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together Everyone Achieves More

Walter Evans CE Primary School

www.walterevans.derby.sch.uk email us at - admin@walterevans.derby.sch.uk

Tel. 01332 557139

Newsletter – February 2018

Dates

for

your

diary…

Friday 16th

February – Break up for half term

Monday 26th

February – Back to school

Wednesday 28th

February – World Book Day (dress up day)

Thursday 1st

March – Yr3&4, Cadbury World

Thursday 1st

& Friday 2nd

March – PTFA meetings in school

Friday 2nd

March – School disco

w/c 5th

March – Book fair

Tuesday 6th

& Thursday 8th

March – Parent’s Evening

Friday 16th

March – Quiz Night (spaces still available!)

Monday 19th

March – Easter Services, St Matthew’s Church, KS2: 11.30 am & KS1: 2.30 pm

Tuesday 20th

March – Sports Relief. To help raise funds wear non uniform and donate £1

Tuesday 20th

& Thursday 22nd

March – FS Easter Services, St Matthew’s Church at 9.30 am

Wednesday 21st

& Thursday 22nd

March – Yr1&2 Joseph production. 10.00 am & 2.00 pm each day.

Thursday 22nd

March – Break up for Easter

Friday 23rd March – Inset day

Wednesday 25th

July – Inset day

Thursday 6th

September – Inset day

Friday 7th

September – Inset day

World Book Day – dressing up day on Wednesday 28th February 2018 with a theme of favourite children’s characters. During the week commencing 26th February 2018, the children will take part in activities in class, inspired by the World Book Day event. Our book fair will be delivered during the week commencing 5th March 2018. The book focus for the school will be, “I Want My Hat Back”, by Jon Klassen.

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Site Security

In order to further improve our site security, the school’s governors have approved the installation of automated gates at the front of the school for both vehicles and pedestrians. These gates will be installed over the Easter holidays 2018 and will provide an extra level of protection for all our children, but especially our reception and nursery children who are located nearest to the front of school. The gates will allow for easy access to the school site for pedestrians only, at the start and end of the school day (drop off and collection times). At all other times, access for pedestrians will be via video intercom entry system on the front of the school pedestrian gate. The automated vehicle entry will remain closed during the school day and will be activated via intercom/keypad control for the small number of visiting vehicles needing to access our site during the school day.

More Joyous News! Since our last bulletin we are thrilled to share the news that Miss Samson’s baby has arrived! Baby Leonard has been born, weighing 9lb 12oz. Both mother and baby are in good health and doing well. Mr Cripwell has also become a father for the second time, with baby Sophie arriving at the end of January, weighing 8lb 8oz. Again, both mum and baby are doing well, whilst Mr Cripwell reports that he has returned to school for a rest! On behalf of all our school community, we send our love and best wishes to both families.

Safer Internet Day – Tuesday 6th February

2018 - Children used the day as a stimulus for

further learning in online safety. Parents were

invited to share in this learning. This was held

on Monday 12th February for Y1 and Y2, on

Thursday 15th February for Y3 and Y4 and

Friday 16th February for Y5 and Y6. For

resources and further advice, please visit:

https://fluidideas.s3-eu-west-

1.amazonaws.com/walterevans/s3fs-public/safer%20internet%20info%20for%20parents.pdf

Our next PTFA meetings are being held on Thursday 1st March at 8.00 pm and Friday 2nd March at 9.00 am in school. If you would like to understand more about what our PTFA

actually do and how important the PTFA team are to our school then please come along and get involved.

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Playground Pals – Key Stage 2 children supporting the younger ones at dinner time

What the children are saying:

“They helped me try to find my penny.” Sophia.

“They helped me when I was sad. They let me be the goose in a game!”

James.

“They came up to me and they helped me find my friend.” Indiana.

“They helped me when someone was trying to catch me and I wanted them to stop.”

Jessica.

What the pals say:

“The first time I wore the tabard and cap, pretty much all of the reception children said

‘Catch the sunshine!” Zoe.

“The first time everyone wanted to play ‘My Little Pony’ with me.” Sai.

“We solved 4 problems in one go!” Niamh and Zoe.

“We have lots of fun playing with the little children.” Alicia and Bella.

Dinner time fun!

Activities in the court area on the playground are now well and truly up and running.

Mrs Ireland and Mrs Williams have developed a series of sports activities to take

place each day. All children are welcome to take part in activities including netball,

football, skipping, mixed games and Trim Trail.

In addition to this, our child-led ‘Mini-Leaders’ run activities at dinner time on the

playground to engage with the younger children.

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Thank you to the vast majority of parents driving to and from school who do so considerately and courteously. A reminder however, that the use of the roads in and around the school can be hazardous, especially at times where there are increased numbers of adult and child pedestrians as well as cyclists. To minimise the dangers to you and your child please:

observe the 20 mph speed limit around the village;

be aware of oncoming cyclists and vehicles on blind corners, such as near the bottom of Darley Abbey Drive;

park safely - always away from the zig-zags and red ‘no parking’ zones outside school;

cars should park on the road and not on pavements.

