From the Headmaster:
Two years.
That is how long it has been since our last camp out on the school grounds. As I mentioned to someone today, residential trips are such a key part of school life. Children respond to such opportunities and thrive in a variety of ways. Confidence, esteem, that dreaded word - independence.
I really do not know how many residential trips and visits I have been part of in the last xx years of teaching, but it is worth the limited sleep and impact on energy levels! As you can see from the images, we had a fantastic time. A rather timely weekend to restock energy levels before we head off to St Felix School in Southwold for the Year 3 and Year 4 residential followed the week after by the Year 5 and Year 6 trip.
I can't wait!
Enjoy your weekend and a bit! Take care of one another.
Alistair
PS - Congratulations to all of our cross country runners who came away victorious from the Richmond Romp Cross Country! Particular congratulations to Tom, Sarah and Jennifer for their respective age group victories!
Nursery - Additional sessions and after school care
I am keen to clarify the communication that you will have received this afternoon.
We have always had a clear policy of being supportive and keen to accommodate requests; the inevitable over running meeting, bus strikes, tube strikes and it being 'just one of those days.'
So, if you need to arrange care for your child from 3.30pm through to 5pm or 6pm whether they are attending our full time nursery or term time nursery then you can contact Nicola directly (02085465496) up to 2.30pm on the same day or complete an updated Google Form, the link to which will be published on Monday 3rd May to ensure an efficient system. We will do our utmost to accommodate these requests and undertake the associated logistics to ensure staff are allocated accordingly. Should this not be possible due to reasons such as staff training, illness etc we will still do our best to accommodate such requests but contact you as soon as possible if necessary.
We do need one terms notice for a change from Term time to Full time, and likewise if you wish to change from full time nursery to term time. Full time nursery children attend for the normal academic year as well as school holidays, term time children attend only during the school academic year.
Do please look out for the form on Monday which will clarify the communication you received this afternoon.
Assembly
With the excitement of the be swarm still occupying a few conversations, it reinforced to me just how these last fourteen months will have a variety of repercussions.
The bee keeper who gladly came to our rescue commented on how much more honey has been produced and how much sweeter it is as a result of the lockdown. The documentary that captured my imagination 'The Year Earth Changed' is quite the most extraordinary 48 minutes, from the penguins through to the story of the cheetah and her cubs that I shared during the assembly.
I apologise to those of us who had a romantic notion of safari tours and peace and tranquility, the image of 30+ truck loads of tourists, expensive cameras and zoom lens capturing holiday snaps whilst interfering with lives that deserve greater respect will linger with me; whose behaviour should be adapted in this 'post-covid' world that we are tiptoeing into?
I think, I hope that we have an opportunity to reflect on car use, travel bucket lists and such like.
Watch the documentary, if you can, I hope that you will agree with my sentiments.
Year 6
This week, Year 6 have focussed on finishing their book, ‘The infinite lives of Maisie Day’. The ending proved shocking as a lesson was spent trying to understand the twists and turns, and how the author kept the story open at the end.
This then led them to create their own multiple reality story, which they planned and then created using both AR and iMovie.
Our science also continued with the topic of reproduction, focusing on asexual vs sexual reproduction.
Year 5
In Year 5 this week we have been exploring the dialect and terminology associated with Tom from the book ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’. To portray Tom’s dialect, his direct speech is often made up of misspelled words in order to help the children accurately conceptualise Tom’s speech. This is causing some great points of debate amongst the children.
In Maths this week, we have moved through the process of calculating the probability of different outcomes of a range of events. After a range of challenges, the children enjoyed presenting their findings to the class.
In PE, it has been fantastic to be back in the sunshine of Ditton Fields and with the perfect weather is only enhanced with working through cricket drills and of course enjoying small sided matches. The focus this week was on fielding techniques and honing our catching skills.
Year 4
To combine our most favourable tasks this week, Form Four’s achievements have been acquired in excellent knowledge and application of possessive e’quill’valent fractions.
The process of writing our formal letters culminated in the transcription of our work on to aged manuscripts. We have created our dip ink quills too and will ready ready to write with next week.
Our progress in Maths focussed on securing our knowledge of converting improper fractions in to mixed fractions. This will enable us to add and subtract a greater range of fractions. Further to this, we have also mastered the process of simplifying fractions to their smallest form using their highest common factors.
In other areas of the curriculum, the Spanish Armada were thwarted by Sir Francis Drake and Lord Howard. Our video interpretations of their experiences-were quite imaginative, but focussed on the main facts.
To conclude our week, Year Four produced their shoes and promotional material to advertise them in the tough economic climate. The results were sensational and proof that they had put their heart and ‘sole” in to the task.
A fantastic week Year 4 and we look forward to the shorter week...and the small trip.
Mr Papps
Year 3
Well the highlight of the week certainly was the build up to and the actual Camp out. The children thoroughly enjoyed setting up camp in the playground, with orienteering amongst other activities on offer. A fabulous BBQ thanks to Mr Bond with hot chocolate before bed time.
Luckily, we also managed to squeeze in some maths during the week, building on our work on sequencing, reading rather large numbers and understanding their place value, as well as addition.
In English we dipped our toes into persuasive writing, with the most fascinating discussion on how to get your own way. The children were happy to give away their secrets but only if I didn’t upload them to Showbie as many were adamant they didn’t want their parents to see! After a great discussion where we realised many of their ways would not work if they were an adult so we began to look at persuasive advertising and using our words to convince someone. This lead beautifully into our STEAM adverts for the shoes we have designed. More to come with rather fabulous adverts and designs… watch this space!
