Dear Families,

As we reach the end of what has been an incredibly busy and rewarding half term, I wanted a moment to reflect upon the first few weeks of transition for everyone in our school. It has been an amazing start to the year. The energy, commitment and positivity shown by our pupils and staff have been evident everywhere I have visited. Whether in classrooms, on the sport field, in the forest school area or around the school site, I have been struck by our children embracing opportunities and the dedication of the adults who support them.

This half term has been full of hugely special moments. From our uplifting Harvest Festival with Reverend Jane to the excitement of the school disco and to many successes that take place quietly in our classrooms and nursery. There has been so much hard work and progress to celebrate.

Today, we launched a new award in celebration assembly. This award is the Headteacher’s Award and will be given out once a half term for children who demonstrate our Lingwood Values impeccably. As a reward these children joined me for afternoon tea. It was lovely to hear about their goals and accomplishment’s this half term.

It has also been a new term of beginnings, with new classes establishing themselves, relationships forming and a shared sense of belonging and purpose across our school. Thank you to the parents who have joined us for opening mornings, information sessions and our first parent evenings. These opportunities are extremely valuable for us to work together to create a shared vision for the future of our school.

I hope you all have a well-deserved and restful half term break. Thank you for your continuous support and generosity to our school and charities we support. I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for another exciting half term ahead.

Many thanks,

Miss Laycock

Headteacher

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Dates for the diary

• Half Term – 26 October – 6th November
• Monday 16th November – Odd Socks Day – Anti-Bullying Week
• Monday 16th November – Maths Parent Session (KS2) 2.45pm
• Monday 16th – Wednesday 19th – Bikeability Year 5/6
• Thursday 19th November – Individual school photo day

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Year group news

Nursery

This week in Nursery we have continued reading Funnybones. We have been drawing skeletons, trying to put skeletons back together and thinking about going out at night. Our foundational knowledge has been to think about celebrations, in particular Halloween and the children have enjoyed digging out pumpkins, dressing up and making spells. In maths we have been subitising to 3 so looking in stories and around the classroom and tying to ‘don’t count, say the amount’.  

Reception Rabbits 

This week Rabbits class have enjoyed ‘Room on the Broom’, retelling the story through drama and story maps. Our Foundational Knowledge focus has been on how we celebrate Halloween, comparing this to how this time of year is celebrated in other countries. It has been a busy half term, and we have squeezed in lots of amazing learning! We have been so proud of how quickly the children have settled into their daily routines, how hard they work, and how kind they are.   

Hares

Hares have had a very busy last week of term.  We have completed our first Writing Block and did fantastically at describing an autumnal forest.  In maths, we have learnt about Fact Families and the four number sentences we can create from a part-whole model or tens frame.  Lots of us enjoyed the Halloween Disco too!  Have a restful and fun-filled break making lovely memories together. 

Fawns

Fawns have had a lovely end to the half term. In maths we have been working hard on using the column layout to solve subtraction problems and have also challenged ourselves to solve subtraction problems which involve exchanges. In Writing we have written and edited our retellings of a familiar story. In PE this week, we enjoyed using our focus and balance skills to play a class game. This week we have also been learning about how to help ourselves and others in the classroom.  

Otters

This week in Otter class, the children have started their new PE unit on Ball Skills. They practised dribbling with their hands and feet. We come to the end of our core text, The Wildsmith and the children have expressed such a wonderful enjoyment with this book, and they look forward to starting their new text, ‘What is AI?’ After half term. In Science, the children conducted an experiment involving putting light in a box and explaining how the light is reflected off the object. What a lovely term it has been with you all and we can’t wait for your return! 

Badgers

Badgers have had a very busy last week of term. They started the week getting their cooking skills on by making vegetable stir fry. In English, they finished their newspaper reports. We have some fantastic journalists in the making. In maths, the children have continued their multiplication and division skills by learning about squared and cubed numbers. In outdoor learning, the children enjoyed building dens. Lots of the class enjoyed dressing up for the school disco. It has been a fantastic term of learning, progress and fun! We wish you a restful break and look forward to your return.   

Foxes

This week Fox class have been learning the formal method for division in mathematics and in English have finished their stories with a moral. In science, the class continued to learn about the circulatory system and the role that arteries, veins and capillaries have. In geography, the class studied how tectonic plates can cause earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains.  

Owls

Owls have been working hard using all their writing skills we have looked at this half term to write a non-fiction text about an animal of their choice.  We have also been looking at how different religions use light as a symbol.  We have made Christingles, Menorahs and Diya lamps.  In Maths, we have been looking at addition using regrouping and have shown amazing determination in this area.  

Owls have had an amazing half term in their new setting and worked incredibly hard.   

Headteacher Awards

These children were nominated by their class teachers for showing outstanding commitment to demonstrating the Lingwood Values this half term.

Rabbit Class  –   Ella

Hares Class  – Thea-Rey

Fawns Class  – Ruby

Otter Class –  Freddie

Badger Class – Emily

Fox Class –  Benjamin

Owls Class – Freya

Achievement Awards

Rabbit Class  –   George for his excellent contributions to our learning in maths. 

Hares Class  – Mabel – for writing and self-assessing her setting description beautifully! 

Fawns Class  – Louis for her excellent retelling of a familiar story in writing this week.  

Otter Class –  Grace – for your neat presentation in all your subject books. 

Badger Class – Hunter for overall improvement in class and presentation this half term.

Fox Class –  Jessica S. for a really good display for Black History Month 

Owls Class – Madison for working hard in everything she does! 

Star of the Week Awards

Rabbit Class  –  Felicity for being a thoughtful and considerate friend to her peers. 

Hares Class  – Erin – for always being determined and trying her best.  Well done, Erin! 

Fawns Class  –   Malakai for being helpful to his peers this week.  

Otter Class – Avery – for showing kindness to her peers, helping them get organised when they are doing other jobs.

Badger Class – Harry for always being ready to learn and making great progress this half term. 

Fox Class – Thea for always being incredibly polite and friendly.

Owls Class –  Louie for trying his best in his writing.  Often challenging himself! 

Congratulations to you all

Attendance Update

This week’s whole school attendance is 93.5%.

• In first place is Hares/Owls with 96.7%
• In second place is Badgers with 95.7%
• In third place is Foxes with 95.3%

Please note, class teachers will be communicating with any parents of children whose attendance drops below 95% to offer additional support.

Well done to all the children arriving at school on time, ready to learn lets see if we can again increase our attendance next week!  A reminder that the school gates will continue to be open from 8.30 am and closed at 8.40am. Registration is at 8.40 am and school finishes at 3.25 pm.

Fines for parents for taking children out of school: What you need to know.

Remember that every day counts and we are in every day next week!

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FOLPA FUN!

What a spooktacular evening we had at our recent Halloween Disco! Pupils thoroughly enjoyed an evening of dancing, laughter and fun with their friends, creating a fantastic atmosphere from start to finish.

One of the highlights of the event was seeing the incredible range of Halloween costumes on display. From witches and wizards to superheroes, spooky skeletons and creative homemade outfits, the children made a tremendous effort and looked absolutely fantastic. It was wonderful to see so much imagination and enthusiasm on show.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the event such a success, including our staff, volunteers and families for their continued support. Events like these provide valuable opportunities for children to build friendships, develop confidence and create lasting memories together.

The Halloween Disco was a real hit with the children, and it was lovely to see such a fantastic turnout. We are delighted to share that we raised an amazing £432.00! Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event and to all those who helped make it such a success. We are already looking forward to our next school celebration! 🎃👻🎃👻