Chris Lindsay 08/10/2021 Chris Lindsay 08/10/2021

Stanmore Post - 8 October 2021

Dear Parents/ Carers,

As we are a Hampshire Local Authority School our ongoing improvement work is evaluated on a regular basis. We work closely with the Hampshire Inspector and Advisory service to ensure that the Quality of Education is strong throughout the school. Our monitoring visit on Monday included three Local Authority inspectors who spent the day talking to leaders in detail about the school improvements that we shared with parents at the meeting last week. They visited classes evaluating the curriculum work and the behaviour and attitudes of the children. It was a pleasure to share our work and the outcome of the visit was positive. In particular, they commented on the excellent learning behaviour of the children. As you will be aware, we are overdue an OFSTED inspection as a result of the Pandemic. Opportunities for an external perspective of the how well the school is progressing is both helpful and positive. As soon as we are notified by OFSTED that they intend to visit we will let you know, it could happen at any time during this academic year.

Earlier this week we were proud to receive a tree as part of the 'Plant a tree for the Jubilee' initiative. Throughout the county seventy trees will be planted creating the Queen's Green Canopy (QGC) for her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee. The QGC Celebration Trees initiative aims to highlight the educational aspects of trees and the significance of giving young people access to nature, encouraging wider engagement with the QGC across the school curriculum. Our School Eco Council were invited to join the Mayor of Winchester and the Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire for the ceremonial planting.

See more of this event

We celebrated National Poetry Day on Monday 4th October with a visit from Winchesters 'Poet on the High Street.' Johnny Seagrave. As part of Winchester Poetry Festival, Johnny was commissioned to celebrate the city and reconnect people with the place following the Pandemic. He worked with each class to create a poem that explored their home city and their imagination. Our poetry will be part of an online book of poems to be published soon.

Our 'Beyond the Beat' Year 3 and 4 music programme is continuing to go well. Parents are invited to watch a lesson being delivered by Hampshire Music Staff in order to help support children at home. This will take place in the hall on Wednesday 13th October starting at 4pm. You are welcome to come round to the hall after school.

On Monday please remember that children need to wear a yellow item or accessory for 'Hello Yellow' day, supporting Young Minds. Our House Captains will be on the gate with buckets on Monday morning if you would like to make a donation to this charity.

Best wishes,

Sharon Taylor

Sally Atkins 08/10/2021 Sally Atkins 08/10/2021

A special platinum tribute for the Queen

The Queen’s Green Canopy

This week the eco team at Stanmore Primary were delighted to welcome the Major of Winchester and the Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire to our school to plant a tree in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. 69 schools have been chosen around the country to take part in the Queen’s Green Canopy project and for Stanmore this is extra special as were part of the silver jubilee celebrations in 1977 - the tree is still there and thriving.

The children were excellent ambassadors for the school and were even featured on South Today.

Yr 1 and 2

This week in year 2 we have been focusing on money in maths. The children have learnt to recognise the coins and understand their value. We have been exploring making amounts in different ways and also beginning to add amounts using a number line.

Yr 3 and 4

This week, we have started our RE unit on Devotion. The children explored the meaning of the word, and what 'devotion' might look like in their lives and the lives of others. We unpacked an exciting box containing Hindu objects which are placed on a shrine to show devotion. We learnt about some of the different objects and their purpose on the shrine. We will continue this learning during the week.

In History our task this week was to work out who was in charge of Britain at different times: the Vikings or the Anglo-Saxons. We met some important people from history, including our very own Alfred the Great and we started to wonder about what it was that made him so great. Our Key to Success: co-operation was really important for this.

In English we started our brand new book 'The Buried Crown' by listening to an old Anglo-Saxon legend sat around the campfire... It was magical!

Year 5 and 6

This week in Year 5/6, we have been recalling the ways in which we represent multiplication and division facts. We used counters to build arrays, number lines to demonstrate repeated addition and then moved on to the area model. Drawing on the tables was the best bit!

We also wrote some fantastic monologues in English from the point of view from characters from The Highwayman. The children showed fantastic perseverance and the writing looked very impressive on the ‘old paper’.

Chris Lindsay 03/10/2021 Chris Lindsay 03/10/2021

Stanmore Post - 1 October 2021

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Yesterday we held our annual school improvement meeting. Thank you to the parents and staff who were able to attend. The PowerPoint is attached to this post.

