Caring Curious Courageous

Enabling all children to learn and grow

Dear all families,

The excitement is building in school for the King's Coronation celebrations. It has started with the wonderful entries for the 'draw a portrait of King Charles III' competition, which we judged last night. The standard was high and it was a very difficult task. See below for the winning portraits.

Today, we are praying that it will not rain on our picnic and outdoor whole school assembly. In true British style we have a back-up option! Then of course there is the PTA Coronation party. This is a momentous time in history and one that most of the children will remember in years to come. Thank you to everyone who has been involved to organise this day, especially our PTA.

I would like to point you in the direction of our library. Click here to access it via the website. Please do ask your child's class teacher if they have forgotten their password. The library is an excellent resource which you can use to find books and then reserve them. If you want to find out more, this presentation from Mr Jones may be helpful. Or you can contact the school via the info@ email address, for the attention of Mr Jones.

Next week, our Year 6 children will be taking their SATS (Standardised Assessment Tests) which are statutory tests that all Year 6 children have to do. I am sure you will all join me in wishing them the best of luck (not that they need it). They are ready, and these tests will provide an opportunity to show off all the children's learning across KS2.

Another three-day weekend is about to start. Hopefully the weather forecast is incorrect! I hope you all have a lovely time and I look forward to seeing all the smiling faces at the gate on Tuesday morning.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Frances Bracegirdle

Headteacher - headteacher@vineyard.richmond.sch.uk

Attendance

Well done to Year 1, 4 and 6 for all having attendance above 96%. 

Vineyard Recommended Reads!

Luckily for you reader, we have an incredibly ambitious reader giving you a recommendation this week. George from Year 1 Amber expanded his already amazing knowledge on animals by picking up this very special book!

George recommends: David Attenborough: Little People, Big Dreams by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara.

Reading Age: years 1 - 6

Genre: nature & biography

I chose this book because I love watching David Attenborough shows on TV. He knows so much about nature and I want to learn more about animals and plants. I found it interesting to read about his life growing up. I have also read the book about Pele in this series which was interesting too.
The library at school has a large collection of the Little People, Big Dreams books about many inspiring people. These books are available to borrow from the library tab here.

Teaching and learning

It was a pleasure to carry out a learning walk and book look on handwriting with our handwriting consultant Selene Cutler from www.handwritingsupport.co.uk this week. We visited most year groups and observed children thoroughly engaged in their writing.

Reception were showing how they are working on their pencil grip and finger spaces.

Year 1 enjoyed talking about their class presentation fairy and how this helps them try their very best.

Year 2 remembered to warm up their hands with hand exercises before writing.

Year 3 demonstrated sky writing and using our school handwriting rhymes and sayings to remember the direction we write our letters.

Year 5 showed how tilting their paper in the correct direction dependent on whether they are right or left handed made a difference to how comfortable they were when writing.

Year 4 and 6 will be visited in the next two weeks.

There is so much more to handwriting than sometimes realised and that’s why we are so proud of our staff making it a key focus and ensuring they are up to date with the latest research that supports their pedagogy in handwriting.

Ms Reilly- AHT Teaching & Learning

Thank you, PTA

Thank you to our PTA for funding the resurfacing of the slope on the big playground. Many of you may have noticed when you pick up and drop off your children that we now have a fence at the edge of the field and the muddy slope is now a combination of fake grass and a rubber surface. It looks amazing, and the children love it. It has really expanded our play area. We really could not have done it without the support of all parents who have helped raise money by organising events such as: fairs, discos and running the second hand uniform shop. Thank you for your hard work and commitment to the school.

Parent workshop - Tuesday 16th May at 7pm 

Come and find out a bit more about what we have been working on this year and the Ofsted framework.

Mrs Bracegirdle and the governors will present a short presentation and then there will be time for them to answer your questions.