Newsletters

February 2023

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Friday 10th February, 2023

The children have enjoyed the non-school uniform day today and the activities this week for Children's Mental Health Week. Some of the activities have been outside, and it has been nice to see the children out in the fresh air enjoying the school environment.

You should have received an email about Book Week today. It seems to have arrived very quickly this year! We will be dressing up for World Book Day and I know many of the children love to do this, but we don't want you to have to go out and spend money on a costume. As Mrs Wills said in her letter, we are happy to help if you are stuck.

Well done to all the children for their effort this half-term. It is always a challenging one in terms of the cold and dark mornings, but there has been plenty of effort and enthusiasm. I hope they enjoy the break next week and come back ready to learn and push on as we head towards Easter.

Kind regards

Matt Walton

Headteacher

Attendance

Attendance for the first part of the spring term has been 93.5% which unfortunately has been slightly below the national average. Whilst we have seen a lot of colds and viruses since the Christmas break, we're hoping that these can be put behind us and our overall attendance improves as we move towards Easter. Our overall attendance for the year currently sits at 94.1%.

Parents' Evening

An email was sent home today telling you about the next parents' evening which is in the week beginning 6th March, 2023. The online system will go live on the first day back after half-term.

Art's Project

We launched a competition as part of the project this week. We have asked the children to design a logo to rename the hall as Sprowston Arts Centre. The children were excited to have a go at designing a logo, and we look forward to seeing the finished designs.

Diary Dates

February

Mon 13th - Fri 17th - Half-term

Wed 22nd - Yr 5 Maths Challenge at Norwich School (chosen pupils)

Fri 24th - Cross-country (Horsford)

Fri 24th - Yr 6 Maths Challenge at Norwich School (chosen pupils

Mon 27th - Book Week

Mon 27th - Year 6 Science at Norwich High School for Girls (1/3)

Tue 28th - Year 5 Inspiration Cafe - 1:45pm

March

Thu 2nd - World Book Day - Fancy Dress

Mon 6th - Year 6 Science at Norwich High School for Girls (2/3)

Mon 6th - Parents' Evening 3:30pm

Wed 8th - Parents' Evening - 5pm

(Some classes may vary)

Thu 9th - Mother's Day Shop (am)

Fri 10th - Cross-country (Old Catton)

Mon 13th - Year 6 Science at Norwich High School for Girls (3/3)

Fri 17th - Red Nose Day

Mental Health Week

On Tuesday, all classes took part in yoga activities with 'Yoga Bugs' as part of the mental health week. See some pictures from Year 3 below!

Classes have been doing their own activities including nature trails, team games, jigsaw activities and discussions.

Some classes have been following the Taskmaster Mental Health week challenges and treasure hunt. There's still time to complete the challenges and have a go at the tasks on the Taskmaster Education website.

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Matilda trip - Year 6

We told you about how well the Matilda trip went in the weekly news last week. Here is what Ayva and Esther thought about the day...

Dear Diary

I woke up early excited for the amazing day. It was going to be so much fun. I sat at the front of the bus. I had the best view of all the sites as we drove in to London. When we arrived in London we went to Pineapple Dance Studios to have our lunch and to do a workshop to learn a dance from Matilda. It was great and gave us lots of ideas for our school play in the summer. Then we walked to the theatre to watch Matilda the musical. It was amazing! Everyone enjoyed it. Sadly, it was time to go home. We walked back to the bus and drove home. On the way we stopped at Birchanger to have our tea. We got back to school at 10 o'clock and when I got home I went straight to bed. The next day I was sleepy, but it was worth it!

By Ayva

On Wednesday we went to London to watch Matilda. First when we arrived we went to Pineapple Dance Studio to do some dance moves from Matilda. After that we went to watch Matilda live! My favourite part was doing the dance and warm-ups.

By Esther

Cambridge Theatre London - Matilda the Musical tickets

NSPCC Listen up, Speak up

NSPCC have developed a free 10-minute digital training aimed at empowering every adult to know what to do if a child needs help, and where to go if you need support yourself.

So, listen up and learn a little with the NSPCC Connect the DOTS training. They'll show you where to go if you need support, and how to speak up for children who need it. Because that little bit of knowledge can help keep a lot of children safe.

All you have to do is sign up here and begin the training.

For more information about Listen up, Speak up have a look at the NSPCC website

Listen Up Speak Up and help NSPCC create a city of safeguarders in Leeds Tickets, Thu 12 Jan 2023 at 09:00 | Eventbrite

Internet Safety Day 2023

Tuesday was Internet Safety Day and some classes had the opportunity to discuss this year's theme of 'Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’. We do put a considerable importance on being Internet safe and a good proportion of the computing and PSHE curriculum is given to the subject. We always find that the children are knowledgeable about being safe online and are able to talk confidently about making the right choices.

The latest e-safety newsletter (written for Internet Safety Day) is on the school website and can be read by clicking the link here: Internet Safety Newsletter

Year 6 SATs parent sessions (Tue 21st Feb)

We are holding two SATs parent sessions where we will be talking about how SATs week will run, discussing the types of questions they can expect to see, what the marks will look like, what we have been doing in school to help prepare them for SATs and how you can help as well as answering any questions you may have about SATs.

The sessions with be held on Tuesday 21st February at 2:15pm - 3:00pm and 5:15pm - 6:00pm. Both sessions will be the same, so you only need to come along to one of them.

If you are interested in coming along please complete this form so that we have an idea of numbers for each session.

If you have any questions please contact Mr Arthur: deputy@sprowstonjunior.norfolk.sch.uk

House Points

As we reach the half way point in the school year, we find that Water lead the way with 72. Well done to all the children in Water and there will be plenty of competition between the houses as we move into the second half of the school year.

Water 72, Air 69, Fire 65, Earth 48

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Some Year 4s enjoyed making leek soup with Nicola this week!