Friday mornings are always such a fantastic start to the end of the week!
This morning’s breakfast club was extra special with some of our furry friends joining us in the hall. Cotton and Socks have clearly settled in very well to their new Bowmansgreen family because of all of the love and care they have received since they joined us.
Celebration assembly is such a positive and uplifting time and I am always immensely proud of the pupils who are recognised each week for their hard work, positive behaviour and growth mind-set attitude to learning. After half-term, we will be making some slight changes to celebration assembly and maybe a few new achievements to celebrate…
Next Tuesday 6th Feb is Safer Internet Day which is celebrated globally each year to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology for children. During the day, pupils will be involved in activities to reinforce e-safety. Next week, we will also be launching our new e-Safeguarding policy which incorporates a new IT Acceptable Use Agreement which every pupil in KS1 and KS2 must know, understand and sign.
If you would like to find out more about Safer Internet Day, please follow the link: https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2018
Please be reminded that next Thursday we are holding our next curriculum evening which will focus on the subject of maths and the theme of pattern. It will be a great opportunity to see some of what your children have been learning in maths this term and we look forward to seeing you there.
Next week’s parent workshop focuses on grammar and punctuation. The expectations of writing for pupils in KS1 and KS2 have changed significantly over the last few years and this workshop will hopefully inform parents of the standards as well as the terminology involved. If you want to know your embedded clause from your fronted adverbial, come along at 9am next Tuesday! We will, as always, make the slides available for you after the workshop.
MRushforth
Year 5 Young Voices Trip from Mrs Flatt
Year 5 Young Voices Trip from Mrs Flatt
After weeks of practice, Year 5 went to perform at the O2 Arena on Wednesday, along with almost 7,000 other children as part of the ‘Young Voices’ choir. It was a very long day, but it was a lot of fun. We spent the afternoon rehearsing the songs and then at 7.00pm, once the audience had taken their seats, the lights came up and off we went!
It was all very exciting, and very loud. Year 5 sang their hearts out and danced until they dropped! They were entertained by other artists and dancers. One of the highlights was a song called Africa, which we performed with an acapella group called ‘The Magnets.’ We also enjoyed the part where we got to do a bit of freestyle dance and finally, the pop medley with songs such as ‘Human’ by Rag and Bone Man, ‘Heroes’ by Alesso and ‘Castle on the Hill’ by Ed Sheeran to name a few.
Well done to those Year 5 who went. You were all amazing and a credit to the school and your parents. I hope it’s an experience that you will remember for a long time to come. I know I certainly will!
Airbus Adventure
Class 2TC thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Airbus STEM Centre in Stevenage last week where they learned all sorts of exciting things about sound, movement, electricity and our solar system. Throughout the day, children asked well-considered questions, made sensible predictions and gave explanations that impressed all the adults.
The children made three whistles each and used them to test how various types of paper vibrated causing different sounds.
One of the Airbus engineers told the class about Mars and many interesting details about how the Exo-Mars Rover has been designed to do specific things on and below the surface of the red planet. It was amazing seeing Brian (a prototype) in the sandy training yard being worked on by another engineer. Did you know that the actual robot, which will be sent to Mars in a few months’ time, is being built at this moment?
To explain three of Newton’s Laws of Motion, Shell (our Science teacher for the day) demonstrated some “cool stuff” including exploding tubes and flying balloons.
The children also spent time in the hands-on activity zone discovering various science concepts through play: including some mysterious ways of hearing sounds; feeling dizzy on the centrifuge spinner; controlling a robotic arm; using each other to make electrical circuits to power a fan and light a bulb; the shocking experience of the plasma ball – to name just a few.
All pupils, teachers and teaching assistants in years 2 through to 6 get to visit Airbus this year and benefit from the practical activities and investigations to help deepen their Science learning. Mr Harnden is really pleased with the success of the trips he has taken so far this year and is looking forward to those still to come.
