Good luck Miss Hickling

The school wished a very special lady good luck today as she leaves us to start her maternity leave.

The children gave Miss Hickling lots of wise advice during Gold Book assembly including "get lots of sleep now while you can!"

We then had a lovely time as a staff team passing on lots of tips and good advice for when the baby arrives.

We wish you all the very best Miss Hickling and look forward to meeting your new arrival.

Team Eddy - Charity Clay Pigeon Shoot

I had the most wonderful day last Sunday when I had the privilege of attendending a Charity Clay Pigeon Shoot hosted by the Del Rosso family and their friends Chris and Julie Havill.

People came from all over the country to support the event including those from Scotland and Jersey.

The shoot made a massive £3103 which has been added to our Team Eddy fund. The generosity of those present was amazing and £350 of prize money that was won on the day was donated back into the pot. There were also very kind donations ranging from £10 - £400. 

Please see a list of thank yous from their website below:

Sunday 5th May saw 93 skeet shooters come to Nottingham Sporting Clays to contest the Express Skeet Championship and to raise money for Eddy.

It was an absolutely fantastic day with a fabulous atmosphere, thank you so much to everyone that attended.

Andy Parsons was the deserving winner of the Express with the only 100 straight of the day - if you would like to see who else took prizes please look at our results page.

For all involved the most fantsatic result of the day was the incredible fund raising that surrounded the event.

Huge thanks to Peter Boden and Express Cartridges for their cartridge sponsorship of the event and to the Del-Rossos and the Havills for the huge amount of effort, committment and financial contribution to make up the sponsored prize fund.

There are many more to thank: 

Dave Morgan for supplying and organising a raffle for cartridges which raised £400

Buxton Plumbers, Andrew Price of Roscoe Recycling, Phillip Watts Design, R&FD Casting, Mick Mann of Lapley Landscapes, Metalon, Rachel Bowen Matthews, Dave & Sue Barratt, Dave Beardsmore, Tony Jackson & Chris Gardiner who all gave donations which totalled £1230

Andy Parsons, Julie Havill, Paul Fallon, Pat Dickman, Sean Severn, P Gaskin, Geoff Flint, Lol Barr, Dave Morgan, Mark Rowbotham, Rens Del-Rosso & Alan Barnes who all gave their prize winnings to the fund which added another £350

To all the people that supplied raffle prizes which raised £328

Thanks go to Carl Smith who discounted the entry cost enabling us to put a large charity levy on the entry fee - this raised £750

Carl also discounted a mini Flush Competition which raised another £45

Ray Rogers, Stevie Roberts, Geoff Flint, Ron Baron, Ryan Nutchey for refereeing

We were able to give all proceeds raised to Eddy's headmaster Matthew Crawford who was overwhelmed at the support.

£3103 was raised on the day and will make a massive difference to Eddy and his family.

Well done to all and thank you for your generosity.

I would like to echo the thanks, what an amazing group of people  and it was a real pleasure to be in their company for the afternoon. Thank you so much to the Del Rosso family and their friends for the invite and for thinking of Team Eddy. We are so grateful.

Please see the pictures below with a video to follow:

Team Eddy Party at Planet Happy!

Please see below a video of children from Classes R, 1 and 6 at Planet Happy in Heage. We had a very special party with the proceeds donated to Team Eddy. Children received their own goody bag and Team Eddy gingerbread man to take home.

Thank you to the children for being so well behaved. You played beautifully and made us all very proud. 

Thank you also to Mr. Hopwell and Mrs Hird for organising such a fab evening. 

A massive thank you to Plannet Happy for hosting the party.

Snow day!

Well class one, it's a good job we haven't planted our sunflowers yet! They wouldn't like this cold weather! If u fancy doing some snowy poetry today to link in with our literacy work this week then see if you can think of some rhyming words for the following snowy words.....
Snow. Ice. Snowman. Frost. Cold. Snowflake.

Any any other snow words you can think of:-) Then see if you can write some silly sentences that rhyme like we have been doing at school this week. For example.....

Outside there is lots of snow
And it is covering Joe.

Comic Relief Cake Sale - The Big Bake Off!

Have a look at the video below showing what a great time we had at the cake sale last Friday. Thank you to all parents, grandparents and staff that made or donated cakes. They look amazing!

Red Nose Day at Smalley.

