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Year 4 – Forest School Information
Today, the teachers and assistants had our training, ready for next half term’s forest school! We are very excited and hope the children will be too! Here is all the information that you need (it was also sent as an email earlier today):
Dear Parents/Carers,
We are very excited to start our Forest Schools Education this year. We have an amazing school woodland area which is the ideal location for us to go out and explore, have fun and learn lots!
Forest School is an inspirational concept providing learning opportunities through practical activities in an outdoor environment. Children enjoy the freedom to explore and experience the natural world in all seasons and in all weathers. Forest School embraces an approach of nurturing, supporting and developing the selfesteem of its participants. It is an ideal environment in which to develop innovation, problem solving, risk taking, creativity and teamwork. We have now embedded this into our St Mark’s curriculum and will be for all children across the school, one year group at a time.
Our Forest School sessions will be led by Mr Calver who has a Forest School Leader qualification. The children will be accompanied by the adults from their year group as well. The safety and welfare of the pupils
participating in Forest School is paramount. All tasks are age-appropriate and risk assessments have been carried out for all activities prior to taking place.
Your child’s Forest School sessions will take place on:
Clothing:
The correct clothing is essential for Forest School sessions. Your child will need to come into school wearing their Forest School clothing on their Forest School day (see above). If the correct kit is not worn then your child might not be able to take part in that session. The Forest School clothing must include:
• Long trousers and long-sleeved top which ideally isn’t school uniform (even if the weather is warm)
• Trainers that are suitable for being in the woods. Wellies would also work!
• Jumper or Sweatshirt (if it’s cold)
• Waterproof coat and trousers if you have them (if it is raining)
If it looks like rain, please can the children also bring a spare set of clothes (including pants and socks) and small towel in their school bag as Forest School sessions continue in the rain.
If you have any questions about Forest School, including if you need any support with the clothing requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us. We hope your child gets excited about this exciting opportunity.
Kind Regards
Mrs Woods, Miss Burgess and Mr Calver
19th October 2023 Newsletter
A note from Mr Applegate
We celebrated Tanzania Day on Thursday. The children had a great day learning about the country, as well as understanding life in Wasso, Northern Tanzania, where The Mud House Charity supports the children and villagers.
There was also been a great buzz around filling the 37 Christmas Shoe Boxes for the Rotary Appeal. Thank you again for your generosity.
Have a great half-term break.
Mr Applegate :)
Action Required! – Final Chance
Please would you complete our Autumn Term Parents Survey? Click here. Thanks! Once for each child please.
⭐ FOSM Updates ⭐
– Do any parents work for a company who could donate a prize for the raffle?
– Do any parents work for a supermarket and could use their discount to buy some items for the Christmas Fayre? (paid for by FOSM of course!)
Contact FOSM if so! secretary.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk
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Bags2School – Are you having a clear out of clothes? Bring them to school and raise money for school funds! Two drop-off points/times on Thursday 9th November:3-4pm community centre car park (look for FOSM)
4-6pm school car parkThank you!
PE Days for Autumn 2
See below for the updates in green. (just below the calendar)
From last week…
Light Party
⭐ Star Learners ⭐
We’ll be celebrating this on our return after half-term due to Tanzania Day!
⭐ Attendance Updates ⭐
Our target over the year is 97%. Last year’s attendance was 95.8% – above national levels, but we’d like it to be much higher.
Our current attendance percentage is 96.9%. Careful!
Weekly Attendance by Class
School Dates, Lunches, and Clubs
In worship this week…
Our Christian Voice Ambassadors prepared us for Tanzania Day. They were amazing!
Music of the Week
Jazz Suite No.2 by Shostakovich
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Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer writing music in the 1930’s. He wrote a Suite of 3 pieces for jazz orchestra and this is the 2nd of these. It has the most jolly, lively feel of all 3. |
Year 5 – Autumn 1 Learning Update
What an incredible half term the Year 5 children have had! We are so very proud of how well the children have settled into their new classes and also how motivated they have been about their learning – Space has proven to be a very popular subject this year! Below is a little snippet of just some of the amazing work that the children have completed over the last seven weeks.
English
The children have written fantastic stories based on the video ‘One Small Step’ and some really informative non-chronological reports based on the animals found upon the fictional planet of Pandora! See some examples of incredible literacy work below:
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Art
The children have shown so much creativity in Art as they have experimented with so many different painting skills – painting on different surfaces, using different paint types, exploring with their paint mixing and also layering up different painting techniques. Look at how amazing their final pieces turned out!
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Super Science – Learning through experiments and an amazing school trip!
The children have shown the most amazing thirst for knowledge through their Science learning this half term and have loved learning about Space. They have completed some awesome experiments in class, read about inspirational (and less well known) scientists and had an awesome trip to the Winchester Science Centre too. On the school trip, the children took part in a rocket themed workshop, explored the Space exhibition, explored the whole floor of other science experiments and also watched a show all about our solar system in the planetarium. What a way to finish the half term!
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We hope the children have enjoyed their learning as much as we have enjoyed teaching them. We also wish you a restful half term and look forward to welcoming the children back into school for our next topic – Globetrotting around North America!
The Year 5 Team