​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have been diving right back into their learning and have started a new class text. The book this term is 'The Boy at the Back of the Class'. The year group have really embraced the text and seem excited about reading the rest. In English, year 3 have started by creating a travel brochure for a country that they have created. They have thought about how to separate out their information into paragraphs for the most effective and persuasive piece of writing. In Maths, they have started to look at fractions. They have been discussing what denominators and numerators are and the relationship between a fraction and a whole number. They have also started their PSHE topic on 'Healthy Me' and have discussed how exercise affects their bodies and the importance of the heart and the lungs. In French, they also looking at something healthy as they have been learning how to say the names of different fruits in French.
Year 4 – have had an exciting introduction to their new DT project - Electrical Toys. They began their lesson by learning about toys of the past and then got to spend the afternoon playing with and carrying out a product analysis of some of Miss Rowe's childhood toys (which included Polly Pockets, Action Man and even some old teddies) and some newer toys (Lego, Monopoly and a steady hand game). They all had so much fun exploring and playing together. In English, they are carrying on with the story 'Varjak Paw' and have been planning a newspaper report about the mysterious vanishings that happen throughout the story. In Maths, they have finished learning about perimeter by discovering the perimeter of different regular and irregular polygons. They have also started learning about unit and non-unit fractions. In Humanities, they have started their topic on Ancient Rome and have explored how Rome rose to power. In Science, their lesson this week was met with both disgust and intrigue as they learnt about all of the organs involved in the digestive system! 
Year 5 – have settled back into school well and have got straight back to their learning. In Maths, they have started their unit on decimals. The children have been thinking about their knowledge of their place value columns and how this can help them write fractions as decimals. In English, the children have been exploring what it would be like to go to Epcot, and have been writing a leaflet to advertise the park and persuade people to go there. In Science, they have started their new topic on space. The children have used clues and facts to determine the order in which the planets can be found in our solar system, and have researched different facts for each of them.
Year 6 – have enjoyed writing poems about Spring in IVJS.  They have used their senses: sight, sound, touch, smell and taste to be as descriptive as possible.  We are now very much looking forward to the arrival of Spring!  In Maths, they have been busy solving problems involving fractions and decimals.  Year 6 have also thoroughly enjoyed art this week, they have investigated the artwork of Wayne Thiebaud, Yayoi Kusama and Jeff Koon.  They will now make their own sculpture inspired by one of the artist's work.

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

A trip is being organised for Year 4 to visit the Iver Environment Centre on Friday 21st April. In order for this visit to go ahead, a voluntary contribution of £5 per child is needed. This will cover the cost of the tutors at the centre who lead the workshops and transport. Payments can be made via your child’s School Money account. The trip will be during the school day, leaving around 9am and returning before 3.15pm.

The purpose of the visit is to support and enhance your child’s learning about plants, animals and lifecycles.  It will be a fun and interactive experience where children will get a first-hand experience of nature. They will even be pond dipping to become river detectives!

The children will not need to wear school uniform as they will be outside all day and may get quite mucky. Please ensure your child wears suitable clothing, including a rain coat and wellington boots in case of rain. They should bring a packed lunch in a named carrier bag. If your child is entitled to free school meals and would need us to provide the packed lunch, please let us know by Tuesday 18th April.

If you have any questions about the trip, please don’t hesitate to speak to your child’s class teacher. Please complete the permission form on the paper copies of this letter sent home with your child or email [email protected] to give your child permission to attend the trip and let us know whether they will require a packed lunch provided by the school (for FSM children).

Yours sincerely,
 
Miss Rowe, Mrs Punny and Miss Bjorck

I am excited to say that the swimming pool will be arriving on Monday 6th March ready for lessons to start on Monday 13th March.

Year 5 will be swimming every morning (10am – 12.30pm) for 2 weeks. As they are swimming in the morning, children can come to school with their swimming costume underneath their school uniform if they wish.

Year 6 will be swimming every morning (9am-10am) and afternoon up to 3.30pm for 2 weeks. One group will be swimming 3 – 3.30pm. We will let you know individually if this is the case. 

