Friday 25th Sept 2015

first time that some of us had

seen someone juggling while

riding a unicycle and so we were

thrilled to see the men, although

some of us were a little bit

worried that he would fall off and

land on us! We also really

enjoyed singing to the whole

school as our first big

performance of the year. At the

end of the day we all had a cake

and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to

Thatcham Park, and we were

pleased to welcome some of the

special visitors to our classrooms

to join us.

We had a

fabulous day

and are

looking

forward to

the next big school event!

The children in F2 had a very exciting first week in school celebrating Thatcham Park’s 10th birthday. They learnt about how and why we celebrate birthdays. We talked about the ways in which different families celebrated birthdays, from blowing whistles to having special tea parties. The children made cards, bunting and a giant birthday cake. We looked at the old school uniform from Dunston Park and St Mary’s and compared the logos to Thatcham Park’s. We went and visited the old foundation classrooms and playground and talked to the staff that had worked there. On the day

they had a great time decorating their cakes, playing party games and eating the cakes

Year One had a fantastic time

taking part in the school’s birthday

celebrations. During the morning

we made party hats, iced cakes,

talked about birthdays and also

exercised our writing muscles by

composing lists of things we

would need to buy for our own

birthday parties. Suggestions

included bouncy castles,

swimming pools and chocolate

fountains so Mrs Dargan and

Miss Seddon are hoping for some

invitations this year as it all

sounds very exciting!!

After a yummy picnic lunch and

some fresh air, we went to the hall

to watch the jugglers. It was the

Happy 10th Birthday to Thatcham Park!

On Friday Y2

had an amazing

time celebrating

the school’s

birthday. We

made party hats and put ten trees

on them, one for each year. We

learnt how to write an acrostic

poem and wrote one about our

school. We thought of lots of words

to describe our school then used

these ideas in our poem. We think

our school is wonderful, safe, and

full of kind people, friendly fun and

people are fabulous and helpful.

During the birthday celebration

assembly we found out that our

new class name is

owls. We really like

our new name.

Reported by Carmen

Collins and Mrs Jones

Last week in the lead up to our birthday celebration, Year 3 children were asked to talk about their school journey. We decided to make a train of all the things we learned with Mrs Webster, Mrs Campion and Mrs Blofeld as the drivers! We thought all the way back to Foundation Stage and talked about what we have learned in every year group. As we have not yet finished Year 3 or even worked in Years 4, 5 or 6 we asked the children in those year groups for memories of their lessons. We had such fun talking about what makes Thatcham Park a great place to learn and we enjoyed sharing our memories of earlier years as well as having plenty of things to look forward to. Our fondest

memories are of outside independent learning in Foundation Stage, the STEAM museum in Year 1, going to the beach in Year 2, our topic on the Romans in Year 3, the various new sport activities we were taught in Year 4, super Science experiments in Year 5 and of course the SATs and Osmington Bay in Year 6.

We are very proud to be on board the Thatcham Express and are looking forward to our new learning.

By Chantelle D, Caitlyn D and Evie D

T h a t c h a m P a r k C E P r i m a r y S c h o o l

Autumn Term (1) Newsletter No. 2

Special points of interest:

* Remember if you have any

queries, questions or issues

to clarify, please do not

hesitate to contact us.

* The school office can be

contacted on 01635 870950.

Telephone appointments

can also be arranged if you

wish to contact your child’s

teacher.

* As Autumn is clearly with

us, please ensure your child

brings a weatherproof coat

(with hood/hat) to school

everyday, as unless it is

torrential rain, we are

outside in all weathers.

*For those children who

successfully completed the

Record Breakers Summer

Reading challenge

(promoted by West

Berkshire Library service),

please could they bring in

their certificate so we can

celebrate their

achievements. For those

children who ‘are nearly

there’, try your best to

complete the challenge by

the end of the month.

* In the interests of

safeguarding, please

remember that gates are

open from 08.30hrs and

classroom doors open at

08.40hrs; unaccompanied

children should not be on

school site until 08.30hrs.

