Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for your attendance at our Year Expectations Meeting this week. We hope you found them useful and that it was a good opportunity to meet the class teachers and hear about what the children will be covering this year and the routines for the year group.
It has been another busy a week at North Town and it has been wonderful to see the work achieved by the children and the progress they are making. I absolutely love to see the pride on the children’s faces when they show me their work. There is a smashing atmosphere around the school as my SLT and I visit classes.
Reading at Home
I cannot emphasise enough the importance of all children reading or being read to for a minimum of five minutes for at least five evenings a week. It is our aim that all children can read an age related book by the time they leave primary school. Please can I ask that all parents and carers take the time to write in the reading logs or that their child/ren have written in the reading logs when they read at home.
Children love being read to as well (even our year 6 children) and it is perfectly fine for this to count as reading at home. It is also good to listen to audio books and if the children have a copy of the book, they can read along as well.
It was lovely to visit our nursery on Thursday and read ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’ to the children. They sat beautifully and loved the story! I will be recording myself reading this story and will post it on our school website.
Parental Expertise
The school curriculum is broad and balanced and introduces children to so many topics! We are aware we have parents who have various professions that could support the children with their learning by visiting North Town and speaking to a class or cohort about their job, the role they have and the skills they needed to be able to do this job. An example of this is Year Six recently made garlic bread! It would be amazing if we had a baker who could have come in to support with this.
If you are happy to come into school sometime to talk about your role please contact the school office and we could have a bank of parents that teachers could communicate with to arrange these opportunities.
Maths Event
A huge thank you to all the parents who have responded to the Maths Event we have planned for Thursday 6th October at 1:45pm. Jo Cronin is excellent and gives great ideas on how we can support all children with the learning of maths.
Polling Days
A huge thank you for your response regarding our wish to stop North Town being used as a Polling Station. One of our parents received an email from Rebeca Pow advising that we contact Cllr Tom Deakin about this matter. I have left a message for him today and will continue to pursue this matter. I know that further emails from parents and carers will help and hopefully have an impact. You can contact Cllr Tom Deakin by email cllr.t.deakin@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
Tempest – Photo Orders
Have you ordered your school photos yet? A polite reminder that the closing date for free delivery back to school is Sunday 9th October. Order through the Tempest website using your unique link or visit www.tempest-orders.co.uk
If you need any assistance in ordering your photos, feel free to contact Tempest on 01736 751555 (option 3).
Times Tables Challenges
We place great importance on children learning and being able to quickly recall their times tables. Not only is it an important skill for life, knowing the times tables (and their associated division facts) supports further mathematical learning and those children who have a strong grasp of them tend to be more confident when learning new concepts. This year, we have introduced Times Tables Booklets for children in Years 3 and 4 to complete in school. To support them with this learning, they will be bringing home key facts to learn and we appreciate your support with this. Children in Years 3 and 4 will not be taking part in the Times Tables Challenges at school, but, of course, they can still use these challenges to practise at home. Children in Years 5 and 6 will continue to complete Times Tables Challenges in school and will also use the Times Tables Booklets from time to time to support them with their learning.
The Times Tables Challenges can be found on our school website: Maths – North Town Primary School (northtownschool.org.uk)
Website
The new school website is continuing to develop. The office team post all our newsletters on the News Tab and these can be translated. We have added a new video to our home page which is a general video about the school. We hope you like it! Mr Kerton’s curriculum video is on the curriculum section.
Coffee Mornings
I was absolutely thrilled with the number of parents that attended our coffee morning on Wednesday and were happy enough for me to make them a coffee (apparently my coffee making skills are not the best!) This will be every week and all parents and carers are welcome to attend.
Year Six Charter House
Our Year Six Children and Staff are off to Charter House next week. A huge thank you to the Year Six Team for making this happen and wishing them all a wonderful time.
Mr Kerton’s Favourite Stories
Thank you to Mr Kerton for giving us his top three favourite books. They are:
- Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
- Wonder by R.J. Palacio
- Any of the books from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Coats
The weather has certainly changed and it is feeling a lot colder. Please can parents and carers ensure children come to school wearing a coat and that it is named.
Harvest
Just a reminder we have our Harvest Assembly on Tuesday 18th October 2022 at 2:00pm.As our hall is restricted we would like to invite one member of family from each year 6 child. Please can we ask for donations of tinned foods, dried packet foods such as pasta/rice etc. from Monday 17th October.
Mufti
Just a reminder that next Friday 7th October is mufti day!
Poetry Workshops in Key Stage 2!
On Tuesday 11th October, children in Key Stage 2 have the exciting opportunity of visiting Richard Huish College to take part in a poetry workshop led by poet A F Harrold. The children will be immersed in poetry during their workshop, listening to poems performed by Harrold and learning some poetry writing tips with lots of interaction. Look out for photos from our day on Twitter!
Have a wonderful weekend!