As we look forward to the half term break, we can reflect on a very busy first half term. It has been great to welcome all the new pupils and families to Atwood and we are proud of how well the children have all settled. It has been a long half term to kick off the year and the children have done exceptionally well to apply themselves to their learning all term. They now all deserve a good rest. We look forward to seeing everyone back feeling refreshed and raring to go after the break.
In Nursery, the children have been learning about the number 5. Read more here:
https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/eyfs/atw-nursery-news-23rd-october
In Reception, this week the children have been thinking about Diwali and skeletons. You can read more here: https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/eyfs/atw-reception-news-funnybones-and-diwali
This week in maths, Year 1 have been finding number bonds within 10 using tens frames and counters. They extended this learning by systematically writing down all the number bonds they could find. Year 1 also started to explore number bonds to 10 and will continue this learning after half term. During English, Year 1 created their own poem inspired by ‘Julian is a Mermaid and used verbs to describe how the sea creature moved. When they had written their poem, they published it for their poetry journal. The children recapped the facial features in science and labelled a picture of the face independently. This week, Year 1 had another successful reading cafe and would like to thank all the parents/carers who came into read with groups of children. We look forward to welcoming you all again after the half term with our next reading cafe.
Year 2 have had a wonderful end to their first half-term. This week, the children became experts at addition in maths and learned all about the fantastic poem ‘The Owl and the Pussy-cat’ by Edward Lear. They children thoroughly enjoyed performing during their English learning. The children even did a fun experiment during Science thinking about the best way to wash their hands. As part of their RE work the children spent some time thinking about Diwali and made Diva lamps out of clay.
This week, Year 3 have had a fantastic week filled with exciting, hands-on learning across the curriculum. In Maths, they have been developing their skills in adding three-digit numbers, with a focus on bridging both 10 and 100. Using strategies such as partitioning and expanded column addition, pupils have deepened their understanding of place value and regrouping. In English, the children have been inspired by The Mysteries of Harris Burdick to write the opening of their own mystery stories. They have worked hard to include fronted adverbials and atmospheric adjectives to build suspense and engage the reader. Science lessons have focused on the muscles in the arm and how they work together to create movement. Pupils explored how muscles can only pull (not push) and learned to identify which muscles contract and which relax to support movement in the body. As part of their thematic learning, the children took part in an exciting workshop to construct a large-scale model of the Crystal Palace using bamboo poles and elastic bands. They explored how triangles create structural strength, then applied this knowledge back in class by building smaller models in pairs using BBQ skewers. In whole-class reading, Year Three have continued exploring Young, Gifted and Black, focusing this week on the life and achievements of Stevie Wonder. His story sparked thoughtful discussion around perseverance, talent, and overcoming challenges. A brilliant week of creativity, collaboration, and curiosity — well done, Year Three!
This week, Year 4 have been learning and performing Spike Milligan’s nonsense poem, ‘On the Ning Nang Nong.’ The children have really enjoyed the silly rhymes. In thematic lessons they have worked collaboratively to find out information about Roman shields and then designed their own. In maths, the children have been securing their place value knowledge by comparing five digit number. They have also been working really hard to learn their times tables.
In Year 5, this week the children have been publishing their Alma stories bringing together their scary narration with some incredible artwork. They have written some incredibly suspenseful pieces using a wide range of authorly techniques to create suspense. They have begun to read ‘The Armistice Runner’ which is a book that tells the story of Lily, a young fell runner, who discovers that her great great grandfather shared her passion. This discovery helps to bring their family together at a very difficult time. In history they have been learning about the difference between primary and secondary sources and how they can help us understand the past. Ms Newton brought in a selection of primary sources for them to look at including diaries, letters, photographs and telegrams.
This week, Year 6 have been performing their powerful speeches in the role of Emmeline Pankhurst, showcasing key features of effective performance such as expression, tone, and body language. Using emotive language and modal verbs, they passionately called for “Votes for Women!” In maths, the children have been learning to add and subtract fractions with different denominators, applying their knowledge to solve increasingly challenging problems. During whole-class reading, they have been studying the inspiring poem “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou. Through thoughtful discussion, they explored key themes and inferences around freedom versus oppression, deepening their understanding of the poem’s powerful message.
FOAP Fireworks.
As you may well be aware, Wednesday the 5th November is the date for the FOAP firework event. This is a hugely important event in FOAP’s fundraising calendar. It takes a lot of willing support to be able to run the event safely and FOAP are asking if there any more parents who are able to volunteer and help out. The money raised at this event goes directly to funding projects in school such as the library refurbishment and playground enhancements so any help you can give is really appreciated.
Harvest Festival
This week, on Wednesday, our school councillors treated us to an assembly where we celebrated Harvest. We talked about being thankful for all the good things that we have to eat and reflected on where our food comes from. An impressive selection of dried goods was collected by Croydon Nightwatch. These valuable donations will go to provide food for people accessing Croydon’s Nightwatch shelters. Thank you to everyone who kindly donated and to Miss Carlucci for organising the assembly and collection.
Class Assemblies
Next half term will see the first of our class assemblies when parents are invited in to school to celebrate the children’s learning. This year, we would like to extend the invitation by offering parents the opportunity to visit the classroom after the assembly and have a look at some of the work pupils have been doing. After the class assembly, the classroom will be open until 10am to allow parents to have a look through books and share the children’s learning.
Gold Award
Well done to all the children who were awarded a Gold Award today. This half term we celebrated children who have really demonstrated resilience in their learning. It was lovely to hear bout so many children who always persevere and never give up even when they are finding the learning tough.
Black History Month
Well done to our Black History Month Competition winners. Chloe, Mia, Jessica, Caleb, Neave, Isabelle, Ezra and Salihah all spent time at home researching significant figures in black history and then presenting their work for our display in school. The work they produced was incredible and we our proud of our budding historians.
Snapchat
For those parents whose children are interested in mobile phones and social media apps, please see the link below with useful information for parents about Snap Chat. Although the age restriction for this app is 13+, we are aware that some children are using this app as we occasionally have to deal with issues arising in school. Internet safety and safe social media use is woven in to our curriculum and we do deal with matters as they happen but the school cannot control what children are doing on their phones outside of school. Hopefully, the downloadable factsheet available through the link will support parents in having conversations at home about how to use apps safely and sensibly.
https://nationalcollege.com/guides/snapchat
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Tuesday 4th November – First day back to school
Wednesday 5th November: FOAP Fireworks display
Friday 7th November: Year 2 Hampton Court Palace trip
Friday 7th November: Magenta Class assembly
Friday 14th November: Cyan Class assembly
Week beginning 17th November: Travelling book fair at Atwood
Friday 21st November: Year 4 Roman Workshop
Friday 21st November: Indigo Class assembly
Thursday 27th November: Year 5 Viking Workshop
Thursday 27th November: Year 1 Science Museum trip.
Friday 28th November: Amber Class assembly
Wednesday 3rd December: Rocksteady Christmas Concert.
Friday 5th December: FOAP Christmas Fair and uniform sale (after school)
Tuesday 9th December: Year 4 and 6 Christmas show (am and pm performances): Details to follow
Thursday 11th December: Year 3 and 5 Christmas Show (am and pm performances): Details to follow
Friday 12th December: Reception Christmas singing: Morning and afternoon performance: Details to follow
Tuesday 16th December KS1 Nativity Morning and afternoon performance: Details to follow
Thursday 18th December: Jack and The Beanstalk Panto (Funded by FOAP).
Friday 19th December: End of Term
Monday 5th January INSET day- School closed
Tuesday 6th January: Back to school
