Stanmore Post - 13 March 2020 - Coronavirus
Dear Parents/Guardians,
You will be aware that the Government updated its advice on the Coronavirus on the 12th March 2020.
They have made the decision that schools will not close unless there is a confirmed case of COVID19 within the school community. Stanmore Primary School will, therefore, continue to operate as usual for the time being.
Community events
Our priority is to keep everyone safe and provide an education for children in school for as long as possible. Key advice from the government is to maintain good hand hygiene. While we have a supply of soap, hand sanitiser is in short supply and we need to prioritise these resources towards the continuing day to day running of the school.
As part of our risk assessment, we have considered the logistics of ensuring all visitors to our events can wash their hands on arrival and before leaving school. This means that we have had to consider each community event that we have planned for the next few weeks and regrettably make some changes.
The Year 3 / 4 Spring Production Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th March
This will go ahead as it is fully prepared and the children have been working really hard. The audience are asked to enter the school via the KS2 gate and wash their hands in Acorns before entering the KS2 corridor and the hall. This will be repeated at the end of the show. If you have hand sanitiser please bring this as an alternative.
The Mothers’ Day Breakfast Friday 21st March
This will, unfortunately, need to be postponed due to the number of people expected and the nature of the event.
Parents’ Evening
This will go ahead as planned but the usual face to face meeting may be replaced by a telephone consultation. Please book online for a time slot when the system opens as usual and we will review this nearer the time.
The ‘Listen to Me’ concert and The Easter Service on Thursday 2nd April
Both these events will be under review and may be subject to change.
There are general principles anyone can follow to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses which can be found here:
People who feel unwell should stay at home and should not attend work or any education or childcare setting. This includes our school events.
Pupils, students, staff and visitors should wash their hands before leaving home and arriving at school and after using the toilet.
If you are worried about your symptoms or those of a child or colleague, please call NHS 111. Do not go directly to your GP or another healthcare environment. Further information can be found on the Public Health England Blog and the NHS UK website.
Possible Closure
With schools being shut in other countries it is clearly possible that this may happen here in the future. We cannot say when this might be required but we expect the Government to give us some notice of this decision and we will keep you informed.
If the school is required to close, we will continue the children’s education by using online resources including Purple Mash and Times Table Rock Stars. Please check that your child’s login for these is in their home school diary. Every child should have a reading book in their bag. In addition to this, we will post the ‘Stanmore Jigsaw’ of activities for each year group, spellings and spelling strategies. Maths will be updated daily on the website for each year group.
Please check the school website for updates. There is a department for Education helpline number and email address for staff, pupils and parents to raise any queries. Please note that the helpline is very busy and it may take some time to get through.
Phone 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening Hours 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
More information can be found at this link
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
What to do if you think you may have the virus
Anybody developing symptoms such as a new cough, temperature or fever should self-isolate for 7 days
If symptoms develop or you are concerned then you should ring 111 or go online to https://111.nhs.uk/service/covid-19 and follow the advice given.
Any children needing to self–isolate should report their absence to the school office. It is important that the reason for absence is made clear to the school
We understand that this is a difficult and worrying time for everyone. The situation may change and it is important that you check our website regularly. We will inform you of any changes as soon as we are able to.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Year 3 - Winchester College River Study
Year 3 were very fortunate to spend two afternoons at Winchester College studying the River Itchen and all the creatures that live in its crystal clear waters. We learnt that the water was clear because the chalk aquifer filters it. We caught invertebrates from the river bottom and sorted them. There were lots of shrimps which indicated that the water was clean.
Using an orange, tape measure and stop watch, we recorded the speed of the river. We did the test 3 times to ensure that it was a fair test. We found the PH of the river was PH7 which meant it was NEUTRAL and good for the fish.
Using our special glasses, we saw the sheltered area where Atlantic salmon spawn, laying 25,000 eggs after travelling over 6,000 miles. They use their sense of smell to navigate.
Birch art work inspired by Kurt Jackson
Art work inspired by Kurt Jackson whose paintings reflect a concern with environmental issues and ecology.
Children used words associated with plastic waste, contaminating the worlds oceans, to spread the message that we need to think carefully about how our actions damage the natural environment. The children researched and then wrote persuasive posters to highlight the issue of plastic waste and suggested alternatives to ensure that the oceans are kept clean.
Hazel class - fully engaging in the tunnel experience
Hazel Class have thoroughly enjoyed book week this week. It has been great to see all the children enjoying their reading and sharing stories together. We have had favourite books bought in to school including one with life size pictures of animals and plants in, including a rather terrifying looking tarantula. We have also had some hand written stories bought in and shared. It is so exciting to see members of our class enjoying stories so much that they want to write their own in their own time, we even have one boy who is keen to become an author when he is older.
In our writing sessions in Hazel class, containing a mix of the three year 1/2 classes, we have been exploring the book 'The Tunnel' by Anthony Browne. The children have loved looking at this book and have studied the images in the book to make predictions and infer the characters thoughts, feelings and reasons for actions. They have also been writing some excellent descriptive sentences by looking in detail at some of the amazingly illustrated images and writing what they can see but also by fully engaging in the tunnel experience by climbing through their own tunnel and seeing what it might have been like for the girl in the story.
The children have shown a great amount of empathy towards the world while we have spent time looking at the book, 'Little Turtle turns the tide' by Lauren Davies. They have had some great ideas as to how to reduce plastic and are keen to look after our world more, especially our oceans. Please encourage the children to do what they can to help reduce, reuse and recycle.
