Dear Parents

It has been a great start to the week and yes ….What weather we have been having (well not including yesterday anyway)! My sunglasses and shorts began to make an appearance and then just as swiftly went back into storage. Maybe next month! I enjoyed my break and hope you all did too. Lots of walks and family visits with a small break to the Dorset coast. Saying that my Netflix shows or sports podcasts did also somewhat distract me a little, there are some truly fantastic new Viking and other History shows on at the moment.

Anyway on with my next dazzling entry. Reminds me of the old James Herriot books (the show ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ are based on these) where each chapter is another incident in the life and times of a Yorkshire vet. How about the life and times of a Shepherds Bush primary school teacher? It has a nice ring don’t you think?

In maths we have continued our work on FDP (fractions, decimals and percentages) and we have been looking at their equivalent values. We have also learnt how to solve word problems on this topic by picking the key words, numbers and mathematical language out that helps them solve assorted challenges. I must say I feel we have been on this topic for a lifetime and as fun as it can be I am looking forward to our new topic of Area and Perimeter after our trip.

We have also begun to look at our new fantastic topics in our science, history and RE lessons. As I have said in previous entries, I have enjoyed coming to Year 5 and tackling topics I have not taught myself before and personally learn lots as we go along. We began an exciting topic in science – The Solar System- and the children were very engaged in the lesson as we picked up facts including 1,300, 000 Earths could fit in the Sun and that the moon orbiting the Earth takes a month and that the moon is made of cheese…okay maybe not the last one but someone did ask me with their tongue firmly in their cheek! I advised them to watch Wallace and Gromit!

In history we are covering a very important topic and one that already has raised some emotion and passion- The Changing Role of Women Through History. This week we looked at the timeline of how women were looked upon in Ancient eras including Egypt, Greece and Rome and other times such as The Viking Age, Medieval, The Tudors and the Renaissance. Lots of interesting (and at times righteous anger inducing) feelings arose around the class as we worked and I look forward to the progression as we move through the topic.

In RE we will be covering our second unit on the world faith of Judaism. As we looked at what we would be learning this term, we made some cross links with facts already covered such as our Easter module and how it linked with the Jewish festival of Passover. We recalled our learning around Jewish artefacts and looked at the story of Abraham which linked with our Old Testament learning from Year 4. We focused this week on the ‘Covenant’ made between Abraham and God and then looked at when we have made promises, did we ever break them and what we did (or could do)  to make up for those broken promises.

I hope the children are looking forward to our trip. Please take note of the emails you have been sent especially regarding date and time of travel, medication and kit lists. You should also by now be aware of how we will keep in contact with you throughout the trip to let you know what your wonderful children have been up to.

I think that is my lot for today. As much as I would love to outline the amazing activity I have planned for the weekend to enrich and inspire my life…I won’t as it involves a walk, a football podcast, a pie and probably a bit of sleeping!

When is the next school break?

Homework as always is on the right of this entry and on google classroom. .

Have a great weekend.

Kind Regards

Alex Perry

Dear Parents

Wow what a week!

Okay must I mention the weather! What is going on? We have jumped from cold weather to , bright sunshine and then a few rain showers as well. I say rain showers! The other night, after a nice mild day I popped down the road to get a few bits from the shop and got absolutely drenched in a sudden downpour! Then woke up on Wednesday morning to bright sunshine with a cool temperature (my favourite) followed again by another batch of rain. I still think in your grandchildren’s time we will have become a rainforest or something. Release a few jaguars, alligators and anacondas into the wilds of Britain and they will have a wonderful life!

Well another year has passed and yesterday was our annual Easter bonnet parade and oh how we missed it! We should do one at least once a month! Although some of you may not agree with me as you deal with tears, stress and furious shopping to ensure you get all your child requires for their head gear. I did notice one or two parents furiously finishing their hats as we had the France zoom meeting on Monday as well!

They were stunning though – as the pictures above show – and we were just abounding in bunnies, chicks, eggs, carrots and of course CHOCOLATE! One boy had so many different types of chocolate on his bonnet he could have opened a shop. It was very tempting to pick one of as he passed me by but I resisted …still those kinders, kit-kat, dairy milk and creme eggs did look very delicious. Surely he would not miss one!

We have had a busy week wrapping up our learning in all our subjects. We wrapped up our geography topic on Scandinavia as well our science on changes with materials. I have been very impressed all term with how the children show their learning by creating pieces of writing in their books using computers and ipads to research themes and questions and presenting them in different ways in their books. Lovely to see how the children inform and act on their own knowledge and learning.

A big part of our school, as we head to the break, is of course the focus as a church school on the Christian festival of Easter. In RE we have looked how the actions of Jesus in Holy Week are the key elements and binding part of the Christian faith and one that brings all denominations together, even if we celebrate Easter with different rituals and tradition. We have looked at how (and why) the events that week dramatically changed the course of history and we looked at what legacy Jesus brought to the world, even if they are not followers of the Christian faith, through his life, teachings and character and how he is respected in different ways by followers of all faiths – and none. The children then created a brochure as though they were advertising the events a church would put on over this period.

On reflection I love the activities and events that bind US all together as a St Stephens School, starting with all the fantastic learning opportunities such as all our sporting competitions, trips, amazing fundraising events and our school communal activities such as church services, fetes and productions.

Easter Service

Finally I would say thank you to all those who attended our Easter service today. Easter time and the break that comes with it is my favourite time of the year. The weather is changing for the better, new life is growing and it is a time for family and friends. Thank you today for the readers, orchestra, choir and Mr Schumm who gave a very thoughtful and reflective talk.

Homework

As I am such a nice guy there will be NO HOMEWORK this week. I know, I know what a wonderful chap I am!

May I take this time to wish you all a blessed Easter with lots of fun and treats and a happy time with your family.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Friday 22nd March 2024

Dear Parents

No weather reports have been harmed during the making of this blog!

As Easter is fast approaching we have been looking at origins of the Christian ritual of Holy Communion. In our RE lessons we have been continuing to look at Holy Week and the events of that week in Jesus life. Last week we looked at Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and we continued our journey by focusing on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. We have looked at how different denominations in the Christian faith mark these events around Easter time which include marches, vigils, candle services, Stations of the Cross and of course various Easter morning traditions.

In English we have continue to use the theme of the Highwayman poem by telling the story in the style of a newspaper report. This is a great opportunity for the children to pool their skills over the last term or so. We had a module on the story of the ‘Lighthouse’ a few months ago using newspaper writing skills and of course haver this term spent time understanding the story told in the ‘Highwayman’ and so this knowledge can really help them push themselves in their end of piece write. On that note, as I alluded to last week I was really impressed with their finished and published poems last week. They were rich in description, use of writing skills and atmosphere. Well done all.

I have been really impressed with the children’s ability to use their understanding to expand on their own work and learning in their subjects in science and geography. Quite often I give ‘open’ tasks where the children have a theme and they need to research, record and present their work using their own initiative. We make regular use of our school chrome books and ipads within this. In our geography, science and English topics this week we have made effective use of our school ipads and chrome books to help researching a comparing a Scandinavian city (Stockholm) and London. They looked at the similarities and differences between the cities focusing on both the human and physical geography.

Parents Evening

It was great to see you all over the last few days for parent’s evening, although I am sure you would agree there was a lot of clock watching going on too as the countdown happened before our eyes. It is ultimately good for me though as these are always supposed to be ten minute sessions and I always had a reputation for going over! Thank you as well to the parents who were able to pop in and look at the children’s books as well. I hope you found the feedback useful and gave you insight into how your child is doing.

Notices for Next Week  

As I am sure it is not a surprise to you parents who have been with us at St Stephens for a while next week will be a little …well mad! So the weekly timetable kind of goes out the window at this time. We have a number of events such as the Easter Bonnet Parade the Easter service and various sports and other competitions. I hope you stay on top of the parentmails.  On top of that in class we will be completing our end of term assessments for English and maths. We will also try to complete our topics in geography, Science and RE as well as include some end of term fun. I have been asked many times by the children if we can fit at least one game of ‘Kidnapper’ in … think TVs show the ‘Traitors’ only in the classroom. I am sure the children will be happy to explain.

France Meeting

Monday we have our meeting on the France trip and I encourage you to come along. As I have been on this trip a number of times, there are some useful titbits of information for us to impart.

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 Homework – Please read below note. 

As always we look to give the children a much deserved break over the Easter holidays from homework . So please help us ensure all the children are up to date on mathletics, readings and spellings this week. I also know we get the odd note from time to time regarding the reading books around the contents or the children’s interest levels in said books. I love that the children enjoy reading their own books and would encourage that to continue, but please encourage them to read the school books for 20 mins a night before reading their own. They are doing well and many have moved or are moving to ‘free readers’ over the course of Year 5 into 6 and following the scheme can help us to monitor and assess this process.

Homework, as always, is on the right of this blog and on google classroom.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Dear Parents

Okay weather…I am liking where it is going. The less said now the better!

RE and RHE always create some excellent discussion points and this week was no exception. RHE looked at ‘Rights, Respect and Duties’. On the same footing we discussed what our responsibilities were both to ensure we had got them ourselves and how to treat others in the same way. We discussed the difference between them and what we should expect. There were some fun examples around their rights at school and home- I am sure you parents would find amusing- such as the right not to do homework, eat certain dinners and completing chores. We looked at examples laid down by law such as the right to an education, to feeling safe and health care etc as well as our responsibility (and duty) to fulfil our end of those situations both for ourselves as well as in how we treat others. On the RHE theme, I hope you have read the email sent by Miss Bill regarding upcoming lessons on puberty , body changes and relationships which I am sure you can appreciate are vital for your children at this time.

RE is continuing to look at the Easter story with a focus on The Last Supper (as Maundy Thursday) and the timeline of Holy Week. This week we revisited briefly the famous Da Vinci painting and what the disciples must have been thinking that night and the events of the evening as well as the link to our year 5 World Faith topic of Judaism by looking at the feast of Passover. The children then looked at a classic hymn (Abide With Me) and the symbolism of the words with direct links to the events of Holy Week. It brings to mind one of my favourite’s hymns as a child and one where I use my role as RE leader to the school to bring regularly into the school Easter Service – The Lord of the Dance. No not the Michael Flatley one! I look forward to us all singing it again at church the last day of term.

Maths is swinging from our old favourite – that of fractions – and to its links to decimals. The children focused on the fractions and their decimal equivalents and looked at the breakdown of the values of each part from ones, tenths to hundredths. The homework on Mathletics will be focussed on this knowledge.