Tesco Bags for Help Grant Scheme

Our PTFA have successfully applied for the Tesco Bags of Help

Grant Scheme to further improve our school library. Our library

project will be put forward to a customer vote in Tesco stores

during March and April 2018.

What happens next?

Our project along with the other two successful projects in our region will go forward to a

vote in Tesco stores where their customers will decide the outcome by voting for their

favourite project each time they shop. Voting will take place from Thursday 1st March to

Monday 30th April 2018 and we will be notified at the end of May 2018 confirming the

amount of funding we will receive.

Below is a list of stores taking part in the voting on our project:

5445 ALLESTREE DERBY EXP DE22 2GP Express

2257 CHADDESDEN EXPRESS DE21 6NA Express

2380 DERBY ALVASTON EXP DE24 8QN Express

5886 DERBY METRO DE1 2AB Metro

2649 HEANOR DE75 7EX SS

To vote, you will need to make a purchase within store of any value. You will receive one

token per transaction and it's not necessary to purchase a carrier bag in order to receive a

token. Please look out for the Water Evans box and drop your token in - spread the word

with local friends and family (as every little helps, as Tesco say!).

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Just in case you are planning a spring clear out at home,

Recycle with Michael recycling bags will be sent home as we

break up for half term. Please fill these with any of your

unwanted clothes, shoes, etc. and return them to school

after half term (but before our collection date of Wednesday

7th March). All monies raised through the Recycle with

Michael scheme will go straight into the PTFA to benefit our

children within school.

Nursery & Reception 4.15 pm – 5.00 pm

Year 1 & 2 5.15 pm - 6.00 pm

Year 3-6 6.15 pm – 7.00 pm

Tickets are £3 per child, including unlimited squash.

Sweets, snacks and glo products will be available to

buy.

Licenced bar.

Tickets are available from the school office.

Parents please stay with your child.

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Nursery – Our half term has been full of wonder and glow in nursery as we have been finding out 'Is it shiny?' in our topic! First we went on an outdoor shiny treasure hunt then we had a letter from a very special shiny star that needed our help to go to sleep. We really enjoyed reading "How to catch a star," and it inspired us to make our own delicious star biscuits. Another of our favourite stories has been "Only Noogleboogers glow in the dark,” and we have had great fun making our own dark den and exploring things that glow in the dark. We have loved using glow paints and glow dough and have made our own glow pendants and amazing glow in the dark pictures!

Reception – Our learning this half term has been focused on the questions... Does a reflection move? What happens when you move closer to the mirror? What happens when you move further away? What surfaces are reflective? What is a shadow? Can the shadow change shape, length, size? What colours can we make using primary colours? Can we make colours darker? Can we make colours lighter? Who can make a repeating pattern? What is symmetry? Our questions within Religious Education have been... What is creation? Who made the world? Why is the word God so important? Why did God make the animals, land, sea and people? What happened in the beginning? Why is the sky blue? Why is God so special? Maths Writing Counting back from 20 The Hungry Caterpillar Reading numbers to 20 Writing phrases Ordering numbers to 20 Writing sentences 1 less Finger spaces Take away Full stops Subtraction CVC words Minus Writing sentences Walls of Wonder! We have made a change to our display boards. We now have 6 Walls of Wonder. These celebrate the work of the children in reading, writing, maths, ICT, science, humanities, art, drama, RE, personal and social and speaking and listening. Please come into the classroom and look at your child’s achievements at the end of the day. Voluntary Contributions Thank you for your contributions over last term. We have been able to buy new baskets for the maths area, small world and construction area, to redesign these areas and make them more inviting. The children have started to use the new workbench purchased and the children are already loving sawing and hammering with wood, nails, screws etc.

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We would like to purchase many new things for our present topic including mirrors, shiny material and objects and we always need to replace the creative and craft materials. Please send your contribution in to your class teacher. PE This whole Spring term we are taking part in Born to Move. The children will be listening to a special PE sports coach who through stories will take them on special journeys every week developing their muscle strength, core stability, balance and movement. PE kits will not be needed.

Year 1 and 2 have been looking at Brazil. We have acted out flying to Brazil where we looked at the process of being on a long haul flight. We then had a Brazilian taster day where we tried different Brazilian food, learnt some Portuguese, made Brazilian flags and learnt some Samba.

We have then continued finding out about Brazil. We first studied Brazil on different maps so that we knew where in the world it was. We looked at its Geographical features and have then been looking at two places in depth. We first looked at Rio and then looked at the Brazilian rainforest. During all of this the children have also been developing their Samba dancing.

