Thursday 26th May newsletter
Article 8
You have the right to an identity – an official record of who you are. No one should take this away from you.
Recent events and activities in school
KS1 SATs
Well done to Year 2 for completing their SATs assessments. All children have fully participated and tried their best with completing the tests. Year 2 results are teacher assessed and will also be sent out with reports in July.
Stone Age Day
On Friday 13th May, all three 3/4 classes were taken back in time to the days of early man - the Stone Age.
Right from the moment they arrived in class, our Stone Age man greeted them and began their delve into the past. Adam, as we found out his modern name was, took the children on a whistle-stop tour of how humans evolved resulting in homo sapien sapien and homo neanderthalis. His wide range of handmade artefacts totally enthralled the children as some of them acted out how humans were at specific points in the Stone Age.
During the morning, children investigated the difference between the skulls of homo sapien sapien and homo neanderthalis and identified the different parts of each skull. They crafted Stone Age tools using hazel, string and flint - this required A LOT of resilience and perseverance to get the flint secured to the hazel. The third activity involved hunting for a woolly mammoth - they are not extinct in Blanford Mere! The children worked well together to trap and kill the woolly mammoth and discovered why homo sapien survived as the dominant man, and why homo neanderthalis died out.
During the afternoon, the children became archaeologists using metal detectors and brushes to carefully reveal objects from the past which they sorted into Stone Age artefacts and not Stone Age. They recreated authenticate Stone Age cave art using slates, charcoal, and chalk. The most exciting activity of the afternoon involved bows, arrows and hunting for dinner!
All the children and adults had an amazing day and the children learnt so much from a true Stone Age expert.
3/4M:
Willow - "I really enjoyed Adam because he was helpful and I loved the way he entertained us all. My favourite activity was the archaeology dig."
Sam P - "I loved the tool crafting activity because I learnt about how Stone Age people made their weapons. Adam was good because his acting was fun."
3/4O:
Abdulsalam: "I had a great day. I was happy. My favourite part was shooting the bows trying to hit an animal for our dinner."
Kyla: "We were archaeologists and dug things up from the sand. We sorted them into Stone Age and not Stone Age. I also liked using the bow and arrows."
3/4C
Eden A: "I loved Stone Age Day! I learnt how to do archery and we got to make Stone Age tools."
Isabella: "I really like the archery and learning lots about the Stone Age. I loved the story of Otzi the Ice Man."
Walk to School Week 2022
Walk to School Week 16th – 20th May. As a school, we have focused on this key life skill, embracing main theme of Health and Wellbeing. At school, we have discussed the importance of healthy eating and exercise and the reasons why walking to school is important for both our bodies and the environment. Thank you to all those children whose families participated.
Year 2
Year 2 created a map and planned a route around the park, as part of their Geography work. They used their geographical skills and knowledge, they then enjoyed a walk around the park stopping at various points to make notes about the geographical features. The children loved being outdoors!
Year 5/6 Cricket at Stourbridge Cricket Club
On Wednesday 25th May, 8 Year 6 children participated in a cricket tournament against 15 schools in the local area. They played Dynamos Cricket which is a quick paced, highly accessible form of cricket that tested their batting, bowling and fielding skills.
They supported each other to compete to the very best of their ability. Their hard work and effort was rewarded with a 3rd place finish! Although all the members of the team showed great skill and contributed to their success, some performances stood out even more. Kamran's batting ability and Ethan M's bowling ability really helped put runs on the board.
