A Word From The Headteacher

Welcome back. I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that you enjoyed all the festivities which now seem a distant memory! Our end of term was certainly busy, hopefully creating the magic of the season for all our children. Thank you all for attending all our events, your words of support and best wishes. Today has been great fun as we took the opportunity after Celebration Assembly to allow the children to go out to enjoy the snow before it melted away. We‘ve had stories, news reports and haikus all about the joys and excitement of snow!

Our staff training day last week focused on improving children‘s writing skills which is a major part of our School Development plan this year. Last term we reviewed our approach to both spelling and handwriting and now we have developed a clear progression of writing skills to be taught from EYFS to Year 6. Writing has a genuine purpose and is not simply a mechanical process. I believe it is important for children to be confident and find pleasure in writing. Therefore as a school we need to strike a balance between standards and enjoyment, between writing as a set of principles and writing as a life skill. There are many opportunities and activities planned this term in all classes that will inspire the children to be amazing writers. We may have the next JK Rowling, Kingsley Amis or Julia Donaldson in our midst!

It was an absolute pleasure to once again accompany some of our Year 5/6 pupils to the amazing Young Voices concert at Sheffield Arena on Monday and join with 5,000 school pupils from all over the region. The event proclaims to be largest school choir in the world, inspiring children to discover their love of music. Thousands of schools across the UK take part in this unique event every year and I‘m so delighted that our pupils have once again been involved.

The atmosphere was fantastic and certainly a memorable experience. Our pupils were a credit to us all, singing and dancing all night long, clearly enjoying the occasion. The appearance of Urban Strides, Natalie Williams, Tabby Callaghan and the Beatbox Collective were greeted by squeals of delight, cheers and loud applause, making it a night to remember. I hope those parents who came along to watch enjoyed the evening as much as we did.

So this promises to be another successful year with so many more exciting developments planned both in terms of curriculum, the learning environment and our links with the community as we continue on our journey, working closely together, to ensure our school is truly exceptional. Developing the nursery room is our next exciting adventure and will help prepare children for school readiness. Our nursery will open in April and we are now in the process of recruiting new skilled nursery staff to work alongside our experienced staff in the Early Years Foundation Stage. We look forward to opening our doors after Easter and welcoming pre-school children to Elloughton for the very first time.

Myself and all the staff remain totally committed to ensuring we provide the best experience for everyone within our school, knowing and caring for every child as an individual. Here‘s to a very successful and fulfilling 2017!

Do have a lovely weekend.

Kind Regards

Mrs Fulstow

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS Details of all our clubs were sent out last week. Please pay via SIMS Agora by 19th January 2017 to secure your child‘s place. Ukele is one of our new exciting ventures this term - why not give it a go. Mrs Edward is busying perfecting her recipes for Cookery Club. We still have places on all our Football clubs, sewing, crochet and our Netball club for Years 3 - 6.

LUNCHTIME CLUBS We also have a range of clubs for all ages on offer at lunchtime for pupils to go along to: Board Games, Book Clubs, Lego, Quiz Club, Football, Knutty Knitters, Mathemagicians, Managhigh, Girls Football, Netball.

PARENTS EVENING - Year 2 - 6

Please telephone the office if you haven‘t already booked your appointment. Tuesday 24th & Thursday 26th 3:40pm until 6:30pm

Please note Parent‘s Evening for children in EYFS and Year 1 will now be held on 7th and 9th March.

FESA FISH & CHIP QUIZ NIGHT

Friday 3rd February 2017 - £10 per ticket

TICKETS ON SALE IN SCHOOL PLAYGROUND ON MONDAY 16TH JANUARY OR FROM THE SCHOOL OFFICE

January 13th 2017

Sadly we said goodbye last week to the Chik children Amanda, Louis and Zeus who have now moved out of the area, we wish them all success in their new school. We have said hello to Kamil Zawadka who has joined us in Year 1. We are delighted that you have joined our school and we welcome you and your family to our community.

E-Safety Day/Workshop

February 7th 2017 is Safer Internet Day, a day that is very important to our school and pupils. Safer Internet Day is coordinated by the Insafe network and is celebrated every year across Europe, and in other countries worldwide.

In the UK, Safer Internet Day is organised by the UK Safer Internet Centre (www.saferinternetday.org.uk), and this year‘s theme is ―Be the change: Unite for a better internet.‖

We are hosting a work shop for parents all about the importance of E Safety at 3.45pm. There will be a crèche facility for pupils.

Mission Christmas Appeal

We were overwhelmed by your generosity for our Christmas Appeal with so many lovely gifts received. Your kindness was very much appreciated.

The Christmas Appeal Box at Ellerker Lodge Garden Centre was overflowing with all your donations.

