Keep up to date with all the news happening in school at the moment.

Please click a headline to read more or visit our school Facebook page: Cliftonville Primary and Pre-School.

• Charity team in London

  Mon 29 Jun 2015

  Congratulations to the staff, their families and friends who joined the CRY London Bridges fundraising this weekend.  The weather was....variable!  Thank you to everyone who sponsored the event in memory of Oliver Thompson.  The money raised will be used to offer another heart screening session.  If anyone knows who Batman is, please let us know!!!!

  

• County Literacy Award ceremony

  Tue 23 Jun 2015

   

  We were thrilled to have won not just one, but two KM Literacy awards for the innovative work in teaching and learning at Cliftonville School.  Five members of staff were invited to Hempstead House Hotel, to receive our awards at an evening ceremony.  The key aspects for which the school was recognised were cross-curricular writing, using Talk4Writing, and the development of family engagement with the library.  Both projects have contributed significantly to improving pupils' progress, confidence and enthusiasm for skills across the English curriculum.  We are very lucky to have Mrs Wilson as our English leader whose passion for 'all things literacy' inspires both children and staff alike. 

   

  The photos show some of the exciting hooks for writing that have been used from visits from retired greyhounds, to a sausage dog puppy - from mysterious dinosaur footprints in Year 1 to collaborative writing workshops with local schools.  There has also been some fantastic, independent writing produced in home learning projects on a range of topics.

  

• Capacity Champions!

  Sun 21 Jun 2015

   

  Year 4 took their classroom to the beach last week to learn about capacity. They all completed four activities that involved estimating or measuring capacity:

   

  The children used a litre bottle of sea water to try and estimate the capacity of other containers. 

  They used measuring spoons to find the capacity of a variety of beach toys. 

  They had to order eight different sized and shaped buckets according to their capacities. 

  The children used measuring cylinders and jugs to measure how much sand a range of different containers could hold. 

   

  The children loved learning about capacity in this way and now have a very good understanding of what a litre bottle looks like and how much a teaspoon will hold. It took lots of organising by the staff, but they all reported it was invaluable in bringing this topic to life!

  

• Newsletter Term 6

  Mon 15 Jun 2015

  Newsletter June 2015

  Dear parents and carers

  There are so many wonderful things to celebrate at school this term…

  Mrs Dale won a countywide competition for best Teaching Assistant of the Year, representing Thanet district.  This was for her work in organising careers information workshops for Year 6 pupils as well as her commitment to sport, especially in swimming.  She received her award at a ceremony evening at Leeds Castle.

  The school is a county winner in two categories of the Kent Literacy Awards.  One was in recognition of the amazing impact of our work on developing cross-curricular writing and the second awarded for the brilliant library used for Early Bird sessions, Accelerated Reader and encouraging family literacy.   Six members of staff will attend a presentation ceremony later in June at Hempstead House Hotel.

  Our Maths in Motion team will attend WORLD finals in Warwickshire on the 24th June.  We will be competing with teams from all over the globe, including China and Australia!

  Mrs Adams accompanied three Year 4 pupils who were finalists in the ‘Perfect Packed Lunch’ award held at the Turner Contemporary.  Well done to Oliver Appleton, Hadia Sied and Alexis Garner for their winning entries. Schools from all over Kent were there and we were thrilled to find out that Oliver was one of the four main county winners.  His work will be displayed at the Turner Gallery.  Congratulations to them all.

  Leo Jones has won a photography competition based on mathematics in the environment.  He will collect his award in July in London.

  We were very proud to learn that Lucy Smith in Year 5 has qualified for the England team in dance.  She is a specialist in Street Dance and has competed in Poland and will be travelling to Italy later in the year. Congratulations also go to Amy Joseph who has passed her Grade 3 Piano exam with Distinction.  The mark required for a pass is 100 out of 150.  Amy gained a distinction with 136 marks - a very rare feat and testament to her talent and hard work and the great teaching from Mrs Deacon, one of our specialist music tutors.

