00 Year 4
10.00-11.00 Year 2
11.00-12.00Year 3
13.00-14.00 Year 5
14.00-15.00 Year 6
Tuesdays
09.00-10.30am Year 1
10.30-12.00 Reception
Starting on Monday 15th April
General Health & Safety precautions
children will need to wear a swimming hat and (for girls) a one-piece costume (no bikinis). Goggles are optional (all items, including pants, socks and towels, should be named, please)
children will not be allowed in the pool if they have verrucas unless they are wearing a special verruca sock. (These may be purchased from any pharmacy)
children are not permitted to enter the pool if they have plasters covering an open cut or graze
sleepers/studs should not be worn in the pool
The Friends of Maynards Green
Maynards Green CP School - Newsletter
'Growing the community one child at a time'