Oxfordshire County Council Sarah Nisbett, Headteacher Ducklington Ce Primary School, Aston Road, Ducklington, Witney, Oxon

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OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL SARAH NISBETT, HEADTEACHER DUCKLINGTON CE PRIMARY SCHOOL, ASTON ROAD, DUCKLINGTON, WITNEY, OXON. OX29 7US Telephone: 01993 703651 Facsimile: 01993 709212 E-mail: [email protected]

Dear Parents and Carers,

Summer Term 2019

I hope that you all had a lovely Easter holiday and enjoyed the sunshine we were given on the last few days of it!

This term we are learning about The Ancient Maya Civilisation in our topic work. This civilisation formed thousands of years ago which gives it a fascinating edge. We will be looking at a range of sources to get to know them, studying their unique writing styles, learning about their farming techniques and looking at what everyday life was like for them amongst other things.

We also have our Year 5 Witney Partnership music event coming up in May which we will continue to be learning the songs for. It is expected that the children know the songs as well as the words to them by the time we go for our rehearsal on Wednesday 8th May for the performance on the 22nd May, so it would be great if you could help encourage them to learn the words for these at home as well and come along to support us!

Year 5 have been really enjoying their Greenpower sessions every Friday. We are now looking at the body-work on the karts this term. A huge thanks to Mr Kenyon for coming in every Friday to help make this happen!

Communication

Thank you for helping your child to read by recording this in their blue books every day – reading is such an important skill not only on its own, but it also feeds into many other aspects of children’s learning. Mrs Prior checks the blue books daily - thank you for communicating with us via the blue books if there is anything you wanted to discuss. Some days, we have had very few blue books brought in to school; it is important that every child has theirs with them every day.

Home learning

The children are still encouraged to read every night and practise their times tables up to 12x via Times Table Rockstars – this is crucial in their maths work.

P.E and Kwik Cricket

As usual, our P.E lessons are on Thursday and Friday this short term. However, these dates may sometimes change, so the children must have their P.E kits with them all week. They can be taken home at the weekends and brought back the following Monday. Please remember to return them the following day if your child wears them to an after school club.

Next term, we will be having weekly Kwik Cricket sessions on Monday afternoons, so our previous Friday P.E slots will change to Monday.

Book recommendations

Some good books that are closely linked to our topic:

• The Great Kapok Tree by Lynn Cherry • Middleworld by J&P Voelkel

Oxfordshire book awards recommends: • The Great Explorer by Katherine Rundell • 1000 Year Old Boy by Ross Welford • Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone

If there is anything you would like to discuss, I am available after-school when I have seen the children off, you can write to me in the blue book or you can make an appointment via the school office.

Yours sincerely

Mr Weekes, Ms Houston and Mrs Prior.