Term 5 2017-18

News in School

25th May 2018

Your PTA needs you! The PTA are needing

volunteers to help with the Summer Fayre on 14th July from 11am -2pm. If you can spare any time to support the PTA and staff on this occasion,

please contact the PTA as they will be extremely grateful for your help.

Any donations towards this wonderful event will be gratefully received.

Don’t forget Race Night is on Saturday 16th June at 7.00pm — get your

jodhpurs on and race down to school!

PTA News 1

Class News 2-6

Sportsdesk News Sun safety

7

Term Dates & Forth coming

events

8

Inside this issue:

Our Lady Primary School

A huge well done to Kevin Skeith and Nick Spolton as they continue their train-ing for their mam-moth bike ride on September 14th. Cy-cling the 130 miles, visiting the six schools in the Acade-my, the duo hope to inspire each school to get involved in activities to raise as much money as pos-sible for their own schools whilst rais-ing money for our’s. Let’s hope they have comfortable saddles!

Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Primary School

The Drove, Sleaford NG34 7AT

Work started with gusto for the installation of the new Trim Trail on Monday, much to the children’s excitement! The equipment began to take shape very quickly until …

? Only 10 more sleeps!

The suspense continues...

A HUGE thank you for your generosity!

Year Reception—Reception’s Got Talent This term has seen the arrival of our new class pets; a pair of female guinea pigs named

Charlie and Sassy. The class adore them and like to hold them as often as possible. The

children have also been taking it in turns to help Miss Rodgers to feed them, fill up their

water bottle, and keep their cage clean. During PE lessons, Re-

ception have been practising for Sports Day by improving a

range of skills, including running, jumping, and throwing. They

have also been practising for the egg and spoon race and hur-

dles! The class have really enjoyed being outside in the sun-

shine for their PE lessons and they have all worked really hard

to further develop their abilities. During independent learning

time, there has been lots of inventive writing happening, with

some children making birthday party lists, some creating la-

belled maps, and some making, writing and illustrating their

own books! The children have been very creative in the outdoor area too, making bird feed-

ers using cereal hoops and string, and rehearsing for a talent show which we held on our

very own stage! Some children even made signs for our talent show

so that everybody knew where to go to watch the acts. Every child

performed a song or a dance and they all did a great job of entertain-

ing the crowd!

Page 2 Term 5 2017-18

Goodness me, what a busy time

Year 1 are having this term. They

began by looking at the hero or

villain Robin Hood and shared what they knew. They

have used photographs to see where he probably lived

and discussed why he lived there and not in a town.

Year 1 had lots of questions about Robin Hood and are

very busy researching the answers to these questions, so

look forward to asking them all about the life of times of

Robin Hood.

Plants have been the major focus for Year 1 this term, in science, art, design and technology

and maths. They have been busy investigating plants around their wonderful school grounds.

The apple blossom tree has been studied all year during seasonal walks and has now been

closely observed using a magnifying glass, amazingly detailed sketches have been made and

its yearly cycle has been recorded. They have also planted their own seeds and recorded the

growth in a plant diary. The plants are looking like they are a part of Jack and the Beanstalk

and will soon be able to continue their growth at home, good luck in harvesting the beans.

Year 1 have used their plant, garden, park and Robin Hood knowledge to design imaginative

gardens for Robin Hood and his Merry Men. They have included very useful vegetable plots, a

waterfall and of course the essential slide down from his tree top home.

Also in Design and Technology, the children have used all their plant observations, along with

their imaginations, to design a plant of their own. Their designs have been made in clay and

are being painted in exotic and unique colours. They look amazing, well done Year 1.

Year 1– Riding Through the Glen

News in School Page 3

Year 2— Monkeying Around In the Amazon

Year 3— The Secret Life of Plants

This term, Year 2 explored the Amazing Amazon. This began with a lovely trip to Lin-

colnshire Wildlife Park where they met parrots, monkeys and Cecil the tapir! Back in

school, the class read and wrote about “The

Great Kapok tree” to learn about the im-

portance of the rainforest and all the won-

derful animals that live there. Paddington

Bear introduced them to the depths of dark-

est Peru to help the children learn about

South America. The children learnt how to

use atlases to see where the equator and

rainforests are and name the continents and

oceans of the world. In Art, the class creat-

ed beautiful artwork, exploring the colours

and patterns of the different rainforest ani-

mals. For Science, the children grew flowers and cress to learn about the conditions

needed to grow well. They finished the term off by making marmalade sandwiches… for

Paddington of course! In between all this great learning, the children also took their KS1

SATs and showed their super confidence and cleverness as real super heroes!