  A huge thank you to parents and staff who support our sports teams at weekends and after school.  We have taken part in a record number of events including Kwik-Cricket, football, cross country, swimming and netball.

  We have also been asked to share our excellent practice in several areas of the curriculum with other schools in Thanet and across the county, too, which is a reflection of the high-quality education your children are receiving.

  Academic progress

  I am pleased to report that academic progress continues to move forward at a great rate for all of our children and at a faster rate than national improvements.  The Year 6 children were a credit to themselves, the school and parents in the mature way they undertook the recent SATs assessments.  Other year groups from Y1 – 5 will be taking tests in the next two weeks. 

   

  School values

  There has been some press coverage about teaching British values in school.  Our school values complement the new expectations and reflect what we were doing already, prior to the new guidance, as they are common sense values that support a happy, safe and inclusive school community.  You can read more about this on the website…

  http://www.cliftonvilleprimary.co.uk/british-school-values

  Ms Whichcord has led a huge project this year to refine our values and the children have been active participants in this work.  The photograph shows the ‘Ethos’ working wall in the hall with contributions from all year groups.

  Classes for September

  Year Group Leaders have made recommendations to the Senior Leadership on whether classes will remain together next year or where is it preferable to mix classes up.  Class lists are being finalised and your child will spend some time with their new teacher on Thursday 2nd July.

  New building

  You will have seen how quickly the new building has gone up and the dry weather has been a real bonus to the builders.   The new building will be 8 classrooms, a second hall + kitchen (for lunches, assemblies and PE etc) and staff room.  It will be used to accommodate Year R and Year 1 and we hope to have some classrooms ready in early October.

  Staff changes for September

  I am pleased to report that we have a new teacher, Mrs Holden, joining us in September. Careful financial management continues to enable us to further extend additional learning groups into Year R, 1 and 2 so that children are taught in smaller sets especially for English and mathematics.  

  Mrs McGeoch has returned from maternity leave and will be working in Year 5 with Miss Brown.  Mrs Meades will be leaving us at the end of term and we wish her all the very best and thank her for her contribution to our success.

  Holiday Club

  Mrs Watts and Mrs Brunger led a fantastic holiday club in the second week of half term and the plan for next year is to extend holiday provision, especially to support working families.  If you are starting to plan childcare for 2015/16 the following weeks will be available:

  October 2015 half term, February 2016 half term and, as this year, the second week of the May 2016 half term .

  Sun safe

  As I write this there is a severe weather warning for thunderstorms! However, as a sun-safe school we would encourage you to send in sun cream which is clearly named, especially if your child is attending a sports tournament when they could be on a field for several hours.  Please teach them how to apply the right amount in the right places! Hats are a good idea, too, for lunchtimes & sports events when the sun finally appears again!

  e-safety

  You will know that we teach e-safety as part of our PHSE and IT curriculum.  We had a great week of activities in February as part of Safer Internet Day and the children learned a lot. Staff have regular training on aspects of e-safety, which is part of our commitment to safeguarding your children.  Parental controls on mobile devices used at home are really important.  With ipads, mobile phones, games consoles etc it is a difficult task to keep up with the children, let alone be ahead of them!  Please visit our ‘Keeping Safe’ page under the Parents tab on our website and see Mr Clayson if concerns arise or if you would like any advice.

  Sponsored Walk

  Thank you for all sponsorship money for the sponsored walk.  With your support and the efforts of the children on the day we raised over £1800.  Some of the money, along with that from the previous PTFA, will be used to fund a rolling programme of providing lockers for pupils in the hope of reducing the amount of lost property and keeping corridors tidy and safe.     

