Western Community Primary School

Welcome to the spring edition of our newsletter. There has been so much to celebrate at Western across the spring term with exciting new units of learning, competitions, charity events and Y5 children completed a successful four week block of swimming lessons. In other news, we are delighted to finally begin welcoming families back into school. It has been so nice being able to chat to you and your child about their learning during our booklook events. We hope those of you who have been back in school so far have enjoyed it as much as we have. We look forward to seeing many more of you in school across the coming weeks and beyond. You will have seen the calendar, highlighting key events we are offering across the summer term, which was sent out on the school app. We are all so excited to reinstate some of our traditional events such as our highly anticipated KS2 summer show.

World Book Day was celebrated at Western with children coming to school kitted out in their pyjamas and completing a range of literacy activities across the day including live author events and of course enjoying the obligatory hot chocolate, cream and marshmallows whilst listening to their teacher read to them. Reading is so important to us at Western and we do all we can to encourage reading for pleasure. Did you know each class has a class reader that is read to them daily? We are also thrilled that children are enjoying taking home our new poetry and knowledge book kits. The enthusiastic responses children have returned to school show that they have been a big hit so far!

To raise money for Red Nose Day and the Disasters Emergency Committee Fund for Ukraine, children spent time learning about the important Comic Relief messages, had great fun sharing jokes and laughs in class and in assemblies, and of course eating cake! Together we raised a spectacular £431.90 which will be split evenly between the two charities. This contribution will make such a difference.

A group of Year 6 children have been taking part in a robotics club since the beginning of the year. They have designed, built and programmed a robot to achieve specific tasks and took part in a regional competition at Nissan this month. They won the top award - the Excellence award and have qualified for the National competition near Birmingham. They will be travelling down with their families during the Easter holidays so we wish them the best of luck.

Ofsted conducted a two day research project commissioned by the DfE to evaluate the overall quality of tutoring. At Western, we have a huge range of tutoring taking place to support children to catch up on missed learning due to the pandemic. NTP tutors, Academic Mentors and School Led tutors complement high quality teaching and intervention already taking place.

We celebrated World Maths Day on 23 March in school. The focus this year was on money and finances. Children in each year group worked on a range of tasks across the day, each with their own age-appropriate focus. We are passionate about ensuring our children are informed and equipped to manage money in later life.

What a busy half term we have had in nursery! Together we have explored heating and cooling through our weekly cooking activities, investigation station and our fire pit. We had to complete some pirate training before setting off on our quest to recover the stolen treasure. We worked as a team to solve problems and complete challenges. We have had loads of fun turning shapes into pictures in Maths. In Nursery, we have been working really hard on our scissor skills and pencil grip during investigation and mark making activities. We can’t wait to get involved in some more exciting learning next half term.

Reception had an amazing time discovering how to be inventors and engineers. We have looked close up inside machines to see how they work and used screwdrivers to get ‘under the cover’ to see what components are used to make gadgets work.

Our tinker station has been very popular and using tools has become a great part of our daily routine. We have been working on our own inventing skills and creating our own life improving inventions. We have been constructing time machines, inventors' goggles, cookie robots and robots that get us ready for school!

We have really enjoyed the texts we have covered and can see a lot of ourselves in Izzy Gizmo and Rosie Revere, we know that it’s ok to make mistakes and the most important thing is that we keep trying or finding a new way of doing things.

Year one were amazing when visiting Percy Park Rugby club for their first ever rugby tournament. There was a lot of excitement about the very fancy double decker coach as this was the children’s first experience of a coach with school. The children got stuck in and showed off the skills they had learnt when playing mini games. It did get very cold towards the end and children showed brilliant resilience with this.

We have completed our history topic about the explorers with a review lesson. We made paper aeroplanes to remember Amy Johnson’s epic flight; explored the ice to recall Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ expeditions; made model versions of Apollo 11; and created a moving picture of Christopher Columbus’ journey (although the children very much recalled how Columbus treated the indigenous people when he arrived!)

Super Quest

In Year 2, a character from our story ‘How to Find Gold’ came to visit us. Anna came in to answer our questions about her quest and left us our own quest to complete. Anna wanted to hear all about our quest so before we went on our journey we learned how to write a recount. We found out recounts are written in past tense so we learned about how verbs change. After all of our learning it was time to embark on our quest! We sneaked past the Reception area, ran to the tyres, crawled to the amphitheatre and jumped up the stairs. Once we got to the top we saw something on top of the hill. The treasure! We huddled around to open the treasure chest and found delicious chocolate coins. What a wonderful adventure! We then wrote our recounts to recall our journey.

