North Wheatley C of E Primary School News May 2016

EYFS
This week the children in Early Years have learned the story of St George and the Dragon. The role-play area has been transformed into a castle and they have enjoyed dressing up as knights, dragons and maidens, with some of the older children acting out the
story. In Maths, the children have programmed the bee-bot using directional language to
slay the dragon and rescue the princess. In English, the children have described dragons
and thought about how St George and the villagers felt after the dragon had been killed!

Class 1
This term Class 1 will be studying rock pools and coastlines in their new topic 'Beachcombers'. There will be a
particular focus on science as we will be experimenting with water, discussing melting, evaporating and filtering.
In English we have begun to explore Julia Donaldson stories, especially those ones based under the sea! Our
role play area is also themed - we have our very own seaside fish and chip shop!

Class 3 and their Scream machine

Pupils in Class 3 have started their new topic with a virtual roller coaster ride! As the
photograph suggests, we watched videos of virtual roller coaster rides and then worked
in groups to see if we could choreograph our movements to suggest the speed and excitement of a roller coaster. The children have also written some superb poems which
convey the experience of a ride. We now intend to look at the science behind these
Scream Machines in order to develop our knowledge of physics.

The all-new-and-improved football kit!

We would like to say a huge thank you to the PTFA and everyone who has
supported their fund-raising events over the last few years. As a result of all
their efforts, we now have a very smart new football kit in which the North
Wheatley C.E. Primary football team have already enjoyed their first success,
winning their most recent match 4-0. A very heartfelt thank you must also go
this season to Mr Chicken, our coach, and to the grandparents of Charlie and
Eva Johnson for their very generous gift of some new tracksuit jackets to
wear whilst travelling to matches - we are very grateful for your generosity, as
well as for the support of all the parents who have followed the team this year, enabling them to play at different
schools and providing them with much-appreciated encouragement from the side-lines.
Breaking News Our Champion of Champions final match is Tuesday 3rd May @Blyth school when we
will be playing Dunham School. Please do come and support your team! Kick off will be around 3.40pm.

Up and coming special events

Yard sale in aid of Little Princess Trust and School13th May 3pm all donations
welcome
PTFA Spring Ball at The Crown Hotel, Bawtry 6th May 2016
Summer production auditions19th May 2016
Summer productionFriday 1st July 2016
Please do check our website calendar for all our latest blogs, videos, information and events.

North Wheatley C of E Primary School News May 2016

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome back to the Summer Term in school! I hope it is going be a very sunny one which will enable pupils to
make the most of our much safer outdoor play areas. As a Headteacher it is always a very rewarding term when
we see how much pupils have developed since the start of the year .
Art Competition
We are always very proud of our pupils achievements, both in and out of school. This term we have already got
lots to celebrate! Pupils astounded us with their enthusiastic response to the art challenge during the Easter
break. The artwork showed their vivid imaginations as well as a high level of technical skill. Most importantly, we
appreciated how talented our pupils were! Tuxford Academy had far more entries than usual this year so sadly,
they werent able to exhibit all the work produced. We were delighted that Class 1 pupils, Ella, Hope and Grace
were winners in their age group and were invited to a presentation evening at The Sally Mitchell Art Gallery in
Tuxford. A big well done to everyone.
Individual achievements
Celebrating individual achievements and particularly those that demonstrate pupils ability to think of others before themselves is something we hold dear. This week, one of our Year 3 pupils is donating her hair in aid of the
Little Princess Trust Charity. Her hair will then be sent to China where it will be made into a wig for children with
cancer. Natalie discussed her decision with pupils in Collective Worship this week. Well done Natalie, we are really proud of you! In other news, Year 5 pupils Josh and Eva recently took part in the Elizabethan Academys
journalist for a day experience when they joined with other local schools and EAs students to write news report
for the BBC. The EA were particularly impressed with Josh and Evas skills not only in writing the reports but also
interviewing important people including Mrs Horrocks, principle of EA. What great ambassadors for our school!
Parents forum
There was a fabulous turn out at our Parents Forum last Thursday. The forum was led by two of our newer Governors, Sharon and Roger, who answered some great questions about the running of the school, discussed the
Governments proposals for academisation and how we might like to celebrate the Queens 90th Birthday in
June. Some of the improvements parents suggested that they would like clarification of which year groups related
to each key stage, less educational terminology in reports and a welcome pack for new EYFS families which
gives clear guidance about routines and expectations. Roger and Sharon are looking forward to hosting the next
forum in the Autumn Term - remember to put the date in your diary when we send out the calendar of events for
2016/17.
SATs
All the staff and Governors would like to wish our Year 6 and Year 2 pupils all the very best of luck when they sit
the new style SATS test . All our pupils work incredibly hard all year round but this year very sadly, the pressure
has greatly increased for the Year 6 pupils as the will be tested on a much harder curriculum after only studying it
for two years. We feel it is really important that everyone realises that these tests are only a snapshot of what pupils can achieve and that we want all pupils to develop into well rounded, creative and most importantly, happy
young people who have the skills to always do their best, however big the challenge. We are proud of them all, all
of the time, so if you get chance to wish Good luck next week to the Year 6 pupils when they sit their tests I am
sure they will appreciate it! Likewise in the last week of term, please do the same for our amazing Year 2 pupils
who will be taking their tests just before half-term. I am sure you will hear the celebrations when the tests are all
over!
As always, we are here to help. Please do not hesitate to catch me on the playground in the mornings or pop in to
find me if I can help with anything at all. My door is always open and its good to talk!

Joanna Hall