Autumn Term Newsletter #6

11th October 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

There has been a sense of purpose and determination in school this week. So many children have impressed me with their attitude to their learning and the pride in their work. Routines and expectations are well-established and there is a great work ethic visible throughout the building.

It was great to see so many of you on Thursday to share the vision and plan for the provision we offer at Lanchester Primary School. 54 families signed up to attend across the two sessions. Thank you for the questions and feedback about a wide range of topics. I will post a copy of my presentation on the school website in the coming days for those who were unable to attend.

Values: Our weekly value has been curiosity and what this means for our learning. We discussed the importance of listening carefully and asking the right questions. Our values assembly on Monday sparked our curiosity with a mysterious bag which remained unopened until Friday's celebration assembly. In an effort to spread curiosity further, I will refrain from telling you what was in the bag! Next week, our value is appreciation where we will be giving thanks and showing respect for the opportunities that we all enjoy.

Votes for Schools: Teachers have been impressed with the children's sensible and mature contributions to our sessions this week: Should there be stricter rules on knife crime? (Year 5 & 6) and Do you know how to be safe on your streets? There were some excellent ideas about safety and these will be explored further by class teachers before half term.

Parents' Evening: The booking system for parents' evening will be accessible from Monday . The event will be held in-person in school and teachers will be based in their classrooms. The Chorleywood Book Shop will be in attendance and bringing a wide selection of books from their excellent stocks. The school receives money from every purchase made.

It has been a crisp, sunny autumnal day in school today and the weather, particularly on Sunday, looks to be the same. It is a great time of year to get outside and explore the woods nearby. Whippendell Woods is accessible through Cassiobury Park. Slightly further afield, there is Chorleywood Common, Ivinghoe Beacon and Wendover Woods. Whatever you choose to do, enjoy some quality family time.

Have a great weekend,

Mr Matt Morey - Headteacher

Upcoming Dates...

Tue 22nd Oct, 5-8pm & Thu 24th Oct, 3.40 - 4.40pm

Parents' Evening (Booking details in a letter to follow)

Fri 25th Oct

Non-uniform day and Halloween bake sale.

Sat 26th Oct - Sun 3rd Nov - Half Term Break

Mon 4th - Fri 8th Nov - Maths Week

Mr Bristow has constructed a week packed with extra opportunities to engage in maths. More details will be shared nearer the time.

School calendar

Attendance

We have hit our school target with a strong 95% attendance this week. It is great to see everyone in school everyday so that we can build our learning sequences and strengthen our relationships together. A special mention to Cusco and Beijing who shared our new attendance trophy with 100% attendance!

Cusco & Beijing 100%
Delhi & Kingston 98%
Sydney 97%
Cairo 96%
London 95%
Kampala & Wellington 94%
Barcelona & Rome 93%
Rio & New York 91%

Values Champions

This week, in our celebration assembly, we said well done to the following children for their excellent attitudes to learning. All of these children have been ready to learn, respectful of their teachers and resilient in a range of ways. They have also displayed curiosity, asking great questions to improve their learning and understanding. Congratulations to them all!

Year 1:

Rome - Ayesha

Barcelona - Nenneh

Year 2:

Dehli - Albert

Beijing - Suna

Year 3:

Wellington - Charlie

Sydney - Eric

Year 4:

Cairo - Jasper

Kampala - Eljus

Year 5:

Rio - Masooma

Cusco - Abigail

Year 6:

New York - Mollie

Kingston - Julia

House Points

All week, children's attitude to learning is recognised through the collection of Dojo points. These become house points which are totalled across the school each week. Every child is allocated a place in one of our four houses: Alhazen, Carver, Curie and Sharman. A strong performance this week has seen Carver overtake Sharman and move into second place. Can anyone catch Curie before half term?

1st Curie with 2261 points (+412 since last week)

2nd Carver with 2144 points (+440 since last week)

3rd Sharman with 2110 points (+345 since last week)

4th Alhazen with 2091 points (+394 since last week)

Class News

This week in Reception

This week in Reception we have been looking at the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The children loved finding a map that led us to find her missing basket of goodies! In maths we have been looking at the composition of numbers 1, 2 and 3 through games and activities.

This week in Year 1

In Year 1 PSHE, we are learning about rights and responsibilities by focusing on kindness and respect. During circle time, we shared what we like about each other creating a web to show how we are all connected as one class.

This week in Year 2

It has been a very busy week in Year 2. In English, children were daily building on their innovated characterisation story, using the toolkit we have created together as a class. In Maths, we were making paper hands with folding fingers to help us with our number bonds. This is a fun and simple activity that can be easily recreated at home to help children understand number sentences to up 10.

