Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup

The sun has been shining this week for another busy week at school.

On Monday, we welcomed the Essential Safeguarding Company into school. Emma Hemmings and Trudie McGuinness worked with staff during the day, running workshops extending our knowledge on aspects of Safeguarding such as risk assessment and recording, in addition to celebrating some of the great practice which is in place at Swainswick. They also ran a parent drop in workshop in the afternoon. Thank you to everyone who attended. Some of the themes shared were:

• Staff know the children well and show genuine care

• Leadership feels stronger and more visible in recent months

• Families are keen for trips and visits to continue

• Families would like to understand reasons behind decisions to make any changes to school site

We are looking closely at all of the feedback from families to inform our future planning.

We need your help!

Y6 SATs are almost upon us, and will be running in school from Monday 12th to Thursday 15th May in the mornings. We are looking for parent volunteers to support Year 4 and 5, who will be working at Swainswick Church on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning to give the Year 6 plenty of space for their exams. If you are available and would like to help on any of the following dates, please email the office as soon as possible to let us know. We will then get back to you to confirm. Thank you in advance for your help.

Monday 12th May: 9.00 – 11.00 (approx.)

Tuesday 13th May: 9.00 – 11.00 (approx.)

Wednesday 14th May: 9.00-11.30 (approx.)

What's been happening in classes:

Apple:

This week Apple Class have continued learning and writing the story of The Paper Bag Princess in our own words. In maths, Year 1 have learnt about equal groups, doubles and arrays. Reception have been learning about numbers beyond 20 and starting to learn about adding more.

As the weather has been so great, we have enjoyed lots of outdoor learning including working cooperatively to build magic potion machines and interacting imaginatively through role play. We have also had a picnic (thank you Jesse) to celebrate Jesse's birthday and a story at the end of the day under the shady trees!

Hazel:

This afternoon, we learnt about sculptures by Barbara Hepworth. We were inspired to make abstract people using playground equipment. Orson C said, “I liked building it because it was fun and I really liked the sculpture I made.” Molly said, “It was fun because you could use anything on side grass or millstone or equipment. I had 2 friends to help me, and it was really good fun.” Click here to see a picture.

Oak:

In Oak Class, we always start the day with physical activity.  With the glorious weather this week, we have enjoyed running several laps of side grass, working on pace and endurance.  Our morning run and exercise is helping to improve our mood and lay the foundation for healthy habits.  Let's keep moving and grooving! To see Oak class runners, click here.

Other news:

Goodbye Mrs Pritchard: This week, we said goodbye to Mrs Pritchard. To find out about our goodbye assembly, click here.

Upcoming works: In the next few weeks, we are having 3 of the lower fence panels replaced at the front of the school site. Higher panels will be installed to increase site security.

Calendar dates:

Monday 5th May: Bank Holiday - school will be closed on this date

Week beginning 12th May: Year 6 SATs week.

Week beginning 26th May: Half term

Monday 2nd June: Term 6 starts

Week beginning Monday 2nd June: Year 4 completing Multiplication Check

Week beginning Monday 9th June: KS1 phonics screening check

Wednesday 18th June: INSET day- school will be closed to pupils on this day. Staff attending BWMAT EduFest!

Friday 20th June: Possible date for Sports day (date TBC)

Wishing you a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend,

Best wishes,

Mrs Simmons