It has been a very busy and exciting term in Year 3! The children have had opportu-

nities to build on the many skills they have already acquired as well as challenging

them to work with greater independence. They have had lots of fun working as su-

per scientists this term. Through a series of investigations, the children have learnt

about the parts of a flowering plant and explored factors that affect their growth,

such as light and water. They have also looked at how water travels through a plant

and the life cycles of flowering plants.

Last week, the children turned into plant

explorers (think David Bellamy!) observ-

ing a variety of different plants, at vari-

ous stages of their life cycle, in our

school grounds. Looking at plants, in

their natural environment, has provided

inspiration for writing explanation texts

about the life cycle of flowering plants.

It really has been an enjoyable topic!

Year 5 - Walk like an Egyptian!

Year 5 started the term immersing them-

selves into their new topic with an Egyp-

tian day. Dressed in all their Egyptian

finery, the children enjoyed learning to

‘Walk like an Egyptian’ (cue The Bangles

music!), Egyptian art and honey cakes.

The children have continued their learn-

ing in English, researching the finding of

Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter. In Maths, the children’s focus has

been fantastic fractions before moving onto Geometry—shape. Being super

scientists, the children have been learning about the different life cycles of

insects, amphibians and mammals. It has been wonderful to see the meta-

morphosis of a few of our own children, from tadpoles into frogs, showing

huge improvements in their swimming lessons!

Year 4—Hunter Gatherers

Year 4 have been transported back in time this term to the Stone Age. They have been studying all about how Stone Age people lived, ate, and hunted. The children got the opportuni-ty to create some Stone Age stewed fruit which as a class they got to prepare, cook and taste. The children have also created blue print designs, for a Stone Age house, with great consider-ation of what they have learnt about the re-sources that would have

been available to Stone Age people at the time.

During a science investigation day, Year 4 developed their skills of prediction, re-search, concluding and evaluating. The Year 4s enjoyed going on multiple mini beast hunts and comparing their results. The Year 4s have also been learning all about the changes to environment that can occur naturally and as a result of humans. The children took part in a great debate about whether humans have a positive or negative impact on the world’s habitats.

Page 4

Year 6—Light, Cameras, Action! The children have had another busy term! In Science, the children have been super scientists, carrying out several in-vestigations around the topic of ‘Light’. They have investi-gated how we see, how light travelling at different speeds, through different mediums, causes refraction and how we see colour—who knew that pieces of cellophane could be such

fun?! Poetry has been the focus in English with the children creating their own modern day narrative, based on ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allen Poe, bring-ing all of their superb skills, in writing, together to create a masterpiece. Throughout this term, the children have been consolidating their fluency in Maths and applying it to problem solving and reasoning across a range of mathemat-ical concepts. It has been amazing to see how the children have grown in confidence and how their mind-set has con-tinued to improve! As part of Sleaford Festival Live! Week, the children were invited to take part in a choral event with several schools from around the Sleaford area. Their individual performance of ‘I will follow him’ from the film Sister Act was absolutely superb; the children were pitch perfect! What fantastic ambassa-dors for the school they were! Oh… another event was SATs! All of the children performed their very best and took the

whole week in their stride.

Page 5 Term 5 2017-18

News in School Page 6

Gathered in the hall, the children were treated to a performance by members of staff rocking along to ‘We Love Rock and Roll’ by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts to introduce the launch of Tables Rock Stars. The children’s faces were a picture to behold! Many, feeling bewildered at the sight that greeted them (I can assure you it was a sight to behold!), were soon on their feet, clapping and singing along.

Full of enthusiasm and inspiration, the children were excited to get on with their learn-ing and within the first four days of them ac-cessing the app, the children had answered a mas-sive 50,000 cor-rect times tables questions!

