Newsletters

Our Vision

We believe that our children should have the aspiration and opportunity to ‘Live life in all its fullness’ and ‘Shine like stars in the sky’.

New this week…
 
ANNUAL UPDATE – School Behaviour and Communication Policies
As we settle in to the new academic year, we are writing to share our updated Behaviour Policy and Communication Policy. These updates are shared annually to ensure that our school community continues to be a safe, happy and productive environment for all pupils.
A successful school experience relies on a strong partnership between home and school and we ask that you review these policy updates.

HARVEST FESTIVAL
Our school Harvest Festival which will take place on Thursday 15^th October at 2.30pm in St Nicholas Church.  On the day, we are inviting the children to bring in food items or toiletries which will be taken to a local food bank.  Please see below for a list of suggested items:
•    Long life milk
•    Rice pouches (plain microwave rice preferred)
•    Tinned meat (eg stewed beef in gravy, mince in gravy, tinned ham, corned beef, hot dogs, meatballs)
•    Tinned carrots
•    Pasta sauce
•    Rice pudding
•    Custard
•    Biscuits
•    Washing powder/gel pods
•    Toiletries – such as sanitary products, toilet rolls, shampoo, soap, body sprays, toothbrushes
•    Nappies (sizes 5 and 6) and baby wipes
•    Cleaning products – such as antibacterial spray, toilet cleaner (NOT bleach), multi-purpose cleaner
 
Items must be in date please. Thank you for your kindness.

FOREST SCHOOL
This term’s Forest School sessions will take place on Wednesday afternoons, alternating between Asteroid and Rocket classes.  The next session will be for Asteroids (including Y3) next Wednesday (14th).  Children should bring their Forest School kit in a bag to get changed when it is time for their session. 
Many thanks to the parent who came along to lend a hand this week.  If any other parents or carers would like to help with a session, do let your child’s class teacher know.  It is always great to have additional volunteers.

Spotlights from Learning…

This week, Rocket Class has been learning about autumn and the seasonal changes that happen at this time of year. We have talked about harvest, the changing weather, and the beautiful colours of autumn leaves. We went outside to collect leaves to create our own autumn wreath... feel free to have a peek at it on our outside door! We loved exploring all the beautiful colours and shapes of the leaves. Inspired by the beautiful leaves, we also used our observational skills in Art to draw leaves and other autumn objects, exploring different textures that help make our artwork come to life.

We have also been doing some more work with Rosie's Walk, thinking about the part where the fox splashes into the pond. We talked about what happens when we splash in puddles and how it feels to get wet! We enjoyed watching Singin' in the Rain to help us think of words to describe what happens when we get wet like the fox in the book, such as soaked, soggy, dripping and drenched.

In Comets, we have moved on to the events of Sunday 2^nd September 1666 in our diary writing.  The Y2s had a great morning with Mrs Fielder imagining what it would have been like as the Great Fire of London took hold and the Y3s caught up with this with Mrs Cornforth when they returned from their Dodgeball Festival in the afternoon.
In Maths, we have been using our addition and subtraction facts when working with larger numbers.  Y2s have been adding and subtracting multiples of ten whilst the Y3s have been finding pairs of numbers which equal 100. 
 
In Asteroids, most of the Year 3/4 children enjoyed taking part in a Dodgeball Festival at Outwood Academy in Ripon. Our children were commended for their positive behaviour and team spirit by staff from other schools. Well done to all who attended - we are so proud! Our learning in science continues with children making switches to add to complete circuits which can light bulbs - all children have worked hard in our science lessons. Year 5/6 were fully engaged in discussing online safety and how to screen shot on line bullying on devices such as mobile phones and tablets and also how to report online bullying. If your child uses devices at home for social media or online gaming, you may wish to ensure they know how to take screen shots of anything they receive that might worry them, show trusted adults and check that they know how to report any online bullying. We have discussed looking for three dots and selecting report, looking for profiles and selecting report and, on WhatsApp, holding the post received and selecting report. All children have now received a reading journal and we have had some lovely discussions about the reading they have journaled in them in words and pictures. We love to hear their book recommendations and opinions of texts we read in class!

Let's Celebrate!
It is always great to hear about the children's achievements outside of school too. Last weekend, Freddie went along to help with some miniature Shetland ponies in a show.  He  took 'Tilly' in the young handlers' class and got first prize! He enjoyed showing his rosettes and telling Comet Class all about the mum, Tilly, and her foal, Jungle Bungle.  Well done, Freddie - we know that your family are very proud of you.
 
Reminders…
YOUNG VOICES
Just a reminder that if your child would like to sign up for the Young Voices concert in January, you need to do that as soon as possible as we need to confirm numbers with the event organisers.
 
JAM MESSY CHURCH
Our next JAM session will be taking place after school on Monday 19^th October.  More details, including how to sign up, to follow next week…
 
WELLBEING AMBASSADORS
Perhaps inspired by the work of Evie and Joey last year, a couple of children have already expressed an interest in becoming a school Wellbeing Ambassador.  These positions are open to any children in Y5/Y6.  There are two vacancies to fill.  Should your child wish to be considered, they can apply in writing to Miss Mandelson, explaining why they would like to become a Wellbeing Ambassador and which skills they feel they could bring to the role.  The deadline for applications is Monday 19^th October please.

Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Updates

Please see the training available on the North Yorkshire Best Start in life portal, parents are encouraged to sign up and use their login to book the courses.
It is recommended that these courses are completed for neurodiversity before requesting a Children & Families worker from Early Help.
Training & Events | Best Start In Life | North Yorkshire – Please follow this link

News from the wider community

NEWS FROM THE BENEFICE
St Mary’s, Masham will be running a free Arts and Crafts Activity Day during the half-term holiday.  Please see below for contact details to book a place: …and please click below for more news from the Benefice.
  -Pew News wc 111026.pdf-  

MESSAGES FROM…
THE FRIENDS PTA GROUP
In the coming weeks, the Friends group will be organising a book sale at Tesco and would welcome any donations of books for the stall.  These can be books for any age-group, children or adults.  If you have any books that you no longer need, please do drop them off at school and we’ll make sure they get to the right place. Many thanks.

…MADELEINE, RACHEL AND HELEN
We have teamed up with the Friends of Hell Wath to run a FREE Autumn Family Fun Forest School Day on the Monday of half-term. See below for further details…