In English I was so impressed with all the children’s final piece on the poem ‘The Highwayman’. Using the style, language and format the children wrote a poem using images from a video of a poem on a dark futuristic London. We planned by writing one example of alliteration, personification, similes and metaphors for each stanza (around five stanzas in total) and then shared them around groups. I really enjoyed this process as the children listened to each other’s examples and then discussed the use of vocabulary. Yesterday and then today (Thursday and Friday) they used this plan to write their first and final draft and then edited their pieces. As I begin marking, I have been impressed with the rich vocabulary and scene building produced and I hope many of you get the chance to read them if (when) you visit next week.

Our geography this week continued our look at the three Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. We focussed on the human geography today looking at elements such as food, currency, population, cultural differences and the different cities. It was great to also chat to one of our children whose mother is from Sweden. Another great link this week was being able to reference the joining of Sweden to NATO this week as well.

In Science this week we had a really fun lesson and I was particularly impressed with the engagement and work from the children. As I have shared in previous blogs, this term we have been looking at changes of state and what makes a reversible or irreversible change. On Wednesday we looked at ‘burning’ and what happens to objects that are exposed to heat. We revisited how some items can be reversed when exposed to heat (such as chocolate) some cannot (baking products) and then looked at what happens with fire. We discussed how fires need fuel and oxygen and finished by conducting an experiment on what happens to that fire when different size glasses are placed over lit tea lights. Fear not safety rules were strictly enforced (as well as general rules around fire) and I even tied my own hair back!

Parents Evening

I hope to ‘see’ you all next week to give you updates on your wonderful children. Please can you double check the day and timings as we do sometimes get the days mixed up and one of the disadvantages of doing it online is that if you log on late , the system does end the call at the allotted time regardless of if we have been talking for 10 minutes or 2. Please make sure you also take advantage of the opportunity to come school in the morning to look at the children’s books, something we have not had the opportunity to do these last few years.

Mothers breakfast  

Ah mothers- the best people on Earth! After losing my mum last year I have truly come to appreciate all that mums do. I always always knew this that but the sacrifice, hard work and love we receive from our mums is the greatest thing on earth.  This time of year can be truly tough as well for those of us who have lost our mums. It is poignant for my family especially as it is also the time of Mum’s birthday and anniversary as well.

It was great to see so many mums turn up last Friday morning to have a gut busting breakfast with their loved ones. I may not be a mum, but I enjoyed a bowl of muesli or too as well. Teacher’s prerogative! These social occasions are wonderful and I am sure you agree having food involved as well always goes down well.

I hope you mums had a wonderful weekend last week and were spoilt rotten, but above all you are always appreciated. You are doing a cracking job!

English Homework

Spelling sentences should have a mixture of conjunctions being used within the process of writing relative clauses and complex sentences.

Homework, as always, is on the right of this blog and on Google Classroom.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Dear Parents

Okay no reference to weather today Mr P! I must remind myself from time to time that is for sure.

Well another week has flown by and like last week it was one filled with lots of learning and there were a few other key events too, but more on that later.

RE and RHE always create some excellent discussion points and this week was no exception. RHE looked at news and media and do they always tell the truth. We discussed how influential it is now with so much potential access compared to ‘my day’ where people listened to the news or bought a morning newspaper from the local newsagent. We looked at the difference between fact and opinion and we can tell which was which. We finished by analysing a newspaper article and discussed whether it was ‘biased or unbiased’.

RE is beginning to look at the Easter story with a focus on Lent and moving on to the Holy Week and the events within it. After briefly talking about the season of lent we looked at why it is followed in the Christian faith and what happens within it. We finished the lesson looking at how churches remember Palm Sunday and what happened during that day with Jesus. The children looked at the difference between what type of ‘Saviour’ the people of Jerusalem where expecting and what type Christians believe Jesus is.

Maths this week concluded an old favourite – that of fractions. We looked at methods in how to multiply them and wrapped up the week with an assessment on the subject.  It gives me a chance to bring up one of my favourite topics, that of food! So our classroom is abounding in talk of pies, pizzas, chocolates and cakes. I did try and find healthier options to talk about but talking about splitting carrots, celery or cucumbers into equal parts or how many they are when multiplied does not quite have the same ring! I think the children always have that faint hope I will bring out a cake or something to back up my teaching, hmm maybe that celery will come in handy after all.

In English – after a hiatus for World Book Day and a couple of workshops- we got to get back to our topic on the subject of ‘The Highwayman’. This week the children have looked at interpreting the poem and studying the emotions within each stanza. We looked at the language and pickled out key words that stood out. I think it is really rich to revisit some classics for this reason and a line from a treasure seeking adventure film springs to mind. ‘They just don’t talk like that anymore’.

World Book Week

Normally World Book Day falls in our annual Arts Week but we decided to move that to the summer term as it is so busy this half term, yet we have still had a week full of fun and special events.

Thursday was of course World Book Day itself and what an effort children made! The theme was of course (I am sure I do not need to remind you) friendship. I was very impressed with all the costumes but I just loved it when the children teamed up to dress up as related characters. Highlights were the ‘Thompson Twins’ from Tintin, two ompalumpas from ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Artemis warriors from the Percy Jackson books and three pilots (in their joint spitfire plane) from ‘Grandpas Great Escape. Great stuff all round. We had a few activities to commemorate the day today such as writing a book review, visiting a book sale, artwork based on their favourite book, the wonderful parade this morning and – my favourite- a forty five minute quiet reading slot. I also got my own book out and it was a lovely peaceful time.

Mums Breakfast and Celebrating Women’s Day  

It was wonderful to see so many mums at the breakfast today, coinciding well with Women’s Day. How Miss Jessie and the staff fulfil such a task in the time given really amazes me. Still it was a also a great team effort with serving, cleaning and general all-round helpfulness. Equally it was great to see mums outside shooting hoops, scoring goals and playing other ball games in the playground after breakfast too. One or two competitive people methinks and I am not talking about the children! I also have to say that the rest of the day I smelt like a sausage but a small price to pay.

I am glad that society has moved on in last twenty years in terms of equality with Women but there is still a long way to go. My Mum was a massive rock in my family full of strength, love , determination and a fierce love and protection for all. I still miss her greatly but her legacy lives on in her daughters and grand daughters who have inherited her strength.

Finally we also had a special visitor from the St Giles organisation that works on educating young people about the dangers of getting involved in gangs, reasons why young people do so and how to avoid it. We looked at the definition of ‘gangs’ and so therefor recognised it was a word that meant a group involved in illegal activity and we looked at stereotyping and not to jump to conclusions. Very important information indeed.

Okay that is enough for me for now.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Homework, as always, is on the right of this blog and on google classroom.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Dear Parents/guardians,

Well I will start with my obligatory weather report. It really cannot work out what it wants to do. For someone who does not feel the cold as much as others, I was just getting ready to go back to just needing a fleece when all of sudden the arctic winds and rain came roaring back! Well at least we had two days without rain! Indeed I remember leaving a friend’s house late on Wednesday and thinking it was actually mild and then on to Thursday and back came the wind and rain. Let us not even mention this morning shall we!. Still on to what we have been up to.

Well this was actually quite a strange week. Strange in that it was- well normal! There was actually no deviation from our time table at all and that in St Stephens my friends is a rarity! We have continued in our topics in RE, Science and geography and have learned lots of facts throughout. As I have said before (yes I do tend to repeat myself much to my students irritation), being a new teacher to Year 5 and so teaching new topics I also learn new things as I go.

On that note, this week in English, after writing, editing and publishing our letter we moved onto our new topic of classical poetry with a focus on the poem ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes. Now in my years as a teacher (about 150 years according to my students) this has always been a Year 5 topic and I can see why it is still used. It is full of rich vocabulary, meaning and adventure. We looked at wonderful words and phrases such as ‘gusty’ ‘French cocked hat’, ‘barred’, and ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas’. We interpreted the meaning and story around the first few verses and then wrapped by briefly reading the second part. ‘It is quite dark in places Mr P’ was one child’s comment and another said ‘oh dear poor Tim did not get his happy ending’.  Poor Tim the ‘Wild Haired’ chap who seemed to be wildly jealous and probably dobbed the Highwayman and his lady love in hmm yes quite ‘Poor Tim’! Seriously though I have loved the children’s engagement and input into this topic so far and look forward to seeing where it heads.

So in science we are continuing our work on materials, if they are soluble or insoluble or – if mixed – can the process be reversed? This week we looked at reactions and what can happen when materials are indeed mixed. We mixed lemon juice, water and baking powder and recorded the reaction it made. ‘It is just like still lemonade’ once child said which was true although I did not recommend they drink it! Still children will be children so you may want to keep an eye on your condiments cupboard at home.

Just for a change I will mention weather twice in an entry! We were looking at the climates to be found in Scandinavia and where it is in relation to the Arctic Circle. The children learnt how the nights in winter were very dark for most of the day and how that was reversed in summer. We looked at temperatures and that, although it may not seem possible, these countries are far colder there than in Britain in winter and we finished by describing the climates and comparing the temperatures using charts and graphs, a nod to later maths topics.

We wrapped up a short RE topic on what pilgrimages are and why people undertook them. We looked at what experience people can get from these journeys and linked them to how and why special places (as well as sacred places) can really create a spiritual experience for people. Children looked at how such places could be where their parents/grandparents grew up, a special place that the family may visit from time to time and how dreams can be fulfilled visiting places of interest such as a football stadium, historical building or cultural place. I told them how I fulfilled a dream when I first visited Rome relatively recently and that, even though I am Christian, it still felt almost spiritual walking in the same places Emperors of Rome had stood or where key events in the Roman Republic had taken place (such as the site of Mark Anthony’s speech at the funeral of Caesar). We listened to a video about a Christian couple’s experiences going to ‘The Holy Land’ and wrote an entry as though we had undertaken such a journey as well.

Next week btw will be back to our normal nuttiness! Workshops, booking parents evenings and –every parent’s favourite time of the year – World Book Day. So get those thinking caps on CHILDREN, yes I am talking to you Year 5 and not your parents! Get thinking about characters related to friendship. Maybe you could do a double team with a friend thinking of such duos as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Sam and Frodo, Annabeth/Grover and Percy Jackson or Mowgli and Baloo. Have a think and I am looking forward to seeing what you can come up with

I will finish with a note from Mrs Allen (Year 1) who is our Art leader.

oyal Academy Young Artists Competition

There is still just under a month left to enter your artwork into the Royal Academy Young Artists Competition. The artwork can be in any medium you’d like: painting, drawing, sculpture or even performance art!

