This Term’s Virtues
This term we are trying hard to be
Faith Filled and Hopeful.
From Our Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
I hope you are managing to get the updates from Public Health England on measures being taken to address the spread of the Coronavirus. We are reminding the children about good hand washing and using tissues for sneezes. We all hope the outbreak will be contained and pray for those families around the globe who have been affected by this outbreak.
On a lighter note, World Book Day was truly amazing. More children than ever dressed as their favourite book character. Prizes were awarded to; Acorn Class – Raymond and Olivia, Tigger Class – Christopher and Shreeja, Fir Class – Jack and Marcella, Fig Class – Lila Rose and Gabriel, Oak Class – Ethan and Bessie, Ash Class – Paulo and Ella, Bay Class – Stefanie and Nikolas, Willow Class – Ida-Mae and Henry. Well done to staff and children who dressed for the day! Can you spot Cruella De Vil in the photograph?
Kind Regards, Tom Walker
CORONAVIRUS ADVICE
There has been much coverage in the media about the ongoing Coronavirus situation around the World. At school we are receiving daily updates from PHE and the DfE.
Government Coronavirus Action Plan
On Tuesday, the Coronavirus action plan was launched. This document sets out what the UK as a whole has done to tackle the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and what it plans to do next. The action plan can be found here:
Action Plan Overview
The action plan sets out a four phased approach in response to the Coronavirus – Contain, Delay, Mitigate, and Research. An approach designed by world leading experts.
As there are already cases in the UK, the current emphasis is on the Contain and Research phases, but planning for Delay and Mitigation is already in train.
As part of the Contain phase, we have been providing advice about educational settings in England, which can be found on Public Health England’s website. We also launched a DfE helpline to manage the flow of increasing queries, from providers parents and young people.
Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19, especially washing hands more; and the catch it, bin it, kill it strategy for those with coughs and sneezes – also help in delaying the peak of the infection.
The action plan is a framework that outlines the types of options open to government in each of these four phases. But this document is only a list of the types of measures we could consider – not those we are planning to implement.
Current advice remains in place: No school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.
The Importance of Hygiene
Yesterday, the Department of Health and Social Care launched a public information campaign that focuses on the importance of handwashing. Washing hands for 20 seconds is central to prevent and slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/public-information-campaign-focuses-on-handwashing
Department for Education Coronavirus Helpline
On Monday we launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Guidance for educational settings:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
Latest Department for Education information:
https://twitter.com/educationgovuk
https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk/
Super Science Saturday
The Museum of Natural History will be running its science fair, Super Science Saturday, on Saturday 14 March. The museum would love it if our KS2 pupils and their families were able to attend as the science activities have been devised specifically for this age range. Please see the poster advertising the event here.
This Term’s House Point Totals
Ashmolean
Bodleian
Radcliffe
Sheldonian
Sheldonian were the Autumn Term House Point winners!
Dates For Your Diary – 2020
March 2020
Tuesday 10th
Scholastic Book Fair Opens!
2.00pm Willow Class Confessions @ The Oratory
Monday 16th
Scholastic Book Fair – Last Chance!
Tuesday 17th
2.00pm Ash Class Confessions @ The Oratory
Wednesday 18th
Bay Class – Botanic Gardens Visit
8.00pm Meeting for FHC Parents @ The Oratory (refreshments at 7.30pm)
Friday 20th
8.00am Mother’s Day Breakfast
Oak Class – Botanic Gardens Visit
Saturday 21st
9.00am FHC Confessions @ The Oratory
Wednesday 25th
10.00am Mass of The Annunciation @ The Oratory
3.15pm Fig Class (Year 2) SATS Meeting for Parents in Fig Class
Monday 30th
LAST ART CLUB
April 2020
Thursday 2nd
Year 2, 3 & 4 Production – THE SELFISH GIANT
2.00pm dress rehearsal, 6.00pm main performance
Friday 3rd
9.30am Passiontide Mass @ school
1.00pm END OF SPRING TERM
w/b 20th
Parent Consultations
Monday 20th
8.35am START OF SUMMER TERM (1)
Tuesday 21st
10.00am Eastertide Mass @ The Oratory
Some Future Dates
KS1 & 2 2020 SATs – click here for more information
Change of date for Summer Fair to Saturday 18 July
Other News
Smartie Tubes – At the end of last term all the children (and staff) were given a tube of Smarties and asked to replace the sweeties with coins. The coins have been counted and the Smartietastic grand total you have raised is £636.00 – brilliant. All the money raised will go towards an IT development project for the school.
Payments to The School Office – PLEASE can we ask all parents (and children) to use the blue box outside the office to post letters and payments! This week, Mrs. McIntyre’s desk has been littered with various payments and permission slips.