* Attached to the newsletter

is some helpful information

regarding handwriting; any

queries, please do not hesi-

tate to contact our English

Co-ordinator Ms Hewitt.

Inside this issue:

Birthday Celebrations 2-3

News from Y6 & Dates 2

Handwriting 4

In Year 4 we really enjoyed the

10th Birthday celebrations. We had

a lovely morning preparing our

hats and thinking carefully about

what Thatcham Park meant to us

and what sorts of things made it a

special place to be part of. We

filled balloons with our thoughts.

We took time during the week to

think of all the people who made

up the Thatcham Park community

and how special they all were. We

realised that everybody had a part

to play in making our school

successful. We really enjoyed the

jugglers and had a great day.

Happy Birthday Thatcham Park

School.

On Friday 18th September, our

school celebrated the school’s 10th

birthday of being Thatcham Park.

As part of the birthday celebration,

Year 5 looked at what it meant to

belong to Thatcham Park. We

interviewed teachers and children

to find out how they felt. When we

were interviewing them, we found

out that they considered our school

to be a great place to share

feelings, build friendships and grow

as individuals.

By Khyati B, Adam B and Archie N

As our Y6 pupils are all 10 years old, just like Thatcham Park, they decided to explore what was happening in 2005 (10 Years ago). Did you know that:

*Tony Blair was the Prime Minister

*Crazy Frog was the ring tone to have on your mobile

*Hurricane Katrina swept across America flooding New Orleans

*You Tube was launched

*Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles

*i-phones had not yet been invented!

WOW, how things have changed!

Reported by Emily B and Chloe S

Mon 19th Oct - 1930 PTA AGM Holiday Fri 23rd Oct-Mon 2nd Nov incl Tues 10th Nov Prospective Parents’ Visitor Morning Thurs 12th Nov Prospective Parent’s Visitor Afternoon Thurs 19th Nov 14.15 Osmington Meeting for Y5 & Parents led by Y6 Fri 20th Nov Non Uniform (for Christmas Fair) Thurs 26th Nov Curriculum Information evening for parents Sat 28th Nov - PTA Christmas Fair Weds 2nd & Thurs 3rd Dec Y2 Performance

Fri 25th Sept Y6 return from residential w/c 28th Sept ORISON week - see separate letter Tues 29th Sept 1930 PTA Meeting Fri 9th Oct 1445 2CD class led collective worship (2CD parents invited) Tues 13th Oct 10.00 Harvest led by Y3, Y3 parents invited Fri 16th Oct 1445 2KJ class led collective worship (2KJ parents invited) Weds 14th & Thurs 15th Oct - Parents’ Evenings, (2nd Hand

School Uniform on sale too)

Tues 8th & Weds 9th Dec FS Nativity Weds 9th Dec 14.30 Y3 Viola & Trumpet Performance Fri 11th Y1 Dec Carol Concert & Y6 Pantomime Visit Tues 15th Dec 10.00 Church Service at St Mary’s led by Y5 Weds 16th Dec Y1-Y5 Panto Visit Fri 18th Dec End of Term, Pupils finish @ 1400 Holiday Mon 21st Dec-Mon 4th Jan incl ———————————————

Fri 1st July Sports Day

Fri 8th July Reserve Sports Day

Dates (NB All dates may be subject to change; please do refer to the calendar on the school website)

News From Y6 on Residential

teamwork skills were displayed at Jacob's Ladder to enable each other to climb one of the most challenging activities on the site. These were put to good use at problem solving. Children showed off their skills and helped each other finish the challenges. If you have any flints or whittling knives at home, lock them up as your children are now survival experts! Although the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped this afternoon, not a single drop of rain fell. Good spirits have remained through dinner time where everyone had uproarious fun. Currently the

children are engaged in another round the site activity locating flags and associated questions in mixed teams. They are rushing past us as we type! We are sure that they will all sleep well” Our thanks to Ms Hewitt, Miss Bartlett, Mrs Laidler, Mrs Booth, Miss Lawes and Rev Pat for accompanying the children and making it possible for them to have these experiences. We are sure we shall hear lots more news on their return; in the meantime Y5 (& parents) are invit-ed to an information session on Thursday 19th November in prep-aration for next year’s residential.

