End of Summer 1 2023

We know this half term has been a particularly tricky one with many illnesses still around and spreading. We look forward to seeing a vast improvement in these scores in our final term.

Thank you to everyone who has attended every day so far. Prizes were awarded in the final week to J Davis for the pupil prize and F Wilkinson's parent. Well done!

Week 1 - 92.7

Week 2 - 93.3

Week 3 - 92.6

Week 4-88.1

Week 5- 90.6

Week 6 - 92.4

Class 6 were the overall weekly attendance league winners and will receive a McDonalds for their chosen treat!

Our pupils have been working hard to score points in our school Points Mean Prizes initiative that our parliament invented. Our top scorers were Rosa in class 1/2 and top class points went to class 6 for summer 1. Points roll over to summer 2 and the top earners will be announced before the end of term so prizes can be awarded.

Don't forget, all children who earn 50 points will visit the shop in school and choose a prize for their hard work. We are constantly giving out points and values cards or postcards for our core values and rules being on show.

Summer 1 Curriculum - Take a look what we have been up to...

EYFS

Over the course of summer 1 we have been immersed in learning, in both direct teaching and learning time and during free flow. After hearing about the children’s current hobbies and interests we were able to engage the children in in-depth discussions and also saw some fantastic writing being produced, independently. A significant change within our indoor provision was a transition from a role play vets, to a clothes store. An enormous amount of independent learning was achieved within this area of the classroom, with multiple children creating shopping lists and receipts, as well as adding together the cost of each item and producing the correct number of coins / notes.

This half term our driver subject throughout school was history. We integrated this theme throughout our literacy and maths, and also throughout the whole classroom environment. We were extremely lucky to receive a letter from King Charles III who had asked us for a favour…

At first we were a little unsure, however, after speaking to some of our parents / carers at home, we soon discovered that Grimethorpe was historically a mining village! Nevertheless, this was still a very abstract concept, most children were unsure of what coal mining was and what it involved. This is where we began to do a little bit of research, by looking at images, watching videos and exploring objects!

After collecting lots of information for the king we were able to write back to him, via a short letter, created as a class. But, before we knew it we were asked for another favour! This time not by the King but instead Barnsley Museum.

We had tremendous fun exploring each of the objects which had been delivered to us. Initially we made predictions as what each object could be and what it’s purpose could be; we then went on to discover the objects’ real purpose and compared them to present day objects. We found that often the biggest difference between the two was the material which they were made from.

Of course history (Understanding of the world - past & present) is just one small part of our huge curriculum! We have explored and continued to achieve in other areas too, here are just a few examples of our continued learning across each area of the curriculum:

Communication and language: An enhancement within the classroom this half term, which we have found successful in terms of communication and language, has been the use of the curiosity cube. Over the term we have included several different items including: space satellites, planets, coal, a pit lamp, flowers and plants. The children have gone on to use newly introduced vocabulary to describe to their peers what they can see, for example: “That’s coal, it was used in the past to make electricity!” – Emily Zomerfeld

Personal, social and emotion development: During the first week of term we used corn starch to represent the moon within the water tray. It was interesting to see which children would happily explore new textures and those which were not interested in getting messy. All children which did choose to engage in said messy play, evidenced that they were able to manage their own basic hygiene by appropriately washing their hands afterward.

Physical development: In PE this half term we have been practicing all things athletics! Within this topic of learning children evidenced their ability to listen to and follow direct instructions. Within each session we have practiced a variety of skills which will support us in achieving during our sports day in Summer 2!

Literacy: Each day we have been working on our comprehension skills at story time by predicting what might happen in the text, listening careful to stories and then orally answering questions, relevant to the text.

Mathematics: Over the course of the half term we have been working really hard to automatically recall our number bonds within 10. We have used numicon, songs and rhymes and the part part whole model to support our understanding. We have furthermore introduced the children to measure using non-standard and standard units e.g. cm when we measure the length of our favourite toy vehicles and the vehicles of people which help us.

Expressive arts and design: As part of our everyday practice the children have access to creative play both indoors and outdoors. Throughout the course of the half term children within FS2 have been encouraged to create: rocket ships; planets; mining scenes; coronation bunting and a variety of vehicles, just to name a few examples. We have also seen children engage in roleplay which involves large construction and imagination, children pretending to go into the coal mine and use their pickaxes to mine for coal.

Y1

We have had a very busy half term!