Thank You, Thank you, Thank You

The staff were immensely grateful for all the lovely cards and gifts they received at the end of term. Thank you for all your kindness and generosity.

Mr O‘Pray loving his new woolly hat courtesy of Fynn and Lucas Counter. Goes well with the shorts!

Year 6 SATs Talk

Monday 16th January 2017 at 6:00pm in Mrs Woodend‘s classroom.

The purpose of this evening is to explain to you what SATs are and how the school will prepare your child for the tests, including expectations and homework. Last year there were substantial changes to the tests due to changes in the curriculum and the government‘s approach to assessment without levels. Therefore we consider it vital, where possible, that all parents attend. In the meantime Year 6 Parents may find the attached guide to Key Stage SATs 2017 by Michael Tidd useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC2yhtEtk4o

Asthma in School

We have undertaken a review of all inhalers we hold in school. Please may we remind parents it is vital that your child has two inhalers in school at all times should they require an inhaler. One is kept with the child and the other is kept by the teacher in your child‘s classroom. Please ensure that they are in date.

If you have any queries please contact the school office.

Tasty Tuck—Every Friday! This has proved immensely popular and we had a rather long queue on the day of opening. We‘ve now tripled our order of bagels! Thursday 19th January

Chicken Nuggets or Veggie Nuggets

French Fries Baked Beans / Spaghetti Hoops

or Ham or Cheese Sandwich

Assorted Doughnuts

or Fresh fruit or Yoghurt

House Points

Well done to Virgo who were last term‘s champions. The children have returned to school very positive and determined to be the best they can be. Several hundred house points have already been earned in the first two weeks of January. Here‘s the latest league table:

Moral Compass – Confidence

―With confidence, you have won before you have started.‖ Marcus Garvey – Political Activist.

Our first value for 2017 is ‗Confidence‘ and in assembly this week we have been reflecting on the amazing sporting achievements of our British Olympians in Rio last summer. Every sportsperson and athlete proved that success can be achieved through hard work, sacrifice and having the confidence to overcome adversity.

There was a strong and clear message to all of us that if we have the confidence to aspire to great things and have the tenacity and resilience to keep going when things get tough, we can succeed! It is a really good time for children to think about what they achieved in 2016 and to look forward, with confidence, to 2017, a year of learning and enjoyment. We talked in assembly about self belief and we heard numerous anecdotes of children trying that extra bit harder to achieve something they didn‘t think they were capable of. We focussed on self confidence and touched on having the confidence to be different as well as what it means to have confidence in others.

It is wonderful when children come together in classes and assemblies to share their thoughts and perceptions of the values of our moral compass based on their experiences both in and out of school. They really learn so much from each other and the teachers are able to deepen their understanding of pupils by getting to know and understand them. Some of the deepest learning in classes has happened when children have come into school and talked about discussions they have had in the family home about values.

Below are links to some websites which you as parents and carers may find useful when thinking about developing children‘s confidence:

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/subjects/developing-confidence

www.kidsplayandcreate.com/self-esteem-character-building-activities-for-kids/

http://www.write-out-loud.com/build-self-confidence-in-a-child.html

Year 5 - Bushtucker Trial At the Year 5 Christmas Party the children took part in an ‗I‘m a Celebrity Eating Challenge‘. One by one, in their teams the children took their turn in the Bushtucker trials. Some of the delicacies on offer included: locusts, queen weaver ants, ‗fish guts‘ and mealworms. A thoroughly gruesome time was had by all, even with a few shouts of ―I‘m an Elloughton pupil, get me out of here!‖ ―It was a great team experience; it was really funny to watch. But a bit gross too!‖ – Isabelle Blyth ―Eating disgusting bugs was totally worth it, even though they tasted earthy.‖ – Katie Rees

―The Queen Weaver Ants were really crunchy. It was the best Christmas party ever!‖ – Ella Phillips

Scorpius 10

Andromeda 8

Leo 8

Cygnus 6

Orion 5

Virgo 5

EYFS - With a Spring in our Step! Wow what a fantastic start to the New Year in EYFS. All of our children have skipped back into school with beaming smiles on their faces ready to tackle the new challenges ahead. We have had an exciting delivery of ‗real‘ bricks to our outdoor area this term and our outdoor Wendy house has been transformed into a builder‘s yard. So far the children have been engrossed and emerged in their learning using our new resources. The children have been taking phone calls from the Three Little Pigs requesting a house to be built to protect them from the big bad wolf. The children have worked collaboratively to mix their own ‗cement‘ and lay the bricks. They have also incorporated many areas of learning including role play, using meter sticks to measure the length of the bricks, writing receipts and using money to pay for building resources and writing ‗for sale‘ signs to put up outside our house. This is all in week 1 so what an exciting term ahead we have!