Helix Arts

We were so lucky to have Sue from Helix Arts come into school to work with us. Sue is a local artist who is working in connection with Segedunum to create a project about stories. Sue came into school and talked with us about her arts and how people tell stories through their arts. We then had an opportunity to follow a story with our pens and used washi tape to create our own place within the story. Sue then brought our clay and showed us how to make stories on pottery. We can’t wait to see how our clay amulets turn out when Sue comes to see us next.

Multiplication Madness

We have begun learning our 2, 5 and 10 times tables! At first we were a little unsure of this new concept but with a little work and resilience we have become multiplication wizards. We began by using counters to understand multiplication is all about making equal groups. We then moved on to looking at images of groups and writing multiplication equations to match these. Now we can solve multiplication expressions using our 2s, 5s and 10s. Feel free to ask us what a factor or product are because we are fancy and know fancy vocabulary too!

World Book Day

This year is the 21st anniversary of World Book Day and the children in Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the celebrations. They all looked so cosy in their pyjamas and certainly enjoyed their hot chocolate. They took part in a live stream event, guessed the teacher behind the mask and took part in lots of other fun activities!

Children's Mental Health Week

Just before half term, the children took part in a treasure hunt. They had to follow lots of clues outside and use their team work skills to locate the treasure. The children in each class voted to give the prize to the most deserving person in the class based on our value of kindness. Congratulations to the two chosen pupils! We would like to say thank you to the wellbeing team for organising this - well done Y3 Wellbeing Ambassadors!!

PE

We have 'Move It Studios' teaching our Dance topic in PE this half term. So far we have been exploring travelling and moving using different actions. We also have the Newcastle United Foundation to coach us in ball skills. This will build on the knowledge we built in the autumn term.

Red Nose Day

Thank you so much for preparing such brilliant jokes with your children. The children shared these in class and voted for the one they would like to have shared in the assembly. We enjoyed cakes in the sunshine and took part in lots of exciting activities across the day!

Careers Week

North Tyneside Learning Trust came to visit us as part of 'Career Week'. The trainer spoke to us about what a career is and how important our education is in helping us achieve our dream career. She asked us our about our aspirations and talked to us about how we could achieve them. We finished the session by playing 'Top Trumps'. This allowed the children to explore a variety of jobs and ones they may not have heard of. It showed children the salaries, skills and opportunities each career provided. The children were very engaged and were a credit to the school.

World Maths Day

Our children love Maths so this was a very exciting day for them! Our focus was on 'money' and in particular 'ways to pay and 'giving change'. We also talked about the difference between saving and borrowing as part of our discussions. We played lots of games and completed lots of practical activities to bring the learning to life.

North of the Tyne 'Under the Stars'

Year 4 had a fantastic time being part of the 'Under the Stars' local project. They heard the story of Orion and explored constellations as well as exploring a constellation that our school, and the other schools doing the project, could make. The children then created their own constellations in small groups, based on their favourite places and wrote short stories to go with the constellation. Some of this work may be on display in the local library and was also mentioned at the event in Richardson Dees Park on the 25th and 26th of February. Well done Year 4! What a great project to be part of in our local community.

Super Science!

During our topic this half-term, States of Matter, Year 4 have considered what solids, liquids and gases are and carried out a variety of experiments to answer scientific questions related to them. Recently, they made and explored a substance called Ooblek which is a non-newtonian fluid which can be both a liquid and a solid, depending on the amount of pressure applied to it. They also built their own water cycles to show the processes of evaporation and condensation.

How much do you know about under the sea?

The children have been researching sea creatures to produce factual and interesting non-chronological reports about a sea creature of their choice. They have been developing and refining their research skills and then producing excellent reports to engage and inform the readers about sea creatures they may not know about. Sir David Attenborough would be proud!

Year 5 have enjoyed their swimming adventure. There have been some very tired children on the coach on the way home as they have been working so hard. It has been amazing to see the progress some of them have made during their swimming sessions, some of them even after only one week!

We have also begun our unit of work based on Comedy and Tragedy. Year 5's text for this unit is the gothic horror classic, Frankenstein. The children began by looking at different images from several versions of the text and making their own connections between the characters and places. They have moved on to comparing different versions of the text and examining what they can learn about the main character from his actions. They have really been enjoying the story so far and are eager to find out what happens as the tragedy unfolds!

