Friday October 7th
Firstly, a big thankyou to Reverend Alex Pye for welcoming all our classes from Reception to Year 6 to St Barnabus on Monday for a Harvest celebration. Thanks also to Ann Tinkler and Mary Taylor for their support on the day! All the children and staff thoroughly enjoyed their visit!
It’s been another busy week of learning and laughter at Waunarlwydd! The Nursery had a very exciting start to ‘B’ week when baby Eliza, who was 8 weeks old, came to visit. They saw her mum give her a bath and her bottle. They have enjoyed playing with the baby dolls in our classroom and have been thinking about the differences between themselves and a baby. This week in Reception, children have been learning through the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. They have been sorting by size, feeling materials to find out if they are hard or soft and exploring the characters, setting and plot in the story. In gym they told the story in movement, focusing on facial expressions and have ended the week making yummy flapjacks using porridge oats! Year 1 have been very busy making Gruffalo masks this week and are super excited to wear them home. They enjoyed learning about why we celebrate Harvest, and sang their harvest songs beautifully during our visit to St Barnabas church. Finding odd and even numbers has been the number focus for the week and the children were very proud of themselves for working out if some really big numbers were odd or even. Highlights in Mrs Evans and Mrs Thomas’ class have included the Harvest trip to the church, some incredible Gruffalo art and rhyming word fun involving ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’. The week ended with a special visit from Flopsy and Lucky! Science has been the big hit this week in Mr Reid’s class, particularly their investigation linked to the Twits about air pressure and how air moves. They also enjoyed developing their fine motor skills by making Mr Twit’s messy beard using tissue paper.
Mr Jenkins’ class have enjoyed looking at maps of Waunarlwydd this week, finding geographical features and some even found their own houses using aerial photographs. They have continued to read lots of legends, bible stories and even some of Aesop’s fables this week and have begun to recognize the characteristics of different characters. In numeracy they have continued to develop some amazing addition skills while in tennis they are making real progress in hitting the ball while playing their catching games. Year 5 and 6 have been developing some awesome creative skills this week and, after looking at the work of Andy Warhol last week, the children have started to create a collage of themselves as a Pharaoh using some of his ideas. They have also thoroughly enjoyed exploring co-ordinates this week, both in their numeracy lessons and outdoor learning lesson. Other big hits have been making a chase game using Scratch and listening to their music genre of the week which has been boy bands.
A big well done to our girls’ football team! They played in their first festival of the year on Thursday and were a credit to the school, playing with great spirit, sportsmanship and always smiling! Diolch!
Congratulations
A big well done to all the boys that took part in the Swansea schoolboys rugby trials recently and congratulations to Zac Lloyd, Caden Phillips-Evans and Jac Evans on their selection for the Swansea Schoolboys squad this year.
Harvest
We will be celebrating Harvest next week and, as in previous years, will be making a donation to our friends at Matthew’s House. If you would like to send in a donation, the list of items requested is found below. Diolch!
Reminder
Next Friday (14th October) we will be celebrating Shwmae Day at school. All children are welcome to wear Welsh colours or kits to celebrate.
Attendance
Following several challenging years maintaining attendance levels in light of the pandemic, the City and County of Swansea have issued schools with a pathway to follow if concerns rise due to a pupil’s low attendance, including the involvement of Education Welfare Officers (EWOs). There are clearly many genuine reasons for absence and, first and foremost, communication is crucial. Please continue to inform us of the reason behind your child’s absence as soon as possible! If you have any concerns or require any support regarding your child’s attendance, please don’t hesitate in contacting us!
INSET DAYS
Friday December 23rd
Please note that January 9th WILL NOT be an INSET Day and children will return after Christmas on Monday 9th January! (Apologies for any inconvenience). We will confirm further INSET days as soon as possible.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate in getting in touch!
Have a great weekend!
Mr Jamie Evans
Deputy Headteacher
Work Hard, Aim High, Share and Care