Maynards Green CP School
HEADTEACHER'S UPDATE
Dear Mums, Dads and Carers,
Welcome back everyone and Happy New Year! I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas break and managed to spend time with friends and family, as well as getting a well deserved rest. On behalf of all the staff, I would like to say thank you for all the Christmas cards, gifts and messages of thanks that we received in recognition of our work with your children, they were very much appreciated.
Some of you may have noticed that we have shiny new letters on the railings outside the Reception Class, to replace the rusting originals. This was the final part of a fencing project that began before Christmas to replace all the fencing at the back of the school and add a short fence around our sports field. I hope you agree that, as well as this project making the school more secure, the new lettering has really smartened up the front of the school.
I am delighted to say that we are expecting another visit from the M&M Theatrical Production Company, who will be bringing the pantomime ' Aladdin ' to our school on Monday 22nd January. Pantomime in this country is a big part of our cultural heritage and something we really want all children to experience. In order make this possible we are asking for a voluntary contribution of £2:00 per child towards the cost, which will be payable via Parent Pay from Monday next week.
Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you for the very generous donations made to our 'Christmas Fund'. Our festive bucket raised an amazing £360 which we are putting towards a portable sound system for children to use during assemblies, Christmas and end of year performances and also for the outdoor events like sports day and summer fairs. Thank you everyone who donated.
Kind regards
Karen Cromwell
Headteacher
PLEASE PARK POLITELY
I'm sorry to have to start the year with a moan about parking, but once again I have received complaints from our neighbours about inconsiderate and dangerous parking. For the safety and well-being of everyone, please DO NOT park across our neighbours' driveways, block the pavement or park on the zig zag lines.
Gentle Reminders
Cold Weather Warning
We are now truly entering into winter and cold weather has arrived., Please make sure that your children come to school wearing suitable outwear: a warm coat, sensible waterproof shoes and if possible, a hat, gloves and scarf. If the weather is dry then PE lessons will be outside and children will need track bottoms/ leggings and a long sleeved sweatshirt - shorts are NOT suitable.
Updated Website
Hannah, has been working hard over the last few weeks to update our website, making it easier to navigate and hopefully, more useful. She and we would welcome any suggestions you might have for any other information you would like to see on the website?
Please fill out the form below if you do have any feedback.
Pokemon/ Football Cards
Unfortunately, due to a number of incidents at school, I have taken the decision to ban all cards, football, Pokemon etc. from school. Any cards brought into school will be confiscated and returned to parents/ carers at the end of term.
Safeguarding Update
In our commitment to develop children’s critical literacy skills, we have teamed up with Picture News to help develop their understanding and appreciation of the news.
Having age-appropriate conversations with your child about the news keeps them interested and informed about what’s happening in the world…and you too!
They move from wanting to know what happens in MY world to what is happening in THE world and their place in it.
By having regular conversations about the news, you are able to share a whole range of topics and together make more sense of different events, issues and stories.
Some significant news stories can be frightening, and you will need to consider what your child can cope with and whether they are developmentally ready to understand certain events. For example, you might decide to listen to the news rather than watch it as there may be images they might find upsetting.
Talking about the major headlines of the day and current affairs is important for children to grow up as global citizens but it’s important too to share a variety of fun and exciting news stories from the worlds of sport, entertainment, music, science, etc. as well as local news closer to home.
Here are some quick tips:
• Initiate discussions about the news using the Picture News resources. Ask them what they discussed in Picture News this week!
• Read and watch some news stories together from different sources.
• Find out what your child knows about the news and explore their understanding.
• Listen to what your child says and value their opinions.
• Explain simply and in a way that makes sense to them.
• Promote a habit of enquiry and make asking questions your child’s default setting.
• Help your child to spot fake news and how to fact-check.
• Develop a news habit by accessing the news regularly.
• Defuse bad news and offer reassurance.
• Protect your child from distressing and disturbing news.
• Monitor your child’s exposure to the news.
Discussing the news of the day doesn’t have to be formal but can be done naturally and casually in everyday moments such as on the way to school or when preparing a meal. The important thing is to keep the conversation going about the news and make it a feature of your daily lives.
By working together, we can help children become critical consumers of the news so that they are ‘newssavvy’, articulate and confident citizens.
Mrs Townsend
Safeguarding Lead
Attendance
Link to our attendance policy - click here
Year R - 96.8%
Year 1 - 94.5%
Year 2 - 96.9%
Year 3 - 96.3%
Year 4 - 96.7%
Year 5 - 96.9%
Year 6 - 97%
Reception
We have all been feeling the chill in Reception! We have been learning about the Polar regions and penguins. We have been using the tyres to make penguins in the outside area.
