West Blatch News

Issue: April 24th 2020 West Blatch News

Head’s Corner

This week we are hoping to focus not only on the fabulous work the children are producing, but on ways in which we can all keep fit and healthy. I have taken up boxing (with gloves and pads) and it is certainly improving my fitness level as well as providing some downtime around work. As we approach the end of our 5th week of forced isolation, it is important to acknowledge that whatever you are doing to support your child in their learning is vital—however big or small, you are making the difference. Thank you for that, and for your continued support in ensuring that your child is engaging with the purposeful and exciting learning activities that are being set by our wonderful teaching staff, all of whom are going that extra mile to ensure this happens. I always like to say a thank you to my whole team, they are amazing at what they do, and this crisis has brought the best out in them. I know that they are working tirelessly to keep our well oiled machine going. Team West Blatch, you are incredible! Best wishes to our entire West Blatch school community. Keep safe and well, Ms Simmonds

Hangleton regular key workers are so

happy with all the pictures that the

children have been leaving for them.

A huge thank you from them.

…..and a huge thank you to them! You are doing a Ramadan

We are aware that Ramadan has started. We know it will be a very different sort of Ramadan for you as Mosques are closed and gatherings not permitted, but we would like to wish you and your families all the very best for this important month. We recognise and understand that the marking of Ramadan may also mean changes in routine and create more challenges with home working and home schooling. Please do contact us if we can support in any way.

Ramadan Mubarak, Ramadan Kareem. BIG SHOUT OUT to our Community...keeping fit and well in our troubled times. You are so amazingly creative!

Olly and Chase have both learnt how to ride their bikes without stabilisers— what an achievement! There will be no stopping you now.

Ty taking his daily walk making friends

Callie, Kaci Leigh and Owen use there 1 hour exercise to walk through and post notes so other children can see them on their walks….They are alsoAnd exploring explore the the downs. Downs

Although the Brighton Marathon Weekend Mini Mile race was postponed that didn't stop our Running Challengers Mia and Amber!

After completing their training sessions delivered by their lovely coaches, they were determined to complete a mile run they had been working towards. As a family they completed a mile run around their local area and created some amazing medals to celebrate their achievement!

Richly deserved girls — well done!

Team Rainbow

We have been busy working on our theme of the Hungry Caterpillar but we also created some other animals including a giraffe and a unicorn. Matteo created a wonderful boat for the animals to travel in! Riley has also written some amazing descriptive words on his pirate task and was very proud of this!

Eliza and Jet continue to work hard undertaking their learning on the chromebooks and have particularly enjoyed their time with Mrs Oliver yesterday in the music room. Max has also been working really hard with his reading and spellings.

As the weather is lovely outside we are making the most of the outdoor environment and starting each day with Cosmic Yoga!

Active Sussex

Have developed a new Active at Home webpage for Children & Young People, packed with information and resources to help you keep pupils and staff active at home or within school, during Covid 19. https://www.activesussex.org/activeathome/children-and-young-people/

Similarly, there are some free resources on this yoga site, access it through :

https://bit.ly/2XS0EVV

Working in partnership with Sussex School Games Organisers, to replace the now cancelled Summer Festival, Active Sussex have created the Specsavers ‘Virtual’ School Games which is launching on Monday 27th of April. Children can represent their school from their own home, alongside their classmates, to be crowned Sus- sex champions.

Keeping ourselves healthy

Life is changing for all of us for a while. At times of change we can feel anxious, stressed, worried, sad, bored, lonely or frustrated. It's important to remember it is okay to feel this way, and that everyone reacts differently. It may help to remember this situation is temporary and, for most of us, these difficult feelings will pass. There are some simple things you can do to help you take care of your mental health and wellbeing during times of uncertainty. Try a wellbeing activity each day, to keep your mind and body fit and healthy. Most importantly if you are really struggling with your wellbeing every day then ask for some help. Contact the school or go through these websites for extra help. https://findgetgive.com/services?loc=brighton-hove https://youngminds.org.uk/ https://www.childline.org.uk/ or call Childline on 0800 1111

Wellbeing information for all the family is here: https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/supporting-your-wellbeing http://www.familyinfobrighton.org.uk/kb5/brighton/fsd/article.page?id=yJVAiYkJNyE https://www.moneyadviceplus.org.uk/contact-us/ Weekly Wellbeing