R. Bond
Year 2
The hot topic all week has been about one thing, and one thing only!
Well, I think it lived up to every expectation. Everything from the set up and construction of the tents, the hearty appetites (thank you to Chef Leon and Chef Bond for their hard work) and then the games and hot chocolate all ensured a good overnight camp and for most, the first night away from mum and dad. I hope you all managed to sleep!
Year 1
A wonderful and creative week in Year 1. As you can see, we have been working on a whole range of challenges that has involved sorting and organising different objects and items.
We also held a very detailed and thoughtful discussion about the environment and all that we can to change our behaviour following the assembly this week.
Judging by their conversations, we are in good hands!
Reception
This week Reception have been exploring adjectives in Literacy as we have been looking at character descriptions. We have been focusing on the book “Somebody Swallowed Stanley” to continue our exploration into waste and rubbish. We looked at the character Stanley and described what he looked like, how he felt and what patterns he had on him. We had a great discussion about the character’s feelings in the book and how we felt when the animals ate Stanley the plastic bag. This led us on to researching jellyfish and creating fact sheets and drawings in our floor book.
In Maths this week we have been using tally charts to document how we got to nursery. This helped us to compare quantities and find out which method of transport had the most and least people. Reception were very confident seeing visually how many marks we had made.
On Friday we learnt a new skill on our Ipads. We used Keynote to change the background of the photos of our sock characters we made last week. The children learnt how to use “instant alpha” to superimpose the character onto the background of where our character lives. The children were creative in describing their character using the new found skills in using adjectives and descriptive words.
Have a lovely long weekend.
Second Steps
This week has been great fun. We have been learning about our bodies and discovering our bones. We have been looking at the different shapes and sizes and names of bones in our bodies by looking at X-ray pictures.
We could see the difference between an adult skull and a baby’s skull.
The children had fun creating their own skeletons and named them dancing skeletons as their arms and legs had all gone a bit crazy.
We have been watering the flower beds where we had sprinkled our wild flower seeds and they have started to grow. We have been making butterfly and bumble bee posters so everyone knows why we have planted the seeds.
We have been doing a lot of work on their letter writing and have started to introduce precursive letter formation. The children have been really keen to try more letter shapes with the cursive tails.
The children were fascinated by the small swarm of bees that decided to stop off on one our rose bushes. Watching them buzzing around.
First Steps
We have had a fun filled week in First Steps starting with us making shakey shakers! We made them using recycled items to help save our planet and a mixtures of lentils, chickpeas and rice. With our shakers we used them during the week for our circle time session doing singing and dancing moving like raindrops, sea waves and leaves on trees. For woodland school this week we went on a nature walk around our garden and picked different flowers and leaves. We then made our own salt dough play dough and rolled it out marking it with the leaves we picked and then put it in the oven to get hard.
For mathematics this week we did sorting with ping pong balls and arranged them by colour and counting. We also practiced number recognition, counting and matching the number to the correct amount by using ice cream cones and finger paints. Cupcake cases with numbers in and Cheerios to count the match was another activity the children engaged in to develop their number skills.
Following from last week the children continued to enjoy the vets in the home corner saving the animals and caring for them. Then we made animal footprints using paint and whilst doing so we were discussing animal sounds, what they eat and how they walk.In the tuff tray we made a pond including frogs, ducks and insects this encouraged the children to develop their communication skills as they loved counting and singing songs such as five little ducks and five speckled frogs.
Key Events
Thursday 6th - Friday 7th May - Year 3 and Year 4 Residential
Wednesday 12th - Friday 14th May - Year 5 and Year 6 Residential
Friday 21st May - Art Exhibition - Whole School Exhibition
Friday 11th June - Inter-House Crystal Maze
Wednesday 16th June - Pupil Reports published
Thursday 17th - Friday 18th - Year 5 and Year 6 Bikepacking Expedition (optional)
Friday 25th June - Kite Festival
Saturday 26th June - Prize Giving, Sports Day - All children to attend
Saturday 26th June - Parent Social 6pm
Thursday 1st July - Inter House Tough Mudder
Friday 2nd July - End of Term Production
Illness & Medical
We continue to abide with the DfE Regulations.
We ensure that anyone developing those symptoms during the school day is sent home.
These are essential actions to reduce the risk in schools and further drive down transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).
We would like to remind you that if your child is absent from school due to sickness (vomiting, diarrhoea) they must be clear for at least 48 hours prior to returning to school. You must inform the school office directly on 020 8546 5496 if your child will be absent that day.
Should your child develop symptoms or receive a positive result from a PCR test for Covid-19 you must immediately inform the school office - secretary@parkhillschool.com
This email is monitored during the school day and at set intervals during the weekend. If our line is busy, we have a backup answer service where an operator can take your message and we, as a school, are alerted accordingly.
We receive daily updates to the regulations every 24 hours and this information is reviewed and any alterations to the regulations immediately adopted. We abide by the PHE and DfE advice.
We must abide by the rules, rule of six, social distancing etc for the duration of each easing (hopefully) of the restrictions. However, having reviewed movement around the site and the layout of our buildings we would like to extend the invitation to those of you who drop off your children between 8am and 8.10am and would like to, you are welcome to take your children to the classroom door (Reception, Year 1, Year 2, First & Second Steps) and enjoy the gardens and chance to see far more of the school than we have been permitted to share with you for over a year! I would ask that masks are worn and that you enjoy the chance to walk through the school just like it was before! We will naturally review this each day and communication with you accordingly. We may need to limit the numbers on site during those ten minutes and ask for your patience if required.
Images from the week
Credits:
Alistair Bond