Marton & District C E Aided Primary School

This has been a super busy (short) week. Thank you for all your support this week with weather forecasts etc. January always feels the longest month but is often the busiest and our children have come back ready to learn and back to school routines. Here’s the weekly news from busy classes:

• Reception have returned to school full of smiles and excitement, settling happily back into our routines. We have shown great enthusiasm as we begin our new learning about polar places. We will be exploring where these cold regions are in the world and discovering what can be found there. Through stories, discussions, and hands-on activities, reception are going to learn about icy landscapes, snowy weather, and the animals that live in these extreme environments, sparking curiosity and a real sense of wonder about the world around them. The recent snow is a great start for our new topic! 

• Year 1 have come back to school with super attitudes, they're ready to learn and have jumped into phonics with enthusiasm!  We have started learning about animals in our Science lessons this term and will soon be relating that to where in the world they live.  We are exploring how to stay safe online in Computing and are exploring Jesus and his friendships in R.E.. We are working on numbers to 20 in Maths this term focussing on those tricky teen numbers! We have also been talking about the different seasons in our science and geography topics so this recent snow has been a perfect way to talk about wintery weather!

• It has been lovely to welcome the Year 2 children back to a brand new year. They have settled in well and they all look like they've grown so much over Christmas. This term we have already started working with money in Maths, preparing to write our recount letter in English and exploring different materials in Science. We have started our chromatic topic in Art where children will learn about how colours can influence our emotions. In RE we will explore The Church and later The Easter Story.

• Year 3 children have settled back into routines brilliantly and are already showing great enthusiasm for their learning. In English, we have launched our exciting new unit inspired by The Tomb of Wonders. The children will be exploring rich vocabulary and sensory language as they develop a setting description, imagining mysterious ancient tombs filled with hidden treasures and secrets. We are encouraging them to focus on atmosphere, descriptive detail, and engaging the reader through powerful word choices. We’re really looking forward to sharing some of their imaginative writing with you as the term progresses.

• We have an exciting start to the term in Year 4 as swimming lessons begin next week, so please remember swimming kits on your child’s allocated day. We are also launching our new geography topic all about Greece, which will link to learning across the curriculum. The children will be exploring where Greece is in the world, discovering its seas, islands and mountains, and comparing it to the UK. Alongside this, we will be investigating volcanoes, learning about the different types and how these powerful natural features are formed. We’re really looking forward to a fun and engaging term of learning!

• Welcome back to school - we hope you all had a lovely and restful break. This term, Year 5 children will be exploring Space and the Solar System in Science, while in RE they will be learning about the Bible and many books contained within the whole. In Geography, they will study Biomes from around the world, practise ordering from a café in French, and complete their History learning by investigating the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. It promises to be an exciting and engaging term ahead.

• Year 6 are looking forward to an exciting spring term ahead. In history, we will be delving into World War II, bringing the past to life and making strong links with our shared reading text, Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll. In computing, we will be developing our coding skills and learning how to create our own programs, while in RSHE we will explore how to stay safe and responsible online. Our RE lessons will take us on physical and spiritual journeys, encouraging thoughtful reflection and discussion, and in science we will investigate light through practical experiments and enquiry. In art, we will experiment with chromatic painting, using colour, tone and mood to create expressive and eye-catching artwork.

We have received the following document and message from Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner and this is well worth a read, What I wish my parents or carers knew: A guide for parents on managing children’s digital lives. Supporting children’s safety is a shared responsibility between families, schools and wider society. For parents and carers, this responsibility has become increasingly complex as children’s lives are now deeply intertwined with the digital world. Many parents face difficult decisions about how to balance protecting children from online harm with enabling access to spaces that are now central to learning, socialising and play.

School is back in the Tesco Stronger Starts campaign again so if you are shopping in Congleton Tesco please remember to put as many blue tokens as you can in for us. HUGE thanks in advance.

I had the very great pleasure of reading a beautiful book written and illustrated by Darcey in Year 2 this week and it was delightful! Well done Darcey, I think we have a future author amongst us!

Enjoy the weekend and keep warm, Nevin Deakin