It has been a busy first week back at Cypress. The children have all come back to school keen and excited to learn!
At the Upper School this week, we have been focusing on our ability to reflect as learners. This includes being able to plan, revise our approach and distil key information from our learning. Ms Binks shared an example of Professor Noel Fitzpatrick who had used these skills to help him repair the broken leg of a rabbit using his knowledge of how their legs work and how fragile their bones are. We all agreed that this was not an easy task as rabbit’s bones are very fragile and they do not respond well to sedation.
At the Lower School, we have been Building our Learning Powers and thinking about why it’s so important to plan ahead. We thought about our morning routines and all the things we need to do before we come to school. If we didn’t plan ahead we’d never leave the house and make it to school! Miss Hunt led an assembly on Tuesday revisiting how important it is to be safe when using the Internet and who we can talk to if we have any worries.
TFL Talk for Year 6
This week, Year 6 had a talk run by the TfL (Transport for London). They learnt about the importance of planning their journeys and safety aspects of travel. They were informed about applying for the 11-15 zip oyster card (see link on how to apply). It costs £15 and gives children free travel on buses and discounted travel on tubes and trains. We also learnt about the importance of being polite and courteous on travel to staff and members of the public. Another piece of great advice was making sure we don’t stand too close to the curb or edge of platform. Standing at least the height of your body and a step away from the edge to ensure you are safe even if jostled. https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/11-15-zip-oyster-photocard
Seve at Cypress
Seve the Cypress Superdog is now in a regular routine of coming to Lower School on Mondays and Upper School on Wednesdays. He has been working very hard with individuals and small groups. Seve listens to children read and some children come to see him to help them calm down or even tell him anything that might be worrying them. This usually results in a relaxing grooming session for Seve! He also enjoys lots of outside play with different classes at play and lunchtime.
Makaton Sign of the Week
The new Makaton sign we are learning this week is happy. What a wonderful word! Please click here to see how to sign happy.
Year 2 Trip to London
We are so proud of our Year 2 classes for their excellent behaviour on our visit to London, where we saw landmarks from The Garden at 120 then visited The Monument and St Dunstan’s Church. Mrs Sorensen was stopped by members of the public, who told her how wonderfully behaved and polite Cypress children were! They also demonstrated great endurance and perseverance as we clocked up over 14,000 steps. Thank you to our parents/carer helpers and our staff for arranging such a memorable trip.
Congratulations Mrs Carpenter!
Congratulations to Mrs Carpenter who gave birth to a baby boy named Harrison on the 16th February. We send her and family all our love and best wishes.
Word of the Week
At the Upper School, this week’s word wizard was Mathilde in Willow Class who wrote an excellent sentence using the word ‘twilight’. This week’s word is ‘reverberating’. Please remember to post your entries in the box to be in with a chance of winning.
Cypress Superstars
Congratulations to Harry in Birch Class who visited the office this week with some fantastic writing. He had made excellent vocabulary choices and was able to read it with excellent prosody. Mohammed in Birch Class came to read to this morning with his new CODE book. He has really improved is fluency in longer sentences and is using good prosody when reading aloud.
At the Lower School, we are proud of Kaden in Orange Class for his writing where he tried really hard to use his phonics to help his write sentences. Ailani in Green Class has also been working hard to use her sounds to write a sentence this week, including a capital letter and full stop. Miss Wenham and her writing booster group have been busy this week and we can really see the progress Marcel, Frank and Widad have made – great work! Our School Council have decided to fundraise money to purchase a friendship bench for the playground, in memory of Mrs Fernandez – watch this space for their letter and posters coming soon with more info!
Book Week
Next week is Book Week at Cypress and we all very excited to meet our visiting authors, funded by our amazing PTFA. For more information about what is happening each day click here. Click these links to find out more about Reception and Year 3 parent reading sessions. Each day next week, there will be a story revealed for you to share with your child on the website which you can share with your child. If you would like to access these you can find them here.
NEU strike action – Thursday 2nd March
Please find here the letter regarding the present arrangements for the NEU strike day next Thursday. However, any NEU member is entitled to join the strike right up until the last day and so the arrangements stated in the letters may be subject to change and this is beyond our control. This dispute is between the NEU and Secretary of State for Education and is very much out of the Trust’s hands. Classes that are open will be taught, as normal, by a qualified teacher with fully accredited Designated Safeguarding Leads available to ensure the children’s safety.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs Sorensen, Ms Binks and the Cypress Team
