Friday January 27th
It’s been another busy week full of learning and laughter at Waunarlwydd. The highlight for me would have to be the awesome assembly presented by Miss Shaw’s class which reminded us of the importance of looking after the environment and wildlife.
A reminder that, due to industrial action, school will be closed to pupils on Wednesday February 1st.
Parent workshops
The North Gower Partnership has linked with the NHS and CAMHS to provide support and strategies for parents in approaching the emotional wellbeing of children at home. This will take the form of a series of workshops at school (14.25 in the school hall):
We have received positive feedback form our first workshop, ‘When to Worry About Your Worrier’.
Friday 3rd February – The next parent workshop will focus on ‘Managing Anger’. If you would like to attend, just arrive at school for a 14.25 start on the given dates.
It has been a week of stories in Nursery, with our activities based on Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, The Gruffalo and The Billy Goats Gruff. The children have especially enjoyed playing in the 3 bears’ cottage, tasting porridge with different toppings, building their own bridge and acting out the Billygoat story as well as scoring goals in gym. This week Reception have had fun learning all about Polar Bears and Penguins. They have sorted facts, made their own fact files, measured their feet compared to a polar bear’s giant foot and explored ice in our small world play. Children also had fun pouring water into different sized containers to see which holds the most water.
Year 1 have been learning about the polar regions this week. They sorted facts before writing a fact file, as well as discussing what they could do at home to help save the polar bears. Superb vocabulary was used during their science investigation when describing what happens when you add salt and food colouring to ice. Percy’s hut role play area has been a huge favourite and the children especially enjoyed having hot chocolate and marshmallows to warm them up this week. Similar highlights in Mrs Wallace and Mrs Howells’ class who have had the most wonderful week learning more about the polar regions and its animals. They have particularly enjoyed researching penguins and writing a fact file. Making hot chocolate with marshmallows was a big surprise! Mrs Evans and Mrs Thomas’ class highlight has been their bird watching activities using binoculars and they also enjoyed creating ‘Staying safe online’ posters and thinking about how too much screen time can make us feel. The standout in Mr Reid’s class this week has been the wonderful independent writing on the 7 wonders of the world, where the children showcased some great sentence structures and vocabulary choices. Their work on division also showed huge progress and was another high point.
Mr Jenkins’ class have been learning how to multiply by partitioning, grids and adding. Three steps! They have also continued to develop their understanding of the features of reports and selected topics to investigate. In science and technology they have loved making parachutes and will now make a group design before dropping our egg astronaut from a height of 3m. The aim is not to have any cracks in our little friend! Mrs Cornish has been keeping the children busy, completing a bird survey around the school. There seem to be a lot of pigeons around. Hopefully they won’t be dropping too many messages for us! Year 5 and 6 have enjoyed learning about how to look after our mental health, for example eating healthily or taking deep breaths. Teachers have been impressed at how well the classes have used their Zones of Regulation board, even checking in with each other. Another highlight was working with Mrs Howells to improve their Welsh skills. In maths, the children have found learning about function machines and algebra challenging, but there were still a lot of smiles. PE is always a favourite – this week we played Tag Ball and nearly hit Mrs Davies!
Digital Advice for parents
This week’s advice for parents and carers centres around ‘12 Top Tips for building cyber resilience at home.‘
Dates for the calendar
Wednesday 1st February – School closed to pupils (Industrial action)
Friday 3rd February – Parent workshop – ‘Managing Anger‘ (14.25 in school hall)
Tuesday February 7th – Safer Internet Day
Wednesday February 8th – NGP – RSE information evening – Gowerton Comprehensive School **Cancelled until further notice**
Wednesday February 15th – School Discos (details to follow)
Friday 17th February – Break up for half term
Wednesday March 1st – St David’s Day (children can wear Welsh colours, kits or costumes)
Thursday March 2nd – World Book Day (children can dress up as their favourite book character)
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
