1st October 2021

Dear Parents / Carers

Intro and updates.

It has been an extremely busy two weeks with so much going on and I

have been really impressed with how many of the children have settled into

the daily routines. The children are confident about walking around the

school and finding classrooms and many are embracing the challenge

programme and attending clubs.

Parent Consultation Meeting - Thursday 7th October 2021. Letters and booking instructions

were sent out on Tuesday. I hope everyone has now managed to book an appointment to talk to

their child’s form teacher about how well your child has settled into life at Parkfields. Apologies for

any initial problems booking an appointment. I understand it has all now been resolved.

Academic consultations will be early next year.

Cross Curricular Day – Austria

On Wednesday we had

our first cross curricular

day of the year. It was

an opportunity for the

Year 5 to find out

about a different

country, their culture,

food and clothing! So

many children dressed

up for the day. From red and white clothes, fantastic

home made hats, lederhosen’s and even one or

two Arnold Schwarzenegger’s!

As well, we had some fantastic outcomes of work, Year 5 got to work with

children from all the year groups. Also, well done to Brody who came 2nd in

the Austria-themed Hat Competition!

Reading – A message from Mrs Ferris!

At Parkfields we want to encourage a love of reading as

we know how important it is to children’s mental well-

being and literacy development. This term we are

studying Poetry and in particular looking at poetry from

different cultures. It would be great to see some of Year 5

reading poetry at home. We have really enjoyed getting

to know some of Benjamin Zephaniah’s poems. Some of

the classes are also reading his book ‘Windrush Child.’ It

is proving to be a great read. Mrs Ferris and 5Elm highly

recommend it.

Mrs Ferris has also read great things about this new book. If it is a fantasy novel similar to Men in

Black and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

From Mr Siddle:

Well done to all of 5 Cedar for lighting their first ever Bunsen Burner.

Certificates for Bunsen Safety are on their way! A huge well done to Helena,

Grace, Raffie and Ruby for consistent excellent effort in Science so far.

Many of the class were able to draw Science equipment very accurately.

Please ensure that your child ties their hair fully back ready for

Science. Many of the children did not have safe hair when using

Bunsen Burners.

All of 5 Cedar have been working hard to create their recipe poems this week. I really look

forward to reading them.

5 Austen Rosie W and Raffie V

5 Churchill Sophia D and Andrej G

5 Pankhurst Elizabeth M and Caitlin G

5 Scott Zara R and Hannah G

Congratulations to our Year 5 School Council representatives who were nominated for their roles

by their class. The candidates had to prepare a speech to explain why they wanted to take on

this role and every single student who went for School Council did an outstanding job in

delivering their speech. It takes a lot of bravery to prepare and read a speech so you should all

be very proud of yourselves.

5 Beech Update

5 Beech have been working on

their experiments. Well done to

them and also every child that

has now achieved their Bunsen

Burner license.

In D&T below are some pictures of 5.1 practising their sawing skills. Well done!

As the Year 5 Newsletter is going out every two weeks I have produced the attendance for the past two weeks separately. In the celebration assembly each Friday the ‘Attendance class of the Week’ is announced. Should a class get 100% for the preceding 5 days (From previous Friday to Thursday) they will be offered the chance to come to school in non-uniform the following week on an agreed suitable day. We recognise attendance as important for many reasons which includes its link to student success.

Last week This week 17-9 to 23-9 24-9 to 30/9

Weekly consolidation Schedule Each week, homework tasks will be issued and expected back in. These tasks may be issued as worksheets or online activity. (SATs Companion) Additionally, we will be running a weekly homework club on Wednesday lunchtimes to support those that need it.

5 Ash English Thursday to Thursday

5 Ash Maths Friday to Friday

5 Beech Maths and English Friday to Friday

5 Cedar Maths and English Friday to Friday

5 Elm Maths and English Tuesday to Tuesday

5 Oak Maths and English Friday to Wednesday

5 AUSTEN 88.3%

5 CHURCHILL 92.1%

5 PANKHURST 95.0%

5 SCOTT 89.2%

5 AUSTEN 95.5%

5 CHURCHILL 95.2%

5 PANKHURST 83.8%

5 SCOTT 93.4%

Over the last few days your child may have been given login details to various online platforms that may be used both in lessons and for home based tasks. If they have not been given them yet, they will do as teachers start to use them for consolidation activities.

These include:

I have been so impressed with the contributions from Year 5

children (and you of course!) There is no doubt that Year 5

collected more items than any other year group so far! Well done

to everyone who contributed. Keep sending in those contributions.

Our Harvest Festival assembly is on 19th October.

Contributions needed:

tins and packets (soups, pulses, pasta, rice, cereals)

drinks (tea, coffee, cartons of juice and UHT milk)

non food items (deodorant, shower gel, toothbrushes, toilet paper)

Notices

Absences - if your child is absent from school please call the school office in the

first instance to inform them and also please send in a note confirming the reasons

for their absence when they return. We are not allowed to accept email confirmation

of absence.

Interhouse football Tuesday 12th October. 3.45pm - 5.15pm. Parents welcome to watch. The children are starting to organise their teams.

● Message from Mrs Minshull:

Tuesday 12th October 2021 – 4.30pm Forum Focus: Relationships and Health Education

Please come along to learn all about our Relationships and Health Education curriculum. There will be an opportunity to find out about the content and delivery of the curriculum and the resources used to support the curriculum. We will also be sharing our principles for a Relationships and Health Education curriculum and welcome your thoughts and feedback. The plan is to meet 'in person' in the school hall. If you would like to join us, please complete the Google form via https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpEhxQIUMqBdtZCKdxey1vjW6CSUZzYhZU2LOURMSys26XEw/viewform?usp=pp_url

Toddington Parish Council presents

on the Village Green. Saturday 9th October Between 11am to 4pm

Lots of free fun activities and visit your local stalls and much more Obstacle Course, Giant Jenga, Connect 4

And finally…. Please call or email your child’s form teacher if you have any queries or concerns that we can

help with to ensure your child has a smooth and happy time at Parkfields.

Have a lovely weekend

Steve Purdom And the Year 5 team

Mrs Ferris 5 Austen - bferris@parkfieldsschool.co.uk

Mrs Robinson 5 Churchill - crobinson@parkfieldsschool.co.uk

Mr Siddle 5 Pankhurst - ssiddle@parkfieldsschool.co.uk

Mr Roberts 5 Scott - groberts@parkfieldsschool.co.uk

Mrs Flavell 5 Oak hflavell@parkfieldsschool.co.uk