The deadline for entries is 5pm March 27th. Please visit: https://youngartists.royalacademy.org.uk/ to find out more and enter your child’s artwork.

If you have any questions about the competition please email Mrs Allen: e.allen@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk

Homework as always on the right and google classroom.

Have a great weekend.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Dear Parents

I hope you had a happy half-term and welcome back. It is hard to believe I know, but we are already past the half way mark. It is scary as I remember my parents always talking about how age creeps up on us and time does go by quickly as we get older, but as a child I felt invincible and in the moment. As I have got older I realise now that time does indeed fly by!

I hope you and the children had a wonderful time at half term and lots of fun! I had a short trip to Istanbul and really enjoyed it. It was also wonderful to visit and tick a few places off my historical bucket list! I have done okay the past year or two by seeing the Acropolis and Temple of Zeus in Greece, The Coliseum and Palatine in Rome, The site of the Colossus of Rhodes in Rhodes and now the magnificent Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cisterns in Istanbul. Hmm where to next I wonder!

Despite a short Spring 1 term and a normal busy time in school we are doing well with staying on track with our topics. I was very impressed with their writing in their history topic – WWI – and I was equally energised by their enthusiasm and desire to know more. Maybe that was just to keep me talking, but I really detected a general interest there and it is always lovely to hear it when children say they enjoy their learning. This week we have started our new topic in geography – Scandinavia. We started to look at the difference between being a Scandinavian country and a Nordic one. Looking at how all the Scandinavian countries have a Nordic culture and we looked both at what we know about Scandinavia and what we want to know for the future.

In RE we have started our short topic on Pilgrimages before we head into the Easter topic. We have looked at the difference between a ‘special’ and a ‘sacred’ place, discussing what makes a place sacred in a religion. The children have also looked at reasons why a person have undertaken such a trip in the past and indeed why some still do. With a focus on Christianity- we looked at how in some denominations of the Christian faith past saints and ‘holy’ people are revered and so people will undertake trips to visit places (such as Lourdes, Jerusalem and Rome) as part of their faith. We looked at how people will take these trips to pray for reasons including asking to help heal a relative or to be able to have a child. Children learnt that people go on pilgrimages to reflect on their faith or to ask for forgiveness.

We have once again been blessed to enrich the children’s learning with outside visitors and extracurricular activities. We had the ‘life bus’ company visit us to talk about our brain…I will just leave it there shall it? No, seriously we talked about the brain and how it (and our bodies) can react to stress and ways to combat that.

Today we celebrated, as a school, Lunar New Year Day with the children coming to school dressed in an array of reds and golds. They had a Chinese themed school dinner of noodles, pancakes and spring rolls and had a lovely workshop linked to fan and ribbon dancing. We had a beautiful display of such dancing in our collective worship this morning along with a dragon dance led of course by Mr Schumm. It is not like our shy and retiring head teacher to put on a dancing show is it?

We also had a great workshop today on road safety. With all the distractions we all have these days, this is more important than ever. Children can at times think themselves invincible and it is important to learn this is not the case. Drama was used to teach the children around the use of mobile phones, being with a group of friends and being aware of what the drivers of vehicles are doing as we cross the road. Ask the children about it as they really enjoyed it and it was brought home to them in a real way.

I wanted to finish this week by talking about their English work. We finished our topic of persuasive writing and I have to say I was really impressed with the work produced over the whole year group. The children wrote a ‘formal ‘ letter about the challenges that arose in our class book – The Boy In The Tower- and included all the elements we have been learning about including flattery, emotiove language, rhetorical questions and modal verbs. The children really put their heads down and produced pieces of real quality. I look forward to you seeing them when you pop in to the classes in a few weeks. On that note…

Parents Evening  

I hope you have seen the parent mails sent by Mr Schumm regarding how it will work this term. We are keeping the zoom format, but there will also be an opportunity in the mornings of those days to pop in to give you a chance to look at their books- something we have not been able to do since Covid. Although the time will be limited, I will be around and it will also give you a chance to prepare a few questions for our slot in the evening. I believe the booking is (or will be ) open so I look forward to seeing you all then.

RHE

RHE lessons are extremely important as they help children to develop their social skills, find solutions and ways to move forward with issues they will face in life and brings to light the challenges that our children face in our society. This year already we have looked at dealing with bullies, becoming more assertive and how peer pressure can be difficult as children come into contact with such situations as being offered alcahol, tobacco and other drugs. They have looked at drugs as medicines, habits and illegal substances and they harm they can do to our bodies.

This term we are looking at ‘Rights and Respects’ and here is a copy of the lessons we will be covering and the language the children will be learning.

Year 5 Rights and Respect

Homework, as always, is on the right of this blog and on mathletics and google classroom.

Have a great weekend all.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Spring 1 is done! Time flies when you’re having fun!

This week in English, we continued to read ‘The Boy in the Tower’. We discovered that Ade had been frequently watching the news and had watched an interview with the Prime Minister, who was being asked what he was doing to help with the blucher disaster. We will be using this as a stem for our writing: a persuasive letter to the Prime Minister. To prepare for this, we analysed a persuasive letter and identified the main features: sender and recipient’s address, introduction, conclusion, paragraphs, modal verbs, flattery, rhetorical questions and additional conjunctions. The children then used another exemplar to magpie language that they could use in their persuasive letter. After half term, we will plan and write these.

In Maths this week, we began short division. We used the bus stop method to divide 3 and 4 digit numbers with and without reminders. We also looked at efficient division strategies that we could use as an alternative to the bus stop method. After half term, we will complete more multiplication and division problems before completing our assessment.

We completed our WW1 unit in History this week by looking at why ‘The Great War’ came to an end. We discussed the many factors that contributed to this and the eventual signing of the ‘Treaty of Versailles’. We looked at what war memorials are, and their significance. We then discussed our trip to France this year where we will visit Memorial Museum Passchendaele and see the soldiers’ memorial, where we will learn that an old student of St Stephens is also buried there. The children completed their EUQ, where they showcased all that they learnt.

We also completed our R.E. unit by doing our end of unit quiz (EUQ). The children demonstrated how much they had taken away from the unit, ‘The Journey of Life and Death’, and made thoughtful reflections.

A week ahead of schedule, we all gathered in St Stephen’s church on Wednesday to come together for our annual Ash Wednesday church service. We gave thanks to those around us for all the do and made considerations of what we could give up during Lent.

On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to be visited by Marlyne, a parent, who explained how STEM is part of her work for Mondelez.  She works as a Foreign Exchange Manager. It was really interesting to hear of the importance that her studies in finance, economics and maths played in her ability to do her job. The children discussed the exchange rate between Pound Sterling and US Dollars. They learn that £1.00 = $1.25 and discussed how these exchange rates can fluctuate for many different reasons. Through the Cracking Careers programme, children have a broader understanding of different careers in the wider world and an understanding of how these goals can be achieved.

In RHE, we recapped what a drug is defined as. We discussed how nicotine is a drug found in cigarettes. We discussed as a class the impact smoking has on our body. The children then worked in groups of 4/5 and read a copy of the online paper ‘The Daily Wail’. We discussed: Why do they think fewer people are smoking? What new products do you think the tobacco industry are working on? Do you think vaping is healthy or unhealthy? We also recapped our learning from Autumn Term about being assertive. We had a scenario where a friend wanted to borrow a video game from Chris but Chris did not want to. We reflected on similar scenarios we had experienced ourselves and discussed why it is difficult to be assertive with friends sometimes. We concluded that this is an important skill to have and that a ‘healthy’ friendship would allow for discussion and negotiation.

Today, we took part in ‘Wear Your Scarf to School Day’ to support Children’s Mental Health Week. The children came in wearing a scarf of their choice. The children used their voice to share how their scarf says something special about them. Check out St Stephen’s Instagram to see pictures of this.

Last week was Coding Day, and this afternoon we used this time to explore all the different ways we use Computing (Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy) in and around school. We completed an ‘unplugged’ activity where we learnt about online safety, especially the appropriate use of social media.

IMPORTANT

Always ahead of the curve, St Stephen’s has already instituted a ban on smartphones for children in school, and is strongly promoting collective move action by parents to not given their primary aged children smartphones at all. There is now a strong and growing movement to persuade government to take the issue of smartphone addiction and the mental health damage it can cause children, more seriously – have a listen to this very powerful, short radio discussion from earlier in the week. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h9h4nt

Have a wonderful half term break!

Mr Perry

Dear Parents,

I have to say it has been a strange old week!

Well we have been living in strange old times so I suppose that is …well normal! Not that our class is anything but normal J

Certainly, the theme for me has been that despite all the challenges that life can bring us is that it  goes on and I think that, in these uncertain times, it is important that we hold on to that. I am very aware after a number of years of teaching in a variety of schools that the children have a very blessed time here with so many fun learning experiences to have and to look forward to. This week alone, on top of our lessons with our wonderful Spanish, gym, PE and music teachers we have had an additional cricket lesson, a workshop from the Fire Service, our BFI school trip  and of course our usual collection of curriculum lessons. As I said before, being in St Stephens is a real blessing with the opportunities and extracurricular events the children can get involved in. They are beginning to get excited about future trips including France (I think our WW1 lessons have whetted their appetites) and Spain and PGL in Year 6  and I know the Year 4s are bouncing around looking forward to Woodrow House. How many children in other schools can say that?

In English, the children are really enjoying our book ‘The Boy in the Tower’ and are picking up on clues and mysteries throughout the chapters as to what the author is trying to achieve and build up to. We have had some grammar based lessons this week around the book, including looking at modal verbs and synonyms for words such as anxiety and depression which are related to a couple of the characters within the book. We will be reading more next week before wrapping up the topic with a persuasive letter which we will complete just after half-term.

I am sure the children can update you on their learning this week, but we have had some very fruitful lessons in our subjects such as in RE, learning about what different faiths believe happen after we die, the actions and lives of families back home during WW1 and how animals were used in the war – we had two lessons this week due to this being a shorter half term. The children completed work on showing their understanding on the assorted roles of families at home in the war and researched how different cultures and religions cope with loss and how they live their beliefs through these sad events.

