Bedtime Stories for Key Stage 1

Well - what an amazing week Year 1 and 2 have had!

The children are loving their new topic on pirates, titled ‘Does ‘X’ mark the spot?’. They are enthusiastically learning about the continents and oceans of the world, as well as locating the United Kingdom on maps, globes and satellite images, and discussing where we are located in relation to other countries, continents and oceans. 

In maths, we have just finished a unit on addition and subtraction, including practising the rapid and accurate recall of number bonds to 10 and 20. The children have proved their answers in different ways, such as a bar model, part-part-whole and number line. Many children are also using the inverse to check that an answer is correct.

In art, we have planned the 3D Treasure Island maps that we will be making and will be exploring the different materials and fixing that we can use to create the features. The children will build on previously taught skills of colour mixing and brush-work to decorate their work. 

Developing prediction skills, observation of an experiment and the recording of data was the order of the day in science this week, which was set in the context of floating and sinking. 

In RE, the children are learning about Shabbat, and in PSHE, about the value of money, saving, budgeting and keeping of finances. 

To link in with our topic, the children have loved their Guided reading, which has been Pirate themed, including the composition of rhyming sea shanties and translating English into Pirate language.

Many thanks to everyone who came along to the KS1 Bedtime Stories evening on Wednesday; it was a great success and another evening will be planned in for the next half term (date to be advised). 

We continue to teach phonics, reading and writing through RWI daily. You will see photocopied sheets of speed sounds, green and red words in your child’s book bag each week- these are the words that are in their RWI teaching book- please support your child at home by practising reading and understanding these words. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Year 1 and 2 Team 

Toilet Roll Timeline!

What better way to learn about the history of planet Earth than using a toilet roll?!

We started off outside of Miss Hurley's classroom 5 billion year ago, when Earth first began. Ed reliably rolled the toilet roll down the corridor and we started counting each square of paper...

We tracked the first traces of life, oxygen being present in our atmosphere, and after 380 squares (somewhere near Aspen Class) we met the dinosaurs!

Eventually we came into human history (the last 10,000 years or so) which was the last 3mm on the last square of toilet paper, just outside of Mrs Kempson's classroom!

We were trying to put the history of the Earth into context, so that we can start to understand more about the tricky concept of 'Chronology'.

Stanmore Post - 10 January 2020

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! Welcome back to children, parents, staff and governors. Everyone seems to have settled back into school well this week after the Christmas break. We are all looking forward to a year of new opportunity and more irresistible learning.

We welcome Mrs Sally Atkins, our new Assistant Headteacher and hope that she will be really happy here at Stanmore. Mrs Atkins will be working closely with Mrs Kempson in Elm class to ensure a smooth handover when Mrs Kempson begins her maternity leave after half term. Mrs Atkins is part of our senior leadership team and parents are very welcome to meet with her as well as Mrs Fenton (Inclusion Lead) and Mrs Taylor (Headteacher) to discuss concerns or ideas as part of our ongoing school improvement.

We also welcome Miss Rachel Kelly who is a new teaching assistant supporting children in Year 5 and Year 6.

A new year is a good time to set expectations and so please can I ask that children come to school wearing suitable school shoes. This does not include trainers. Guidance on school uniform can be found on our uniform page.

A number of parents are expressing concerns about road safety and parking. Please can you drive, park and walk thoughtfully so that everyone stays safe.

There are a range of clubs available to book through Scopay. Thank you to all of our staff and volunteers for giving their time to ensure that enrichment activities are in place to broaden our Stanmore Curriculum.

Best Wishes

Sharon Taylor

Stanmore Post - 20 December 2019

Dear Parents, 

There have been many opportunities for us to celebrate the achievements of the children this term. There is an excellent range of work on our school website showing a variety of irresistible learning across the school from Royalty to Raiders and Traders to the Tower of London. View our blogs at https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/our-news

I enjoyed ‘A Wriggly Nativity’ held at Level 10 Church earlier in the week. The performance was of a very high standard and the wonderful personalities of the children in Catkins really shone through. We have had some lovely musical moments from our choir and our range of musicians across the school culminating in assemblies, the Christchurch Service and Carols in the Courtyard today. We will continue to develop opportunities for children to have their moment to shine. They were so keen to please their audience so thank you for supporting them. You can view a Stanmore Christmas at https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2019/12/20/wishing-everyone-the-best-this-christmas

This week we said farewell to Mrs. Ruddick-Smith. Mrs. Ruddick-Smith has taken the decision to leave Stanmore after 7 years of teaching. She will be leaving at the end of this term for new opportunities. I am sure that you will want to join me in wishing her all the best for her future, as well as thanking her for the positive contribution that she has made to the school.

