17.05.24

Happy Friday everyone!

We have had a busy week here in Year 5/6.

SATs Week

This week, children in Year 6 have completed their SATs tests.  They were tested in grammar, punctuation and spelling, reading and maths. They approached the tests with maturity and resilience and tried their absolute best. We are so proud of them.  

Isle of Wight

With SATs out of the way, we can now look forward to our trip to the Isle of Wight.  A letter was sent out this week, but here is a reminder of everything the children will need to bring with them.

LIST FOR THE ISLE OF WIGHT TRIP

• Trainers/shoes for the activities and trips
• Socks (must have ankle socks to wear on the activities)
• Underwear
• Nightwear
• T-shirts
• Jumpers/tracksuit tops (must have long sleeved tops for activities
• Tracksuit bottoms/combat type trousers for activities.  Jeans cannot be worn for activities, but can be brought for the afternoon/evening visits)
• Children to travel in clothing of their choice with sensible footwear for the Mary Rose visit

• Towels (don't give them your best ones!)
• Toiletries in a toiletry bag (no spray products e.g. deodorant, hair spray etc.  No hair gel, or make-up. This will be confiscated by the adults if children bring them)
• Small backpack for the offsite trips
• Insect repellent, lip balm (not coloured) and sun cream.
• Purse or wallet
• A keyring for their room key
• Sleeping bag
• Pillow
• A suitcase/holdall that they can carry/drag
• A packed lunch to eat at The Mary Rose

MEDICATION

This needs to be given to Miss Wakefield on the Monday of departure.  Please put your child's name on the medication with instructions regarding when and how often it is to be administered.  All medication provided needs to be new, unopened bottles/packets.

EXTRA ITEMS TO BRING (these are optional)

Books/magazines/puzzle books

Card games e.g. Uno/Boggle!

Disposable cameras

NO ELECTRONIC GADGETS PLEASE.  THIS INCLUDES MOBILE PHONES, TABLETS, IPODS, HAND HELD GAMES AND KINDLES

NO SWEETS OR SNACKS.

SPENDING MONEY

The children have £20 which will be issued to them during the course of the week.

Please do not give your child any extra money as this will be unfair to others and will be confiscated by adults.

THANK YOU YEAR 5

Finally, we would like to say a big  thank you to Year 5, who have been so supportive of their peers this week.

They have adapted brilliantly to the change in timetable and learning in the hall rather than the classrooms. In addition to this, they have also worked hard undertaking their own assessments.   All staff who have worked with them have commented on how well-behaved they have been and how hard they have worked for them.  Well done Year 5 and thank you!

Homework

As the children have completed assessments this week, homework is spellings, which have been set on Spellingframe, and tables practice on TTRS. 

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine!  

Mrs Devlin, Mrs Witherall, Mrs O'Connor and Miss Nottage

 Friday 10th May 2024

Ruby, Sapphire and Topaz Blog for Year 5/6 - Friday 10th May 2024

Happiest of Fridays to you all. The week has been a short one, but we have managed to cram lots into our timetable. Year 5 have had more time to write their Just So Stories and are now beginning to see that they are nearly ready to have them 'published' - we can't wait to share some of these with you when they are completed.

Year 6 have worked exceptionally hard revising with a strong focus on timing in preparation for next week's SATs.

SATs breakfast 

All Year 6 are invited to join us each morning from 8 - we just need the form completed that was sent home last week. This will provide all of the children with the opportunity to relax and calm any nerves. This is free for the children. Could you please bring them to the hall, using the side door in the front car park.

Homework

Year 5 have homework set on Google Classroom.

Year 6 have had their homework shared with them and is as follows:

 

   W

Wishing you all a lovely, sunny weekend. Mrs Witherall, Mrs Devlin, Mrs O'Connor and Miss Nottage.

 

 Friday 3rd May 2024

Happy Friday, everyone! Well another busy week has flown by. The children in Year 5 have been busy working hard on creating their own  'Just So' story, inspired by those written by Rudyard Kipling, whilst Year 6 have been revising hard in preparation for their SATs. This afternoon's art lesson, looking at the work of the artist Guiseppe Arcimboldo, provided was a welcome break and all the children thoroughly enjoyed creating a portrait of their own using images of fruit. The bright pictures were also a distraction from the miserable weather outside!

Multiply Maths Programme

Are you someone who feels they need some support with maths? Perhaps your own experience in school wasn’t a good one. Well fear not, we have the solution to this!

Multiply courses are free and fully funded by Essex County Council as part of their Multiply Maths programme.