It is a pleasure to share the highlights and the successes of our ongoing work. The school is in a very positive position and the evening illustrated our shared sense of purpose and community. Our core values Belonging Excellence Support and Trust are the foundations of our work and last year we successfully embedded our ‘belonging’ value. Children are met by trusted adults and receive consistent messages about their value as a member of our school community. They are encouraged to have their own identity in the school as well as being a member of the class and house. As a result we have seen an improvement in attendance and more children arriving in school on time. Our House Captains are proving to be excellent role models, most recently leading whole school assemblies, virtually and during House Assembly on a Friday. This year we are striving for excellence, embedding our Stanmore Curriculum and ensuring that children have opportunities outside of the classroom experience.

You can see more of our excellent work here.

This half term clubs have been limited to dance and football as staff and children have got used to a more active lifestyle with the relaxing of Covid restrictions. After half term we will begin to increase our range of after school clubs starting with a homework club on a Thursday after school for children in KS2 which will run until 4:15pm. KS2 Parents are welcome to attend if they would like to find out more about how to support children with homework. Year 3 / 4 Parents are also invited to our music workshop at 4pm on Wednesday 13th October. This event, run by Hampshire Music Service, is aimed at giving parents some skills and confidence to support music practice at home. No previous experience of playing an instrument is required, you will not be asked to play. You will just find out what your child is being taught in their music lessons and how to support them at home. Please come along. Our next curriculum event for all parents is on Thursday 21st October at 3:30pm. The focus of this will be mathematics.

Hello Yellow Day was a popular event last year and we are committed to supporting emotional wellbeing. The date that we have set aside this year is Monday 11th October. Children can come to school wearing an item of yellow clothing or accessories and they will take part in a range of activities. We will have a collection for Young Minds on the gate before school if you would like to contribute.

Best wishes,

Sharon Taylor

Sally Atkins 01/10/2021 Sally Atkins 01/10/2021

A poet comes to school

Yr 5 and 6

This week, we had a REAL LIFE poet visit our school! Jon Seagrave is poet, who is collecting poems for The Winchester map of poems. He recited his own poem based on seagulls- which made us laugh- and we even got to join in by shouting like football fans.

To help Jon with his poem, In this city.... we all had to write a line about what we do in Winchester. Some of us came up with very weird and wonderful things!!!

Aspen class started work on their Longitudinal study, exploring the question “Do we all the change at the same rate?” The children measured their partners and will repeat the task once a month. I wonder if our height picture might change?

In all three classes, the children took part in a debate to decide whether the Highwayman was really a criminal or not.

Chris Lindsay 24/09/2021 Chris Lindsay 24/09/2021

Stanmore Post - 24 September 2021

Dear Parents/ Carers,

The children have had a fantastic week in Stubbington and we are really proud of their exemplary behaviour. Staff at Stubbington were extremely complimentary about their positive attitude and conduct during the week. Thank you to all of the staff who led the trip for giving the children such a great opportunity. While Year 6 have been away children have continued to experience the wider curriculum back in school. We had an exciting Winchester College Boys v. Stanmore Chess afternoon and our chess players represented us well. For some, it was their first game but others played and even won, very confidently. Kings pupils visited us earlier in the week and performed in woodwind brass and string ensembles to inspire our musicians for our joint concert in December. We are hoping that this will be held at Kings and that parents will be invited.

This week I have enjoyed reading high quality writing on the Highwayman from Year 5 and imaginative writing linked to the Tin Forest in Year 3 and 4 when children collected their Head teacher's merit from me. Children across the school have settled into their groups for spelling and our phonics lessons Read write Inc. In Year 1 and 2 children have begun work on their Mondrian art project.

See more photos of our work here.

I would like to remind you about a couple of items. If you are still having difficulty in logging on to SIMs Parent please the office and Mrs Eagle will send out another invitation. It is really important for us to have up to date contact information, consent for images and any health care needs or entitlement to the pupil premium grant for free school meals.

For parents in Birch, Sycamore and Willow, please ensure that your children take great care of the musical instruments. It is a wonderful opportunity for every child in Year 3 and 4 at Stanmore to access a musical instrument, but they are expensive and there will be a charge to parents for lost or damaged items. We can store them in school if you prefer.