Breakfast Club News from Mrs Stanley – 02.02.18
A very cold start to Breakfast Club this week, with frost and the moon, but a hot breakfast soon warmed us up! Friday saw our first ‘Big Draw Competition’ of this year, with ‘Animals’ as the theme. Rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs all came into the hall to be drawn by the children.
Next week is our ‘Valentines and Pancakes’ themed week, with the chance to make your loved one a valentine’s card and on Friday 9th, as we break up for half term we will be serving pancakes with strawberries and strawberry hearts!
We hope to see you all there.
Team GB Athlete Marilyn Okoro Visit – Tuesday 30th January
We had an amazing visit on Tuesday morning from Marilyn Okoro. She spoke to the whole school in assembly about her career in athletics, where she started and who were the role models and influences in her life that made her realise her potential. She started running for a club when she reached Year 7 and carried on from there. At first she sprinted 100m but soon realised that the 400m and 800m were more to her liking and decided to concentrate on them. She spoke about the importance of a strict healthy diet, hard work and discipline during training plus the devotion and determination to get to the top and stay there for a period of time.
She then led workshops for Years 2 – 6 where she taught a small circuit in readiness for the sponsored circuit in classes this week and took more questions from the children, before spending some time on the KS1 playground at lunchtime. The children were engaged for the whole 30 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed their sessions.
The children have now completed their “Circuit Challenge” during their PE lessons this week, apart from Year 2 who will complete it on Monday. Could we please ask for all sponsor money to be sent back to school by Wednesday 7th February. Many thanks.
Sports News from Mr Sanders – 02.02.18
Boys A v Mandeville The boys A team went the short distance to play Mandeville in an important league match last Friday. Having been knocked out of the Wix 7 a side by Mandeville, the lads knew it would be a tough match. Going behind early wasn’t the ideal start to the game but they responded in the best way possible and two good goals from Tommy – one a superb flowing one touch passing move – meant that at half time the score was 2-1 to Bowmansgreen.
Once again though, Mandeville scored early in the half to level the scores but the character in this squad showed through, as first James and then Ollie, gave the Bowmansgreen side a two goal advantage at 4-2 with four minutes to go. A late goal for Mandeville meant it was a tense finish, but the defence of Alfie, Freddie and Jack, plus Taye in goal, held firm to see the game through and a 4-3 win for Bowmansgreen. Squad – Taye, Alfie, Freddie, Jack, Ollie, Tommy and James Year 3 & 4 Boys v Garden Fields A group of Year 3 & 4 Boys were excited to be getting into the minibus to travel to play a football match against Garden Fields on Monday. With a mix of each year group playing against a very strong Year 4 side, the Bowmansgreen boys looked nervous when the game started and it took five minutes for them to settle into the pace of the match. Garden Fields took control as they had several chances before eventually taking the lead on the eight minute mark, doubling the lead four minutes later. The first half was dominated by the opposition but Bowmansgreen still created a few good scoring opportunities – Ollie and Toby going close and Jason was thwarted by a good tackle as he found space on the edge of the penalty area.
The 2nd half was completely different. The defensive quartet of Archie, Luca, Max and Harry stood firm while Jed and Jason kept probing passes to Toby and Ollie while Lennon came into the game and was superb. The Garden Fields keeper had to work hard in the 2nd half to keep the attacking Bowmansgreen team at bay. Goalmouth scrambles, good defending and goal keeping and close shots meant that the final score in an entertaining game was Garden Fields 2-0 Bowmansgreen. Well done to all the players who should be proud of their performances. Squad – Archie, Luca (c), Max, Harry, Jason, Ollie, Jed, Toby and Lennon Girls B v Skyswood The girls B team, including three Year 4’s, hosted Skyswood on Wednesday. Goals from Jacey and Ava gave the girls a 2-0 victory in a match that was dominated by Bowmansgreen. Daisy, in goal for the 1st half, didn’t touch the ball so she was moved out to play in attack for the 2nd half. The midfield of Anisa, Elissa and Kiera were determined to work hard and protect the defence of Bianca and Ava while Jacey caused all sorts of problems with her strong running and ball skills. In all, it was a confident performance and it looks good for the future of Bowmansgreen girls’ football. Squad – Daisy, Anisa, Bianca, Kiera, Jacey, Elissa and Ava
Parent Workshops
This term’s parent workshops take place on the dates shown below between 9.00am and 10am. All parents are welcome and are encouraged to come along if you can.