Each course is 10 guided learning hours, 6 hours face-to-face in school, 4 hours of activities to try in between sessions and ongoing. The ideal group size is between 8-12 parents per session.  The sessions will be taking place on 10th,17th and 24th May.

There is a link below for you to register your interest.

https://forms.gle/BV9pj1FmAegMRLhw8

A £10 Amazon voucher will be awarded to each parent who completes the course.

Homework has been uploaded to Google Classroom.

We wish you all a lovely Bank Holiday weekend!

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin, Mrs Witherall

Friday 19th April 2024

Happy Friday Everybody!

We hope you all had a super Easter holiday. The Summer Term started with World Art Day and the children thoroughly enjoyed participating in a variety of different art activities. Please be sure to see the newsletter to see the photos.

Homework has been uploaded to Google Classroom.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin & Mrs Witherall

28.03.24

Happy Thursday everybody!

Today has been the Fridayest Thursday ever!  

We have enjoyed our Wellbeing Day with lots of relaxed activities.  We watched films, played games, coloured and took part in an Easter egg hunt!

The children and staff have all had a lovely day.

We would like to wish you all a lovely Easter holiday and encourage the children to rest and relax during the two week break.  Next term is going to be a busy one, especially for our Year 6 children.  There is lots to look forward to in the weeks ahead.  Please keep an eye on the newsletter, blog and Dojo pages for dates and reminders for everything that is coming up.

On the first Monday after the holidays, we will be taking part in an art day.  We have lots of activities planned.  Children can come to school in non uniform that day. We suggest they wear something that they do not mind getting messy in!

Homework for Year 6 has been posted on Class Dojo and Mrs Devlin has uploaded Year 5 homework to Google Classroom.

Have a lovely Easter break.

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall

 Friday 22nd March 2024

Happy Friday Everyone!

This week has been assessment week and we'd like to say well done to the children who have all worked really hard and should be proud of their efforts. Because of their hard work, there is no homework this week.

Termly Update

On Monday, your child will be bringing home a "How is my child doing this term?" sheet. This lets you know how your child is progressing towards their end of year expected levels. There will be an opportunity to discuss this sheet at Parent/Teacher Consultations on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Wellbeing Day

On Thursday, we will be having a mental health and wellbeing day.  Children can wear comfy clothes and will take part in mindful activities during the day.  Please note - there will not be any donations needed for children to come to school in non-uniform.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall

15.03.24

Happy Friday everyone!

Thank you all for your generous donations for Comic Relief.  The children thoroughly enjoyed their non uniform day and certainly brightened up a dull, rainy day with the bright colours they chose to wear.

Justgiving Page

Just a reminder of our justgiving page as a way of donating to our Comic Relief collection today: 

Down Hall Comic Relief Just Giving Page

Thank you for your continued support in our teaching of Children's Rights.  

RRS Article 2:  Children's Rights apply to every child, everywhere all of the time.

Maths Workshops For Parents

We are delighted to announce that we are running a number of Maths workshops for adults. You can be a parent, grandparent, carer, aunt or uncle - you are all welcome! Are you someone who feels they need some support with maths? Perhaps your own experience in school wasn’t a good one. Well fear not, we have the solution to this!

Multiply courses are free and fully funded by Essex County Council as part of their Multiply Maths programme.

Each course is 6 hours face-to-face in school. Each session will be between 1pm-3pm on the dates

below:

EYFS 16th / 23rd / 30th April

KS1 18th / 25th April, 2nd May

KS2 10th / 17th / 24th May

Here is the link for you to register your interest.  https://forms.gle/BV9pj1FmAegMRLhw8

WHOLE SCHOOL SUMDOG ESSEX COMPETITION

Calling all of you amazing mathematicians! 

You have been entered into the Sumdog Essex Competition. Taking place 15 March - 21st March

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

newsletter and will each receive 2 Dojos!

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

Good luck.

Mrs Hurley 

YEAR 6 PARENTS/CARERS NOTICE

Good news! You are now able to place your order for the Year 6 Leavers' hoodie. They will need to be ordered by Friday 19th April to be delivered to school in time for our trip to The Isle of Wight.

Please select the size carefully. Due to the nature of the personalised items, they do not offer exchange or refund once printed. 

The children’s hoodies are by AGE in years old, not year groups.

We have a few different sized hoodies at school should you wish to check before ordering - you must request this otherwise we will assume you are happy to go ahead.

Only royal blue are available to order and prices are clearly indicated online. To order please use the following link:

The shop can be found by followings this link  Home downhall2024leavers (deco-apparel.com)

Homework has been uploaded to Google Classroom and spellings are available on Spellingframe.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Sharman, Mrs Devlin and Mrs Witherall