RUDGWICK PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWS - FRIDAY1STFEBRUARY SPRINGWEEK4

Rudgwick Primary School
             News
             Friday 1st February                Spring Week 4

Dear Parents and Carers,

                                            We have had a really busy week this
                                            week with children enjoying a range of
                                            exciting learning opportunities. We had a
                                            huge amount to celebrate in assembly
                                            this morning. The reading raffle winners
                                            this week were Harvey (R/KS1) and
                                            Freddie C (KS2). Africa class (Yr R) had
                                            the tidiest cloakroom and Kestrels were
                                            our house point winners.
                                            Well done everyone!

                           This week Europe Class was visited by Chocolatician,
                           Jen Lindsay-Clark. The children were given the
                           opportunity to taste lots of different types of chocolate and
                           learn about the chocolate making process, from bean to
                           bar. Jen taught them how chocolate changes state
                           depending on temperature and even sculpted chocolate
                           into a dazzling rose using melted chocolate and an ice
                           cold slate.

On Wednesday, Singing For Fun travelled with Mrs Edwards up to the O2 in London
for the ‘Young Voices’ concert. After a long day of rehearsals, they performed a 2

hour concert with over 8,000 children from other schools. They conducted
themselves beautifully throughout the day and should be very proud of themselves
for their impeccable behaviour, enthusiasm and hard work. A huge thank you to the
parents who gave up their time to come along and help on the day and also to those
who to stayed behind after the concert to meet the children and walk them back to
the coach.

                                 Groups of children from each class took part in the
                                 Glebelands Science Challenge. Amber and Alfie
                                 reported that, ‘We had to build a wind turbine by
                                 purchasing componants with pretend money. Our
                                 turbine created 3.9volts of elecricity and used a fan
                                 to power it. We had to work as a team and a Year
                                 9 pupil from Glebelands helped us by asking
                                 questions and giving clues.’
                                 Thank you to the parents who helped with
                                transport.

Star Awards

Africa         Sophie J         For impressing us with her throwing and catching
(Year R)                        skills this week!

                                For impressing us with his throwing and catching
               Lewis
                                skills this week!

Asia           Archie           For incredible effort and determination in Maths.
(Year 1)
               Connor           For incredible effort and determination in Maths.

Europe         Holly Ti         For super editing and publishing of their character
(Year 2)                        descriptions.
               Lillie K

Australasia    Ava              For showing excellent determination in learning to
(Year 3)                        tell the time.

                                For making a fantastic bow and arrow during our
               Holly
                                forest school session.

Antarctica     Issabelle P      For working really hard to improve her work
(Year 4)                        across a range of subjects

               Alfie S          For displaying excellent hockey skills this week
North          Saskia           For her determination and exemplary attitude to
America                         learning, as well as for her kindness and being a
(Year 5)                        wonderful friend.

Freya             For her best piece of writing that was the result of
                               pushing herself to get better, and believing in
                               herself.

South        Elodie W          For her hard work in Maths and making
America                        connections that make learning easier.
(Year 6)     Rosalie M

We have been learning

Africa      This week in Africa class we have learnt two new sounds: 'oo' (zoo or
(Year R)    boom) and 'ar' (car or farm). We have also been practising our red
            words - thank you so much for helping the children to go over these at
            home - it really helps them to learn them quicker.

            We braved the chilly weather to venture in to the woods on Monday
            and spent time making necklaces and decorations out of natural
            materials; hunting for small sticks to pierce leaves with and threading
            the pierced leaves onto wool. We have also been continuing to work
            on our part-part-whole method for adding in maths and practising our
            handwriting. In PE we have been working on our throwing and
            catching skills - we have been really impressed with how well the
            children have improved their skills over the last few weeks and how
            accurate their aiming is becoming.

            We look forward to seeing our parents at our open classroom next
            Thursday at 9am - the children are looking forward to showing you
            what they have been getting up to!

