Gymnastic Sequences by Class LC

In class LC the children have been doing gymnastics.  The children developed sequences on the mats to include ways of travelling and balancing.  They needed to include a start and finishing position, they also had to travel  with control and their balance had to be steady and held for three seconds. They have then transferred and developed these on the apparatus.    

Toad on School Playground

Some year 6 boys found what they thought was a frog by one of the school entrances this morning. In fact it was a toad.

There are two kinds of toads native to Britain. These are the Common Toad (Bufo bufo) (see picture above taken by Mr Brook this morning) and the Natterjack Toad (Bufo calamita). The Common Toad, as the name suggests, is widespread throughout Britain, although it does not occur in Ireland.

Below is a picture of a common frog.


Frogs and toads look quite similar. However, frogs usually have a smooth, moist skin and spend most of their lives in or near water (their moistness makes them susceptible to drying out). They have longer hind legs than toads and characteristically move by leaping. In contrast, toads usually have a dry, warty-looking skin and spend most of their time living on land. Their hind legs are shorter than frogs and they crawl rather than jump.


Toads are fascinating creatures and there is absolutely no truth to the old wives tale that handling them can give you warts! (Viruses give you warts, not toads.) They should of course always be handled with great care to avoid injuring them. You should also always wash your hands afterwards because of the toxins in the toad's skin.

At this time of year there are lots of toads and frogs about. They are starting their reproduction cycle. This that they will be leaving gardens (or wherever they have stayed for the Winter) or returning to water to reproduce. Amphibians lay their eggs in water but spend much of the year on land.

Tuesday Hockey group visits Harleston Magpies Hockey Club

The Tuesday (after school) hockey club went on a trip this week to Harleston Magpies Hockey Club. The children got to play on a top class astro turf pitch for the first time. It was so much better than our school playground pitch. The session consisted of some skills practice and a game.

Dance Workshops at Thomas Mills High School

http://www.danceeast.co.uk/

Our year 6 children from classes DB and RV were invited to a Dance workshop at Thomas Mills High last week. The workshops were run by instructors from DANCE EAST. Click on their logo to go to their website for further information abouit workshops.

The children were split into 2 groups (using the school hall at Thomas Mills and the Performance Studio) along with children from Dennington and Charsfield Primary Schools.

The workshops were very energetic and technical. The instructors were great and made the sessions fun and interesting. The Thomas Mills facilities were also superb.

Whole School Letter (35)

REMINDER – PARENT GOVERNOR ELECTIONS DEADLINE
All voting slips should be returned to the school office by tomorrow, when voting closes.

SHARE SESSION REMINDER – CLASS CA
Class CA’s Share Session is this Thursday; parents should arrive at 1.20pm to sign-in outside the office.

MUMS TO LUNCH – Thursday 31 March, Monday 4 and Thursday 7 April
Reminder for mums to arrive at 11.50am to sign in and meet their children by the hall.

RECEPTION CLASS FOR 2011/2012 – DROP IN SESSIONS
Prospective parents who have children due to start in Reception in September 2011 are welcome to attend one of four open sessions in Reception to look around and have a few words with the teachers:
5 April 9.30-11.45am; 7 April 1.30-2.45pm; 3 May 9.30 – 11.45am & 1.30-2.45pm.

CROSS COUNTRY – Tuesday 5 April
Inter-school Cross Country takes place in Stonham Aspal on 5 April; Year 6 and Year 5 pupils have been given letters today if they are interested in participating.

INTERNET SAFETY TRAINING – Wednesday 6 April
We still have a couple of spaces on this evening session for parents, please see the office if you would like to attend. Deadline Wednesday 30 March.

FRAMLINGHAM FIRE & POLICE STATION OPENING CEREMONY
This morning class NSJB took part in the opening of the new combined Station. This facility is the first of its kind in Suffolk and the children were able to explore a fire engine and police car and listen to members of both services sharing their ideas for the future. See the BLOG for some photos.

MEDICINE IN SCHOOL
We found a small syringe used for administering liquid paracetamol in the hall after lunch last week. Please can we remind parents that any medicine your child may require needs to be administered by you, school staff are not allowed to administer medicine. Children must not bring their own medicine in bags or lunchboxes.

ROYAL WEDDING CELEBRATIONS – ADVANCE NOTICE
On Thursday 28 April we will be having our own celebration for the Royal Wedding at school. Children are invited to dress up as Kings/ Queens/ Princes/ Princesses for which we felt you would like advance warning. On the day activities will be based around Kings and Queens etc., lunch time will have a Royal theme and in the afternoon there will be a ‘street party’ on the playground with drinks, cakes and fun activities. In addition the Friends have kindly organised for every child in the school to receive a special school medal as a keepsake to commemorate the wedding of William and Kate. We are looking forward to an exciting day.

UPPER KEY STAGE 2 PRODUCTION – DIARY DATE
Year 5 and 6 will be performing a production of ‘Cinderella and Rockafella’ at the Headmaster Porter Theatre, Framlingham College on Thursday 30 June in the evening. Details will follow nearer the date.

NSJB visit the Fire and Police Station

This morning Class NSJB went to the opening of the newly combined Fire and Police Station (the first of its kind in Suffolk).

We got to use the hoses, wear the helmets, sit in the fire engine and in the police car. We would like to thank all of the fire officers and PC Hassler for showing us around and answering all our questions.

Here are some of the things our class said:

"I learnt that the rope is called a line" Jack

"I found out that everything they wear is fireproof!" Harry

"I have learnt what tools fire fighters use to cut a vehicle up" Lucy H

"I learnt that instead of shouting for water they use signs" Alex Mackenzie

"Smoke is more dangerous than fire because modern materials give bad chemical smoke when burned" Kasper

"I learnt that smoke is not called smoke. It's called Fire Gas!" Guy

Ollie's favourite bits were looking through the thermal imaging camera and Mrs Picton breaking the hose!!

