Molehill Primary Academy Newsletter
Term 4 2023 - 2024
Principal's Welcome
We have had another fantastic term filled with wonderful learning experiences for our pupils. We have been particularly thrilled with the enthusiasm shown for all of our opportunities to celebrate the world of work and our love of reading. Pupils have been engaging with a wide range of challenging, high quality texts and resources throughout the last few weeks and we are really proud of the resilience, hard work and determination to succeed they've all shown towards their learning.
Our annual Easter Service was a huge success and we all enjoyed walking to and from the church - in the brilliant sunshine it felt like such an adventure! We hope that the sunshine is here to stay and that you all get to enjoy the outdoors throughout the Easter holidays. On behalf of everyone at Molehill, we wish you a safe, happy and restful break.
Mrs Laura Smith
Principal
PYP Inquiry
Little Moles
We are delighted to share the exciting adventures and achievements of our Little Moles this term. Our children have been immersed in the captivating transdisciplinary theme of "How the World Works," delving into the enchanting world of nature through our core text, 'What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside'. This journey has sparked immense engagement and curiosity, leading to wonderful explorations outdoors as our little ones eagerly searched for different animals and fairytale characters through play. The discovery of a real ladybird brought extra excitement, inspiring fantastic drawings showcasing our budding artists' talents and fine motor skills.
In addition to our nature explorations, we recently enjoyed a delightful Mother's Day pamper afternoon, which was a resounding success, filled with love and appreciation for all the wonderful women in our lives.
As Easter approaches, our children are joyfully engaging in Easter activities and creating daffodils using a variety of materials and much more. These activities not only foster creativity but also provide valuable early years learning experiences, especially in phonics and maths. Our focus on subitising - recognizing numbers of items without counting - is enhancing numeracy skills in a playful and interactive way whilst all linked to the core text.
In addition to our nature explorations, we recently celebrated Careers Week, where our children dressed up as what they aspire to be when they grow up. It was lovely to see their dreams and aspirations come to life as they embodied various professions. Furthermore, we had the pleasure of welcoming Little Street to our school, where our children enjoyed immersive experiences as different workers, gaining valuable insights into various careers and roles in our community.
We are immensely proud of our Little Moles' enthusiasm for learning and exploration, and we look forward to more exciting adventures ahead!
Kangaroo and Koala Class
This term, we explored the theme of "Where we are in place and time," celebrating the idea that everyone has a special place in the world. Inspired by the inspiring true story of 'Maybe Something Beautiful', we dove into the power of art and social justice.
But the journey wasn't just in a book! We became artists ourselves, creating works to brighten our community! From crafting murals showcasing the amazing people who make our neighborhood special, to exploring the hidden gems and ways to get involved, we learned how much our community has to offer. Just like Mira in our story, we all have the power to make a difference!
Key Stage One
This term KS1 have been focusing on the theme 'How we express ourselves' through exploring the central idea of 'Stories can be told in different ways and for different reasons'. The children have enjoyed exploring different versions of the traditional tale Little Red Riding Hood and have enjoyed becoming authors by creating their own alternative versions of the story. Within their Art lessons children have learnt about illustration. Children have enjoyed learning about how illustrations have changed through time and creating their own illustrations of traditional tale characters. Within their History lessons the children have learnt about the lives of the famous authors and illustrators Beatrix Potter who created the Peter Rabbit stories, Mary Tourtel who created the Rupert bear stories and Peggy Fortnum who illustrated the Paddington Bear books. In their DT lessons children have designed and created finger puppets of traditional tale characters. The children loved dressing up as their favourite story characters on World Book Day and throughout the term have explored the benefits of reading.
Lower Key Stage Two
This term years 3 and 4 have been focusing on the central idea 'How we are affected by natural phenomena'. We have linked this to the two texts 'I Survived The Japanese Tsunami' and 'Pop- Up Volcano'. The children have produced a variety of explanation texts to describe different types of natural phenomena. We have also linked this with our deeper thinking questions within our VIPERS lessons, creating non-fiction pieces of writing such as diary entries and letters that describe the characters' experiences. This links with our work in Geography, looking at the hemispheres, lines of latitude and reasons for the seasons. In year 3 we have linked this to our science topic, rocks and soils. Year 3 were able to meet with a Geologist online to explore this topic further.
