Weekly Bulletin: Friday 10th March 2023
Headteacher’s message to parents/carers
Dear Parents/Carers,
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers from the TSA for organising and running our Mother’s Day present room this week. We had a range of beautiful gifts for children to buy….. but hopefully they have managed to keep these secret from their amazing mums, for the moment! Our present rooms are always a popular TSA event and we are aiming to add more events for children this year, including our new after-school discos. Year 5 and 6 had a great time at their disco last month and we’re planning ahead for further discos in the summer term.
In assembly this week, children in Years 1-6 learned about the Hindu festival of Holi, which was celebrated in Kent and around the world on Wednesday. Also known as the festival of colours, it’s a wonderful celebration of new life which happens every spring.
Thank you for your support with getting children into school on Wednesday – our attendance was high despite the un-Spring-like snowy conditions. We were pleased to be able to stay open on this occasion and we were grateful to our staff team for helping us to achieve this. Children enjoyed playing in the snow (‘the best day ever!’ according to our ever-enthusiastic Year 4 children) although it was slushballs rather than snowballs by the end of the day! Hopefully we have now seen the end of wintry weather, with warmer months ahead.
This weekend, please could we ask our parents/carers to take a look at TT Rock Stars with your children? As Year 3 mention in the Our Learning section below, we’re seen some excellent progress in Maths knowledge – what is your child’s Rock Status now?
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Best wishes
Ruth Austin
Headteacher
Our Learning Year 3
Maths
As we are sure you have noticed at home, the children are loving TT Rock Stars! There are so many children making incredible progress with their times tables by logging on for a few minutes every day (they are also making some interesting additions to their Rock Star profiles). In our arithmetic lessons, as well as learning the three times tables, children are becoming more confident when adding and subtracting. The focus for our maths learning for the first two weeks has been length; learning how to measure accurately and using our knowledge of place value to help when converting units of measurement. This week our focus has switched to fractions; working with unit fractions and being able to explain what the denominator and numerator are.
English
We started the term reading The Chocolate Tree, a Maya folk tale that explains how humans were given a chocolate tree by the god Kulkulkan. The children wrote predictions based on the first half of the book, some were very close to the ending of the story. The children worked in groups, making lolly stick puppets of the characters from the story and performed different sections of the book to the rest of the class. The children really enjoyed the performances.
This week, we have been reading The Great Kapok Tree; the story has an important message from the author about her reasons for writing it. Ask your children why the Great Kapok Tree is so important.
Topic
Our topic this term is The Ancient Maya. The children have used atlases and Google Earth to find where the Maya used to live. Over the next few weeks, the children will be learning about how the lives of the Maya are different to our own and exploring the significance of masks to the Maya.
French
We have been revising our classroom commands, playing Jaques a dit (Simon says in French). We are continuing to learn new phonemes for the vocabulary we will be learning this term. The children have also learned the French for consonants and vowels and used these to try to work out which colour their partner is spelling out. On the 20th, we are looking forward to Joyeux International Francophonie Day! The children will have plenty of opportunities to practise their French as well as learning about French culture.
Notices
Information on autism and ADHD in children: If you would like further information on autism and ADHD, please refer to the Handbook for Kent Families in the letters and forms section of our website www.tunbury.kent.sch.uk/Parents/Letters-Forms/. Sections include where to go for help with health, education, rights and benefits, and a listing of local and national organisations. A list of tips has also been included that may help you to support your child’s behaviour at home.
School support staff vacancies: We are still looking for a School Crossing Patrol (SCP) to work on Tunbury Avenue: https://recruitmenthub.solutions/members/modules/job/detail.php?record=7403. Any applicants can be fast-tracked to interview as soon as they apply. Remember that KCC would consider job-share or part-time applications for this role, for example to work just mornings, just afternoons or certain days of the week. Please share this information with anyone you know - help us find a Local Hero!
We also need a new Receptionist in our main school office to cover Mrs Foreman’s maternity leave:
TSA Mother’s Day Present Room: TSA will be holding an additional present room on Tuesday in the main hall, straight after school. £2.50 per present.