Your child will need to bring:

• swimming costume (Boys must wear swimming trunks (not shorts) and girls must wear a one-piece costume)
• 2 towels (one to stand on whilst changing)
• A swim hat
• Googles (if the goggles consent form (below) has been signed)
• Flip flops (shoes to wear to and from the pool from the changing area)
• Dressing gown to put on after swimming to walk to the changing rooms

 
Parents should be aware that the pool forbids the wearing of earrings. If your child has a verruca, they will still be expected to attend swimming but they must wear a verruca sock.

Goggles
Whilst they are not considered to be essential, we recognise that children who swim frequently or whose eyes are susceptible to irritation may prefer to use goggles for swimming. They may help maintain the required body position and improve vision through the water.  Therefore, parents may request that their child uses goggles during the lessons by filling in the form below.
I should inform you that it is your responsibility, as parent, to teach your child to put on and take off goggles in the correct and safe fashion. Our advice would be to read the manufacturer’s instructions for putting them on and taking them off. This is important to ensure protection of eyes from impact damage through stretching the eyepieces away from the face with wet fingers.
Please ensure that goggles are of a good quality. Goggles should be British Standard Institution (BSI) Goggles which includes makes such as Speedo or Zoggs, which will include instruction on the package for the correct way to put them on and take them off. You should be aware that on occasions your child will be asked to remove their goggles in order to safely perform certain aquatic activities.
If you would like your child to wear goggles during swimming lessons in school, please complete the form from the paper version on this form or email [email protected] with the following information:
Child's name, child's class and with the following statements,

• I would like to request that my child wears goggles during their swimming lesson at school.
• I understand that it is my responsibility to ensure the goggles are in good condition and that my child knows how to take them on and off safely. I also recognise that there will be occasions when they may be asked to remove their goggles.

Dear Parent/Carer,

This half term, we have an EXCITING opportunity! We have hired a swimming pool for 3 weeks so that children in Year 5 and 6 can develop their swimming skills in line with the Statutory School Swimming Programme as part of National Curriculum Physical Education. 
By the time a child is ready to leave primary school they should be able to swim, know how to get out of trouble if they fall into the water, know the dangers of water and understand how to stay safe when playing in and around it.   This includes understanding and adhering to national and local water safety advice, being able to use appropriate survival and self-rescue skills if they unintentionally fall in or get into difficulty in the water, and knowing what to do if others get into trouble.
Swimming is effectively ‘Wet PE’.  As such, in addition to the above, our aim is for pupils to be physically active during their School Swimming lesson and have opportunities to:

• Engage in competitive situations (both against themselves and others) and co-operative physical activities,
• Communicate, collaborate and compete with each other,
• Develop an understanding of how to improve; learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.

Your child will have a 2 week programme every day of 30-minute lessons, starting on the 13th March 2023. The company will also supply a qualified swim teacher and a lifeguard. (There will always be a member of IVJS with the children who are also trained in school swimming lessons).
Your son/daughter will be taught the following skills and strokes in different water-related contexts:

• how to enter and exit the water,
• floatation,
• submerging,
• rotating from back to front and front to back and regaining an upright position,
• pushing and gliding and an understanding of streamlining,
• aquatic breathing,
• moving effectively and efficiently through the water using alternating and simultaneous strokes on front and back, such as front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke, side stroke,
• swimming longer distances and for increasing amounts of time,
• using swimming skills and strokes for different purposes such as water polo and synchronised swimming,
• survival and self-rescue skills: treading water, Heat Escape Lessening Position (HELP) and Huddle positions, floating and resting in the water, attracting attention, sculling and swimming in clothes/buoyancy aids,
• water safety: knowledge and understanding of different water environments, how to stay safe when playing in and around water including recognising flags and warning signs and understanding national and local water safety advice,
• what to do if others get into difficulties: stay safe: shout, signal; throw, do not go into the water; raising the alarm 999,
• play competitive games such as water polo and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending.

To help us group the children according to their swimming ability we would appreciate you completing and returning the slip on the paper version of this form sent home with your child or emailing [email protected] with the following information:
Child's name, child's class, whether your child has previously attended swimming lessons and up to how many metres your child can swim (0/up to 10m/up to 25m/more).