WEEK 1 - Wellbeing Activities to Try Try a wellbeing activity each day. Many of these are evidenced based to improve wellbeing although you might need to do them more than once a week to feel the benefit. Most importantly if you are really struggling with your wellbeing every day then ask for some help. Contact your school or go through these websites for extra help.

https://findgetgive.com/services?loc=brighton-hove https://youngminds.org.uk/ https://www.childline.org.uk/ or call Childline on 0800 1111

Wellbeing information for all the family is here: https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/supporting- your-wellbeing

Day Activity

Monday Flip your mood – Music - Calm Watch Dr Pooky talk about this and then compile a play list of music you can play to calm yourself down https://www.childline.org.uk/ You could share this with friends. Tuesday Breathing technique – Triangle breathing Breathe in for four and out for four for a minute. Or watch this YouTube visual and breath in and out in time with the triangle as it grows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Q8D6n-3qw Wednesday Get active – try yoga If you have access to the Internet, then try one of these websites or find one of your own. If you haven’t done yoga before select beginners’ videos and keep listening to your body. If something starts to hurt, then stop! Yoga with Adrienne - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7AYKMP6rOE&t=2s

Cosmic Kids Yoga https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

If you can’t access YouTube stretch your body in a range of ways that feel good.

Thursday Practice gratitude Make a list of all the things you have to be grateful for. These can be really small things like seeing blue sky from a window or a chat with a friend. If this list is really difficult for you can you find one thing you are grateful for and one thing you could do differently or change that might help? Ask for support if you need it.

Friday Get creative Do any activity that is not online or on your phone where you need to focus on something for half an hour. Think of the things you liked to do as a child, you don’t need to be have talents to make something or create something. You don’t need to show this to anyone. This could be writing a song or story, baking, painting or drawing, sewing or knitting or crochet, playing an instrument. This week’s suggestion if you have the materials is origami… Make an origami boat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=981t1yRjGFc Then practice belly breath with your boat!

http://yoyoyogaschool.com/breathing-for-kids-belly-boat-float

Weekly Wellbeing

Day Activity Tick if you did this and note how it made you

Monday Flip your mood – Music - Happy or Energised Compile a play list of music you can play to increase feelings of happiness https://www.childline.org.uk/

Tuesday Breathing technique – Box Breathing Breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for four, hold for four and repeat for two minutes. Here Dr Pooky explains more about this breath and how it can help us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYytiS0ymZg&list =PL1HN98dJOCA- 3Ja4pMKCpoiCgl0uYzLhN&index=22 Wednesday Get active – Keep Dancing Put on your favourite tune and dance, like no-one is watching. Some people find that doing this first thing in the morning really sets them up well for the day. Or search for dance lessons on YouTube and learn a new dance. For example, Oti Mabuse from Strictly Come Dancing is teaching a range of routines on YouTube. You may also find Zumba and Funkfit classes are available on Facebook Live or Zoom although these might cost money. Thursday Practice gratitude Can you record three good things that you have to be grateful for each day for the next 7 days (could be small things such as a text from a friend)? Does this

Friday Get creative Do any activity that is not online or on your phone where you need to focus on something for half an hour. Think of the things you liked to do as a child, you don’t need to be have talents to make something or create something. You don’t need to show this to anyone. This could be writing a song or story, baking, painting or drawing, sewing or knitting or crochet, playing an instrument. This week’s suggestion if you have the materials is colouring. https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/2d-art/mindfulness- colouring-images-animals

Children’s Parade - Latest News!

Ravens have been busy!

Summer’s dish: More fantastic writing, this week from Joshua S Bread pudding William’s Report by Joshua S My recipe: 1 half loaf of white bread William, a talented artist, has gained a huge amount of Tear bread up into pieces confidence in the past few months. English, although a Soak in water for 1 and a half subject that Willie struggles in, has been an area of focus hours for him and he has made huge improvements with his Squeeze water out of bread writing and speaking . William also loves art and has a 100g of suet natural talent; some of the art work he has produced has 150g of raisins been incredible. 70g of sugar 1 egg William is a very polite and extremely bright boy. He has Juice of one small orange not made a huge amount of friends but the friends he has 3 teaspoons of mixed spice made have really helped him this term. My hope for William is that his confidence will continue to build and over the Mix with wooden spoon next few months we will see the real William and his full Grease a medium sized oven potential. proof dish Transfer the mixture to dish Cover with greaseproof paper Bake at 190c for 45 mins Remove grease proof paper Bake for another 10 mins Sprinkle with sugar Eat hot or cold

