Dear Parents and Carers

As we approach the end of the first term the children’s learning is certainly building, evident in their books and in the variety of outcomes across the school. We hope that you have noticed just some of their progress and knowledge at home and thank you for supporting their homework, something that always make a positive difference. This has been a long term for the children, especially for our youngest pupils and I am sure that the coming half-term break will be welcomed.

As a school, Christ Church has always been proud of the very high standards both expected of the children and supported by our parents and carers. I would respectfully ask you to ensure that your child comes to school every day in the correct uniform (see website and article below). Trainers and hoodies are not permitted on non-PE days and only the correct PE kit can be worn on the allocated days. Should you need to discuss specific requirements or issues with us, please contact the school office.

Healthy Eating – As a school we fully support the need to ensure that all children are encouraged to eat both a healthy morning snack and mid-day meal. We have unfortunately noticed less appropriate snacks and packed lunches in school and would respectfully ask that children are not bringing packets of crisps and chocolate bars into school.

We are very happy to welcome two new members of staff to the Christ Church School team. Mr Kean joins us soon in his new role as teacher across the school and Miss Sattin, who has been working with us for some weeks, will continue as a member of staff in her role as Teaching Assistant for the year.

A huge thank again to all of our parents and carers for organising the cake sales each week and to you all for supporting this. The funds raised make a huge difference to the children with the money spent directly on supporting the purchase of resources that the children would like. We will always share the amount raised and what the children have chosen with you on Google classroom following a cake sale.

Thank you for booking your appointments early for our forthcoming parents’ evenings that take place directly after the half-term break. Our teachers are looking forward to sharing key information about how your child has settled and their progress. Please visit the link below if you still need to book your appointment.

Parent/ carer meeting booking link

Finally, we are very much looking forward to the Harvest celebration at Christ Church on Thursday 24^th October at 10.00am.

Kind regards

Mark Oldfield

Headteacher

Uniform:

Christ Church School is a uniform school both for the school day and PE kit – please see the links to our uniform providers - Price & Buckland & Monkhouse

SCHOOL UNIFORM:

• Grey skirt, dress, shorts or trousers
• White/ light blue blouse, shirt or polo shirt with school logo
• Navy blue Christ Church jumper or cardigan with school logo
• Dark shoes
• White or dark socks/ tights

PE KIT:

• Navy blue shorts, skort or tracksuit bottoms
• Navy blue Christ Church PE hoody
• Navy blue Christ Church PE shirt
• Any colour trainers
• White socks

Our PTA also run a second hand uniform collection and sales in conjunction with a local charity shop

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

• Monday 6th January - Inset day
• Friday 23rd May - Academy day
• Monday 21st July - Inset day
• Tuesday 22nd July - Inset day

The PTA Christmas Fair is approaching and we cannot wait to see you all there for lots of fun and festivities.

There will be an opportunity for businesses to hold a stall, and we will be running a Raffle. 

If you or your business would be interested in holding a stall at the fair, please complete the form below to provide more information.

https://forms.gle/ZKwhrxGGepoN5VRx8 

We also rely heavily on donations for the 2nd hand sale. We are kindly asking parents to drop off items on the Friday morning before the fair. We ask that these donations are good quality and sellable. 

We are looking for:

• books
• toys
• puzzles and games
• Christmas jumpers and pyjamas 

Please keep an eye out for a volunteer sign up form, as always - we really appreciate your help and support. 

See you there!

This week we found out why and how harvest is celebrated and what happens at this time of year.

We listened to The Little Red Hen and enjoyed activities linked to the story including acting out the main events and rolling “bread” using playdough.

We also learnt how bread is made and what ingredients are used to make it rise! We talked about bread from around the world and were very engaged when we tasted different breads and compared the flavours! 

We really enjoyed being busy making scarecrows, decorating pumpkins and scooping, stirring and mixing to make autumn pumpkin soup in the outside area!

In maths we started exploring the numbers 1, 2 and 3! We matched the numbers to pictures and hunted for them around our classrooms!

Well done everyone! Another wonderful week!