Stanmore celebrates World Book Day 2020
On Thursday 5th March, we participated in the worldwide celebration of books and reading. Prior to World Book Day, we welcomed Lauren Davies, author of ‘Little Turtle turns the tide’ to Stanmore, where she shared her beautifully illustrated book highlighting the important issue of plastic pollution in our seas. This text was selected as our focus book for the whole school during the week, with the children exploring the storyline, vocabulary and grammar features during their writing and guided reading sessions. Alongside this, we linked in our PSHE work on the environment and plastic pollution, as well as creating some stunning artworks inspired by the book. The children were invited to contribute to a whole-school art project using plastic bottle tops, highlighting the concerns of plastics swamping our oceans.
On World Book Day itself, the children were invited to dress in a ‘sea’ theme; we were so delighted to see so many children participate as beachcombers, mermaids, pirates and a wide selection of sea creatures! In the afternoon, the children moved into their house ‘families’ and shared stories with each other. This was a wonderful afternoon of story-telling, sharing favourite books and drawing on past experiences across Early Years to Year 6.
Friday afternoon featured the ‘Book Swap’ with children across the Key Stages bringing in and exchanging books for exciting new reads. It was lovely to see the children bursting with the anticipation of reading their ‘new’ book.
The children are encouraged to complete their ‘share-a story’ log, which runs for the month of March, with a block to be shaded in for every 10 minutes of story sharing completed. We look forward to creating our ‘Share-0-Meter’ of reading to see how many hours of story sharing Stanmore can achieve over the month.
Read all about it!
This week we featured in the Hampshire Chronicle. Click on the photo below to see the story online.
Lunchtime is changing - for the better
The opinions and views of our pupils are really important to us at Stanmore Primary. By listening to our pupils and implementing their ideas we build on their sense of Belonging and Trust in our school community.
One area where the children have had the responsibility to make a difference is in the changes we have made to lunchtimes.
A huge amount of time and effort has gone into making the lunchtimes a positive and enriching experience for all the children, with different areas offering different activities. Watching a huge majority of our children dancing and singing along with Miss Elkins on the Junior Playground,(and hearing about the staff joining in while watching from the staff room window), has been quite magical.
At the beginning of the week, children ate their lunch in a darkened hall lit up with fairy lights while ambient music played, and today the tables were set in rows of red, blue, green and yellow for the house teams to sit at.
Thank you to all the children and staff who have contributed to make this a success.
A new addition to Stanmore School
A little bit of rain did not deter Birch class from pond dipping, in the school pond, as part of their longitudinal study in science. To their surprise the pond was teeming with frogspawn. It takes frogspawn roughly three weeks to hatch after spawning and each tadpole is around 12mm and brown in colour.
Birch class will keep the pond under close observation and report when the first tadpoles hatch.
The children have written some very entertaining playscripts for a short Pixar animation, ‘The chess game.’ So many children excelled that Mrs Taylor awarded many Headteacher’s merit for their excellent writing.
Year 3/ 4 have been busy learning their lines, practicing the songs and collecting costumes for their Ancient Egyptian production which they will perform at the end of the month.
Stanmore Post - 28 February 2020
Dear Parents,
As part of our Curriculum Work we have been thinking about the experiences that children have at lunchtime. We are excited to share our Lunchtime Changes with you. These have been designed by the children and staff and include themes such as ‘Mindfulness Monday’ and ‘Would you rather?’ Wednesday. Our House Captains have been wonderful ambassadors for our school, including speaking to the Hampshire Chronicle about their role in school improvement earlier this week. They have designed a presentation on the lunchtime changes which they would like to share with you here.
As you will be aware, Mrs Kempson has started her maternity leave. The children have had a successful week with Mrs Atkins as the lead teacher for Elm Class.
In the lead up to SATs, Miss Evers will be providing some additional booster sessions in Elm during the afternoons. These sessions will help the children who are about to undertake statutory assessment and give the Year 6 pupils the best opportunity to be successful. When Miss Evers is providing booster during the afternoons, Mrs Stanley will work in Sycamore Class. Mrs Stanley is well known to Sycamore as she teaches in this class every day and knows all of the children. Year 3 / 4 began rehearsing for their Ancient Egyptian Play that they will perform later this term. Miss Evers is fully involved in the production and remains the lead teacher for Sycamore.
As a school, we are now fortunate to have a strong KS2 team who are able to work together for the best interest of the children. This includes supporting Mrs Nutt in Aspen Class as she temporarily stands in for Miss Norris.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Cross Country is just the start
Sports is an important aspect of school life. It helps to keep children’s minds and body active, it’s good for their wellbeing, it builds resilience and helps to strengthen team skills.
This term we have made sure that children at Stanmore have been given as many opportunities to participate in sport activities as possible. They have had the opportunity to take part in football, running, yoga and multi-skills.
We recently entered two cross-country races, where the children who took part did incredibly well in running against other schools despite the weather and competition – all the children thoroughly enjoyed the events and showed great sportsmanship.
The highlight for Stanmore School is that Seth and Thomas from Year 6 have been chosen to take part in the Cross-Country Championships on Thursday 5th March in Basingstoke! Good Luck boys!
We hope to continue our love of sport at Stanmore by participating in more competitions, encouraging more children to attend clubs and hosting a sports event at the school!