RHE lessons have been very compelling and thought provoking and, as an ex youth worker, I recognise their importance. Over the last few weeks we have looked at what drugs are and how they are not just the illegal kind. We have looked at how they are a substance that will affect us and change our behaviour and our bodies for better or for ill. Be they drugs such as alcohol, tobacco or caffeine, to medicines, to illegal drugs such as cannabis and beyond. Our second lesson tied in well as it was about taking risks (are they worth it), peer pressure and how it affects boundaries in friendship.

The children discussed how it can be quite difficult to be assertive with a friend about something that is important to them, such as not being involved in poor behaviour, being unwilling to lend special items or in going to events they do not wish to. We then chatted about how peer pressure can be really challenging and looked at strategies to be assertive in both saying no to taking substances negative for us, to dealing with our own feelings around tricky situations we face with our friends. The children were honest about times they have felt this way and it was a great session.

As I alluded to earlier, we were blessed this week to go on a trip to the BFI along the South Bank in a trip organised by Mrs Pereira. It was a massive interactive Spanish lesson with the use of some really good cartoons then followed in the afternoon by a movie in Spanish (with subtitles) about the Spanish version of the ‘Tooth Fairy’ or to be accurate ‘Tooth Mouse’ a being called Peroz. The children were well behaved and the trip went very well.

Thank you all to those who organised the amazing Bollywood event last night. As I understand it was a glittering success.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Homework is on the right and on google classroom.

Kind Regards
Alex Perry

Dear Parents,

How has your week been? I hope it has been productive and ticked off elements of your to do lists! I find to do lists very interesting! Some colleagues of mine over the years have had written on the top of their to do list ‘write a to do list’. I have never got the hang of them …hmm a thought pattern beginning there so I had better move on!  Could mention the weather again but my fingers are still numb from the cold last few weeks, so I will not. Especially after our chatting learning about trench foot last week. Numbness is one of the earliest signs and I was wondering of there were any examples of ‘trench fingers’.

We have been motoring along and there has once again been some fantastic work produced in the class. I have to say that Spring 1 term in my first year in Year 5 is fast becoming one of my favourite terms to teach with some really interesting subjects.

We are continuing our work in science on ‘changing state’ and have been working this week on how to separate materials and finding out if this was equally possible with solutions. We discussed how evaporation works and the children made great links to some of our previous learning from Year 4 around the Amazon Rainforest and just why it is called a rainforest. We broke down stages in how we could separate a mixture of three or four items such as rice, water, sugar and oil and made predictions about a variety of different mixtures.

It is no secret that history is one of my favourite subjects and I was really impressed with some of the work produced these past few weeks. Despite being a ‘history buff’, I learn new facts nearly every week in my own reading and one of the benefits of teaching a new subject is that I also can pick up some new facts. For example I found out this week why ‘tanks’ are called tanks. We looked at how WW1 really advanced the technology of warfare as they leaders found new ways to cause destruction and it was during this conflict that we first began to see such items used in conflict such as submarines, planes and tanks. Ask your children why tanks are called tanks.

The children have wrapped up their English topic on debate writing and started their new topic based on the book ‘The Boy in the Tower’. After writing their argument at the beginning of the week, they final had their debates on Wednesday. They put across great points on the topic ‘Should Mobile Phones Be Allowed In Schools’ and were very effective in their ‘rebuttals’ to other children’s points. Hmm with their arguing skills I predict a couple of very interesting years ahead as they all become teenagers! I will just leave that there.

As I said earlier, there are some excellent topics this term, ones that excite, (WW1 and debate writing), help us to take responsibility (RHE understanding drugs and medicines and prevention of bullying) and to thoughtfully reflect – ‘The Journey of Life and Death’ in RE.

This week in RHE we looked at what ‘drugs’ were and how they are taken to cause change in our bodies. We recognised that we can often think of the illegal kind when we first think of the word ‘drugs’ but that other products such as alcohol , cigarettes and medicines also fit into this category.

Our RE lesson looked at bereavement and what Christians believe happens to people after we pass away. We looked the concept of ‘Heaven’ and children discussed what their idea of heaven is and then wrote a poem about it. I think they believe my idea of heaven is a giant coffee shop with mountains of books about history. They may not be far wrong to be fair. Throw in marmite on toast a few chicken wings and they have it!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Kind Regards

Dear Parents,

Now I am aware that the cliché for small talk is to talk about the weather, indeed I do it just about every blog entry, despite the fact that it is currently rather baltic, but…is it just me or has it been raining now for about two years? All this has been interspaced of course from these freezing spells and they also said last year was the warmest year on record! The mind boggles. Ah well the words within the hymn ‘Jerusalem’ spring to mind about ‘walking on England’s mountains green’. The plants and crops will certainly get their fair share and we certainly should have enough water in our reservoirs for a while that is for sure!

Well on to school work! It will come as no surprise to you that school has begun this term with a bang and has started at full speed. Our new topics include some fantastic themes and exciting learning. In history we have continued to look at life for a soldier in WW1, with a focus on the Western Front and their experiences in the trenches. The children were very engaged in the lesson and really took in the harsh realities for these young (mainly) men on the front. Discussing these challenges, which included the obvious reality of facing death through battle, artillery and sniper fire leading to fear and despair which caused many of the soldiers to suffer from ‘Shell Shock’ (now known as PTSD) which would stay with them many  more years . They looked at other challenges too, such as loss of hope, homesickness, mud, rats, lice, malnutrition and of course trench foot. The children then wrote a diary entry as though they were a soldier in the trenches with some excellent results. Well done! I have also loved to hear all the children that put their hand up to tell us of various great grandparents and other family members who went through this terrible experience. It is children like yours who help keep their stories alive and inspirational.

I was very proud of the children in RE this week as we tackled the very tough subject of losing a loved one – something we will all sadly all go through at some point in our lives. I was able to share how I found losing my own mother just over a year ago and the ups and downs we can continue to go through. The children were very reflective and honest as we discussed how people can sometimes express grief to what we could do to try and cope with loss. They then worked really well in creating a brochure in their books to describe and illustrate as suggestions some of these coping methods. They finished by giving their own top three simple summary tips they would tell someone.

1. You should find your own way to express your grief, but do not hold it in.
2. Talk to someone about your feelings.
3. Find a way to commemorate and remember your loved one.

These ‘tips’ were all expanded upon in their books with different examples and overall I was really proud of how they handled and approached this lesson.

We have finally wrapped up our maths subject of ‘fractions’. It feels as though we have been studying fractions for months! I think even I am becoming aware there is only so many times you should/could use the examples of pizza, cakes or chocolate bars when explaining maths concepts. Now that I think of it, it is always junk food included in maths problems! I mean why I could not have used examples including ninths of a butternut squash, sevenths of a granola bar or fifths of a celery stick! Hmm maybe next year! Anyway today we completed our assessment and next week we go back to the subject of multiplication – looking at various methods for long and short multiplication.

As you can imagine there has been lots more this week including ‘dealing with a dilemma’ in RHE lessons and building up to finishing writing a balanced argument in English. They are really looking forward to rounding this subject off with a live debate, but more on that next week. They are enjoying their PE lessons (despite the cold) and learn much in Spanish and music.

Finally please read a note below from our Art Leader Mrs Allen

Royal Academy Young Artists Competition 2024

The Royal Academy Young Artists Competition has opened again this year! Children can enter with any art they have made, be it at home or at a club. The winning entries are displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts in central London! The deadline for entry is the 7th of March. To find out more about the competition, or to enter your child’s artwork, please visit: https://youngartists.royalacademy.org.uk/

If you have any questions about the competition, please email Mrs Allen (e.allen@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk)

That is all for now and, as always, the homework is on the right of this blog and on google classroom. .

Kind Regards

Alex Perry

Dear Parents

Happy New Year and welcome back – I hope you have all had a lovely and restful break. It’s hard to believe but we are creeping towards the half-way mark. Time does go by quickly as we get older!

I would also like to once again thank you for your amazing generosity with your gifts for Christmas. Then voucher will definitely go to good use in the coming months (actually I have spent it already) and the various chocolates have already been consumed!  Your support is indeed a great encouragement to me and I do appreciate it. Mrs Connor also sends her heartfelt wishes for the New Year and thanks for the gifts before Christmas.

Well on to school work! It will come as no surprise to you that school has begun with a bang and has started at full speed. Our new topics include some fantastic themes and exciting learning.  We had a fantastic practical lesson in Science that began our new topic of ‘properties and changes in materials’. We looked at what a solution was and if a substance was soluble or insoluble. There were a few surprises and we were saw how timings effect what can happen to the substance. For example some children initially thought ‘flour’ was soluble due to the appearance of the milky water until they saw later how the flour had settled into the bottom of the cup.

We have started our English topic of looking at unbiased arguments this half term and have been looking at how it is important to understand both sides of a debate. This topic can be tricky (in a good way) as it can be hard to take that unbiased view in subjects close to our heart such as ‘should animals be kept in zoos’ , ‘ should chocolate be illegal for Children’ or ‘should homework be banned’. As you can imagine, there were some passionate and very interesting discussions in the classroom and I look forward to seeing where this leads them.

In history we will be looking at WW1 and we had our first lesson today looking at how it started and the time frames of the early start of the war as well as referencing it to where the war fits on the time line of Britain. As you have all heard many times I just love history and I am looking forward to teaching this topic- one I have not taught before. Our trip to France has a focus on WW1 and we visit a truly excellent museum (one I have visited a number of times as we used to do this trip in Year 6 ) and a beautiful but very sobering WW1 military cometary.

In RE we are looking at the topic of ‘The Journey of Life and Death’. It does create a thoughtful environment that is for sure. One child who was looking over my shoulder earlier in the day as I was opening the power point remarked at the title ‘oh well that is depressing’! We will be learning this is not always the case, although we will all have to go through the pain of losing someone in our lives at some point. We will be looking at how we remember people, legacies and what we want to accomplish in our own lives.

I thought I would leave my weekly weather report to the end of the blog. Boy it is cold! It really hits the bones and I know I am getting old because I just can’t handle it like I used to. Then on top of that I see children running around in just shirts and get upset when I ask them to at least put a jumper on! There is one particular child I have a running battle with on this and one I also recall having with her brother! I think they have lava running through their veins!

I remember a comedy skit once from Lenny Henry and he was saying that in England they have many names for the cold such as ‘it is cold/freezing’, ‘it is a tad nippy’, ‘it is baltic’, ‘its chilly’ but in Jamaica they have one saying for the cold ‘ENGLAND’! This week I think I agree with him!