A couple of yummy recipes for Mrs Nash’s cook book

Tobi’s dish: Chocolate Muffin with hot chocolate custard (Easy)

Ingredients: 1tbsp cocoa powder 100g of self raising flour ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 50g caster sugar 100ml skimmed milk 1 egg 2 tbsp sunflower oil

Hot chocolate custard: Alfie made a WW2 aeroplane from 2 150g pots of low- fat custard junk modelling and decorated his 25g milk chocolate or dark (Chopped) own Easter eggs. Inspired Alfie! Method:

Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Brush 6 holes of a muffin tin with a drop of oil. Sieve the cocoa into a large bowl, then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Stir to combine, then make a well in the centre. Beat the milk, egg, and oil together, pour into the well, then stir quickly to make a batter. Spoon into the muffin tin, then bake for 15 mins or until risen and firm to the touch. Heat the custard in the microwave according to instructions, or in a pan, then tip in the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Turn the puddings into bowls and pour the custard over.

Maths doesn’t always have to be from a formal lesson…. Look out for more challenges for Years 1-4 later in the newsletter

Miss Corns says remember to practise your times tables on TT Rockstars…... Goldfinches wonderful work...

Paul’s mum reports that he created some artwork to thank the NHS for everything they are doing at this difficult time and really enjoyed doing so.

Kimberley also made a super poster to say her own special ‘thank you’.

Meanwhile, Tilly and Mia both embraced the recipe challenge - who wouldn’t like a delicious chocolate cake at Easter? Sensational Swallows!

Sophie’s writing this week has been super sensational as well.

Here is a piece inspired by the book ‘The Arrival’ by Amy Tan. This book has no words, only pictures. Our class (including Sophie) worked on creating back stories for characters from the book.

Before I came here I lived with my family in a beautiful city. Not far away from my house, there was a park where I used to go and paint pictures of nature. After graduating from secondary school, I passed my entry exams to the University Of Art. I was keen to learn and very interested in the ectures. I met lots of new friends there. We lived a peaceful life. Our happiness became a chaos when the war started. We were bombed days and nights. Many people died. The city was destroyed. We were terrified. I lost my family. Never in my life had I felt Sophie excelled herself, as usual, with like this, I was so frightened. There was a wave of her wonderful ‘thank you’ art work people escaping from the horror of the war. I took my savings and packed a few things, amongst them my art book (the gift from my parents). I got on the train and started the journey in search of a better life. Then I had to transfer to the boat which was sailing to the place I hoped I would be safe.

This is Gaby’s piece...

When I was a young boy I lived in a peaceful village filled with kind people. The weather was pleasant and the houses were bright. I worked as a soldier, and when the war came I knew I would fight for my home. As we left, I remembered my wife’s tight hug she gave me.

The war was terrible, but after a few years of fighting we decided to come back to the place we had lived. When we arrived there, we saw that everything was destroyed (maybe it was an attack during the war) and my wife and the rest of the kind people from the village were nowhere. I felt sad and worried. I decided to start a new career and life, leaving on a ship to find a new place to live. All that I could find was a photo of me and my wife on our wedding day, so I decided to take it along with me. When I arrived in the strange, unusual city, I eventually found a job in a local bottling factory. I have worked here ever since.

And an extract from Mason’s… Some of the art work we have started on this term—we are working on As I woke and watched the dust shimmer from perspective in landscapes and will be outside my window, I remembered that I was going on to create panels which alone. capture water My father had been gone five years and my mother had been gone for a week now. I was alone. No father, no mother and no hope. I have no one but myself. Starlings have had a really creative week!

Belle drew this excellent diagram of the life cycle of a frog. Starlings’ tadpoles are being looked after by Mrs Walker at the moment.

This is Laila’s invention. He is an Isolation Buddy and she has programmed him to keep everyone happy during lockdown!

Here is one of our class tadpoles. It has just grown its back legs.

Freddie invented a spectacular set of speakers powered by a snake and its venom!

Jackson drew a fantastic Amphitheatre. This is where the Romans watched plays and where the gladiators fought! Puffins writing - Absolute magic!

In English, Year 3 focused on responding to an illustration we knew nothing about. We were asked to write a story based on the one image. We had some fantastic ideas!

