Dear Parents/Guardians,

Our whole school will be visiting Cuffley Camp next half term to take part in an outdoor activity day.

• Year 3 - Monday 4th March
• Year 4 - Tuesday 5th March
• Year 5 - Wednesday 6th March
• Year 6 - Thursday 7th March

The activities will be led by staff at the centre, assisted by IVJS staff.  The activities will include climbing, ropes and shelter building for Years 3 and 4, ‘Gladiator’, target sports and fire building for Years 5 and 6.

We are thrilled to be able to offer this trip to all pupils again as we know what an incredible experience it will be. Pupils will benefit from opportunities to develop team work and resilience skills through activities they may not otherwise have the opportunity to partake in. We are in the fortunate position to be able to utilise PE funding to cover the cost of the trip for all pupils and so there will be no cost to parents. The trip is costing us £44 per child which includes the day at Cuffley camp, qualified instructors to run the activities and transport. We firmly believe this is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils and want all pupils to be able to engage in the experience.

If you would like to contribute towards the cost of the trip, you can do via school money. Any contributions of any size will be put back into the PE budget and used to continue to develop our provision of PE and outdoor education.

Pupils will need to arrive at school by 8:15am and they will travel to Cuffley Camp by coach. They will leave Cuffley Camp at 2:30pm and should be back at school for collection by 3:15pm.

Pupils will need to bring:

• A packed lunch
• Waterproof coat
• Wear old clothes that may get muddy
• Trainers that will get muddy
• A spare pair of trainers
• A school jumper or cardigan

Paper copies of this letter have been sent to each child, please return the permission slip from the letter as soon as possible. If you do not consent for your child to attend the trip, they will be able to join another year group for the day and will be expected to be in school.  
Many thanks,
 
Miss Couves

This term's Parents' Evenings will be held online on Tuesday 27th and Thursday 29th February. The website is now open for bookings. 

https://ivervillage.schoolcloud.co.uk/​ ​

Please remember to email or call the school reception if you are having any issues logging on or email the class teacher if you cannot make any of the times available. Teachers emails all follow the format [email protected] eg [email protected] or [email protected] etc

Tickets will go on sale next week!

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have writing their own narrative about ‘The King who banned the dark’ with a focus on setting and character descriptions. In Maths, they have been learning about division and have begun to use the 'bus stop method' to divide 2 and 3 digit numbers. They have started their Science topic about light by identifying sources of light. They moved on to planning an investigation to find the best materials to use to make a book bag that can be seen in the dark. In RE, they have been thinking about what is important in their lives and worked in small groups to do discuss which values they think are the more or least important.
Year 4 – have been finding out all about different types of cats in English and using what they have learnt to write a non-chronological report. In Maths, Year 4 have been working hard to divide a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number. In Geography, they have been investigating natural disasters that occur in different parts of Africa and exploring how these extreme weathers impacts people in Africa. In Science, they have been continuing to learn about their physics topic 'Electricity', exploring different types of switches and which appliances they are found in. They have also created a circuit with a working switch!
Year 5 – have written fantastic setting descriptions about a magical planet and a setting of their choice - they were very detailed and impressive! The children have also been working very hard at practicing simple division using the bus-stop method and applying those skills to solve word problems. In Humanities, they explored how Mayans developed over time and about the Mayan city states. They have also been working very hard at understanding types of forces and learning about Isaac Newton; their contributions in the lessons have  been motivational! In Art, the children have been looking in to artists who are renowned for their installations and sculptures and this week they had a look at the work of Anthony Gormley and Andy Goldsworthy.  
Year 6 – have been finishing their narratives in English.  Their stories are based on the class book we are reading, 'Skellig' (by David Almond).  We have been very impressed with the setting and character descriptions that the children have included in their writing.  During maths, they have finished their topic on measurement and have moved on to ratio.  In Humanities, the children have been learning about the most dangerous volcano in the USA, Kilauea in Hawaii.  They worked in groups to put together a fictional news report based on the eruption of the volcano and the effect it would have on Hawaii; these were then filmed and the children were able to watch the recordings afterwards.

You are all welcome to join us on Monday 5th February for our Curriculum Market! Join us for a look around the different subjects in our curriculum and a cuppa!

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have settled back into school for the Spring term very well. In English, they have been writing a letter to the 'King who banned the dark' to persuade him to change his mind. They have thought of some excellent ideas to support their argument. In Maths, they have been learning how to multiply a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number. In Humanities, they have been researching continents of the world, with a focus on major rivers and mountain ranges. They have really enjoyed using atlases to aid their learning. In Music, they have begun to play glockenspiels to accompany their singing.
Year 4 – have been coming up with different clues to write their own riddle about an animal. In Maths, they have been multiplying by 10 and 100, dividing by 10 and 100 and started multiplying a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number. In Science, year 4 have been enjoying our new topic 'Electricity'. They created a complete circuit using different components and were able to turn a light bulb on. In Geography, we have been looking at the different weather and climates across Africa. Year 4 were interested to find out that Africa has different climates, depending on the location. In Guided Reading, they have been excited to start our new text 'Varjak Paw' where we have been developing our reading skills to retrieve information from a text.
Year 5 – have begun writing character descriptions based on a video - Rock, Paper, Scissors. They worked hard to incorporate details in their writing to bring the characters to life. They also started exploring the world of Mayans in Humanities, imagining themselves to be Spanish explorers discovering Mesoamerica. In Maths, children have started to apply their times table knowledge to multiply 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers. They also started learning about forces in Science and started to gain an understanding of what forces might act on an object. In addition to this, Year 5 had a visit from NSPCC to talk about child safety, which was insightful - they learnt about Childline and how and when to use it. It has been a busy week in Year 5!
Year 6 – have begun writing their own narratives inspired by the story of Skellig by David Almond.  They are working hard to include features from the Year 6 writing success criteria, mainly: convey atmosphere, describe characters, describe settings and integrate dialogue to convey character and advance the action.  In Maths, they have been solving problems involving converting units.  In Humanities, Year 6 have begun their new geography topic about North America.