Message from the CEO
Dear Trustees, Governors and Staff,
It seems that this term has passed by so quickly and when I read about all the amazing activities that have taken place, the awards that have been accredited and the days set aside for charity events, it is really commendable to think of all the effort that staff have put in to keeping things running smoothly during such difficult days.
I hope that you all have some rest over the Easter break and time to recuperate with your families.
I look forward to seeing you all in the summer term.
Best wishes,
Matt Rampton, CEO
DARRICK WOOD INFANT & NURSERY SCHOOL NEWS
challenge partners
The school has recently undergone an inspection within the Challenge Partners scheme. We are delighted to announce that we have been graded as a Leading School (that is the highest possible grade, previously classed as ‘outstanding’). This outcome really reflects the hard work and commitment of all the staff at the school, in ensuring that we provide the very best education for our children and maximising their life chances. A copy of the report can be found by clicking the button below:
world book day
The range of costumes that the children wore were fantastic and we all enjoyed watching each class parade around the hall to show off their costumes! We had Mary Poppins, Willy Wonka, Harry Potter, the Snail and the Whale, the Hungry caterpillar and much more!
World Book Day really helps promote the love of reading and the range of books that children can read.
Our staff enjoyed dressing up too! Mr Towell made a great effort as 'Moaning Myrtle' from Harry Potter and we had to watch out for Mr Bump in Reception! (aka Mrs Basille)
sponsored book read
A huge thank you goes to everyone for their generosity with our sponsored book read. We have received approximately £2,400 in donations which is an amazing achievement! Usborne books now contribute 60% of this total so we have an incredible £3,500 to spend on new books for the children!
music
We were delighted to welcome Mrs Wibberley and Mr Burton to our school for a special assembly. They played a range of music on the piano, viola, and violin. The children really enjoyed the performance and were joining in with clapping and singing.
reception class assembly
It was a real pleasure to welcome the families of our reception children into school this month. Each class held a 15-minute sharing assembly, where they showed their families some of the learning that they have been doing in school.
It was lovely to hear about the range of things they have been learning, such as counting backwards from 20, designing maps for bus routes, singing songs with made up verses and much more!
We were so proud of our reception children who performed in front of a large grown up audience.
poetry week at darrick wood infant & nursery school
year one
To celebrate Poetry Week, Year 1 have been enjoying reading poems from the book 'Out and About', written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes.
Inspired by the poem Mudlark, they went to Forest School and had an opportunity to play with water and mud.
The children then became poets themselves, writing their own version of the poem from the experience of playing with mud and water. The poems were then edited, illustrations added and finally published in a class anthology.
Year 1 have also been learning to recite their favourite poems, performing them in the hall to the whole year group in their Big Poem Share!
POETRY WEEK AT DARRICK WOOD INFANT & NURSERY SCHOOL
year two
Year 2 have written haikus, acrostic poems, and kenning poems too. The children enjoyed exploring dragon poems at the start of the week to inspire their writing and picked out different poetic techniques to use in their own poetry such as rhyme, alliteration, similes, repetition, and the use of powerful vocabulary.
world maths day
On Wednesday 23rd March, we celebrated ‘World Maths Day’. We started the day with some fun maths jokes and facts.
Did you know that four is the only number that is spelt with the same number of letters as its value (4)!
Throughout the day we listened to maths stories and sang counting rhymes. We also took part in a maths conference in the playground, where we had a go at different maths activities such as capacity puddles, rolling cars down ramps and measuring the distance that they travelled, making circular repeating patterns using natural materials, building with giant 3d shapes and Numicon number bonds - counting how many beanbags we tossed into the Numicon pieces and calculating how many holes were left to fill.
We had a lot of fun with maths in the sunshine!
A montage of photographs across all our Academy Schools across the Trust on World Book Day.
John wood school & nursery
amazing awards!
We are pleased to announce that we have received two new awards!
- Healthy Schools London Bronze Award
- Green Tree School Bronze Award
British Science Week
The theme for this year is ‘Growth’. Years 3 and 4 are excited to observe their daffodils emerge after having planted them late last year.
To mark the arrival of British Science Week, amongst other exciting science activities, Year 3 and 4 children have been helping to furnish our new bug hotel, Hotel Bugsylvania. We hope to discover soon that a host of living things have taken up residence!
world book day
Lovely feedback from author Tom Percival regarding Miss Ffrench’s choice for World Book Day as she dressed up as Ruby from Ruby’s Worry!
Year 5 Holly Class have been studying Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick in their English lessons. They contacted the author himself, to let them know how much they were enjoying it and got a reply on World Book Day!
