Dear Parents and Carers,

What a fantastic first week of March, the sunshine definitely helped and the signs of spring popping up around the school site. On Shrove Tuesday the children enjoyed pancakes in the dining room, the smiles as they enjoyed and chatter about their favourite pancake fillings was lovely to listen to.  Next week in Collective Worship we will be learning about Lent and how it is a special time in the Christian calendar. It has been another busy week in school with lots of fantastic learning opportunities for the children.

Wonderful World Book Day

The highlight of this week has certainly been the World Book Day celebration on Thursday. From the brilliant costumes to the creative story jars, the children had a fantastic day and the staff even managed to find some time to dress up and join in the fun! We all know how important a love of reading is for children and no matter what the subject matter, we hope that your children are developing a confidence to read and a love of books. 

Playtimes

The wonderful weather recently has brightened up the playtimes for the children. We are continuing to look at improving playtimes for the children, Miss Noble has met with the school council and gathered their ideas. Mrs Richardson will soon be writing to you to ask for your help in collecting some play equipment and toys that you may no longer need and wish to donate. As part of improving playtimes and resources we will be setting up an Amazon wish list for any families who would like to contribute to resources for playtimes.

Dogs on Site

Please can we remind that dogs are not allowed anywhere on the school site, which includes just inside the school gates and at the front of the school / in the car park.  We would also ask and advise not to leave dogs tied up outside of school close to the gates and entrances and unattended, where very young children may be tempted to pet, stroke or inadvertently provoke any unexpected or dangerous behaviour. We of course realise that dogs are a huge part of family life for many of us, but we respectfully ask that they are not brought to school as part of drop off and pick up. 

Parent and carer meetings

We will be holding our parent/carer meetings on Wednesday 26^th and Thursday 27^th March. Thank you to those who have already booked appointments with their child’s class teacher. Please do ensure you have booked an appointment before the bookings close on Friday 14^th March. 

https://christchurchps.schoolzineplus.co.uk/view-session/12

Kind regards

Mark Oldfield

Inset and Academy days for the rest of the year (training for school staff - children are not in school on these days):

• Friday 23rd May - Academy day
• Monday 21st July - Inset day
• Tuesday 22nd July - Inset day

As well as all the other fun and fantastic learning that goes on in Reception there were also some key moments in the week that cannot go without a monster mention!

Tuesday was an important day in the Christian calendar as it was Shrove Tuesday and this meant that everyone was treated to pancakes and fruit for dessert at lunchtime. Yummy! Then in the afternoon, another treat! Emily, a parent in the school community, ran a musical workshop where the class could choose their own instrument and some children were chosen to be the conductor. They enjoyed joining in with songs and trying to keep the cows on the field! 

On Thursday Reception enjoyed a wonderful World Book Day on the theme of ‘Read your way’ beginning with an assembly led by Mrs Richardson  followed by a range of book orientated activities including making your own bookmark, drawing the front cover of a favourite book and using language skills to talk about their chosen character. There was also the exciting opportunity in the afternoon, to share a book with their buddy – which is always a special time for both year groups!

After hearing the whole school book ‘Flooded’ by Mariajo Illustrajo the children used their imaginations to write their own speech bubbles saying what kind of liquid was gushing through the school! Both classes were introduced to several artists who specialise in recreating the effects of water and were then encouraged to explore how to represent water visually.                                                                             

Maths saw the children exploring number bonds to 10 using two parts – or which two numbers added together make 10! This was done in a variety of different ways to ensure numerical thinking and physical challenge! This might have involved cars parking in the car park, eggs placed in an egg box or combining 2 Numicon tiles together to equal 10.

The end of the week saw a fantastic ‘Marble run’ challenge in the outside area and around the classroom. How can the ball be slowed down enough (without stopping) to make it the slowest timed run? This involved some scientific thinking, observing, experimenting, testing  and evaluating as a group.

It has been a busy but exciting week in Year 1 this week. We made the most of the beautiful sunny weather and did our science lesson outside. We sketched the same tree that we drew back in Autumn/Winter last year to compare how it has changed through the seasons. We noticed that, even though the trees had no leaves, there were signs to indicate that new life is on its way.

