Paddock Wood Primary Academy
Newsletter
Mrs Fidock's news update
We have just 2 weeks to go and lots to still fit in! Our performances will still go ahead, but we will ask that our audience wear masks and we will be keeping the doors open, so please wrap up warm. The children will be making Christingles for our Church services (school only) and we will have hot chocolate and mince pies on offer at our Christmas Carol Singing on the last day of term. We are so looking forward to being able to invite you in for these events - please help us keep our community safe by adhering to these measures. As you know, we have a few staff joining us in January and we are pleased that all of them will be spending the day with us on either the 8th December or the 15th - so please do go and say hello.
Mr Stephen Emmett - Year 4 (15th) , Mrs Kirsty Stockbridge - Year 6 (8th) , Mr Caleb Morrison - EYFS (8th)
"It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope." - Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger).
Proud@paddockwoodcommunity
These children have made their way to our Proud@ this week...
Henry B 2H
I thought you would all like to know that last weekend Henry B in 2H passed his next Taekwondo grading with flying colours and last night was awarded his new belt. He had to learn 19 set moves called Chon-Ji and perform them in front of a black belt 6 Dan Master.
Well done Henry!
Paddock Wood Choir
Well done to the Paddock Wood Choir for performing to raise money for Demelza House. They are busy learning Christmas carols as well as their songs for Young Voices 2022 and it's been lovely to hear them practising. A big thank you to Mr McNair for getting them prepped.
Curriculum corner
Each week we want to give you ideas to enable you to support your child at home with a particular aspect of the curriculum. Our subject leaders will be sharing hints and tips to help you along the way and will be offering further ideas and resources that you might like to access at home. This week our focus is....Christmas Baking.
Here are some recipes you might like to try at home:
Pretzel snap
115 g butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 100 g pretzels, 200 g milk chocolate melts, 200 g dark chocolate melts, 2 tsp sea salt
1. Preheat the oven to 220˚C. 2. Line a baking dish with baking paper. Cover the base of the dish with pretzels. 3. Put the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter into the sugar then bring it to the boil. Boil it for 4 - 5 minutes, until it begins to caramelise. 4. Pour the caramel toffee mixture over the pretzels. Make sure it's nicely distributed as it will be the 'glue' that holds it all together. 5. Place in the oven and bake at 220˚C for five minutes. 6. Put the chocolate melts into a glass bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in short 30 second bursts until smooth. 7. Pour the melted chocolate over the pretzel/caramel mixture. Spread it around so it covers everything. 8. Refrigerate overnight, or until set hard. 9. Break/crack into pieces and serve.
polar bear peppermint creams
250g icing sugar, 1 egg white, beaten, few drops of peppermint essence, 15 chocolate sweets (we used Waitrose blue and green chocolate beans)Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl. Mix in the egg white, a little at a time – stop adding it when you have a soft dough that feels like plasticine.
2.Add 3 drops of the peppermint essence, mix well and taste. Add another drop if it isn’t minty enough. 3. Roll half the mixture into 15 balls, about the size of cherry tomatoes, then flatten them with your hand to make the bear heads. 4. Place on sheets of baking parchment on a large board or tray. Using half the remaining mixture, make blueberry-sized balls and flatten them out onto the heads to make snouts. Add chocolate sweets for the noses. 5. Use the rest of the mixture to make the ears. Shape them into tiny balls and press them gently into the top of the heads with your fingertips. Use a cocktail stick to shape the eyes. 6. Leave the polar bears to dry for 3-4 hrs, or overnight. Eat within 1 month.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/polar-bear-peppermint-creams
Dates ahead
Some dates for your diary:
3.12.21: School Choir to Bligh Meadow for Demelza House 12pm / Doughnuts delivered from PTA
6.12.21 Dress Rehearsals for EYFS / Year 1/2 Performances
7.12.21: Pantomime (in school)
8.12.21 Year 1/2 Performance (2:15pm)
9.12.21 Year 1/2 Performance (9:30am)
EYFS Performance (2:15pm)
10.12.21 EYFS Performance (9:30am)
14.12.21 Christingle Services (School Only) at St. Andrew's Church
15.12.21 Christmas Dinner Day / Christmas Jumper Day / PTA Christmas Events
17.12.21: Last Day of Term 2 - Carol Singing on the playground KS2 from 1:15pm - all welcome mince pies and hot chocolate available - early finish at 2pm for all children - no ASC.
4.01.22: First day of Term 3 - all children return to school
19.01.22: Young Voices to the O2 - details TBC
Learner Profile Certificates this week go to:
6H
Alex
For being knowledgeable and reflective. You have identified areas of your learning which you needed to improve and taken initiative to do so.
6J
Poppie
For being a knowledgeable learner, creating an accurate poster explaining the adaptations of an African Lion.
6M
Tia
For showing great thinking skills and concentration during the assessments this week. Your effort in Maths was superb!
