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This week in English, the children have been exploring their stories and have been creating new characters - we call this 'innovating' the story. During celebration worship today, which we did remotely as usual, I asked the children what they had enjoyed the most about the week. The innovating of stories featured highly in different year groups with Emily from Ladybird class talking about the new character, Grace Darling, that she had included in her version of the Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch and Victoria in Bee class talking about the Gruffalo story that Reception have been learning about.
We have made good progress with the preparations for the resurfacing of the playground over the last 2 days but unfortunately because the weather tomorrow is going to be so wet, the actual resurfacing won't be happening until next Saturday. Please continue to bear with us, as our usual routine will continue to be disrupted over the next week. One positive side of this is that Layla in Dragonfly class shared in Celebration worship that her favourite part of the week was 'working in the hall because it was too noisy in their classroom.' (Their classroom is next to the playground that is being resurfaced)
Mrs Reynolds
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Sandygate Star
- Ant - Samuel
- Bee - Leo
- Butterfly - Annabelle
- Ladybird - Sebastian
- Dragonfly - Finn
- Grasshopper - Harry
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Value Award - Perseverance
- Ant - Nancy
- Bee - Theo
- Butterfly - Alishba
- Ladybird - Denny
- Dragonfly - Imogen
- Grasshopper - Jude
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Science Council
The members of the Science Council received their badges in school worship today they are:
Dragonfly - Marley & Layla
Grasshopper - Rosie & Kian
Butterfly - Monty & Anishka
Ladybird - Sebastian & Izzy
We are sorry that they have had to wait until this late on in the term, but the lockdown got in the way of them having their badges.
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Wild Marlow Ambassadors Report
The Wild Marlow Ambassadors have been thinking about what their favourite bugs are and why it is important to have wild areas. Here is their report:
Freddie: 'My favourite bug is a pond skater because I like the way they walk on the water'.
Annabelle: 'My favourite bug is a shield beetle because they have shiny backs'.
We think it is important to have areas like our Wild World and the Nature Corridor because they attract wildlife, give homes to mini beasts and keep them safe from predators such as humans. They are also full of different sorts of plants and flowers.
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Dates for Next Week and beyond
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Next week's 'Learning at a Glance'
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Waste Week 10th to 14th May
Next week, we will be running Waste Week (10th – 14th May) with a focus on Food Waste.
Our Eco Warriors will open the week by leading a worship about food waste and food packaging. During the last 5 days, we have been measuring our hot meals’ food waste at the end of lunch time. We will be sharing this with the children and working together to see if we can reduce the waste.
Over the course of the week, we will have in class discussion about the impact of different kinds of waste on our world and our role in protecting the planet. The children will make their own pledge of a change they intend to make to become good citizens of the planet.
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Year 2 Trip to Mop End
Year 2 are visiting the Amersham Field Study Centre, Mop End, on Tuesday 11th May. Please remember they should be in clothes suitable for being outdoors in whatever weather Tuesday brings. They will also need wellington boots which should be named and in a named bag and a waterproof coat. Children should be in school promptly at 8.45
All parents should be aware that there will be coaches around the entrance to school at pick-up and drop-off times on this day so please take care and keep the road approaching school clear if possible.
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Pyjamarama Day for BookTrust
Friday 14th May
Pyjamarama
On Friday 14th May we will be celebrating Pyjamarama, BookTrust’s fundraising celebration aimed at getting more children reading.
During the day we will be celebrating many stories to get the children excited about the magic of books and stories, and to raise money for those children who don't have access to books at home. The children are invited on this day to come to school wearing pyjamas. Please ensure that their pyjamas are suited to the weather that day, and we would request that the children do not wear onesies.
A donation link has been set up on Parent Pay and we are suggesting a donation of £1 for the day.
About BookTrust
BookTrust is dedicated to getting children reading because we know that children who read are happier, healthier, more empathetic and more creative. Their early language development is supported, and they also do better at school.
