Our fitness challenge

Class 3 have made a brilliant start to our fitness challenge. We are attempting to run the distance between Aberdeen and Penzance (the longest train journey in the UK).

We have to run a total of 1,162 km. This equates to 3,486 laps of the school field.
So far we have completed 478 laps which is 159 km.

Well done Class 3!

 

School PD Days 2020-21

Please note that the school PD Days for this academic year are:-

Monday 4th January

Monday 19th July

Tuesday 20th July

Wednesday 21st July

There is NO PD day at the end of this half term.

Sharing Home-link

Esmae enjoyed sharing all the great work she has been doing at home. She has been practising her letter formation and doing lots of counting. Well done Esmae! If you have been doing any work at home, please email class1@brownclee.Shropshire.sch,uk. We would love to see what you have been up to!

Reflection Time and Prayer of the Day

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We normally have a ‘live’ virtual assembly on Wednesday and apologise that I am unable to be there on your screens today – but I am in the office carrying out virtual interviews for the position of our new Administrator!  We are all sad that Mrs Harman is leaving us at the end of this half term – and she will be missed loads – especially by me!  But we are fortunate to have had a strong selection of candidates and I will let you know who our new Administrator is once we have appointed them!

I would like to share a lovely moment that I had yesterday, when I was having a chat with Emily and Layla about Class 4 and whether they enjoyed taking part in Just Dance in the classroom.  Layla told me with a grin, that it was really tricky – and I agreed and said that I wasn’t very good at it yet – but I will keep practising!  How lovely it was to hear Layla’s response – which was “You are persevering Miss Relph!”  – she was absolutely right – I was!  The question is…..why do I persevere?  Why do I keep joining in if I see Just Dance  happening?  It isn’t just for fun – it is because I want to get better at it!

There are lots of things we either want, or need, to get better at – can you think of something that you need to get better at?   Maybe it is listening?  Or concentrating?  It might be not calling out in class?  Sometimes we need to persevere with little things as well as the big things! Maybe you could pick something, a little thing, and persevere to get better at it today?  Have a chat with your teacher and discuss what little things you could work at to improve?

Now enjoy these clips from Finding Nemo – and see if you can spot how they demonstrate perseverance?

 

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Please be with us in times of weakness.
Give us the strength to overcome our difficulties.
Teach us to keep going when things are hard for us.
Help us not to take our gifts and talents for granted.
Amen.

 

Maths at Home

In Maths, we having been working on place value. Please find below some information and resources that will support your child at home.

Year 1 – Please practise counting from any number up to 100. Focus, in particular, on the numbers that change into the next tens number.

Eg, 19 – 20, 29 – 30, 39 – 40.

When counting this is a sticking point, they don’t know what comes after 19, 29, 39, 49 and so on.

Practise writing numbers from 0 – 20, forming numbers correctly. Lots of children form numbers back to front. This is completely normal for this age group.

Ask them to write the numbers out of order too.

Have a go at the ‘Helicopter Rescue’ game below and use ‘Paint the Squares’ to help with counting.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/helicopter-rescue

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/paint-the-squares

Year 2 – Practise reading, writing and counting all the numbers from 0 to 100. You should be able to count forwards and backwards from any number.

Practise counting in steps of 2, 5, and 10. It is important you can do this for when we do multiplication. Use ‘Paint the Squares’ below to help you. Look for the patterns and think about what the numbers end in.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/paint-the-squares

If you are fluent with 2, 5 and 10, try steps of 3.

Practise counting tens and ones to work out what number is being represented. Use ‘Place Value Basketball’ below.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball

Remember, don’t worry if you find something difficult. Keep trying and you will get there in the end!

Nursery 'Watch me Learn' workshop | Hamilton Academy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection Time and Prayer of the Day

Good morning Brown Clee!

We are continuing with the theme of perseverance this week – and in today’s assembly I’d like you to watch and listen to a short video from the Pace Trust, all about Perseverance.  Enjoy watching and listening and then have a discussion about what it makes you think about?  Can you think of examples of when you have demonstrated perseverance?

What do you think?  Why is perseverance such an important skill?  Can you share a time when you persevered, even if something was really difficult?

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that you always listen when we pray to you.
Thank you that you are always there.
Please help us to keep going when we find things hard.
Please help us to encourage others.
Amen.

