Message from
Mr Richards
What an eventful last 5 months we have had at school! Unfortunately, we were unable to publish our Autumn 2 newsletter due to the early school closure prior to the Christmas holidays. So this newsletter will incorporate everything that has happened in school since the October half-term – and there has been a lot of events enjoyed by all over the last few months.
I would firstly like to echo the congratulations and thank yous in the recent letters from the Governing body and Mrs Riley’s to everyone involved in our excellent OFSTED report which was published in January. The report is a glowing and excellent reflection on our wonderful school. The report can be found by clicking on the link below.
During November, the school actively participated in the annual Anti-bullying week.
The children, as always, came into school on Monday 15th November in their odd socks, celebrating what makes everyone unique. The theme of the week was ‘One Kind Word’. We had a an assembly on the Monday introducing the theme and how that ‘One Kind Word’ can have a ripple effect and spread across a whole community, just like 'The Pig of Happiness' – one of my all-time favourite videos to show the children!
The children completed activities throughout the week and learnt what to do if they see or receive any behaviour which is contrary of our school’s ‘Bee Code’ and who to go to if they have a concern.
We have continued our support of the local food bank and once again you have surpassed all expectations with your generous donations! The organisers were amazed when they came to collect the products.
The food bank is there to support any family who are unable to put food on the table for themselves or their families.
If you would like more information about donating on a regular basis or have need to access their services, their details can by following the link below:
Alternatively, they can be reached by telephone on 07743 765958 or by email at soarvalleycfp@gmail.com
As you will read in the newsletter, our enrichment opportunities including trips have now been fully embedded back within the curriculum this academic year, after not being able to complete many of these due to the pandemic. Year 6 have been to Ratcliffe College for a Science taster day, as well as their usual Warning Zone trip and a new trip which they went on this week: Global Leicester, linking into their History topic of: ‘Why is Leicester so multi-cultural? Year 4 and 5 have also been on their residential trips to Duke’s Barn (Matlock, Derbyshire) and Hilltop (Sheringham, Norfolk). Year 3 venture on their theatre trip today to see: Bedknobs and Broomsticks at 'The Curve'
It has been great to welcome you all back into school for parents' evening interviews since October. The attendance at the Autumn term parents' evenings was 98.6% for all year groups.
This week we once again welcomed you in for Spring Term parents' evening, thank you for following all the procedures and protocols we put in to ensure they could run smoothly. Foundation Stage parents' evening will be in March and details will be given out after half-term.
Lastly, I would like to notify you all of our recent progress into the quarter final of the ‘Rice Bowl’ football competition! The Rice Bowl is a Year 5 and 6 football cup competition which has been running for over 87 years and involves schools from both Leicestershire and Leicester city. Rothley advanced into the quarter finals with a 8-0 over Gaddesby Primary school – goals from Alfie, Theo, Zac E (2), Darcy, Fraser, Remy and Oscar A. The team have been handed a tough tie against Sketchley Hill Primary (Burbage) in the quarter final at home.
The next newsletter will be published the Friday 8th April, the day the children break up for the Easter holidays. This will include all the fantastic events and activities the children have participated in during the Spring 2 term.
As always, thank you for your continued support of the school
Mr Richards
Foundation Stage!
What a wonderful start to the New Year we have had.
This half term the children have been learning about winter and cold places to live. The children enjoyed finding out about Polar animals and investigating ice. Outside they experienced cold weather conditions and the children loved drawing and writing their names in the frost.
Children learnt about the seasons of the year and enjoyed observing what happens during winter time.
Recently we have been thinking about where we live and focusing on our immediate community. We have been studying maps of our local area and thinking about places that are around us.
The children have been looking at photographs of our local village from the past and present.
We have learnt about different homes around the world and children have created a junk model house out of different materials.
The children have been doing gymnastics in PE and are beginning to use the apparatus with some confidence. The children have started to make their own obstacle courses in the outdoor area. This is helping them build their team work skills.
We have celebrated Chinese New Year by learning about the traditions and celebrations that take place during this time. Children listened to music, created Chinese craft, found out about the Chinese zodiac and enjoyed celebrating the year of the tiger.
In maths children have been exploring how to use a balance for weighing objects and the appropriate vocabulary. They have also been learning about numbers six, seven, eight and nine. The children have even learnt to say numbers to ten in Spanish and French.