Yours sincerely,
 
Mrs Chapman Allen

​This Week In School…
Year 3 – have been completing their narratives about 'The Light House'. They have used some wonderful descriptive vocabulary and have really shown their progress in English this half term. In Maths, they have been revising the four operations and challenging themselves with solving and writing their own word problems. In PSHE they finalised their plans for their community gardens and presented their work to the rest of the class. It was great to see everyone working together as a team, sharing their imaginative ideas. In Art, they have been learning about the work of Matisse and Picasso, producing artwork influenced by these artists.
Year 4 – have finished writing their biographies about Varjak Paw. They tried hard to include many of the features and should be proud of their written work! In Music, they learnt about waltz count and practised playing along to songs that used this count. In Art, they had a lovely afternoon creating their African art inspired artworks. They produced paintings, jewellery (through paper bead making) and clothing designs. In RE, they learnt about communities and discussed the British Values and what they are. In Computing this week, both classes spoke about staying safe online and the positives and negatives of the internet. They even tested their knowledge of online safety by completing a whole class quiz! In Maths, Year 4 have ended the week by reviewing perimeter and practising their times tables through Cracking Maths. Well done to those who have moved up a level or two this week!
Year 5 – have been completing their Dreamgiver narratives in English and putting them into their publishing books in their neatest handwriting. They also discovered a beautiful Iberian Lynx and wrote some excellent sentences about him and his landscape. The children included loads of modal verbs in these sentences to show us their excellent knowledge of their success criteria. In Maths, they have continued their work on fractions and have been solving some trickier problems using their knowledge of how to find fractions of different whole numbers.  They have also learnt a trick for how to find a fraction of a whole number, even if the denominator isn’t in the same times table! In Science, they have made some great posters about levers, pulleys and gears and have made some amazing outdoor sculptures in Art. We are extremely proud of Year 5’s efforts this term and hope they have a lovely rest over the holidays.
Year 6 – have finished writing their diary entries in character as Michael from Skellig. They have also celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week by watching the Get Calm assembly and discussing mental health, wellbeing and stress in PSHE. They have also finished all of their assessments for this half term and we are all very proud of just how hard everyone has been working. Well done everyone!

As before, clubs will show as a payment on your child's School Money account (www.eduspot.co.uk). Please do not pay this unless you want to book your child a space. Club payments that are not paid/needed for will be removed from your account after Monday 27th February. 

Clubs start Monday 20th February and run through to the last week of the half term, the last club being Thursday 30th March as we will be finishing at 1pm on Friday 31st March. All clubs are 3.15pm to 4.30pm with pick up at the front of the school. Clubs cost £7 per club and can be booked for the full half term (£42 or £35 for Upper School Girls Football). We are now able to offer a discounted rate to any children entitled to Pupil Premium (the discounted cost will show automatically to anyone entitled).
​
Should you have any issues logging into your School Money account, please email [email protected].

​On Thursday 9th March (for Years 3 and 4) and Friday 10th March for (Years 5 and 6), our pupils will be taking part in an outdoor adventure day at school. The day will start promptly at 9:00 am and so pupils will need to be in school on time to ensure they do not miss out on any activities. Pupils will need to wear their PE kit and trainers on this day. Due to the activities they will be taking part in, pupils will need to wear jogging bottoms or leggings rather than shorts.
Depending on the weather pupils will also need:

• Waterproof coat
• Sun hat
• Sun cream

The day will be run by qualified instructors from the Outdoor Education Company, who will provide all the necessary safety equipment for the activities. Pupils will be accompanied by their teachers and other familiar school staff during all activities.
Throughout the day all pupils will have opportunity to take part in the following activities.

• Climbing
• Aeroball
• Skateboarding
• Team building

Pupils will be encouraged to take part in all the activities, but will not be pushed further than they are comfortable with, particularly when climbing. We hope that this will be an exciting opportunity for pupils to experience new activities and develop resilience and team work skills.
There is no cost to parents for this activity day.
If you have any questions or worries, please do not hesitate to ask your child’s class teacher.
Many thanks,
 
Miss Couves

Entry forms can be found in class or downloaded below:

​​Dear Parents/Guardians,

This term's parent/teacher appointments will take place on Tuesday 28th February and Thursday 2nd March, we will be using the SchoolCloud system again. You will need to login using your name and your child's details. Should you have any problems logging in, or think that we might not have the correct email address for you, please contact the school office for help.