By Poppy, Chloe, Ben and Eleanor

District Netball Tournament

On Tuesday the 22nd of March, the netball team went to stradbroke to play a netball tournament. We all had a lot of fun including Mrs Spencer and Miss Dineen. The Blue team was Georgina, Annie, Mollie w, Jasmine p, Molly c, Zina, Madison, Poppy and Ellen. The red team was, Hikmah, Anneeta, Anneesha, Aleena, Anjel, Molly h, Brooke, Kate and Jaseena.

 In the first round the blue team played against Laxfield and the red team played against stradbroke. In the second round the blue team played against Fressingfield and the red team played Eye. In the third round the blue team played against mellis and the red team played against mellis but waited until the blue team finished. In the fourth round the blue team played SRH Debenham and the red team played Gislingham. And in the fifth round the red team played against Stonham Aspal.

Finally the Blue team got into the Semi Final against Laxfield but unfortunately we lost 3-2, but all the blue team are glad they got this far. We all got certificates for trying our best. When the other team won we shook hands. It doesn’t matter who won it’s the taking part that counts.

By Annie Smith and Jasmine Prime Photography by Miss Dineen.

Many Thanks to Mrs Spencer for a great morning

End of Term Disco Poster

Whole School Letter 34

STAFF CHANGESI am delighted to advise that Mrs Dwyer will be returning to school on Thursday 7 April, following her maternity leave. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Greenacre for all his hard work in covering for her, and I am sure the children in PLDD will thank him personally too.
Mrs Pascoe, our superb office manager, will be leaving us at the end of the summer term, she is retiring – we can’t believe it either! More information will follow nearer the time regarding a leaving collection.

OFFICE VACANCYWith the retirement of Mrs Pascoe, and a redistribution of duties in the office, we are advertising a vacancy for a Finance and Premises manager. Experience in a school office and knowledge of the SIMs finance and pupil systems are essential. Please see the school website for more details and an application form.


YEAR 6 ADDITIONAL SWIMMINGYear 6 need to bring their swimming kit for the next 2 Mondays please; on Monday 28 March there will be swim trials for the House Gala to be held on Monday 4 April and the inter-schools gala to be held on Wednesday 6 April. Children can have normal school lunch on both these Mondays.

HOLIDAY REQUESTSI would like to clarify to parents that holidays should be booked in school holidays, not term time. The school will only authorise holidays during term time in exceptional circumstances as specified in our Attendance Policy. May I emphasise that 10 days absence is not a parental right, but will be considered by the school in exceptional circumstance. There will be no authorisation given during Assessments weeks (SATs) and no authorisation given for the first week of the new academic year as this leads to difficulty for the child settling into their new class.
A copy of the policy is available on the website, or from the school office.

SUMMER DRESSES AND OTHER UNIFORMWe have some girls’ excellent quality second hand school summer dresses for sale in all sizes. They will be available outside the School Office on Monday 28 March for the week. They can be purchased for a donation to the school. We will gladly receive any dresses that are found to be too small this year – come and do a swap!

MUMS TO LUNCH LUNCHES – THURS 31 MARCH, MONDAY 4 AND THURSDAY 7 APRILWe have had an overwhelming response to this, and are unable to accept any late orders. For those already booked in, please may we remind you to pay for your child’s lunch on the Monday of the week you are booked in. Thank you.

MORNING DROP-OFFPlease can we ask parents not to ‘hang-around’ outside classrooms, in corridors or activity areas in the mornings, as it not only causes congestion but delays the children getting to class and settling in. Thank you.

ABSENCE MESSAGESPlease can messages regarding absences be left on the school answer-machine before 8.30am wherever possible, as the office is busy dealing with parents at the window between 8.30-9.00am.

Election of Parent Governors

The Voting paper handed out today contains the names of 2 candidates nominated in accordance with the procedures for election. Statements provided by the candidates are set out below. There is one voting paper for each parent irrespective of the number of children from the family on roll at the school.

STATEMENTS FROM NOMINATED PARENT GOVERNORS:
Mrs Catherine Hill
I have always wanted to be involved in, and make a positive contribution to my children’s school. I hope this has been reflected by my significant involvement with the Friends Committee in recent years. To further my contribution, I would welcome the new role of Parent Governor.

Mrs Sharon Lucas
My name is Sharon Lucas; I have a daughter in Year 5 and a son in Reception. I believe this exciting role is that of a mediator between school and parents. It is essential that, as parents, we can freely communicate with the staff, resulting in a positive relationship between all parties.

Voting slips are to be returned by Tuesday 29 March

Children Raise Money on Red Nose Day

Our school office has sold 428 red noses (at £1 each) over the last few weeks raising a lot of money for charity.

On Thursday after school a group of children from Class CA held a cake stall to raise money for Comic Relief. The children organised everything with a tiny amount of help from some mums (thank you!). We are very proud of the children and amazed at the total of £150 and 10p raised. Thank you to all those who made cakes.

More interesting Suffolk photos

These photos were taken by Mr Byer. Above is the fantastic village sign in Capel St Andrew and below is a strange piece of wood on the beach at Covehithe (near Southwold). What do you think it looks like?

Do you have any strange or interesting photos from around Suffolk?

3 Classes go on Colchester Castle Trip

On Monday classes EM, CA and PL/DD went to visit Colchester Castle. We looked at many Roman artifacts and had a story tour under the castle. We learnt lots of new things and had a really good day out.