In phonics we are now learning about digraphs and trigraphs.
Children continue to enjoy their group reading sessions every week and are practising their writing regularly in the continuous provision.
Next term the Dinosaurs are coming!!
Year 1
What busy bees we have been in Year one since October!
This half term in literacy we have been exploring poetry. We have looked at different features of poetry including; rhyming pairs, repeating words, story-telling and actions.
The children created their own poem as a class with some accompanying actions.
The children have also produced some fabulous pieces of independent writing re-telling the story of ‘The Queen’s hat’. They have been using a range of interesting adjectives and verbs in their writing and have been applying their phonics sounds.
In maths we have been working on our addition and subtraction within 20. We have been using our numicon, base 10 and number lines to help us with this. We have also been comparing number sentences using our inequality and equal to symbols (<, >, =). Recently we have been working on place value to 50 and what these numbers are made of.
We have been using a range of practical manipulatives to help us represent tens and ones e.g. I know that 35 has 3 tens and 5 ones. The children would then represent this number with base ten, numicon or 10 frames.
In science, we have been exploring plants. We have been looking at the different parts of flowers and trees and what their functions are. We have been working scientifically observing closely using our magnifying glasses to identify differences between parts of plant. We have also looked at plants that are grown that we can eat such as herbs.
The children had lots of fun when tasting different foods containing herbs (some of them were not sure about the chive cheese).
In history this half term we have been looking at great explorers! The children have been learning about world famous explorers including; Neil Armstrong, Amy Johnson, Christopher Columbus and Sir Ranulph Finnnes.
We have been exploring how the explorers differ through comparing and contrasting the way they travelled and the purpose of their exploration. We have also had a lot of fun dressing up as explorers and discussing what items they may have needed for various quests.
This half term we have started to explore word processing. The children have been looking at the keys on a keyboard and how they use these when typing on a word document.
We have looked at how to start a new line, how to use a finger space and how to delete a mistake. The children love going in the ICT suite and have been helping each other remember what the keys functions are.
For safer internet day we explored safe search engines online that children can use to find out answers to their questions. The children used the iPads to use a safe search engine ‘Swiggle’ to find out fun facts about their favourite animal during one of our E-safety lessons.
In collective worship the children have been reflecting on our assemblies where we have learnt about respect and friendship. The children discussed the importance of treating everyone as equals and never giving up on those friends who need help.
We have had such a busy time in Year 1 recently! We are very much looking forward to the next Spring term.
Year 2
The children in Year 2 started the spring term with a positive attitude to their learning. They have especially enjoyed exploring our new music garden with their friends and have been using the instruments to devise their own tunes.
In maths the children have been learning all about multiplication and division. They have been using different equipment to make arrays which has helped them to learn their times tables. In division we have been solving problems by grouping and sharing.
In Literacy this term the children have become pirates! They have enjoyed making their own treasure maps and learnt how to make paper look old. The children used imperative verbs to write instructions to find the treasure. We then wrote a letter to Pirate Pete, asking him if we could join his pirate crew. We produced a piece of persuasive writing using statement sentences and question sentences.
We have just started our new science topic, looking at materials and their properties. We have enjoyed going on a ‘materials hunt’ around the school grounds and discovering what different materials are used for. We are looking forward to devising our own experiments linked to this topic.
In geography the children have been learning about where our food comes from. We started our topic by looking at dairy farming and the children had the opportunity to sample different types of cheese. The children also made their own butter in class.
In art this half term we have made repeating pattern pictures, learnt how to make rubbings of a variety of objects, studied the work of Max Ernst and created our own ‘frottage’ picture.
In their computing lessons Year 2 have been learning how to touch type using ‘Dance Mat’. We have looked at where to place our fingers on the keyboard and to perform different tasks, making our typing bold, larger and smaller and using the delete key. Last term we also did programming using scratch junior and Bee Bots.
In RE the children have listened attentively to Bible stories about the miracles that Jesus performed. They especially enjoyed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes and Jesus calming the storm.
The children have been incredibly active in PE lessons. This term the focus has been on gymnastics. They have had the opportunity to use a variety of gymnastic equipment including, the balance beam, climbing apparatus and the different sized gym tables.
The Year Two team would like to thank you all for your continued support with hearing your children read at home and helping them to complete their weekly maths homework. Have a lovely half term break.