 

Updated Start and End of Day Timings

The new timings have worked really well this morning – and we would like to thank parents and children for getting to grips with the new procedures so quickly. As a reminder here they are…

Don’t forget that if you have more than one child, then we ask that you bring your children to school at the time of the earliest arrival, and collect at the latest departure time.

It is really important in order to keep the different classes apart, that parents arrive promptly for drop off and collection, and also that parents don’t loiter on drop off or collection.

The cases of coronavirus are increasing, and we are aware of recent cases in Shropshire. We are working really hard to maintain the ‘sanctity’ of each bubble so that if we were to have a case it would have minimal impact and we also want to protect the well-being of everyone in our community.

Reflection Time and Prayer of the Day

Good Morning Brown Clee!

What a beautiful weekend it has been – I hope you have been able to enjoy the good weather!

This week we are going to be continuing to think about the skill of perseverance – as the ability to keep on going, even when things are difficult or tough, is such an important life skill!  We have already learnt about how J K Rowling had her first Harry Potter novel turned down by publishers 12 times, and that she wasn’t good enough. But she didn’t give up – nor stopped believing in herself, and she persevered – and thank goodness they did, or the Harry Potter series would not exist!

We all find things difficult at times – lots of things!  But the only way to ever get better at anything is to persevere and keep going – keep trying!  Here is a short video of someone who never gave up – he knew he wasn’t going to win the race – but that wasn’t important – the important things was finishing!  Have a watch and think about why do you think he didn’t give up?

The video is of the athlete Derek Redmond in the semi-final of the men’s 400m race at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  Derek was a favourite to win the race but after 150m his ham string muscle tore.  He was in agony and had to stop and the medics tried to help him off the track – but he refused to stop – even when his own Dad ran out to say that he didn’t need to carry on, Derek’s response was “Yes I do!”.  Why do you think he was so determined to finish?

We have all had difficult times when we have wanted to give up – but how does it make you feel? Have you ever wondered how you would feel, or what would have happened if you hadn’t given up and instead, had persevered?

As you go through this week, if you find a maths problem tricky, or a PE lesson challenging – have a think about Derek Redmond – what would he have done?

At school, all we ask is that you try your best, and work hard to be the best person that you can be – so have a quiet moment and reflect on what you can do to achieve this.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for Derek Redmond and his example of perseverance.
Please help us to try hard to achieve our goals and dreams.
May we find something worth striving for and not give up easily.
Help us to see obstacles as opportunities.
Help us never to give up trying to do our best.
Amen.


 

Times Tables Rockstars

I have set up a battle on Times Tables Rockstars. The teams are:

Boys v Girls!

The battle ends on Monday morning at 9am

The children can play Garage, Studio, Soundcheck – all correct answers earn points for their team

Pizza Lunch today!

The delicious smell of home made pizza wafted around the school today – and all the staff and children commented on how tasty it was – thank you Pippa!

Coats

Good Morning

it’s forecast to be a rainy day today. Please could all children remember to bring a coat or waterproof jacket as we will still try to get outside for break and lunchtime.

Thank you

Mrs Cains

School Dinners – 1st October 2020

There will be a special menu on Thursday 1st October as follows:-

Beef Burgers and chips
Vegetable sticks
Fruit
Jelly or Yo-Yo bear
Chocolate Brownie

Free for KS1 children and FSM children / £2.30 for KS2 children

If you would like to book this for your child please email Pippa directly on:-

u98180@compass-group.co.uk

Reflection Time and Prayer of the Day

Good morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we thought about how important it is to have strong foundations  – and that how it is our values and goals that can really make a difference to how we live our lives, and to how well we succeed in life.   We talked about how primary school is where we learn the skills and knowledge that we need to help us achieve and succeed as we get older..it is where we learn to read, to understand, to use and apply mathematical skills, to find out about the world around us, as well as learning how to interact respectfully and work together successfully.  Without securing these skills at primary school – we will find things much more challenging as we get older.

And life is challenging!  I am still practising my computing and virtual assembly skills so that I can hopefully overcome the challenges of holding whole school assemblies using the laptops and big screens!  We all experience challenges….can you think of any challenges that you have had to deal with recently?  How did they make you feel?  How did you react to them?  Did you overcome your challenge?

