30.09.22

Dear Parents/Carers

Happy Friday everyone!

We've had an exciting week in Year 5 and 6, this week. As you may know, we had Happy's Circus on the field earlier in the week. We were fotunate enough to be invited inside the big top for a look around and a talk from the Ring Mistress on Wednesday. Luckily, no one decided to run away and join the circus, although a few children (and staff) seemed quite tempted!

In class, we have been continuing to learn about space. In science we discuss air resistance and the children enjoyed making parachutes as part of an investigation. Ruby and Topaz have already tested theirs out. Sapphire will give theirs a try next week.

In English, we have begun writing a Sci-fi story called 'Holiday In Space'. The children have come up with some lovely ideas for their stories and have worked hard to include a range of sentence types in their writing, as this has been our GPS focus for the past two weeks.

Homework pages for this week have been uploaded to Google Classroom. It has been great to see so many children submitting their homework. If your child has not handed their books in yet, this term, please ask them to do so next week. It is really helpful if they can hand homework in by Wednesday each week, in order for teachers to mark it in time to return it to them on Fridays.

As you can see, we have a jam packed blog this week. Please see the messages below from Mrs Hurley and Mrs Yuille.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall

A couple of messages from Mrs Yuille

NSPCC’s Speak Out Stay Safe Programme 

RRS Article 19: Children have the right to be safe

As a Rights Respecting School we are committed to keeping children safe and we are happy to be taking part in the NSPCC’s safeguarding programme in school.  This programme helps children to recognise abuse in a child friendly way and encourages them to speak out to a trusted Duty Bearer.  

In school, children will watch an assembly delivered by Ant and Dec and then take part in follow up discussions in class. Please read the full details on the NSPCC letter here where you will find further links and resources that you can use at home to educate and support your child.  We urge you to take a look at these. 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to pop in and see us.

Harvest Collection

This year we will continue to support Rochford Extended Services with our Harvest collection.  Donations will be boxed up and distributed by them to the children and families that need them most within our own local community. 

 

As a Gold Level Rights Respecting School, we do our best to advocate for Children’s Rights and for sustainability.  Articles 24 and 27 state that:

“Every child has the right to the best possible health and a good standard of living”

If you can send in any non-perishable items before Wednesday 19th October that would be fabulous and you can find a full list of suggested items here.  In school we will celebrate Harvest during the week of 17th October with some learning in class and by singing our favourite Harvest song in assembly.  Please enjoy having a go at the Harvest Samba here and thanks for any contributions you feel able to make.

And, last but not least...... a message from Mrs Hurley

WHOLE SCHOOL SUMDOG ESSEX COMPETITION

Calling all of you amazing mathematicians! 

You have been entered into the Sumdog Essex Competition. Taking place 30 September - 7 October

I will be monitoring how well each class is doing. The winning class will be announced in the school newsletter.

Let's show our Down Hall community what great mathematicians we are!

Good luck.

Mrs Hurley 

23.09.22

Dear Parents/Carers

Happy Friday folks!

This week, in Year 5 and 6 we completed our work honouring the late Queen Elizabeth II.  Children have produced some lovely work and written some thoughtful letters in her memory.  We are both impressed and proud of the respectful way they have behaved during this time.

In English this week, we have been working on improving our sentences and learning the technical terms for sentence types of ways to link them together.

In maths, we have continued working on all four number operations.  Year 5 will continue with place value and negative numbers next week and Year 6 will begin working with fractions.

Homework pages have been posted to Google Classroom this afternoon.  Please ask you child to log onto their classroom page and check the timetable carefully.

It would be helpful, for teacher, if you could make sure that your child hands their homework in by Wednesday, each week.  This makes it easier for us to get the books marked and returned to the children in time for them to bring them home again on Fridays.

HAPPY'S CIRCUS - A Message from the PTA

The circus is coming to Down Hall NEXT WEEK (Wednesday 28th).  This was a huge hit when it visited last time and we cannot wait to welcome it back.  Happy's is a professional, all human, touring circus.  They bring the Big Top and fill it with magic, acrobatics, aerialists and so much more!  Plus, there will be hot food and refreshments on the night too, with both alcoholic and soft beverages available.  So why not get there early and make a whole evening of it (it will save you cooking dinner!)?!

By attending the circus, not only will you be getting an evening of entertainment for the whole family, you will also be helping to raise funds for your child's school. 

Tickets available on the door or in advance from the PTA.

Don't forget that if you ever have any questions for your child's teacher, we can be contacted via the Year 5/6 email address at:

year5_6@downhallprimary.com 

Have a fab weekend.

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall

Welcome back!

 Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back.  We hope that you all had a lovely summer and managed to enjoy the sunshine.

It has been wonderful to see the children return to Year 5 and 6 with such positive attitudes to their learning and with huge smiles on their faces.  We hope that they have enjoyed their first week.  We certainly have!

Next Wednesday, we have our Parent Overview Meeting.  It is an opportunity for parents to come into school and receive information on life in Year 5 and 6.  If you would like to attend, please come to the car park entrance at 2:30pm on Wednsday 14th.  Someone will be there to greet you and bring you along to Sapphire Class.

Homework books have been delivered and will be sent out next week.  You will receive information regarding homework in the meeting on Wednesday.  In the meantime, please ask your child to check their school gmail account and join the invitation to their new Google Classroom page.  This will be where details of homework will be posted from next week.

Please can we request that you make sure all clothing and water bottles are labelled with your child's name. Children are bringing 'Air Up' bottles to school, which are rather expensive and often look the same.  We would hate for parents to have spent money on them over the holidays only for them to become lost or taken home by the wrong child.

Today, in Year 5 and 6, we spent some time marking the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.  The children were extremely respectful and made sensible, and often heartfelt contributions to our discussions.  They are in the process of producing some work which we hope they will look back on in the future as a reminder of the sad, yet historic time we are currently living in.  

Have a restful weekend

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall