the gordon hildren s academy weekly newsletter · 2019-11-08 · the gordon hildren’s academy...
TRANSCRIPT
The Gordon Children’s Academy
Weekly Newsletter
Friday 08 October 2019
Lost Property
Next week all lost property will be out on the playground on Tuesday evening and will be accessible at the end of the school
day. If your child has lost something please take a look. Even if you miss Tuesday the lost property will still be accessible for the
rest of the week but will be stored in the bottom floor of the large building at the top of the main playground. Any items of
clothing that aren’t claimed by the end of the week will be donated to charity.
Attendance
Please report all sickness and absence on the attendance line to Mrs Groves or the main office if the line is unavailable.
Birds of Prey
On Thursday 28th we have an opportunity for our children in year 3 to have their photos taken with Avian visitors from Eagle
Heights. A letter has been sent home with regards to this, if you’re interested please ensure the consent form and money is
returned to the school office by Tuesday 26 November 2019.
End of day pick up
If someone who is not on your collection sheet is collecting your child from school you must let the class teacher know either
by writing a note in your child’s contact book or by informing the school office so they can pass the information on.
Open Evening
Thank you to everyone who helped make our Open Evening great! It was lovely to see so many parents both familiar and new
in attendance. There were exciting activities available and it was lovely to see the children including the “big children” (adults)
have great fun getting involved in science experiments, leaf rubbing and visiting our mud kitchen. A massive thank you to all
the children who provided their beautiful singing voices and to the school’s ambassadors for their knowledge of the school
on the tours, the dedicated staff and of course the parents; new and old, who came to look around and will be joining the
Gordon family. Please remember to have a look at our school website for upcoming tours.
Online Safety
With more apps coming out and more ways for your children to access the internet it is important to ensure they are safe
while doing so. On the next three pages will be information on how you can help protect your children while they are online
and what apps are suitable. For more information please visit www.nationalonlinesafety.com
Dear Parents/Carers
As we prepare for Remembrance Day, classes have been involved in a range of artistic activities to learn about the bravery and sacrifice of all those involved in the First World War. Our year 4 students have been experiencing what life would have been like in the trenches and how people back home may have been affected; gaining an understanding of how women were deployed to the front lines to work as nurses, the roles of people back home and even going so far as to listen to what an air raid siren would sound like. We’ve had students across all years looking at WW1 poetry and creating Remembrance Day murals. If you happen to be visiting the school please take time to appreciate all of the fantastic displays!
This week we celebrated a successful open evening with a fantastic turnout. We would like to thank all staff, students and parents that made it possible and remind parents who are looking to enrol their children in 2020 that we have school tours up and coming. Please check the website or call into the main office for more information.
With the days getting darker earlier, I would like to remind parents to be extra cautious and vigilant when parking up at the end of the school day. Please also ensure that you leave the zig zags clear as it is illegal to park on them at the beginning and end of the day and children need to be able to cross the road safely! Thank you!
I hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Mrs J Murphy Executive Headteacher
Every Child, Every Day, Every Minute
Every Child, Every Day, Every Minute
EYFS
This week we have continued our study of Pumpkin Soup. As a
class, we made a story map of Pumpkin Soup, the children using
their prediction key to predict what would happen next and then
their white hats to retell the facts. During the week the children
have been writing on the pumpkins, making numbers with leaves
and sticks, creating leaf mazes outside and writing on vegetables.
On Tuesday, the children were excited to talk about Firework
Night, and they learnt about the history behind it. They discussed
what their favourite fireworks are and who was going to see
displays.
Year 2
In year 2 this week, we have been reading The Tunnel. We have used evidence from the text and made inferences to write character descriptions of Jack and Rose. We then went on to write a comparison of the two. This week year 2 used both evidence from the book and inference to write a character description.
Year 1
In Year 1 this week we have been working collaboratively on exploring 3D shapes and discovering their properties. We then used our thinking skills by using a tree map to sort the shapes and discussed everyday objects we would find. In R.E. we looked at the story of Sita and Rama and how light conquered darkness and brought them back together. The town used Diva lamps to help guide Sita and Rama back home. We used our Green Hat to create our own Diva lamps and lanterns. In PSHE, we discussed how we are all different and unique in our own way. We created puzzles pieces to show that we are all unique but still fit together as a year group and friends. We discussed what Autumn meant and what happens at this time of year. We created hedgehogs out of clay and discussed Bonfire night. We have had a really exciting and busy week in Year 1. We look forward to what next week brings.
Mini Youth Games
After a long, tiring day (Thursday 7th November), our team of Year
5's and 6's managed to finish 6th out of 28 schools in this years
Medway Mini Youth Games plate tournament. All the children
that competed demonstrated great habits of mind such as
persistence and team work and they definitely kept their calm in
tricky situations and should be proud of their finishing place. They
even won the first 6 out of their 8 games! We are very pleased
with how well they represented Gordon; their team spirit and
behaviour was impeccable. Well done children!
Every Child, Every Day, Every Minute
Year 4
The children are continuing with their Topic of 'Raiders and Traders'.
