Team Eddy

We are raising money this term for a very special boy in our Reception Class. Eddy was diagnosed with Bone Cancer in August 2012. He is incredibly brave and has been fighting hard ever since. We are looking to raise money to show our support for Eddy and his family.

Our fundraising is on two levels:

1. Mr. Crawford and a team of parents are running the Adidas Half Marathon at Silverstone on Sunday March 3rd. 
2. The children will be  doing a 'Mile for Eddy' in Fancy dress on Friday 8th March.  This will be 13 laps of our playground to mirror the 13 miles of the half marathon.

Further details and a sponsor form will come home with children very soon.

In the meantime our fundraising page can be found by using the link below;

Team Eddy 

You can sponsor us by using this link or by using a traditional sponsor form and sending your money to school. Download our sponsor form below:

Download Team Eddy Sponsor Form - Final

Thank you in advance for your support for Team Eddy.

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 closure- Reception Class challenge!

This week we will be continuing our Earth and beyond topic. We will be continuing to find out about the moon and we will begin to  learn about stars. Can you find any information out about stars either on the internet or in books? What are they made from? Are they all the same colour, shape and size? Any research will earn you 2 stickers for your sticker book.   

Please continue to read your reading books and test yourselves on your phonic words that are in your books. 

Have fun. 

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. 

BUDDIES HAVE FUN IN THE SNOW!

Class 6 and Class R joined together today to build a snowman. Everyone worked really hard collecting the snow and generally having fun. Thank-you Elena for the carrot nose and to Erica for bringing in enough coal to give our snowman a great big smile! He was almost as happy as all the children !

Can you think of a good name for our special buddy?

Everyone had lots of fun!

Even Mrs Walker and Mrs Annabel got to join in the fun !

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!

Look at us learning through play!

Class R have been having a fantastic time learning about our planet Earth and beyond. 

Have a look at some of the things that they have been doing in their play.

These children built a rocket from 2D shapes. They then pretended they were astronauts on an adventure to space. BLAST OFF!!!

Finley and Blaydon explore our planet. They shine the torch down to represent the sun!

James creates space goggles! 

Blaydon can't wait to fly to the moon..................

....and neither can Lara! Look at those lovely cheeky smiles. 

Mason and Charlie are proud of their rockets.

5,4,3,2,1 BLAST OFF!!!!

Class R have been reading the story called 'Whatever Next' about a bear who goes to the moon in a cardboard box rocket. The children had a fantastic time making a rocket for our new space station role play area. They worked as a team to shape, assemble and join the materials they were using. The children were so keen to get in it. They couldnt wait for it to be finished. Have a look at some of the pictures below. 

Team work in Class R

The children in Class R couldn't wait to get outside on Monday morning. They wrapped up warm and together built snowmen and snowdogs! They were thrilled with their creation and wondered if he would come to life in the night just like on the film! 

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!!

Celebrations

We have been learning about lots of celebrations - here are some pictures of children enjoying their learning.

We even had our own mock wedding! 

Chinese New Year in Class R

Watch the video below and see how much fun we had as part of our Chinese New Year Celebrations in our Festivals topic.

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.  

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.

Class R know how to party!

Class R have been studying Festivals and Celebrations this half term. On Friday they had a massive Birthday Party to celebrate the birthdays of everyone in the class. 

The children sent out invitations to their brilliant buddies and Mrs Mason in Class 6. I was also lucky enough to receive an invitation from the children just after lunch on Friday. 

It turned out to be a Pyjama Party as we were all dressed up for Children in Need.

There was a beautiful buffet, thanks to all the parents for your kind donations.

The children played traditional party games such as pass the parcel and musical statues. Everyone showed off their groovy dance moves to finish!

A massive thank you to Miss Firth for organising such a fabulous party and to Miss Oxbury and Mr. Young for your help.

What a fantastic way to end another brilliant week in Class R.

Take a look at the highlights below!

Miss Firth's group- Phase 2 phonics

Firstly I would like to say a huge well done to the children in my phonics group. You are working so hard to learn the sounds, actions and formation of the letters s, a, t, p, i, n, m.

We have been learning the high frequency words a, an, as, is, it, in, at, if, am, on and up. Please keep practising these words both reading and writing them. Can you think of a sentence with those words in?

This week we are looking at the sounds 'd' and 'g'. Can you sound out and blend these words?

dad, did, dip, mad, sad, gap, gas, tag, Mog

Again well done for working so hard, keep it up!

Glass Jars needed please!

Can staff and parents of Class R please save a jam or pickle sized jar and send this to school as soon as possible for a creative lesson coming soon!

Thanks  

Class R enjoy practical numeracy activities.

Class R have been very busy with their number work. Have a look at some of the practical activities that they have been doing. 

Elena and Leila enjoyed writing their numbers in the sand.

Grace and Christopher take turns to count the correct amount of cubes for each number.

James uses chalks to practise writing his numbers on the playground.

Sam shows how he can write his numbers to 10 beautifully!

Lara tried so hard to count the beans she found outside! Maybe we can plant them and grow a huge beanstalk like Jack!

Creative constructions!

Class R are becoming very good at using a range of construction in the classroom. They are beginning to think about what it is they are making and how they can adapt and improve it further. Can you guess what they were making?

Class R enjoyed bread making!

During Harvest time, Class R read the story of The Little Red Hen. They used puppets to act out the story and then they made bread just like in the story. Martin said that he enjoyed eating his bread at home with cheese on it! Here are some super pictures of the children enjoying these activities.

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.

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!

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. 

Reception settle in!

A big well done to every single child in Reception! You have all come into school full of smiles and raring to go! This week you have settled into school and have learnt so much already including where to hang coats, where your tray is and the classroom routines. We even did our first P.E lesson and you got yourselves dressed very well. I hope you are all looking forward to the year just as much as I am.