Newsletters

Friday 14th June, 2024

The teachers are busy preparing the end of year reports as we start to look towards the last five weeks of term (somehow!). Assessments are being taken by the children over the next few weeks and minds start to look towards September. Below, we have shared the year group teachers from September. We will be letting everyone know the classes that the children are going to be in shortly.  

We've got some lovely reports in the newsletter about curriculum events in Year 3 & 5 as well as information about today's 'Day of Welcome' event. Many of the classes watched a live broadcast today and heard stories about refugees and different situations they encounter. The whole day is about building a welcoming culture. 

Next week the Year 6 children are off to Hilltop for a few excellent and enjoyable days. I'm hoping the extremely variable June weather sorts itself out a little for them. Fingers crossed! 

Wishing everyone a good weekend.

Kind regards 

Matt Walton, Headteacher 

 June

Mon 17th - Year 3 French Cafe @ 1:45pm 

Tue 18th - Year 4 Visit to Hickling Broad

Wed 19th - Year 6 to Hilltop 

Fri 21st - Coffee morning Drop in - Yr 2 & 3 parents (9am - 11am)

Fri 21st - Year 6 return from Hilltop 

Mon 24th - City Sports (Field) 3:30pm

Tue 25th - City Sports (heats) 1:30pm 

Wed 26th - Year 6 to Norfolk Show 

Thur 27th - City Sports (finals)

July

Mon 1st - Year 3/4 Sports Day 

Tue 2nd - Year 5/6 Sports Day 

Tue 2nd - Year 2 Parents' Evening (6pm)

Wed 3rd - Year 6 family lunch 

Fri 5th - Year 3 visiting West Runton 

Fri 5th - Friends'  Summer Fete 

Wed 10th - Year 5 Mexican Dance 

Thur 11th - Sprowston Academy transition day 1

Thur 11th - All pupils to meet new class teachers (am)

Thur 11th - Leavers' BBQ & disco 

Fri 12th - Sprowston Academy transition day 2

Fri 12th - Royal Shakespeare Company Playmaker's Festival 

Sat 13th - Lord Mayor's Procession (pm)

Mon 15th - Year 6 Play (Shrek) Dress Rehearsal 

Tue 16th - Year 6 Play - Matinee performance 

Tue 16th - Year 6 Play (Evening Performance 1)

Wed 17th - Leavers' assembly (9am)

Wed 17th - Year 6 Play (Evening Performance 2)

Fri 19th - Last day of term

Year Groups teachers in September...

Year 3/4 - Mrs Wills

Year 3/4 - Mr Ingham/Miss Clark

Year 3/4 - Mrs Connell/Miss Howse

Year 5 - Mrs Harrison/Mr Arthur

Year 6 - Mr Reeds & Miss Watts

Year 5/6 Kwik Cricket competition

On Tuesday 4th June a team of budding Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and Sophie Ecclestones took part in a day of Kwik cricket. During the day, they played four matches against children from across Norwich. Some had never played a competitive match, so this was a really great experience for them. Well done to all who took part.

Here's what some of our cricket stars thought...

"I'd never played cricket before, so I liked learning how to play it," Freya.

"I liked hitting the ball as hard and as far as I could, " Bella.

"I really enjoyed bowling the best," Yin Hei.

"I liked everything, but maybe fielding the best. Catching and bowling were my favourites," Ben.

"It was fun to play against other schools," Bertie.

A special thank you to all the parents/carers who helped with transport (and cheering) and thank you to Mr Ingham for organising the event.

Year 5 trip to Dragon Hall

Hot on the heels of their exciting trip to the Science Museum and the Natural History Museums before the holiday, Year 5 were out again. This time they had the opportunity to visit Dragon Hall and the National Centre for Writing.

Each class spent the morning interpreting the heritage and history of the amazing mediaeval premises through a variety of creative writing approaches, as well as getting the chance to explore Norwich's identity as a city of Literature. 

They got the chance to explore some writing of their own and even got to picnic in Dragon Hall!

Here's what the children thought about the trip to Dragon Hall...

We saw great and majestic things at Dragon Hall. One of my favourite things was looking for the dragons in the room. We found only one, a metal one at the top of the room. When the hall was first built there were 14 but now there's only one left. 

We also found witch marks on the walls which were dark black marks left by people who used to live at Dragon Hall. 

Asheen 

 

I really enjoyed Dragon Hall and found out lots about the building. It used to be a trading hall where people would trade wood, wool, cloth and other sorts of materials. 

My favourite part about Dragon hall was when we looked around the rooms and found out different facts about each room. A lot of the building is original from 600 years ago.

Everyone enjoyed Dragon Hall and I would definitely go back again. 