Easter holiday activities: Information on holiday activities within Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council for Easter 2023 is now available. The scheme which is aimed at young people ages 4-16 years features a range of activities, workshops and clubs which are offered by local providers to help keep children stimulated and active during the holidays. The activities are promoted by the Borough Council and many are supported by a 50% discount for families who are on low incomes and hold a TMBC Leisure Pass.
Further details can be found via the following link: www.tmbc.gov.uk/holidayactivities
Weekly Class Attendance: This is a new weekly feature on our bulletin, to highlight and celebrate good levels of attendance. Well done to Crimson Class from KS2 and Blue Class from KS1 for being our top attenders this week!
|
Class |
Weekly Attendance Percentage |
|
Crimson |
☆95.93%☆ |
|
Blue |
☆95.83%☆ |
|
Indigo |
94.78% |
|
Hedgehogs |
93.33% |
|
Lilac |
93.1% |
|
Yellow |
92.89% |
|
Amber |
92.46% |
|
Ruby |
92.22% |
|
Bears |
91.92% |
|
Sapphire |
91.85% |
|
Emerald |
91.85% |
|
Orange |
90.8% |
|
Red |
90.74% |
|
Scarlet |
90.42% |
|
Pink |
89.63% |
|
Azure |
88.52% |
|
Owls |
88.38% |
|
Magenta |
88.12% |
|
Lavender |
86.67% |
|
Turquoise |
86.67% |
|
Violet |
86.3% |
Team Points: In our second totals for the new term, the scores are as follows. Congratulations to Attenborough team.
|
Rowling |
Attenborough |
Holmes |
Hawking |
|
2804 |
3482 |
3102 |
3265 |
Dates for your Diary
Term dates for 2022/23: https://www.tunbury.kent.sch.uk/Term-Dates-22-23/
Tuesday 14th March – TSA Mother’s Day Present Room – Main Hall – 3.15 pm NEW
Wednesday 15th March – Year 1 visit to Kent Life
Wednesday 15th March – NEU strike date
Thursday 16th March – NEU strike date
Friday 17th March – National Science Day
Friday 17th March - Rochester Bridge Trust visit to Year R
Monday 20th March – Francophonie Day
Wednesday 22nd March - Poor Victorian day: Year 1 NEW
Thursday 23rd March – Year 2 visit to Rochester Guildhall Museum and Upnor Castle
Thursday 30th March - IRock Performance to parents am
Friday 31st March – Last day of term 4 for pupils
Monday 17th April – First day of term 5 for pupils
Monday 1st May - Bank Holiday – School Closed
May – Year 2 (KS1) SATs
Monday 8th May – Bank Holiday in honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III
Tuesday 9th – Friday 12th May – Year 6 (KS2) SATs
Friday 19th May – Y5 Visit to Maidstone Museum
Monday 22nd– Friday 26th May – Outdoor learning week
Friday 26th May – Last day of term 5 for pupils
Monday 5th June - INSET Day – School Closed for pupils
Tuesday 6th June – First day of term 6 for pupils
Tuesday 6th- Friday 9th June – STEAM week
w/c Tuesday 6th June – Year 4 Multiplication Times Tables check
w/c Monday 12th June – Year 1 Phonics check
Friday 30th June – Sports Day
Friday 7th July – Reserve Sports Day
Friday 21st July – Last day of term/academic year for pupils
Class assemblies
Class assemblies will be held in the school hall on Friday afternoons. Parents/carers and family members from each class are warmly invited to join us in school for these events, as our children love to share their learning with you. Please come to the front of the school and wait outside the hall entrance doors. You will be invited in at approximately 2.45 pm. The assembly will begin at 2.50 pm and last for about 10 minutes, finishing in time for you to collect your children at the end of the school day, as normal.
Friday 10th March Yellow Class Assembly
Friday 17th March Crimson Class Assembly
Friday 24th March Turquoise Class Assembly
Friday 31st March Ruby Class Assembly
Friday 28th April Sapphire Class Assembly
Friday 5th May Pink Class Assembly
Friday 12th May Red Class Assembly
Friday 19th May Bears Assembly
Friday 26th May Owls Assembly
Friday 16th June Hedgehogs Assembly