Asia        In Yr 1 this week we have begun to think about writing our own
(Year 1)    versions of Traction Man. We have designed a new setting for
            Traction Man to have an adventure in and have even added a brand
            new character! I have been very impressed with the children's
            descriptions and fantastic imaginations. In Maths this week we have
            been adding by counting on a number-line. The children have really
            impressed me with their effort and determination and they are able to
            tell me exactly what they need to do to get the correct answer to an
            equation! The children have had a blast this week in our woodland
            learning making dens for a villain! Another brilliant week Yr 1 - well
            done!

Europe      Well it's been another busy week in Europe Class. In Literacy we have
(Year2)     been purple polishing our character descriptions before publishing
            them, showing off our best handwriting. On Tuesday we had
            a wonderful visit from Jen, the Chocolatician. She taught us all about
            how cocoa beans are transformed into chocolate and even let us bring
            home a bean. She made lots of different types of chocolates with us
            and showed us different techniques for decorating. She even created
            the most amazing chocolate rose for us! In maths we have been
            recapping on time, practising our o'clocks and half pasts.

Australasia   This week we have continued our hands-on learning in the woods,
(Year 3)      thinking about Roman soldiers and making bows and arrows. In maths
              we have been practising telling the time using little analogue clocks;
              it's surprisingly hard to understand something that is an abstract
              concept that you can't actually see! In Literacy we have been
              designing our own non-fiction information pages, ready for them to be
              published next week. Our homework this week is to get familiar with
              times tables rockstars. The children were all given letter for parents
              and a log in (which they stuck into yellow reading diaries) yesterday,
              and we spent some time in the afternoon exploring the programme.
              Please let us know if your child has any problems accessing the
              programme.
Antarctica    Another busy week for us in Antarctica class. We conducted a variety
(Year 4)      of science experiments to measure pitch and sound. We devised the
              investigation questions ourselves and, in small groups, used the app
              “Science Journal” to record our results and make notes. It was tricky
              coming up with a conclusion but we persevered. We have been
              converting different units of time in Maths and using dialogue to
              advance the action in our Varjak Paw writing. We played a hockey
              game this week and all followed the rules really well and displayed
              sportsmanship.
              Well done to the children who represented us brilliantly at the Young
              Voices concert at the O2 and the Glebelands Science Challenge.

North         There is great excitement in North America class because of the
America       launch of BBC Radio 2's 500 Words 2019 competition. We have
(Year 5)      analysed some of the previous winners and shortlisted stories, to get
              inspiration for our own compositions. We will be planning and drafting
              these over the next week and everyone's writing will be submitted -
              perhaps this year's winning entry will come from Yr 5! We were also
              excited to welcome Mr Meaney from the PE department at The Weald,
              who came to see how the children's hockey skills are developing - the
              class did themselves proud and impressed him with their technique.
              As if that wasn't enough, there were wonderful performances from the
              many Yr 5 children who journeyed to the 2019 Young Voices concert,
              and the children who worked in teams with some Year 6s at the
              Glebelands science challenge - congratulations to all who took part in
              these events! In maths, we have been using our knowledge of place
              value, number and calculation to reason and problem solve, especially
              thinking about the different ways in which additive relationships are
              structured. In 'Simply the Quest' by Maz Evans, things are starting to
              fall apart for Elliot at home, as his mum's health worsens, and his evil
              neighbour Mrs Porshley-Plum and teaching nemesis Mr Boil join
              forces to plot his downfall...

South         This week we have been perfecting our islands in literacy and
America       improving our use of the thesaurus to expand the language we use. In
(Year 6)      Maths, we have been working on fractions, decimals and percentages
              or solving word problems. Wednesday, when half the class were at
              the O2, we joined up with Yr 5 and made animations about evolution.
              The children thoroughly enjoyed this day and learnt a great amount
              about where humans evolved from.

Author Visit
We are very excited to welcome the author, Alan Durant, to our
school on Monday 4th February. He will be running a series of
workshops with each year group to inspire writing and to get a
glimpse into how the writing process occurs. A selection of his
books will be available to buy on the day after school at a cost of
£5-£7 and he is happy to sign all books purchased.