After a huge fundraising effort for our own Edward Parry last week we decided that Red Nose Day should be quite low key for this year. However..... we were overwhelmed by the amount of cake donations the children brought into school! Parents,Grandparents and children obviously got very busy Thursday evening and managed to contribute to a wonderful display of cakes-inkeeping with this year's theme of 'The Great British Bake-Off '-there was a real sense of community in our school.

Thank you to everyone who baked or bought those wonderful cakes - see if you can spot yours on the photographs!

Fantastic Movie Night

Well done Class 4 , Movie Night was a great success and a good time was had by all!

A huge 'Thank You' to all the staff and parents who helped on the night, we could not have done it without you.

With all the money made, the children are now putting together a 'wish list' for the new wet playtime toys.

A HUGE Thank You!!

A very big thank you to all staff, children and parents at Smalley Richardson School for all of your hard work and support whilst we were in school.

A special mention for Class 2 and Class 5 for all of your hard work in our lessons, and a special mention for all the children who came to our Where's Wally lunchtime club.

We hope that you enjoyed having us in school. I know that both myself and Mr Dickson have thoroughly enjoyed our time in school, and we're really sad to have left. However I'm almost certain that we will be back very soon to come and see you all, but for now it's back to the University of Derby for us.

Thank you so much for all of your kind words, cards and gifts.

See you soon :)

Miss Richards and Mr Dickson

Flowers topic!

This half term class one are learning all about flowers and plants. In Art we are making plant sculptures out of different materials, including some clay sculptures which are coming along nicely. In Science we are learning all about plants which we are linking to our literacy work about non- fiction texts, creating some great information pages and leaflets all about plants.

Here are some pictures of class one on their plant search around the school grounds, children exploring a selection of non-fiction books from heanor library and some of the children making their clay sculptures.

THURSDAY IS MOVIE NIGHT (7th March)!

The tickets have been sold, the film is ready to go!

If you would like any additional snacks they will be on sale during the film.  The cost will be as follows;

Drinks 40p

Hotdogs 50p

Popcorn 40p

Class 4 are looking forward to seeing you there to join in the fun!

Snow Day in Class One

Morning Class One, I hope you keep yourselves wrapped up warm today. Have you told your family about the snowman making competition on Friday? 

We have been working hard in class one, despite the snowy weather. In numeracy we have been learning how to double numbers and all about tens and units. Here are a few games to try at home and show off your numeracy skills. http://www.ictgames.com/robindoubles.html

http://www.ictgames.com/sharkNumbers/sharkNumbers_v5.html

Feeling like a challenge with those doubles? Try this version...

http://www.ictgames.com/rhoodbeyond10.html

In Literacy we have all written the story of 'The Three Little Pigs' and the level of writing has been brilliant!! Can you order the pictures from the story on this website?http://www.iboard.co.uk/iwb/Three-Little-Pigs-Sequence-Retell-126

This week we are going to be news reporters and we are in search of the big bad wolf! Could you think of some describing words for the big bad wolf and post them on the site?

We will be making WANTED posters for the big bad wolf. If you fancy making one at home on the computer here is a site where you can make one. http://www.iboard.co.uk/iwb/Three-Little-Pigs-Character-Comparer-158  When the page opens click on the magnifying glass above the rubber for the full options to make the poster.  If you make a poster print it off and bring it in to school.

Make sure you read your reading books and I will get them changed for you tomorrow.

Have fun.

See you tomorrow!

Snow Challenge

Can you think creatively and solve the following creative challenges?

1. Design a new vehicle that can travel through snow.
2. Build different size/denisity snowballs and measure their melt times.
3. Feed the Birds - in the snowy weather they need food. Try to hang food and put some on the ground so you can see which are ground feeders. Spend time identifying birds - they are lot easier to see against the snowy background. Sketch the birds, so you can identify them later at school (if no access to bird books or internet). Spend 30 mins watching the birds, count them, plot bar charts etc.
4. 101 creative uses of a sledge
5. What is the Best Shape for a Snow House. You want to build a snow house, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of snow. What shape house should you build to get the most floor area for the least amount of effort? What other ideas do you have? If you could build it against a wall (i.e. one side already made for you) what shape would you build?
6. Be Creative and answer any of the 5 challenges above. Post pictures/comments as answers.

School is closed - Monday 21st January 2013

Unfortunately school has had to close for the following reasons;

1. We are receving dinners from Coppice Primary whilst our kitchen is being refurbished and unfortunately they are closed today. After receiving notification at such late notice we would be unable to provide a dinner for children.
2. A number of our staff live away from the area and would struggle to get into school. 

