Year 2 Maths Lending Library opened

On Friday 14th November the maths games library opened at  Cliftonville Primary School and Year 2 children were all able to take home a great maths game to play with their families and friends. Being Children in Need day the children all dressed as super heroes which added an extra element of fun to the day. Playing games is a great way for children to practise their maths skills and become more confident with basic number work. It is also a wonderful opportunity for families and friends to be together, and enjoy learning. There is a wide variety of games for the children to choose from which enable the children to practise adding, subtracting, working with money and many other maths concepts. We are very fortunate to have lots parents who were able to come along and play the games with the children on the opening day of the maths games library, and we hope that as the children take home the games, many more will be able to join in the learning experience. Gary the Clown came to visit us to make the day even more special, and he enjoyed working with the children and learning how to play some of the games too. There was a great deal of learning with lots of smiles and laughter.

Thank you to Mrs Weitzel for organising today's special event to start the project and to the many parents and carers who came to join in the activities.

On Friday 14^th November we are going to become charity superheroes by raising lots of money for Children In Need!  Year 5 will be hosting the traditional cake sale.  There will be a wide range of cakes and biscuits on sale ranging from 10p to 50p.  Any donations of homemade or shop bought cakes on Friday morning would be greatly appreciated.  Please bring them into the school office.  We will also be dressing up as superheroes for the day and bringing in a donation of £1.  Don't worry if you don't have a costume, use your imagination and see what you can come up with.  Maybe write a letter or superhero name on an old PE T-shirt or use some material to make a cape.  Have fun and help us raise lots of money for a great cause!

Thank you as ever in anticipation of your generous support.

Mrs Standen, our SENCo, has been working on our revised SEN policy in line with changes to national and KCC policies.  She would love to have feedback from parents and carers of all children, whether or not your child has additional needs.  A formal response in writing would be appreciated but I know Mrs Standen would be more than happy to take your comments on board from an informal chat!  It is really important to us that your views are considered with such an important policy.

Please click on the link below to view the policy.

http://www.cliftonvilleprimary.co.uk/special-educational-needs-disability/

Thank you for supporting Thanet Food Link

The children all brought in food to support the Thanet Food Link, which they took to Holy Trinity Church Margate where we had our harvest celebration. The generosity of the children and parents was amazing with the huge trolley of food overflowing on to the floor of the church. Being a local charity many of our children are aware of the Food Link, and were very happy to support an organisation that benefits the  people in our area so much. Our school choir sang some beautiful songs which were interspersed with songs from the rest of the children and readings about harvest. 

Thank you to Mrs Weitzel and Mrs Ross for their 'behind the scenes' organisation in preparation for today's celebration.

On Friday October 17^th the year 5 and 6 School Councillors attended a Youth Summit hosted by Hartsdown Secondary School to discuss major issues facing our society today. After a moving assembly showing the struggles other people face in global community for the most basic of human rights, they participated in a variety of workshops identifying how they could combat some of the issues in our local area. These issues ranged from pollution of our beaches and how to improve recycling to how we, as a school and with other schools, can help to raise money and awareness for those that have very little.

The children participated fantastically asking meaningful and insightful questions and, as a result, were then inspired to take part in a local and global event that will help to make a difference to those that need it most. The School Council will be leading us in a number of charitable events to show that we really can make a difference. Letters providing information as to how you can help will be released in the near future.  Thank you to Mr Briggs for accompanying the children.

We have worked together to beat our target!

A massive thank you to everyone in the whole school community for improving attendance again this term.  There is a 0.6% improvement compared with this time last year...which sounds very small but it actually represents a huge increase in the number of days attended. 

Year R Harvest celebration and Talk 4 Writing

Having only embarked on their ‘Talk 4 Writing’ learning journey at the beginning of October, it was clear at Cliftonville Primary School’s Year R Harvest celebration on Thursday that this is something the children and staff already feel passionately about. To rapturous applause, 90 four- and five-year old children stood confidently in front of their families and retold them, by heart, the story of the Little Red Hen and her own journey of making bread without the help of her friends. Out on display were the children’s own bread rolls that they had made in the roll of the Little Red Hen. Using actions and a story map to guide them, the children were able to use a variety of language and expression to tell their story with huge smiles on their faces.

Assistant Head teacher and leader of Literacy at Cliftonville School, Louise Wilson, explained...

"In our determination and drive to further raising standards in literacy we have embarked on adopting the ‘Talk 4 Writing’ approach to teaching reading and writing to enable children to imitate the key language they need for a particular topic orally before they try reading and analysing it. Through fun activities that help them rehearse the tune of the language they need, followed by shared writing with the teacher to show them how to create their own pieces of writing, children are helped to write in the same style. We have already seen an amazing impact, not only upon the quality of the writing the children are producing, but also in their developing love of literacy and their own confidence levels when speaking."

Children in Reception and year 1 have been learning the story of the Little Red Hen for the Harvest celebrations whilst Year 6 have produced some moving and powerful work based on the poem ‘The Highway Man’ by Alfred Noyes and Year 5 children have been working hard to create texts based on Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Born to Run’.

“Giving our children an opportunity to perform their work to their families and wider community here at Cliftonville School has given their learning purpose and meaning. We are very excited to see what the children will produce next.”

'I believe in unicorns'.  Click on the link below for a fantastic opportunity to see one of Michael Morpurgo's books brought to life.

http://theatreroyalmargate.com/event/i-believe-in-unicorns/