Our focus texts in Literacy were ‘The Lonely Beast’ and ‘Leo and the Octopus’. The children loved learning all about narrative writing and practising using their phonics skills to write their very own narrative retells.

In maths, we have been learning about money, time, measurements, and shape. The children enjoyed applying their learning of measurements to follow a recipe and make their own pancakes, as well and create potions!

In History, we have been learning about Mary Anning and dinosaurs. We explored fossils and dinosaurs in our classroom fossil and dinosaur hunts, as well as creating a timeline about Mary Anning and her life. We had so much fun!

In Science, we have been focusing on materials. We enjoyed becoming scientists and carrying out our own science experiments. We investigated materials and their properties through bending, squashing, and pulling everyday materials.

In PD RSHE, we have been focusing on money. We have spoken about how adults can earn money, pay for different items, and explored jobs that we might want to do when we are older.

In PE, we have been putting our skills to the test in athletics. Great work class 1!

I am so impressed with the children’s hard work this half term and I cannot wait to see what the second part of summer term brings! I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday!

Mrs Bud

Y1 2

Class 1/2 have had a WONDERFUL half term!

Our focus text in Literacy has been ‘The Tadpole’s promise’. The children have written their own explanation texts about how tadpoles transform into frogs. They have included some fantastic subject specific vocabulary. We really enjoyed the text and couldn’t believe the ending!

In maths, we have been focusing on solving problems involving the four operations. We also looked at measures and telling the time.

Our topic this half term has been History. We have become historians by exploring the life and work of the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. We have enjoyed learning about the different species of dinosaurs found in the Mesozoic period and ordering famous events in chronological order. For our end outcome we will be created a museum exhibition in our classroom to showcase everything we have learnt. We also completed video presentations to help other children learn about dinosaurs.

In Science, we have enjoyed learning about materials. We explored our classroom to find different material and described these materials based on their properties. We also explored how some materials can change shape. We enjoyed completing an investigation about which materials would be most suitable to build a house!

In PD RSHE, we have been focussing on living in the wider world. We have explored where money comes from and job roles they can aspire to be when they are older. We have also looked at the importance of saving money to pay for things we both need and want.

Alongside this amazing learning, the Year 2 children have been busy preparing and undertaking their SATs quizzes. I am so proud of everything the children have achieved and they should be very proud of themselves too. I am also very proud of how the Year 1 children adapted during this time and worked in different places with different members of staff.

Here’s to a fantastic final half term together!

Mrs B

Y2

Year 2 have had a very busy half term!

Our focus text in Literacy has been ‘The Tadpole’s promise’. The children have written their own explanation texts about how tadpoles transform into frogs. They have included some fantastic subject specific vocabulary. We even looked at some real-life tadpoles in class and saw them slowly transform over time.

In maths, we have been focusing on our test style technique, with a particular focus on fractions and solving problems involving the four operations.

Our topic this half term has been History. We have become historians by exploring the life and work of the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. We have enjoyed learning about the different species of dinosaurs found in the Mesozoic period and ordering famous events in chronological order. For our end outcome we will be creating a museum exhibition in our classroom to showcase everything we have learnt.

In Science, we have enjoyed learning about materials. We explored our classroom to find different material and described these materials based on their properties. We also explored how some materials can change shape.

In PD RSHE, we have been focussing on living in the wider world. We have explored where money comes from and job roles they can aspire to be when they are older. We have also looked at the importance of saving money to pay for things we both need and want.

Alongside this amazing learning, the children have been busy preparing and undertaking their SATs quizzes. I am so proud of everything the children have achieved and they should be very proud of themselves too.

To celebrate the children’s hard work, they will be having a den building day next half term. Further information about these will be send via letter.

Have a great half term break and I am really looking forward to some more exciting learning together in Summer 2

Miss Corradini

Y3

This half term has flown by, but we have continued to work hard in Year 3.

Our literacy and Lira this half term have been based around the book, Street Child, which is all about life as a poor Victorian child. We have learnt the skills required to be able to write a diary entry in the perspective of the main character, Jim. The children have been really interested in the things this character experienced and have been eager to learn more about him.

In maths we have revisited addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions, statistics, and angles. We are developing our arithmetic and reasoning skills.

Our subject driver this half term has been based around history and looking at Victorian society. We have really enjoyed finding out about the social class system, the poor law and the workhouse. We were shocked to learn about the way people were treated in the workhouses and the age and hours the children were expected to work. We decided on jobs we would prefer to do, based on how dangerous they were. We learnt about the potato famine and considered who was to blame. We have made iMovie’s to show the changes in Victorian society, such as the education act, which made schooling compulsory.

