Ramsgate Holy Trinity C.E. (Aided) Primary School
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Ramsgate Holy Trinity C.E. (Aided) Primary School Newsletter ~ July 2019 Message from Mrs Price ~ Head of School Dear Parents, What a fabulous end to what has been a fabulous year! Thinking about what's been going on just this last week or so: We have had our SATs results for Yr 6 which shows that yet again Ramsgate Holy Trinity is not only the highest achieving school in Thanet but is one of the top performing schools in the country. We are very proud of how our children performed, giving us one of the strongest sets of results we have had in years. We have also had their fabulous performance of Mystery at Magpie Manor - a West End production and a real credit to all involved. And thank you to all who came in to our Summer Fayre last Friday - what a wonderful afternoon it was! Lovely cakes, a coconut shy, raffle, tombola, facepainting - the list goes on! A very big thank you to our wonderful PTFA, who worked so hard and made this such a success. Looking back a little further through the year there are several things that stand out. I can't believe that our wonderful Reception outdoor area was only installed in October - it has given our children such an exciting and creative start to their time with us and it just feels like it's always been there! I also can't believe that Mr Tift - and Mr Websper too of course - only started with us this year. PE has just gone from strength to strength with them and I can't wait to see what successes, developments and trophies next year will bring! I do also want to say how creative and engaging our curriculum has become - from Reception to Year 6 the children tell me with such energy and enthusiasm about the topics they are doing and the new things they are discovering - and I hope this comes across at home when you talk to them about what they are learning. So as this year draws to a close can I wish you all the happiest of holidays and I look forward to seeing you all, rested and refreshed, when we come back again on Wednesday 4th September. Reception Class Reception children had a wonderful day visiting Wingham Wildlife Park this term. This was linked to our topic on animals and the children have produced some wonderful work linked to our visit. Despite it being incredibly warm, the children were very well behaved and were an absolute credit to our school. We have had some lovely discussions about the animals that we saw and the children made some great memories. Mrs Lewis News from Year 1 Our trip to Howletts Wild Animal Park At the beginning of June, Year 1 braced the rain and visited Howletts Wild Animal Park. The trip was an introduction to our topic of Paws, Claws and Whiskers. Despite the rain we had a lovely time and we saw lots of animals. Mrs Joyner News from Year 2 Here we are at the end of another fun-filled, busy topic. Year 2 children thoroughly enjoyed training to be Pirates! It has been fantastic to see them expand their knowledge of real pirates and also develop their own fictional pirate characters. The children designed and made lighthouses, planned a party, written diary entries, letters and much more. They were particularly mystified when they received a message in a bottle. Was Robinson ever rescued? Our beach visits were a huge success where the children shared their sand castle making skills! This term has given each 'shipmate' a chance to showcase all the skills they have learnt throughout the year. It has been an absolute pleasure to see the children work collaboratively on their projects and plans and encourage each other every step of the way. The pirate party was a fantastic chance to share our new found knowledge, play some games, enjoy a sing along and celebrate the final term in Year 2, not forgetting the all-important promotion from ‘shipmates’ to ‘Captains!’ Finally, an update on our ‘Bog Baby’ mystery - we sent a letter to Puffin books to inform them of our sightings and we received a reply to thank us for sharing! I would like to take this opportunity to wish the children every success in Year 3. They have worked incredibly hard this year and made me extremely proud. Thank you! Miss Hilton News from Year 3 It has been a very busy half term for Class 3. Trips to the beach and the park really gave us time to relax and enjoy the summer sun! Amidst the pressure of times tables challenges, extended writing and continued Maths Meetings, it has been lovely for the children to really get into outdoor learning, involving active maths games, outdoor STEM activities and collaborative team building games. Mr Darrock News from Year 4 Children in Class 4 have enjoyed working on a ‘Potions’ theme this term. In addition to finding out all about different states of matter and how the water cycle works, they have made potion bottles, written potion based stories and created some effective ‘Potion Poems’ written in pairs. Here are a couple of examples: Mrs Landeman News from Year 5 It has been another incredibly busy time for Class 5 who started Term 6 with a short topic linked to changes in materials and finished it with a focus on the allotment. To kick-start their materials topic, the children attended two off-site STEAM events. Firstly, they were invited to Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School where a multitude of events was put on for them: the children poured molten metal into casts and made keyrings; mixed ingredients to bake scones; separated salt and gold nuggets from very dirty water; and printed T-shirts. The following week, Class 5 visited the Discovery Park in Sandwich where they watched an inspiring science show, extracted DNA from kiwi, separated coloured dyes in ink, discovered for themselves the effect of adding Ferro fluid to different solutions and observed the effect of magnets on iron filings. In class, the children planned and carried out their own investigations to discover what affects dissolving rates and then inflated rubber gloves using a mixture of baking powder or bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to observe irreversible changes. Having planted seeds and seedlings during Term 5, the children have spent time nurturing their growing produce. Because of regular watering and weeding, the Year 5 allotment has flourished and the children have been able to enjoy some of what they planted. Class 5 children have had the opportunity to taste home-grown lettuce, potatoes, beetroot and radish - but with the varied weather we have experienced over the past two terms not everything has grown as quickly as last year so we have yet to taste our strawberries, beans, courgettes, carrots, peas and chard. Many thanks to Mrs Dean, Mrs Verrall and Mrs Jordan for their contributions to our allotment. If the children were not already busy enough, they have also fitted in rehearsals so that they can support the Year 6 production! However, their acting skills had already been tested in English with improvisations and showing characterisation. A particular highlight was the whole class performing popcorn as well as having to talk gibberish! In Maths, skills have been put to the test by working out how much it actually costs to have a mobile phone. Amazing work Year 5. We both wish you a very restful summer holiday and are looking forward to working with you again next year. Mrs Egan and Mrs Jackson News from Year 6 At the beginning of term, Year 6 visited Betteshanger Park for a day of outdoor activities. The sun shone on a wonderful day full of smiles and fun. Children greatly enjoyed the geo-caching activities, which involved cooperating in teams to find hidden clues in the woods and fields. Children also had fun riding mountain bikes through the many trails and some rather deep muddy puddles, sorry parents! Finally, children were engaged with hammer and trowel when finding ancient fossils from the leftover mine spoils. Later in the term, Year 6 visited Wellesley House for a collaborative day of art and design. It was lovely for the children to visit the beautiful grounds of Wellesley House School (lunch was taken in the orchard!) and to use their art facilities. The children created large plaster-cast reliefs using a variety of objects, based on their memories of their time at Holy Trinity. These will be used to decorate our school pond area. Children also made a clay tile which, once painted, they will be able to take home at the end of term. Many thanks to Wellesley House School, in particular the art department, for their hospitality. Year 6 children have been busy singing, dancing and acting their way to performing this year’s school production, "Mystery at Magpie Manor". What a spectacular end to the year! Mr Cotton School Council News This term we embarked on Healthy Schools’ week and our School Council has contributed to this by carrying out a survey. Their aim was to find out about our school snacking habits. The children were asked about the snacks they brought in from home for them to have during morning break. The results were then collated and discussed at a School Council meeting. The School Council agreed that the majority of snacks brought in were not as healthy as they could be. Upon reflection of our survey results, we would like to eliminate snacks being brought in from home for Key Stage 1 children as we do provide free fresh fruit on a daily basis.