Dear Parents,

Just a quick reminder that school is shut tomorrow (Monday 20th February) for a INSET day.  School will re-open as normal on Tuesday 21st February.  We hope you have all had a restful holiday.

Thank you so much for your support in our Harvest Festival this year.  Your food and money donations were much appreciated and the money will be welcomed by Self Help Africa.  I’m sure all of you that attend church today will agree that all of our children were stars!  The singing, chanting and presenting skills were all fantastic!

Many thanks again for your continued support.

Thank you for your continued support over the past year.  The success of Walesby Primary School is down the great team that we have – children, parents, staff, governors and local community.  Our thanks go to you all.

We hope you have a fantastic summer break and we look forward to seeing you all in September.

Just a quick note to wish all children and parents a happy holiday.  Don’t forget that we return to school on Tuesday 7th June 2011.

Happy holidays to all!

A PSHCE and Citizenship programme should aim to promote the development of children’s self-awareness and self-esteem in order to enable each child to acquire knowledge, understanding and skills to cope with personal relationships and function successfully as a critical and responsible member of society.

There are 3 ways in which PSHCE may be covered during the school day:

1. Designated curriculum time, where teachers may deliver a planned topic in Circle Time or from the National S.E.A.L. scheme of work.

2. Incidental time where a teacher may be dealing with an issue which has arisen during the school day.

3. Additional time where children may learn during extra curricular and offsite activities.

As a school, we see the importance of all these ways, in which children may develop in their social and personal understanding.  Many of the school’s aims form the foundation of the PSHE and Citizenship policy.

Our aims are:

· To encourage respect for oneself, others and the environment.

· To work towards a positive self-image.

· To develop a caring attitude towards the community in which we live.

· To develop skills which help us to interact and communicate effectively with others.

· To make and sustain good relationships.

· To nurture the ability to work co-operatively as part of a team and be able to take responsibility.

· To develop the ability to make informed decisions.

· To develop the ability to express views confidently.

· To learn to live by principles of honesty, openness and mutual respect and support.

· To learn how to cope with peer pressure, stand up for what we believe in and say no when necessary.

· To learn how to understand feelings and develop strategies to handle them.

· To understand and cope with feelings and views towards sameness and difference.

· To be sensitive towards the feelings and opinions of others.

· To cope with changes and new challenges.

· To develop the skills and attitudes to help us to become self-motivated and self-disciplined.

· To learn ways of developing and sustaining a healthy lifestyle.

· To develop the skills to keep as safe as possible.

All children in Reception follow the Foundation Curriculum, which is divided, into six areas of learning:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
• Communication, Language and Literacy.
• Mathematical Development.
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World.
• Physical Development.
• Creative Development.

We value the foundation years at Walesby Primary School and believe that children should be given the best opportunity to access a stimulating and well-planned curriculum as soon as they come to school. Children learn through many structured play activities both inside and outside the classroom. Their learning, development and care is led by practitioners who have a special interest in Early Years Foundation Stage.

During the year, staff and parents share successes and achievements and work together to complete an individual ‘Foundation Stage Profile’ for each child.

Key Stage One and Two Curriculum

Every school is obliged by law to provide a basic curriculum consisting of Religious education and the National Curriculum core subjects—English, Mathematics, Science, ICT as well as some aspects of the foundation subjects Geography, History, Design and Technology, Music, Art and Design, PSHCE and PE.

The National Curriculum subjects have a statutory order that states specific programmes of study which all teachers’ use and against which each child’s achievement is monitored and assessed by staff.

Children will be formally assessed in a few areas of work during the school year in which they are seven (i.e. at the end of Key Stage 1) and again at the end of their primary schooling (i.e. Key Stage 2). Assessment and testing of children’s progress in all areas is an integral part of our teaching and is reported to parents, both formally and informally throughout the year.

Through a variety of individual, small group and whole class teaching, children are encouraged towards becoming independent and responsible learners, directed when necessary and given time to choose within a range of appropriate materials.

In Class 1 we have a very strong emphasis on celebrating all cultures, staying safe, being healthy and enjoying and achieving.

Autumn Term in Class 1 is a very busy time of year for us. We are busy preparing for the Harvest Festival, the Christmas Production and a visit from Santa! It is a lovely time of the year to celebrate friendship and produce creative displays.

After Christmas we welcome a new intake of children from the Nursery. We will start the year learning about our families and keeping our fingers crossed for snow as we learn about winter! Later in the Spring Term we will enjoy being little gardeners and discovering the beauty of nature around us.

In the summer, we will be wildlife experts as we learn about a variety of animals. As it is the holiday time of year we will be focusing on journeys near and far.

New to class 1 this year is the after school club ‘Busy Bodies’. This is an energetic club to promote fitness and enjoying exercise!

Below is an outline of our topics this academic year.