2016-2017
Smalley's Summer Show 2017
Well done children, what a super show.
Thank you for all of your hard work and effort.
'Eggciting' times ahead!
As you may have seen, we are expecting chicks in the last week of term! Mavis currently has a clutch of 7 eggs that she is incubating and doing a very good job with. Today she has been moved into a separate hutch so that she can incubate in peace and get ready for her chicks.
Incubation and chick development takes 21 days which is amazing that a new life can be made in just 3 weeks. Today is day 10 so we have carefully checked the eggs development. This is called 'candling'. To candle an egg you need to shine a torch at the bottom of the egg in a very dark room. As you can see, by day 10 the egg will show lots of veins and blood vessels- this is called mapping.
Mavis has done a good job so far and her chicks are developing. The eggs are half way there so keep your fingers crossed for the due date!
If you have anything you'd like to know about the hens, or Mavis and her eggs just remember you can ask Miss Tulley or Mrs Reckless :-)
Ready, Steady, GO!
Much fun was had during our EYFS and Key Stage 1 Potted Sports event this morning. Thank you to all the children who worked so hard to gain points for their team and thank you to all the supporters who came to spectate. A special thank you to our PTFA for providing the refreshments and for our Sports Leaders from Heanor Gate School; we couldn't have done it without you!
Please enjoy some of the action shots......
Super sunflower!
Despite the rain, Class 1 had a bright and cheerful welcome back into class today! India brought in the sunflower that she planted from seed during our 'Plants' topic in Spring term. She has tended to it at her grandad's house and it has bloomed a beautiful flower.
Well done India, you have remembered all of the things we learnt to be able to care for a plant!
He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws...
We have had a lovely surprise today... Toby and his family have been busy at home, baking this fantastic Gruffalo cake for Class 1! We were all very excited to take a piece home! It is lovely to see children so inspired and enthused about their learning that it continues at home in a variety of ways :-)
Thank you Toby and family!
Class 1 at Stonebridge City Farm
Last term Class 1 enjoyed a super visit to Stonebridge City Farm as part of the Animals and Plants topic. We all had different favourite parts of the trip but here are a few that the class enjoyed:
-Holding the guinea pigs and rabbits.
-Feeding the animals.
-Listening for the frogs croaking in the huge frog pond.
-Seeing the vegetable patches and the different types of vegetables and fruits they grow on the farm.
-The goat named Iris! :-)
-Going on the nature walk and looking for the hedgehog houses.
-And of course, lunch time!
What was your favourite part of the trip?
Afternoon tea with my Mummy!
How wonderful to welcome our Mummies and special ladies to our afternoon tea today.
We wanted to say a special thank you for all that you do, each and every day.
Mummies and other special ladies in our lives, including Grannies and Aunties, were treated to some lovely singing, presentation of special work, a poem, a gift of flowers and piano music. Our special guests also enjoyed freshly baked scones, baked with our own Smalley eggs (thank you Mrs Mason), shortbread with strawberries (thank you Mrs Straw), freshly baked cakes (thank you Mrs Pace) and of course plenty of hugs and time to chat. The children enjoyed their freshly baked biscuits made by our kitchen staff - thank you.
Thank you so much everyone for coming - it was really super to see you all. If you were unable to make it, we hope you enjoyed your special gifts.
Happy Mother's Day xx
Reading for Life!
During Book Week 2017, special assemblies were held with lots of special guests. Our guests included Lucy Truman, who came to speak to the children on Tuesday about her work as an illustrator. Lucy also gave a masterclass to Class 4, where they designed some beautiful book covers. On Wednesday Tess, Oliver and Iris spoke about their favourite books, visiting Heanor library and making bookmarks. On Thursday, we welcomed Mr Huntington, who is the headteacher at Heanor Gate Science College; he came to read his favourite children's book 'The Highway Rat' by Julia Donaldson. Our very own Dr Shelton shared her wonderful book that she had written as part of her studies - she spoke to the children about everyone having the potential to write a book and that everyone has a book inside them
On Friday, we held a special whole school assembly where each class shared the work they had been doing.
Thank you to everyone who visited our school and to everyone who shared their work during our assemblies this week.
Book Week - Teacher Swap
As part of our book week in school, we held a teacher swap! Teachers went into other year groups to share their love of reading. This was enjoyed by pupils and staff alike.
What a brilliant first day to Book Week! Here are Class 1 talking about why they love reading!
Plants plants plants!
Class 1 have had a brilliant week launching into our new topic 'Plants'. We have been exploring capacity and measuring in maths using dried beans and we have started work on one of our focus stories, Jack and the Beanstalk. We have also started our classroom garden which features: runner beans, sunflowers, a hyacinth, daffodils and grape hyacinths. We water and check them daily and have already had some flowers opening! As well as this we have been enjoying our new garden centre role play!
