Western Community Primary School

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the January edition of our newsletter.

It is so exciting to be back in school after a relaxing break as we have lots of fun learning in store and so many exciting plans for the remainder of this academic year. We thought you might enjoy a sneak preview of some of our plans which include overnight residential visits to Beamish Open Air Museum for children in Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, swimming for Year 5 children in March and some catch up swimming for Year 6 children in the summer term, year group community projects, trips, sports festivals and tournaments and some interesting careers work for children in KS1 and KS2 led by Julie Scott at North Tyneside Learning Trust. We are also very excited to have Helix Arts working with Year 2 this term on a project called ‘A Story of Place’. They are collecting children’s experiences during Covid from the local community and displaying these in creative ways as part of a gallery which will be displayed at Segedunum.

The children have all been hard at work in their new Quest unit. Hopefully you will have had the opportunity to look at the topic maps so you can talk about the learning with your child. The link to topic maps was sent earlier in the month via our school app. If you missed the link you can find topic maps for each year group on our school website by following this link: https://westerncommunityprimary.org.uk/topic-maps-2021-22/

It has been a pleasure to read and listen to children in Year 3 and Year 4 reading some of their amazing writing this week. Year 3 children have been busy innovating Quest stories and Year 4 children have been working hard on building suspense in their writing.

Soon we will be allocating spaces to our Nursery for our September 2022 intake. Please head to the website and fill in an online application form if you would like to apply for a space for your child. You may wish to spread the word to your friends who could also be interested in a space. Mrs Larty will be happy to chat prospective families through the process and answer any questions. Feel free to contact her via the school office.

We, like many schools locally and nationally, continue to manage high levels of staff and pupil Covid-19 absence. We are working hard to minimise the impact to children's wellbeing and learning. Thank you all for bearing with us this month. We will, of course, continue to do all that we can to minimise disruption to learning over the coming weeks.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Sarah Dixon

Acting Headteacher

We are delighted that the school photographer will be in school taking individual photographs on Tuesday 8th February. If that is a PE day for your child (Y1, Y2, Y3) please send them to school wearing their uniform with their PE kit in a bag. This will ensure they are wearing uniform for their photograph.

This half term we have immersed ourselves in the world of physics. We have explored floating and sinking. In nursery, we made predictions about a range of objects before testing if they would float or sink. We have also been finding out about light and dark. Our reading area was transformed into a dark den where children created shadows using puppets that they had made. The fabulous physics topic has been great fun so far!

In reception we have been exploring space and our solar system.

We have been finding out about gravity and why things fall down. This has led to lots of investigation into the effects of gravity. Whilst looking at the Soyuz capsule landing we explored air resistance and the deployment of parachutes to slow the capsule down.

We have loved getting to know some of the astronauts who have lived on the international space station and seeing what it’s like to live without gravity. In maths we have been completing surveys and our favourite astronaut is Tim Peake!

We have begun the new year in Maths with lots of shape investigation. We have been exploring shapes in different ways and have been solving problems involving spatial awareness using Tangrams and pentominoes. We have been practising using mathematical vocabulary when solving problems around different shapes and this has really helped us to develop our mathematical reasoning skills.

In Science we are continuing to learn about animals and have now moved onto the mammal - humans! Some of our children were surprised to find out that we are a type of animal! We are doing a variety of investigations to explore different parts of the body, including labelling and measuring body parts and exploring our senses.

We have been finding out about explorers in History and this has brought up some really interesting questions and discoveries so far. We are looking forward to find out about some other explorers.

Literacy

This half term we are going to be inventing our own stories based on the quest story plot. We are using the story of Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx to help inspire our writing. Once we have invented our stories we are going to present them to Kirsty and Beth as a 'thank you' for letting us take over Segedunum. They are going to absolutely love them!

Art

We are studying art linked to our history this half term. The children have been finding out about cave art. They are engrossed in the topic and their beautiful art work so far reflects this. The pictures below our from our 'idea generation' session in which the children are encouraged to look closely at the art work and pick out elements that they like.

Art

This half term we have been exploring the artwork of famous painter Pablo Picasso. Picasso was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, famous for paintings like 'Weeping Woman' and for the art movement known as Cubism. In Year 4, we have been so inspired by his interesting style and his many paintings that we have begun to experiment with creating our very own portraits based on cubism.

Literacy

In Year 4, we have begun to explore the quest story ‘The Secret of Black Rock’. The main character, Erin, finds herself in a dangerous situation whilst embarking on her quest to discover more about the mysterious Black Rock. We have used the story as a starting point to develop our understanding of how an author creates suspense and tension when writing. We have explored different literary techniques that keep the reader on the edge of their seat and have begun to apply our understanding to create our own piece of suspense writing.

PE

We are lucky enough to have professional dance coaches teaching PE in Year 4 this half term. The children have been enjoying learning about choreography and developing their own choreography to go along with music. They have had the opportunity to work in small groups and individually.

This half term, Year 5 have been exploring area and perimeter in Maths. They have been measuring the length of sides of various classroom objects and calculating the area and perimeter from these. In PE they have been working with coaches from Newcastle United. In particular, they have been developing their passing and moving skills in team games such as handball. In Literacy, they have been learning about fact and opinion and have been evaluating the reliability of eye-witness statements.They have also been developing their sketching skills in Art and have used these skills to draw an example of Greek pottery.

