Molehill Primary Academy Newsletter
Term 2 2023 - 2024
Principal's Welcome
We have had another exceptional term at Molehill Primary Academy. Pupils have worked immensely hard and we've seen some brilliant progress as a result of this dedication to their learning. They have all enjoyed their inquiries and have taken agency in discovering more for themselves, taking them far beyond our planned curriculum. The PYP Assemblies this term have focused on Approaches to Learning and pupils have been applying this new knowledge and reflection once they return to class - again extending their learning.
Children and adults have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Christmas festivities and we are very grateful to all parents who supported us to provide our pupils with such memorable experiences. I am sure that you'll all agree that this year's nativities were absolutely one of the highlights of the term and we are so proud of our pupils for their superb performances. So many of our celebrations over the last week have shared the central idea of love, joy, family and friendship; I know you'll agree that this is a reflection of our Molehill Family that we are all proud to be part of.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your fantastic support in 2023. Everyone at Molehill wishes you a wonderful winter holiday, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.
Mrs Laura Smith
Principal
Key Events for Module 3 can be found on our website: https://molehillprimaryacademy.org.uk/events/list
PYP Inquiry
Little Moles
Throughout this term we have been following the transdisciplinary theme of ‘How we Express Ourselves’ and how play helps us to understand ourselves, each other, and the world. The children have focused on two books, with their favourite being, ‘ The Naughty Bus’. If you ask them, I'm sure they would be able to recite it back to you! We explored the local ponds on the Molehill grounds and communicated what we would find in a pond to aid our learning in the book. The children have made friendships and have learned to play well together, sharing, and taking turns.
The first of December brought joy for us too as the first few snowflakes fell and children were beside themselves with awe and wonder. We were lucky enough to be in the forest and explored all areas to see if we could gather enough snow for a snowman. Of course, it was a brief flurry and we had to temper our expectations for a snowman this time around!
We have been thinking about advent in the lead up to Christmas and the children were so excited thinking about the Christmas story and what it felt like to wait for something so exciting. We have been talking about how we prepare for Christmas and the lovely traditions we all have followed by a well rehearsed show of ‘The Twinkly Nativity’ which I'm sure you will all agree was fantastic! I hope your children have enjoyed this fun filled term of learning and exploration and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year.
Kangaroo and Koala Class
As we reflect on this term's learning, our students have delved into the transdisciplinary theme, "How we express ourselves," with a central idea that "Our voice is an important form of expression to communicate ideas, emotions, and feelings." It has been a captivating journey exploring how our bodies create a voice and understanding the nuances of communication. We've delved into the question of how people convey their feelings and emotions through their voices, as well as how they express themselves when words are not spoken. A significant focus was placed on fostering empathy and kindness within our school and community, emphasizing the importance of understanding each other to create a harmonious environment. Our exploration of identity and self-expression extended to various means of communication, drawing inspiration from the core text "I like bees, I don't like honey." Additionally, the book "The Colour Monster" provided a valuable platform to explore different emotions, helping our students understand the reasons behind their feelings and encouraging them to share their emotions openly. We are thrilled to witness the growth of our students in expressing themselves through diverse forms of communication.
Finally, we wrapped up our term by delving into the diverse Christmas celebrations around the world, broadening our understanding of global traditions. We're immensely proud of the growth, understanding, and expression our students have demonstrated this term.
Key Stage One
This term we have been following the transdisciplinary theme, 'how we organise ourselves'. Our central idea has been been that people learn and collaborate using games and toys. We began by playing some games and considering what skills are required to play games as well as what is needed to make a game. Through science, we went on to analyse different toys and their mechanisms. This led us to look at the different mechanisms in our DT learning. We made some fantastic holiday cards with moving cards after experimenting with different techniques to make a pop up. Our core texts this term have been, 'Lost in the Toy Museum' and 'Toys in Space'. We have very much enjoyed analysing these texts and writing from the point of view of Bunting the cat, who got lost in the museum, as well as writing alternate endings to one of the stories. In history, we looked at toys through time and went to a fantastic history workshop. The children engaged well with this and were able to apply their learning to future lessons. Our action has been making our own board games and sharing them with the other classes. Well done KS1 for all the hard work!
Lower Key Stage Two
This term our transdisciplinary theme has been ‘How we Express Ourselves’. Through this we have been focussing on what we can learn about culture through art. In art we investigated the meaning of a selection of paintings; these paintings were from our core text, ‘Katie’s Picture Show’. We then moved on to compare different art forms from different eras, with a history focus on Anglo Saxon arts and crafts such as weaving. To further our understanding of culture through art, we recreated famous paintings such as ‘The Mona Lisa’ showing our culture now. We concluded with a piece of art which represented our culture.