As you know, we always make every attempt to keep the school open and closing it is always a last resort.  Please be aware that we will be aiming to open tomorrow and if you're child usually has school dinners please have some sandwiches prepared in case. 

Snowman challenge

Today will live long in the memory of staff and children as we had great fun in our snowman challenge!
Lots of brilliant teamwork on display. Children you were amazing and your behaviour was superb as always.
Thank you to all the staff for all your hard work, for keeping the school open and for making today one the children will never forget.
Enjoy these pictures of our wonderful snowmen, more to follow!

Fun in the snow

We have all had great fun in the snow at playtime today wrapped up in our hats, gloves and wellies! Mr Crawford organised a snowman building competition between classes. Take a look at the winning snowman built by class 5 and class 1!
Thank you Mr Crawford let's hope it snows again next week!

Good Luck!

I would just like to say 'Good Luck' to our fabulous Key Stage 2 children who are performing tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon and evening in our 'Victorian Christmas' production.

If you are coming to see the show you will be treated to some excellent singing and verse from our older children in school and you will leave filled with Christmas spirit and joy.

Rehearsals are going well and the children are really looking forward to showing off all their hard work.

Good Luck again Key Stage 2 (although you don't need it) and ENJOY YOUSELVES....It's Christmas after all!!

THANK YOU STAFF!

I switched my computer on to look at the website last night and there were around 20 comments from parents, grandparents and pupils thanking staff for their work. I then looked at our twitter account and there was this lovely message from Mrs. Taylor " Such brilliant teaching, fun and care @richardsoneps. Our 4 yr old keeps asking when her teacher can come for a sleepover."  What a lovely feeling and I can tell you it is certainly appreciated by us all here. A thank you definitely goes a long way as the old saying goes.

Tuesday was one of those magical days in school that sums up how lucky we are here at Smalley. As I was leaving to attend the Athletics Finals I spoke to Mrs. Naylor who was running a club in the hall, popped into see Mrs. Rhodes and her amazing cake club before hearing beautiful singing coming from Class 6. Mrs. Mason, Mrs. Boyles and Mrs. Walton were there leading choir club! As I was watching our Year 4 children perform superbly at Athletics,  with Mrs. Rawlings and Miss Hickling, I took time to reflect on the wide variety and richness of activities that our staff offer in school. These are activities that the staff don't have to do but choose to give up their time. 

I am in a very privileged position as I see how hard all our  staff work each day and get to observe their wonderful lessons. I am incredibly proud each day to lead a group of people who show talent, skill and determination every day to go the extra mile for the children here.  

When I read the press teachers and school staff seem to be getting a hard time at the minute so I am delighted that our community here realise the hard work and effort that the staff put in here, we have been smiling at your lovely comments and it means a lot to us. 

If we continue to work together in this way then we can most definitely achieve our aim of becoming an outstanding school at the heart of the community.  

Class One's Podcast!

We have created a podcast in Class One. We would like to know all about toys from the past, so Mums, Dads, Grandmas and Grandads, take a listen and if you can answer any of the questions then please make a comment. We will look forwards to reading your responses!

1000 comments - WOW!

Last night we had the usual flurry of comments on the website and reached a landmark moment! Michael from Class 6 posted the 1000th comment on the website which is an incredible achievement as the website has only been in place just over a year. Anyone can comment on childrens work and we are getting over 100 coments a month at the moment. 

Michael commented on work that Class R had done and this is a perfect example of how these kind comments can give the children such a boost. Well done to Amber in Year 6 too who made a lovely comment about our Remembrance Service and missed out by just  a few minutes. Both children received their prizes in assembly today. More parents than ever are now using our website and commenting on work so thank you very much for this. 

I hope you all agree that the website is a brilliant place to see what is happening in school and gives a real flavour of what a special place it is.

Quick website facts:

1. We have at least 250 page views every day 
2. Lifetime Page views = 59348
3. Number of posts = 666

A massive thank you to all our staff who post so regularly on the website and keep it updated. Without their hard work and dedication we wouldn't have this wonderful resource and a great audience for the children's work. 

Thank you from Padley

A special thank you to everyone.

Thank you again for your kindness and generosity.

TOYS in Class One!