This week in Year 3

By creating their own fossil-inspired moulds with leaves, twigs and dough, Year 3 are learning about how natural materials can leave impressions over time, just like real fossils.

This week in Year 4

In English, we have been writing our innovated stories about the Wild Boy, using exciting vocabulary to describe the characters and create suspense. In History we learnt about the Sutton Hoo discovery - an Anglo Saxon burial full of treasure! We used our History detective skills to make inferences about what clues these items give us. We are very excited for our trip to St Albans Cathedral on Friday next week to explore Anglo Saxon life.

This week in Year 5

Year 5 have begun their three-week long art project this week by sketching their designs onto A3 art paper. We know our wonderful artists are ready to take on this project and show their resilience along the way. We can't wait to see the end result!

This week in Year 6

Year 6 have had a busy week continuing their learning on building suspense in their writing using a variety of writers’ tools such as drawing attention to a character’s feelings. They enjoyed planning an investigation in Science to explore the impact of the environment on microbe growth. In addition, they continue to develop their vocabulary knowledge through our Reading Skills lessons on our focus text ‘Fireweed’.

This week in Staff Meetings

Teachers shared example lessons where they had applied 'memory is the residue of thought' from our ongoing training about how the brain learns. They also listened to Sarah Crute-Mussell, Director of Inclusion, who has brought in new systems to support our SEN provision in school.

Friends of Lanchester

Halloween bake sale and non-uniform day

It’s only 2 weeks until our Halloween bake sale and non-uniform day for the end of half term.

Please bring in your spooky bakes (handmade or shop bought!) and leave them in the glass foyer on the morning of 25th October.

Children can also come to school on Friday in their own clothes in return for £1 donation.

Lanchester Autumn Disco

Following the success of our Lanchester Friendship disco earlier this year, we’re back with an Autumn disco.

Taking place on Friday 8th November, there are three different times. If your child is in a club or wants to attend with a sibling, please get in touch and we’ll try to accommodate them in another session.

Tickets include music, fun and games with a professional DJ as well as unlimited squash and a small snack. Please let us know if there are any dietary requirements.

Reception: 2:15- 3:10pm Tickets £3

Years 1-3: 3:20 - 4:20pm Tickets £5

Years 4-6: 4:30 - 6pm Tickets £7

Book your ticket here: https://www.pta-events.co.uk/friendsoflanchester/

Supermarket Grants

If you shop in either Tesco or Asda, you can help us get a grant for the school at absolutely no cost to you.

Asda Cashpot for Schools donates a proportion of your shopping to us every time you swipe your reward app. Even if you don’t shop there, you can download the reward app and we’ll get £1 for everyone who chooses our school.

We’ve also been selected for Tesco Stronger Starts where we can receive up to £1,500. Every time you shop in store, you should receive a blue token. Simply put your blue token in the Friends of Lanchester box and the cause with the most blue tokens in January will win the most money.

Stores where you can vote for us are:

Bushey Heath Express, WD23 1EL

Leavesden Watford Exp, WD5 0BT

Watford Exp, WD5 0BT

South Oxhey Express, WD19 6EG

Shenley Express, WD7 9LP

Watford Extra, WD17 2BD

Watling Radlet Exp, WD7 7LA

Watford Exp, WD25 0EL

Harcourt Rd Bushy Exp, WD23 3PP

Watford Wipendell Exp, WD18 7NB

Watford St Albn Exp, WD24 4AU

Watford 114 Hi St Exp, WD17 2BJ

Matched funding

Did you know that many big organisations will match our fundraising for their employees?We've had some brilliant donations from organisations where parents have helped on a stall, made cakes or raised some money. All it usually needs is a letter from the PTA to confirm the date, the total raised and how you have supported us.

We know that big organisations are more likely to do match funding but smaller, independent companies often do match funding as well.

We'd be really grateful if you could see if your employer has a match funding scheme and could support us in our upcoming events. Please speak to your HR team and check if they can help.

Dates for your diary

Friday 25 October - Halloween bake sale and non-uniform day

Friday 8th November – Disco

Saturday 7th December - Christmas Fair

Friday 20th December – Non uniform day

Don’t forget to follow us on

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendsoflanchester or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendsoflanchester/ or contact us by email: friendsoflanchester@gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

Friends of Lanchester committee - Sally Bownes, Helen Gibson, Tracey Bravo, Laura Robson, Michaella Simpson and Chloé Harper

Lanchester Primary School, Hempstead Road, Watford, WD17 3HD

Tel: 01923 224160 Email: office@lanchester.herts.sch.uk

Website: www.lanchester.herts.sch.uk

Headteacher: Mr Matt Morey

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