The Secret Tiny Dragon by Taym

I was walking to my grandma's house on a sunny Sunday morning. All of a sudden, I heard a funny noise. I looked around and saw a tiny baby dragon. It had green skin and blue eyes. The most unusual thing was instead of breathing fire he was breathing snow! “Hello,” the dragon said. This took me by surprise and I stuttered “hello” back. “Can i live with you?” the dragon asked. “ Of course!” i said, “ but first I need to know your name.” “My name is Icicle. I got lost from my family and ended up in this place.” “Where are you from?” I asked Icicle. “I come from Dragon Planet, 2 turns left of the sun, just behind Mercury.” “Are you magic?” I asked. “Yes I can teleport and I can make stuff appear from nothing. But you can not tell anybody I am here! Nobody can know or my magic will be lost,” said Icicle. We decided to go back home. When we got there we went into the loft and made a comfy room for Icicle to live in. We were best friends. Luckily he could turn himself invisible so that he could come everywhere with me. One day Icicle took me to see his planet. It was a bit scary! I helped him to find his parents. They were very grateful that I helped him. But Icicle decided that he wanted to stay on earth with me and his parents agreed. We lived a very happy life together. Icicle was my best friend, he was kind and helpful. We had a very magical life and helped people who needed help. Me and my best friend Icicle.

The Tiny Dragon by Tony

On a bright summer's Sunday, down by the silent river, was a little baby dragon, waiting for someone to love him. He didn’t have a name yet, but his tiny fragile frame made me want to call this little friend of mine Little Dino. Little Dino was so tiny, you would think it's only a few days old. I wondered to myself, what magical exciting new adventure lays ahead for me and my new friend. I didn’t know where he came from but I was sure I wanted to keep him to look after him. Suddenly, I had a deep thought to myself. Will his mum be looking for him? Would I need to keep it a secret?

What an inspiration! From our own Mrs Young…. It should have been the Brighton Marathon As this was not possible I decided to run it over the week starting out on Tuesday with my son. I don’t normally run on consecutive days so this was a fitting challenge. In total I ran 26.3 miles over 5 days (exercise time) in 4:34:45.

Many would have just given up. Thank you for showcasing your resilience and resourcefulness... What a superstar!

Easter Music Challenge

Over the Easter holidays, the children were given a challenge to make a musical instrument. Your creations are absolutely amazing – some of you even uploaded videos demonstrating your instruments! A huge well done and thank you to everyone who took part. Here they are in their all their splendidness! Can you spot yours?

Falcons flying high!

First off, this heartfelt acrostic poem from Sid. You are a boy of many talents!

Millie is doing an ongoing art challenge, as well as all of her school work. What fantastic resourcefulness and resilience Millie! If you would also like to take part, head over to https://www.artroombrighton.co.uk/online-classes-for-kids/

Skylarks supersonic learning

Wow! Look at these two amazing rainbow posters and poems from Freya and Amelie. You have done your teachers proud girls! They are fantastic.

Betsy has been working hard on her maths—what beautiful presentation too!

Tommy’s science work on the Life cycle of a frog is very apt as our garden ponds overflow with tadpoles Goldcrests are working their socks off!

Robins class have been making reading dens

Robins have been using their feet to meas- ure their sofas…

It would take 5 of my paper chains to get from one side of the sofa to the other Jays class getting stuck in

Joshua and Zach's build a pirate ship investigation (where they had to find out which design was best to hold the most pennies before sinking) is stunning. They had a lot of fun it seems! CJ has dressed as a pirate having designed his own - Captain Scarlet!

Owlets have been super busy once again!

They have been engaged in so much home learning, such as cooking, reading, singing, learning letters and numbers, dressing up and lots more.

This week we started our new topic of growing and life cycles and are uploading tasks and challenges daily on Evidence Me. Already our Owlets have got stuck in to their learning. We have seen great den building and some have made a fabulous start on the activities in the home learning pack. Well done Owlets, we are super proud!!

Fantastic reading dens!

Fabulous home activity idea from Callie and her mum

We wanted to share this amazing trick we found today ❤ Callie wanted her hair pink, so mummy made it happen

To get this beautiful look… We used salty boiled water with whatever coloured tissue paper you want Wait for water to be lukewarm and squeeze the tissue paper to get the dye out, then place hair in the water for 5 mins Rinse hair then blow dry ... then bobs your uncle we have coloured hair! It should last 7 days depending how often you wash child’s hair We thought maybe it’s something the school could tell other children about ❤ for fun isolation hair ❤ BIG SHOUT OUT to our Learning Heroes...