Year 3
We have been busy bees in Year 3 since the last newsletter!
In English we have been studying the exciting story of the Iron Man. As a class we did a guided write of Chapter 1, and then wrote up Chapter 2 independently. We tried to use a variety of different features including alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia, similes and repetition.
The children did a fantastic job with their writing and produced some of their best pieces yet. We have also started writing some poetry based on the Sweet Shop!
In maths this half term we have been learning all about multiplication and division. The children have been learning that multiplication calculations can be calculated by drawing arrays. They have also learnt that multiplication can be completed in any order.
When learning about division the children have discovered that division can be carried out by grouping and sharing and that division calculations must start with the greater number in the calculation. We have used our understanding about multiplication and division to solve a range of reasoning and problem solving challenges.
During science this half term we have been learning about animals including humans. We learnt all about what makes a balanced diet and the different food groups we need to eat to stay healthy. We learnt that we need to eat more of some foods than others.
We have also learnt about the purpose of a skeleton and have been labelling different types of joints found on our skeleton. We have compared different types of skeletons including endoskeletons, exoskeletons and hydrostatic skeletons. We have also learnt about muscles and the importance for keeping our hearts healthy.
In PSHCE we have been learning about how to live a healthy lifestyle. We have given careful consideration about how food, sleep, exercise and relationships all contribute towards healthy, happy lifestyles. WE have learnt about the different ways we can keep active through organised sport, active recreation and active living.
Geography: in Geography this half term we have been learning all about the Magic Kingdom and the Sunshine State. We have learnt about why people visit theme parks, and where in the world they have travelled from to visit. We have also learnt about the Apollo 11 launch from Cape Canaveral and how Sea Turtles can be protected on Florida’s beaches.
We have had another superb half term perfecting our Ocarina skills. The children did an incredible job learning these instruments and have really excelled with these instruments.
We can not wait to get going again after half-term!
Year 4
Well, where to start?! We have had a very busy term in Year 4 since coming back from Christmas, we have worked incredibly hard on our learning across the curriculum.
In Literacy, we have been retelling the story of Aladdin in our guided writing, which has aided us in our most recent independent writing; Pandora.
In our writing, Jake is sent into the bioluminescent new world of Pandora to retrieve unobtainium for Professor Nefarious.
Along the way to fulfilling his quest, he sees all sorts of new and magnificent creatures which the children have described wonderfully in their writing. However, it is not all plain sailing for our protagonist as he gets trapped in Pandora when the evil Professor dupes him and traps him (dum, dum duuuum).
The children have produced some phenomenal writing and we are very proud of the progress they have made, with lots of onomatopoeia, repetition for effect, personification and similes making their stories a fascinating read!
In science, we have started a new topic on sound. So far, we have learnt that all sounds is a form of energy.
That high energy sounds are loud sounds and low energy sounds are quiet sounds. In our most recent lesson, we learnt that all sounds are the result of matter vibrating and that the pitch of a sounds can change depending on the size of the sound source. Here are some pictures of 4BA doing a sound investigation.
As part of our collective worship curriculum, we have been thinking about how we pray. We have had some in depth discussion in Year 4 about why we pray.
The children have been slowly adding to our class sand prayers (which you can see in the pictures). Each object in the sand represents a child’s prayer, which they can be reminded of each time they pass by. Some children have shared their prayers with the class, while others have chosen to keep theirs private as we are learning to understanding that prayer can be just as poignant shared, or kept to oneself.
DUKES BARN:
As there was no Autumn 2 Newsletter (Ofsted and COVID getting in the way), we haven’t yet given you a formal newsletter update on Dukes Barn (although I’m sure you heard all about it from the children) so here it is!
The children had an amazing time at Dukes Barn. They had the opportunity to try new activities, overcome challenges and develop their teamwork skills.
During their time at Dukes Barn they did weaselling, canoeing, rock climbing and even abseiling in which they abseiled off a 75 foot bridge! Even the teachers was a little nervous, right Miss Bayley!
It was incredible to see the children challenge themselves and grow in confidence and independence.
They made lifelong memories that they can share with their classmates, friends and family. I am sure the children are looking forwards to their next residential trip in Year 5.
Year 5
What a fabulous half-term we have had in Year 5. Busy, busy, busy as always! We have learnt so much that I think we thoroughly deserve a week off!