  Fundraising by staff

  A staff team will be taking part in the CRY 7 Bridges walk in London in memory of Oliver Thompson.  The route crosses 7 Thames bridges and includes great views of at least 12 of London’s famous landmarks, representing the 12 young sudden cardiac deaths that occur each week in the UK. If you feel you are able to support by making a donation the staff team, and the charity, would be extremely grateful.

  https://www.justgiving.com/cliftonville-Primary-School-Staff/

   

  School uniform

  This may seem a funny time of the school year to remind you of our expectations for school uniform.  However, the ‘back to school’ ranges are already in the shops (!) so please make sure you are buying items that are part of our agreed uniform.  Trainers are not part of school uniform.  School shoes must be black or navy blue.

  School gate

  Thank you to everyone who has responded so positively to making the area by the school gate much more welcoming for children & families.

  Just ask…..!

  If it doesn’t sound right….it’s probably not true!!  If you hear something that you think is a bit odd, please come and ask us if it’s true.  As with all schools, no matter what their size, rumours are plentiful.  I have heard some bizarre ones in past weeks, including what the new building was being used for, which I have clarified previously in this letter. 

   

  And finally

  Thank you for your continued support.  Successful schools always work in partnership with their families and the wider community.  We couldn’t do it without you!

  Yours sincerely

   

  Jane Troth

  Headteacher

  

• Governor feedback

  Mon 15 Jun 2015

  We were very pleased to have such positive feedback from one of our parent governors....

   

   

  Hello Jane,

  Just a quick email with yet another compliment...Alexis was a finalist in the perfect packed lunch competition and I attended the awards ceremony with her, the other two finalists and her class teacher, Mrs Adams at the Turner Contemporary Gallery. As a parent and a Governor, I wanted it to be known that I thought this was a great opportunity for all 180 children that entered to show their creativity and imagination and of course for Alexis and 2 others to become 3 finalists from Cliftonville Primary school out of the 15 entrants was amazing! Some schools across the county only had 1 finalist so we did very well and to have one of our children be a winner - even better ! Mrs Adams was a great support on the day - transporting children and boosting their confidence to go up and accept their certificates, have photographs taken and be interviewed for kent online in front of many people - a brave thing for the children to do, I thought and yet a great experience in preparing them for future life skills.

  Kind regards,

  Joanna

• Cliftonville World Finalists!

  Thu 11 Jun 2015

   

  Children at Cliftonville Primary School were very excited to learn that they are one of the fifteen finalists in the Jaguar Maths Challenge World finals. Over the past few months the Maths- in-Motion club has been competing in the preliminary rounds of this competition with great results, and approached the semi- finals with some confidence.  They had to create a virtual car to enter a grand prix race, we watched the race with great anticipation and were thrilled to gain a place in the finals.

  The Jaguar Maths Challenge World championships will take place in Warwick on the 24th June and we have a team of four children that will represent our club. The children will have to use many advanced maths skills to create a virtual car that will win the grand prix challenge. It is a difficult, but exciting challenge which our team, Jessie, Kasmeada, Susannah and Joanna are really looking forward to. They will need to use all their knowledge and understanding, but also remain calm and confident in order to complete the task in the short amount of time they are given.

  The competition for World champion will be very fierce and with schools there from all over the World, including China and Australia, we feel very proud of our achievement to get this far in the competition.  Mrs Weitzel and Mr Hedges, who support the children at Maths-in-Motion will be accompanying the trip to Warwickshire.

   

  CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE INVOLVED!

  

• Year 2 art work

  Tue 09 Jun 2015

  Year 2 have been learning about the seaside.  This has included a joint art project which is just stunning!

  

• Author of the term unveiled!

  Tue 09 Jun 2015

  Author of the term challenge!

  Oliver Jeffers

   

  There once was a boy and one day a penguin arrives on his doorstep.

  The boy decides the penguin must be lost and tries to return him. But no one seems to be missing a penguin. So the boy decides to take the penguin home himself, and they set out in his row boat on a journey to the South Pole. But when they get there, the boy discovers that maybe home wasn't what the penguin was looking for after all!

   

   

  Make a list of things that the boy and penguin might pack in their suitcase to take to the South Pole.

  What exciting items might you put inside your case?

  Can you tell me why?