Tuesday 6th February – English (Grammar & Punctuation)
Tuesday 20th February – NSPCC – Child Protection
Tuesday 27th February – First Aid for Parents (If you have pre-booked online)
Tuesday 13th March – Inspiring Girls
Tuesday 27th March – Computing
Attendance
KS1 – Rec WR (Miss Robbins)
KS2 – 4B (Mr Bailes)
Early Years News from Miss Robbins – 02.02.18
This week
We have been learning about different vegetables, some of which we already knew and some we didn’t. We discovered that if we wanted chips we had to have potatoes! We have been reading sentences about “Oliver’s Vegetables”, trying to remember our ‘reading strategies’ that help us. We have done all sorts of pattern making including printing with vegetables, sound patterns and body patterns. To find out more about this, please come to the curriculum evening on Thursday next week.
Next week
We will continue learning about how to keep healthy using the book ‘Oliver’s Fruit Salad’. We will be reading a recipe to make a fruit salad and tasting different fruits. In maths we will be sorting and categorising. We will also be finishing our pattern work ready for the curriculum evening.
Fruit Salad
We will be making a fruit salad on Thursday and Friday next week. We will be providing some of the fruit but would be grateful if you could send your child in with one piece of fruit to add to this so that we have more to go round.
Resources
We are always looking for and collecting paper. This is quite an expensive resource and we are grateful for any donations. Scrap paper, old wrapping paper, left over wall paper, old used birthday cards (we only use the front) and anything else you can think of! Thank you.
Impressive Homework
Zoha and Manav have really impressed us with their creative home learning this week. They have also tried exceptionally hard with their finger spaces and letter formation in their writing.
Well done!’
Headteacher’s Message – 26.01.18
What a busy week we have had!
On Monday, we hosted a Setpoint maths workshop for pupils from Bowmansgreen and local schools, with a focus on problem solving. Throughout the day, pupils from years 3 and 4 (Haroon, Jason, Harry & Jed) had fun working together, in the hall, to solve some very tricky maths challenges.
Meanwhile, in the gym something spectacular took place! Bowmansgreen was the launch school for the new ‘View From Space To Earth’ challenge run by AlohaTri and the Triathlon Trust. Throughout the day, pupils and staff ran and cycled their way to travelling 1097km! Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the day and rose to the challenge. Thank you to Rav Dighe and Miss Brennan for making this happen – it was a fantastic day!
This week, Mrs Stanley and the breakfast club staff have been working in overdrive to prepare a range of breakfasts to support national Farmhouse Breakfast Week, including this morning’s special hot breakfast of bacon, sausage, egg, beans, tomatoes and mushrooms – which was delicious! The breakfast club at Bowmansgreen is very popular and provides a fantastic start to the day for our pupils, parents and staff.
Tuesday’s parent workshop focused on Relationships and Sex Education. Thank you to all parents who attended and – as always – we value your support and feedback. We appreciate that many of you cannot attend the Tuesday morning sessions due to work commitments and we encourage you to access the slides and notes so that you don’t miss out. The slides from the last two workshops are attached to this newsletter and will be available on the school website (via the ‘Parents’ tab) from Monday.
To support National Careers Week (March 5th – 9th) we will be running a number of activities and events to inform, inspire and motivate pupils about the vast range of jobs and careers they have to choose from. We welcome support and involvement from parents and would like to hear from anyone who would be able to spare some time during this week, to run a workshop or Q&A session about their career, especially if you have a particularly unusual or exciting job. Please contact the school office if you would be able to spare some time.
Have a lovely weekend.