Year 6 have been investigating the curious case of a mysterious fungus that has swept across the nation of Australia. Two plucky children (and their loyal doggy companions) decide to seek out their grandparents' house in the hope of a brighter future. We have been following Ella and Emery's dangerous quest across valleys, over creeks and through towns on the edge of riot. All is not well and it is down to the duo to try and come up with a solution to save Australia from certain doom. Our model text (The Dog Runner) has prompted lots of fantastic descriptive writing and the children have worked hard on extending their written ideas when describing settings and characters. We are working towards drafting our own Quest narrative by the end of this half term, including all of the techniques we have picked up on Ella and Emery's adventure.

In Science this half term the children have been tasked with investigating a range of scientific enquiries around the topic of electricity. Using a range of components, the children have worked enthusiastically to find out whether adding or removing certain components has an impact on their circuits. We have discussed the importance of fair testing and the impact that this has on the reliability of our results.

Hi, we are the Wellbeing Ambassadors for Western Community Primary School. In this month’s newsletter we would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you all. Next month we can’t wait to tell you all about Children’s Mental Health Week – watch this space!

Time to Talk Day Thursday 3rd February 2022

Time to Talk Day is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. Taking place on Thursday 3 February 2022, it’s the day that friends, families, communities, and workplaces come together to talk, listen and change lives.

Why talking is important

One in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year.

We want everyone to feel comfortable talking about mental health – whenever they like. Talking about mental health reduces stigma, helping to create supportive communities where we can talk openly about mental health and feel empowered to seek help when we need it.

That’s why opening up the conversation about mental health problems is so important – by talking about it we can support ourselves and others.

However you do it, have a conversation about mental health. For further information check out:

https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/time-to-talk-day-2022/

https://www.rethink.org/get-involved/awareness-days-and-events/time-to-talk-day/

LGBTQ+ History Month 2022

February 1st 2022 marks the start of the national LGBTQ+ History month throughout the United Kingdom. LGBT History Month, begun by Schools Out in 2005, is a chance to bring the overlooked history of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people to light. This year, the focus is on LGBT-inclusive education.

LGBT-INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

1.LGBT PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED: A wide range of sexual and romantic orientations and gender identities have existed throughout human history. This is true across many different cultures. LGBT identities are not new.

2.CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE CAN HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR GENDER IDENTITY OR THEIR SEXUAL OR ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Some children and young people will know that they are LGBT, and some will be questioning whether they might be. It’s important not to assume that we know how somebody identifies unless they have told us, and to remember that the way in which a person identifies might change throughout their lifetime.

3.GENDER IDENTITY, SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND ROMANTIC ORIENTATION ARE NOT THE SAME: A person’s sexual and romantic orientation and their gender identity are different parts of who they are.

4. LGBT PEOPLE ARE NOT ONE HOMOGENOUS GROUP:LGBT people are as diverse as any other group of people. Many LGBT people will also have other protected characteristics, such as race, faith or disability status, which may shape their experiences and sometimes the way they are treated by others. Similarly, different groups within the LGBT community will have different experiences and needs. Discrimination, stereotyping or exclusion can happen within the LGBT community.

Source (https://www.stonewall.org.uk/sites/default/files/putting_it_into_practice.pdf )

For further information about LGBTQ% history in our local area see the below links :

https://www.humankindcharity.org.uk/service/lgbt-north-east/

https://www.stonewall.org.uk/help-advice/whats-my-area

https://www.consortium.lgbt/member-directory/north-east-lgbt-federation/

Western’s Food and Uniform Bank

Just a reminder that here at Western we have our very own food bank and uniform bank that all our families can access anytime. For further information please contact the school office on 0191 2630202 or western.office@ntlp.org.uk and a member of the CGS team will contact you .

We are also always grateful for any donations no matter how big or small. ☺

We are delighted that we are going to be able to offer support to parents and families through our Family Thrive programme. The programme guides parents through different behaviours and gives you an insight into why children behave like they do. The Thrive Approach can provide you with pointers to help create positive experiences that support children's wellbeing and build their emotional resilience.

If you would like more information about the content of the course or how to secure a place on an upcoming course please contact Gemma Robson on 0191 263 0202.

Our app allows us to message you and also enables you to reply directly to us. This makes communication between home and school much easier for families and school. As you know, we have now moved to a completely paperless communication system. All letters and school communications are now sent via the SchoolGateway app.

If you are new to school and haven't yet downloaded the app, please follow the steps below.

Downloading the App:

Please download School Gateway from your app store (Android and iPhone). Once you have downloaded the app, you will need to click "Sign Up". It will ask you to enter your email address and phone number. A pin is then sent to your phone, which you will use to activate your account.

OR

For those parents or carers without a smartphone, you can visit the website:

www.schoolgateway.com and click on ‘New User’. Enter your email address and mobile phone number and you’ll receive a text message with a PIN number. Use this PIN to log into School Gateway.

Trouble logging in? It might be because school doesn’t have your current email and mobile phone number on record. Please contact school and we’ll update the details on our system.

Please be aware it is possible to have both parents / carers using the App, and can also work in conjunction with other schools.

Please contact Mr Southern on 0191 263 0202 or western.office@ntlp.org.uk if you have any problems getting started or have any questions regarding SchoolGateway.

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