Since the launch, the children have continued to work extremely hard to better their Rock Star Status. With the ultimate goal to be a Rock Star Legend, there are many children who are well on their way to achieving this.

To date, the children have played over 15,000 games with approximate-ly 245,000 correct answers!! The children really are Times Tables Rock Stars! Please continue to encourage your child to practise their tables.

Are you sun ready? As we move into the summer season, with more learning opportunities being spent outside, please could you ensure that your child/children are suitably protected for their time in the sun. Sun cream should be applied before the chil-dren come to school, so it has time to absorb into the skin, offering the best possible protection from the sun’s damaging rays. Children are encouraged to wear sunhats to protect their heads, which should be named. If you require any more information about UVA/UVB protec-tion, please visit Boots.com website https://soltansunready.com/info-for-parents-expert-advice

Our Breakfast and After School Clubs offer daily wrap around care. Bookings can be made directly through your ParentPay accounts, with same day bookings avail-able though the office. Children who arrive for Breakfast Club are able to enjoy a wide range of tasty breakfast treats (£3 per session). Children attending After School Club are provided with a light snack and a range of fun activities. (£6.95 per session.)

It has been another busy term on the sporting front!

Years 3 and 4 were invited to take part in a Tag Rugby

Festival, which was held at Sleaford Rugby Club, to de-

velop new skills to play

the game. Watch out

for any future John-

ny Wilkinsons or Law-

rence Dallaglios.

A huge congratulations to the children who took part in

the Tennis competition. They finished in 4th place out

of a total number of 30 schools. What an amazing

achievement that is! Wimbledon will soon be upon us,

so stock up on strawberries and cream!

Y6 children have also been busy at The Oval, aka

Sleaford Cricket Club, competing against a number of

local schools in a competition. The children played their very best and were fabulous

ambassadors for the school, showing great sportsmanship and teamwork. Although a

little cloudy to start with, rain did not stop play!

Wrap Around Care available from 7.45am to 5.45pm

News from the Sports Desk

Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic School A Voluntary Academy

Extra Curricular Clubs . Clubs will commence in week two of Term 6 with collection time being 4.10pm. If your child cannot make the club due to an alternative appoint-ment, please could you inform the member of staff running the club. Many of the clubs become fully booked, so, if your child no longer wishes to at-tend the club, please inform the office and they will make arrangements for another child who may be on the waiting list be able to take part. It also helps to teach the children good manners and use them when neces-sary. Thank you for your support.

Uniform Reminders— Please can I remind you that school sweatshirts

are only be worn for PE. Knitted jumpers and cardigans are to be

worn with formal school shirts with stiffened, square collars and a school tie. Please contact Miss Allen if you need to purchase replace-

ment jumpers. I realise a number of children’s shoes have become worn out at the end of this term, resulting in trainers being worn—please ensure that shoes are replaced for the start of the new term.

Please ensure that your child has full PE kit. For outdoor PE chil-dren require grey tracksuits or grey tracksuit bottoms worn with

school logoed sweatshirts.

It is essential that we all support the achievement and maintenance of high stand-ards in everything we do; our uniform is a visual representation of the standards

which we all share to inspire the children.

PS. Please ensure your have named all of your child’s clothing as we cannot return lost/misplaced items to their rightful owners if

names they are not named. Thank you.

Term Dates 2017-18

Term 6—Mon 4th June—Friday 20th July

Term Dates 2018-19

Term 1— Tues 4th Sept—Thurs 18th Oct

Term 2—Mon 29th Oct—Thurs 20th Dec

Term 3—Mon 7th Jan 2019—Fri 15th Feb

Dates for your Diary

04/06—First day term

06/06—Deacon Tony liturgy

13/06—Year 3 class liturgy

16/06—PTA race night

18/06-20/06—Y5 to PGL

20/06—Year2 class liturgy

28/06—Sports Day

29/06—Mass at church

29/06—Transition afternoon

02/07-06-07—Y6 to Briars

03/07—Carres music day

04/07—Year 1 class liturgy

11/07—YR class liturgy

14/07—PTA summer fayre

20/07—Y6 leavers Mass and assembly

20/07—Last day of term