21st January 2016

Dear Parents, Pupils and Guest Readers

Read on for the latest school news, some updates and reminders.

Year Four Class Assembly

Last week Year Four presented a lively,

informative and amusing play about

Henry VIII. Pupils from Reception

right through to Year Six were

mesmerized as a procession of wives

was presented to the audience and a

child-friendly recount given of their

fate or fortune. Comic timing is tricky

for children to understand and achieve,

but Year Four showed a mastery of the technique, and there was also a simple and effective drama

technique they used to portray the sorry circumstances of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, as

you can see from the photograph!

Staffing Update After being on the St Ps staff team for over fifteen years, Mrs Van Rensburg has decided it is time for a new

adventure so she is off to pursue those dreams at the end of Lent Term. Mrs V has played an enormous part

in the fitness, happiness and wellbeing of pupils over the years and she will be missed. We are planning a

suitable farewell for her at the end of this term. Some parents may already know Mr Jonathon Burrows. As

a fully qualified teacher (and not just a tennis coach!) he will join us for the duration of Trinity Term,

teaching Key Stage Two classes including Games and Swimming.

Holidays can be a reason for learning! In Reception Class we have been working on our

topic, ‘Holidays’. The children have designed a map

with a key, decorated giant sea creatures with

marbling inks and with a variety of collage

materials, and used the ‘Notebook’ program on the

interactive whiteboard to draw and label their

choice of ‘holiday’ themed pictures. They have also

enjoyed role-play activities in the Reception Class

‘Travel Agents’ area. In Literacy lessons the children

have listed facts about Victorian seaside holidays,

and experimented with writing for different

purposes, by writing a postcard and putting

information into a passport and a holiday booking

form. In Mathematics the children have created

patterns with sounds and actions, learnt how to

write the ‘teen’ numbers and found lines of symmetry; they were excited to create symmetrical butterfly

pictures with paint. We have had a busy and fun start to Lent Term!

Key Stage One Numeracy

In Year One we used the numicon equipment to help us to

understand place value. Here we are working together to

count out numbers up to and beyond 100. This makes

counting in tens easier too! Seeing the numbers laid out

on the table gives the children a visual

awareness of the comparative sizes of

the numbers.

Pupils in 2MW have been enjoying using our new tablets and the newly-installed interactive whiteboard in

Key Stage One. We have been consolidating our number bonds in a fun way!

Year Three Feel the Force! Year Three are enjoying their new science topic about springs and magnets. They have already undertaken

experiments about springs and forces and how a leaf spring works. Lawrence brought his model of a

trebuchet to school and explained how the spring is wound and how it flings things. Next week pupils in

Year Three are hoping to compose some music using the instruments they have made, which contain

springy materials.

Climbing the Ladder of Maths Mastery in Year Four

Year Four have been learning to use a

vertical algorithm to multiply a two or

three digit number by a one digit number.

They have enjoyed learning the ‘ladder

method’ and have all worked very hard to

successfully master it.

To Earth and Beyond with Year Five Year Five enjoyed demonstrating the relative distances between the Sun and all the planets this week, using

a novel measuring aid – loo roll! The planets were represented by a variety of different sized balls and we

used our knowledge of rounding and scaling to calculate how many sheets of paper should be in between

each planet. A million km was equal to ½ sheet and we discovered that the first four rocky planets:

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars were much closer to each other than the larger gas planets like Jupiter,

Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Year Six Scientific Enquiry

Pupils in Year Six have been working hard to disprove the statement, 'Exercise increases your breathing but

not your heart rate.' They became experts at finding their pulses, although the early attempts did lead some

to worry that they had no pulse! 6TB apologise to 4AH for the intense pounding on their ceiling during our

two minutes of running. The hypothesis was proved false and we are now looking to analyse our data

using spreadsheets.

Sunnylands Nursery News Sunnylands Nursery pupils have been watching the weather recently, so it was fitting with the recent short-

lived snow fall, that the children produced some topical creative work. This is now displayed in the

Children's section of Kettering Library for everyone to see.