PE Competition
As part of our PE curriculum, all classes take part in a half termly competition based on the topic they have been focusing on. This challenges them to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills in a competitive situation, which contributes to their physical, cognitive, emotional, and social learning. The children showed enthusiasm and competed to the best of their ability. The lucky winners are as follows:
Class 1J – 1st Leo
2nd David
3rd Ellie-Rose
Class 1C – 1st Lilly
2nd Ekhum
3rd Bethany-Rose
Competition: Teamwork/problem solving tactics
Class 2W – 1st Kian
2nd Amelia D
3rd Autumn, Halle
Class 2B – 1st Enzo
2nd Noah
3rd Darcey, Matthew, Thomas, Balraj, Amelia, Olivia S
Competition: Battleships (throwing underarm at cones)
Class 3/4C – 1st Dylan
2nd Mason
3rd Sienna
Class 3/4O – 1st Lewis
2nd Liam
3rd Luke
Class 3/4M – 1st Henry, Layla-Rose
2nd Joshua, Lily
3rd Harry, Amber
Competition: Athletics Competition
Class 5/6R – 1st Harrison G & Harman
2nd Emily & Olivia
Class 5/6B – 1st Ethan T & Dexter
2nd Jack S & Henry
Class 5/6D – 1st Tate
2nd Lily-Mai
3rd Thomas
Competition: Tennis Competition
Attendance Winners May
Well done to Year 1C Class, who won the attendance award for May with a 98.15% attendance! They can wear their own clothes on Friday 10th June.
Building work
We are pleased to let you know that we are able to start an exciting building project. Work will start during the half term break and should be completed by the end of September, at the latest. This project has been in the planning for a long time and will provide a much better use of our internal space as our pupil numbers have increased to full capacity. As part of this there will be a small extension to replace the conservatory and rehouse the office.
How will this affect you and your child?
- Learning will be uninterrupted throughout the school
- Lunchtimes will continue as normal
- Childcare clubs will all remain the same, as will extra-curricular clubs
- Throughout the project, the office accommodation will move temporarily to the Nursery entrance. The Nursery entrance can be found by walking down the main pathway, near the current office entrance. Continue on this pathway and head for the blue door, directly in front of you.
Nursery Children entrance/exit
During the project work, please drop/collect your child in the usual place. However, we would ask you to wait to the right of the pathway next to the main building. Staff will redirect children through a side entrance rather than the usual main doors.
Parking around the school
During the building project, the staff car park will be out of use and staff will park on the side roads, near to school. Parking is likely to be even busier than usual whilst the project is ongoing. We ask that you do NOT park on Mimosa Walk as this will be in constant use for deliveries and neighbours need to have access at all times. Please do not park across neighbours’ driveways – we regularly receive phone calls from frustrated and upset residents as a result of drivers parking without consideration. We would really appreciate your support with this matter.
Polite reminder
Please support our high standards and expectations regarding school uniform. Children should wear grey (not black), shorts, trousers, skirt or pinafore and red polo shirt or a red and white checked dress – summer uniform. Shoes should be black, not black trainers, as many children are wearing. We would prefer children to keep their fashion trainers to wear at home. Hair should be tied back, no jewellery except for stud earrings, these should be removed on PE days. This forms part of our behaviour policy. Thank you in advance for supporting us with this.
Trainline
Trainline have put together a guide to booking family train tickets to help people save money on train tickets and child fare information. Here is the link to their page https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/great-britain/family-train-tickets
Dates for the diary
Summer uniform can be worn from now until October half term.
Girls
- Blanford Mere red polo shirt (or suitable alternative) and grey school skirt, pinafore or trousers.
- Red and white checked/striped dress
- Sensible black shoes and white socks
Boys
- Blanford Mere red polo shirt or suitable alternative
- Grey shorts or trousers
- Sensible black shoes and grey socks (not black trainers)
Please remind children that they should not wear nail varnish or jewellery (other than a watch and/or stud earrings) for school. Don’t forget that if your child wishes to have their ears pierced the best time is beginning of the summer holidays as it is our policy that children cannot wear any kind of earrings during PE lessons.
Friday 27th May - INSET day - school closed to pupils.
W/C Monday 6th June - Year 4 Multiplication Times tables Check begin.
W/C Monday 6th June - Year 1 Phonic Screen Checks begin and Year 2 recheck.
Thursday 21st July - School closes for the Summer break.
Friday 22nd July – Schools closed due to being given an extra day for the Queen’s Jubilee
Have a wonderful half term break and enjoy the historic Jubilee celebrations that are taking place over the holiday.
We look forward to seeing the children back in school on Monday 6th June at their usual time.
Mrs Miller and Miss Stanton