Sofia – Fig Class – Sofia in Fig Class has entered the 500 Words competition run by the BBC and her story has been published on the website for which she received a certificate. The results of the competition can be heard live on BBC Radio Two on 12 June. Sofia’s mother said “Thanks for bringing the joy of reading and writing to the children. I hope this will remain for ever in their lives”. Well done Sofia.
Recruitment – After School Club
Sadly, we have to say GOODBYE to Maryna who has worked in after school club for more than three years. We would like to thank her for all her hard work and wish her all the best for the future. We will all miss her. We will be advertising for a replacement soon … In the meantime, if you know of anyone who may be interested, (Monday to Thursday, 3.00pm to 5.30pm) please can you send them in Jo’s direction. Thank you.
St. Aloysius Breakfast & After School Club
Breakfast Club – there is no need to book, just turn up! From 7.45am the cost is £4.00 and from 8.00am the cost is £3.50.
After School Club – please remember to book your After School Club sessions online via the Schoolgateway app. No bookings after 2.30pm. Dates are available for the whole of this academic year.
If you would like any further information about either Breakfast or After School Club, please speak to Jo or Chris in the school office.
Paying For School Meals
School meals must be pre-booked and paid for in advance preferably by term. The cost of a school meal is £2.40 per day, so this term will be £70.00 (30 days @ £2.40). Please make cheques payable to “Oxfordshire County Council”. Money should be placed in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name and class and then posted in the blue box outside the office. If you had an outstanding balance (or credit) from last term it will be carried forward. You can also check your child’s balance and make payments via the Schoolgateway app.
Please note, if you want your child to have a school meal and you do not have any credit in your account, you will receive a telephone call from the office asking you to provide a packed lunch for your child.
If you have any queries regarding school dinner money or require a statement, please speak to Mrs. McIntyre in the School Office.
The current School Dinners Menu is available via the school website information page.
CLASS NEWS
Acorn Nursery Class
Acorns have had a great start back after half term and have returned with lots of energy and enthusiasm! We started our new topic Healthy Me last week, learning about the five ways we can stay healthy. Last week we began to explore healthy eating and why exercise is important, coupling that with healthy minds and making sure we have meditation time and some ever-popular yoga. This week we opened a supermarket selling a wide variety of food and we have been looking a little more at the importance of good hygiene. Having a longer wake up shake up routine has allowed the children to observe the effects of exercise on their bodies and it has been a joy to see them enjoying this so much!
Last week we learned the ‘g’ sound and this week we looked at our 10th sound ‘o’. Olwen and Olivia were particularly excited! As we have visited all the numbers in Ten Town now, we have begun some smaller maths group work to help strengthen counting skills as well as numeral recognition and understanding how to represent number in different ways.
Acorn World Book Day …
T
Tigger Reception Class
We are all very pleased and excited to be back in class after our half term holiday. We were greeted with great news from Mrs Hendry that Edward was born on Wednesday 19th and weighed in at 7lbs.
The classroom has become a little out of this world with our new child led space topic. The children always love the role play area and it stimulates so much of their great learning qualities and goals. We have looked closely at our solar system and the planets in it. We created the planets thinking carefully about what they look like, what colour and texture and shape they are and also what they are really made of. We have written some space facts and learned about fact / non-fiction books. We have looked closely at the moon and the phases and the shapes of the craters. We explored what it was like to live and work in space, even how one would go to the toilet! We have also been learning about the constellations and have used this knowledge to start using our sewing resources to make our own constellations (great for our hand eye coordination)! We have also looked closely at Vincent Van Goughs painting of a starry night and explored using pastel colours. In RE, we have been thinking about the start of lent and how we can use this time for prayer. In Maths, we continue to practice our core skills and are focusing on our number bonds to ten with a deep understanding of how it works.
Tigger Class World Book Day Winners …
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Fir Year 1 Class
During the last couple of weeks in Fir Class the children have been looking closely at numbers between 20 and 50. They have been making models of the numbers using different maths equipment and then comparing numbers and problem solving. In English, the children have been working on improving their sentence writing, doing phonics and we have been reading more Polly and the Stupid Wolf stories. The topic this term is to discover facts about key monarchs in England. The children have started to learn about Elizabeth I and had a go at painting her portrait. In RE, all the children have completed some lovely writing about and drawings of Mother Teresa our class saint. Outdoor Learning will happen next Wednesday if any parents would like to volunteer to help between 12 and 3. Thank you in advance!
World Book Day Fir Class Winners …
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Fig Year 2 Class
In Maths, we have been learning about fractions. We have been identifying halves and quarters of shapes and spent Shrove Tuesday using cupcakes to show these fractions. We then moved on to problem solving using half and quarters. Next, we will move on to finding fractions of amounts, practically in the first instance and then using our knowledge of multiplication and division to support. We have continued to practise our times tables facts, with a particular focus on the 3x table.