PSHE with Mrs Evans
Our whole class activity today was 'pass the magic mirror '. Each member of the class held up the mirror so they could see their reflection. They were then asked ' What is so special in the mirror? ' They then shared with everyone what makes them special. 😊
Plant art!
Take a look at Class 1's beautiful artwork that they have been working on today. We used a variety of beans and seeds to create these lovely pieces of art. I wonder if Class 1 children can remember some of the bean and seed names? :-)
Visitor to Class 1!
Class 1 had a special visitor today as part of their 'Animals' topic... Miss Tulley's pet tortoise Hamilton Button came in to stay in Class 1 for a few days. Hamilton had a busy time taking a tour of Class 1 and letting all of the children feel his shell. The children asked lots of questions about Hamilton so that they could write about him. Hamilton also spent the afternoon in Class 2 so that the children could draw him in their Art lesson.
Can you remember any facts about Hamilton?
Class 1 authors!
I think we have some budding authors in Class 1! Over the past few weeks the children have been enjoying Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book which Iris kindly brought in for us. Each day we read a chapter and we've been closing our eyes and imagining the story in our heads. Reading a longer book has inspired some children to write their own books in their spare time. This week Toby shared one of his books about a dinosaur that he had written and illustrated. It had some rather exciting characters in, including 'invisible man'!
Keep up that love of reading and writing Class 1! Well done :-)
I love my life!
We enjoyed thinking about the lyrics of this song in our assembly today. Please enjoy and share at home too.
Class 1 Newsletter
Animal Art
Look at some of Class 1's fantastic animal artwork! They have been thinking about the different patterns, prints and colours that we see in animals, skin, fur, feathers and scales. Which animals do you think have inspired the children's art?
Pantomime Fun with Cinderella!
Today we welcomed the production of Cinderella into school. The children enjoyed singing and dancing along as well as the boos and cheers! There were lots of opportunities to say "Oh YES there is!" and "He's behind you!" too!
Thank you children for being a super audience.
Hey Ewe!
We're very excited that the tickets for our production of Hey Ewe have gone on sale.
We can't wait to show you all of our teamwork in our baaaarilliant production!
Some parents have been asking for the tunes to accompany the song lyrics; due to licensing laws we are unable to put the full versions of the songs onto the website. However you can access a 'taster' of the songs on the Out of the Ark website. Please follow the link below:
Our Reading Workshop 15.11.16
Thank you so much to all of the parents and children who attended our reading workshop this evening; it was wonderful to see so many of you.
We hope the information was helpful and the classroom activities and handouts gave you an insight into current expectations around reading.
Together we can help your child be the best reader that they can be.
Together we can help your child be life long readers.
Here is the link to the video which helps with the pronunciation for segmenting and blending words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJx1NSineE
Here is the link to Oxford Owl where you can register free and access over 250 online books. This website also supports Mathematical learning.
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/
Here are the the links which Mr Redgrave mentioned for great book recommendations:
Please let us know what you think.
Thank you again for your continued support.
We remember
Thank you for this special Lego homework to commemorate Remembrance Day 2016, Jack.
Class 1 Bake Off!
Run run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!
This week Class 1 have been so busy baking and decorating gingerbread men! We've had such a fun week, reading the story, reading the recipes, putting the muddled up recipe in the correct order and then following it to bake!
Fabulous books!
Classes 2-6 have been lucky to have a visit from Kathy, a local librarian with extensive knowledge about children's books. Kathy set each class a challenge to discuss, evaluate and recommend the best children's picture book. She told the children about her involvement in the Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Book Awards, where she helps to choose the nominations for the best children's books. Thank you so much Kathy for working with our children - there was a wonderful buzz about books!
Class R and Class 1 - it's your turn tomorrow! Enjoy!
Film Night - October 2016!
The PTFA held their first film night of the academic year with the children watching the very apt 'Chicken Run' following our new arrivals!
The children had a fantastic time and the event raised almost £300!
A huge thank you to Mrs Ufton, Mrs Worth and all the staff who supported this event.
Lizzie in class 5 won the competition that evening to pick the next film!
We look forward to seeing you there.
Enjoy some pictures below!
Wishing you all a Happy Harvest!
On the last day of term we enjoyed performing our Harvest assembly. The hall was bursting as parents, children and bags of Harvest gifts filled the hall.
Our Reception, Class 1 and Class 2 children led the festival with an array of beautiful songs, smiles and poetry. Our Key Stage 2 children and Performance Club also supported this special Smalley tradition.