We have also read the story 'Lost and Found' and discussed what we would do if we found a penguin on our doorstep. There were some amazing ideas! Some of the children would help the penguin by giving them ice and others would would give the penguin a big hug.
Year 1
We have all come back to school really well and settled back into our learning.
Our topic this term is Kings and Queens. We will be looking at kings and queens of the past and how some of them have impacted the country we live in. We have our workshop coming up where we will get to act some of this out and learn as much as we can from an expert!
Year 2
We closed off the year with a wonderful trip to Horam Christ Church where we deepened our knowledge from our RE topic 'the story of Jesus' birth' and even made crafts!
We have had a great start to the year with lots of new exciting learning topics. For our topic this term, we will be going on a learning adventure in the classroom to learn all about the great explorers of our world, with particular focus on Ernest Shackleton and Ibn Battuta.
In art we will be learning about Hew Locke's amazing boats, which will be the inspiration for making our own!
Year 3
Welcome back to Term 3!
This term, in geography we will be learning about the UK and answering the big question "Where is the best place to live in the UK?" The children will be creating a travel brochure about their chosen place which will convince others to visit.
Our history, over terms 3 and 4, will focus on the Anglo-Saxons in Britain and will involve lots of hands-on activities. If you would be able to help with any of these activities, please let me know.
Year 4
We are happy to share that the Year 4 Proposal Form for John Muir Award has been formally approved. The children will therefore undertake the four parts of the scheme: discover, explore, conserve, share.
We will begin working toward the award in the summer term and we will focus our activities around our locality: local meadows, the Cuckoo Trail and the bottom field. Our learning will cover many areas of the curriculum, from fieldwork in geography to exploring poems of local artists in English.
We are hoping that parent and carer volunteers will be able to join us on some of our outdoor adventures!
Year 5
Well done to all the children in year 5 for their excellent performance at the class assembly. I am very proud of the way they learnt their lines so quickly and perfected the actions to go along with the choral poem. I would like to also thank all the parents for attending and for their continued support.
Miss Lacey
Year 6
We have certainly hit the ground running in Term 3.
In English we have written adventure stories based upon the front cover of our new text "The Barnabus Project" and we're working on our proof-reading and editing skills so that our work is punctuated accurately. We have done a LOT of partner work to share our stories and to develop our proof-reading and editing skills.
In maths, we learned all about the order of operations (BIDMAS) and we have started our fractions topic. This was met with a few groans, but we are quickly getting our head around fractions using our prior knowledge to help us! So many of us realised how useful our 'fast track pass' (understanding our multiplication fact families) is for fractions!
We've got a changeover of topics in history - we completed our end task for our Vikings topic. Working in pairs, we answered our big question from Terms 1 and 2: were the Vikings vicious or victorious? We enjoyed presenting these to the class!
Community Singing
A small group of Year 5 and 6 children were invited to sing in December to the children at Young Haymakers Nursery in Heathfield. They shared some of the Christmas songs we had been learning for our performance and then enjoyed talking to the Nursery children about their plans for Christmas.
English News
Short Story competition - Google Docs.pdfGoogle Classroom Workshop
We are running a Google Classroom Workshop for Years 4, 5 and 6 parents on Tuesday 30th January at 9am in the school hall. As you may be aware, Years 4, 5 and 6 have Chromebooks in their classrooms and have been using Google Classroom in their lessons to support their learning. We would like the children to be accessing Google Classroom at home, too. The main purpose will be for the children to upload their homework to Google Classroom rather than it being emailed to teachers directly; however, it will also be a helpful way for parents to be able to see and share what we have been learning in class.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 30th!
Miss Francis
Key Stage 2 Lead
Nature champions
After looking through an incredibly high standard of applications for Maynards Green Nature Champions, I can now announce the following will be working with me this year to help make our school grounds a welcoming habitat for a whole range of living things.
Year 1 : Jasper H and Riley
Year 2: Elliott and Lily
Year 3: Tabitha and Tom
Year 4: Ava and Jasmine
Year 5: Max and Mollie
Year 6: Lilly and Sophia
We have held our first meeting and have already started to make plans....I will keep you updated!
