!

On Friday 31 January, HMI

visited school for another check on

our progress before our next

Ofsted Inspection. The HMI was pleased

with the progress made in school and was very

positive about the changes implemented since

our last inspection.All in school have worked very hard towards the

progress to date. Thank you all!Enjoy your half term.

Mrs L Sullivan - Head Teacher

Term Dates for 2014 !Break up for half term Friday 14 February

Back to School Monday 24 February

Break up for Easter Friday 11 April

Back to School Monday 28 April

Break up for half term Friday 23 May

INSET Day Monday 02 June

(cont. on next page) !

FEBRUARY 2014

!!HEAD’S

SPOT

DALE NEWS

Brrrr! The weather is very wintery! We’re all enjoying playing outside and wishing for snow. Please make sure your children are wrapped up warm!

!Learning Mentors !We would like to remind all Parent and Guardians to inform school ASAP of any change in contact numbers.Please remember that PE Kits must be brought in to school on Monday and kept in school until Friday.The Massage and Relaxation Group is running group on Thursday lunch times. Group leaders Iez Asif – 2A along with Leah Davey – 3J have been supporting new starters to the group. The group is full at the moment, however, we are hoping to open more groups leading up to the summer. Please see Mrs Hazell for more information.

!Term Dates (cont.)

INSET Day Tuesday 03 June

Back to School Wednesday 04 June !Break up for Summer Wednesday 23 July

Foundation Stage NewsIzzy, whizzy let’s get busy! Wow, what a magical time FS have had. We had a special visit from a magician who showed us some amazing magic tricks. We have had our own magic shows, learning some tricks ourselves. The children tried witches brew with caterpillars, butterflies, maggots and worms! (not real, don’t worry!). They wrote wizard rhyming spells and turned their teachers into frogs! We’re ok now though! The children have been working very hard in phonics and would love more help at home.!Year One News What a great half term we’ve had in Year 1! We have been reading and writing poems and sharing our poems at a ‘poem recital show’ which good fun! We enjoyed our visit to ‘Build-a-Bear’ in Westfield where we were able to make a bear for our class. As part of our learning in science, we went for a material hunt around school and we tested materials to find out which one will be best to make an umbrella for our class teddy. We also have been learning instructions and using bossy words!Next half term we will be looking at toys from the past. Why not share a toy or a game that you used to play with

when you were a child!Year Two NewsThis half term we have learnt all about the Great Fire of London and about materials. We have listened to lots of traditional stories and we have even written our own!As part of PE, we have learnt a gymnastics sequence, which has been lots of fun! Symmetry, measuring and data handling have formed part of our numeracy work. Ask us all about it!!Year 3 News!We have been learning about rocks and soils. We can recognise many different rocks and we know their properties, such as, slate is used for roofing. We have had great fun drawing and painting in the style of Paul Klee. This has included block printing and drawing using blocks of colours. “A Cross on the Door” is a book about the life of a young boy in 1665, we have read it and we have learnt about the plague in preparation for our trip to Eyam. We have written diary entries and play scripts based around the story. We have been focussing on our calculation steps in addition and subtraction and we are continuing to learn our times tables.

!!!Sports !• DW Sports Indoor 5-a-side

football – 9 matches

• Derby County Indoor 6-a-side festival

• Indoor Rowing Championships

• Bikeability – Year 5 Table Tennis Finals in Bradford. Girls runners-up

• Sportshall athletics – mixed team festival

• Girls Football Festival 7-a-side – unbeaten

• Hockey v Cavendish Close

• Table Tennis County Finals – 4 boys/4 girls

• Basketball Festival at Derby Moor School Sports Clubs in School: Morning: 8:00am-8:50am (depending on weather)Football/cricket/table tennis/tennisWednesday – BadmintonLunch time: 12:00pm-12:30pm and 12:30pm-1:00pmShort tennis / dance / indoor athletics / multi skills / table tennis After school: 3:30pm-4:30pm every day. See board for details.

Year Four News The last six weeks have flown by! We started our moving vehicle project with a talk given by two engineers from Rolls-Royce who explained how aeroplane engines are made and tested. We started to make our own vehicles working in groups. It has been challenging and we’ve had to sort out a few problems; that’s what engineers have to do. Some of us are thinking about being engineers when we are older.Year Five News !Another busy half term has whizzed past again. We have been learning about The Incredibles this half term; it started with Superhumans and what makes humans so special, the lifestyle we need to have to keep ourselves fit and healthy and the things people do which harm their bodies. We have just moved onto Superplants using Harry Potter’s Mandrakes as a starting point. We have read different religion’s versions of the Creation story and

seen how these are similar to each other. The new style homework has produced some excellent pieces of learning. A BIG thank you to your for supporting your children to complete these tasks.Year Six News !In early January all of Year 6 visited a very wet Dovedale and used the experience as a stimulus for this half term’s literacy unit. The pupils have worked exceptionally well and produced some outstanding pieces of poetry, which will be performed after half term at Dale’s very first poetry recital! Easter is fast approaching and after the half term we will start preparing for SATs. Please encourage your children to continue reading and practising their numeracy skills. Have a lovely break!!

As a Parent Governor and a member of the Dale

School Standards Committee, I continue to notice the

improvements the school is making towards the standards

of teaching and learning across all the key stages. The quality of teaching, student

progress and behaviour was applauded by the HMI Inspector during his recent visit to the school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers for their continued hard work. As parents we must play an active part not only in supporting literacy and numeracy skills but also providing our children with a range of experiences to help cultivate personal and social development. Parents are also encouraged to provide their views about the school by using the Parent View tab on the school’s website. Your views are always valued and appreciated.Mr Mohammed Shaid Dad Parent Governor

!!!GOVERNOR’S

SPOT

School Information !•School meals

continue to cost £2.00 per day / £10.00 per week. Money must be paid on a Monday morning. Please remember if your child brings a packed lunch to school it must be brought to school at 9:00am. We will not accept late lunchboxes. !

•Please look at the school website: http://dale.derby.sch.uk for more information and pictures of school life.!

•Lost Property is kept outside class 1S.

How to contact us:

Telephone 01332 760070 !Email admin@dale.derby.sch.uk !Address Dale Community Primary School Porter Road, Derby. DE23 6NL !Head Teacher Mrs L. Sullivan

Scott Walters, our guitar/ukulele teacher is preparing his pupils for another showcase assembly next half term. We are looking forward to seeing their progress. If you are interested in learning to play, please ask Mrs Wilson for details.Year 4 are also beginning to prepare for a visit to Derby High School in March for ‘National Sing-Up Day’. Final auditions have been taking place this week. We may well have some potential X-Factor contestants in the making, judging by the talent and enthusiasm we have seen so far!

!!!MUSIC