Here is a video clip of a young girl with a challenge – see if you can spot what it is, and then come up with a word that describes how she overcame the challenge and succeeded…

Did you think of a word?  You might have thought of a word from our motto…..PERSEVERANCE….which means hat even when things get really hard for us, we don’t give up. A well-known saying is: When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

So as we go through this week, we will think more about the skill of perseverance, as even though it can be hard to do sometimes, it is an important skill that will help you to succeed and soar!

Prayer of the Day

Dear Lord,
sometimes it’s hard to keep trying.
It’s hard when things are tough
or when everything seems to be going wrong.
Please help us never to give up
but always to persevere.
Please help us to be people who encourage others to keep trying
as we all aim for different goals in life.
Thank you that you never give up on us.
Amen.

School Dinners Update!

Pippa has been working really hard to find ways to expand the menu for school meals so that they can be more varied, within the constraints of eating in the classrooms.  She has managed to arrange these added twists to the school meal weekly menu…

Reflection Time and Prayer of the Day

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Last week we had a think about our school motto…

….and we talked about the meaning of each word, and important it is to have a dream or a goal, to believe in yourself and to work hard if you want to succeed.  Sometimes our goals might be BIG long term ones – such as Ida’s dream of being a chef and Isabel’s of wanting to be a doctor!  But goals can also be smaller and shorter term.

This week my goal is to learn how to use technology better so that our ‘live’ Wednesday Whole School assembly works so that every class can hear me speak and hear and see any videos or presentations that I am using.  This will take practise, time and effort, as well as teamwork – but because whole school assemblies are important to me, and because I value the opportunity for us all to be together as a school, then it is important that I lay these foundations, that I put time and effort into learning how to use the technology effectively.

We are all different, and we all have different goals.  Our school motto neatly sums up what our goal is as a school; which is to teach and nurture everyone in the Brown Clee team (and that includes staff) to have dreams and aspirations, to be confident and believe in themselves, and to help you to work hard so that you can succeed and be the best you can be.  Your time at primary school is such an important part of your life as it lays the foundations for all your future goals – and we are all here to help you lay strong foundations.

Our worship time today is led by Andy Mason of Pace Trust, a Christian schools work charity established in 1994, that works with local churches in Dorset to provide excellent learning opportunities in schools so that every student can ask their biggest questions, explore the Christian faith and investigate the life and claims of Jesus.  Listen to these wise words about making Good Foundations….and at the time for prayer, if you wish to make the prayer your own, please join in with Amen.

Class 1 information: Home-link, Reading and Writing

Home-link

Please find attached details of what we have been learning in Class 1 during our first 2 weeks in school. I have also included some suggestions of things you could do at home, to reinforce what we have been learning in school

I would usually send a book home for the children to bring into school and share their work. Unfortunately, this is not possible at the moment. If you and your child would like to share, what they have been doing at home, please email: class1@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk. We will then share their work in school.

Weeks 1&2

 Reading:

I have been really impressed with the amount of children that have been reading their phonics book at home. I cannot stress the importance of reading with your child at home. Please  listen to your child read at home as much as possible. It really does make a huge difference to your child’s progress in reading.

The video clip below will help you to understand how we teach the ‘pure’ pronunciation of sounds in phonics sessions. Learning the pure sounds are key, to help with the process of blending sounds to read words.

 

 

Handwriting:

Below is a link to help support handwriting at home. This link shows the correct formation of letters that we have been learning in school.

https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/cursive-letters-beginners-choice-3.html

 

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me on the Class 1 email address.

 

Many thanks

N.Fox

 

Class 1’s PE Challenge.

Class 1’s PE challenge, this term, is to see how many times they can run the length of the playground in 3 minutes. The fitness challenge links with our topic work on keeping fit and healthy. They all really enjoyed taking part today.

Vacancy: Care Club Superviser

We are in need of some more Care Club Supervisers, as at the moment we only have Mrs Moreton, who is kindly covering all mornings and afternoon sessions at the moment – but this isn’t sustainable.

If you are interested in covering some mornings (7:45-8:45am) or afternoons (3:15-5:30pm) on a casual basis (£9.37 per hour), then please contact the School Office.  If we don’t get any interest, we might have to limit sessions after half term.

All school jobs are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and
Barring Service (DBS)

Reflection Time and Prayer of the Day

Good morning Brown Clee!

