Dear Parents and Carers

As term 3 races ahead, we have had another busy and productive week of learning with much to celebrate.

Year 3 Stone Age Workshop
This week, our Year 3 students began the week with an exciting hands-on journey back in time with a fascinating Stone Age workshop! The children were able to experience what life was like thousands of years ago learning about the early human way of life. It was a fantastic opportunity for them to understand the past in an interactive and memorable way. We are proud of how engaged and enthusiastic the children were throughout the session.

Year 5 Visit to the Synagogue
Year 5 enjoyed their visit to a local Park Row synagogue as part of their Religious Education studies. During the visit, students had the chance to learn about the Jewish faith, its traditions, and the importance of the synagogue as a place of worship. The children were given a guided tour, including an introduction to the Torah and heard how a Shabbat service is taken. It was a wonderful learning experience that helped deepen their understanding of different cultures and religions.

Parent Support - It is always a wonderful and welcome support to our learning when parents and family members join us at Christ Church to help bring learning to life in a variety of ways. This week some of our Year 1 parents came to talk to the children in 1AN about their African Savannah topic. As professional film makers, the parents shared their wonderful experiences and knowledge of filming the wildlife, whilst showing the children all of the equipment, cameras, hides and much more that are needed to capture the life on the savannah.

We always welcome any support that you may be able to give in supporting our curriculum and learning experiences, and as parents we invite you to share your career expertise, interests, skills and knowledge with our class teachers.

The Importance of Good Attendance
At Christ Church, we are committed to providing all students with the best possible learning experience. One of the key factors in helping your child succeed is regular attendance. When children attend school regularly and on time, they are able to participate fully in lessons that build sequentially, develop important social skills, maintain their friendships and make the most of all of the opportunities we offer.

As a school, we do not approve requests for holidays taken in term time and are clear in following our statutory responsibilities.

If your child is absent for any reason, please remember to inform the school as soon as possible by contacting the school office. Together, we can help all of our pupils reach their full potential!

Value Point Winners
All of the children continue to impress us as they work hard towards their first 50 value point certificates. Many children have achieved this goal and are working towards their next milestone and we celebrate these in our weekly newsletter and award the certificates in our assemblies. Unfortunately, we are not able to invite parents and carers to join us for these awards, but continue to welcome you to the Friday Star of the Week celebration and end of term awards assembly, when your child is the winner.

Notices
One final request, we would politely ask that you check your child’s uniform, coats, bags, hats, scarves and gloves to ensure that they are clearly named. This will help us to return lost and left clothing to you quickly, avoiding costly replacements. Thank you.

Top of Form

Wishing you all a happy weekend ahead.

Kind regards

Mark Oldfield

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):

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

This week we travelled to the opposite end of the world, to the Arctic or North Pole! We learnt where the Arctic is and watched a lovely animation that introduced some of the animals that call it home. We discussed the vocabulary used to describe the animals and their adaptations to their habitat.

On Tuesday we compared the Arctic with Antarctica and used the non-fiction book North Pole, South Pole to help us. We did some lovely crafts linked to our learning on the polar regions and enjoyed exploring different activities and listening to some lovely and funny stories like Penguin Huddle by Ross Montgomery.

The beautiful book, Flooded by Mariajo Ilustrajo helped us to learn the meaning of our school value, Co-operation.

We have been working hard at our phonics and learning the diagraphs oo, oo, ar and or. We have been using our phonic knowledge to write captions or simple sentences to go with a picture.

In maths we have been busy exploring capacity this week. We enjoyed filling containers with different things and discussing if the containers were full, half full or empty.

What a fabulous week! Well done Reception! We are looking forward to lots of lovely learning all about birds next week!

This week in Year 1, we’ve been exploring the fascinating world of lions! Using The Big Book of Beasts by Barbara Taylor and Yuval Zommer, we’ve learned some amazing facts about these majestic creatures. Did you know that, unlike other big cats, lions live in groups called prides? We discovered that lions are carnivores, hunting animals like antelopes, zebras, and other large mammals. The female lionesses are the ones who lead the hunt. We also learned that lions spend a lot of time resting – they can sleep for up to twenty hours a day!