Upper Key Stage Two
This term Year 5 and 6 have been exploring the theme 'Sharing the Planet' with a focus on conflict resolution and it's impact on people's lives. As part of this unit of inquiry, the children studied the end of World War I, it's outcomes, and they explored how the resolution of this conflict had a direct connection to the beginning of World War II. As the term progressed, pupils used a variety of historical sources to explore what it was like to live through World War II, studying aspects such as evacuation, the Blitz and rationing. The children particularly enjoyed being able to role play elements of war time life during their interactive drama workshop. In other subject areas, pupils explored the work of war artist Henry Moore and attempted to replicate his wax resist style of painting as well as exploring what makes us different in PSHE. This inquiry has produced many fantastic pieces of writing including non-chronological reports on how Hitler rose to power, atmospheric descriptions of soldiers fighting on the beaches and poems to mark Remembrance Day.
Little Ears
We are running a group called ‘Little Ears’ on a Friday morning every month. This group is for parents and carers of babies and preschool children who have a hearing impairment. It is a chance to learn strategies to support language and communication development, play, learn new signs and interact with other families.
KS2 Drama Workshop
This term, Upper Key Stage Two has been learning about World War II as part of their inquiry into conflict resolution and the impact conflict has on people’s lives. As part of this inquiry, the children took part in an interactive World War II drama workshop led by a company called Perform for Schools. During this workshop, pupils pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and took risks by taking part in a variety of drama and role play scenarios. Through these scenarios they were able to imagine themselves in a variety of situations that were the reality for many people during the war from saying goodbye to loved ones, coping with rationing to being evacuated to the countryside. We were very proud of the children for how well they engaged with the workshop activities and their enthusiasm to take part. A particular highlight was at the end of the workshop where they learnt a short dance to accompany the well known World War II song ‘The Lambeth Walk’.
KS1 Drama Workshop
KS1 had a fabulous opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom and take part in a Drama workshop linked to one of their inquiries. KS1 have been inquiring into different types of toys and games; with a historical focus of comparing toys from the past to now. The Drama workshop allowed children to experience an imaginative way to learn about old toys and how they were played, recap Science learning about different materials and, of course, play plenty of games! It was a fantastic way to spark ideas for this term’s inquiries and gave every pupil a chance to achieve and be creative.
Molehill Choir
In September, our new Molehill Choir was launched. Children across KS2 auditioned for a place and we have 20 budding vocalists in our choir, who performed for the first time at the recent Harvest Assembly. They sang ‘A Picture of Autumn’ beautifully and with great skill.
The choir learnt their Christmas repertoire ahead of several performances in the festive season. The first of these was as part of the Demelza Carolathon at Fremlin Walk on Friday 24th November. Following this, the choir sang for the residents of Ashley Gardens and members of the Maidstone Active Retirement group at St Martin’s Church. The final performance of the year will be as part of the Christingle Service at the end of term.
Book Fair
We were very fortunate to have the Scholastic Travelling Book Fair visit our Academy this term. With a wide range of books available, the book fair was well attended by our school community who demonstrated their love of reading by purchasing over £480 worth of books. Our community's commitment to reading has provided our Academy with over £190 worth of book tokens we can now use to add more quality texts to our school library. Moreover, it has been fantastic to see and hear so many children talk so passionately about and show great enthusiasm for reading.
Christmas Craft Afternoon
We kicked off the holiday season with our annual Christmas craft afternoon! This event brought together the delightful Little Moles, Reception, and KS1 children along with their parents for an afternoon filled with creativity and joy. The Molehill community truly embraced the spirit of the season as, throughout the afternoon, parents and children joined forces to craft beautiful and imaginative decorations and holiday craft, spreading the warmth and magic of Christmas throughout our school. It was heartwarming to witness the shared laughter and enthusiasm as families worked together to create special memories. Thank you to everyone who participated, making this event a merry success.
Fire Safety Talks
On the 15th November we welcomed the Kent Fire and Rescue Service to Molehill. The team used their skills, knowledge and experience to talk to children about fire safety, giving the children useful advice and helping them build an understanding of what to do to keep safe and reduce the risk of fires starting. Children were encouraged to share what they learnt with their families, particularly encouraging their adults to make sure that there are smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors fitted and regularly checked at home. We also practised the STOP, DROP and ROLL method of putting a fire out if you found yourself on fire.