Dear Mr Ash and Holly Class, I am very happy to hear from you, and that you have enjoyed Floodland is wonderful news – thanks for letting me know. I hope you enjoy writing your letters to Zoe, too. Most importantly, keep reading! All the best Marcus
bikeability
Our Year 6 and Year 5 children have participated in Bikeability training, provided to us by Croydon council. Children of all abilities had the opportunity to learn how to cycle (if they were a complete novice) or build their confidence on the road if they were a more accomplished cyclist. The feedback from the course was incredibly positive and the children all had a fantastic time, whilst learning how to keep themselves safe on the road.
eco-committee
The Eco-committee have been busy planting up donations of a tree nursery, kindly donated by the Earth Restoration Service. To find out more about the service, click the button below.
The committee have also received a willow dome which will be assembled and placed in the Forest School area.
big walk and wheel campaign
great learning at JWSN
In Cedar Class, the children have really enjoyed their new Literacy story 'The Train Ride'. They have role played being a train driver and passengers in the role play area, where children have been enjoying role playing train journeys. We have also been enjoying writing about a train journey, who they went to see, what they did and saw whilst they travelled. Children have also been enjoying drawing train tracks using chalk to story map 'The Train Ride' story.
Cedar Class have also enjoyed exploring 3D shapes around the classroom, naming and describing the shapes and faces.
Acorn Class in Nursery, have been exploring water and rain and how it can help everyone. They have been focusing on how plants grow, naming the different parts of the plant, as well as what plants need to grow. The children have enjoyed planting sunflower seeds to practice their knowledge of what plants need to grow. Acorn Class have also been making lots of artwork about plants and rain to demonstrate their learning.
They have also been learning phonics ready for reception class in September, as well as having fun learning numbers 1-5, properties of shapes and practicing using mathematical language of heavier, lighter, full, and empty.
Acorn Class have also been practicing their ball skills by throwing and catching and using bats and balls; the children are really enjoying playing on the lawn this month as well.
amazing art at john wood school & nursery!
Year 6 Cherry Class have been designing and sculpturing masks. Some children, for the first time, were experiencing the techniques of using Mod Roc, which is a type of bandage covered with plaster, like they use in the hospitals when you break a bone. Other children were using acrylic paint designing their masks with vibrant patterns.
Year 3 Willow Class have used their weaving skills to create a dream catcher. This relates to the B.F.G., which they have been reading in class.
Year 1 Olive Class and Rosewood Class - In art, the children have used their knowledge of the seaside to create a beach scene, using a variety of different materials: sand, bubble wrap, cotton-wool, fish food, shells and cellophane. The children experienced the touch and feel of different textures. They used a famous painting of Vincent Van Gogh (The Fishing Boats) to create their masterpiece.
Mrs Freyone, Art Teacher
Pickhurst Academy News
lion king
After a two year wait, our Year 5 children finally got to see The Lion King. The children’s behaviour and manners, both travelling and in the theatre, were impeccable. Everyone had a fantastic time. Well done Year 5!
careers week
The children looked great dressed up in their dream profession outfits. We would like to thank all our parents and carers who came into school to share their professions and career path with the children. The children thoroughly enjoyed the talks.
PE and Sport
Children have been practising their hockey skills. The children were taught the basic rules, proper grips and posture, ball and stick control, tackling, receiving, passing and progressing to some very competitive hockey matches.
The children have also been learning to play cricket. We were very fortunate to be joined by a coach from the Kent County Cricket Club. The children were taught the basic techniques in the areas of batting, bowling and fielding. The children very quickly got to grips with playing cricket, which meant that they could participate in playing a few cricket matches.
u11 Girls' and u11 boys' football teams
We were very lucky to take our U11 Girls’ team and U11 Boys’ Team to Bromley Football Club for a borough tournament. Both teams played amazingly well with our wonderful goalkeepers Liliana and Toby working hard alongside our confident defenders, while our players in midfield focused on our attack and getting the ball to our strikers. Both teams scored a lot, meaning our total number of goals across both competitions were one of the highest final amounts.
Our Girls’ team finished 6th across all schools in the competition. We are extremely proud of how far they have come as individual players and as a whole team. We look forward to seeing their continued progression and success in the future.
Our Boys’ team came top of their group stage and went into a very tense final where they became the borough champions winning 3-0. We are excited to see how they progress in the regional competition also held at Bromley Football Club in the near future.
Miss Mulhern & Mr Spencer
Design Technology at Pickhurst
In Design Technology, Year 4 continued to plan and develop their mindfulness timers using Micro-bits. Once they had generated their code to programme their timer, they moved on to designing the casing for them. They discuss different themes and colours that would link well to mindfulness, and worked collaboratively to create our porotypes.
Credits:
Created with images by photosforyou - "orchid flower gold wall" • FreepikCompany - "Close-up boy carrying stack of books"