It was lovely and sunny this afternoon so Peregrine Class went outside for a spot of gardening in our Learning Garden. They all worked very hard and managed to prune the Buddleia and rake up the leaves on the herb garden. They also harvested the leeks which they planted at the end of the Summer Term; Sue, the school cook, will be using them for school dinners. Finally, they planted out some garlic bulbs which will also be used in the school kitchen later in the year.
CROSS COUNTRY at Tupton Hall.
The cross country competition takes place on Thursday 6th March from 3.45pm to 5.15pm at Tupton Hall School.
The children will need to be transported to and from the event and parents are warmly encouraged to stay and support and cheer on our school. The children need trainers , shorts or jogging bottoms, t-shirt and a bottle of water. They can get changed in school before 3.30pm so that they can be collected and leave school on time.
The main competition is for Year 4,5 and 6 children and the fun competition, which is a shorter distance is for Year 2 and Year 3 children.
This event is really good for physical exercise and fitness; it is also the chance to represent your school and good practice for the SPORT RELIEF MILE ( Friday 21st March) as well as being good fun so it would be fantastic to get as many children involved as possible.
In previous years children have experienced great pride in representing their school and also in themselves for the achievement of taking part and completing the challenge.
Letters and slips were sent home week beginning 23rd February. Please return these to school to confirm your child’s attendance and transport arrangements. Thank you.
In the morning the children looked at some different artefacts from tombs, they discussed the daily life of people from different stages in the hierachy and they created and then described some smells from ancient Egypt. The final part of the morning involved dressing a child as an ancient Egyptian pharoah!
In the afternoon the children all got dressed up and took part in an ancient Egyptian burial ceremony. The children thoroughly enjoyed this and they acted their roles brilliantly.
Finally the children did an arts and crafts session and made their own Egyptian cartouche.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and learnt a lot about the way of life in ancient Egypt.
We’d like to thank Partake theatre for the excellent day!
Following up-dated guidance from the local authority (Oct 2013) the governors have discussed and have reviewed our school policy regarding jewellery and piercings in school.
Our school code of dress policy (reviewed and distributed to parents in July 2013) clearly explains that jewellery is not to be worn in school, apart from a watch and small, plain, STUD earrings due to health and safety concerns. The policy also states that all jewellery and ear rings must be removed for PE and swimming and that if the child is unable to remove earrings themselves then they should not be worn on PE / swimming days.
To clarify the issue of pierced ears further – If your child has pierced ears then the governors request that your child be provided with a small box or container in which to place earrings during PE, swimming and practical activities. Staff will not under any circumstances be expected to or allowed to remove any earrings being worn by a young person. Your child remains responsible for the ‘jewellery’ / watch and the box should be clearly named and placed safely in the child’s bag.
If parents are thinking of allowing their children to have their ears pierced then they need to ensure this is done at the start of the summer holiday so that the studs can be removed for PE / swimming / drama / technology sessions when the child returns to school in September.
Where removal of stud earrings is not possible as ears have been pierced and this has been done in school term time and not healed, then parents should be aware that their child may have to “sit out of certain activities and only be involved in a way which avoids direct, physical participation/” (LEA Oct 2013).
We do not allow the taping up of pierced ears either during or after the healing period.
“If the stud was caught hard enough it could still pierce the tape and penetrate the skin behind the ear. Removal of tape from either stud or small sleeper type jewellery, if not done carefully can cause an injury in itself and some pupils are allergic to ‘elastoplast’ type tape. Taping up of ear-rings for swimming is not allowed as it is not an appropriate safeguard due to the risk of the tape coming off in the water and causing a choking hazard to other swimmers”. ( LEA guidance Oct 2013)
“The school should not accept as an alternative to the removal of jewellery, a parent’s/carer’s assurance that he/she will not hold the school liable in the event of an accident/incident. The parent/carer cannot accept liability for injury to the pupils during school activities. This is not allowed by UK or European legislation or Civil Law.” ( LEA guidance Oct 2013)
A full copy of the school dress code policy is available on the information page of the school website.
Edible Coral Reef- we had a great time researching, learning and then making some delicious coral reef polyps! We made the body of the polyp out of a marshmallow and covered it in white chocolate to represent it’s exoskeleton. We then used a toothpick to stick in pieces of strawberry lace, which became the tentacles. We finished off decorating the marshmallow with brightly coloured sprinkles just like the amazing colours found underwater. We stuck all the polyps together just like a piece of real coral reef. Finally we all enjoyed tucking into our delicious creations! Yum!
We have been so impressed by the imaginative and creative homework projects that have been arriving in school over the term. The children have blown us away with an amazing selection of 3D underwater creatures, presentations, computer research and pictures that they have created!
Well done Woodpeckers!
Parents, Grandparents and members of the local community are warmly invited to join us at this term’s Holy Communion Service at St Mark’s Church, Handley on Friday February 14th at 2pm. After the service children may go home home early with their parent/s. Please let us know if your child will be going home with another adult. Unaccompanied children will walk back to school with staff to be collected as usual at 3.30pm.After the half term break school re -opens on Monday 24th February.
‘Walk like an Egyptian’ – KS2
Wednesday 26th February
As part of our topic about Ancient Egypt we have organized a ‘Partake’ theatre workshop day in school on 26th February. (Please note there will be no violin/viola tuition on this day). Partake have visited us several times eg Ancient Greece’ ‘Victorian seaside’, ‘The Home Front’, and the sessions are always interesting and fun as well as educational. Children will take part in a variety of workshops discovering the mysteries of an Ancient Egyptian burial ceremony – investigating and handling artefacts used in mummification ;discovering the clothing and makeup of an Egyptian princess; creating a cartouche; taking part in a atmospheric ‘burial ceremony’ where the story unfolds through the use of costume, narration, mime, music, dance and drama.Please return slips and contributions to the class teacher or office. Thank you
We already have thriving violin / viola group lessons in school and this week all chidren attended a guitar demonstration. Please see separate letter sent out Thursday 23rd January for information/ costs about guitar tuition. Contracts and payment are organised directly with the tutor who is accredited with the Derbyshire School Music Partnership. There is a subsidy on the first six sessions of 20 minutes or longer. Please contact the tutor directly if you have any questions or need further information. Thank you.
Last Thursday, the Woodpeckers travelled back in the TARDIS to Medieval Britain. They braved the cold weather and went into the school grounds to learn what it was like to live during the Medieval times. They learnt that life wasn’t easy for people living in 1200 AD and that it took a lot of time and hard work to do something simple like toast a piece of bread. They swept the ground of leaves, dug a hole, collected stones to mark out the edge of the fire and gathered wood to burn. Once the fire was lit the children toasted their home made bread by the fire. They all had a fantastic time but understood just how hard work it must have been to live during the Medieval times.
To further develop our school PE , Sport, physical activity and well being provision and to enable others to share our good outdoor facilities, Mr Cooke has organised for children from Holy Trinity C of E Primary to visit us on Friday to share our outdoor grounds and take part in a friendly afternoon session of uni-hockey. Please remind children to have their outdoor PE kit at school. (Have indoor kit as well, just incase the weather is very bad).
