Weekly Newsletter

Upcoming Dates

Monday 10th November

• CARE Week begins!

• Odd Socks Day

Tuesday 11th November

• 9am Reception Parent Drop In

• 11am Remembrance Service

Friday 14th November

• OPAL Stay and Play

Monday 17th November

• Reception fine motor skills workshop in the hall, 9:15am

Friday 21st November

• Non-Uniform Day in exchange for tombola prizes

Wednesday 26th November

• Rainbow Group meeting at The Hive, 9am - 10am

Friday 28th November

• Cake donations can be brought to school for the fayre

• Theatre group performance in school

Saturday 29th November

• PSA Christmas Fayre, 11am - 2pm

Tuesday 2nd December

• Reception Christmas Crafts in the hall, 9am

Wednesday 3rd December

• Year 6 Christmas Performance in Bath

• PSA Christmas Wreath Workshop, 7pm - 9pm

Friday 5th December

• Dress as an Animal - Pupil Voice fundraising day

Thursday 11th December

• Nursery Christmas singing and crafts, 2pm

Sunday 14th December

• PSJ Churches Together Christmas Carol Service, held at PSJ School

Tuesday 16th December

• Reception Nativity, 9:15am

• Year 1 & 2 Christmas Performance, 10:30am

• Year 4 Christmas Coffee and Carols, 2:15pm

Wednesday 17th December

• Reception Nativity, 9:15am

• Year 5 Christmas Coffee and Carols, 2:15pm

Thursday 18th December

• Year 1 & 2 Christmas Performance, 9:15am

• Year 3 Christmas Coffee and Carols, 2:15pm

Friday 19th December

• Last Day of Term 2

Monday 5th January

• INSET Day

Tuesday 6th January

• Term 3 starts for children

Message from Mrs Noall

This week is a very exciting week where we are celebrating difference, standing up to bullying and exploring our CARE Values in House teams. We started today with Odd Socks Day and an assembly from the Guide Dog Association with a visit from Sandy the Ambassador Dog. This week we also have a Reception coffee morning, our Remembrance Service and OPAL Stay and play to look forward to this week. 

We are really looking forward to seeing as many parents as possible for the OPAL Stay and Play. Start rummaging now for donations of OPAL items please.

Please note that the timings for OPAL Stay and Play were incorrect in the email on Friday. The correct times are as per all newsletters:

• KS2: 1:00 – 2:00pm

• KS1: 2:00 – 3:00pm

We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

News and Events

Remembrance

We would like to create a display showing photos or other items belonging to our school community showing family members who have, or currently, serve in the armed forces. If you have any photos or other items that you would be willing to share in this display please send them to Mrs Dallimore, Year 4 Teal Class. 

On Tuesday 11th November we will be led in our service by Rev. Matthew Street. Children who are part of the guides, scouting or boys/girls brigade, cadets groups may come to school in these uniforms for the day.

Promotional Video

On Wednesday morning we will be filming a promotional video for the school. Two cameramen from River Axe Media will spend the morning capturing the essence of what makes our school brilliant before turning this into a film we can use to promote the school to prospective families. Please be assured that all our normal safeguarding procedures will be in place throughout and we will only film children for whom we have permission. If you would like to withdraw your child from this as a one-off please let your child's teacher or the school office know.

Reminders

Christmas Dinner

We now have details of PSJ's Christmas Dinner menu which will take place on Wednesday 17th December.  We hope every child possible will want to join in with our seasonal celebration that day.  For this, you will need to pre-book via School Grid by 10.00 pm on Thursday 11th December.  If you haven't yet activated your child's School Grid meal account because they usually have a packed lunch, we have arranged for log in details to be re-sent to you by the end of this week.

Polite reminder - School Grid not Arbor is used for our PSJ's school meals.  The weekly booking deadline is 10.00 pm every Thursday for the following school week.

Class News

Find out what we have been up to on our class pages and on Face Book. In the first week back we had a visit from the RSPCA, we have made wreaths for Remembrance, our Head's Ambassadors have represented the school in the village, our Year 4s visited the Roman Baths and Year 2 have taken part in forest school!

Home Learning

The button below will take you to this week's home learning for every year group. Home learning is designed to enable children to practice skills they will need in school and so it is really important that they spend some time over the week on this home learning. 

PFSA Updates

Would you like to help your child understand their worries and fears and learn how you can support them?  I am hoping to run a 6 week workshop for parents and carers with the Mental Health Support Team next term.  If you are interested please let me know either by emailing me at pfsa@peasedown.mnsp.org.uk  or calling the office, Catherine Parent, Family Support Advisor.  