In Art, Year 5 have worked exceptionally hard on designing, making and then painting their Greek vases. They have been reflecting on the design process throughout their lessons and referring to their initial ideas. Mr Murphy has commented that he was impressed by the way the children have approached their learning this term and the children have really enjoyed linking their learning to their History topic on the myth of the Trojan Horse. We can't wait for you to see the vases when the children bring them home!

In Year 6 Art, the children have been learning about traditional Chinese Art and researched all about the Terracotta Army. They developed their own sketches and each created a 3D sculpture to replicate what a Terracotta Warrior would look like. They carefully moulded the shape of their warriors using a range of materials and used Modroc to create a solid sculpture before decorating.

The cost of gas and electricity is set to rise significantly making household bills more expensive from the 1st April 2022. Martin Lewis, money saving expert has lots of helpful tips and tricks to reduce your use of gas and electric during this time to help reduce additional bills.

Household Bills - MoneySavingExpert

If you would like to talk to someone to find support with the rise in charges please contact the Care, Guidance and Support Team at school on 0191 263 0202 who will be able to provide you with additional information.

Just a gentle reminder

If your child is out and about after dark please remind them about remaining on footpaths, crossing roads at designated crossings and to wear bright clothing to make them as visible as possible to all transport. Having a reflector on their coat can warn cars that they are there; this is very important if they are otherwise wearing dark clothing.

We are extremely pleased to announce that Miss Fox and Mrs Hogg are now fully qualified Thrive practitioners alongside Mrs Robson enabling us to provide support to more children in school.

We are looking forwards to being able to offer our first Family Thrive sessions and would love to welcome anyone along, who would be interested in finding out more about the course and signing up for a place, to our first Family Thrive coffee afternoon at school on Thursday 28th April at 2.30pm.

If you would like further information on Family Thrive please contact Gemma Robson on 0191 263 0202.

We all want our children to be able to have a safe and enjoyable experience when they are online; this is especially important when our children are young and impressionable.

There are many different platforms that we know children like to use. Each of them all come with their own privacy settings and terms and conditions; this can be confusing for us all as we move between platforms but one thing remains the same - all aspects of being online requires respect and kindness.

I have spent a lot of time talking with our children about their time online and the same problem keeps coming back to me - how they speak to one another is not respectful. Many children have told me they are part of group chats on WhatsApp where other children are name calling and being unkind, there is swearing and use of unkind memes towards other children and this is not making their experience a good one.

The two posters below will support you in talking to your child about being kind in the online world and give top tips for both children and parents.

We are very excited to have our very own Goblin Car in school that we will be using with children from Years 5 and 6.

The children have to build the car from scratch using a variety of tools and connect the electric components to be able to start and drive the car.

We had our first successful build this month where 24 children took part in aspects of the two day project to work together, support one another and learn new skills.

This year's theme was Growing Together. The wellbeing ambassadors encouraged children (and adults) to consider how they have grown and how they can help others to grow by organising a wellbeing walk for each class in our school forest. The wellbeing ambassadors created a set of clues each class had to follow that then led to some unexpected treasure! Each class then had to decide on one classmate they believed deserved the treasure - by choosing someone in their class who they thought was considerate of others' wellbeing in honour of children's mental health week.

Our wonderful wellbeing ambassadors each chose a year group to talk to and create clues for the wellbeing walk and it was such a positive experience for the ambassadors. Our ambassadors left each class feeling respected and empowered for not only being brave and standing up in front of an unknown class but also for the fact they felt listened to by all pupils and staff.

For more information on Places2Be and children's mental health week please see following links :

https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/

https://www.place2be.org.uk/

The ambassador's next mission will be to plan for Mental Health Awareness week (10/05/22 onwards) so watch this space!

Western wellbeing ambassadors :

(Lucy and Ethan - Y6, Lily and Andrew - Y5, Jessica and Nancy - Y4, Alfie and James - Y3, Noah and Aiden - Y2 and Brooke and Nicholas - Y1)

World Sleep Day is an annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects and driving. It is organised by the World Sleep Day Committee of World Sleep Society and aims to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders. World Sleep Day is held the Friday before the Spring Vernal Equinox of each year. This year's world sleep day was on Friday, March 18, 2022.

The Importance of Sleep

Sleep is vital to children and young people’s health, wellbeing, learning and development. It is important to make sure children and young people have the right amount of sleep so they have enough energy for the next day’s activities.

Sleep and health are strongly related - poor sleep can increase the risk of having poor health, and poor health can make it harder to sleep. Sleep disturbances can be one of the first signs of distress. Common mental health problems like anxiety and depression can often underpin sleep problems.