Homework as always is on the right of this blog and on google classroom.

Kind Regards

Alex Perry

Dear Parents

Well it is quite unbelievable that we are already a third of the way through the academic year!

This week has been the usual mix of joy and groans! From the children I hasten to add  J . I have had many accusing stares as I have laid out final lessons from our topics or told them we WILL finish our English writing or RHE topics. ‘But it is Christmas’ they would cry!’ We have played a few games though as well as creaed some excellent futuristic art from our art topics. I was thinking of watching my favourite Christmas movie – ‘The Muppets Christmas Carol’. I decided against it though because I know that as soon as watch Ebenezer Scrooge at work I will get a few suspicious looks in my direction as they began to compare us. Although I would like to think they have all had a Christmassy week as we have been practising our song, had a few run throughs for the carol service, a couple of Christmas themed Maths quizzes along with a few rounds of a growing favourite game – kidnappers.

I was also immensely proud of the singing last night and the solos were just fantastic.

I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching your children this term. They are a fantastic and lively class and I’m loving getting to know them. We have worked hard, but we have also had a lot of fun. They have an amazing sense of humour, being able to put up with me at my (nicely I assure you) sarcastic best and have been brilliant at taking jokes- although there have been a few tumbleweed moments where my jokes fell on uncomprehending ears. They are a supremely talented bunch and I have been truly impressed with them. I promise you they all have a bright future. A few highlights which stand out for me are the amazing art pieces they have produced, some fantastic pieces of writing, and of course just the sheer energy they produce. One which stands out for me though is our wonderful assembly. The children were just brilliant! The dance literally brought a tear to my eye as they exceeded my expectations for how I wanted it to go and the children were at their comedic best throughout the performance. Fantastic effort to all!

As much as I have come to care about them I am VERY glad to pass them back to you in the afternoon and – as my weekly updates suggest – go home and collapse!

At this Christmas tide I do wish you a peaceful Christmas, no matter what you have been through these past few years with stress of daily life, worries about the state of this world and of course the rising cost of bills and day to day living. We have also been hit with a lot of very weird weather as well. With a very hot summer, very wet autumn and now an extremely cold winter. Please dress up warm and look after yourself this coming Christmas.

I would like finish by coming back to Advent. The four candles represented in this season are especially poignant for us as a school as each of the words are associated with a year group’s spiritual identity.

HOPE – May all of us have hope in Christ’s coming and hope that 2024 will be a good year

PEACE – May all of you find the peace of Christmas with your loved ones

LOVE – I pray we all experience the love of God this Christmas and the love of our family around us

Joy- I wish you all a joyful and special Christmas as we celebrate the birth of God’s son and time with our family.

Oh and if you have not guessed – NO HOMEWORK. Ebenezer Scrooge indeed!  Merry Christmas to you all J.

Thank you so much for all the Christmas gifts, you have all been so generous and it is hugely appreciated. Mrs Conner has also asked me to thank you on her behalf.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and fruitful New Year. I hope you all have a lovely and restful break and- virus willing- I look forward to seeing you in January.

God Bless you all this Christmas time

Kind Regards

Alex Perry

Dear Parents,

Going to keep it short and sweet today…I know I have said that before but I truly mean it!

Part of the reason is that after serving drinks at the Parents party last night I am feeling a little peaky and so do not have the wit or the brainpower for my usual witty entries this morning. Seriously though it was lovely seeing some of you last night and I enjoyed the chats, although I am not so good at that part as Mr Schumm or Mr Gane. They both really know how to mingle well at a party!

Anyway moving on from that I shall give you a brief rundown of our week. In a weird way, barring last night’s event, it has been a relatively quiet week from our perspective in Year 5. Of course the school had the wonderful Reception class Nativity and the Ks1 performances this week but aside from a few singing rehearsals it has been business as usual.

We have wrapped up a number of our term topics in subjects including life circles in Science, music and art at Christmas in RE and the breakdown of land and coasts in the UK in Geography. On top of that we have continued our ongoing topics of fractions in Maths and report writing in English. The children have enjoyed the work we have done in English on the short film ‘The Lighthouse‘ and have planned a newspaper report on the story which we will complete next Monday. They have also really enjoyed a couple of lessons this week in art and using a variety skills to create a futuristic backdrop picture. I am sure they will be happy to give you details.

They have still been badgering about when the fun starts in class, once again making me channel my Ebenezer Scrooge and I have promised them if they work hard and stay on task then we will play a few games of ‘Kidnapper’, complete a fun maths quiz pack and possibly watch The Muppets Christmas Carol, but only if they stay calm and listen. Yes I know I am unashamedly blackmailing them, but Christmas at school can be very distracting.

Please do not forget to let us know if the children cannot make the Carol Service on Wednesday and I hope to see you all at Christmas end of term service next Thursday.

Have a great weekend and as always homework will be on the right and on google classroom.

Kind Regards Mr Perry

PS Well it was a relatively short one as promised!

Friday 8^th December 2023

Dear Parents,

Been another busy week. To be fair I could start all my blogs this way, but I am not complaining.

Okay let us first deal with the elephant in the room! Today we went to the panto…oh no you didn’t…I hear you cry. Well yes did and the children really enjoyed it. The also really enjoyed the fact that their teacher was called onto the stage by the pantomime dame! Why did you sit there? I hear you ask? Well I shall answer! As we were allocated seats in different places we were of course ensuring we had enough adults in seats and compensating for the children who would be leaving a little earlier to the choir. Well after sending some children upstairs with Miss Bill, I realised that I was down in the front row with eighteen children and a wonderful mum helper …and also a potential (well more like all nearly definite ) target for the dame. Well it was less painful than earlier years where I have had to sing or dance! Hey when Mr Gane has to go he does all he can to ensure he will not be spotted. I mean what is not to like about calling up a middle aged, awkward introvert to take him well out of his comfort zone! Well the children enjoyed it anyway.

Speaking of  Christmas, well done to the amazing choir who left a bit early today to go with Miss Rachel to Westfield to sing a few Christmas songs. I heard you were great! On that note (great links here by me I hasten to add) as I am sure you know, we have our upcoming Carols by Candlelight in a few Wednesdays time (Dec 20^th) . To be fait this was one event I regretted losing during Covid a few years ago. Our children really are a talented bunch and it is wonderful hearing them sing the beautiful carols prepared by our music team and the readings organised by Miss Bell. I hope as many of you as possible are able to make it next week.

We have been recalling topics in maths with a particular focus on fractions and times tables and, like last week, showing our knowledge through how we can explain, explore and show our knowledge. The children are recognising the importance of key skills such as using bar models to show their knowledge and to break down their learning. We have also resurrected our times tables challenge from last year, a task the children particularly love and each week they are keen to beat their opponent and progress to the next round to claim the coveted Angry Bird trophy! There will be a new champion this term as our reigning one was knocked out so we all waiting with baited breath to see who it will be.

I hope my wish last week of a carnage free Christmas preparation is coming to pass, yet if my plans are anything to go by I suspect not. As well as there being wither teeming rain or truly baltic conditions, there are also a lot of bugs around including flu, stomach bugs and of course our old friend Covid still raises its head from time to time but I am still hopeful of a family orientated Christmas. Having the challenge every year of thinking what to get my legion of nieces , nephews and God children is causing my usual levels of high blood pressure , extra challenging as they get older , and I have sent my imploring texts to their parents to get me a few hints. Who is still into unicorns or Minecraft? Who is beginning to focus on clothes, makeup and other such items? Still I do love Christmas.

Our RE topic about art and music linked well with the Year group spiritual word ‘Peace’ especially at Christmas’. That is also the Second Advent candle – Peace.  This week we looked at Christmas carols and why they have been around so long. We discussed what they mean to us as individuals and there were some wonderful replies including; having joy with family, traditional Christmas food/drinks/decorations and of course feelings of peace. We looked at three carols which were ‘O Little Town Of Bethlehem’, Silent Night’ and ‘The Twelve days of Christmas’. We looks at the words and the children then wrote their own verses to these carols with some excellent results. Back to the subject of peace, the children also saw that wonderful Sainsbury’s advent based on the true event during WWI where the German and English soldiers came out of their trenches to share gifts and play football together to celebrate Christmas. A little peace in the heart of a terrible war. Another link as well to our history topic after Christmas – World War 1. I hope we can all find a level of peace no matter what is going on in our lives.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Friday the 3rd December 2023

Dear Parents,

Subjects have been motoring on, as us teachers are thinking about just how we could fit everything in from the curriculum before the bells toll 12 and the ghosts of Christmas come calling…or maybe that is just for me. I have been telling the children that our school days are going to extend over Christmas just to complete all our subjects. I think some of them believe me!

So what have my class of little Bob Cratchit’s been up to? This week along with the typical madness of our school have been the questions like …Are we having PE and gymnastics (and when)? When will the rescheduled Lyric Theatre trip be? What day is home clothes day? Are we doing anything extra for the Fete? It definitely pays to be on top of the class ‘Whats Apps’ and parentmail that is for sure. We have been continuing our topics of The UK in Geography, Art at Christmas in RE and Life Cycles in science. Massive thank you to Mercedes again for her fantastic science workshops. She has been wonderful for our school and we will miss her as she moves on after Christmas.

Maths lessons for my group have been all about expressing knowledge, using Bar Models to show fractions and recognising how to change mixed numbers to improper fractions and our homework on Mathletics will be around this topic. We are acknowledging that sometimes actual methods are straightforward and we are comfortable with them, but what can we do with that knowledge? They have looked at the importance of using inversing to check calculations and times table knowledge to support our fraction work. I use the example of the pyramid builders and the importance of foundations, as such times tables are on the bottom row and are the foundation of many of their topics as they move through school.  So Christmas is here, or almost. So that means in these strange times there will be no celebrations, carols, performances, Christmas cheer…Hey wait! This is St Stephens so of course there will!

It is wonderful that we in St Stephens really keep up with the Christmas spirit, never forgetting its true meaning. I have seen the wonderful FOSS advertising and preparing for our annual fete, the school halls are just echoing with the sounds of carols and nativity songs from the lower years being practised and we are starting to learn our own song for Carols by Candlelight’ which we will perform the last week of term, hey we also had some donkeys visiting the school this week as well. Trust me, it is a beautiful event and I am sure those parents who have been before will back me up. I hear those of you with children in lower years will have a chance to see their ‘Nativities’ soon as well, so that is great too.