Many of our Y6 parents will be keeping a keen eye on the website as staff, despite a very poor wi-fi signal, endeavour to share news and photos of the children’s experiences. Wednesday’s update was: “Woke up to a fabulously sunny morning - tshirt weather! Yet again, a fun-filled day full of challenges and children exceeding what they thought they were capable of. Most groups have rotated around the following activities; abseiling, survivor, Jacob's Ladder and problem solving. Stunned at how many actually scaled the dizzying heights of the abseiling tower and came down via the ropes. Developing

Page 2

Details of Extra Curricular Activities and Clubs have been distributed via the

relevant age groups; we are very grateful to our staff who

volunteer their time so generously. Unfortunately we do not have the capacity to provide clubs for all children

every night of the week however we would welcome any offers of help/time from parents & volunteers who,

subject to DBS and qualification/experience, are keen to support us. Do get in touch if you’re able to offer

any clubs.

It was both a pleasure and a privilege to share in our

recent 10th Birthday celebrations and a great opportunity to invite a

representative group of people who through their

determination, effort, energy and generosity of time have all contributed to moulding

Thatcham Park into the great school that it is today. We

welcomed Mrs Cornwell, our previous Headteacher,

Mr Dick a former Chair of Governors, former staff and PTA officers, clergy, current governors and PTA officers.

As Mr Dick wrote in his thank you letter:

“I thought the children were excellent in the way they

presented themselves and their sentiments really struck

a chord with me. I have to say, also, the singing was exceptionally good. It was good to come back, albeit

briefly, and see how well the school is developing …”

With every good wish,

Alison Webster

(Headteacher)

Year 2. Form lower-case letters of the correct size relative to one another, start using some of the diagonal

and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are

best left unjoined, write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one

another and to lower case letters.

Years 3 / 4. Use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understand which

letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined, increase the legibility, consistency and quality

of their handwriting [for example, by ensuring that the down strokes of letters are parallel and equidistant;

that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch].

Years 5/6. Write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by: choosing which shape of a letter to use when

given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters.

If you have any queries or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact our English Co-ordinator, Ms Hewitt (also a Y6 teacher)

*Join the letter ‘o’ in ‘chopsticks by going back down to the line in a cursive script to then join to

the letter ‘p’ and you’ve got an ‘’a’ instead! Instructions to eat your noodles with chapsticks could

be problematic! On a serious point, valuable marks in last year’s GP&S KS2 test were lost due to

inconsistency in letter formations and joins, as well as consistency in size – i.e. ‘s’ appearing

larger than other letters.

Chopsticks or Chapsticks? - Letter formations and joins matter!

The difference between an ‘o’ and an ‘a’ can be significant! *

The focus on handwriting in the new curriculum is much greater,

highlighting its importance and making the connection between a child’s

handwriting and their composition and spelling ability. Additionally, in end

of key stages Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GP&S) tests that

children will undertake in 2016 +, the sample mark scheme indicates that:

ambiguity in the comparative sizes of letters, answers in which capital

letters are omitted or placed inappropriately in a sentence and

letters that are unclear or ambiguous will receive 0 marks. It is for

these reasons we began the new academic year with a real push on letter

formations and joins throughout Thatcham Park.

The National Curriculum requirements are:

FS. Use a pencil and hold it effectively to form recognisable letters,

most of which are formed correctly.

Year 1. Sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and

correctly, begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction,

starting and finishing in the right place, form capital letters, understand

which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ (i.e. letters that are

formed in similar ways) and practise these.

Starting points for printing letters are: