Newsletter 30 08/06/2018
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Newsletter 30 08/06/2018 Dear Parents, We have begun the final half term as we mean to go on with an action-packed week! Please do keep an eye on the newsletters and dates list between now and 20th July as there is so much going on. We have had two amazing year group adventures this week, with Year 6 visiting the Houses of Parliament and Year 1 taking a trip to Windsor Castle as part of their Castles topic. Early on Wednesday morning Year 6 met at Epsom station to catch the 7.22 am train to Waterloo!! The children had a wonderful visit with a tour of the Pal- ace of Westminster, including a visit to both the House of Commons and the House of Lords and even a meeting with our local MP, Chris Grayling who took time out of his busy schedule to meet up with the group and answer some questions. Afterwards they took a walk through St James’ Park to see Buckingham Palace and even managed to catch the changing of the guard. All in all, a superb trip! Thank you to all the adults who got up extra early on Wednesday so the children could all have this marvellous opportunity to see the home of our democracy. On Thursday, our Year 1 children set off on a journey to Windsor Castle to find out about and explore a real castle, consolidating their knowledge of castles that they have been building over their topic so far. This is a regular trip and always one of the highlights for year 1 and this year was no exception. The children visited St George’s Chapel and shown not only the spot where Prince Harry and Meghan were married but exactly where the Queen sat too. There were also visits to the State apartments and all the treasures there, and a chance to see Queen Victoria’s dolls house, as well as shields and all sorts of weapons and suits of armour. Ella in Goldsworthy was chosen to be a Queen for the day and in a Dubbing Ceremony created two new knights, Sir Ethan in Goldsworthy and Sir Archie in Lowry. Everyone had a fantastic time and we are all grateful to the Year 1 team for organising such a fantastic experience for the children. As a reflective school that is always looking to develop and grow, we regularly organise teaching and learning reviews to look at aspects of teaching and learning, and how we can improve even further and move forwards. Science is an area we have been focusing on this year and so on Tuesday we had a teaching and learning review of Science provision across the school. All classes were observed by a group of staff, including Mrs Greenacre and Miss Jones who lead on science, as well Mrs Crawford and myself, and to validate our judgements and support us we were joined by Chris Byrne, our School improvement Advisor. It was a real privilege to see the high quality of teaching and learning in science and the excitement of the children as they were busy developing their scientific thinking skills in investigations and experiments. We are all very excited about Science week that is starting on the 18th June as there are lots of science investigations and amazing experiences planned to develop the children as scientists. Don’t forget our science experiment competition will be judged during the week and there will be prizes on offer for the best entries! Over the last few weeks of last half term, and the beginning of this half term, we have been noticing that the punctuality of a number of children has slipped, with more and more children are coming in through the front door rather than via the Junior playground or their classroom door in the Infants. It is so important that the children do arrive ready for school at the correct time and if they are late (even for just a few minutes) it makes the start of their day less settled and can impact on their learning for the rest of the day. It is also important that the children learn the value, and importance, of punctuality as it is an important life skill for them to develop. Please can you support your child by maybe setting off just five minutes earlier so that they start the day with the rest of their peers, it really does make a difference. We will be monitoring the entry through the front door and for regular latecomers they will be spoken to individually and in the Juniors may have to miss some of their break time. At the end of last half-term you will all have received forms to return asking for consent to hold and use data and for photographs. It is essential that we receive these forms back in order to comply with GDPR requirements and could affect how you receive information if they do not come back. If you have already done so, thank you, but if you have not yet return the forms please can you do so as soon as possible. If you need another form or have any questions the school office will be delighted to help. Many of you will know that Mrs Jansen and Mrs Miniuks have run our school choir, Southfield Park Singers, for a number of years, organising (amongst other events) our school’s group for the concert for local schools at Dorking Halls. They have now decided to stand down and to thank them for their commitment over a number of years a celebratory tea party was organised by Mrs Morgan to say thank you from the children who have absolutely loved being part of Southfield Park Singers. We finished the party with an impromptu performance of ‘Thank you for the Music’ organised by Miss David, which they both really appreciated. I am sure you will join me in thanking both ladies for all they have done to give the children the opportunities they have had to sing and enjoy themselves. Finally, don’t forget that it is our Hawaiian themed Summer Fair from 12 to 3pm tomorrow. The Friends Tweet of the Week have been busy planning and getting everything ready so Follow us on please do come along as it will be a real treat for @Southfield_Park everyone with lots of exciting stalls to enjoy. See you there! Y6 hold democracy to Kind regards account in the Houses of Parliament Kate Gee. Attendance this week Sparky says “well done!” to Goldsworthy Class, who had the best attendance this week with 100%, and to Faraday, Redgrave, Holmes, Newton, Shakespeare, Victoria, and Churchill Classes, who also had high attendance this week! Attendance for Monday 4th - Friday 8th June Attenborough 95.5% Churchill 99.3% Victoria 98.7% Shakespeare 99.0% Newton 99.0% Darwin 94.8% Holmes 98.7% Redgrave 98.7% Faraday 98.3% Nightingale 96.3% Lowry 94.7% Goldsworthy 100.0% Elgar 96.0% Britten 95.7% Does your child have Needed for everything they need for Aladdin Club the school day? Cardboard boxes, no bigger than about 60x45x20cm, and much bigger than cereal boxes. On average, 10 children come to the office every day needing to borrow PE kit or ties. Also if anyone has any costume jewellery, sparkly Some children remember to bring things back, but a bits of materials or gems we would be very grateful lot of children don’t. These items belong to the for any donations! (We can’t guarantee that their school, having been paid for out of the school fund, condition will stay pristine, so please don’t bring but budgets are tight for everyone, and we can’t anything in that you need back.) afford to keep getting replacements for more Please leave them by the Office. children to borrow things. Every child should have the following in school: Also, please can ‘entourage, agrabhans and guards’ PE shorts bring in their Aladdin costumes by Monday 11th PE top June. They should ideally be on a hanger in a clearly named plastic bag which can go straight Plimsolls / trainers (useful for outdoor PE) onto their pegs. Joggers & fleece for the winter months It must be named, so if it makes its way to the Lost Thank you! Property Box it can be returned to the right place, and why not leave it here for the half term, taking it home for a wash during the holidays, so you don’t have to remember each PE day (which can change occasionally) or Monday. All Juniors also need: A tie Fully supplied pencil case The office staff spent time writing SPPS on labels, so it is obvious which items belong to the school—please return everything which isn’t yours. Thank you. In preparation for Science week we would like the children to become Scientists at home and carry out an investigation of their choice. This can involve any area of Science they would like to find out more about e.g. can people with longer legs jump further? The children can display their findings in any way they wish and prizes will be given for the most creative investigations. All projects will be displayed in the Science Fair on Friday 22nd June for all of the children in the school to enjoy and learn from. The project will be part of the children’s homework over the next couple of weeks so that they can really enjoy spending time being Scientists! Entries must be handed in to the class teacher by Monday 18th June.