Welcome to issue 117 of our whole school newsletter. Don't forget to follow us on X for regular updates on achievements, class news and whole school updates. Follow us @metheringhamp
Coming up in this issue:
Meet the team
Learning updates
Attendance
Absences
This Week's X Posts
Upcoming events
The gift of a book
Little Explorers
Open morning
Little Leaders
Maths for Macmillan Morning
Harvest Festival
Lunchtime Arrangements
Achievement Awards
Parent Pay
Reading at home
Hello Everyone,
As I begin another exciting school year at Metheringham Primary, I’ve been reflecting on how special our school community is. Metheringham really is a one-of-a-kind school. Every day, I see children brimming with curiosity, staff going the extra mile, and families working with us to give every child the best start in life. Together, we nurture well-being, celebrate individuality, and create opportunities for learning that are rich, exciting and purposeful. Team Green’s positivity and determination continue to inspire me — they really do create a special place where we all belong.
You’ll often spot me, Mrs Freeman (Deputy Headteacher) or Mrs Jones (Assistant Headteacher) at the front of school for morning “meet and greet.” If we haven’t met yet, please do stop for a quick chat — we love getting to know everyone.
Outside of school, life is just as busy! I treasure family time, whether it’s reading stories with my little boy (now in Year Two....how did that happen!) or heading off for long, muddy walks with our beagle.
Here’s to another fantastic year ahead at Metheringham Primary — I’m so proud to be part of this journey with you all and I will strive to be your child's biggest cheerleader each and every day.
Warm wishes,
Mrs Duggin
Headteacher
Foundation Stage Children in Reception have been learning how to complete different balances whilst holding the balance for 5 seconds. It was tricky but they showed great perseverance.
Key Stage One This week, we have enjoyed learning about Owl Babies and The Magic Porridge Pot in English. In History, we have learnt about how the fire spread so quickly, with lots of classroom fun! In Science, we have identified materials and objects and started to learn some of their properties. We are looking forward to beginning our shared writing next week and beginning our printing portrait artwork.
Lower Key Stage Two This week in LKS2, we’ve had a fantastic time continuing our exploration of Viking art by creating our own monoprints. The children really enjoyed getting creative and experimenting with different patterns and techniques. In science, we’ve started investigating the effects of friction by testing how different surfaces impact the distance a toy car can travel. The children have been applying their maths skills to measure distances and draw conclusions from their results. We also began our exciting Drumba lessons this week! The children loved getting into the groove—following beats, testing their coordination, balance, and rhythm in a fun and energetic way. In maths, we’ve continued to explore place value. Using manipulatives has really helped deepen our understanding and allowed us to represent our learning in practical ways. We're looking forward to showcasing this work during our Maths Morning next Friday—everyone is welcome to come along and see what we’ve been learning!
Upper Key Stage Two The Woodpeckers are gradually getting to know the routines, systems and expectations of Year 5 and 6, and they have made a brilliant start! Our class peg has been moved up multiple times this week as children have shown effort, kindness and determination. In maths, we have been working hard to read, write and understand numbers up to a million, using equipment and images to help us. We have also become masters of five-sentence stories, enjoying the chance to write and read them aloud to build our oracy skills. A highlight of the week was discovering who the Ancient Greeks were and when they lived. It has been a delight to see the Woodpeckers learning to become Team Woodpecker, looking after one another and living out our new school values.
224 pupils have maintained 100% attendance so far this academic year.
Last years whole school attendance figure was 96.4%
Current whole school attendance is 97.5%
Our attendance figures for this week are as follows:
Our school expectation for whole class attendance is 95% or above. It's good to be green :-)
If your child is ill or unable to come to school, please remember to contact school each morning they are absent. You can:
speak to the school office
email enquiries@metheringham.lincs.sch.uk
leave a message on the school answerphone.
Please leave the name of your child, their class and the reason for absence. We have a legal responsibility to know where our pupils are and to accurately record absences.
Please report any absences on each day of the absence.
If we have not seen a child for 3 or more days, we may carry out a safe and well-check for safeguarding reasons.
Monday 22nd September- Bikeability (Year 5 and Year 6)
Friday 26th September - Maths for Macmillan/coffee morning (all parents welcome from 9:30)
Advanced Notice
Tuesday 7th October- Flu Vaccinations
Thursday 9th October- Harvest Festival (Reception Parents Only)
If you would like to gift a book to school for a special occasion or 'just because', please see our Amazon Wishlist for some ideas. All books donated are marked with a special 'gifted by...' message and added to our library.
Join staff from Washingborough Children's Centre every Thursday afternoon for a 0-5 Little Explorers session. No booking needed. Based in school and free to all.
Our Year 6 house captains and vice captains have been selected. They will be representing the Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters as they work together each week to earn the most house points. House points are earned through peg ups, completion of homework and through reading at home.
Our Sports Crew have also been selected and are ready and raring to make an impact on sports across the school this year.
Our newly selected Reading Ambassadors are already having an impact on our youngest pupils and their love of reading.
This year, we will be combining fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support along with providing parents with the opportunity to visit school to take part in their child's maths learning.
On Friday 26th September, you are invited into school from 9:30 to 10:00 to spend time sharing maths learning with your child in their new classes. Parents are welcome to visit more than one class during this time if they have children in different classes.
From 10:00 am until 10:30 am, we will be holding a Macmillan Coffee Morning (Parents only) in the school hall. Please bring along some pennies (cash only) to help us raise funds for a charity so close to all of our hearts.
We are kindly asking for donations of cakes, biscuits etc for the coffee morning. Could these please be brought into school on the morning of 26th September. If your donation is homemade, we ask that a full list of ingredients is attached to the box/container.
All children will receive a cake or biscuit from the Macmillan Café if we receive enough donations of cakes on the day. If you do not want your child to receive a cake or biscuit, then please contact the class teacher in advance of the day.
You can donate to the cause by bringing in cakes or biscuits. You can also show your support by buying a cake/coffee on the day.
We can't wait to see you all.
Our Harvest Festival will take place on Thursday 9th October.
We would like to invite the Parents and Carers of our new Reception pupils to join us for this event in school. Unfortunately, due to limited space, we cannot open this to all parents.
We are asking pupils to bring in food donations for the Sleaford Community Larder. Any donations are welcome over the next few weeks. Please send them into school with your child if you are able to help.
From Monday, we will be introducing new lunchtime arrangements. This is essential as our pupil numbers continue to grow and we can no longer seat everyone safely in the hall at the same time.
There will be no changes for Key Stage 1 children – they will continue to eat lunch at their usual time.
For Key Stage 2, we are moving to a staggered lunchtime:
KS2 children will have their playtime first.
They will then come into the hall to eat their lunch.
This change allows us to ensure lunchtime is safe and enjoyable for all.
Teachers award two achievement certificates a week in our achievement assembly. If your child gets more than one certificate in an academic year, they will receive a badge. Please keep your certificates safe and bring them back to school to receive your badge:
2 awards= bronze owl/merit badge
3 awards= silver owl/commendation badge
5 awards= gold owl/excellence badge
It was lovely to see families at our Early Years Reading and Phonics Meeting. We value the support, time and effort that our parents and carers put in to reading. Together we can foster a love of reading in our little ones. Thank you to Miss Storr and Mrs Jones for a fantastic session.
Please Remember
Home reading books are checked and changed on a Tuesday and Friday
Sign your child's diary
Read a little every night
Levelled books are independent home reading books
Reading for pleasure books are for enjoyment and can be read by an adult, read together or read independently