In English, following on from our super trip at Hilltop Outdoor Centre, we wrote our own brochure style texts based on similar pursuits we had undertaken.
The key was to use persuasive writing to encourage the reader to visit each place. After reading through them all, Mr Dooley and I are now desperate to visit Warner Brothers Studios, Go Ape, a skate park in Australia and even a water park in Torremolinos – you name it, we’ve read it!
We have recently moved on to writing a narrative based on The Sorting Ceremony from the Harry Potter series. This has caused lots of buzz amongst the children and from what we have written so far, I think we are going to have some super finished pieces!
In maths, we rounded off our ‘Multiplication and Division’ unit and the children are now experts in the bus stop method, long multiplication, short multiplication and the grid method.
We completed our end of term White Rose assessments and the children all did fantastically well – so much so that we think they can teach themselves from now onwards! Recently, we have moved on to the (never-ending!) unit of ‘Fractions’. So far, we have covered the following: equivalent fractions, improper fractions, mixed number fractions, ordering fractions, converting fractions, simplifying fractions. If that doesn’t sound like enough already – there is more to come after half-term (like I said…never-ending!)
Over the past month or so, we have been learning about ‘Materials’ in science and have completed lots of experiments as part of this. I have a slight inkling that the children’s favourite might have been the Coke and Mentos explosion!
In Geography, we have been looking into Volcanoes and the children have completed some cross-curricular PowerPoints in Computing, showing of their computer skills whilst also giving information about Volcanoes from around the world.
For our RE unit this term, we have been looking into the Gospel and what Jesus teaches us about love and forgiveness.
This linked nicely with our work in PSHCE on ‘My Emotions’ and ‘Working Together’. In amongst all of this, the children have been busy learning all about our ‘musician of the month’ Sigur Rόs and they have been lucky enough to learn how to use turntables.
We have also had a busy term with extra-curricular activities. As you know, before Christmas, Year 5 visited Hilltop and we had a fabulous time (we did not come back tired at all…..!) We traversed abseiling walls, we fell from great heights and we swung through the trees at rapid rates (and that was just the teachers!)
Recently, we had a visit from a lady from Amherst School who taught us how to hold an effective debate. In the near future, there will be an opportunity for representatives from our year group to go to Amherst School and debate various motions to score pointsand win prizes. Mr Dooley and I can safely say that our children will DEFINITELY do well at this!
As I said, a jam-packed, exciting, slightly tiring, but rewarding half-term! Well done Year 5 – we can’t wait to do it all again next term!
Year 6
It has been an incredibly busy time in year 6 since we last shared a newsletter with parents!
We came back after the October half-term break and went to Warning Zone, which is a Leicester-based charity aiming to teach life-skills to children. At the state-of-the-art facility, we learnt about risks, peer pressure, anti-social behaviour, and consequences.
There is also a dedicated E-Safety zone which educated us on cyber-bullying, grooming, scammers and much more.
We then went on another trip a week later to enjoy a day of science at Ratcliffe College. We learnt about different forces and designed our own rockets (after a delicious lunch in the refectory!) and tested them on the school field. Well done to Miss Ho who beat us all with a distance of over 60 metres!
In computing lessons, we have learnt how to program using the coding language Python and have now begun to explore Excel spreadsheets and how different formulas can be used to make calculations much quicker.
Mr Patel showed us the ropes in gymnastics, which resulted in us using the apparatus to create our own routines.
After Christmas we returned to Mrs Pate teaching us the skills required to make cheese and onion pies, as well as starting a new history unit how migration has influenced Leicester.
We went on a trip into Leicester city centre to explore the impact of the thriving Asian community. We were treated to a brilliant Bollywood dance session, visited the local temple and then walked along the Golden Mile to buy three unusual items!
We turned our hands to dissection in science lessons when Mr Clark organised for lamb hearts to be brought in! We identified the four different chambers and the main arteries and veins. This helped bring our learning of the circulatory system ‘to life’!
We ended the half term with an art lesson to learn about and celebrate Chinese New Year.
Miss Ho taught us how to draw Chinese letters and symbols using authentic Chinese brushes whilst Ms Baker used watercolours to create tiger paintings.
