Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Online Safety

  Fri 28 Apr 2017 M. Purdy

  This week  the Southwick Community Policing Team talked to children in Years 2 and 3 about internet safety. There has been a significant rise in incidents in our area so they had some very serious messages which I will summarise for parents. 

  1. Ensure privacy settings are working on all social media sites and games consoles.
  2. They should accept friends who they know in real life only. Parents should go through their list of friends with children and delete everyone they don't actually know.
  3. The following sites present particular issues in relation to safety so you should not allow your child to use them:
     1. UBU
     2. Musical.ly
     3. Meetme
     4. Yellow
     5. Live.ly
     6. Twitch
     7. Blue Whale

   

  We are arranging for the police to work with Years 4, 5 & 6 before the end of the school year but ultimately the responsibility lies with parents. The best way forward is to look at what your child is accessing with your child and have a conversation.

• And into the Summer Term....

  Mon 24 Apr 2017 M. Purdy

  Day One of the Summer term with the car thermometer indicating 4 degrees and driving rain beating against the windscreen. But as the children arrived in school, the sun peeped at us from behind the clouds so we are now up and running. With only 9 school days before the Year 6 SATs, our minds are turning to Sports Day and other Summer events.

   

  WE Action Plan

  Just before the holidays a group of 30 Year 4,5 and 6 pupils worked with Frankie from WE to launch their year of social action and campaigning. Their debates included:

  • What’s better for the environment, recycling or using less electricity/fuel?
  • If you were in Kenya, would you spend your money saved up on a secondary education or on healthcare for a family member?
  • If you were in Kenya, would you provide families with the tools and seeds to grow their own food or provide the tools needed to set up a business so families can buy their resources from the market?
  • If you were in Kenya, would you build a well in the community so members don’t have to walk miles, or complete a school so 100s of people can access education?
  • If you were the Prime Minister, would you put more money into helping the elderly or helping refugees?
  • If you could remove one issue from the world, would you remove hunger or hate?
  • Who has the most responsibility to tackle these issues – Presidents and Prime Ministers or us as members of the public?

   

  A Year 6 team  met during the holidays and, with the help of Sarah's mum, is organising a short sponsored walk for adults and all children for £1 each culminating in a conga! They are dividing the money raised between the British Heart Foundation and WE, specifically for their work in Kenya. You may enjoy browsing the WE website.

   

• What Would You Do?

  Thu 06 Apr 2017 M. Purdy

  If you lived in a poor village in Kenya and had saved up so that you could have an education in a secondary school but a family member fell ill, do you go to school or pay for the medical treatment?

  This is the sort of question that 30 children from Years 4, 5 and 6 are debating today as part of their WE project day.

  They are taking the debate very seriously indeed, listening to others' points of view and forming their own opinions. 

   

   

   

   

  

• Last Week of Term

  Mon 03 Apr 2017 M. Purdy

  Here we are in the very last week of the Spring term-time is just flying past. Then after two weeks back at school it's the Year 6 SATs tests all over again. During the holidays, teachers have kindly volunteered to run extra sessions for Year 6 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of both holiday weeks between 9.00am and 12.00pm. You do not have to book ahead or attend all, but, if children feel they want extra tuition all are welcome. I would like to thank my staff for all the extra hours they are working to help and support our current Year 6-they are certainly going above and beyond to give the children the best possible chance of success.

   

  CHALLENGING READERS

  Thank you to all our families who have supported their children in listening to them read each evening. When I have time to listen to children, I can hear a huge difference in children's confidence and fluency.

   

  During the past few weeks I have been working with Mr. Howe to create a library of challenge books. These will be for those children who reach certain stages in the Oxford Reading Tree scheme as they move through the school. The challenge collections are divided into categories e.g historical fiction, significant authors, fantasy and so on.  Children will select a book from each of the challenge collections before moving back onto the ORT so they experience new authors and genres, adding width to their reading experience. The collections for Years 5 and 6 are now ready for children to read them.

   

  MEETING AN IDOL

  During their P.E lesson last Thursday Year 6 certainly had a treat. Jermain Defoe and Jordan Pickford were filming for Football Focus when they visited the trainees at the bottom of the school field. Afterwards Jermain came across to say "hi" to the children on his way back to his very smart Austin Martin so we had a very excited class and staff.

   

  EMPOWERING YOUNG PEOPLE TO CHANGE THE WORLD

   On Thursday we welcome Frankie Garnon Williams to our school. Frankie is a Speaker and Facilitator for the WE movement https://www.we.org/gb/ and will be leading citizenship workshops for selected children in Years 4, 5 & 6 to develop the life skills for success and make a positive impact on the world. Key Stage 2 will attend an assembly then a series of 3 workshops for the selected children begins. It'll be a day of becoming aware of global and local issues, discussion and action planning.

   

  SWIMMING COACH VISIT

  North East swimmer, Jonny Carlisle will spend the afternoon in school on Wednesday to talk to children about the effect of sugar on performance and health and also resilience in the face of difficulties. We look forward to meeting such a dedicated athlete.

   

  Also this week-Year 4 have their pretzels and butterflies ready for when their teams take part in a Skipping Festival, and Yrs 5& 6 take part in a rugby tournament. The Easter Coffee afternoon is on Thursday from 3.30pm with lots of chocolate to win and eat.