In English, we have been focusing on features of non-fiction texts and are in the process of publishing our own non-fiction book based on our Cracking Contraptions. As part of this, we have looked at the features of a non-fiction text such as title, heading, diagrams and thought about how we can present our information using these features and using conjunctions to give extra information about our inventions.
In RE, we have begun learning about the season of Lent, particularly at the importance of asking God for forgiveness at this time. We have looked at parables teaching us about forgiveness and talk about what we can learn from these stories that Jesus told. We have also started work on our second stained glass window in the base area.
In topic lessons we have been developing our research skills in groups, using a range of sources, including books, fact files and pictures to discover information about Thomas Edison and presenting our learning in groups on a large information page, using our English learning to support us.
World Book Day Fig Class Winners …
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Oak Year 3 Class
It has been a busy few weeks in Oak Class with design and technology, art, and cooking activities being enjoyed by all. In DT, the children have been investigating mechanical systems – learning about inputs and outputs and levers and linkages and have made two different mechanical systems. In Art, we looked at the work of Henri Rousseau, particularly his paintings of the jungle, and used some of his ideas to draw our own pictures of the rainforest. The children then used their pictures to make a print using polystyrene boards. It was interesting to see the reactions of the children to their prints as, in this method of printing, the parts you draw are the parts that are missing when the paint is applied. We are going to print in two colours and will display the work once they are all finished. In Geography, the children have been finding out about the rainforest, the different layers of the forest, what lives there and how humans impact this environment. In English, having spent a week looking at the language of persuasion, the children debated whether deforestation is ever right and are now writing a persuasive letter stating the reasons for their viewpoint. In RE, we have been looking at the season of lent and what we can do to prepare ourselves for Easter. Our focus is on change and what we can do to be a better person. As part of this, we have looked at praying, reading and listening to passages from the bible, giving up something or doing something extra and how we can help those in our class. school, home and in the wider community.
World Book Day Oak Class Winners …
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Ash Year 4 Class
After finishing a very busy half term, Ash Class have settled back ready to learn. Before progressing from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, we studied pictures of Stone Age jewellery and researched what materials would have been used to make them. Children discovered that Stone Age people made use of natural materials and no part of the animals they caught for food would have been wasted. The bones, teeth, antlers and horns made great ornaments! The research led us to make our own impressive Stone Age necklaces out of clay. We think they look rather nice! In Science, we are learning about states of matter, which kick-started children’s critical thinking skills with a big broad question to spark their curiosity What if water could not freeze? This led to a great class discussion with children thinking like scientists, talking and sharing a wide range of positive, negative and interesting ideas relating to why water is so important. This term Ash Class are very fortunate to have percussion music lessons from Oxfordshire County Music Service (funded by the PTA). It is very clear that Ash Class are very musically experienced children, so we will make sure that the children are creatively stretched in their learning. The children had an exciting opportunity to learn, listen to the different pitches and produce musical tones as a group using boom whackers. Thank you for your continued support for making our World Book Day a success. Children were delighted to share this exciting day dressed up in their favourite book character and share to the class their favourite books.
World Book Day Ash Class Winners …
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Bay Year 5 Class
This week Bay Class have been learning the story of the Ramayana, the traditional tale of why Hindus celebrate Diwali. The children have enjoyed acting and drawing parts of the story and have begun to make traditional Indian style shadow puppets of all the characters. In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting fractions and lots of the children were excited to start their second maths book of the year! In other news, we enjoyed a trip to Waterstones as part of World Book Day when we got the opportunity to spend our £1 vouchers and hear a story being read – thank you to the parent volunteers who came along to help!
World Book Day Bay Class Winners …
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Willow Year 6 Class
Last week, the children were looking at the similarities and differences between two chocolate bars, which they then wrote a compare and contrast piece of work. They looked at the type of language that is found in this area of writing and tried to incorporate this into their work. They also tried to see if we could add in a range of grammar techniques to improve their writing further. In Maths, we finished our unit on fractions, decimals and percentages. This has been a tough few weeks as there is so much to remember so revising this at home would be good in the light of the upcoming SATS. We have now moved onto algebra, where they have learnt how to express a fraction and work out simple algebraic equations.
This week we have been practising mock SATS using last year’s tests. These will be coming home, so please can parents go through the papers with the children to see if they need a little more help at home. Finally, we visited the JR Hospital on Tuesday. I was thoroughly impressed with the maturity of the children and their knowledge. This was also noted by the staff at the JR when they mentioned that our Year 6 class were a “credit to the school”.
World Book Day Willow Class Winners …
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.