Mrs A
Science Lead
Open to parents webinars
Open to parents are running webinars for parents to provide support for a range of parenting and family issues such as;
Positive Parenting Group FEAR LESS ( All ages) an 8 week course helping parents deal with moderate to high levels of anxiety in children
Positive Parenting Group Stepping Stones 8 week group for parents of children with additional needs
The Power of Positive Parenting 2-8 It introduces parents to the five key principles of positive parenting that form the basis of Triple P
There are many more course - follow the link below and scroll down to see all of the webinars available.
https://www.openforparents.org.uk/location/wealdon/
Mrs Jones SENCo
Headteacher Awards
Dormice
Bella - for excellent subitising in maths
Squirrels
Avery - for amazing phonics!
Hedgehogs
Artie- for settling in so well to his new class and always being keen to stay on task!
Rabbits Jasper - writing beautifully extended sentences describing a setting.
Foxes
Jaxson - for his high standard of work throughout his learning
Badgers
Whole class for the performance at the Y5 assembly
Deer
Ryan - for showing our school values by helping adults with jobs each day.
Citizenship Awards
Dormice
Yianni - for persevering with challenges
Squirrels
Lyra - for following all our values everyday. She is always kind, positive and shows respect to everyone in our school.
Hedgehogs
Juliana- for demonstrating kindness towards her classmates.
Rabbits Thomas - demonstrating great resilience each day settling to his work.
Foxes
Willow - for her kindness and generosity towards her classmates.
Badgers
Mollie for showing respect to the teachers and everyone in her class.
Deer
Theo - for an excellent effort across the entire curriculum!
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
INSET DAYS: 28th Mar '24 24th May '24
Term 3
Tuesday 16th January- First Aid Workshops
Thursday 18th January- Census Day- lunch menu swap
Tuesday 30th January 9am - Google Classroom workshop for Y4/5/6 parents
Monday 22nd January- Aladdin performance
Monday 5th February- Reception Vision Screening and National Childhood Measurement Programme
Future Dates
Friday 8th March Interim reports to parents
Tuesday 12th March 3.20-4pm Optional parent drop in session to discuss Interim reports
Wednesday 13th March- Y4 High Weald Heroes Stone Age Workshop
Wednesday 13th March- 3.20-4pm Optional parent drop in session to discuss Interim reports
Thursday 14th March- Y5 Big Dance
Wednesday 20th March -Y3 High Weald Heroes Anglo Saxon Welly Walk
Thursday 21st March - Y2 Little Sing
Monday 15th- Friday 19th April - Y5 Bikeability
Wednesday 15th May- Y3 Trip to Wakehurst Place
Friday 7th June- Class Photos
Wednesday 12th June- Y5 Rye Watersports Trip
Thursday 13 June - Y3 Visitor Kim Phillips- Food production
20 – 21 June - Y4 Residential
Thursday 27th June - Sports Day
It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school, nursery or playgroup when they're unwell.
There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.
If you do keep your child at home, it's important to phone the school on the first day. Let them know that your child won't be in and give them the reason.
If your child is well enough to go to school but has an infection that could be passed on, such as a cold sore or head lice, let their teacher know.
Please click the link for more guidance: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The Department for Education together have put together some useful links and sources of mental health support so that children and young people, parents, carers, and school and college staff can get the advice and help they need.
Please click the link below:
IMPORTANT SCHOOL DINNER FUNDING - Census Day – Thursday, 18th January '24
On Thursday, 18th of January, 2024, it is national School Census Day. On this day, the Local Authority collects information electronically from every school in their area, partly to guide them in planning and funding. They collect details such as pupil numbers, numbers of pupils with Special Educational Needs, entitled to Pupil Premium funding, entitled to Free School Meals, attendance information and so forth. One thing in particular they are looking at this term is the number of children taking a free school meal, including the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM). These figures will determine how much money our school receives towards the cost of these meals.
To maximise our potential funding, we would strongly encourage all families with children entitled to a free school meal, including all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children, to enjoy their free meal on Thursday 18th January. If you’re unsure whether your child will eat what they order, we are happy for them to bring in a packed lunch as a back-up.
In an effort to increase the uptake of free school meals on that day, Chartwells will be providing a special Census Day Lunch, of fish fingers or quorn dippers with chips, peas and baked beans followed by strawberry frozen yoghurt or fresh fruit. There will also be the usual jacket potatoes, sandwich or pasta.
The amount of children taking the free meal on the day, determines our UIFSM and FSM income for the whole year.
Each child taking the meal attracts funding of £444.60 for our school, this is potential funding of £47,000. Please note: Pupils who bring a packed lunch from home, and don’t order a school lunch, or who are absent on that day, do not attract the funding, so that should they chose to have a school lunch later on in the year, the money will have to come out of the school’s budget reducing the money we have to spend on other things.
Maynards Green CP School - Newsletter
'Growing the community one child at a time'