Next Thursday evening at 6:30pm we are looking forward to seeing parents in the hall for our Keys to Success evening where you can find out more about our school improvement priorities and achievements. I hope that you are able to join us then.

Best regards

Sharon Taylor

Sally Atkins 24/09/2021 Sally Atkins 24/09/2021

Stubbington, trees and robots

Yr 2

This week in year 2 we started our longitudinal study looking at the affect the seasons have on the plants in our school grounds. We thought about the question "Do the trees that lose their leaves first in the Autumn get them back again first in the Spring?" We decided to each choose a tree and track it over the year. First we needed to identify the types of trees in our school grounds, then choose one to sketch and have our photo taken with. We will keep revisiting these trees during the year to see what changes..

Yr 5

This week, robots have been leading the Year 5's learning. Using the short film, The Girl and Robot as our inspiration for our writing, we have also been sketching mechanical beings and using oil pastel to build up beautiful colours. We also used a circuit with a motor to make our robot models move!

Yr 6

This week our amazing yr 6 children have enjoyed a week of activities and adventures at our residential at Stubbington Study centre. The children have all been brilliant and it has been a pleasure to see their confidence grow and the smiles on so many faces. We have conquered an earthquake, walked along the sea shore, inspected mice and voles and even taken part in our very own Stanmore fashion show. Here are just a few of the pictures taken.

Sally Atkins 17/09/2021 Sally Atkins 17/09/2021

The Big Bad Wolf, time travellers and scientists

Yr 1

Maple Class has had an amazing start to the year! It has been so lovely to observe and participate in their amazing play and to see their creative ideas come to fruition. This week we have been marvellous mathematicians. We have been exploring various ways of representing numbers, including; making the number, drawing a pictorial representation and writing the numeral and the number using words! We have also had a visit from the Big Bad Wolf to support our Three Little Pigs focus! The Wolf was rather forgetful and told the children the wrong story! Luckily, the children were able to retell the story in their play! We are very proud of Maple this week, they have settled in amazingly and we can't wait to see what they create next!

Yr 2

This week year two made time travelling head bands and then travelled back in time to 1666. Once they arrived they discovered some buried items. After excavating them they discovered a bottle of wine, some cheese and a diary extract from Samuel Pepys. The diary extract mentioned a terrible disaster that happened in London. Once back in class they used the key words from the diary to do some google searching where they discovered that there had been a Great Fire. This has started our topic called "What if London hadn't burnt down?" where we will be learning all about the Great fire of London.

Year 3 and 4

In science this week, Birch Class started their longitudinal study. This year, they will be making observations, taking measurements and hypothesising about the changes that occur to a pond habitat over the course of a year. To start the study, the children spent time outside observing the pond and surrounding areas, noting the vegetation and wildlife. They linked what they observed to prior learning about lifecycles and seasonal changes. We are looking forward to seeing how this habitat changes throughout the year!

Yr 5 and 6

This week Yr 5 and 6 had to investigate if light shines in straight lines. With a length of hose, a sheet of plastic and a torch the children co-operated together to decide what was the best way to prove if the statement was true.

We found that the light did not shine on the table when the hose was bent as the light could not travel around the curves. We also discovered that as the hose has an opaque inside, the light was absorbed by the black material.

Chris Lindsay 11/09/2021 Chris Lindsay 11/09/2021

Stanmore Post - 10 September 2021

Dear Parents/ Carers,

This week we have begun work on our new topics. These have been carefully selected to build on prior knowledge and to engage the children with new learning. Throughout the week I have seen examples of excellence that the children are proud to share.

We have successfully appointed our new House Captains, Vice House Captains and Speak Representatives. We shared the outcomes and celebrated today in assembly. I would like to thank every child who put themselves forward. We were impressed with the high quality of the applications but also with how much it means to the children. Their aspiration to have a voice in the school is an indicator of the success of our improvement work. Naturally, there will be disappointment for some children. Please remind them that we are proud of them all and that there will be other opportunities, including sports leader, eco council, friendship ambassadors and librarians. Look out for photos of our pupil representatives on the website next week.