Music Showcase – Spring term
Mrs Edwards is in the process of organising a Music Showcase for the end of the
Spring Term to celebrate the wonderful musicians we have here at Rudgwick. If your
child learns a musical instrument in or out of school and they would like to put their
name forward for the opportunity to perform a solo at the showcase, please ask them
to come and see Mrs Edwards. (Please note they will need to provide their own
music and backing track if needed).

Safer Internet Day
West Sussex County Council’s Community Safety & Wellbeing Team is supporting
                                           th
this year’s Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 5 February 2019.
Safer Internet Day (SID) is celebrated globally in February each year to promote the
safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. Co-
ordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the celebration sees hundreds
of organisations unite to raise awareness of online safety issues in running events
and activities across the UK. Attached is some useful information for parents.
Guidance on cyber bullying, online gaming, keeping under-fives safe etc is also
available from www.childnet.com/resources.

“How is maths taught nowadays?” - a workshop for parents and carers
The way that maths is taught in primary schools is always evolving, and since the
launch of the current curriculum in 2014, there has been a significant shift in the
expectations of how our young mathematicians will explore the world of maths.

As part of this latest evolution, the government has funded the National Centre for
Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) to create 'Teaching for Mastery
Specialists', to spread best teaching and learning practice and inform parents and
carers about what is happening in schools. Mr Collinson is one of these specialists
and on Thursday 28th February, he will be running a workshop for parents and
carers to find out about what has changed, and how you can help your children at
home.

There will be one workshop at 3:30pm, and another at 6pm. The content of both
workshops is the same, but we hope that all of you who wish to attend can make one
or other of the times. There will be a crèche available during the 3:30pm workshop,
but not at the 6pm workshop. If you are not able to attend, the materials Mr Collinson
shares on the day will be available after the event.

Please fill in the attached form and return it to the school office if you would like to
come along.

Times Table Rockstars!

The National Curriculum expectation is that children will know their times table facts
(both the multiplication and associated division facts) up to 12 x 12 by the end of
Year 4. We appreciate that lots of you are keen to help your children learn these
crucial facts, and we are pleased to announce we have now signed all children up to
Times Table Rockstars (www.ttrockstars.com) to help them practise at home. Your
child will be coming home with a letter, login and password in the next few weeks, so
that they can access the site. There is also a Times Table Rockstars app available
for Apple and Android devices from the respective app stores. You can find more
information on the website, and below, or please see your child's teacher or Mr
Collinson.

From the website: "Times Tables Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of
daily times tables practice. Each week concentrates on a different times table, with a
recommended consolidation week for rehearsing the tables that have recently been
practised every third week or so. This format has very successfully boosted times
tables recall speed for hundreds of thousands of pupils over the last 8 years in over
12,000 schools - both primary and secondary - worldwide."

PTA News
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Bags of Support Collection last week. We
will let you know how much was raised in due course.

Don't forget that the deadline for booking your child in to Cinema Club is this Monday
4th Feb. We are not able to take bookings after this date so please book via the
Gateway before then to avoid disappointment.

11th Feb - Cinema Club for all year groups (Payment available on the Gateway by
4th Feb)

9th March - Quiz Night at the Village Hall 7.30pm (Tickets available or to register
your interest at rpspta@hotmail.com. Teams of 4-8 people, £10 per person to
include an excellent ploughman's supper).

29th March - Easter Discos

Bags for Life - still available!

Last week's cake sale raised £45.30. Thank you to all who donated or purchased
cakes.

And don't forget to select us as your chosen charity at the Co-op and if you have
already then please spread the word!

Thank you

Joy and Vicky

Cake Sales Dates

8 February            Year 5
14 February           Year 6
1 March               Year R

8 March               Year 1
15 March              Year 2
22 March              Year 3

We are a NUT AWARE school due to the allergies that some of our pupils have,
with every effort being made to ensure that no nuts, or products containing
nuts, are brought in to the school.

Diary Dates
A list of diary dates for the term is attached to this newsletter- please take the time to
look at up and coming events for your child. Newly added events are highlighted in
yellow.

Miss S Nicholls
Miss S Nicholls
Headteacher

More photos of events are available on our website

Please note that attachments to the Newsletter about local
clubs and events are not endorsed by the school. Parents are
responsible for carrying out their own safety checks.