Whether Christmas is your thing or not, or if you are not fond to the build- up to the season, with all that goes on,  it IS a special time of year. I have been telling the children in assemblies how important Advent is. Yes we are waiting for the celebration of the birth of Jesus when he came the first time, but also those of us who are Christians also believe we are looking forward to the second time he comes. This week churches up and down the country lit their first Advent candle -that of HOPE. I hope we are all feeling that first stirring of hope and joy that can be found at Christmas. Finally our Christmas topic in RE is all about peace at Christmas, it’s message from God, and how Christmas brings us peace …amid all the carnage of course!

As you think about how you will celebrate with loved ones this year I wish you as carnage free a Christmas as possible.

Homework as always is on Google Classroom, Mathletics and on the right of this message.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Friday 24^th November 2023

Dear Parents

Well what a quiet week it has been. What with last week having our assembly, parents evenings and a trip, this week we just put our feet up, put on our onesies and chilled out …Yeah right who am I kidding ?

Nope quiet and calm not usually a word associated with life in St Stephens. Indeed, all around us, evidence of what the few weeks ahead have in store for us is already starting to shape up! Parents are busy putting up decorations, emails are flying around about fete’s and Christmas events,, teachers are working on organising the carol concert, KS1 plays and other events and we are trying to get our heads around just how quickly another year comes around.

Next week, we also have a lot going on with our rescheduled year group football event, our science in residence (Mercedes) will be teaching year 5 about life cycles and we will be creating a decoration to sell at the fete. It never stops!

We have equally been busy in the classroom. Our topic in maths – that of fractions – is a perfect opportunity for me to use food as a muse for my teaching. So we have just been abounding in references to bars of chocolate being split equally or finding equal amounts of cake if one been chopped into 8 pieces and another 32. Still, after a year teaching this cohort maths, they must be used to me by now! Incidentally some of our mathletics homework will be around equivalent fractions. In science we have continued our work on reproduction in the natural world, focusing this week on the sexual and asexual reproduction of plants and flowers. We have also been looking at the difference between internal and external fertilisation and the development of young by looking at how it is different for animals that lay eggs to animals that give birth to live young.

RE wrapped up our topic of the vocational calling of Monks and Nuns to the start of our Christmas topic of ‘Art and Music at Christmas’. We looked at some paintings of the Christmas story and had a fascinating conversation about how characters – particularly Mary and Jesus – were depicted and reasons behind them. We had all sorts of facts and opinions mentioned including why they may have been dressed a certain way . We deduced painters in some eras would not have the same historical evidence we have now, so may paint their characters in their own style of clothing. Another great chat was around many paintings gave religious people a certain ‘Holy’ or ‘Severe’ look based on how seriously religion would have been taken in their times. Finally, our English continued to carry on our topic of poetry and we tapped into all sorts of skills including using onomatopoeia in ‘Nonsense Poems’ , similes and metaphors in riddles and personification in haikus and poems on nature.

Phew another week done!

Well, as per my parent mail, please look out for a new date from Miss Marchant for a re-scheduled trip to the Pantomime and as always homework will be found on both Google Classroom and on the right of this message.

Have a great and hopefully not too chilly weekend!

Kind Regards

Alex Perry

Friday 17^th November 2023

It has been a bit parky the last few days don’t you agree and the rain! I know Climate Change is not something to take lightly, but I am convinced that when I am in my dotage (not too far away I think) Britain will be rainforest, all hot weather and rapid downpours! All they will need to do is let a a few anacondas, howler monkeys and alligators into the wild and we would fit right in with The Amazon! Did not know just when to bring a big coat, umbrella, fleece top or all of the above. Still not complaining, I prefer the cold to rain and hot sun. I have a cricket club and for a sport that is known for stopping in even slightly cold or rainy conditions, it felt a bit odd! Still I had my big coat on and a cup of coffee so all was okay.  Oh dear I am starting to sound like someone at a get together with nothing to say and end up talking about the weather!

Our learning this week has continued as much as possible with all the changes and all that has been going on in the life and times of St Stephens. In geography we have been looking at the UK and how it is made up. This week we looked at how we are broken down into counties and how to identify them in an atlas to then label a blank map. Useful skills all around. Maths we wrapped up our work on multiplication and division and have really been focusing on the relationship between numbers and how we can use our times table knowledge to work out problems like 40 x 8000 using 4 x 8. We rounded our week off by completing an end of unit assessment before concentrating on our trip and assembly. Poetry was our topic in English (and will continue next week) and we have been looking at misconceptions (not all poems rhyme for example) and poetic skills including personification and alliteration. We have begun writing our own pieces and we look forward to more next week as we look at haikus and limericks. RR’s short focus like

Parents Evening

Firstly thank you for all who came to the parents’ evenings. It was a pleasure talking to you and I would like to reiterate that I have really enjoyed the first term teaching your lovely children. They are a talented, bright and lively that is for sure! It is interesting hearing some of the impressions the children feed back to you after getting to know me. Great titbits have included my coffee habit, my enthusiasm for history (where I have deduced I may talk too much), my drawer that will have the odd kitkat lurking and my sense of humour – or lack of!  It has been fun getting to know your children’s own unique characteristics too.

Class Trip

Well what a way to round off our week. The day was a fun one all around (with a little bit of stress too) but we definitely finished on a high! The children learned what it was like to have a typical lesson in a Victorian school with an old grumpy teacher – no not me – and had a session that involved humiliation, punishments , insults and no tolerance ….they loved it! To be fair I also took notes for my own development as a teacher and I may just implement a few of their rules and actionsJ. Seriously though the children continued their acting central day and really got into it. Please ask them about their experiences.

Class Collective Worship

Well we were just abounding in minotaur’s, dragons , medusas and cyclops today! Our assembly was a great success and I was very proud of your children who were all brilliant! With all the disruption these last few weeks with certain visitors, sports events, parents evenings, date changes and trips, I was really impressed with how the children adapted to what was going on and still had the strength and will to bring our assembly to life. They spoke so clearly and sang so beautifully, their enthusiasm created a wonderful energy and the Creation Dance simply brought a tear to my eye. A big pat-on-the-back to those with lots of lines to learn and to those who stepped out of their comfort zone. The costumes were excellent and thank you to all who provided them as well as our wonderful class saint – Mrs Connor. I can get a little carried away when writing the script and always add bits n bobs as I go and I hope you got all the in-jokes. Thank you for coming and I hope you enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed performing it.

Homework

As always I have put homework to your right on the webpage and on Google classroom.  

Well that is the lot I think for this week. I have decided it will be the new me. Less coffee, healthy walks (try the All Trails app) healthy eating and only a little Netflix. I am all set up to go.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Friday 10^th November 2023

Dear Parents

It has been another wet couple of days! Is it just me or has this Autumn’s weather been wetter than normal? I seem to be collecting wet and muddy trainers and walking shoes at my front door. My mop and bucket is also seeing more use than normal, but small problems I suppose. Saying that my Netflix shows or sports podcasts can somewhat distract me a little, but it is good to make you all think I am a domestic champion.

Anyway on with my next dazzling entry. Reminds me of the old James Herriot books (the show ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ are based on these) where each chapter is another incident in the life and times of a Yorkshire vet. So what would I call my memoirs?  How about ‘All Children Great and Small’, Or The life and times of a Shepherds Bush Primary School Teacher? Hmm have to think about this one.

Firstly as you are aware we had our visit from OFSTED this week, the fact we have not had one for twelve years or so before this is a testament to the hard work put in from all the staff, led by the vision and inspiration of Mr Schumm over the years. The children were wonderful and my friends and colleagues really showed the inspectors just what this school is all about. I look forward to reading the report over the next few weeks. Well done to everyone!

We have been working at our new topics for this half term and I will give you updates in the next few blogs with a few more details on studying the UK in Geography, Poetry in English, Monastic life and Music and Art at Christmas in RE, Life cycles in Science and Valuing Differences in RHE. The children have worked really hard and a few highlight for me this week were the children studying a performing the poem ‘Facing the Truth of Haikus’ by Malorie Blackman (our class namesake) and dissecting, labelling and describing the sexual parts of a flower (a lily) in science. Lots of hard work by all.

In light of all the disruption due to our inspection, I have been impressed with how hard they have been working on their class Collective Worship’ for this coming Thursday. Despite the fact we have not had as many chance to practice as I would have liked, We have been talking about keeping it ‘fresh’ (which can be hard after practising it many times) and keep working on putting character and power into their voices. I look forward to sharing our work with you all this Thursday. Thank you to all those who have provided costumes so far (do not worry if you have not been able to, we will try and work something out). Please can we have the last of any costumes due by this Monday at the latest? 

Parents Evening

It is that time of year again and if you have not done so already, please can you remember to book a slot for next week. If this is not possible then please get in contact so we can organise another time. I look forward to hearing from you next week.

I think that is my lot for today. As much as I would love to outline the amazing activity I have planned for the weekend to enrich and inspire my life…I won’t as it involves a walk, a T V show, a pie and probably a bit more mopping!

Homework is on the left and on Google Classroom.

Have a great weekend.

Kind Regards

Alex Perry

Friday 3rd November 2023

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to you all. I hope you had restful time and are ready for the madness that is the lead up to Christmas and the end of term.

We have been continuing our work on our information texts in English and have written our final piece with Dame Elizabeth Anionwu as our topic. Her leading research and work on the condition Sickle Cell made some real impact in the fight against it and we have learnt a lot from her story. The children have used a writing exemplar as an example of the how to lay out a text and I am looking forward to marking the final writing.

We have been working hard in maths looking at number and assorted number terms including factors, multiples and prime numbers. They have learnt how to find ‘factor pairs’ of a number and have looked for patterns within the multiples of assorted times tables. Mathletics will be set around this subject.

Well life in St Stephens this half term has set off again at a fast pace with many events already in the pipeline and this week has hardly been quiet! Yes there was walking across the mud spattered field as we took the children cross country running on Tuesday. Note the word ‘walking’ I certainly did none of the actual running and quite enjoyed my stewarding role as I shouted encouragement and ushered them in the right direction…at least I think I did! Then yesterday was our yearly quiz night organised by the FOSS team and as always it was another resounding success. Thank you again to FOSS for your hard work.

Parents Evening

It is that time of year again and if you have not done so already, please can you remember to book a slot for next week. If this is not possible then please get in contact so we can organise another time. I look forward to hearing from you next week.

