Head's Up!16 October 2026 (by headmarton) |
Weekly news from Mrs Deakin
What a busy and wonderful week we have had at school!
Firstly, I must say how incredibly impressed we have been with the children's posters for our new First Aid initiative, which aims to support families when their child has had an accident at school. I won't spoil the exciting information that will be shared with you soon, but I can say that the poster competition entries were AMAZING! Mrs Owen and I had an incredibly difficult job choosing a winner – so much so that we had to recruit Mrs Sparey to help us! I am absolutely delighted to announce that Alice in Year 6 was our winner. A huge well done to Alice and to every child who took part. The creativity and effort were simply fantastic!
I would also like to thank parents for their patience and understanding whilst we manage some staff absences due to illness. Your continued support is very much appreciated.
On Wednesday, it was a real pleasure to welcome so many new families to our Open Afternoon, ahead of September 2027. It was lovely to share our wonderful school with them. Thank you also to our Year 5 and 6 parents who attended this week's EBA SEND meeting – we really appreciate your time and engagement.
Finally, we are very much looking forward to welcoming families to our Harvest Festivals next week: KS1 Tuesday @ 9.15 and KS2 Wednesday @ 9.15. Thank you so much for the generous donations already sent in. Your kindness and generosity are, as always, greatly appreciated.
Our children have been SO busy this week…
Reception have had a fantastic week of learning and discovery! They were very excited to attempt writing their first sentence about Zibbo the Dragon, showing great enthusiasm and growing confidence to have a go. As part of our learning about senses, the children explored their senses through a range of fun activities, including investigating a touch box and using their noses to identify mystery smells from hidden pots. In Maths, they have continued to develop their understanding of number concepts and new vocabulary, including learning how to subitise and recognise quantities without counting. This is harder than you would think. Well done, Reception, for all your hard work this week! One more week and you have finished your first half term of 'big' school.
Year 1 have been working on making sure our numerals are written the right way while we practised addition this week. We have continued learning about bees and the children have written some super sentences with capital letters, full stops and they have spelt some challenging words! We continued our science this week as we explored our sense of smell - some of us smelled lemon and thought of washing up liquid; the spices made us think of Daddy's cooking but the vinegar and the coffee made some of us make some very funny faces - they were definitely strong smells! We have planned our DT structures this week and we're really looking forward to making them.
What a fantastic week we have had in Year 2! In History, we have finished our topic, Changes in Technology Over the Last 60 Years. We have explored how technology has changed over time, comparing the past with the present. We looked at examples such as old-fashioned telephones compared to smartphones, black-and-white televisions compared to modern smart TVs, and letters compared to emails and video calls. The children have enjoyed discovering how these changes have affected the way we live, work and communicate. In Maths, we have been practising adding and subtracting across 10. We have been developing our understanding of number bonds and learning different strategies to help us calculate accurately and confidently. In English, we have been learning how to use conjunctions in our writing to join ideas and make our sentences more interesting. We have been exploring words such as and, but and because to help us extend our sentences and explain our ideas in more detail. In Science, we have been learning about what makes a healthy, balanced plate. We explored the different food groups and discussed the importance of eating a variety of foods to help keep our bodies healthy and give us energy. Well done, Year 2, for another brilliant week of learning! Have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to another exciting week ahead.
Year 3 have been working hard this week. In maths, we have been developing our addition and subtraction skills, focusing particularly on bridging tens and hundreds. The children have been working hard to build their confidence and accuracy with these calculations. In English, we have been learning about non-chronological reports and putting our knowledge to good use by writing informative reports about animals. In French, we have been brightening up our vocabulary by learning the names of different colours! A real highlight of the week was our history lesson, when we were visited by three Stone Age men from different periods of the Stone Age! The children had a fantastic opportunity to discover how life changed throughout the Stone Age and learn more about how people lived thousands of years ago. In art, we have also been busy creating self-portraits, carefully observing our facial features and developing our drawing skills.
This week in Year 4, we have had another busy and exciting week filled with lots of fantastic learning! In Maths, we have been developing our estimation skills, learning how to round numbers and use our mathematical knowledge to make sensible estimates before solving calculations. We have been discussing why estimating is such a useful skill and how it can help us check whether our answers are reasonable. The children have worked hard to build their confidence and explain their mathematical thinking. In English, we have been exploring the fascinating world of Roman mythology by writing our own non-chronological reports about Roman Gods and Goddesses. It has been wonderful to see the children developing their research and writing skills while showing such enthusiasm for our topic! We have also been busy practising our Harvest song, working hard to learn the lyrics and sing confidently together. The children have shown great enthusiasm during rehearsals, and we are really looking forward to sharing our performance with you. It promises to be a lovely celebration! Well done, Year 4.
Year 5 have had another busy and exciting week! They welcomed a visit from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, who shared important advice about road safety and how to stay safe in cars and on the roads. The children listen incredibly well in this and were able to use knowledge gleaned from Bikeability to support their answers when questioned. In Maths, the children have been exploring multiples and strengthening their knowledge of times tables, while in History they have been learning about the seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy and discovering which flags and symbols from over 1,000 years ago are still used today. In Reading, they have been learning about Anglo-Saxon mythology and how this was eventually superseded by early Christianity. In Music, the children have also been developing their ukulele skills with Mr Pinfold and honing their invasion game skills in PE with Finn. Finally, the children have been working hard rehearsing for our upcoming Harvest Festival, and we can’t wait for you to hear their performance of the Healthy Habanera!
Year 6 have certainly been putting their brains to the test this week! In maths, we have been tackling the challenge of long division. It has certainly been tricky at times, but the children have shown fantastic perseverance and determination, and it has been wonderful to see their confidence and understanding growing throughout the week! In English, we have begun immersing ourselves in the setting of Camp Green Lake, gathering ideas, exploring ambitious vocabulary and looking closely at the descriptions in Holes as we prepare to write our own atmospheric setting descriptions. In geography, we have been busy evaluating the evidence collected during our plastic waste fieldwork, considering what our findings tell us about plastic usage across school. We have also been practising our song for next week's Harvest Festival and are looking forward to sharing it with you. We hope to see you all on Wednesday!
We ended the week with F&F ‘Brownies Friday’- utterly delish and we would like to thank all our Star Bakers for their amazing baking skills and for being so supportive.
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend, Nevin Deakin