Newsletters

Newsletter 24– Friday, 18th March 2022 

Headteacher Message

School Council Takeover

By now you may be relatively bored by reading my weekly musings. This week, I am handing over to the school council to update you about how we are all doing.  I am feeling 10% braver today, and I am going to write down word for word what they say! 

I asked two questions.

  1. What do they think is going well in the school
  2. What would make the school even better? 

First up is Sam from Year 1: ‘Sharing is going really well. I enjoy playing and having fun. Well, I was thinking we could have a few more posters up in the lunch hall showing children being good, and a set of drinks to choose from. Orange juice, apple juice and some smoothies.  

Caitlin Year 2: ‘I think most of the children have been using kind hands. I think we should have 10 minutes more playtime because a lot of children are grumbling and mumbling.  We could do learning and playtime.’  

Penelope Year 3:  ‘I think the school is doing really well at making sure that everyone understands their learning. To improve we need to make sure we watch out for children's actions.’

Rayaan in Year 4:  There are no fights in the playground.  I enjoy seeing my friends at school.  Maybe introduce more colour into the school as the walls are a bit plain.  

Isla Year 5:  All the teachers are always there to make sure people are having fun and no-one is arguing.  I think we should put up some no smoking signs outside the school. 

Lola Year 6 There is a lot of variety in what you can do at school.  I am leaving this year and I will miss the nurture team.  I would like to see more variety in the after school clubs.

So there you have it.  Word for word.  We are lucky to have such an intelligent caring team as our class representatives.  I am going to leave it up to our youngest school councilor to sign off.  Over to you Sam.

Have a nice weekend, look out for strong winds.  Be happy and try not to hurt yourself - Sam, Year 1. 

I just wanted to add one final point at the bottom here. Due to your generous donations today, we have raised £175 for Red Nose Day! Thank you so much for your donations, they help to ‘make a difference’.

Joe Porter

Curriculum 

This week I wanted to continue to talk about Maths teaching at Darell. In particular, I wanted to talk about an incredible tool that I have seen used to great effect in Year 1 & Year 2. To support children's learning of number bonds to 10 and 20, we have been using 'rekenreks'. I know it is somewhat of a mouthful but these really are incredible tools to help develop children's understanding of number bonds to 10 and 20 as well as calculations within 10 and 20. The rekenrek itself looks similar to an abacus. By sliding the white and red counters, the children can quickly calculate number sentences and develop quick recall of their number bonds. The rekenrek also helps children develop their 'subitising' skill - knowing how many there are in a group. For example, sliding a row of 5 white counters and 2 red counters helps them to know that 5 + 2 = 7. We have really seen the impact of the rekenrek on our maths teaching and are looking forward to continuing to use them. Below is a picture of a rekenrek and a link to an online version.

https://mathsbot.com/manipulatives/rekenrek

Parent online workshop: Anxiety

What is the workshop about?

The workshop aims to provide parents/carers with an understanding of anxiety and strategies to manage anxiety and worries.

The workshop will run online, on Tuesday 22nd March, at 9.30am - 10.30am. Parents/carers will have the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback at the end of the session.

The workshop will be facilitated by Education Wellbeing Practitioner Sarah Burrell from the school based Mental Health Support Team. 

Workshop overview:

  • Understanding anxiety
  • The Cognitive Behavioural Model
  • How we can help - intervening at the level of thoughts, emotions, physical responses and behaviour.
  • Creating an emotional wellbeing toolbox
  • The importance of parent wellbeing
  • Others’ reactions being maintenance factors in anxiety
  • Tips on how we can respond
  • Seeking further support

How to sign up:

If you would like to attend this workshop, please book your ticket using the Eventbrite link below:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mhst-workshop-anxiety-tickets-264282304487

You will then be emailed a Google Meet invite with instructions on how to join.

Please note that this event is space limited therefore please register as soon as possible should you want to guarantee yourself a place.

Office Updates

Easter Holiday Camp at Darell

 

Lost property

The lost property trolley, located in the front office is overflowing with unclaimed items. Please come and have a look through for anything you may be missing. Thank you. 

Summer Term Clubs

Currently, we are in the process of updating our clubs list for the summer term. This will be coming out to you soon, and will be bookable before the Easter break. We will keep you updated.

Outstanding Payments

As we are approaching the end of the term. Please can we ask you log into your Arbor account and settle any outstanding payments. Thank you.