Our theme this week continues to be …

Learning about respect and how to be respectful is an important life skill – as it will make a big difference to how you live your life.  Here are some questions to reflect upon – think about all you have learnt about Respect so far and then discuss the questions…

Now can you describe how you show respect?  What words or actions are respectful?

Here is a story about dwarves, pixies and a dragon – as you watch – think about who is being respectful and who isn’t?

As you go through the day, have a think about how respectful you are to your teachers and friends…

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that you value each one of us.
Please help us to treat others with respect.
Help us to embrace differences between us.
Help us to love others, even if they are very different from us.
Help us to see the value in each individual person.
Amen.

 

Start of Day Procedures – Parking

Can we kindly remind parents that they are not to drive up or park on the cul-de-sac behind the Station Rd houses that runs along the school grounds – as we need to keep this clear for residents and children accessing the top-gate from Class 3 and 4. Thank you!

Reflection Time

Today we held our Wednesday ‘live’ assembly – where we use Microsoft Teams so that all classes can see each other and feel they are part of the school team!  The theme was a discussion around our school motto –

We tried to share a song that links the themes of having a dream (aspire), believing in yourself, working hard and being brave (persevering) which will lead to success – but technology let us down – so here is the song…

….and the lesson we have learnt, is if things don’t work, or when things go wrong, don’t worry about it – keep practising, and just smile!

PE reminder

Just to remind parents that Class 1’s PE sessions are on a Wednesday and Friday. Children will need to come into school in their PE kits on these days, until further notice.

Many thanks,

N.Fox

Autumn Term Parents Meetings

We are planning ahead for our Autumn Term Parents Meetings where parents have the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss how their child is progressing and settling back into school.  Due to the current pandemic, we will be unable to hold face-to-face sessions…however we feel that these meetings are really important, especially since a lot of children haven’t been in school since March!

Therefore we are planning on using Microsoft Teams, an application that allows virtual face-to-face meetings and can be used on desk tops or mobile devices.  We are planning on holding our Parent/Pupil Feedback sessions in the week beginning 16th November – and unlike our normal parent meetings, the 10 minute appointments will be spread out throughout the week.  Your child’s teacher will contact you nearer the time to book an appointment.

This message is to give you plenty of notice to download the Microsoft Teams application, which you can find at this link…

Microsoft Teams Download

We use Teams in school for ‘Live’ whole school assemblies, Governors meetings, and meetings with other organisations, and it is easy to use.  Once an appointment has been made, you will receive an email with a link – and all you have to do is click the link at the time of the appointment – you just need a web-cam or camera on your device.

More information will be shared nearer the time – this is just a heads up to download Microsoft Teams (which is also a useful application if we ever have to isolate a class!)

Reflection Time and Prayer of the Day

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week we are continuing to think about Respect, and the different types of Respect…

  • Respect for others
  • Respect for yourself
  • Respect for property and belongings

Yesterday we talked about Self Respect – and how it is important to be proud of who you are and be true to yourself – and I’d like to develop that further today.

Sometimes it can be difficult to be proud and happy with who you are – as other people might make fun of you, laugh at you for something you did, or they might say negative things that make you feel sad and down about yourself.  All of these behaviours are unkind and unthoughtful.

Sometimes we can all say or do things that might hurt other people’s feelings – often without any intention, but from lack of thought.  I wonder if you have ever stopped to think about the impact of your words or actions  on your friends feelings and on their confidence?  Have you ever laughed at a friend and made fun of them because they fell over?  Or they made a mistake?  How would you feel if someone laughed at you?

We are all human – and we all make mistakes – and we also all like to be liked and respected as this means that we have friends. The best way to make and keep friends is to say and do kind things to your friends – to treat them as you would wish to be treated.  Have a watch of this video and discuss it afterwards – what important lesson did the boy learn?

The boy didn’t seem to be particularly happy playing his computer game – there was lots of frowning and scowling.  He didn’t behave kindly and respectfully to the puppy and yet the puppy kept coming back to want to play.  I think dogs are much more forgiving than humans – as would you want to play with someone who was mean and disrespectful to you?

So as you go through the day, and the weeks ahead, think about your actions and words – try making sure that they are kind and respectful and see what the result is with your friends.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Please help me to be kind towards others.
Please help me to be helpful, considerate and sympathetic.
Even at difficult times, when I’m busy or tired, help me to respond to others in the way that I would like to be treated.
Help me to brighten up my friends’ day with a kind word or deed.
Amen.