Thank you so very much for all of the generous Harvest gifts - as you can see from the photos, the kindly donated Tesco banks were filled to the brim and distributed to the nominated people in our local community. This year we asked our school children and parents to nominate special people in our local community who may have been ill, suffered a sadness or just go above and beyond. I know from the bags that I delivered, the gifts certainly put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces.
Wishing you all a Happy Harvest and a safe half term.
Gold September Festival 2016!
Friday was a very special day that will live long in the memory of those that attended. As part of our awareness raising this month for Gold September a mini festival was held after school. There were a number of fun stalls, crafts and games as well as a very popular BBQ!
During the afternoon we unveiled our new playground in memory of Eddy Parry, a very special boy who attended our school and tragically lost his life to Bone Cancer. We were very pleased that Eddy's parents; Jon and Claudia, were able to attend the playground and open it with us.
Part of the playground are two new personalised basketball nets, located in the area which Eddy loved to play. A huge thank you to Jamie Eaton for his support with this.
Also, our past pupil Sam came to present a huge cheque after his amazing achievement cycling from London to Paris during the Summer holidays. It was brilliant to see him.
Jon, Claudia, Sam, Martin from Derby Wheelblazers and myself all took shots to officially open Eddy's Court.
A few children then attempted wheelchair basketball and took some more shots along with trustee of the charity, Graham Salisbury.
It was a fitting tribute and occasion for a very special boy. During the last month well over £1000 has been raised for Gold September. This is a wonderful amount of money and a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed in any way.
A few pictures are attached below and a more comprehensive video will be posted very soon.
Dinosaur hats
Class 1 have had a busy afternoon in art. We have made brilliant dinosaur hats independently. Class 1 had to follow instructions carefully which included cutting all of the shapes out and then remembering which parts to glue together. Our art links to our maths lessons this week too, as we are exploring shape!
Our finished hats looked brilliant! Can you guess what type of dinosaur we were?
Our finished Dinosaur display!
Class 1 have now finished their dinosaur display... they have worked very hard. What do you think?
Superhero staff at Smalley!
On Superhero day for Gold September, it was clear to everyone that we have superhero staff who go that extra mile each and every day! What a team!
Massive thank you to all!
Our dinosaur display!
This week in Class 1 we have been focusing on creating our dinosaur class display! First of all we had to think about what displays are for. After our discussion, class 1 decided that displays are for us to share with everyone what we have learnt and to show off our brilliant work. We then discussed what we think we should include on our display. We had some fantastic ideas! Some children suggested that we include lots of dinosaur artwork using different art techniques such as painting, drawing and collage. India and Iris thought it would be good to create some fossils and clay dinosaurs and put those with the display. We then had a chat about what sort of writing we want to include. Phoebe thought it would be good to write some dinosaur poems. Oliver thought we could have speech bubbles for the dinosaurs' roars! Max suggested that we have labels with the names of the dinosaurs and Seth thought we could include dinosaur facts.
After our discussion, class 1 went to work in groups and record all their ideas onto their plan.
We will be making our display over the next week so watch this space! Well done class 1 :-)
Saturday spaghetti treat!!
After providing a healthy clutch of eggs, we thought our girls deserved a tasty treat, so today our hens enjoyed MARMITE SPAGHETTI! They loved it and even chased each other with it in their mouths!
Shed building!
Today our gardening development project acquired a new addition! A shed for storing all of the chicken supplies, like food and bedding and also some of our gardening equipment in. My Dad (rather a clever handyman!) has been busy making it at home and then we built it up at school this afternoon. We're rather pleased with it - what do you think?
Thank you for the kind offer of slabs from Mrs Pancisi and Mrs Meek - I'll be in contact soon.
A tasty class treat from Miss Tulley & our hens!
Class 1 Newsletter
Introducing...
After reading through hundreds of name ideas, we have finally decided on 6 names for our new school chickens.
Introducing: Mavis, Matilda, Betty, Blossom, Goldie and Gracie!
I'll name that chicken in 1!
We have had a fabulous first week back at school and so have our new arrivals!
The children arrived back this week to the surprise of seeing that we are now the home to six new chickens.
They have settled very quickly and are already laying eggs.
It has been lovely to see children, staff, parents and grandparents go over to the chickens and meet them over the course of the week.
A huge thank you to the team that gave up their holidays to ensure the chickens have a fabulous new home.
Also, thank you to the PTFA for providing the funding for this.
They have been an instant hit!
The children were set a challenge by Miss Tulley today to name the chickens.
The names will be announced in due course alongside a picture so we can all call them by name!
What a brilliant start to the new year! Enjoy some pictures below!