Liv 

 

A huge thank you to everyone at Dragon Hall for showing round and for inspiring the children to create some wonderful writing.

Year 3 Ancient Egyptian Day

Just before half-term, parts of the school were transported back in time to Ancient Egypt. The hall became a hive of Egyptian activity, while the Computer Room was transformed into an Ancient Egyptian burial tomb. It was great seeing all the imaginative costumes - especially in the dining hall and on the football pitch!

Here's what Macie thought about the day... 

Our Ancient  Egyptian Day was amazing.

We mummified a peg, made mod-roc tiles and painted the tiles after they had dried. We also used salt dough to make Scarab beetles, crushed charcoal to make ink for hieroglyphics, made an amulet out of clay, mosaic neck wear and herb pouches.

The best part was making the class sarcophagus. I enjoyed making it.

By Macie (Martham)

Year 4 Multiplication Times Check 

Over the last two weeks, Year 4 have been busy with their Multiplication Times Check (MTC). 

The MTC is a key stage 2 assessment to be taken by pupils at the end of year 4 (in June). The MTC’s purpose is to ensure the times tables knowledge is at the expected level. 

It is an online test where the pupils are asked 25 questions on times tables 2 to 12. For every question, you have 6 seconds to answer, and in between the questions, there is a 3-second rest. Questions about the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 times table come up more often. The questions are generated randomly based on the rules of the MTC.

Well done to everyone in Year 4 for all their hard work. 

Norfolk Schools of Sanctuary - A day of Welcome

Today, schools from across Norfolk joined together to celebrate the Norfolk Schools of Sanctuary A Day of Welcome.

A Day of Welcome is a day of solidarity and learning in schools that aims to build a culture of welcome and understanding for refugees and asylum seekers.

The celebration is designed to support schools and families across the UK in marking Refugee Week (17-23rd June) and to send a clear message that for those in need of sanctuary, our communities are welcoming places.

During the day children looked at migration to Norfolk and the local community, the books 'The Waiting Place' by Dina Nayeri and 'When Stars are Scattered' by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson, 'Bobble' by author, Refugee Rights Campaigner and Speaker Gulwali Passarlay and 'The Power of Welcome' by Award-winning children’s author and illustrator, Nadine Kadaan. They also got the chance to share their experiences and feelings about what it might mean to be a refugee and need to the support of schools like ours.

For more information, have a look at the Schools of Sanctuary website.

Friends' notices

Father's Day Shop

A big thank you to the Friends for putting on this week's Father's Day shop. There was a great variety of gifts on offer ranging from £1 to £3.  

Grand Summer Fair

A reminder that the Friends' Grand Summer Fair is on Friday 5th July. If you would like to donate any raffle or tombola prizes, they can be dropped off in the 'Donations bin' in the school entrance. If you are donating any alcohol, please hand it in to the school office. 

Thanks for all your support.

Lord Mayor's Procession

It has been great seeing children from the infants and junior schools joining together to start preparations for their performance in this year's Lords Mayors Procession on Saturday 13th July. 

Over the next few weeks, they will be teaming up with No Limits – Norfolk dance school to create a carnival-themed performance.

We still have some spaces if your child would like to perform in the procession. The theme this year is ‘Carnival’ and we will be celebrating our children as part of this. We will be dancing, waving flags/ribbons and generally having a great time as we walk the procession route.

If you would like your child to take part, then please complete the online form as soon as possible.

Here is what you need to know:

Each child will need to be accompanied by a parent (this is in case your child needs to leave the procession at any point)

Parents will be encouraged to join in the celebrations (this can be from holding a banner to joining in the dancing!)

Children will need to be available from 12pm – 5pm on Saturday 13th July (it is unlikely to be from 12pm but we won’t know specifics until closer to the time)

The route takes about an hour to walk and it is a slow pace - this year it will feature a new parade route, starting out from Norwich Cathedral and heading along St Andrews Street and up Exchange Street to Gentleman’s Walk, before turning towards Chapelfield Gardens 

The dance/ procession will be rehearsed in school but there will also be an hour rehearsal at 3:30pm on Saturday 6th July at the infant school (if you are unable to attend this don’t let this stop you from entering but it is ideally attended)

Details on clothing/ costumes will come out closer to the time – it will be carnival themed

If you have children at both schools and wish for them both to perform please just return one form with both children named. They will only need one parent/ carer for both children.

Sadly, due to the nature of the event we can only have infant and junior school children attend – no siblings (but they can watch)

If you have any questions, please contact Mr Arthur: deputy@sprowstonjunior.norfolk.sch.uk

Lost Property?

A bike has been left in the bike shed for some time now. If it is yours, please come and collect it.