Dear Parents/Carers

Happy New Year!  I do hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas holiday with your children.

The I.B. Primary Years Programme

During our INSET days at the beginning of this term, we worked as a whole staff in developing our knowledge and understanding of inquiry learning.  Inquiry learning is fundamental to the Primary Years Programme which we are following in the Primary Department of the Academy. Inquiry learning is the process initiated by pupils or teachers that moves pupils from their current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding. This can involve questioning, experimenting, making predictions, collecting data, reporting, researching and problem solving.  As well as working independently, the children also work collaboratively in order to move forward in their inquiry. The lines of inquiry that children follow are structured around each half-term’s central idea.  Please look out for your child’s class letter next Friday which will include details of the learning your child will be doing based on their class central idea for this half-term. With the Primary Years Programme comes the Learner Profile. This is a list of attributes that as learners we all aspire to continue to demonstrate and develop, they are: balanced, caring, communicator, inquirer, knowledgeable, open-minded, principled, reflective, risk-taker, thinker.

A story worth telling….

For our assemblies this term we are taking the title A story worth telling… During our assemblies the children will listen to a story, either true or from a work of fiction, told by a member of the Academy staff. Following listening to the story, the children will be asked to reflect on what they have heard and to identify, from the Learner Profile, the attributes the story demonstrates. This week the children listened to part of the creation story from the Bible and thought particularly about the creation of creatures from the sea. We learnt about the sperm whale including its magnificent size. We also listened to the story of the Whale and the Snail by Julia Donaldson. The children identified the snail as being a risk-taker in embarking on such an adventurous journey with the whale and in being a thinker and caring in devising a way to save the whale when it became beached in a bay. 

P.E. kits

Please do ensure that your child has their correct P.E. kit in school so that they can fully access all areas of the curriculum including P.E. Reception children should bring shorts and a t-shirt, in addition to this, Years 1 – 6 should bring or wear trainers. 

Please note that Years 1 – 6 have both indoor and outdoor P.E. so it is advisable, particularly when the weather is colder, for your child to bring or wear joggers instead of shorts.
 
After-school Clubs

Today you will receive a letter detailing the after-school clubs on offer this term. Please return this letter with your choices by Tuesday 10 January. Clubs will begin again week beginning 16 January.

Next Friday I will let you know about dates and events for this term. On behalf of the staff we look forward to a happy and productive term.

Yours faithfully
Joy Parke
Head of Primary