We are so happy that we will be open to all children on Monday, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back.

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has navigated their way around Showbie, engaged in the live lessons and submitted some wonderful work to share with their teachers. We are so proud of you all. Parents and Carers – a HUGE well done to you too for supporting your children. 

Give yourselves a big round of applause!

Full re-opening

All parents and carers should have received the letter earlier in the week via text message and Facebook to explain our organisation and timings for returning to school on Monday 8^th March.

Just a couple more reminders:

*Please can parents and carers wear a face mask when dropping off and collecting their child, and leave the site as quickly as possible.

*We are sorry that we will not be able to accommodate bikes and scooters on the academy site during the current time.

*Please can all children return in full school uniform including plain, black shoes and plain socks.

*Classrooms will be well ventilated, so children can wear an extra layer under their uniform for warmth.

*Please note that food vouchers will stop from this week.

Ipad Returns

Please can all iPads that have been loaned to the children be returned to school on Monday 8^th, as well as any leads or plugs also borrowed.  They will be collected in by staff when the children come into the academy. It is important we get them back on Monday in line with the agreement signed.

Science Week

Next week is British Science Week and, the overall theme for the week in ‘Innovating the future’. Each year group will follow a theme, linked to a local company, and an enquiry questions will be the focus for the week. The themes are:

EYFS – The world around us – What grows in your garden? (Westfield Farm) 

Year 1 – Bridges and Structures – How can we improve the transporter bridge? (Sparks Tees Valley) 

Year 2 – Floating and Sinking – What material is best to build a boat? (RNLI – Redcar Lifeboat)  

Year 3/KS2 SEND – Protecting the Environment – How can we be greener? (R&C Council)  

Year 4 – Electricity (Wind Farms) – How do wind turbines produce electricity? (UK STEM)

Year 5 – Chemical Engineering – How is plastic made? (SABIC) 

Year 6 – Electricity – How can we produce electricity in a more sustainable way? (UK STEM) 

The aim of the week is to break down stereotypes and raise ambitions for the STEM industry, as well as the children having fun and working scientifically.  

We will share the outcomes of the week with you.

World Book Day and Online Book Fair

Thank you to everyone who sent Mr Stammers photos of reading in unusual places: there were some amazing ideas and many children and parents were very imaginative.  Please send in any remaining photos or videos; we can’t wait to see them!

Remember our Usborne online book fair can still be accessed to order any books you would like.

We have the World Book Day tokens in school, and these will be brought home by your children next week. As many shops are currently closed, they have a longer date on them than usual before they have to be used.

Packed Lunches

Can we please remind parents of the expectations with packed lunches, as we have noted some children have excessive amounts of food in their packed lunches, particularly sweet items.

 Children may bring a packed lunch to the academy but energy drinks, fizzy drinks, hot drinks, soup, flasks, or glass containers are not allowed for health and safety reasons. We would actively discourage sweets and chocolate bars in packed lunches, as we are committed to ensuring that the children adopt healthy lifestyles.

Barnardo’s Workshops for Parents

Please see below for a useful workshop on Child Criminal Exploitation run by Barnardo’s.

Tests for Non-Symptomatic Key Workers/People Who Cannot Work from Home

Breakfast Packs

We still have a few breakfast packs left.  Please pop in and collect one from the entrance to the academy if you are passing on your daily walk.

Times Tables Rockstars…

Good morning, 

Please find attached the winners of TTRS for this week. 

Year 6 – Reece C-W

Year 5 – Harley D

Year 4 – Alice K

Year 3 – Lucas E

Year 2 – Paige S

B2H – Alexis H

Spelling Shed Leader Board…

Please continue to stay safe and look after each other.  

Friday 26th February 2021

We hope that everyone had a relaxing half term break and enjoyed the last of the snow as well as some spring sunshine. Both the children in the academy and those at home have enjoyed the work on Showbie this week, and it has been great to see some new faces on the live sessions.  Remember to check on Showbie for the times of the live lessons and join your class for the last week of home learning. 

Full re-opening

Following the Government announcement on Monday, we are delighted that all children will return to the academy on Monday 8^th March. Our arrangements will be similar to the autumn term, and we will send a letter to clarify all details on Monday.

World Book Day and Online Book Fair

Thursday 4^th March is World Book Day, and Mr Stammers has posted a challenge on FaceBook to send in photos of reading in unusual place.  We look forward to seeing some of your ideas to make us smile.

Next week, some of the work on Showbie will be based around World Book Day.  In the academy, we are all focusing on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to create a wonderful display and as a stimulus for other activities.

We are also working with Usborne Books to provide an online Book Fair.  This is similar to the book fairs that we normally have in school. You can order books online for your children to enjoy.

HeadStart

Please see the link below to the latest HeadStart newsletter for the 22^nd Feb to the 5^th March. HeadStart works with children and young people to promote positive emotional wellbeing.

https://wke.lt/w/s/ddeEU8

Packed Lunches

Can we please remind parents of the expectations with packed lunches, as we have noted some children have excessive amounts of food in their packed lunches, particularly sweet items.