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This term we have been looking at our Viking topic- Traders and Raiders. We went to Jorvik where we learnt about how the Vikings settled in Britain. We then went to DIG which involved us being archaeologists and story tellers. The trip was great but the smells not so great! We have held a craft fair where we showed off our Viking artefacts and goods which included, longboats, jewellery, armour, helmets, bread and pottery. The children were able to show a brief powerpoint explaining what we had learnt this topic. There were lots of people that turned up to ‘buy’ the made Viking goods. Next term it’s a food topic…….and a trip to Cadbury World!

This half term the Year 5 and 6 children have been learning about children's lives during WW2, in our topic "A Child's War". Our lessons have largely focused on the experience of children in Britain during this period in history, finding out how houses and schools were different from our own, and how everyday life changed under the constraints of rationing and blackouts. Pupils had a go at making eggless sponge cakes - although most felt that the cakes would have been better with the eggs put back in!

"Goodnight Mister Tom" - the novel by Michelle Magorian about a London evacuee who is sent to live in the countryside - has provided a literary backdrop to our topic. The children have enjoyed seeing the characters change through the story, whilst learning about how different life was in rural Britain during the late 1930s.

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More recently, we have turned our attention to considering the lives of Jewish children in Europe during WW2. We visited the Holocaust Memorial Centre and followed the Journey of a 10-year-old fictional boy named 'Leo', as he became a refugee on the Kindertransport, and was sent to live with a foster family in Britain. Later that day, the children were also lucky enough to be given a first hand account by a real survivor and traveller on the Kindertransport; a lady named Sue Pearson

escaped from Czechoslovakia when she was just 11 years old and came to live in Sheffield. Her story was fascinating! I should also mention that all the staff, and Sue herself, were extremely impressed with our children's behaviour, their understanding and the questions they asked. Well done Year 5 and 6!

A team of boys from year 6 took part in a football tournament on Wednesday 24th January

hosted by Derby County Community Trust. They just missed out on a tournament at Moor

Farm, Derby County training centre. Well done to both teams!

#ThisGirlCan Festival

Just before Christmas, thirty Y5/6 girls took part in a festival at Derbyshire Tennis Centre linked to

the Sport England’s #ThisGirlCan campaign, which is aimed at engaging young girls and motivating

them to take part in sport, regardless of previous experience or perceived ability. The girls had an

opportunity to take part in team building and problem solving activities, dodgeball, tennis and

football. The girls also managed to show each other their gymnastic skills whilst waiting for the

coach. Overall, the girls thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon.

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Inter-house Competitions

The first inter-house competition of the year took place last Friday. Y6 house captains organised

teams of Y3/4 children to play in a dodgeball competition. The games were very competitive, and

resulted in Dragons playing Salamander in the final. Dragons were victorious on this occasion. The

next competition will be Boccia!

Y3/4 Dragons – Winners of the Dodgeball Competiton

Lost Property…

Please help save time for your child, their class teacher and also parents/carers by ensuring that belongings in school are named. In the event that things are lost they are found much more quickly when clearly labelled.

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Y-KIDZ Holiday Activity Club YMCA Derbyshire hold Sports and Activity Holiday Clubs throughout the year at Markeaton Primary School which are open not only for the children of this school but also other children attending primary schools in the Derbyshire area. Children get the chance to take part in lots of fun, exciting games and activities whilst making new friends. Taking place on selective days during the school holidays, your children will take part in various activities including sports, arts & crafts, quizzes and much more! At Y-Kidz children build their confidence, acquire new skills and make new friends. Activities include: Movies/Films Football Hama Beads Soft Play Area Dodgeball Tag & Team Games Lego & K’nex Quizzes Food Decorating Board Games Arts & Crafts Jigsaws Painting Papier-mache Jewellery Making Every day is different! Our highly qualified and experienced staff offer fun, exciting and varied activities. We ensure children stay safe and interested and have fun whilst at Y-KIDZ!

A belated Happy New Year from your school chaplain. I thought I would outline to you the structure of the city-wide chaplaincy, and, in particular my role at the school. I am a member of the Derby City Centre Chaplaincy (DCCC), which has chaplains in various sectors of industry – the Intu; other retail areas; Pride Park; council house; nursing homes; schools. DCCC has been serving the city, and its immediate surrounding area for 7 years. Chaplains are drawn from a variety of churches, and this aspect adds to the richness of working together. What do Chaplains do? I quote from one of our leaflets:

Provides a listening ear during challenging times

Offers confidential, non-judgemental support about all aspects of

life and work

Interacts with folk concerning emotional and spiritual wellbeing

I’m very grateful to Walter Evans School for welcoming me. I have been in this role now for 2.5 years. I appreciate interacting with staff, children and parents. I am in the school on Wednesday if you would like to meet up.

Sandra Hinds – 07833 646687

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When we return to school after half term please look out for a message

regarding Parent Hub. This is our new, exciting communication tool.

Many thanks.