Year 1 did a brilliant job of writing their favourite lion facts, remembering to use capital letters and full stops to make their sentences clear. Well done, Year 1, for all your hard work with your writing!

This week, the Year 2 children were twirling with excitement as they participated in a lively dance workshop in preparation for their upcoming dance festival at the end of February.

All the children worked hard to perfect their routines: learning new steps, improving their coordination, and building confidence in front of their peers. With energy levels high and smiles all around, they are definitely on the right foot as they prepare to dazzle the crowd with their fantastic moves at the festival. It’s clear that they are going to step up their game when it comes time to perform!

Year 3 had a fantastic Stone Age Day this week led by Primary History Workshops.

They explored all aspects of Stone Age life including time-lines, clothing, weapons, animals, archery and cave painting. It was an opportunity for them to show-off all of the fantastic learning from this term’s project as well as to learn a few new facts. We are very much looking forward to seeing the results of their project home-works on Friday 7^th February when they will be presenting them to each other.

We have also begun our steel pan workshops with Alphonse on a Friday. The children learnt the scale of G and next week will be learning ‘Frere Jacques’ and ‘Row Your Boat.’ They are loving learning the pans and have behaved really well and listened brilliantly.

Year 4 have been on top form this week, showcasing fantastic footwork and sharp shooting skills during our netball lesson—future pros in the making!

In science, things got a bit messy (in the best way!) as we continued studying digestion. The children absolutely loved modeling how the digestive system works using biscuits, orange juice, beans, and tights—it was a gut-busting activity that had everyone engaged and a little grossed out!

From netball courts to stomachs, Year 4 have truly digested a lot of learning this week!

Year 5 have been continuing with their Science learning this week – this time investigating water resistance. They used their previous week’s learning to think about the direction of water resistance on a falling object and their key vocabulary of surface area, independent variables, dependent variables, controlled variables and anomalous result was at the fore when they carried out their experiment. The children were set the challenge of dropping three different shaped objects in to a measuring cylinder of water and timing which shape fell to the bottom the quickest. Many of their predictions were correct and there was a lot of chat about streamline shapes and water resistance. Great work!

On Thursday morning, the children visited Park Row Synagogue and had a great time listening to Tony explaining all about what happens there on the Sabbath. The children asked some great questions about why men and women sat separately; who reads the Torah aloud; who stands/sits where and what the difference is between Orthodox and Reform synagogues. The children really impressed us as they recalled their learning spectacularly when Tony spoke to them about the Ner Tamid.  Well done Year 5!

This week, Year 6 celebrated the completion of their algebra unit in maths, showcasing great problem-solving skills as they tackled equations and expressions.

In science, we enjoyed working in small groups to complete a water resistance experiment, we dropped a cylinder, sphere, and cube from a height into a container of water, we discovered the cylinder was the fastest to reach the bottom. We concluded that streamlined shapes fall more quickly through water because they have the least water resistance acting on them. In geography lessons we learned the terms transpiration, run-off, condensation and evaporation – then mapped each process on the water cycle. We were amazed to think that as water moves continuously around this cycle, then the water we use today has been around for as long as the Earth!

Meanwhile, in literacy, creativity took centre stage as we wrote and acted out imagined interviews, bringing our characters to life with enthusiasm.

This week in Computing Club, the creativity was off the screen—literally! Mr. Eades challenged the children to create their own short films using the green screen, and they rose to the occasion with plenty of laughter and imagination. Working in small teams, they produced some truly scene-stealing and delightfully silly masterpieces. From obscure panda documentaries to action romance telenovelas, the results were nothing short of Oscar-worthy!

Who knows? We might just have the next big blockbuster filmmakers in our midst!

Shine are running Holiday Clubs this February Half Term in Clifton!

Holiday Club days run from 9:00 – 15:30 with extended hours available if needed. Choose from a huge range of activities from Little Steppers Dance, Creative Extravaganza, Aqua Multi & Play-in-a-Day. 

Don’t miss 20% off your Holiday Clubs! Use the code ‘Early Booker’ in your basket to get your activities for less. Discount ends this Sunday 26^th January. 

Shine are Ofsted registered so you can pay via Childcare Vouchers and the Government Tax Free Childcare Scheme. 

Click HERE to book your activities with a discount. We look forward to seeing you at Shine!