Exciting Opportunity Available

The BBC has requested we let you know that they are currently in production with a brand new series of the show, Eat Well for Less. Applications are now open and they are currently on the lookout for fun and lively families who would love to save some money on their weekly shop and eat more healthily. Why not give it a go ?

Monday 16th January Year 6 SATs Parent‘s Evening

Tuesday 24th January Parent‘s Evening - Year 2 - 6

Thursday 26th January Parent‘s Evening - Year 2 - 6

Tuesday 31st January Year 6 East Barnby Parent Info Evening

Tuesday 7th February Safer Internet Day

E-Safety for Parents 3:45pm - 4.45pm

Thursday 2nd February Numicon Parent workshop - EYFS - 3:40pm

Friday 3rd February FESA Quiz Night 7:00pm

Monday 13th February Year 2 trip—Castle Museum, York

Wednesday 15th February Pre-loved Uniform sale

Year 1 trip—Street life Museum, Hull

Friday 17th February House Sing Off

Y3/4 European Day

Last Day of School

Monday 27th February Back to school

Year 6 - East Barnby Residential Week

Tuesday 28th February Year 3/4 trip—Eden Camp

Tuesday 7th March Parent‘s Evening - EYFS & Year 1

Thursday 9th March Parent‘s Evening - EYFS & Year 1

Wednesday 22nd March Class Photographs

Year 5 - National Space Centre & Leicester City

Year 5 had the amazing opportunity to visit the National Space Centre. The children had a fantastic afternoon, developing their understanding of space and our planet. The 360° Planetarium offered the children an immersive, engaging insight into the foundations and building blocks of our planet. The interactive displays and exhibitions were out of this world! ―I enjoyed the planetarium, as we learnt how the planet was made.‖ – Jessica Thompson ―I liked seeing the rocket from the top because it was ENORMOUS!‖ – Emma Moore During the morning we also visited the King Power Stadium in Leicester. The club were incredibly hospitable, and the children were given an ‗access all areas‘ stadium tour. The children ran out of the tunnel like professional players - they were greeted with a pitch-side view and the Premier League Trophy!

―My favourite part was spotting the Leicester players! It was an amazing experience.‖ – Louis Shepard ―It‘s the best school trip I‘ve ever been on. The children made me very proud, I smiled all day!‖ – Mrs Edward

Weaving challenge in 3/4!

After watching a video about an exploding cobra, the children were excited to investigate whether they could make one. They hunted outside for a variety of sticks to use before setting to work. Once they discovered their sticks weren't suitable and discussed the science behind this, they tried using flatter, much thinner sticks. They were still unsuccessful but determined to continue, so after a further discussion about why the thinner sticks didn't work, they used fatter lolly pop sticks. Success! We saw several exploding cobras all over the playground followed by whooping and cheering from the children. Their determination and perseverance was a credit to them and made us all in Y3/4 incredibly proud to teach children who don't give up on something when it is challenging.

We certainly saw a range of fantastic values from our moral compass in action.

Outdoor Learning

As you are aware we now make much greater use of our outdoor environment and many lessons each week take place outside in and around the school grounds. At Elloughton we think it is vital that children of all ages frequently have access to the outdoors as it provides a wealth of learning opportunities to extend and enhance many areas of the curriculum. Whilst outdoors children can explore, take risks, use their senses and be physically active. It enables them to develop problem solving and team work skills as well as nurturing creativity, imagination, inventiveness and resourcefulness. Staff do a minimum of one outdoor lesson per week outside in addition to PE and therefore it is important that children come prepared for all weathers as they will be outdoors much more this year, come rain or shine! Please ensure your children have a waterproof coat in school every day so they are able to take part in their outdoor learning. Being outside is liberating; children have the room to be active, noisy, messy and work on a large scale. This school year there has been lots of fantastic learning in our great outdoors and I'm sure there will be

much more to come.

THANK YOU We raised £23.97 in donations given at the end of the EYFS nativity performances. Thank you for your support.

School Bags - on sale now! Following feedback from parents we have introduced new school bags with the Elloughton School logo. CS Enterprises have the items now available to order. NB The drawstring bag is bigger and fits more in! If you wish to purchase any, please log on direct to: https://csenterprises.co.uk/

PARKING IN THE SCHOOL CAR PARK

This is a polite reminder that parents must NOT park in the school car park when dropping off and/or picking up children from the Breakfast and After School Club to ensure the safety of all our children at all times. Please do not give the supervisor of the club cause for concern by having to remind parents of this when you access the club. Your co-operation is appreciated.

Thank you.