Possible causes of sleep problems

There are many reasons why you might not be able to sleep well. Some people are naturally lighter sleepers or take longer to drop off, while some life circumstances might make it more likely for your sleep to be interrupted, like stressful events or having a new baby. There are lots of things that can influence our mental health, such as our upbringing, childhood environment, things that happen to us and even our temperament.

Keep regular sleep hours

Going to bed when you feel tired and getting up at roughly the same time helps teach your body to sleep better. Try to avoid napping where possible.

Confront sleeplessness

If you are lying awake unable to sleep, do not force it. Get up and do something relaxing for a bit, and return to bed when you feel sleepier.

Create a restful environment

Dark, quiet and cool environments generally make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Watch our video for tips on how to sleep better.

Write down your worries

If you often lie awake worrying about tomorrow, set aside time before bed to make a list for the next day. This can help put your mind at rest.

Move more, sleep better

Being active can help you sleep better. These videos can get you going, but remember to avoid vigorous activity near bedtime if it affects your sleep.

Better Health: Home workout videos

Put down the pick-me-ups

Caffeine and alcohol can stop you falling asleep and prevent deep sleep. Try to cut down.

Source : https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/

For further information on sleep for adults please see NHS website

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/

For further information on sleep for children please see https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/kids/life-skills/sleep/

Attendance and punctuality Every school day counts and every minute matters!

In September 2021 school returned to pre-Covid timings. All the school gates open at 8.35am (KS2) and 8.40am (KS1). Doors open at 8.50am and are locked at 8.55am. This time is sufficient for all pupils to come into their classrooms.

Being 5 minutes late each day is the same as missing 3 whole days of school. Being 15 minutes late each day is the same as missing two whole weeks at school. We start our learning promptly at 8.55am – being 15 minutes late each day means missing two whole weeks of Literacy learning.

Good regular attendance means being in school at least 95% of the time. Children with below 95% have less chance of success. Even missing just 10 days of school across the year = 94.7% attendance. Great attendance and punctuality are important habits that we want to develop now to help children succeed in the future. No employer wants to give someone a job if they are constantly late or miss too many days at work.

How can you help your child?

• Make sure they know that you think school is really important.

• Help your child to organise their uniform, PE kit and book bag the night before school.

• Agree on a bed time with your child to make sure they get a good night’s sleep.

• Have a special routine for getting up, getting ready and for breakfast time

• Organise any medical or dental appointments for after school or in the holidays

Good attendance at school is the key to future success!

Attending school every day = 100% attendance

Attending 4 1⁄2 days a week = 90% attendance = 4 weeks missed per year

Attending 4 days a week = 80% attendance = more than half a term missed per year.

Attending 3 1⁄2 days each week = 70% attendance = more than a quarter of the school year missed.

An average attendance of 80% or less across a child’s school career adds up to missing a whole 2 years from school.

Being late for school reduces learning time.

If your child is 5 minutes late every day they will miss three days of learning each year.

If your child is 15 minutes late every day they will miss 2 weeks of learning each year.

What can you do to help?

If you suspect that your child may be missing school or is unhappy at school you should contact the CGS team or class teacher as soon as possible so that you can work with them to resolve any difficulties.

Be on alert for any particular reasons for non-attendance, such as bullying or problems with school work and discuss these with the school.

If your child is ill or absent for any other reasons, contact the school on each day of absence. Follow the schools’ procedures for notifying absence, and always let the school know of any days that your child is unable to attend.

Make sure your child arrives at school on time.

For further information and advice :

https://www.parentkind.org.uk/For-Parents

https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/schools-learning-and-childcare/parent-information/school-attendance-and-absence

https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/1121/school-attendance

ParentPay for School Meals

North Tyneside school meals use ParentPay to pay for school meals in secondary, middle, and primary schools.

All parents need to activate their ParentPay account even if your child is entitled to free school meals in reception, year 1 and 2, to keep a check on their school meals balance and receive important updates about the service. A school meal costs £2.25 a day and all pupils in Year 3 and above must pay for school meals.

To check eligibility for free school meals you must apply online at www.northtyneside.gov.uk and enter ‘free school meals’ in the search bar. If you don’t have an e-mail address, please call to register for free meals (0191) 643 2288 choose option 3.

ParentPay is managed by Catering Services, not your school, so please do not ring the school with queries. Please email parentpay@northtyneside.gov.uk with your child’s name and school.

Email: western.office@ntlp.org.uk
Website: westerncommunityprimary.org.uk
Location: Rutland Road, Wallsend, UK
Phone: 0191 263 0202
Twitter: @westernprimary