25.06.21

 

Dear Parents/Carers

This week, children in Year 5/6 have been learning classic poetry.  We have been studying The Highwayman.  Children spent some time learning a verse each to recite.  They all tried exceptionally hard and most managed to remember and recall the poem well.

Hares About Town

This summer, if you head into Southend, you are in for a "hare-raising" surprise! The Hares About Town trail starts on the 1st July. There are 30 hares dotted all around the town, each with their own story to tell. Accompanying the hares are over 50 leverets, including our school leveret Lenny. 

Miss Wakefield and Mrs Holmes were very lucky to have a sneak preview of all the Hares on Tuesday. They are AMAZING and include a hare that has been created by one of the parents at school. Mrs Cairns' hare "View of Lepus" can be found in Priory Park.

We have been given some trail maps to sell, on behalf of Fair Havens. The suggested donation for these is £1 and we will be selling them at the gate, after school next week. 

PE Kit Reminder

Please be reminded that PE kits must consist of: plain navy blue shorts, school T-shirt and black

trainers (not plimsolls). In winter, children should wear a navy blue track suit or sweatshirt

for outdoor lessons.

It has been noticed that some children are wearing PE tops, trousers and shorts which are

black or have logos e.g. Puma and Nike. 

We appreciate that if PE kit no longer fits, people are making do with what they have until the summer and this is fine, however, please be mindful of our uniform policy when restocking in the holidays.

Next week, we will be taking part in phase group sports days during our PE lessons.  We will remain in our class bubbles and have organised this in line with Government Guidelines. 

We will announce the winning house in the newsletter next week.

Have a lovely weekend

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall.

Dear Parents/Carers

As we come to the end of another busy week in Year 5/6, we would like to thank our wonderful Year 5 children for working so hard in class this week while the Year 6s have enjoyed their 'Isle of Not Quite' activities.  As Year 6 were unable to attend both their Year 5 and Year 6 residential trips due to Covid, we decided to give them a week of activities which would be as close to what they would have done had they attended The Isle of Wight.

Unfortunately, the weather was unkind to us on Thursday and Friday and we missed out on one outdoor activity which we will organise for another day.  We were lucky enough to be able to enjoy the brand new adventure playground, sail paper boats, and enjoy an ice-cream outside.  The week was finished off nicely this afternoon, when the children received their hoodies.

Year 5 didn't totally miss out on the fun.  Maths this week was co-ordinates and today they enjoyed a game of Battleships in their lesson.  They have been painting abstract pictures in art and were treated to an ice-cream with their Year 6 friends.

Please note that on Monday we will be continuing our 'Changing Me' topic in PSHE.  Children will learn about how their bodies will change as they grow up.  There is a letter detailing this on the web site.  If you have any questions, please email the Year 5/6 phase.

New School Website

Over the past few months we have been working on refreshing our school website. This started with the individual phase group pages and now includes the whole of the website. We have added lots more photographs of our wonderful children and premises and hope to add more in the future. We have also had a little rearrangement of the information available to hopefully make it easier to access the information you need. There is also a "Children's Hub" tab at the end of the taskbar which gives quick links to many of the common learning platforms that your child might find useful to support their learning. We hope you like the changes and a massive thank you to Mrs Balkwill for working so hard in driving this project through to completion! Visit our lovely new site here:

https://www.downhallprimary.com/home

Classes For Next Year

One reason to visit our new website today will be to check out the letter that explains arrangements for classes in September. The letter explains how the classes will be organised in September and, on Monday 21st June, your child will come home with a slip of paper that will tell you exactly which class they will be joining in September.

Phew!  Lots going on, it must nearly be the end of the school year!

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall

Summer is finally here!

Dear Parents/Carers

Next week in Year 5 and 6, Year 6 children will be taking part in a 'virtual trip' to 'The Isle of Not Quite.'  Like you, we were disappointed that the usual residential trip for the Year 6s didn't go ahead this year.  We wanted to do something special for them, so they can create memories of their final few weeks at Down Hall.  During the week they will take part in activities, in school, which will mirror some of the things they would have done on the Isle of Wight.

We hope they enjoy it, embrace the silliness and make some life long memories.  Photos to follow next week!

End of term reports

On the 8th July, your child will receive their end of term report detailing their progress and areas for future development. Although there are no formal assessments made this year, due to the National lockdown at the beginning of Spring Term, the report will contain an indication as to whether your child is working towards or working at national expectations. There will be an opportunity to discuss this report in a Zoom parent/teacher meeting after you have received the report. Further details of all of this will follow shortly so keep an eye on the weekly newsletter!

Sunny weather

Hopefully this won't jinx things!  As summer seems to have made an appearance this week, please ensure that your child wears sun cream, brings a hat if they need it and a full water bottle each day.  We are trying to spend as much time outside as possible and we all need to be predicted from that big yellow thing in the sky..... I seem to remember it being called 'the sun!'

Sapphire PE

This coming week, Sapphire class will have an extra PE lesson on Thursday.  Therefore, they will need to wear PE kits on Wednesday AND Thursday this week.  Miss Reale, who is working in Sapphire class, needs to teach a PE lesson as part of her teacher training.  Miss Sharman will also be present at the lesson.

Finally, we would like to wish you all a wonderful weekend. 

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall