Article 29
Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.
Attendance winners:
Attendance winners for October were 5/6HO with an amazing 98.33%. They can wear their won clothes to school on Monday 4th November.
Congratulations!
The following children have been selected to be Sports Ambassadors and received their training from Mr Raybould:
Lily MC
Darcey
Isla
Autumn
Daniel
Ruby
Harry S
Leo T
Archie
Mathew
Abigail
George F
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Thank you! We had a fantastic response to our Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 27th September - raising a £1028.68! Thank you to all those who made this possible—to those parents who donated so many cakes and to everyone who supported by attending the coffee morning or cake sale. We appreciated your support, and I know the money will be well used by Macmillan. Thank you to Mr Baker and ‘singing club’ for providing the music and entertainment.
Well done!
Congratulations to Jenson J on securing a part in the fabulous show Matilda – well done - a real success!
Art Ambassadors
Thank you to all of the entrants for the role of Art Ambassador.
Many students were keen to take on the responsibility of the role - they wanted to share their creative talents, were willing to give up their own time for meetings and were eager for all children to enjoy art.
The new Art Ambassadors came to their first meeting bussing with ideas for the term ahead.
I am really looking forward to working with our new Art Ambassadors.
Mrs Cope (Art Lead)
Well done to:
Chloe S Y3
Robyn Y3
Oliver SY4
Sienna BY4
Hugo M Y5
Darcey G Y5
Jonty MY6
Charlie HY6
Year 5/6HO Class assembly
Thank you to Mrs Oliver and and Yr 5/6HO for holding our first-class assembly this term. The children performed and sang for parents and their families about WW2 – the children were amazing, and we know that many parents enjoyed the performance! Well done.
Football
On Friday 4th October, 8 children represented Blanford Mere in a football tournament at Ellowes Hall Sports College. They competed against other schools in mini-5-a-side matches, defending well and scoring goals. Unfortunately, they did not progress to the finals after coming second in their group, which was still a great result. However, they showed great teamwork and determination and represented the school in a respectful manner. Well, done to Maddie, Sienna-Rose, Rose, Luca, Dylan, Leo, Logan and George!
Harvest Appeal – Black Country Foodbank
Thank you for your donations. We will let you know how much you raised after the holiday.
Poetry Day 2024
Thursday 3rd October was National Poetry Day. All across the school, children were writing poetry based on the poem "Ten Things Found in a Shipwrecked Sailor’s Pocket" By Eleanor Farjeon.
A litre of sea.
An unhappy jellyfish.
A small piece of a lifeboat.
A pencil wrapped around with seaweed.
A soaking feather.
The first page of a book called Swimming is Easy.
A folded chart showing dangerous rocks.
A photograph of a little girl in a red dress.
A gold coin.
A letter from a mermaid.
Children in Reception worked together to rewrite the poem using the contents of the farmer's pockets. This was from the book "What the Ladybird Heard". They performed their poem to Mrs Oliver and she was very impressed with their performance which included actions as well as words. Children in KS1 rewrote the poem using the contents of their own pockets or their teacher's pocket! Children in Year 3/4 extended the poem using some fantastic, descriptive, reasons as to why the sailor had these things. In Year 5/6, the children were able to link the poem to their work on World War II and used what they thought an evacuee might have in their pocket and why.
Dotted around school were 30 poems that are favourites of staff and some of the school governors. Children had the opportunity to read these poems and the reasons why they were favourites. This helped them to have the opportunity to read a variety of poems by different poets - modern and some classics.
The buzz around school was electric and hearing children talking about poetry was fantastic.
Reception:
Piper-Mae: “A poem is a little story.”
Aoife: “Poems sometimes have rhyming words in them, but not all the time.”
1MC:
Adam-Lee: "We are learning about poems and so are children all over the UK because it's poetry day!"
1DJ:
Eden: “We have been writing about what is in our pocket.”
Mason: “A Poem can be rhyming words.”
2TD:
Anaya: “I enjoyed rewriting and changing a poem.”
Archie: “I enjoyed searching and reading the different poems around school.”
2BH
Grayson: "I really enjoyed writing our own poem called '10 things found in a teacher's classroom'"
Manahal: I though poetry day was really because I liked all the things that we really found in a shipwrecked sailor's pocket"
Logan: "I thought it was goo because there was lots of learning and I like learning."
34CW:
Kayla: “I think World Poetry Day is good because if you want to be a poet when you're older, it'll be easier to get that job. We learnt about what the items meant to the sailor.”
34MC:
Bethany-Rose: “I liked reading the poem in English because I liked reading about the mermaid. It was a great day.”
Chloe: “I loved watching Michael Rosen read his poems - he is very funny; especially when he read 'Chocolate Cake'.”
56HO:
Isla W: "I enjoyed reading some of the teacher's favourite poems that were displayed all around school. Talking Turkey was my favourite because it was really funny."