Little Bunnies
We have had lots of fun this term in Little Bunnies, the children are developing their friendships and have enjoyed a range of activities both indoors and outdoors.
This term our activities have been focused around ‘Traditional Tales’. We have enjoyed a wide range of activities including using puppets to retell the stories we are reading and creating fantastic artwork for our display using a variety of materials and techniques.
The children have particularly enjoyed engaging in imaginative role-play in the Bunnies Bakery Shop and joining in with actions during our drama and dance sessions linked with our story of the week.
The children have enjoyed the outdoor area, they particularly enjoyed exploring water channels and using fishing nets to find hidden treasures in the coloured water. We have used a variety of resources and tools to build homes for the characters in the stories and we even made a lair for the Big Bad Wolf!
Music has played a large part in our outdoor learning, we are enjoying our new musical instrument stand and exploring all of the different sounds it makes.
We created a Dragon dance to celebrate Chinese New Year and danced along to music.
We look forward to lots more fun next term.
PTFA
SMARTIES “CHANGE FOR CHORES”
We are kicking off our fundraising this term with a challenge we hope can benefit parents as well as children - the Smarties “Change for Chores” challenge! All pupils are being sent home with a tube of Smarties. We’re sure it won’t take long to eat them… but then everyone has until Friday 4th March to earn change for doing chores!
Simply pop whatever change the children earn into the tube, secure it, attach the label from their Smarties letter and bring them into school! The class that completes the most chores will receive a portion of the money raised to spend exactly as they please, so get the dustpan and brush ready!
CHRISTMAS FAIR:
Rothley PTFA would like to say a big thank you for all the amazing support we received last term. We were hugely disappointed that the Christmas Fair was unable to go ahead, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom, and here’s why!
- We raised over £2,000 in the raffle! This is an incredible amount, the generosity of parents and local businesses was hugely appreciated - especially when the fair had to be cancelled.
- We raised extra funds through selling off the Christmas jumpers and plants - as well as the 100 square competition where Ollie Sharpe in Y3 won tickets to see the Panto at De Montfort Hall!
- The beautifully decorated sweetie jars were donated to the local food bank in time for local children to receive them for Christmas
It was fabulous to see children, families and local businesses so keen to be involved and generous with their time and donations! So, thank you!
MUSIC GARDEN:
Thanks to your generosity through recent events, the PTFA provided £5,000 towards the installation of the music garden this term!
It’s a great resource that all age groups are able to enjoy and we have been delighted to hear how much joy it has brought the children already.
Thank you so much for your ongoing support which enables us to provide funding for this kind of valuable project.
FOUNDATION STAGE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS:
The PTFA were so pleased to hear that the Foundation Stage children were able to enjoy the Santa Train trip last term, and we were proud to be able to support Santa in delivering his presents to them for the end of the day!
PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT:
In 2022 the PTFA committed to funding £1,500 worth of new play equipment for the children to use at break times and lunch times. We are delighted to hear that more new equipment has been purchased this term - and that the children themselves were involved in choosing which items were ordered! The PTFA feels that this new equipment is particularly well deserved after restrictions have curtailed so many school trips and activities over the last two years.
YOUR SCHOOL LOTTERY:
The lottery is still going strong, and this term there is a chance to win a Forest Holiday worth £500 in one of 11 locations throughout the UK. To find out, click below:
WE NEED YOUR HELP:
We have more events and activities planned across the coming terms and we really need more help! If you are able to offer any time and would like to get involved then please do get in touch with us via our our Facebook page below:
Or via email ptfa@rothley.leics.sch.uk
Eco-committee
The Eco-committee has restarted!
Mr Mac and Miss Godfrey received over 100 applicants for the 12 positions, so they decided to double the number of committee members! The applications were all incredibly strong, but here is the full list of successful applicants:
- Oliver, Oscar C - 6AM
- Ezra, Emma - 6JC
- Isla, Arthur - 5EB
- Joe, Cora - 5DD
- Jude, Stanley - 4BA
- Aria, Samuel - 4RB
- Woody, Phoebe - 3JG
- Tommy, Rayan - 3CA
- Coby, Evie - 2HW
- Daniel, Esmee - 2NE
- Arthur, Harry - 1/2RM
- Joshua, Alice - Mrs Greenhill
In our first meeting we discussed the role of the eco-committee and what we will be looking to achieve over the course of the year.