On Thursday we had a wonderful day celebrating the joy of books. We began the day with a new book called "Flooded" by Mariajo Ilustrajo. It follows the story of an animal called a Golden Lion Tamarin who has something important to say about the rising water levels but no one cares to listen. Finally, with some communication and team work, the community come together to fix the problem. We discussed the meaning of persuasion and wrote our own demonstration signs with compelling and persuasive messages on them.

In the afternoon we met with Year 5 to share a story together using our favourite books brought in from home and from our classroom book corners.

Finally, a big thank you for putting together fabulous costumes and creative story jar entries. We really appreciate your dedication to raising the profile of reading and love of books. The story jars are currently on display in the library and there will be more information coming soon about the judging process.

This week year 2 are focussing on length and height in maths. We took the opportunity to make the most of the sunshine and went outside to measure using metre sticks. Children had to measure the different coloured chalk lines against a metre stick. They then had to record whether the line was more than, less than or equal to 1 metre.

In our literacy lessons children were tasked with giving their talk partners a tour of the moon just like the main character from our text "Man on The Moon". It was so much fun and we were blown away by the confidence the children displayed and also their space knowledge.

Year 3 have had a mouth- watering time this week sketching and creating their designs for their 3D donut sculptures.

They looked at the work of Claes Oldenburg, who created a variety of food sculptures and then worked hard to sketch their own designs.

On Wednesday they created the sculpture base and prepared it ready for papier mache on Thursday.

We will bring you the magnificent results of the finished sculpture in next week’s newsletter.

We also had a fantastic time on World Book Day sharing all of the books that we love to read.

Year 4 had an electrifying start to the week as they put their knowledge of circuits to the test! Using their carefully designed blueprints from last week, the children worked hard to create fully functioning torches. They showed fantastic problem-solving skills and perseverance, and the final results were incredible. It was wonderful to see their excitement as their torches lit up, bringing their designs to life.

Later in the week, we celebrated World Book Day with a creative and thoughtful project inspired by our whole school book, Flooded. The children sculpted clay animals holding placard boards, representing key messages from the story. They then explored the themes of change and teamwork further by writing acrostic poems, reflecting on the importance of coming together to make a difference. It was a fantastic day full of creativity, imagination, and a love of reading!

This week, Year 5 got creative with Chrome Music Lab, where they learned all about music loops and remixes. They experimented with layering sounds, repeating patterns, and adding their own twist to beats — discovering how technology can turn simple sounds into catchy tracks.

Meanwhile in French, the children have been diving into les fruits — from "une pomme" (apple) to "les cerises" (cherries) —and using this knowledge to play Fastest Finger First. This was a speed round where the children raced to name and find fruits faster than their classmates. It was noisy and somewhat frenetic but a lot of fun!

At the beginning of the week, we had a special visitor – Norah – come and speak to us about Ramadan. Norah gave a wonderful presentation, along with Yomna, Yusra, Deen and Hamdan, explaining how Ramadan is observed in Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq. A big thank you to all involved, including those who provided yummy food for the children to sample. A lot of happy faces left the building on Monday afternoon!

This week, we started our exciting journey into the world of the Ancient Greeks! We explored when and where they lived, created a timeline of key events, and used historical sources to uncover fascinating insights about their civilization and the five distinct periods linked to this civilization.

In science, we've been investigating insulators—both electrical and thermal. We carefully planned a fair test, ensuring we had a clear control, independent, and dependent variables. Next, we’ll put materials like foil, bubble wrap and felt to the test to see which works best as a thermal insulator!

Maths has been full of energy with our Times Tables Battle of the Bands—Girls vs. Boys! Well done to everyone for taking part and showing fantastic enthusiasm.

We were also blown away by the creativity in our Story in a Jar competition. The variety of entries was amazing, and it was wonderful to see so many imaginative ideas brought to life. A huge well done to all who participated!