In RE we have been learning about how faith can contribute to community cohesion. The children have had some great experiences, this half term and have shown a keen interest in RE, which is great to see. The Holi festival we had was a real success as well as the Langar Kitchen, although not many of the children liked the Indian food.

We have started Spanish lessons, which have been really fun. We have learnt greetings, how to introduce ourselves and to tell someone how we are feeling. We have started learning our numbers to 10 and will be looking at colours in our next lesson.

In PE we have been focusing on athletics, in preparation for sports day. We are confident applying the skills we have learnt.

In PD/RSHE we have been thinking about economic well-being, spending and saving money, and careers. We spent time thinking about wants and needs and how sometimes we have to do without, in order to be able to afford other things.

Our science lessons have been about magnetism as a force. The children have really enjoyed playing with and investigating using the magnets and been surprised by what we have found. We have measured the distance it takes between 2 magnets to attract one another and repel. We like making the magnets dance and in some cases flip when they were repelling one another.

Miss Gillespie

Y3 4

I can’t believe we are nearly at Summer 2 already. This half term has simply flown by.

In Literacy, children have thoroughly enjoyed writing their own myth based around the animation, “Dragon Slayer’. In particular, they were especially engaged when analysing different battle scenes and planning their own within their myths.

In maths, children have used formal written methods when calculating addition and subtraction calculations. They have also learned finding fractions of amounts and drawing fractions bars to help understand this. In particular, the children have been very focussed and engaged in recalling and deriving their times tables facts. It has been very pleasing to see the children making progress and being very enthusiastic.

In science, children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about magnets. In particular, they loved exploring magnetism by racing paper clips around a racing track as well as planning and carrying out practical investigations.

Our subject driver this half term has been based around history and looking at Victorian society. We have really enjoyed finding out about the social class system, the poor law and the workhouse. We were shocked to learn about the way people were treated in the workhouses and the age and hours the children were expected to work. We decided on jobs we would prefer to do, based on how dangerous they were. We learnt about the potato famine and considered who was to blame. We have made iMovie’s to show the changes in Victorian society, such as the education act, which made schooling compulsory.

In RE we have been learning about how faith can contribute to community cohesion. The children have had some great experiences, this half term and have shown a keen interest in RE, which is great to see. The Holi festival we had was a real success as well as the Langar Kitchen, although not many of the children liked the Indian food.

We have started Spanish lessons, which have been really fun. We have learnt greetings, how to introduce ourselves and to tell someone how we are feeling. We have started learning our numbers to 10 and will be looking at colours in our next lesson.

In PE we have been focusing on athletics, in preparation for sports day. We are confident applying the skills we have learnt.

In PD/RSHE we have been thinking about economic well-being, spending and saving money, and careers. We spent time thinking about wants and needs and how sometimes we have to do without, in order to be able to afford other things.

Mr Branigan

Y4

Another successful half term for our Year 4s. Time really does fly when you’re having fun, and we’ve had lots of it! This term, our driver subject, which was Victorians, had all students engaged in making an iMovie on the iPads. This allowed all the students to collate their information surrounding Victorian society, including workhouses, and demonstrate what they had learnt in a creative way. All students were hooked into the workhouses, and we were able to use this as a springboard for various other learning opportunities.

In Literacy, we produced some excellent writing outcomes. The first outcome focused on an autobiography from the point of view of Jim Jarvis. Students were able to take the role of Jim, through hot seating, which allowed for some imaginative pieces of work. The next writing outcome was a non-chronological report around the workhouses. Students were able to articulate their knowledge well and could apply what they had learnt in Topic, into their writing. To further aid their understanding, we have been reading The Street Child in LIRA and this allowed for our knowledge and understanding of Victorian society to be really embedded. Sticking with the theme of Victorian workhouses, we were able to use the real-life context behind sharing food, as well as prices, within our Maths. Students were able to problem solve involving different operations, and fractions, and this really strengthened their understanding of Maths in the real world.

Within PD/RSHE, we have been learning about Economic Wellbeing: Money/ Aspirations. Students were able to engage in class discussions around priorities, needs and wants and this allowed for conscience alley to be used. Debates were well thought out and many could reason the importance of thinking carefully of how to spend your own money. This led onto achievements and aspirations for when the students were older. Some of these aspirations may have changed towards the end of Summer 1 due to the fact we analysed the salaries of many jobs. This allowed for great conversations and it then allowed for group discussions as to why people want to do certain jobs, many understood that money was not the sole reason for specific jobs/careers.