This term our topic in Class One is Toys!! We will be looking at toys we play with today compared to toys played with in the past. We will be exploring shapes in toys in numeracy, and in Literacy we're going on a toy hunt! In our dance lessons we will be doing a robot dance and in design and technology we are explroing playground equipment which links to our pushes and pulls science topic! Last week we were the force monsters in Class One and we were identifying how we could use pushes and pulls to move the different toys in our classroom!

Next week we will be visiting a local playground and exploring the different forces that we come across. This trip will also help us when we come round to designing and making our own miniture playgrounds! A fun fun busy term ahead, not forgetting the Christmas Play which we have already started learning the songs for! 

Fruit Salads in Class One

At the end of the last half term, Class One worked together in teams to design and make a healthy fruit salad! They enjoyed making and then eating their creations! 

Packing for Padley!

It was indeed a special moment as the children sang 'Song of Gratitude' and presented their Harvest gifts; the table was bursting with generous offerings for the Padley Centre in Derby.  Mrs Dean spoke to the children about the work of the Padley Centre and how the food and toiletries would help many homeless people.

Thank you again everyone for your generosity.  

Harvest Assembly - Thank You!

A massive thank you to all parents, grandparents, friends and visitors for the unbelievable turnout for the Harvest Assembly. We definitely need a bigger hall for Christmas!

Thank you to all the staff for their dedication again. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful group of people in our school that 'go the extra mile' for our children. Thank you also to Mrs. Reckless for co-ordinating the event brilliantly.

 Finally,  thank you to our children, the assembly was stunning and you all performed beautifully.

Harvest Assembly

Please see the links below regarding this years Harvest Appeal.

Letters Home in Class One

Class One have sent home some very important letters! We have been looking at our addresses and the journey of a letter in our Geography lessons. Watch out for a letter coming through your door soon!

600 Posts and counting - WOW!

Well done to Mrs. rawlings in Class 4 for putting the 600th Post on the school website which is quite astonishing considering the website is only a year old. 

A massive thank you to the staff for all their hard work on the website. It really is a place where parents can keep up to date with what is happening in school and a great audience for the children's work. 

Thank you to all the parents and children for commenting regularly on the posts. We are well on our way to 900 comments!

Come and see me for your prize in the morning Mrs. Rawlings!

Letter From the Queen!!

Class 1 were very excited today to find out they have received a letter from the Queen!

They wrote to her last year in Class R to show the lovely work they had done as part of their Diamond Jubilee work.

The Queen's lady in waiting wrote back to say how much she enjoyed receiving the letter and seeing all our children's work. She also sent us a very posh leaflet with pictures from the Jubilee celebrations.

The children have all brought a copy of the letter home and we will display a framed copy of the original letter, leaflet and children's work that we sent, in school.

What a brilliant way to end the week!!

How many words?

As part of the homework next week, Team 2 will be thinking about how many words they can make from one of London's most famous landmarks - 

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Can you help them to make a start and think of 10 words that they could use?

(here's one to get you started - luck)

Olympic Torch Visit - Inspire a generation!

On Wednesday we were very fortunate to have an Olympic Torch in school for the morning. Mr. Crawford was very proud to introduce his cousin, Andy Fewtrell, who was selected to take part in the torch relay due to his charity work after creating the Up and Under Foundation. 

Andy told the children all about the relay and lots of interesting facts about the Olympics and torch.

All the children got to hold the torch as it was passed in a relay around the hall as the assembly was taking place. Even the staff got to hold it too!!

Watch the video below. Thank you so much to Andy for travelling from Crewe to come to our school. We had a wonderful day. 

Numeracy

In our Numeracy lessons we have been working with Mr Add looking at addition facts to 5 and number bonds to 10. 

We looked at the following pattern with addition facts for 5. Can you spot it?

0 + 5 = 5

1 + 4 = 5

2 + 3 = 5

3 + 2 = 5

4 + 1 = 5

5 + 0 = 5

Try and learn these number facts at home as well as at school.

Click on this link for a great game that can be used to help you learn your number bonds to 10.  http://www.ictgames.com/save_the_whale_v4.html

A Big Welcome to Class One

This term our topic is "Ourselves. " We have a doctors surgery in our classroom which we have enjoyed playing in and we have been working very hard in all our lessons. We have a few photos to show you what we have been up to in Literacy and Geography so far this year. We have been learning how to use labels in literacy and how to label a map of the school in Geography.