Class Assembly

Finally our time is almost upon us…our class assembly. We have two weeks to go and as the children have had their scripts for a while I would encourage you please to help them learn their lines and how to express them with character and, as per my parentmail, they will talk to you about their costumes.

If you do go to a fireworks display this weekend (or host one) then I pray you enjoy yourself and that you all stay safe.

Homework as always is to the right of this screen.

Okay I am shattered and after being inspired today by the wind and the rain, I think a brilliant BBC nature show such as Planet Earth, Blue Planet or Frozen Planet awaits …then again I may just go for a good Viking show on Netflix instead, so I will sign off. Have a wonderful weekend.

Kind regards

Mr Perry

Dear Parents

With the first half of the term now over, we can all stop and take a breath.  What an eventful few weeks it’s been: Red Card to Racism day today, Hispanic Day, Black voices Week, and our DT day. To be fair did I expect anything different?

In black voices week the children have continued to look at the life of Dame Elizabeth Anionwu and her accomplishments in the field of science, in particular her work with the conditions Sickle Cell and Thalessema which particularly affect black and Asian communities. We have used these lessons in conjunction with our English topic of information texts – which they will wrap up after half-term. The children have learnt how to research, make notes and prepare sub heading categories for their writing on her. We have also had a visitor this week to talk to the children (and teach a few phrases) about the Creole language from the Caribbean. The week was wrapped up with a visit from a theatre and drama group to perform to the children at the end of our day.

We have also been slowly wrapping up our half term topics and have completed work in our Science (forces) RE (Judaism) and history (Victorians) .The children have worked very hard this term and I have seen some fine efforts in their tasks. They have enjoyed practical elements including investigations around how to put together a catapult (yes indeed watch the windows) as well as what happens when you throw a toy out the window…attached to a parachute I might add. Then the children have really honed their research skills in history and computing by using chrome books and ipads to find key facts about e-safety (computing) and about the Victorian way of life. They have understood the meaning (and beliefs) behind the worship of our world faith- Judaism- and have used very creative skills in retelling creation stories and myths (like Pandora’s Box). All in all a very productive half term!

Red Card to Racism Day

Although I am so glad to live in such a multicultural society, it saddens me that racism and discrimination still abounds in our society. The children today all wore red in support of the ‘Red C Card to Racism’ movement and we had a lesson on what prejudism is and ways in which it can occur and manifest itself. The children looked at scenarios in everyday life and discussed how to deal with such situations.

Homework is on your right of the screen for half term and is of course on Google Classroom. Please I would ask if you could support me in helping the children be organised in both completing homework as well as not losing it or not packing it into their school bags. We have been getting a few more cases of this lately than normal.

May I finish by saying that I hope you have a great break and I look forward to seeing all the children refreshed after half-term.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Dear Parents

Okay, Friday and 13 will not be mentioned in any way in this entry!

Hard to believe we only have a week to go until half term and as is the way in St Stephens it has been a truly busy one. This week was relatively quiet in comparisons but we have our Cultural Heritage Week next week and Red Card to Racism to look forward to.

In English we have moved on from our myths and legend topic (although we will revisit as we get closer to our class assembly) and started to look at information texts. We had looked at a variety of types of text including animals, history and archaeological based information. This will lead nicely on to our information next week on leading Black Women for Black Voices Week. I am looking forward to seeing where this leads. In RE we have been looking at Judaism and the importance of respecting other people’s religion, beliefs and way of life. We recognise that we can learn from others and do not have to be a Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh etc to take elements of their stories and elements and apply to our own lives. In the last few lessons we have looked at the ‘Sabbath’, The Torah and what happens within a synagogue.

Wednesday was Hispanic day and our class represented Cuba. We had a brief lesson on Cuban geography and culture. The children used their knowledge and growing research skills to prepare a fact file advertising the merits of Cuba, looking for key facts and explaining why it would be an excellent place to visit. Our school focus was Hispanic festivals and we looked at the Cuban Fire Festival. It was great to have Fernando join us, able assisted by his lovely daughter, who got the children to make their own Spanish biscuit snack and then answered some questions about life in his home country of Uruguay. Finally the children took part in a dance workshop which was great fun to see and experience.

I know I am always talking about how ‘busy we are’ but these couple of weeks really do highlight that. Wednesday was Hispanic Day and next week we have D & T day, Red Card to Racism day and Black Voices Week, where as a school we all look at a leading Black Woman in the science community. We are looking at the inspirational figure of Dame Elizabeth Anionwu A who was a green pioneer who, among many other accomplishments, led a movement to erect a statue of the icon – Mary Seacole -who became the first Black Woman to have a memorial raised in honour of her in England. She was a specialist who worked with the conditions of sickle cell and thalessema. We look forward to finding out more about her next week.

I loved the first assembly this term, that of Mr Gane’s Year 6 class. It was funny, informative and had a great message about what unites us as a school our vision. It has showed how we are a united community with everyone pulling in the right direction as encouraged and led by our Mr Schumm.  The whole ‘Schummy’ theme and of what Mr Schumm has done for our school was done in a tasteful way as well being very very funny! You can imagine what I was thinking…no pressure Mr P!

Homework is on your right of the screen and of course on google classroom.

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Dear parents,

I think sometimes I should cut and paste for every blog ‘it has been a busy week in St Stephens’ but I must try and be more creative so in on with the blog…it has been a busy week in St Stephens!

We are well into the half-term now and it has been wonderful getting to know your children. They are getting to know me as much as I am getting to know them. Nowadays I am often greeted with comments such as, ‘How many coffee cups have you had today?’ The answer is usually followed by a stern frown. In a similar fashion if they win a small treat for a task such as the best presentation as a group in RHE or the winner of a times table game they really ensure I pay my debt!

I have been enjoying the teaching subjects this term and there has been some great work occurring through the class. In RE we have been looking at the Jewish faith and important elements of how they live their faith. We have looked at artefacts linked to their worship, such as a tallit, kippah, yad and The Torah. We have compared them to artefacts in our faith and what scriptures those who are of other world faiths study and learn from. It struck us how we can learn so much from other faiths, how we have special objects and ceremonies all across faiths in world religions and how holy words and teachings can teach us how to live morally across all faiths and that we do not have to be followers to take them on board.

This week we finished our creation myths and have worked hard on studying the importance of planning, drafting, editing and final piece writing. There were some excellent examples of creativity and use of our English grammar and sentencing targets – that of relative clauses and parenthesis – and the children will hopefully look to take these skills further in their writing. You may now be aware that we have decided upon a theme for our class assembly in a month or so and they have their scripts. This theme is indeed ‘Myths and Legends’ and although we will not be practising much until closer to the time, please chat with them about costumes (we will be doing what we can from this end) and help them to learn their lines.

Our Harvest Festival went well and it was wonderful to see us all together again in such a fashion. Thank you for so many of you coming and of course for all the Harvest donations that are quite simply stacked at the back off St Stephen’s church ready to go to those who need it through the ‘Upper Room’. I think the tears came to my eyes when we all sang ‘ I Give Thanks’. Just watching all the teachers, children and parents getting stuck into the actions as well as singing their hearts out was simply heart-warming. One teacher said they felt the hairs rise up on the backs of their arms and I have to agree with them. It was special indeed.

. We realised that Jesus used stories all the time to help put across his teachings as well. Our learning in Buddhism around not giving into greed or that we should show kindness to both animals as well as people around us is something we could all learn from no matter what our religious beliefs are.

Our Harvest Festival went well and it was wonderful to see us all together again in such a fashion. Thank you for so many of you coming and of course for all the Harvest donations that are quite simply stacked at the back off St Stephen’s church ready to go to those who need it through the ‘Upper Room’. I think the tears came to my eyes when we all sang ‘ I Give Thanks’. Just watching all the teachers, children and parents getting stuck into the actions as well as singing their hearts out was simply heart-warming. One teacher said they felt the hairs rise up on the backs of their arms and I have to agree with them. It was special indeed.

Homework, as always, is to the right of this entry and on google classroom. We have new grammar books for that element of the homework the children can write in (thank you FOSS), so we will be setting grammar fortnightly the week we do not have reading comprehension.

So I will say goodbye now and go get a fun size bag of maltesers to pay my growing debts!

Kind Regards

Mr Perry

Dear Parents

It feels like deja vu but…we are all exhausted after another busy week! In English, the children have continued their work on our myths – with a focus on creation myths and they have been really getting into it. They have been learning how to use interesting vocabulary, add details with relative clauses and to begin to use ‘parentheses. They finished the week looking at how these factors can add to writing as well as spotting them in myths and writing examples of their own. We will round this work off next week beginning with planning their own on Monday and then writing and editing it by Friday. I am very much looking forward to marking their final product!

In Maths, the children in my group have been consolidating their knowledge on place value looking at portioning numbers to 1,000,000 , using number lines to round off numbers and looking at strategies to order numbers over 100,000. The children did this by breaking numbers down through partitioning and then learning how to order them through our understanding of the value of the digits. We have looked as well at maths language such as ‘ascending’ and ‘descending’, which also lends toward our spellings this week, that of ‘Ous’ words.

Other subjects have included continuing our topic of forces in science, where the children have looked at, friction last week and air resistance this week.  We had fun planning how to test how the size of a parachute will affect how the air pushes against it and slows it down. As I was explaining in class and giving ideas around how they could carry on their learning at home, I think even I got excited! I mean what is not exciting about throwing a toy soldier, teddy, Barbie Doll or indeed Darth Vader off a height to test various parachute sizes or how the mass/size of the toy could equally effect the objects descent and the effects of air-resistance. I did off course express if they did do it home the importance of safety. Would love to hear about it if anyone does it! Next week we look at water –resistance. What fun!

Being the democratic school we are, we had our elections, speeches and presentations prepared by the Year 6s and voted for the house captains. As a prior Year 6 teacher I know how important these elections are and told my class just how the confidence of many house captains have risen as a result of being elected, the amazing fund raising they have been a part of and the pivotal role they have in school daily life. The children took the responsibility of voting very seriously and I am sure they have made excellent choices.

Speaking of special …A massive thank you to all the parents who came to the family supper – one of my favourite St Stephen’s events. I think I got to say hello to most of you and if not …well hello! Delicious food – I could not pass without taking at least one more lamb chop, scoop of rice or chicken wing!  Gives us real incentive to celebrate good bounty at our Harvest Festival next Wednesday. With all the wonderful events that FOSS put on, I know this one is always one of the favourites. The children love it because –as one child stated- we can run around in the dark! I am just thankful we pass over all responsibility to you at 3.30pm J . I mean what is not to love about children who have been stuffing their faces with doughnuts, cakes and other puddings (and of course a few savouries too) running around the playground on a sugar high! Seriously though it is a wonderful evening and I am always one of the first in line with my plate to sample the wonderful variety of food that is brought to the supper. It is a simple event – yet one that really shows our community spirit.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful food brought to the event! Your children MAY have been on a sugar high running around but I was too busy stuffing my face to notice. A wonderful event all around thank you.

