Month: November 2020

Year 5: Can you feel the force?

Year 5 went on a virtual trip to a theme park to start their new science topic all about forces this afternoon. They experienced gravity, friction, and air-resistance all from the safety of their classroom.

Reading for Pleasure Award

Congratulations, Miss Cleveland!

Last weekend, Miss Cleveland attended the virtual ceremony for the Egmont Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards. Egmont Publishing, in partnership with The Open University and UK Literacy Association, aim to recognise teachers, support staff, and schools whose research-informed practices make a real difference to children’s reading for pleasure. Miss Cleveland was delighted to be Highly Commended as a School Reading Champion for all the work she has done at our school to help foster a love of reading in our pupils and staff, and sharing best practice with other schools.

It’s A No Money Day by Kate Milner

As today is Children In Need, I’m sharing this thought-provoking picture book suitable for everyone in school.

Mum works really hard, but today there is no money left and no food in the cupboards. Forced to visit the local foodbank, Mum feels ashamed that they have to rely on the kindness of others. Maybe one day things will be different but for now together they brighten up even the darkest of days.

It’s A No Money Day is a gentle exploration of the poverty in our country. and how it can affect anybody – a brilliant conversation starter!

Important Information

Due to a positive COVID-19 test, all children in Reception, Year 3 and Year 4 will have to isolate at home until Wednesday 25th November. A text message and an email has been sent to the relevant parents. Please note, siblings in Years 1, 2, 5 and 6 can attend school as usual tomorrow. More information will follow tomorrow.

Tom Gates Doodle Competition

Your doodled cover could be printed in the next Tom Gates book!

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tom Gates we are asking fans to draw their own Tom Gates cover! 

All winners will win a signed book, signed print, limited edition badge AND a bag of goodies. The overall winner will also receive a Skype visit from Liz Pichon to their school!

Author & illustrator Liz Pichon will pick her favourites to appear in the endpapers of Tom Gates: Ten Tremendous Tales.

Doodled entries need to:

·       Have the words TOM GATES on them

·       Include characters from the books (Tom, Delia, Marcus, etc).

·       Be black & white!

·       Be postcard size! (Portrait or landscape is fine)

·      The deadline to get entries to Miss Cleveland is 16th November.

Virtual After School Club

The current lockdown means that children are missing out on lots of extra-curricular sports clubs. The Youth Sport Trust are hosting a virtual after school club on their You Tube channel every day at 5pm from Thursday 12th November until Friday 18th December. Click on the image below for more information.

The Winter Mini Reading Challenge

This year, the Reading Agency are partnering with Knights Of children’s publishers for the
Challenge – the award-winning inclusive publisher focuses on ensuring the most diverse team
possible, from across backgrounds and communities, work on every book.

The theme for this year’s Challenge is Everyone Is A Hero. We want to champion a diversity of
perspectives across children’s books and encourage everyone to nominate their own personal
reading heroes – whether it’s a librarian, a teacher, a family member, a carer or a friend! You
can read more about nominating your Reading Hero below.

The Winter Mini Challenge encourages children to keep reading through the winter holidays by
rewarding them for reading and reviewing books.

 

To take part in the Winter Mini Challenge online,
children simply read any books (including eBooks and
audiobooks) of their choice (we recommend reading at least three), then rate and review them at
www.wintermini.org.uk

Books added to the website during the six-week Mini
Challenge period will count towards unlocking special
rewards including a certificate and a virtual badge. The website will also feature activities, recommendations for great winter reads, and competitions. And, just like the Summer Reading Challenge, the website will also feature the Book Sorter – a unique database which has over 1.3 million peer-to-peer recommendations.

 

Get Involved – Nominate Your Reading Hero

As part of the Winter Mini Challenge, we want to invite people across the country to nominate
their Reading Heroes on social media. You can post a picture, share a story about them, or even
record a video about them! Just make sure to get their permission first!

When you post, please remember to tag us in the post and use the hashtags #WMC2020 and
#ReadingHero so we can find the posts. At the end of the Challenge, we will compile a list of all
the entries and enter them into a prize draw – and the winning hero will receive the Winter
Mini Challenge booklist bundle!

Your reading hero can be an individual or a group – whether that’s a teacher, a library, a
reading group, a friend, a carer or a family member. It’s up to you! We just want to hear about
how people have supported each other with reading this year – whether that’s by helping you
to improve your literacy, encouraging you to enjoy reading or recommending you some great
books!

The Mini Challenge begins on Tuesday 1 December 2020!

Children can rate and review their books, collect rewards, and take part in Winter Mini Challenge activities through our website www.wintermini.org.uk

The Mini Challenge will end online on Friday 15 January 2021. Make sure you get yourselves signed up!

Armistice Runner by Tom Palmer

This week’s book recommendation links to Remembrance Sunday, and is suitable for children in Year 4 up…

Lily is a fell runner and is training for the first big race of the season in the Lake District village where her grandparents live. She discovers from her grandmother (who has Alzheimer’s disease) that her great-great grandfather was a trench runner during the last few days of  World War I. Given a box of his things, Lily becomes enthralled with his trench running logs which contain far more information than times and distances – it’s a diary of his time in France.

Full of family, endurance, determination and heart, this is a well researched reminder of the lives of the men in the trenches that we remember this Sunday, and how we can honour their memory through our actions today. Kindness and empathy echo throughout the story that you are sure to be as determined to finish as Lily was to read Ernest’s diary entries.