We also learnt about the Action Pack recycling competition being run. The children were tasked to create a poster to encourage people to recycle more. With prizes on offer, we received the amazing news that Stanley in 4BA had come runner up! He has won the school some lovely eco picture books, a wild flower bom and a seedbom for bees.
These ‘boms’ are designed to help pollinate areas to support birds, bees and butterflies, so we will be looking for the perfect place to throw these.
In our final meeting of the half term, we started an environmental review of the school. This involves looking at specific areas around the school including litter, marine life, school grounds, transport, citizenship and many more.
This will help us create an action plan to help make our school eco-friendlier. Ezra in year 6 took the minutes of the meeting and reports that the review will be completed after the half-term break.
We will update you on our findings from the environmental review and our action plans in the next newsletter, so watch this space!
Collective Worship
Roots and Fruits:
Class teachers have been leading collective worship on Mondays since the start of the year from a resource called: Roots and Fruits.
The children have been really engaging with the collective worship on a Monday and have been enjoying having assemblies again back in the hall.
Since October, here are a few of the themes that Years 1 and 2 have enjoyed
- Courage - Peter runs out of trust and courage Mathew 14.22-33
- Forgiveness -The unforgiving servant Matthew 18.21-35
- Friendship – Philip and Nathanael are friends John
- Respect – Jesus cares for everyone Mark 10.46-52
Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 have participated and thoroughly enjoyed themes around:
- The escape into Egypt (Matthew 2.13-15)
- Simeon and Anna (Luke 2.22-32, 37-38)
- The tempter (Luke 4.1-13)
Picture News:
Once again, we have had a number of fantastic opportunities from the images that Picture News provide over the weeks since October.
Other questions and themes have included:
- Is it ever fair to judge others on their appearance?
- Who should decide the parts of history we choose to remember?
- What are the best ways to tackle climate change?
Christian Values:
It has been a very busy schedule at school with the Christian Values. We have had 3 Christian Values since October: Mr McLugash led the value on 'Creativity', which led to the introduction of the Eco-Committee. Mr McLugash's class then led an assembly to parents and the church community at Rothley Church.
Mrs Brewis then led on the Value of Peace with Miss Asquith's class leading an assembly at Rothley Church.
The winners of the value star for Peace were:
- Foundation Stage: Ayanda, Thomas, Lonny, Lola, William and Aarya.
- Year 1: Summer, Noah Sm, Toby, Lucy, Willow and Brayden.
- Year 2: Amelie, Matilda, Aarav and Arya.
- Year 3: Rufus, Anastasia, Jake and Lily-Mae.
- Year 4: Millie, Toby, Ruth and Nkosi.
- Year 5: Maisie, Joel, Tia and Max.
- Year 6: Oliver, Eli, Evie and Niall.
Well done to all the winners above!
Mrs Walton has just completed the value of Trust - with her class performing a fantastic assembly at church in front of a jam-packed crowd of parents, children and the Rothley Church community
After half-term, Mrs Barber will be leading the school with a series of assemblies on 'Justice'. Mrs Barber's class assembly will be Wednesday 16th March at Rothley Church.
Sport @ Rothley
Move it Boom!
You may remember from October 2021 – December 2021, the children took part in the annual Move it Boom competition, a Leicestershire NHS based competition in which children log their active minutes to gain points to build up their robot, while also gaining points for the school. Well, I am delighted to inform you that Rothley Church of England Primary School finished in fifth place in this year’s Move it Boom! For a second year, we have come in on the top 10 leader board!
Congratulations and thank you so much for taking part and encouraging your children to get active during the competition.
As we finished in fifth place, we have won tickets to go and see a Loughborough Lightning netball match at Loughborough University! We will be drawing names out of a hat for this to make it up to a full class worth!
Once again, thank you for taking part in and supporting Move it Boom 2021- we hope all the pupils enjoyed getting up, active and building their virtual robots. Let’s smash that leader board next year and come in first!
Sports Hall Athletics
In November, some of our Year 6’s competed in a Sports Hall Athletics tournament at Wreake Valley.
The event was a mixture of track and field events including: Javelin, speed bounce, chest push, relay races and more. Throughout the event we knew we were doing well and the results spoke for themselves! The Year 6’s absolutely smashed it and came in third place! Well done team Rothley!