IMPORTANT- Please take note of the email sent via parentmail about the trip next year. For your children to go, we need the important documents in by Christmas holidays and for the passports to have at least six months before expiring from our departure date.  

Homework as always is on Google Classroom and is also listed to the right of this entry.

Have a wonderful weekend and kind regards.

Mr Perry

Dear Parents,

Well if you are eager you may be reading this on Thursday! I am not in school tomorrow so I am posting this and homework etc a day early. So it is not me being over eager either!

Is it raining? Is it sunny? It does seem a bit of a lottery these days. I honestly am never sure what to wear in the mornings. Jacket? Fleece? Jumper? As I have said it is a bit of a lucky dip! To top it all off our air condition is still not working either! Sorry a bit of a first world problem there.

It is the end of another busy week at St Stephen’s. In Maths my group has been focusing on recognising the value of numbers up to 1,000,000 and how to use the Gattegno Chart – anther great link to ancient history. We have looked at how to split them, what happens when we times numbers by 10, 100 and 1000  placing them on number lines and we continued to look at solving problems eliminating clues. After all our work last year on our times tables, it is important the children continue to practice. As we discuss in class the old motto ‘practice makes perfect’ this is no truer than with times tables and the children should practice for ten minutes a day. We have mathletics homework based upon our work in class.

We have been enjoying our history topic on the Victorians, the children have been researching, illustrating and writing up theories on the industrial revolution and looked at the benefits and negatives it brought to our life and culture. We have looked at how a lot of our progress at this time was built on the horror of slavery and we have looked at how the speedy growth of our industry was also at the detriment of life for British citizens, especially the labourers and their families.  There have been some fantastic examples of work. When discussing how teachers and foreman would have been very harsh and strict I am sure there were a few looks in my direction! We have looked at how despite the horrific working conditions for many people and touched upon the horrors of slavery we have discussed that this age made huge leap forwards in ‘technology’ in the growth of machines, steam power and commerce for the United Kingdom. If only it was not at the cost of so many lives.

Speaking of fantastic …we are moving ahead with our English topic of Myths and Legends. As I have frequently said to my children, I just love these topics. My personal love of reading, which I strongly promote, began with fantasy such as Narnia and LOTR at their age (I would have just loved it if series like Percy Jackson and Harry Potter would have been around when I was their age) then moved onto historical fiction and non-fiction. I just love it when there is a blend of the two such as Ancient Greek myths, Norse legends and tales such as King Arthur and Robin Hood. I am looking forward to seeing their final written pieces. I may even be getting an inkling of an idea for our class assembly.

The children have been blessed yet again with lots of fun experiences. This week as well as continuing our weekly chess workshops they also took advantage of the Year 6 absence by having an extra PE lesson today and have been having drama this half term – the teacher making great links with our English topic- as I understand it last week it was Pandora’s Box…much as I feel at the moment about tins of biscuits in the staff room. to uphold. Fear not though they have been working hard at their other subjects as well.

Harvest Festival  – Wednesday 4^h October 9.00 AM

As I mentioned last week, It is wonderful that we are getting back to some semblance of normality at St Stephens and that we can all meet together to celebrate our church festivals. On that note, you are all invited Wednesday 4^th October 9 am to our Harvest Festival, where we come together to thank God for our harvest. This will be held in St Stephens Church. Every year we collect non-perishable goods to go towards feeding those in need at a local charity. Like last year, proceeds will go to the ‘Upper Room’. You would have all received a parentmail with the list of appropriate goods. We look forward to seeing you there.

Family  Supper – Thursday 28th^th September PM

With all the wonderful events that FOSS put on, I know this one is always one of the favourites and it was such as shame that we could not put it on last year. The children love it because –as one child stated- we can run around in the dark! I am just thankful we pass over all responsibility to you at 3.30pm J . I mean what is not to love about children who have been stuffing their faces with doughnuts, cakes and other puddings (and of course a few savouries too) running around the playground on a sugar high! Seriously though it is a wonderful evening and I am always one of the first in line with my plate to sample the wonderful variety of food that is brought to the supper. It is a simple event – yet one that really shows our community spirit.

Homework as always is on the right, with the spellings. Grammar should be completed on google classroom and maths as always is set on mathletics. Please ensure you stay up to date with Mathletics so you do not fall behind.

I am going to go home and try and procrastinate about the list of jobs I have to do. Maybe I should stay and do a bit more marking!

Kind regards

Alex Perry

Dear Parents

Did we have a summer holiday? When was it? It seems so far away…cue a bit of whinging and sobbing in a corner…followed by a large glass of wine!

This past week or so (and over the coming half term)  I am getting to know the children’s learning habits through classroom activities and getting a handle on how we can work together.. Don’t be alarmed if your child moves onto different class working groups and there may be movement in the maths classes in the coming weeks as Mrs Connor and I get to know the children. They are a great bunch and I have really enjoyed teaching them , even those in Crummel House…In class joke there !

We have started our maths and English topics in earnest. In maths, my group have looked at face value, understanding the value of parts of numbers up to 1,000,000 and how the importance of place holders. We also joined history and maths together by having lessons on Roman numerals and using them to work out dates of significance in history and the years of the reigns of assorted kings and queens of Britain, they really enjoyed it and it was fun trying to learn and understand the right sequences. They have been working hard on layout and presentation of maths problems and I have been really impressed with the effort put into this. Our homework for maths this week reflects all these points.

We are so blessed to have such generous parents in this school and we are lucky to have additional avenues of support for the children. Mrs Lowrey, as our KS2 Specialist Catch-up teacher, will be working with a number of children from Year 5 to give some support in their Maths and English learning. These sessions will take place on a weekly basis as on-to-one sessions and in small groups. More details on this will follow later on in the term.​

Homework – Please see opposite for the homework which will be spelling, comprehension and maths. A new process will be using Google Classroom a lot more for other homework such as comprehension or additional tasks. Spellings and sentences as always will be in the green books and mathletics will be set by class teachers.  

In RE we have begun our topic of Judaism as well as begun looking at our class spiritual word – Peace. Next week the children will write prayers and created a poster with their bible verse in their RE books based on their idea what ‘PEACE’ means for us as individuals. Not just wishing for PEACE in the world, but also what it means for Peace in our lives. We also have started our worldwide religious topic on understanding what it is like to live as a follower of Judaism and what items and artefacts are important to them -such as a Kippah’, Tallit and Seder dish.

It has been wonderfully democratic in school this week with class elections for school council and the children voted for who would take on that role. Well done to all those who went for it, as well as the two children nominated as our prayer group representatives.

So all in all it has been a very democratic week in class…although I still have my dictator moments J.

I am looking forward to going to France with your children next year – a trip I loved doing with Year 6 a few years ago and as emailed earlier in the week, I hope all our children can attend. On another note good luck to the Year 6 going to PGL next week and I am sure they will have a fantastic time. I will repeat this throughout the year to the children many times throughout the year, but I truly believe that they are blessed to have so many opportunities and experiences in this school, or have I said that already J

Just to round off I would like to say your children are certainly a group full of character and energy. I see myself having a long bath before sinking into my couch every Friday when the week ends with a glass of coke zero and a box set on Netflix/Disney Plus as I try to recover J . Seriously they are wonderful children and I am having great fun teaching them.   They are a credit to you!

Kind regards

Mr Perry

Welcome to Year 4 Backman!

I hope you had a wonderful summer holiday and are ready to start the new school year. I have been really looking forward to teaching Year 5 as I have not taught this Year 5 yet in St Stephens (I taught Year 6s for five years before going to year 5) and they are at a lovely age in their development and also they begin to get my humour (or lack of) J  as well. It is fantastic once again to meet new families, siblings of old students and get to know children from the year group who I did not teach Maths last year. We are all in this together as we start our year 5. I look forward to getting to know your children (and you of course) in the coming weeks and months ahead.

Mrs Connor has been wonderfully helpful over the last few days and we thank her. She has over twenty years’ experience as a TA and is a welcome member of the Year 5 team. Miss Kayleigh, Miss Bill and Mrs Conner have been wonderfully supportive of me as I begin my time in Year 5. As I am sure you are aware – Miss Bill and Miss Kayleigh are working with the other Year 5 class. The Children have been letting me know all about themselves by creating a coat of arms that represent them and have included with them topics such as family, interests and talents. They have learnt a bit more about me and my interests, hobbies and expectations. I look forward to hearing more about their own summer and what they love to do in their play time. We look forward to getting to know each other well in the coming months through assemblies, playtimes and looking at being back on track with school trips and sports events. Then of course next year we have our residential. Roll on France! I know this trip really well after taking five year 6 classes here before switching France with our Spanish trip and am looking forward to taking your children here.  We have looked at our expectations for the year and drawn up a charter for our class rules and the children have been listening and following the rules sensibly.

Our timetable has been put on the website and I will parent mail you as well. In Maths – as always- Year 5 will be split into two groups.  I will be teaching the independent group and Miss Bill will be teaching the other group supported by additional adults. Although the groups will start more or less the same there will be some adjustments based on Miss Bill’s and I’s judgment. We will want to support your children as best as possible. As per my parent mail Monday, PE kits will be needed for Tuesdays (PE) and Wednesdays (gymnastics). The children should come into school in their PE clothes which they will keep on for the rest of the day, unless we have sports days- I would want the children to have full school uniforms on Monday, Thursday and Friday.

Reading books will not be issued this week but will go out every Monday and should be returned by Friday when they will be changed, these books should be read with an adult and recorded in their reading log books. We will also have a school library slot on a Friday where the children make a more personal choice.  Children will visit the school library most weeks.  There will be options to go to the library some lunch times this year as well, a new initiative from Mr Schumm and will be headed by Mrs Connor. Homework will be issued every Friday and should be returned by Tuesday. Mathletics tasks are part of the weekly homework and should be completed by Tuesday as well.

I am looking to meeting you all properly over the course of the coming weeks and know we will have a successful year ahead.

My email is a.perry@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk

Kind Regards

Mr Perry