 Children may bring a packed lunch to the academy but energy drinks, fizzy drinks, hot drinks, soup, flasks, or glass containers are not allowed for health and safety reasons. We would actively discourage sweets and chocolate bars in packed lunches, as we are committed to ensuring that the children adopt healthy lifestyles.

Uniform

We have noticed that a number of children are wearing trainers in the academy.  Although we appreciate that it is difficult to source all clothing at the moment, we would ask that children wear plain black shoes for school.  Many thanks for your support.

Tests for Non-Symptomatic Key Workers/People Who Cannot Work from Home

Home Learning

We still have iPads available for Year 1 to Year 6 to loan. Please contact the academy office if you would like to take up this offer to support your child’s access to Showbie, even for this last week of home learning.

Breakfast Packs

We still have a few breakfast packs left.  Please pop in and collect one from the entrance to the academy if you are passing on your daily walk.

Times Tables Rockstars…

Year 6 – Lucas M and Onyx

Year 5 – Harley and Jackson

Year 4 – Sienna and Riley

Year 3 – Jake and Kyron

Year 2 – Paige and Emme

R1/M – Mubarak

B2H – Alexis

B3A – Albie and Luca

Spelling Shed Leader Board…

Please continue to stay safe and follow the Lockdown rules.

Congratulations to our Autumn Term Diamond Standard winners.

Curiosity

Finley D for having a real thirst for knowledge and always going out of his way to seek new facts about his project work.

Care

Heidi S for being a friend to many, always supporting others around the academy and being a super Dormanstown citizen.

Courage

Abdullah A for his courage to try new things in Reception, being excited and enthusiastic and making lots of progress with the English language.

Commitment

Harper I for having such an infectious enthusiasm for learning. She is so committed to everything she does and fully supports everyone around her.

• 

Friday 12th February 2021

It’s been lovely to see lots of your smiling faces on the live class sessions this week, and we hope that you have enjoyed seeing your friends. Thank you to everyone who has persevered with the technology this half term to access their learning through Showbie and share the work with their teachers.

The snow has brought lots of excitement in the academy this week, and we hope you have a restful and enjoyable half term holiday next week.

Special Guest Correspondents

Children in 3A wrote a Blog about what they have been learning about as part of their writing lessons.  We are proud to publish two examples below:

This half term our class story was ‘The Twits’. The Twits are people who play nasty tricks on one another. For instance, Mr Twit tied balloons to Mrs Twit and tried sending her to the moon, but Mrs Twit had served Mr Twit worms for his tea and told him it was spaghetti! They also play tricks on others too. In their garden, they smear glue all over the tree, so when the poor birds land on it they get stuck. And do you know what they do with the birds? Make bird pie! If you have never read the Twits, we think you would enjoy it. We have completed some reading activities:

As part of our Design Technology project, we designed and made our own board games. Firstly, we had fun playing our favourite board games with our family. Then we evaluated them against a criteria (pros and cons). We used this to see what features we liked across a number of different board games. Completing questionnaires and a design brief, we then came up with our own ideas and made our own games. Take a look at our amazing board games:

Thank you Year 3 for your contribution to the Blog. We love what you have written and your games and reading activities look amazing. 🙂

Nursery Arrangements

Please note that from Monday 22^nd February we are moving to two Nursery sessions for children who have booked a place.  A morning session for N2 children and an afternoon session for N1 children. Nursery parents have received a letter explaining these arrangements, but please ask if you are unsure.

Tests for Non-Symptomatic Key Workers/People Who Cannot Work from Home

Food Banks

Are you struggling for food during these difficult times?

Free School Meals

FSM meal vouchers will come from the Winter Grant Scheme which is run by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (same as over Christmas and New Year).

Vouchers from school will resume after half term.

Courses for Parents

Contact Details

Just a reminder to parents/carers to keep the academy office up to date with any new contact telephone numbers. This is not only extremely important for being able to contact you but also to ensure that families eligible receive their food vouchers.

Home Learning

We can now offer children from Year 1 to Year 6 the opportunity to loan their school iPad.  Please contact the academy office if you would like to take up this offer to support your child’s access to Showbie.

Critical Worker Places

If you require a critical worker place in the academy please contact the academy office. Places must be booked by Monday at 12 noon to start the following week to allow us to plan numbers and keep staff and children as safe as possible.

Breakfast Packs

We still have a few breakfast packs left.  Please pop in and collect one from the entrance to the academy if you are passing on your daily walk.

Times Tables Rockstars…

Year 6 – Onyx and Alfie

Year 5 – Kayden and Harley

Year 4 – Harvey and Adam

Year 3 – Ryan and Harper

Year 2 – Paige and Lola

R1/M – Mubarak

B2H – Alexis and Lennox

B3A – Luca and Heidi

Spelling Shed Leader Board…

Please continue to stay safe and follow the Lockdown rules.