Well done to; Harriet, Skye, Evie, Scarlet, Ezra, Cameron, Archie, Tam, Florence, Jemima, Alicia, Georgie, Morris, Rhys, Oscar, Oliver, Henry and Seth!
Cross Country Final
Cross Country has been popular this year, with many children competing at Prestwold Hall on a Saturday.
Some of our Rothley children have progressed to the Finals and will be running on Saturday 12th February at Market Harborough Showground! Good luck to all Team Rothley children attending, we know you’ll smash it!
Wreake Valley Year 6 Football League
This year the Year 6's are taking part in the regional football league at Wreake Valley. As a school we are very lucky to have a pool of very talented footballers.
As a result, we are progressing well in the league. The team sit 2nd after 5 rounds of matches.
We are very proud of the children who have represented the school, as they have shown great commitment and teamwork on and off the pitch.
There are 2 more rounds of matches - let's see if we can close the gap on Eastfield!
Rice Bowl
A huge well done to Team Rothley who have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Rice Bowl by beating a strong Gaddesby Primary side 8-0 – unbelievable Jeff! What’s even more impressive, is that this is after an incredible win against Worsley House, where Rothley won 9 - 1!
We will now play either Sketchly Hill or Burbage School in the quarter finals!
Let’s go all the way to the finals- which is sometimes played at the King Power Stadium - Well done Team Rothley!
Music @ Rothley
This term all the children in EYFS, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 4 have been doing the unit ‘Rhythm’. They have become composers, creating their own rhythms to perform in groups. We did similar activities back in Autumn 1 during our unit ‘Pulse’ and it is fantastic to see how much more confident the children are now when performing, staying in time with each other.
In Years 3 and 4, the children have been continuing with Whole Class Ensemble Tuition. Year 3 can now play a variety of songs on their ocarina and are becoming increasingly confident reading standard notation.
When Ofsted were here before Christmas, they popped in to see an ocarina lesson and were really impressed with how well the children were doing after only learning this instrument for a short period of time. Well done Year 3! Year 4 have really been enjoying learning chords this term on their ukulele. We have had so much fun singing and playing.
Our definite favourite is ‘Land of the Silver Birch’, an Inuit canoe song. We added drums and other percussion to really bring it alive. I know lots of the children have been showing their parents this song and I am sure they are super impressed too!
Years 5 and 6 are currently channeling their inner DJs and are learning to scratch on the amazing turntables we have on hire. This is the first time we have used turntables at school and it seems to be a big hit!
Mrs Riley introduced the unit to Year 5, showing them her son DJ-ing in Dubai, whilst myself and Mrs Warburton were learning to become DJ experts ourselves. It’s much trickier than it looks but the children are all trying really hard and enjoying doing something different. As they all have headphones to listen to their scratching, it’s definitely the quietest instrument we’ve ever taught! You never know- maybe one day we’ll see one of our very own pupils collaborating with a musical artist in the charts!
Musician of the Month
In January, we learnt about the Icelandic band Sígur Ros and enjoyed listening to their chilled out songs. We also learnt a little bit about Iceland (I was very impressed how many children recognised the Icelandic flag!) and found out why it is known as The Land of Fire and Ice. Hoppípolla was our favourite song and video to watch- jumping in puddles is always good fun no matter how old you are!
This month in February, we are learning about the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Born only 9 years after Nina Simone, we have discussed how she too faced racial injustice in the USA and how important it was that she was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Extra-curricular music
Drumming
I am always super impressed with the amazing standard of drumming I hear in school on a Friday but I don’t get to hear our Wednesday afternoon drummers who are all children from KS1. I was in school last Wednesday though and was blown away by how well our youngest pupils are doing. What superstars they are!!!
Guitar
We have now been able to extend our guitar provision so have 22 children from years 4-6 learning. It is always delightful to hear them playing (and singing!) down the corridors. I’m very jealous that I can't play the guitar- perhaps they will have to come and teach me!
Choir
Now our rehearsals for Young Voices have come to an end (for the time being), we will be starting up two new choirs after half term: KS1 Choir with Mrs Warburton and KS2 Choir with myself and Miss Godfrey. All children are welcome so if your child loves to sing, then please do send them along. The more the merrier!