In RE, we have been looking at ‘Question 3- How can Faith contribute to community cohesion?’. Our class have really engaged with this question and were very curious to find out how communities come together for different religions. We looked at Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Within these lessons, we participated in a Holi festival where paint was thrown in celebration, as well as having vegetarian food as part of a Langar. In science, we have looked at magnets and this allowed for many investigations. Students were engaged in this throughout the term as investigated what magnetism was and which objects/materials are magnetic. Students then recorded their findings and used scientific vocabulary to reason what they had found.

We really can’t wait for Summer 2 where we are going to be studying Computing for our driver subject, I know class 4 really enjoyed Computing last time so I can’t wait to see some excellent end outcomes once again.

Mr Watling

Y5

This half term our topic was Black Lives Matter.

We have learnt about some amazing Black figures in History, such as Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. We also learnt how to be anti-racist and what Black Lives Matter represents. For our end outcome we created posters and badges to raise awareness - which we have on display in the corridor.

Y5 6

This half term Year 5/6 have worked incredibly hard. In particular, our Year 6’s have completed their SATs and have blown us away with their perseverance!

Our literacy focus of this half term has been a flashback narrative derived from a short video clip called ‘The Piano’. Children have been absolutely fantastic in their ability to write emotively and ambitiously.

Our curriculum driver has been History where we have been looking at black history and the Black Lives Matter movement. Children have been engrossed in their research of historic figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.

Building on this, in LIRA we have looked at song lyrics with messages of BLM including iconic artists such as Elvis Presley. Following this, we started reading the book ‘Hidden Figures’ which explores the contributions of black women to the famous ‘Space Race’.

In Science we have explored a topic of Plants, looking at life cycles, pollination, adaptations and more!

I have been so impressed with their resilience and can’t wait to see what our final half term as a class will bring!

Miss Foster

Y6

Upcoming Learning - Summer 2

School Meals

In case you have not seen the updated menus this term...

Upcoming Events

• 5th June - School Opens 8.45am for all; Nursery 8.40am
• Monday 5th June - Year 4 MTC period commences - pupils in Y4 will be taken to complete their times tables test online throughout the fortnight
• Thursday 8th June - Y6 Sex & Relationships Education in class
• Friday 9th June - Grassroots Y5/6 Cricket competition at Dorothy Hyman - 1pm
• Tuesday 13th June - Y6 at EiS in Sheffield - Grassroots competition 11am
• Wednesday 14th June - Y2 and Y6 Den Building event - see letter sent home before half term
• Thursday 15th June - Y6 Online Safety Session
• Thursday 15th June - HCAT football tournament - Y5/6 boys and Y5/6 girls AM
• Thursday 15th June - Grassroots Sports Awards Evening at Shafton Outwood 6pm - Pupils invited
• Friday 16th June - Pyjamarama - More details to come
• Friday 16th June - 2-4pm - Cost of living event in school - details to follow
• Friday 16th June - Grassroots Y3/4 rounders event at Dorothy Hyman PM
• Monday 19th June - EYFS Sports Day - letters sent out
• Tuesday 20th June - KS1 (class 1, 1/2, 2) Sports Day PM only - letter sent out
• Wednesday 21st June - Enterprise Finals Day - Y3/4 pupils who were chosen @ Metrodome
• Thursday 22nd June - 9am Parent Coffee Morning
• Thursday 22nd June - LKS2 (class 3, 3/4, 4) Sports Day PM only - letters sent out
• Friday 23rd June - UKS2 (class 5, 5/6, 6) Sports Day PM only - letters sent out
• Friday 23rd June - Grassroots competition - Y3/4 Rounders @ Dorothy Hyman
• Tuesday 27th June - Grassroots Y5/6 Boys' Football tournament PM
• Thursday 29th June - Y6 trip to Bowling/Cinema - letters out before half term
• Tuesday 4th July - Y6 Transition to Outwood Shafton
• Tuesday 4th July - School transition day - pupils meet their new teacher for September 2023
• Thursday 6th July - Reports home to parents
• Friday 7th July - INSET DAY - SCHOOL CLOSED
• Tuesday 11th July - KS2 SATS results published and shared with pupils
• 11th July - Y6 leavers' assembly 2.30pm
• Wednesday 12th July - Drama production
• Friday 21st July - Final day of 2022-23 year