Weekly Newsflash! 22nd November 2024
Coming up next week…
| Monday | – N/R/Y1 Sports Club @ Bainbridge |
| Tuesday | – Swimming Lessons – Forest Skills Club (Autumn Block 2) @ Askrigg |
| Wednesday | – Great North Air Ambulance Collection – Singing Club @ Askrigg – Y2- 6 Sports Club @ Askrigg |
| Thursday | – Clarinet Lessons |
| Friday | – Science Club @ Askrigg |
Calendar
Headteacher’s Message
Our staff have also enjoyed some training on neurodiversity this week, which at one point involved us trying to write an essay while coping with ball bearings in our shoes, scourers in our sleeves and overheating caused by rustling space blankets! Thank you to all our staff for being such good sports – it was worth it to understand how life can feel for someone with autism.
If any parents or carers would like to access some free autism training, NYC Inclusion have a 2-day course in Northallerton on 5th & 6th February 2025, which can also be downloaded. To book on / download the training parents will need to register on the NYES website, put parent in the job title/organisation boxes and ‘attend training course’ in reason section. Click here for a quick link: Unlocking Autism for Parents & Carers 2 Day Course | NYES Info.
Our Year 5 and Year 6 pupils have also had lots of fun while learning this week. They took part in a trip to Crucial Crew which they were eager to tell me about. This is a fantastic event put on by the emergency services that teaches children how to keep themselves safe: the water and fire safety demonstrations were particularly exciting!
On a more serious note, I have sent an important email today to all parents regarding WhatsApp. The minimum age for WhatsApp is 13 years old but I am aware that many of our children have mobile phones and may be using it. We have been warned by local secondary schools of a dangerous Whatsapp group that includes pornography and self-harm messages and which is targeting children in the area. Please read the email carefully and support your child to keep safe.
Finally, a plea from our wonderful catering team. They are always keen to do everything possible to accommodate changes to lunch arrangements but this can be challenging as their own food delivery orders need to be submitted quite a long way in advance. Please can we ask for your help with this? We would be very grateful if you could stick to your school dinner or packed lunch arrangements wherever possible and only change this if absolutely necessary, in which case we will of course try and accommodate. It also helps if we get plenty of notice of any changes. Thank you very much!
I wish you all have a lovely (possible snowy!) weekend.
Vicky Collins, Executive Headteacher
GNAAS Collection
Upper Wensleydale Benefice
Robins
Big smiles in a Nursery maths session this week! The Reception Robins enjoyed playing a game in maths. Mrs Park was very impressed with how well the children supported each other throughout the game!
We had a wedding this week in Robins! We had a bride with her veil and a groom in a very jazzy outfit!
We looked at the bible this week and the Robins knew we can learn about God and Jesus in the Bible. We discussed how Christians believe that God made the world.
We have had A LOT of fun with fluffy sand. We loved stretching and squeezing it and the children were fantastic at sharing it to make sure everyone could have a go…including Mrs Park and Mrs Teasdale!
Owls
In PSHE this week we have been talking about how we are different and recording this on our gingerbread person. We are adding to them each week as part of our celebrating differences unit.
In DT we made the cover for our moving pictures book and started to create the moving characters.
Swallows
In Design and Technology last week, the Swallows have continued their Ferris wheel project by fixing their wheel to its axle, deciding whether they wanted the axle to be fixed or free. Thank you to all the parents who have sent in boxes and plastic bottles for the frames. By the time the newsflash is published the children will have created bases for their wheels.
In Science, the Swallows have continued their work on materials by testing different materials to see if they squash, bend, stretch or twist.
In PE, the Swallows have started their new unit on health and wellbeing and completed a circuit of activities, recording their results. In a few weeks time we will repeat the circuit to see if our strength, speed and stamina has improved. The Swallows have already set the bar very high!
Golden Eagles
The response to our request for boxes was massive – massive in quantity and size. So we decided to build a single massive castle! It had to be outside as it wouldn’t fit anywhere else. We couldn’t stick it together…….not enough glue! We loved this activity. We really developed a good understanding of nets, the use of scored folds and that wide based shapes were more stable.
It’s been an action packed week in the Golden Eagles with lots of fun and games, as well of lots of learning! In science we have been conducting experiments involving melting ice cubes. We timed how long it took for the ice to melt in hot water and then in cold water.
In geography we constructed models which show how rivers are formed and labelled them with the new vocabulary we have learned.
As we have been working so hard and demonstrating the values of the Christian Vision we have earned enough class token for our next class treat – we were allowed to play board games for an hour!
Herons
This week the Herons started their week visiting Crucial Crew. Whilst at Crucial Crew we experienced five workshops: internet safety, fire safety, water safety, impact of smoking and vaping and the dangers of drugs. We learnt lots, but also knew lots already which was great to see.
In English, we have been progressing towards writing our own story. This week we looked at how to use similes, metaphors and personification to enhance our writing. We also enjoyed using ‘talk for writing’ to help us with our ideas and structure.
Fractions has been our maths topic this week. We have been looking at equivalent fractions and converting improper fractions to mixed numbers.
We found our PSHE lesson on racism really interesting and had some brilliant discussion about the negative impact of racism on society.
In music this week we further developed our clarinet skills and those of us who were allowed were really excited about taking our clarinets home with us.
Merlins
In PSHE, the Merlins have been exploring their new topic ‘Celebrating Differences’. We have looked at power struggles and how a person or group can gain power over another. In groups, we looked at difference scenarios and discussed who had the power in each one and how they were able to gain that power. We had some fabulous in-depth discussions and explanations.