This week, during our Literacy lessons, we have been learning about
'persuasive writing' and how to construct a persuasive letter to Grendel
the monster from our Beowulf our Guided Reading book. We have
been finding our more about the Anglo-Saxons and how they
influenced life in Britain. The children have been comparing the
differences between Roman and Saxon coins and have made their own
using salt dough. This was such a fun activity and the coins are looking
great!
Year 6
Another busy week in Year 6 has seen us learn more about
what happened at the start of World War 2 and created some
moving poetry and artwork inspired by the haunting picture
book “Rose Blanche” and the research we undertook about
Remembrance Sunday. We appointed our Year group sport
leaders who model the expectations we have when
representing Gordon Children’s Academy at sporting events.
But the biggest success of our week was at the open evening
event, where a group of amazing children gave up their
evening to give visitors tours of our school and explain how
we use thinking skills at our school. I would like to say a huge
thank you to them, many visitors commented that they would
be choosing Gordon as their first choice school because of
how confident and mature they children they spoke to were;
they are a credit to themselves and their families
Year 5
In Year 5, we have been working hard on our biographies of Henry VIII.
We have now published them ready for display in the upper hall along
with our clay Tudor Roses and Henry VIII portraits. In Maths, we have
been learning how to apply our knowledge of addition and subtraction
into a problem solving context. We have looked at how to solve
different types of word problems and overcome our worries about test
style questions. In Science, we have learned about the gestation period
of different animals and determined that there is a link between the
mass of an animal and its gestation period- did you know that a horse
has a gestation period of 336 days? We used our accuracy skills to
create a scatter graph in order to seek patterns in our investigation.
Year 3
This week in maths, we have been practising and applying our multiplication
and division skills. We have shown great accuracy and bravery when using
division with remainders. In English, we have been retelling what has
happened in our class novel so far and concentrating on using the past tense.
We have also been describing Viking Heroes. In Science, we have been
thinking about predators and prey and looking at whether animals are
carnivores, herbivores or omnivores. Did you know you can identify which one
they are by their teeth?
House Points
1490 Points
1558 Points
1561 Points
1573 Points
Class Awards
Class Golden Tie
Winners
Reason Why Gordon Greats
Readers
Gordon Greats
Writers
Gordon Greats
Mathematician
Tiny Tims Olivia Persistence Logan Coby Aditya
Tiny Tims Yanik Persistence Emily Imogen Salih
Ghost Louie Persistence Faye Ethan Jack
Fezziwig Henry Y Bravery Harriet Phoebe Alfie
Cratchit Areeb Accuracy Leo Jakub Joey
Marley Rocko S Persistence Jacob Jack Callum
Bullseye Chloe Persistence Alex Taranpreet Aiden
Brownlow Phoebe Persistence Harvie Brooklyn Stephanie
Bumble Leah All Habits Yanis Frankie Isabella
Dodger Floyd Creativity Taylor Ruby Lewis
Grimwig Alfie Persistence Jacob Taylor Alfie
Sowerberry LuLu Persistence Alice Leo Harvey
Wickfield George Persistence Ava W Ruben Prabhkirat
Copperfield Christopher Collaboration Riley Zane Daniel
Trotwood Joel All Habits Kai Sophie Rebecca
Peggotty Daijon All Habits Frishta Thomas Skye
Micawber Nathan All Habits Adam Vivi Thomas
Traddles Liam A Accuracy Amelia Tyler Shanya
Diary Dates
Monday 11 November
Remembrance Day
Wednesday 12 November
Year 6 Height and Weight
Thursday 14 November
Year 5/6 TSAT Badminton Competition
Friday 15 November
Children in Need Day
Diary Dates
Thursday 21 November
Mini Youth Games Badminton
Monday 25 November
Flu Vaccination
Thursday 28 November
Eagle Heights Visitors (Year 3)
Year 3/4 TSAT Football Competition
Well done to Travellers House for coming 1st place this week!
Every Child, Every Day, Every Minute
Monday 2nd September 2019 – Staff Inset Day
Term 1 Start Students return on Tuesday 3rd September 2019
Finish Thursday 17th October 2019
Friday 18th October 2019 – Staff Inset Day
Autumn break Monday 21st October – Friday 25th October 2019
Term 2 Start Students return on Monday 28th October 2019
Finish Thursday 19th December 2019
Christmas break Friday 20th December – Friday 3rd January 2020
Monday 6th January 2020 – staff inset day
Term 3 Start Students return on Tuesday 7th January 2020
Finish Friday 14th February 2020
February break Monday 17th February – Friday 21st February 2020
Term 4 Start Monday 24th February 2020
Finish Friday 3rd April 2020
Spring break Monday 6th April – Friday 17th April 2020
Term 5 Start Monday 20th April 2020
Early May Bank Holiday Friday 8th May 2020
Finish Friday 22nd May 2020
May break Monday 25th May to Friday 29th May 2020
Term 6 Start Monday 1st June 2020
Last day at school for children Finish Friday 17th July 2020
Monday 20th July 2020 – Staff Inset Day
Tuesday 21st July 2020 – Staff Inset Day