Reception Team

In Year 1 this week we put on our scuba gear and dove head first into the ocean to explore coral reefs. We recounted our adventures by using adjectives to describe the rich and diverse wildlife commonly found in coral reefs. We saw stripy lionfish, bright orange clownfish, wibbly wobbly jelly fish and colourful coral!

In maths we have been learning the addition and equal to symbols to write number sentences and find fact families. Using manipulatives such as cubes and counters, we have been finding the different ways to compose a number and learning how to represent this with number sentences (e.g. 1+4=5, 4+1=5, 5=4+1 etc.)

In PSHE, we have bean learning skills to support us when working in a team. In groups that we don’t normally work in, we planned and built a tower using blocks and cubes that had to stand upright by itself. We discussed healthy ways to navigate differences of opinion in a respectful and helpful way – some ideas included taking it in turns to speak, listening to everyone, offering helpful advice, asking questions and showing empathy to teammates.

It’s been another busy week in Year 2.  We have been completing our wonderful ‘Bernard Diaries’ in literacy and have moved on to writing rabbit fact files.  First we learned what is needed to make a good fact file, we then did our research in order to write our own, sharing as much information as we could. 

We have also been loving our Science this term.  This week our learning has focused on food chains.  We have learned all about carnivores, omnivores and herbivores and understand what consumers and producers are.  We enjoyed creating our own food chains and talking about what’s at the top of it and what is at the bottom.

It has been a hands on week for year 3. In the afternoons, our focus has been ‘pneumatic systems’ which sounds very complex for year 3! We researched and experimented with compressed air to discover how it can be used in day to day life. We then used a pneumatic system to create our own toy. All the children threw themselves into this project and created some incredible designs and were able to articulate how their pneumatic system worked in their toy.

This week in Year 4 we have dived feet first into the vibrant world of Henri Rousseau. The children have been inspired by his unique style, exploring jungle themes and using bold colours in their own artwork, learning about background and foreground. It's been wonderful to see their creativity flourish as they created their own jungle scenes.

In addition to art, our "Messy Maths" sessions have been a big hit! The children have engaged in hands-on activities to make their learning concepts fun and interactive, to assess the best strategies needed to solve subtraction questions using two, three and four digit numbers. Whether it's through games, puzzles, or creative challenges, they have developed their mathematical skills while having a blast. Well done Year 4!

Year 5 have been working hard on their Giacometti sculptures this week. We used modelling wire to create a sporting pose and then covered them with tin foil. Next, we covered the model with papier mâché and then painted them in black to mimic Giacometti's style. Everyone is super proud of the outcome!

This week in Science, we discussed the different phases of the moon and thought about how we can see the moon when we look up into the night sky. We learnt that the moon is illuminated by rays from the sun and it is the reflected light from the sun which means we can see the moon. We also learnt that the lunar orbit (the moon travelling around the Earth) takes 29 days; roughly 1 month. During this orbit we see 8 distinct phases of the moon as the appearance of the moon changes depending on how much sunlight illuminates it. These phases are: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter or half moon, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter and waning crescent. In our groups, we used Oreo cookies to give a physical representation of the 8 phases of the moon.

In Art we completed reflection work on the artists Celia Smith and Anne-Lise Koehler and their sculptures of wire birds.

Our RE this week focused on how Jesus’ mission statements of love, generosity, forgiveness and peace and how they can guide everyday actions. We reflected on how we can help others in small ways, like helping a friend with their schoolwork or lending a hand to someone in need. Forgiving someone who has wronged you, whether it is a small disagreement or something bigger. We also discussed finding ways to create peace by resolving conflicts kindly and practicing joy in giving to others though small acts of kindness or charity.

In Maths we have been finding out about how to make equivalent fractions. In Literacy we finished looking at Harry Potter and started our new text of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Our writing this week focused on a description of the first time Edmund and the Snow Queen meet.  

Our week concluded with a visit to listen to the author Onjali Q Rauf speak about her work. Onjali was awarded an MBE in 2022 for her contributions to literature and activism. Her work continues to think about social issues and how they can help others.  More about our visit next week…