Upper Key Stage Two
This term, Years 5 and 6 have been researching the reasons for exploration and looking at how exploration has shaped our world and created the society we live in today. All classes have enjoyed learning about the 'Golden Age of Islam' and the discoveries made during this time period, such as observatories, hospitals and universities. Our learning this term has also allowed us to reflect on last term's learning about evolution and expand our knowledge on the achievements of scientists such as Charles Darwin. Year 5 have also enjoyed investigating space this term and thinking about future exploration into our solar system and what we could discover, getting the opportunity to watch an interview with a scientist who specialises in this area during careers week. Year 6 have enjoyed learning about the human eye and how light works to enable us to see things. A major discovery they made was that light reflects off objects and into our eye, which is how we actually see.
Careers and Aspirations Week
We have been delighted to host Careers and Aspirations Week, followed by a Career Dress Up day, where the children were invited to dress up as a career they aspire to undertake in their successful future lives.
Across the week, we explored different careers and the skills which are required for them. We investigated what inspired people to make their career choices as we want all children within our school to feel empowered by the world of opportunities that await. We strongly believe it is very important to raise the aspirations of our children and provide opportunities that will enable the children to find out more about the wide range of careers that are available to them in the future. The highly informative week introduced children to a broad and balanced range of careers and future job prospects and across the school, children enjoyed listening to guest speakers and taking part in a plethora of different activities to showcase and extend their learning. We were delighted to welcome a number of our parents and members of our wider community to take part in this memorable occasion.
Through our Careers Education we want to ensure that pupils:
become self-assured, confident and optimistic about their futures, increasing their motivation to learn;
develop the resilience to take calculated risks, dealing appropriately with disappointments, setbacks and challenges;
are prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life;
are able to make decisions and manage transitions as both learners and workers;
understand the basic skills and attitudes needed to be successful in the world of work;
challenge all forms of stereotype (by background, gender or diversity groups) and preconceptions;
further develop emotional intelligence and self-evaluation skills allowing them to make plans for the future;
increase their knowledge of post-11 and post-16 opportunities
understand employment-related vocabulary;
are provided with experiences filled with meaningful interaction regarding a range of different careers; and
are provided with high quality information from a wide variety of sources.
Every pupil deserves high-quality career guidance to make informed decisions about their future. We provide children with a range of meaningful experiences to teach them about the world of work and provide accurate, well-judged information about future careers. We recognise the important role that we have in ensuring our pupils have high aspirations about their future.
Daily Mile and The Firefighters Charity
We were so pleased to welcome Fireman Simon to the Academy last Thursday to support pupils to run our Daily Mile. Simon has been an invaluable supporter of our Academy's learning initiatives over the past decade, and now it's our turn to rally behind him.
Simon is currently in training for the London Marathon, and we are fortunate to have him share his journey with us. As part of Simon's Marathon challenge, we are organising a fundraising initiative to support The Firefighters Charity. The Fire Fighters Charity plays a crucial role in supporting firefighters like Simon, offering assistance during times of need.
If you would like to offer Simon and The Firefighter's Charity more support, please donate via this page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Simon-Rushton40
Recorder Festival
On Tuesday 19th March, 15 of our budding recorder players from Year 4 joined some of the local trust schools at the first LAT Recorder Festival. They have been working hard on their recorder playing since September and learning pieces in preparation for this special day. As well as the opportunity to celebrate all that we have learnt and play together with children from other schools, the children had the opportunity to improve their musicianship through some fun musical games. Additionally, they learnt more about the woodwind family of instruments and heard a live performance on the saxophone.
It was a really fun and successful morning and the children were exceptional ambassadors for our school and made Mrs Tulloch very proud indeed.