Falcons Seb is Falcons Relating hero. He has worked hard to complete Purple Mash activities and completed work collaboratively with Millie, online. Ty (and his lovely Mum) has shown great resilience to complete daily sensory activities to help him to feel happy. During his daily dog walks he has made friends with some horses in a nearby field

Ravens Alfie and Summer : You are both Resilient heroes for consistently producing work of an excellent standard. We really appreciate all the effort you two are making. You are absolute superstars. Alfie - your maths measuring using a protractor was superb. Summer - you are amazing at always going back and looking at your EBIs which really helps you improve your understanding. Keep up the outstanding work.

Goldfinches Mia is Goldfinches' Resilient hero this week. She has consistently completed all of her online learning and has ensured that I am able to see all of her work, either by creating her own google docs or sending photos through. Her continued effort and commitment to her learning is admirable. Keep it up Mia!

Swallows This week Sophie and Nina have impressed Miss Corns and Mrs Roberts with their amazing attitude to completing work. Every single project set has been done to a high standard—what superstars you are, constantly pushing yourselves to excel!

Starlings Martina is Starlings' learning hero this week for her great explanation text on how to help keep pigs clean.

Puffins Puffin class's learning hero this week is Lexie. She has taken so much responsibility for her learning and has put her all into every piece of work that she has submitted this week. It has been a joy to see her engagement and enthusiasm for her learning!

Jays Miss Horsfall would like to praise Joshua for being a Resilient and Resourceful hero. He is completing activities each day and is working well with his sister Caitlin to complete tasks and to talk about what he needs and how he feels. Well done!

Skylarks This week's learning hero goes to Freya for all the hard work she has been doing on her online learning. Not only did she write a fantastic rainbow simile in English but she has also been working really hard on her Science too. Her work on how animals change as they grow was very impressive. A big well done from Mrs Hope and Mr Brentnall and keep up the wonderful work as we love seeing it

Goldcrests Chloe is Goldcrest’s learning hero this week because she has been such a fantastic learner so far with all of her home learning! She has been so resilient to the change and has been so committed to completing all of her work. Chloe did some super maths during the Easter holiday, using her measuring skills, her halving skills and her sharing skills! She also did such neat writing and brilliant sounding out! Well done Chloe!

Robins Gracie-May for her reliance and persevering with her writing. Her daily sentences have been amazing!

Useful Information/Links

These two lovely ladies have been out and

about again this week making sure that our special parcels are being delivered around the community. A BIG SHOUT OUT to the fabulous Mrs Gent and Mrs Martin!

Financial Help

As the Coronavirus situation continues, there may be additional financial and practical issues to navigate. If you were previously working, either employed by an organisation, or self employed and are no longer receiving an income, you may be entitled to apply for Universal Credit.

If you copy and paste the link below, it will take you to the Government website where you can check if you are eligible. It is an online form, which will be quicker than making a telephone call at the moment. https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility?step-by-step-nav=7c08bbbf-a1ca-4cf5-850d-d9f2c796c750

You may now be entitled to free school meals, worth £15 of supermarket vouchers each week whilst the school is closed

If you find that you are now able to receive Universal Credit or are receiving the following benefits below (and you weren’t before), you may also be able to receive the Free School Meal Vouchers which amount to £15 per child per week.

The qualifying benefits are:  Income Support  Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance  Income-related Employment and Support Allowance  support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999  the guaranteed element of Pension  Credit Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)  Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit Universal Credit - If you apply on or after the 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7400 per year

If you want to check if you are able to receive Free School Meals you can also email the team and provide them with your National Insurance Number or National Asylum Seeker Number (NASS), Date of Birth and sur- name. Email this to: [email protected] or you can look on their website: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/children-and-education/schools/applying-online-free-school-meals Alternatively please call the school office on 01273 770777 and ask to speak to Liz Marshall, or email [email protected], and we will help you.

Other useful information The website below also provides a link to the local discretionary fund via Brighton and Hove City Council. This is where you can apply for a one off payment for essential items if no other money is currently being made available to you. https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/benefits/help-and-support/get-emergency-help-food-energy-bills-and-other- essentials On the council website you are also able to refer yourself or another vulnerable person for help https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/request-help-yourself-or-someone-else . If someone can’t get online to complete this online form, they can call 01273 293117. This phone line is linked to a telephone interpreting service if this is necessary.

If you require any advice or guidance around the completion of these forms or are not sure whether you should be claiming any benefit, please do contact our family liaison worker, Natalie Bellis at [email protected] and she will be able to discuss your situation with you further, and hopefully point you in the right direction.