Our Stanmore Enrichment Curriculum includes two residential visits. These will take place in Year 4 and Year 6 each year. Year 4 children will go to Minstead Study Centre in December for two nights. Year 6 children are excited about their residential visit to Stubbington on September 20th for 4 nights. It was good to see so many parents at the Stubbington parent information meeting this week. I am looking forward to hearing Year 6 share their experiences, inspiring younger children to look forward to these visits as they move up through the school.

As part of our Safeguarding responsibilities it is essential that we have up to date information including contact details, medical information and image consent. This year we will use the SIMs Parent APP to collect this information. For many parents, it will be possible to submit a no change response, for others there may be a change of contact details. Please complete this by Monday 20th September so we can make the necessary changes on our system. If you haven't used it before it is free to download to your mobile device and screen shots to help with this can be viewed here.

If your child has a known health condition, please come to the office to sign their health care plan for 2021-22. If your child has a new health condition that we should be aware of please ask for an appointment with Mrs Fenton via the admin office adminoffice@stanmore.hants.sch.uk. Thank you for your support in keeping our administrative systems up to date.

Breakfast Club

We are currently offering a Breakfast Club run by a member of staff, until Creative Kidz are in a position to start the provision of their Breakfast and After School Club. Please book via adminoffice@stanmore.hants.sch.uk by 3.00pm Fridays for the following week. Sessions start from 7.45am in the school hall and are charged at £5.00 per session payable via ScoPay.

Kind regards

Sharon Taylor

Sally Atkins 10/09/2021 Sally Atkins 10/09/2021

SIMS parents app

As part of our Safeguarding responsibilities it is essential that we have up to date information including contact details, medical information and image consent. This year we will use the SIMs Parent APP to collect this information. For many parents, it will be possible to submit a no change response, for others there may be a change of contact details. Please complete this by Monday 20th September so we can make the necessary changes on our system. If you haven’t used it before it is free to download to your mobile device. Please see the screen shots below to help you.

Chris Lindsay 04/09/2021 Chris Lindsay 04/09/2021

Stanmore Post - 3 September 2021

Dear Parents/ Carers,

I hope that you have had an enjoyable summer. It was a pleasure to welcome everyone back this morning. The children have returned ready to learn and I have been impressed with the calm and positive start today. Assembly altogether in the hall was a real highlight. We are all looking forward to more irresistible learning throughout the term, this year we intend to focus on our value of Excellence.

Next week you will receive an overview of the topics and subjects covered this term. As we are able to return to face to face meetings we have planned a series of curriculum events for parents. The dates are at the end of the newsletter. I hope that you will be able to attend to find out more about your child's learning this term.

The one way system is no longer in operation and there is no requirement to wear masks unless this is your preference. In school we will maintain good hand hygiene and ask that you continue to encourage this at home. Children in KS1 can now be collected at 3:10pm

Our teaching team remains very consistent this year. I am pleased to welcome back Miss Hurley from her recent maternity leave. Miss Sophie Adams joins us as a teaching assistant in Birch Class. Mrs Laver will return to teach in Elm Class once a week. The Leadership Team remain the same: Mrs Taylor Headteacher, Mrs Atkins Assistant Headteacher and Mrs Fenton Inclusion Leader and SENCO. We are always available to be contacted via the office adminoffice@stanmore.hants.sch.uk We will always do our best to answer your questions and provide support or advice where it is needed. Our teachers are also available if you have any important information to share with them. A quick question can be managed at the door but please make an appointment via the office if you would prefer more time to share any issues.

Thank you for sending the children back looking so smart in full school uniform, including school shoes. We would prefer children to wear the uniform with embroidered logo. School uniform is still available online from 'direct4logos Plain polo shirts and cardigan/jumpers in school colours can be worn in place of logo items and purchased at Tesco. Children should not wear hoodies, joggers, leggings or jeans. Please let the school office know if you have any difficulties with this. On PE days children should continue to come to school wearing PE kits and prepared for both indoor and outdoor PE sessions. Other items available with a school logo include a reversible bottle green fleece lined jacket, beanie and baseball style hats.

Please make sure that all uniform items are clearly marked with your child's name, it really helps when sweatshirts or P.E. kits are mislaid and without a name it is very difficult to return it to the right child. Thank you for your support with this. Wearing uniform is an important part of our 'belonging value. https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/uniform

Kind regards

Sharon Taylor