Newsletters

BLACKHORSE NEWSLETTER Term 1 Week 8 23.10.26

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Active Travel to School

With the sun shining today, it was very encouraging to see so many bikes and scooters filling our bike sheds.  Cycling, scooting or walking to school has many positive benefits, and we continue to encourage as many of you as possible to choose this way to get to school.

In their very first Mission Master meeting yesterday, the children discussed active travel as a mission they would like to promote this year and making at least one active journey a week was one of their first suggestions.

Leaving the car at home helps reduce the demand for parking in the surrounding streets, which we know causes problems for our neighbours and increases the risk to pedestrians. 

There are also benefits to children's physical health, helping them reach their daily exercise goals and build strength. Fresh air also boosts morning alertness, releasing endorphins and serotonin.  It can also help children concentrate better in class.  When you factor in reduced pollution, it makes sense to leave the car at home.  

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We've had another really successful week for our mathematicians! Across KS2, all but 17 of our 240 children completed ALL of their home learning set games, with many going way above and beyond the minimum number! All that personal effort paid off - especially for Elm Class, who earned extra break time for 100% completion!

We find that the children who complete their games little and often remember the tables facts better than those who complete them in one big chunk at the last minute. Archie in Year 4 says: "If I do too many in one go it's too much to hold in my brain. I do 5 a day!" Ellana says "I do a few every day when I get home from school." Meha says "One day I do them in the evening and the next day I play them in the morning when my brain is fresh. It helps me!"

We have already launched our final Showdown of Term 1, with the 4 KS2 year groups competing against each other. Every correct answer earns points for your year group, and the winning cohort will get extra play on Thursday next week. At the time of writing, Year 5 are in the lead . . . but it's all to play for!

Football season begins

On Tuesday morning, our girl's squad took part in the ESFA girl's football tournament at Oakland Park, Almodsbury. 

They have been training with Mt Gayle at the Friday after-school club.  They performed fantastically, coming away with two wins, a draw and a loss.  There were plenty of goals with D'Nai netting a hat trick in a 6 0 victory.  The other results were a 2-1 win, a 0 0 draw and a 4 1 loss.  They came second in their group.  All the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

This followed the Year 5 and 6 teams' first game on Friday 10th.  They travelled to Beacon Rise Primary in the first round of the SGPEA cup.  Although they ended up losing 5-2, it was a great first performance from the team.  Going into half-time 3-0 down, they improved in the second half and managed to score.  Harley was voted player of the match by the opposition and Inka won the vote of the parents on the sideline.

New PTA Committee

At last night's AGM, the PTA elected a new committee for the coming year and attracted new members and recruited more happy helpers.

The PTA work hard organising events to bring the community together whilst raising much-needed funds for the school. These valuable donations enable the school to continue to offer the extensive opportunities and exciting extras that make the school such a fantastic place to learn.

Last year, the events they organised  made a total profit of £15,426.  They used their funds to enable the school to install the Tanglewood Island climbing frame in the playground, which has proved very popular with the children.

The new committee are as follows: Chair Daisy Kington-Millar

Treasurer Tiesha Robb & Sadie O'Callaghan

Secretary: Natalie Anderson & Jen Dudfield

The new committee members are Liz Sanigar, Helen Thorpe, Helen Thompson, Rachel Hutchinson.

 

 

Attendance Champions

What another superb week for attendance at Blackhorse with attendance for the week at 98%.  On Thursday over 99% of children were in school having fun and accessing their learning.

Chestnut, Sycamore, Lime and Yew are all in the 100% club with Maple, Birch and Elm all exceeding 99%.  Five other classes: Ash, Beech, Willow, Elder and Cedar all topped our 97% target.

Mr Botten and Mrs Taylor are holding a parent engagement meeting with the theme of supporting good attendance at school.  This will provide all parents with the opportunity to share their thoughts.  It is due to take place at 9am on Monday 9th November.

This week's Champions

Each week, the staff nominate one child per class who has been a model pupil, demonstrating the values which we look for in Champion Learners!  

This week we have been focussing on the school value of respect. This week our Champions are:

Year

Nominees

Resource Base

Ayaan & Noah

Reception

Ayaan & Tobias

Year 1

Marcelo & Marley

Year 2

Lennon & Olive

Year 3

Millie & Felix

Year 4

Tommy & Lola

Year 5

BAdam & Grace P

Year 6

Arlo & Alana

Author visits Year 3 and 4

Year 3 and 4 were treated to a visit by author Alex Field this week.  She came to discuss her latest book, Ava Spark: The Swiftie Mystery.

Ava, her family and Australian friend, Liv, are heading to Paris on the Eurostar. It’s the mini break of Ava’s dreams. For Ava, navigating life in a wheelchair with her communication aid, Swiftie, isn’t always easy. What could possibly go wrong? Soon disaster strikes, and Ava must learn new ways to communicate with her friends as they search for missing Swiftie.

The children really enjoyed listening to the story and asking Alex about the craft of writing and where she gets her inspiration from.  

 

This week's Champion

Respect is our value this week and Marcelo in Birch is our Champion.  

Miss Vigor writes: Marcelo is Birch class's champion of the week for respect because he is consistently making good choices in school. He is always sitting in a way that shows he is ready to learn and acts as a role model for the rest of the class. Beyond that he also communicates with others respectfully, using please and thank you and waiting for his turn to talk after listening to others. Well done Marcelo!

 

 

 

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Parents Evening
3:45pm – 6:55pm
20
October
KS2 Achievement Assembly
9:15am – 10:00am
21
October
Parents Evening
3:45pm – 5:55pm
22
October
INSET Day
9:00am – 3:30pm
23
October