Swimming Success
This year our children had the opportunity to take part in the annual LAT Swimming Gala held at Sir Joseph Williamsons Mathematical School in Rochester. This experience enabled our children to socialise and compete against students from our local area as well as other schools in Kent. The children performed with great poise and enthusiasm and achieved some personal bests to challenge subsequent year groups in the future. We are very proud of their performance and their behaviour was outstanding - congratulations to Liban, Isaac, Nyla and Izzy.
We are pleased to share with you a Sports Gala video created by Leigh Academies Trust.
Crochet Club
Crochet club worked amazingly hard this term in producing penguin keyrings! We were so impressed with their determination to complete this project with all of the children taking resources home each week to practise. Well done!
No-Pens Wednesday
On the 29th November, Molehill took part in “No pens Wednesday”.
There was uproar, surprise and confusion when children in Leopard class turned up to school to find the pens were cordoned off and a mysterious parcel left on Mrs Grierson’s desk.
It transpired that the gift was the book 'The Day the Crayons Quit'. This sparked a wonderful English lesson; reading and enjoying the book and doing some activities linked to feelings. Of course, the pens and crayons hadn’t really quit (though the children were completely convinced at the time). It was simply a way to introduce the concept of “No pens Wednesday”.
It is to highlight the importance and awareness of supporting children with their speech and language skills. By ditching pens and pencils for the day, children had the opportunity to speak to one another; share things special and important to them; and play and work collaboratively together. The children gained so many new skills from the day and the impact on their learning moving forward has been evident throughout the school.
Christmas Extravaganza
Key Stage Two had the opportunity to participate in our Christmas Extravaganza. In their classes, they played various Christmas themed games and then received a selection box each. The children had a fantastic time and it was really lovely to watch them communicate and play with each other. Mrs Smith and the other adults also enjoyed joining in the fun and games with the children!
Christmas Pantomime
No story captures the imagination of children more than Cinderella and on Friday the 8th December our pupils were transported on a magical journey to the home of Baron Hardup, where they met Cinderella and all her friends!
Filled to the brim with comedy, excitement and adventure, the children had a fantastic time - they loved to cheer the hero Prince Charming and boo the horrible sisters. They roared with laughter at the antics of Buttons!
Nativity
We had the pleasure of hosting not one, but two, nativities this year! EYFS, including Little Moles, were exceptional in their production - 'The Twinkly Nativity ' and KS1 delighted us with a superb performance of 'XXXX'. We were so very proud of them - they had worked so hard to learn their lines and all of the logistics of taking part in such a complex production.
A huge thank you to all of the parents who supported them at home and a massive congratulations to our teachers who worked tirelessly to ensure that our pupils performed at their very best!
Christmas Dinner
Christmas Dinner gave us a second opportunity to wear our christmas jumpers this year. Children and staff celebrated by eating together and the Elf, who you may have seen and who has been up to no good throughout December, was also able to wear his christmas jumper and keep out of trouble! Sally and her team did an amazing job of cooking and serving the food and we were all thoroughly grateful that after such a fabulous meal we didn't have to wash up!
Christingle Church Service
On the 15th December the academy visited St Martins Church to take part in a special Christingle Service. During the service every child receives the gift of a Christingle, a little lighted wax candle tied round with a red ribbon.
Throughout the celebration, pupils sang a variety of Christmas songs beautifully. We were also very grateful to the older Year 6 children for joining the adults and walking beside our younger children to ensure that we all returned home to school safely.
Christingle services make an important contribution to the vital work of The Children's Society. Thanks to the generosity of those who attend and take part, the charity’s work to support some of the UK's most vulnerable children and young people can continue and help to change lives for the better.
An Important Message from the EYFS Team!
We are always busy creating and planning exciting projects. Please help us out by not throwing away any of these items, we would love any you may have.
Little Moles Nursery
You can apply now for a space in our Little Moles Nursery
Parents are able to claim 15 free hours a week across 38 weeks in the year, with eligible working parents able to apply for up to 30 hours. You can find out how easy this process is here.
More information, including an application pack, can be found on our website.
Attendance
Attendance at school is vitally important.
If your child needs to be absent from school FOR ANY REASON please contact the school as soon as possible on the 1st day of absence, clearly stating the reason for absence. If you are unable to do this, please reply to the text or email sent to you. As a final resort please send a note to school with your child on their return to school.
Tel: 01622 751729
Email: contactus@molehillprimaryacademy.org.uk
Text: 07860054135
Uniform
Thank you to all parents who make sure children attend the Academy wearing full school uniform.
Please be reminded of our Uniform Expectations below as set out on our website: https://molehillprimaryacademy.org.uk/parents/academy-uniform/
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