We are the UK’s largest children’s reading charity; each year we reach 3.9 million children across the UK with books, resources and support to help develop a love of reading, because we know that reading can transform lives.
booktrust.org.uk
Funds raised from BookTrust’s Pyjamarama campaign could go towards:
- £25 could provide 15 pre-school children living in women’s refuge centres with their own book pack
- £50 could provide 6 families from deprived communities with additional support through their children’s centre to develop a reading habit
- £100 could help BookTrust work with a struggling secondary school to support teenagers re-engage with reading
- £1,000 could enable BookTrust to support 740 children with a disability that impacts motor skills, providing them with specially created touch and feel books, finger puppets and guidance for parents
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Walk to School Week
17th-21st May
The Staff and Governors are excited to announce that Sandygate will be joining in with Living Streets Walk to School Week. This year the focus is Walking Superpowers, helping to learn how walking benefits us as individuals, our local community and the planet.
Walking has so many benefits from physical to mental wellbeing, helping concentration and creating less polluted more welcoming streets. There are five Superheroes that the children will learn about across the week that will teach them about these ideas.
On Friday, to recognise how Super active the children have been all week we invite them to come to school in 'active wear' this can be for instance kit they wear for a sport they enjoy, their school PE kit or a tracksuit.
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Everyone will be encouraged to travel to school in a sustainable way (walk, scoot, cycle or Park and Stride). We recognise that it is not possible for everyone to be able to walk to school so we have included a map which shows 5 minute walking zones to help with Park and Stride to school.
Download the map here
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Summer Census Day 20th May 2021
As you know, all children in Infant school are entitled to a Free School Meal however, the funding for this is not as straightforward as receiving payment for every meal taken. As a school we have to pay for every meal eaten but the funding we receive is based on the number of meals eaten on two census days each year.
If the number of meals eaten on the census day is lower than the average meals taken the rest of the year we could end up out of pocket. Can we therefore urge you all to book a meal for your child if they can be at all persuaded to have one on 20th May.
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General News and Reminders
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02 May 2021
Article 29 — aims of education
Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environ...
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30 Apr 2021
Following our recent accreditation 'visit' we are very pleased to announce we have been awarded Gold: Rights Respecting by UNICEF UK
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Pick-up and Drop-off
We would like to politely remind all parents about our COVID risk assessment that details arrangements for pick-up and drop-off. We have managed to keep all our Sandygate families safe so far throughout the pandemic but this has been largely due to the measures we have in place. These include the segregation of the year groups in school and and at pick-up and drop-off
We would ask that you continue to queue in the marked lanes ensuring that your children remain with you and are not running around the front of school, potentially mixing with other year groups. Families should continue to maintain social distance when approaching school in line with government guidance and should not socialise in groups of more than 6 people or 2 families.
We appreciate everything that our school families have done throughout the pandemic to follow all our risk assessments and keep each other safe - let's keep going!
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Royal Mail Heroes Competition
Our school is delighted to be taking part in Royal Mail's Heroes Stamp Design competition, honouring the heroes of the coronavirus pandemic. The Art Councillors launched the competition to the school in worship yesterday and they are very excited about it.
A letter detailing the competition and the way any information about your child will be used in the competition has been emailed out to all parents today and every child will be bringing home an entry form this afternoon. If your child would like to enter the competition please get them to draw their design on the form and complete all the details. Completed entries should be returned to school no later than Monday 24th May so that we can submit them by the closing date.
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Walk Once A Week
Over the month of April we have recorded 1,562 active journeys. This represents 94% of our recorded school journeys slightly up on March when it was 92%. 161 children earned their WOW badges an increase from 150 in March.
The modes of transport used this month for our journeys to school were:
- 62 % Walk
- 15 % Park & Stride
- 13 % Scooter
- 4 % Cycle
- 6 % Car
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Attendance
Attendance for the month of April was 98.9% which was fantastic. For the school year to date, after removing the 2 months of lockdown, the figure is 98.05% with absence being made up as 0.2% lateness, 1.1% illness and medical appointments, 0.3% for holidays and other unauthorised absences and 0.4% for Covid reasons (self-isolation etc)
The best attendance for April was by Grasshopper with 99.1% attendance and they also have the best attendance for the year to date with 98.5%
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