On Wednesday last week our local Community Support Office Jo Wells visited Sunnylands Nursery with a

colleague, talking to the children about staying safe and what to do if they get lost. The officers had a

selection of uniform with them that the children dressed up in. This was hugely popular as you can see

from the photos! We are planning visits from the Fire Service and a nurse in the near future, as we continue

with our People Who Help Us topic.

Personal Survival Skills

As part of our comprehensive swimming

programme at St Peter's School we

acknowledge the importance of the skills of

personal survival being taught to our

pupils. Last week, Year Four, Five and Six

pupils started their first of four personal

survival sessions. During the first lessons

the scene was set by explaining that for the

next four weeks they should imagine that

the pool is the sea, and the water is

extremely cold. The challenge was set to see

if the swimmers could keep their heads dry

throughout the lesson! Each pupil was

given a piece of 'debris' - in this instance a

large plastic bottle - to help them with this

challenge. The swimmers thoroughly

enjoyed the challenges put to them and are

looking forward to the next session!

Go Orange for Muscular Dystrophy UK Muscular Dystrophy UK is the charity for the 70,000 people living with muscle-wasting

conditions in the UK. Pupils at St Peter’s School are invited to support Muscular

Dystrophy UK by joining the ‘Go Orange’ Day on Friday 29 January. The charity is

asking schools, clubs and work places across the UK to wear something orange on this

day. Muscular Dystrophy UK would love to have 10,000 taking part in the event to raise

£10,000 – enough to fund two months of pioneering research into the causes of and

treatments for muscle wasting conditions from the money raised on the day. If you would like to support

our fund raising event we ask that children wear something orange with their PE kit on Friday January

29th. This can be a hair bobble for the girls or a T-shirt with an orange pattern or even an orange wool hat

instead of the School one! How about orange laces in your trainers? A minimum donation of £1 for the

privilege of wearing something orange will go to the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK. You can donate

more if you wish!

Take part in Big Garden Birdwatch on the weekend of 30 & 31 January 2016!

The children in Key Stage Two were very happy to see a feathered visitor in the playground on Monday

morning telling them all about the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. This cheeky little fellow waits for his

morning snack and has also worked out that there may be some crumbs outside Key Stage Two at the end

of the day too! If you would like to take part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch then use the link below

for more information. http://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/rspb/rspb-big-garden-birdwatch

Key Stage Two French Day

The theme of Key Stage Two French Day was ‘Epiphanie’, a very popular celebration in France in January.

The children call it the Kings’ Day and have a special sweet pie shared with friends or family. There is a

little object (La fève) hidden inside, the person finding this object in his or her share is crowned king for the

day.

We had an Epiphany crown decorating competition- they were all so

beautiful, we had too many winners to list here!

Year Six acted two nativity plays, all the children danced and sang the

galette song, each child made their own Galette to take home to bake. We

finished with a drink of ‘chocolat chaud’, and sang the French national

anthem La Marseillaise.

Collecting pupils at the end of the day There has been a marked improvement in the orderliness of collection. I thank Reception & Key Stage One

parents who are ensuring that their children hold hands with Mum, Dad or a carer as they walk out of

school or out of Late Club. Pupils’ understanding of good behaviour on school site should be maintained

throughout the course of the School day, including at its end. Unruly, rough play is not acceptable on

school site at any time.

Kettering Eisteddfod is just under 50 days away! Eisteddfod entrants should be practicing at home in front of an adult at least three times a week.

Instrumentalists should not just be playing to get the task out of the way, but looking to breathe in

the right places and produce a beautiful tone on the instrument (for violin, ocarina & recorder).

Singers should do the same and also ensure that they sing out words clearly, breathing in the

correct places as advised by Mrs Cruickshank. Individual verse & Group speakers should now

know their poems off by heart and be saying them with expression-not racing through, but

speaking the verse so the audience and the judge hears its meaning.

The next bulletin will feature Club News and will be issued on 4th February.

Yours sincerely

Maria Chapman MA(Ed)

Headmistress