Autumn Term Newsletter #2

13th September 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome and well done to all our Reception families who have made an excellent start, settling in well to the Lanchester Way. Their confidence in the dining hall and playground echo their great start in the classroom. I would also like to offer a warm welcome to other new families joining across the school. It has been a productive and purposeful week in school as we continue to build productive relationships and explore new learning.

Values: Our weekly values assembly reminded us of the importance of being 'Ready' for school. We highlighted the importance of plenty of sleep, being organised and eating healthy meals. This linked nicely with our first Votes for Schools topic where children considered both sides to the question: Should cooking get more time in the curriculum? Children shared their ideas and teachers submitted the class votes online. We are fortunate to have access to our DT room where we can explore some healthy recipes this term.

Staying with our 'Ready' theme, please make sure children come to school prepared for the weather. While the unexpected downpour gave us a waterlogged pick up on Wednesday, the temperature has also dropped and there's an autumnal feel in the playground. Please ensure your children have appropriate layers for the weather.

Coming Up: Next week, we open our doors for the 'Meet the Teacher' event on Wednesday. Classrooms will be open for you to see the learning environments, take a peak at the learning already under way, and check in with the teacher to see how your child is settling in.

Next Friday is 'Jeans for Genes' day and children can wear their jeans to school for a £1 charity donation. The rest of their uniform should be worn as usual.

Votes for Schools: We introduced our first topic in assembly this week and enjoyed sharing our opinions about cooking in school. Our big question next week is: 'Should autoplay be switched off?'

There are lots of activities available to families in Watford this weekend. The Big Bandstand in Cassiobury Park has live music on Sunday and a local artist is displaying their work in the house at Cheslyn Gardens. A list of local events can be found here.

Thank you for your continued support. Have a great weekend,

Mr Matt Morey - Headteacher

Upcoming Dates...

Wed 18th Sep, 3.15 - 4.15pm

'Meet the Teacher'. An opportunity to visit the classroom, take a look at your children's books and meet the class teacher.

Fri 20th Sep

Jeans for Genes Day. All children invited to wear jeans to school for a £1 donation to this important charity raising funds to support children and families with genetic disorders.

Fri 4th Oct

Harvest Festival Collection. All children encouraged to bring in a food item to donate to the local foodbank to help those less fortunate than ourselves. See letter from Miss Hayes (RE Lead).

School calendar

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week is a really promising 96%. 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 both Cusco and Beijing for 100% attendance.

Cusco & Beijing 100%
Delhi 99%
London 98%
Wellington 97%
Kampala,Kingston, New York & Rio 96%
Sydney & Rome 94%
Cairo 93%
Barcelona 89%

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. Congratulations to them all!

Year 1:

Rome - Narla

Barcelona - Ryleigh

Year 2:

Dehli - Rezza

Beijing - Dhanur

Year 3:

Wellington - Hailey

Sydney - Wladek

Year 4:

Cairo - Harrison

Kampala - Flynn

Year 5:

Rio - Ayra

Cusco - Theo

Year 6:

New York - Tawseey

Kingston - Farwa

Class News

This week in Reception

This week the Reception children have settled in well into school. They have enjoyed getting to know their new classmates and teacher and loved their new classroom. We are very proud of them.

This week in Year 1

Year one have been learning about colouring mixing this week. We have learnt that mixing primary colours makes a secondary colour, creating some vibrant examples in our art books.

This week in Year 2

This week, we have been learning about place value in Maths, using blocks to count objects to 100 by making tens and applying our knowledge of place value. As always, children thoroughly enjoyed working with physical resources which help them to understand the difference between hundreds, tens and ones.

This week in Year 3

This week, Year 3 have enjoyed learning interesting facts about the Stone Age in History. They are looking forward to finding out more next week.

This week in Year 4

Year 4 have been learning about the Roman invasion this week and what life was like in the 4th century. They have enjoyed finding out facts about this topic and are looking forward to finding out more.

This week in Year 5

This week, Year 5 have enjoyed creating place value posters in Maths to help them revise place value. They have settled in well back into school routines.

This week in Year 6

This week Year 6 have enjoyed beginning their History topic on Britain at war and have also written some great suspense paragraphs.

This week in Staff Meetings

The teaching team embarked on the first in a series of training sessions about making teaching memorable. This week's key principle was helping pupils to focus on their learning by managing the amount of stimuli in the learning environment. The careful selection of resources, tasks and teaching input can help children to focus on the key learning in each lesson. We also reviewed a selection of pupils' Maths books to ensure the quality of work was high.

Friends of Lanchester

Welcome to all of our new Reception children and parents! We hope this is the start of an adventure filled with many fun experiences and memories.

Friends of Lanchester AGM

Please do join us at our Friends of Lanchester AGM on Monday 23rd September at 7pm in the Small Hall.

At this meeting we will review the constitution and membership of The Friends of Lanchester CFS and appoint individuals into key roles on the Committee, such as Chair or Co-Chairs, Treasurer and Secretary.

If you are interested in taking on one of these roles, please attend the meeting. If you’re unable to attend but are keen to take on a specific role, please let us know in advance by emailing us at: friendsoflanchester@gmail.com

We will also discuss fundraising events we hope to run this year, so we look forward to seeing anyone interested in finding out more and how they can support the school in this.

ASDA Cashpot

In collaboration with ParentKind, Adsa have launched Cashpot for Schools. Every time you shop, we will get cash and it won’t cost you a penny!

It’s really simple to do, download and sign up to the Asda Rewards app. Opt into the Cashpot for Schools campaign and select Lanchester Primary School. Every time you shop and scan your reward app, Asda will donate a percentage of your shop.

We also get £1 for everyone who opts in on the app. We’re currently on £57 so thank you to everyone who has already signed up.

Tesco Stronger Starts

We’re delighted to have been chosen for the Tesco Stronger Starts which customers can vote for in store.

Voting will commence in store from the first week in October 2024 until mid January 2025.

The 3 projects with the highest number of votes across our region will receive money to put towards their projects. We are raising money to host educational workshops for our children so please do look out in store from October. We’ll share further news once we have it.

Thanks for your support!

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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