Thank you to all the Year 1 parents who came in to the phonics workshop this afternoon.  There was some very positive feedback from you with great suggestions on what we could do to support you in helping your child!  The clip below is useful in knowing how to correctly say the sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJx1NSineE

Don't forget that you can use the Phonics Play site, too.  We will text the username and passwords which are unique to our school.

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/

Many thanks again

Mrs Wilson and Mr Sharpe

Dear Parents and Carers of children in Year 5

You will no doubt be starting to think about transition to secondary school and as such Cliftonville Primary School would like to support you as much as possible through this process.

You must apply for a secondary school place for your child to start year 7 at secondary school. You will need to do this by the end of October when your child is in Year 6. When thinking about which schools, it is important to find out more about the schools you are interested in before you apply. You can apply for up to 4 schools which must be placed in order of preference. More information about this process will be given towards the end of July.

If you are thinking about applying for a grammar school, your child can only be offered a place if they have been assessed as working at a suitable level. As you are probably aware, assessment takes place via the Kent Test ( previously known as the 11+).  All children who want to go to a Grammar School must sit the Kent Test. You will find more information at the following website:

http://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/secondary-school-places

To help you make this decision about whether or not to apply for a Grammar School, please speak to your child’s class teacher, Year group leader or member of SLT. Whatever your child’s ability, a Grammar School may or may not be the right school for them. For this reason, it is important to consider all schools within your catchment area.

Should you wish to apply to complete the Kent Test, registration for testing opens on Wednesday 1st June and closes on Friday 1st July. This is done online via www.kent.gov.uk/ola

The date of the Kent Test is Thursday 8th September (this is the same date across all Kent schools) with the results being sent out on the 13th October. You then have until the 31st October to make your four secondary school choices.

If you have any questions regarding the Kent Test, please do not hesitate to contact the school and we will be happy to help you.

Yours sincerely

Ms Whichcord

Deputy Head Teacher

I am thrilled to report that, through our work with the Kent & Medway Maths Hub, we will be helping shape the teaching of maths nationally.  We have been asked to be part of a research project led by Oxford University.  The focus is on the teaching of mathematical reasoning.  Letters will be coming home soon to parents of the children involved with more information.  Our thanks must go to Mrs Weitzel and Mr Michael for their work with the Maths hub that has provided this prestigious opportunity. 

We have had some technical problems with hot water to the new kitchen which is being sorted out.  It has meant that we have used paper plates and plastic cutlery to reduce the amount of hot water used and some minor adjustments to the menu.   Whilst not ideal, this is a temporary solution to the problem which the builders are working on with our premises team.  Thank you in anticipation of your understanding.

Congratulations to RP for winning the reading raffle and 4A for winning the AR reading competition.  Both classes received their prize of a movie and popcorn after school!  Thank you to all the children, parents and Mrs Wilson!

Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to invite you to an information session on Wednesday 18^th May 2016 at 2.30pm to inform you about the National Phonics Screening Check that will take place in June. This is a statutory assessment that checks the phonic knowledge of ALL year 1 children in England.

I will be explaining how and when the check takes place, how we are preparing your child as well as giving you ways that you can support your children at home.  There is a letter coming home with a reply slip - please do try and come along.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Louise Wilson

Assistant Head Teacher

For those parents who were unable to come to the recent maths workshop, please follow this link for the presentation slides.  If you would like any further information please see Mr Michael or Mrs Weitzel.

http://www.cliftonvilleprimary.co.uk/year-3-1/

The latest maths competition was to design a poster or create a game that helped children remember how to double and halve numbers. This was linked to the KIRF that they had all been working on in the previous term. I was so pleased with the quality of the work completed for this competition; it shows what good learning had been happening around the theme.  The posters are on display in the corridor leading to the year 2 classrooms and the games will be played during lunchtimes in the LRC. Special mention must be made of Raven's game - pictured in the centre. Not only does it meet the criteria of helping children to learn about doubles and halves, but also shows Raven's amazing creative skills in the design and also in the story that unfolds as you play the game. Well done to everyone who entered.  

Mrs Weitzel

Today we were very pleased to welcome so many Year 3 parents into our maths lessons.  Initially we met together in the hall to look at different ways of helping children to become fluent in some of the key learning concepts in Year 3. We  had lots of fun playing games, and everyone had a games pack to take home that they could use with their children. Mr Michael showed some of the resources that we use in school to help the children understand number and everyone had a chance to use these so they how their children are learning maths. This was followed by a trip to the classrooms where the parents could join their children doing their maths work. It was great fun, and we were really pleased by how many parents came and their very positive feedback about the event. We will be holding another session in a few weeks for those parents who were unable to attend today. The powerpoint used in this session will be on the website soon along with some of the resources given out.

For those of you who were unable to attend the recent information session about the assessments for your child, we have added the presentation notes from the link below.  Please speak to a member of the Year 2 team, or the link Senior Leader Mrs Weitzel, if you have any questions.

http://www.cliftonvilleprimary.co.uk/assessment-at-cliftonville/    Scroll to the bottom of the assessment page to access the presentation notes.