World Book Day was a highlight of the week! We were captivated by the talk from Mariajo Ilustrajo - the Spanish author and illustrator behind Flooded - learning about her creative process, her early inspirations, and how her stories often begin with pictures rather than words. We discovered that Flooded is a metaphor for climate change and loved hearing about how Mariajo develops her ideas from sketchbooks to final illustrations. Following this, we wrote letters to Planet Earth, explaining that we will encourage everyone to work together to protect the planet and preserve its future.

A fantastic week of learning, creativity, and teamwork—well done, Year 6!

What a fantastic World Book Day we have had! The children looked spectacular in their wonderful costumes; we’ve had Willy Wonka’s in the playground, Gruffalo’s in assembly and even Paper Bag Princesses in phonics!

In assembly Mrs Richardson shared a beautiful story called "I Love Hate Books" by Mariajo Ilustrajo which follows the story of a girl who HATES books. A trip to the library does little to quell her disgust, at least not at first, but when the right book is put in her hands a world of imagination opens for her and maybe, just maybe, her hatred of books starts to change.

Across the whole school we have been completing pieces of work on a book called "Flooded" by the same author, Mariajo Ilustrajo. Flooded is a funny and beautifully illustrated tale of animals who live in a city that is ever so slowly flooding. Eventually, the flood water reaches a height that they can no longer ignore and they have to work together to save their city. All the animals join together in a line and pull out the plug that is drowning the city. The story teaches a message not to let problems fester and with a little team work and community spirit, no problem is insurmountable. Each class has been producing a piece of writing and some artwork to go with it – we can’t wait for you to see what we’ve dreamed up.

Reception, Year 1, Year 5 and 6 took part in a reading buddy swap in the afternoon. We sat together in the playground and shared some of our favourite stories from home. It was such a special way to share books and encourage informal book chat between different age groups.

Most of all, the children have been so excited to share their favourite stories and characters which is what World Book Day is all about. Thank you to everyone at home who has supported by putting costumes together and creating intricate story jars – World Book Day wouldn’t have the same impact without you!#

Magic of Books in French 

For World Book Day, the children had fun exploring the magic of books through several creative activities in French! First, they used a dictionary to translate the titles of well-known books into French, discovering new words and expanding their vocabulary. Then, they used their imagination by drawing a new cover for their favourite book while also translating the title into French. It was an afternoon full of discoveries, creativity, and fun, all centred around the wonderful world of books!

The Year 3/4 football team has now concluded their league season, and we are delighted to commend their outstanding performance. Throughout the league, they demonstrated exceptional teamwork, dedication, and skill, consistently rising to the challenge.

Thanks to everyone that took part for their hard work and commitment. Their efforts truly "kicked" the season off on a high note, and we look forward to their continued success both on and off the field in the future.

“Eat Them To Defeat Them” is back for its 7^th year! It was created by Veg Power as an initiative to get children eating more veg and as a school we will be joining the campaign for 4 weeks of increased veg consumption beginning on 10^th March. Each week we will be adding different vegetables to the lunches in the dining room and encouraging children to add at least one vegetable to their packed lunch boxes every day.

The ‘Tuesday tasting table’ will return and each week the reception children will be using their cooking skills to provide us with different vegetable based dishes to try. The recipes will follow in the newsletter for you to try at home.

If you would like to find out any more about the campaign please scan the QR code. We look forward to sharing the recipes and photos with you in the next few weeks.

On a Thursday lunchtime I am currently holiday a "Big Questions Club" in the Activity Hall. Everybody is welcome and the children come in their Key Stage groups and engage in colouring, quizzes, word searches etc.  They are able to choose songs and stories (related to that morning's Collective Workshop) to watch.

The children are free to ask any questions at all related to Faith, God, Life...

Blessings, Ruthy

As the holy month of Ramadan began on the evening of the 28^th February, we extend our warmest wishes to our Muslim families.

Ramadan Mubarak

PTA DISCO - Fri 28th Feb

Thank you so much to all the children who attended and represented the school so well.  We hope the children all had a fabulous time.

A huge thank you to all the parents who volunteered and helped run a slick operation.

Thank you to Christ Church school staff for being incredibly supportive and making it possible.

We also have some exciting event dates confirmed, so please SAVE THE DATES!!