Outdoor Music Area
We are thrilled that after 4 years of fundraising, our outdoor music area has finally been installed- it is AMAZING! A huge thanks to our wonderful PTFA, Rothley Lions and the family who own the local Rothley pharmacy for their contributions to make this possible. It has been very positively received by all the children and it is wonderful for them to be able spend their break and lunchtimes having fun making music. Even the local crows are fans and have been spotted several times banging the percussion to create a Crowtime-Boogie!
Ofsted:
We were really excited that Ofsted chose to do a music deep dive before Christmas as it gave us the opportunity to showcase the amazing talents of our pupils and the opportunities they are given in school. We are so proud of not only how hard they work in music lessons but how much fun they have as well, as developing a love of music is what we want for all our pupils. Ofsted certainly saw this and we were really happy they recognised the excellent provision we offer.
Diversity Across the Curriculum
The curriculum section of the school's website has been recently updated to include up-to-date new topic pages with subject overviews and progressions for each topic and every year group. This can be found by following this link below:
As always, we have been celebrating our differences and diversity across our curriculum since October.
In November we had a Diwali Day in school! We had a whole school non-uniform day where the children could dress up in traditional clothes or as bright as they like - to celebrate the festival of light.
The children completed activities throughout the week on Diwali and learnt about how Diwali celebrations in Leicester are one of the biggest outside of India.
As you may have already read in some of the year group's sections - in Febraury we have celebrated Chinese New Year across the school.
The children, over the 3 day period, learnt all about the traditions and celebrations of this fantastic event. The children have produced some wonderful art work across the school that has been showcased in the school corridor.
It is a sign of respect to recognise these significant events and celebrate the fact that it makes our country more diverse, and better for it" Phoebe Year 6
DERIC:
Across the school we have reading sessions called: DERIC. Which is an acronym for the reading skills: Decode; Explain; Retrieval; Inference and Choice.
These sessions give the children an opportunity to develop their comprehension skills with a number of different stimulus such as poetry, image, music and video, as well as fiction and non-fiction passages.
In Year 5 reading DERIC sessions, we focused on the song ‘Where is the love’ by Black Eyed Peas. We spoke about the history of the song and how ‘Where Is the Love?’ was released in response to the 9/11 terror attacks.
When investigating the lyrics, the children commented that they addressed issues including racism, gang crime, pollution, war, intolerance, and violence against different groups of people. However, the most powerful reflection we gathered from it was that, no matter who you are, it is important to show kindness and love.
As part of our Picture News reflections, we considered the question ‘Should everyone learn sign language?’ We considered the example of Rose Ayling-Ellis and what she had achieved on Strictly Come Dancing this year.
The children developed a range of responses and their main concern was that deaf people should not be marginalised from the rest of us. Put it this way, if sign language was brought into the curriculum, then Year 5 would definitely be up for learning it!
In Year 4 DERIC lessons, we have looked at Amazing Grace, a story by author Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch. In this story, Grace wants to play Aladdin in her school play, but some classmates think she isn’t suited due to her being a girl and the colour of her skin.
It doesn't matter what colour skin or gender you are, it matters who you are" Lily T - Year 4
However, Grace auditions anyway and she’s perfect for the part. Her classmates comment on how amazing she was. This book lent to amazing discussions on diversity and understanding that all people should be given equal opportunities.
It doesn't matter what skin colour have, you can be who you want to be." Nkosi - Year 4
In PSHCE lessons in Year 1 they have been learning about different cultures and different places of worship. We have discussed what children do at the weekend, are they part of a group, do they go to church and understanding differences between what children do at the weekend with their families. corridors.
As explained in the Year 6 part of this newsletter. The children enjoyed a fantastic trip to Leicester city centre to experience how multi-cultural Leicester really is! The trip was called 'Global Leicester' and involved the children visiting shops from different cultures on Belgrave Road and also some Bollywood dancing!
The trip was linked in with the children's history topic: 'Why is Leicester so multi-cultural?' Which looks at the migration of people over time.
Out of school achievements:
This section of the newsletter is to celebrate the children's out of school achievements, this could be anything from sporting, dancing, craft, educational and anything else in between.
If you would like your child's out of school achievements celebrated in our termly newsletter please email the office with the information and some pictures: admin@rothley.leics.sch.uk
Term dates:
Previous Newsletters:
If you would like to suggest any addition to this newsletter please free free to email. jrichards@rothley.leics.sch.uk