Diary Dates

Year 2 Kew Archives trip
9:00am – 3:00pm
22
March
Year 2 Scooter Training
1:00pm – 3:00pm
25
March
Year 2 St Paul's Cathedral Trip
9:00am – 3:00pm
28
March
Easter Holiday
All Day
From 04 Apr until 19 Apr
04
April
Inset Day - children do not attend
All Day
19
April
Y4 - Thames Young Mariners Residential Trip
9:00am – 4:00pm
From 25 Apr until 26 Apr
25
April
Y6 SATs - SPaG
9:00am – 12:00pm
09
May
Y6 SATs - English reading
9:00am – 12:00pm
10
May
Y6 SATs - Maths Paper 1 (Arithmetic) Paper 2 (Reasoning)
9:00am – 12:00pm
11
May
Y6 SATs - Maths Paper 3 (Reasoning)
9:00am – 12:00pm
11
May

Wellbeing 

The Reading Corner

Welcome to our weekly section of the newsletter all about reading. Every week, we will share a question (or two) with you about the book your child is reading in school. Please use these questions to help you find out a little more about what your child has been reading in school and continue to develop their love of reading.

Wonder - Why do we use maps? Can you make a map to show how you get from the kitchen to your bedroom? Maybe you could even make a map to show your journey to school? We would love to see it if you make one!

Peake - How do you think the children feel about being back at home? How do you know? How would you feel if you were one of the children?

Weir - What is your best fact about beetles?

Walker - Why was the fox following Rosie?

Newton - What did the people in Paris do when they fell in love with Zeraffa?

Thunberg - Why didn't Perseus want to be King?

Darwin - What does it take to make a friend?

Attenborough - Do you think Maya made the right decision when taking out Tutankhamun's heart?

Parks - How would you describe what an orangutang looks like? How are orangutangs different to other apes? Where can orangutangs be found in the world?

KS1 Star of the Week

Wonder Class 

Reggie - for doing such great listening and for following instructions. Well done!

Peake Class

Harley - for being a responsible and resilient mathematician Well done, Harley!

Weir Class

Anthony - for being brave and trying new things!           Well done, Anthony!

Walker Class

Scarlett - for building friendships with her peers and beginning to take turns. Well done, Scarlett!

KS2 Star of the Week

Newton Class

Archie - for excellent participation, research and discussion in Geography

Thunberg Class

Maria - for Aspiring to be an able mathematician and challenging herself with stretch-its

Darwin Class

Felix - for taking pride in the presentation of his work and working hard in improving it

Attenborough Class

Elif - for her enjoyment and aspiration during our science workshops

Parks class

Jeremy - for his positive attitude in class and his obvious love of learning

E Safety News

Younger children sharing pictures or videos online

Increasingly, young children are using phones and tablets to create photos and videos and share them online. Whilst this can be fun, sharing images can also be risky.

It’s important your child understands what’s ok to share and what they should discuss with you first.

Follow the link for more information:

 https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/Has-your-child-shared-a-picture-or-video-online-/

Darell Primary & Nursery School Follow
Reception used their observational skills to paint daffodils. They looked closely at their shape and colours and then carefully used watercolours to create their own. #earlyyears #spring https://t.co/JlTNASuia3
3 days ago
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Attendance

Overall school attendance this week was 93.6% our target is 96.8%.

Well done to Attenborough class for the highest attendance of 96% this week.

Best for punctuality was Darwin and Mozart  class with 0 late!

Let's do our best for next week!

Permalink To Cooking Utensils Clipart - Clip Art Cooking Utensils, HD Png  Download - kindpngCooking andcraft clip art free - Clip Art Library

Craft Corner

Giant chocolate chip cookie

It's time to supersize your bake with this giant chocolate chip cookie recipe. Instead of rolling individual bakes, simply press the cookie dough into one large dough studded with an irresistible combination of melting milk, dark and white chocolate! 

Giant chocolate chip cookie recipe

Ingredients

  • 115g butter, softened
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 125g self-raising flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 200g mixed roughly chopped chocolate 

Method

Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Cream together the butter, white and brown sugar until smooth using a wooden spoon or electric whisk. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and chopped chocolate, reserving a handful, and combine well.

Line a baking sheet with baking paper and place the mixture into one large mound on the baking sheet. Press down and shape into a circle of about 20cm. Press the reserved chocolate over the top of the cookie.

Bake for 15-18 mins. Remove the cookie from the oven and allow to cool for 30 mins on the tin before sliding it onto a serving board. Serve either cut into wedges or broken into pieces.

Clothes Peg Dragonflies

Make a beautiful dragonfly craft using clothespins and pipe cleaners! It's a great spring craft idea for kids to make. They can choose any colors that they want as well.

clothespins-pipe-cleaner-dragonflies-kids-craft

Materials Needed:

  • 2 Pipe cleaners
  • Clothes peg
  • 2 googly eyes
  • Paint
  • Glue

Start by painting stripes on their clothes peg.

Put dots of glue on the front and stick on the googly eyes.

Take a pipe cleaner and bend both edges to the middle and twist.

pipe-cleaner-clothespin-dragonflies-kids-craft

Once you have two (pictured above) criss-cross them and put them inside the clothes peg . You can use  glue to secure it, otherwise they are fine!

Community News

 

 


Useful Links

     Arbor Parent Portal - darell-primary.uk.arbor

     Follow us on twitter - twitter.com/darellschool

     School Uniform Shop - The Shoe Station