We are continuing to develop our ‘Keys for Success.’ They are respect, organisation, persistence, resilience, confidence and co-operation. From time to time over the Christmas period, I am sure that you will notice these in action.

I have enjoyed my first year at Stanmore Primary School. It is a pleasure to belong to this school and I would like to sincerely thank the children and the staff, Governors, parents and Friends of Stanmore.

I hope that you all have a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Best Wishes

Sharon Taylor

Wishing everyone the very BEST this Christmas

Belonging - everyone celebrating at Christchurch

On Tuesday 17 December 2019, the children went to Christchurch for the annual Christchurch Service. Everyone was in good voice, enjoying singing the carols and even some actions to go along with the songs. Pupils performed and read beautifully.

It was lovely to be joined by so many parents and carers, with a particular thank you to those who helped us out with the logistics. The children really enjoyed the morning and their walking to and from school to the church was impeccable - Year R were particularly quick this year!

Thank you to everyone at Christchurch for making us feel so welcome and that we belonged.

In memorandum - Mr Philpott

Rose planted in memory of Mr Barry Philpott who kindly supported the school with our gardening projects

For us as a school many of our memories of Mr Philpott are of his love of gardens, growing and being outdoors. This was shown by his incredible genorosty to us as a school, being willing and happy to come at the end of a school day and rotavate the raised beds, or bring multiple plants to put in the gardens, including most of the plants that are still in the KS1 gardens now or even strim the overgrown grass! What was also apparent was how this love of the outdoors was something he shared with his girls Eleanor and Karra, they would both be there watching or or lending a helping hand where they could. 

As a school we have been so grateful for all that Mr Philpott has done for us and our outdoor areas. We will endeavour to keep these areas looking good and have them as a place where children can experience the joy  of plants, growing and just being outdoors in nature as much as Mr Philpott did. It is great to have this rose bush as a reminder of all Mr Philpott did and something that we as a school will look after and cherish for many years to come. 

A commemorative rose was planted in a ceremony after school on 18 December 2019.

Reception in the Wriggly Nativity

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Our Reception children performed the Wriggly Nativity today at Level 10 Church.

After the performance, John Hall our Governor aligned to EYFS wrote:

“What a great Wriggly Nativity!

Honestly it was fantastic. It was a such a pleasure to see the children, parents and staff having such a great time. It was an emotional time for many, with tears or pride, joy - and relief for some!

You could really see how each child’s personality had the opportunity to come through.

The interactive displays and live music gave it such a professional edge. WELL DONE!

At so many levels this sort of product is impressive. It sends a message to parents, existing and future, of what this school and the children that go to it are capable of. It also shows the high level of skill and commitment of the teaching staff and support. It is a symbol of the progress at Stanmore over the last 12 months!

Thank you to you and your staff. I hope you are proud of what you have done.”

Willow Class - strumming the Ukulele

Today we had the pleasure of watching Willow Class during their Listen2me concert. This term they have been learning how to play the ukulele. Concentrating on the thumb brush strum and the chords, C, F, G, A minor.

During the concert, they played a wide variety of songs ranging from, Meet My Ukulele, Oh When the Saints Go Marching In, The Animal Fair, Post Man Pat, The Sailor went to Sea, Sea, Sea and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Thank you to all the parents and relatives that came to watch and support the performance which was enjoyed by all. We look forward to seeing if anyone has been inspired to carry on learning this wonderful instrument.

Remember they are:

• Small and easy to carry.

• Most songs can be easily adapted for the ukulele.

• Ukes can be a phenomenal primer for other stringed instruments.

• Most chord shapes are easy to play and memorise.

• Ukuleles are unique.

• Finally, they are great for song writing.

Learning Through Landscapes Nature Grant!

Some excellent news about our school grounds arrived via email this week. We have been successful in our application for the Learning Through Landscapes Nature Grant! This has entitled us to some bespoke training for staff to ensure our school grounds are being used to their full potential providing exciting opportunities for learning outside the classroom. We have also benefited from £500 to spend on outdoor resources.

Our school council SPEAK, met to discuss which resources they would like to purchase and it was decided that the best choice was a large scale construction kit to be used in the Quad during break times and lunch times. SPEAK felt that this would encourage collaboration between younger and older students and would be used by all students each and every day rather than just for particular lessons. Our exciting new resources will be arriving mid January!

Huge thanks, and congratulations, must go to Miss Day for her successful application!