6C
Katie
For perseverance and increased thinking - particularly in Maths.
5G
Harry
For perseverance and being a balanced learner this week with both his English and his maths.
5r
Beatrice
Being a caring member of our class and taking on the responsibility of ensuring our Chromebooks and other resources are kept neatly organised. Thanks for your amazing effort, Beatrice!
5w
Seb
For being a balanced learner this week! You persevered through multiple assessments and came up with some creative ways to complete your artwork!
4b
Joshua
For being so caring and going out of your way to ask your classmates and teachers how they are and how they're feeling. You are lovely!
4dp
Darcie
Darcie for being an amazing thinker this week especially in her inquiries into the 6 times tables.
4g
Lucy
For being a principled learner - trying to make sure that you are doing the right thing during lessons and in the wider school community.
3b
Noah
For being a caring classmate during IT by helping others to log on to their computers and access the programmes.
3l
Roshni
For being a principled learner. You are always listening carefully to instructions and making the right choices.
3s
Archie J
For being caring and helping your friends to use the chromebooks in their learning.
2f
Ernest
For being a risk-taker this week! He made super links with our texts The Polar Express and Dogger's Christmas, superstar!
2h
Joshua
For being a principled learner . You always complete your work to the best of your ability and show great enthusiasm for learning.
2t
Kyan
For being a risk-taker with his Maths reasoning and problem-solving as he is not afraid to try.
1lt
Freya
For being a good communicator when talking about Anansi the African spider.
1m
Florence
For being a good inquirer this week. You drew a fantastic African mask design.
1r
Teddy
Being a good inquirer this week as part of our inquiry into Africa. Well done.
ACHIEVEMENT CERTIFICATES THIS WEEK GO TO:
6H
Alison
For showing real maturity in your attitude to all areas of school life.
You are a role model to all. Fantastic!
6J
Petru
For your well explained arguments when discussing whether playtimes should be banned within school. You thought carefully about your ideas and were able to clearly justify each point you made.
6M
Pranav
For settling into your new school really well. You have shown yourself to be confident and willing to work together with your new classmates.
6C
Vaaniya
For fantastic assessment results as a result of hard work and consistent applicationof knowledge.
5g
Luke
For working very hard on his Times Table Rockstars challenges this week.
5r
James
Working hard in lessons and remembering interesting facts about our learning. Keep it up, James!
5w
Miley
For some fantastic independent maths work this week! You have tried really hard to understand perimeter!
4b
Seren
For producing a beautiful Roman shield design. You took your time and painted it so carefully. It looks wonderful!
4dp
Caitlin
For showing fantastic concentration this week. You have put so much effeort into every task and completed all our activities. You are such a super star!
4g
Adam
For wonderful Inquiry work - raising great questions and thinking deeply about the Romans' effect on Britain plus amazing presentation.
3b
Sebby
For fantastic poetry writing. I really enjoyed reading your metaphor and Kennings poem this week. Well done!
3l
Callum
For a brilliant effort in your assessments this week. You made sure to read the questions carefully and check through your answers thoroughly. I am very impressed. Well done!
3s
Alex
For working hard to develop your explanations to show your understanding in our maths reasoning questions.
2f
Rosa
For working so hard with her maths this week! She has trie dher best when solving tricky problems, well done Rosa!
2h
Rubie
For being a kind, caring and happy member of the class and for showing a positive attitude toward your learning.
2t
Luca
For always trying his very best whether solving Maths problems, writing in an engaging way or making Victorian cards and decorations.
1lt
Stevie
For writing interesting sentences about the Grandfather from Pretty Salma. You tried really hard to sound out your words!
1m
Emily
For writing some good descriptive sentences. Well done.
1r
Phoebe
Always trying your best in everything you do. Your behaviour is excellent too. You are a great role model. Well done.
Poster for recruiting Girls.pdf
Our performances might have been short and sweet, but we left the audience wanting more! We managed to include an amazing 48 dancers this year and they were Christmas Angels both on and off stage. I’m so proud of them all. What these children have achieved in just 5 weeks is amazing! A HUGE shout out to all the Phoenix Dancers who we couldn’t fit on the stage but were still in the audience smiling, and hopefully still dancing away! You are just as important and it meant so much that you were still there.
Also a mention to the Paddock Wood choir, who performed brilliantly - well done everyone.
Definitely feeling more Christmassy!
National Online Safety
Just a reminder that all parents have access to this brilliant resource to support Online Safety, at both home and school.
This week's guide is focussed on Age-Inappropriate Content. It's so difficult when your children are wanting to play games which are not appropriate, but they tell you that all their friends do. For a quick help guide, this gives you information about how to talk to your children about this.
Another great place to look for unbiased opinions is https://www.commonsensemedia.org/homepage where each game is reviewed and you can see what the content involves and what other parents think.