Mother's Day Tea
Our Little Moles, EYFS, and KS1 children outdid themselves with a delightful Mother's Day Tea! Transformed into the perfect little hosts, they pampered their amazing mums with everything from hand massages to expertly poured tea. Scrumptious cakes, piled high with frosting and love, awaited every guest. The room overflowed with the sweet sounds of laughter as children proudly presented their handmade cards and recited heartfelt poems, each word brimming with gratitude. Even the bright daffodils, carefully chosen by tiny hands, seemed to radiate the love in the air. It was an afternoon that transcended mere celebration; it was a heartwarming reminder of the extraordinary bond between mothers and their children.
World Book Day
We had an extremely fun day celebrating World Book Day at Molehill. With children and staff dressed as their favourite book characters, the day was filled with poetry-inspired learning.
Immersed in poems about insects, shadows and phantom listeners, our pupils were incredibly creative, participating in art activities, creative writing opportunities and poem recitals.
St Martin's Church Service
The children had a wonderful morning celebrating the story of Easter at St Martin’s Church. Their singing was beautiful and the readers did a spectacular job.
We also celebrated Esther who is retiring from her role but will still be supporting the Academy by hearing children read.
Cricket Sessions
Some of our children have been taking part in cricket sessions recently in their PE lessons. These have been provided by the charity Chance to Shine and delivered by a coach from Kent County Cricket Club.
Cricket is a great way for boys and girls to enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle and to make new friends. Some of the local cricket clubs in our area will be running All Stars Cricket (for 5-8 year olds) and Dynamos Cricket (for 8-11 year olds) over the coming months.
This link gives information about All Stars Cricket: https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/all-stars
Click here for details of Dynamos Cricket: https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/dynamoscricket
Other cricket clubs in your area run their own tailored sessions for primary school children. It's always worth checking their individual website for details.
Little Street
Our Little Moles, Kangaroo, and Koala classes embarked on an adventure of a lifetime – exploring the world of careers in Little City! They donned their dream job hats and transformed into everything from brave firefighters to caring doctors, even bustling shopkeepers. With amazing backdrops and amazing toys, Little City became a world of possibility. It was a day where imagination soared, sparking excitement about all the amazing things they could be when they grow up!
EYFS trip to Morrisons
As part of learning about our amazing community, our EYFS adventurers took a fantastic trip to our local Morrisons! They were able to be little helpers everywhere – packing cookies, exploring delicious foods, and even trying their hand at the till. The best part? They learned from the butcher and fishmonger, and even followed bunny footprints for a special surprise! It was a day filled with discovery and fun, showing just how exciting our community can be.
Attendance
Attendance at school is vitally important
What Parents must do:
Try to telephone the school before 8.30am each day of your child’s absence.
Tell the school in advance of any medical appointments and bring in appointment cards/letters.
If you are not sure whether your child is well enough to attend school, send them in anyway as they often perk up on arrival.
Have a backup plan for if your child misses transport, call on a family member, neighbour or friend.
If you and your child are experiencing difficulties with school attendance then talk to us as a first step so we can help!
What we will do:
Check your child’s attendance every day.
Send a text message if you have not contacted us.
Phone home to discuss your child’s attendance with you.
Invite you into school for attendance meetings if we are concerned.
If we cannot establish a reason for absence, your child’s attendance will be recorded as unauthorised.
Every week all children who are in school every day will receive 5 attendance points. You can check their positive behaviour points on the MCAS app. Points will go towards an end of year celebration and hopefully a 100% bronze, silver or gold badge if they manage to be in school every day of the term.
Tel: 01622 751729
Email: contactus@molehillprimaryacademy.org.uk
Text: 07860054135
Positive points and Learner Profile Attributes Guide for parents
Exciting news! We launched a new Positive Learning Points system to celebrate key skills that help your child thrive! Wondering what this means? We've created a simple guide for parents with everything you need to know:
What are the learner profile attributes we focus on?
How to support your child at home with fun, everyday activities.
How to work together to build a consistent learning environment.
We believe working together is key to your child's success! So, check out the guide, discuss it with your child, and let's build something amazing together!
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.
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.
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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