EYFS Updates

PSJ BITESIZE First challenge - GROSS MOTOR SKILLS ACTIVITY

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT - GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

The gross motor skills used by the pivotal shoulder and elbow muscles for writing can be developed through the following movements: 

• crawling

• walking 

• running

• jumping

• hopping

• skipping

• creeping 

• slithering

• spinning 

• turning 

• twisting

• pushing and pulling

As well as the need for providing activities for children to strengthen their gross motor skills, children also need physical activity to keep themselves fit and healthy. According to the NHS, young children need to do 2 types of physical activity each week: aerobic exercise and exercises to strengthen their muscles and bones. Young children should:

• aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity a day across the week.

• take part in a variety of types and intensities of physical activity across the week to develop movement skills, muscles and bones.

• reduce the time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity. (NHS.UK, 2024)

Physical challenge

One activity that we do daily in nursery and more so in  reception that combines aerobic exercise with gross motor skills is guided dance. We use our guided dance sessions in short bursts throughout the day when children have been engaging in adult-led activities on the carpet. They are especially useful in reception after our phonics and maths lessons to get children moving and ready to engage in their next learning activities. You can have a go at these with your child at home using the following links:

Challenge - HAVE A GO AT THE GUIDED DANCES 

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2eRNzsAZg4 

The Wheels on the Bus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IakxxOWOsLY 

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp8lLFTMwNY 

Ping Pong Light Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUGBt7vKJ9E 

Follow the Leader

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riicsTE2TzQ 

FUN FACT FOR PARENTS

Most 1 year olds are ambidextrous! Hand preference develops only by two or three years of age and 90% will be right handed.

A toddler is most active (between 2 to 4 years) than any other time in his or her life!

A child’s kneecap starts to turn bony at 3 years of age until then they are made up of cartilage!

USEFUL LINK

Free guided dance website GoNoodle https://www.gonoodle.com/ 

UPDATES

RECEPTION PARENT COFFEE MORNING - Tuesday 11th November @ 9.00am in the new hall. Come and have a chat over a hot drink and biscuits with Mrs Tutton, Early Years Phase Leader and Reception Teacher, Mrs Stevenson, class teacher, and Mrs Steadman, our Parent Support Advisor. 

RECEPTION PARENT FINE MOTOR SKILLS WORKSHOP - Monday 17th November @ 9.00am. Come and join us in the main hall  with your child to learn about how we develop fine motor skills and pencil grip. Please speak to a member of the team to sign up for a space.

RECEPTION PARENT CHRISTMAS CRAFT WORKSHOP - Tuesday 2nd December @ 9.00am. Come and join us in the main hall for Christmas creative activities with your child. Please speak to a member of the team to sign up for a space.

NURSERY PARENT CHRISTMAS CRAFT WORKSHOP - Thursday 11th December @ 2.00pm. Come and join us in the main hall for Christmas creative activities with your child.

OPAL and Forest School Updates

OPAL Stay and Play – You're Invited! 

We are excited to invite you to our OPAL Stay and Play event THIS Friday  – a wonderful opportunity to come and experience the joy and creativity of outdoor play with your children!

Event Times:

• KS2: 1:00 – 2:00pm

• KS1: 2:00 – 3:00pm

To support our OPAL play provision, we kindly ask for a donation from the list below or a £1 contribution via Arbor. Card payments will also be accepted by Mrs Stenner, who will be located by the boat in the playground.

• Laundry baskets 

• Suitcases 

• Pushchairs (real or toy) 

• Office chairs 

• Wheelbarrows 

• Tarpaulins 

• Guttering 

• PVC Pipes 

• Barrels 

• Plastic crates 

• Flexi-tubes 

• Brushes/Mops 

• Scooters 

• Chalk 

• Paintbrushes 

• Watering cans 

• Dressing up clothes 

We can't wait to welcome as many of you as possible to celebrate and share in our play – it promises to be a fantastic afternoon!

Evo Sports at PSJ

Holiday Club 

Thank you to everyone that joined us at holiday club, we had an amazing week filled with Halloween activities, arts and crafts, nerf wars, games and experiments. We will be running on the following days at Christmas and we already cannot wait. 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th December. 

After School Club

We had a lovely first week back after the holiday and we kicked off this week by discussing VE day and why it is important to us. The children then started creating some lovely poppy crosses. This week we will be focusing on Anti-Bullying week.

PSA Updates

Community News and Events