Newsletters

Friday 30th January, 2025

Dear Parents & Carers

We're introducing a new School Council idea in the next two weeks and we now have the names of our main School Council, with representatives from all the classes. I will meet with the children, and we will agree topics for the classes to discuss. This will all be hosted in an online system. We will then look at the feedback and make decisions on ideas and improvements we would like to make.

In the last newsletter there was a reminder about uniform and we have started to make contact with some families about this. Please do pop in and speak to us if you are unsure about any aspect of the uniform rules. 

Please can we also issue a reminder that you should not park in the school car park. Due to the nature of the school grounds and families needing to walk through the car park, it is vital that we reduce the cars coming in to a minimum and ensure that all family members can walk through safely. 

We had a great celebration assembly today, saying well done to all the Year 6 children in the STEM racing and also giving many rewards, from Headteacher Awards to House-point certificates. The assembly is always a great start to a Friday, sharing all the lovely things going on in school. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Matt Walton, Headteacher 

Ready Steady Read

We've been using a new whole class reading scheme since Christmas, and we've been really pleased with the children's engagement and interest in the lessons. The lessons are highly interactive and include plenty of reading together. The texts are interesting and lead to excellent discussions. Have a chat with your child about their 'Ready, Steady, Read' sessions to see if they are enjoying them and which parts of the lessons they enjoy the most. 

Parents' Evenings

The next set of parents' evenings are only 4 school weeks away. The sign-up information will be sent out before the end of the half-term. The dates for the meetings will be Monday 7th March & Wednesday 9th March. Some teachers' schedules may vary slightly from this. 

Year 3/4

Year 3/4 have enjoyed a burst of controlled chaos as they built models for an egg-box drop challenge in design & technology. The classroom buzzed with creativity, teamwork and excitement as the young engineers tested ideas and had plenty of fun along the way!

The children have also taken on the role of geographers as they worked together to interpret maps. By comparing features, identifying landmarks and using map keys, the children developed their understanding of places while practising listening, turn-taking and decision-making. 

In science, the children enjoyed a hands-on lesson exploring lights and mirrors. By changing the position of mirrors and aiming for set targets, the children discovered how light can be redirected, and they made recordings of their observations. 

Accelerated Reader 

Due to us using a new whole class reading scheme, we have less time in the school day for the children to read their accelerated reader books independently. The children will have a couple of sessions to read and change their books and we also hope they are reading regularly at home as well. It is vitally important for their academic progress that they do read as often as possible. 

Due to the reduced time in school for Accelerated Reader quizzes, we are also going to be allowing the children to quiz at home too, if they would like to. We are happy for parents & carers to be involved in that process and discuss the book and content with the child as they are doing the quiz. Any book talk is a rich conversation and will support the child's understanding. 

The website address for children to access accelerated reader is: https://login.renaissance.com/12d2c5a7-6241-4312-aff6-954f6d3fac6d/student?state=15f812cc-274e-46ca-a8ef-5ec0a642f522

They will need their username and password which can be found in their home school diaries. 

The website address can also be found by going to our school website and finding Accelerated Reader in the Parent Information section. 

Clubs 

Mr Reeds was impressed with the enthusiasm and quick thinking in his board games club this week. The children seemed to really enjoy the games, which included a game of 'Word Association' where you have to think of a word associated with a previous word. The winner of this particular game was Henry. Well done!

'Sprowston Singers' sang beautifully at the club this week and are developing into a super choir. They will be performing at the music festival, and we also hope they'll be able to perform for parents & carers too. 

The sports clubs are popular and the children have enjoyed the different activities available. This could be seen in the effort and enthusiasm in benchball this evening!

Year 6 - STEM Racing 

Salhouse have been busy over the last few months preparing for the STEM Racing Primary Regional Finals. 

STEM Racing Primary is a fun, hands-on project for children aged 9–11 that introduces Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths in an exciting way. The children in Salhouse have been working in teams to design, build and race their own miniature cars, learning how real engineers test ideas and solve problems.

Along the way, Salhouse has explored concepts like speed, friction, air resistance and forces, and discovered how small changes can make a big difference. They have also designed team logos and car liveries, helping to build creativity, teamwork and confidence.

All teams worked brilliantly and took part in the Regional Finals yesterday at Sprowston Community Academy. During the day they took part in racing their cars, discussed their design and engineering portfolio with a panel of judges, delivered a presentation about their STEM Racing journey and created a pit display showcasing some of the skills they have learnt.

It has been great seeing the teamwork, resilience and creativity in Salhouse over the last couple of months.

Everyone was amazing and represented the school superbly yesterday – with every team gaining either a category nomination or picking up an award.

The category results are:

Lightning reaction time: Lapping Lizards (winners)

Fastest car: Lapping Lizards (winners)

Pit display: Spicy Engines (nominated)

Portfolio award: Striking Starlight (nominated)

Research and development: Blasting Engines (winners)

Sponsorship and marketing: Lapping Lizards (nominated)

Team identity award: Striking Starlight (nominated)

Future vision: Lightning Strikers (winners)

Judges choice: Lightning strikers (nominated)

Overall results:

Third place: Lapping Lizards

First place and Regional Champions: Striking Starlight

Finishing in the top three  means that both Striking Starlight and Lapping Lizards will be competing in the National STEM Racing finals in March.

Well done to all the teams who took part in the competition this year. 

Huge thanks to all the parents/carers who have supported the teams.

Thank you as well to Mrs Bryant at Sprowston Community Academy, who helped with laser cutting the car shells, allowing us to use the wind tunnel to test the cars and for helping make the team badges.

A special thank you to Finan, who has been with Salhouse this week on a work placement. He is an ex-pupil and himself a National Finalist, who has been helping the teams prepare for yesterday's Regional Finals.

If you are able to help support the Striking Starlight and Lapping Lizards on the journey to Nationals, please get in touch with Mr Arthur (deputy@sprowstonjunior.norfolk.sch.uk). It could be helping with building new versions of the cars, creating engaging items for their pit displays, helping them prepare for their next presentation, providing team merch or making a donation to help with the entry fee and transport costs. Any and all help is much appreciated.