Friday 5th February 2021

Thank you to everyone who has joined in the class live discussion sessions this week.  We know that many of you have enjoyed seeing each other on Showbie and being able to catch up with your friends. Class teachers will continue to let you know the time of the live taught session each day, and we look forward to seeing lots of children taking part.

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day is on Tuesday 9^th February and, as we have included items on the Blog over the last couple of weeks, the promotion of this has never been more important than during the current lockdown.

This year in the UK, Safer Internet Day explores reliability online. The internet has an amazing range of information and opportunities online, but how do we separate fact from fiction? Safer Internet Day will be celebrated globally with the slogan:        Together for a better internet.

More details and information /activities can be found at:

Safer Internet Day 2021 | Safer Internet Centre

Children’s Mental Health Week

Activities have been shared with children this week to support Children’s Mental Health Week and the theme of Express Yourself. We had some great examples of children expressing themselves to music and in other ways. The Reception children also listened to “The Huge Bag of Worries” story, discussing how they can make their worries go away with their parents/carers. Other classes have also enjoyed the daily lessons using the ELSA resources.

HeadStart

HeadStart promotes children and young people’s emotional wellbeing in schools, at home, in the community, and online. Working with partners, the aim is to improve resilience and provide support at an early stage to enable children and young people to better cope in difficult circumstances. During Children’s Mental Health Week 2021, HeadStart have launched their new newsletter. These will come out each fortnight and will be packed with resources to support school communities. Click on the link below:

HeadStart Newsletter Feb 1st

Courses for Parents

Action for Happiness

We need each other more than ever right now! This month the focus is on reaching out to connect with others and doing our best to be a good friend. Our acts of kindness and connection ripple out and impact so many more people than we realise – and they also boost our own happy hormones too! In stressful times people around us may be feeling the strain, so let’s try to keep calm, take time to listen and show compassion.

Contact Details

Just a reminder to parents/carers to keep the academy office up to date with any new contact telephone numbers. This is not only extremely important for being able to contact you but also to ensure that families eligible receive their food vouchers.

Home Learning

We can now offer children from Year 1 to Year 6 the opportunity to loan their school iPad.  Please contact the academy office if you would like to take up this offer to support your child’s access to Showbie.

Critical Worker Places

If you require a critical worker place in the academy please contact the academy office. Places must be booked by Monday at 12 noon to start the following week to allow us to plan numbers and keep staff and children as safe as possible.

Breakfast Packs

We have received another delivery of breakfast packs today.  Please pop in and collect one from the entrance to the academy if you are passing on your daily walk.

Times Tables Rockstars…

Year 6 – Alfie and Reece

Year 5 – Josie and Max

Year 4 – Reiley and Thomas

Year 3 – Leo and Olly

Year 2 – Paige and Maddy

B3A – Albie and Luca

B2H – Alexis and Noah

Spelling Shed Leader Board

Please continue to stay safe and follow the Lockdown rules.

Friday 29th January 2021

We hope you have enjoyed the lessons that your teachers have put on Showbie this week, and we know that a lot of you have had great feedback for your work.

Some classes have been trialling “live” lessons through the Showbie app.  We are delighted to announce that these will be rolled out to all classes from next week.  Information will be sent out and please remember to check Showbie for updates.

Home Learning

We still have a number of iPads available that our Y2 – Y6 children can loan from the academy to support with their home learning using Showbie.

We are hoping to have devices ready for the younger children in school at some point next week.  Watch out for a message on Facebook.

Online Safety

Please follow this link to a guide for parents on Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) reporting that also provides lots of useful information on online safety:

https://parentinfo.org/article/supporting-your-child-with-reporting-unwanted-content-online

There is also a quick link straight to the CEOP website at the bottom of our academy website page. 

Critical Worker Places

If you require a critical worker place in the academy please contact the academy office. Places must be booked by Monday at 12 noon to start the following week to allow us to plan numbers and keep staff and children as safe as possible.

Mental Health Week

Children’s Mental Health Week 2021 is next week 1st -7th February.

Place2Be have announced that the theme is Express Yourself, and this year especially could support many children with their mental health.

Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film, and doing activities that make you feel good.

Here is a link with information and resources, including an assembly:

https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/news/children-s-mental-health-week-assembly-with-bafta-kids-and-oak-national-academy/

Breakfast Packs

We still have breakfast packs available in the academy entrance. Please pop in and collect one if you are passing on your daily walk.

Times Tables Rockstars…

Year 6 – Reece and Alfie

Year 5 – Jose and Max

Year 4 – Reiley and Thomas

Year 3 – Leo and Olly

Year 2 – Paige and Isla

B3A – Albie and Joseph

B3A – Alexis and Noah

Spelling Shed Leader Board…

Please continue to stay safe and follow the Lockdown rules.

Friday 22nd January 2021

Praise and Share