56MB:
Lily MC: "It was fun to make poems and I enjoyed learning about what evacuees had to take with them when they were evacuated. I liked finding this out because it was all about our WWII topic."
Abdulsalam: "I enjoyed writing a poem about WWII. We imagined what an evacuee would have in their pocket. I liked writing 10 things that might be in their pocket."
56AR:
Oliver: “I liked the fact you can express yourself writing poetry and I enjoyed going around the school looking at different ones.”
Leo: “I enjoyed writing my own poem about WW2 evacuees. It was fun to present it in an interesting way.”
Take 10
On Thursday 10th October, at 10am, everyone across school dropped everything to 'Take 10' to read. This was part of World Mental Health Day. Research which explored children and young people's reading in 2023 shows the power of reading to boost mental health and wellbeing. 3 in 5 children and young people aged 5 to 18 said that they read because it relaxed them, and nearly 1 in 2 read because it made them feel happy. Reading for pleasure is one of many ways that everyone can boost their mental health. Reading can take you everywhere!
1DJ:
Max "I felt happy because we were relaxing."
2TD:
Archie: “I loved it because it made me feel calm and relaxed because I love reading.”
34JC:
Orla-Mae McCallister: “It was lovely and made me feel all calm and peaceful.”
34CW:
Joseph: “We read our home readers for 10 minutes at 10 o'clock for World Mental Health Day.”
Savannah: “I enjoyed stopping to read for 10 minutes. It was so relaxing.”
56HO:
Autumn: "I really liked it because it was calm. I think everyone that likes reading liked it. We could sit wherever we wanted so we were comfortable. People sat under the tables or on two chairs with their feet up."
Masie: “Take 10 it was good, we had the freedom to read whatever we wanted and relax. My book had a comedy part.”
56MB:
Aoife: "I felt really relaxed when I was reading. It was a nice break from maths!"
56AR:
Thomas: "I found Take 10 to read very relaxing and if you read each day you will get better at reading and writing."
Year 3/4 Dodgeball
On Friday 18th October, 10 children from year 3/4 took part in a dodgeball event. They enjoyed showcasing their dodging, throwing and catching skills in the non-competitive games. The children were a credit to Blanford Mere and represented the school to the highest standard. The children involved were: Ella-Rose, Francesca, Sidney, Logan Pe, Luke, Rocco, Logan Pa, Harvey, Tilly-Mai and Ekhum.
Year 34JC Assembly
Well done to Year 3/4JC for their super class assembly about the Romans. They have learnt such a lot, in such a short space of time. Thank you to the parents/relatives who attended.
Value Inspired Person Assembly
Congratulations to our first VIPs (Value Inspired Person) assembly for this half term. Our value for this half term has been ‘Self Belief’. Parents of the VIP’s were invited as a surprise – this was a wonderful end to the half term.
NNP Maja
NSS Teddy
RLK Vihaan
RNP Violet-Ivy
1MC Marcella
1DJ Reuben
2BH Zailey
2TD Archie
34CW Savannah
34JC Charlie
34MC Lilly
56MB Jessica
56HO Samuel
56 AR Eesha
Poppy Appeal 2024
We are supporting the ‘Poppy Appeal again this year by selling poppies and other related goods such as bracelets, key rings, rulers, pencils etc (priced at either 50p, £1 or £1.50). Mrs Needle will bring the goods around to classes for the children to purchase.
Dates for the Diary
Monday 28th October – Friday 1st November – Half term
Monday 4th November – Children return to school at the usual time.
Friday 8th November – Remembrance Day in school.
Children who attend Cubs, Rainbows, Beavers, Brownies, etc can come dressed in their uniform.
Tuesday 19th November – 5.00pm. Year 6 Parent SATs meeting. Email has been sent.
Friday 15th November – Children In Need.
Children to wear own clothes and donate £1 via School Money.
Tuesday 26th November – Blanford Babies – The Hub – 9am-10am
Wednesday 27th November – Tempest Photographer in (PM) for children who did not have their photo taken.
Thursday 5th December– Film Night. 3.15pm-5.15pm. More details to follow.
Thursday 12th December (am only)– Year 1 - Year 6 Christmas Church Service.
More details to follow.
Friday 13th December – Christmas Breakfast – Year 1 – Year 6 only.
More details to follow.
Friday 13th December – Save the Children – Christmas Jumper Day.
Wear a Christmas jumper and own clothes and donate £1 to Save the Children
Tuesday 17th December – Nursery/Reception Christmas Workshop and Singalong.
More
details to follow.
Tuesday 17th December – Blanford Babies – The Hub – 9am-10am
Tuesday 18th December – Christmas Lunch
Wednesday 19th December – Santa’s Grotto. More details to follow.
Friday 20th December – School closes for Christmas Break.
Monday 6th January 2025 – Children return to school at the usual time.
Have a wonderful week.
Mrs Crook and Miss Stanton
