Caring Curious Courageous

Enabling all children to learn and grow

Dear all families,

As this is arriving in your inboxes I will be driving back from a couple of superb days at Osmington Bay with Year 6. It has been a pleasure to spend time with the children who have been extremely well-behaved. I feel incredibly proud of them all. They have braved heights (abseiling, leap of faith, giant swing), solved problems, kayaked and enjoyed a disco. Children and adults are all very tired, and I am sure they will sleep well this weekend. A huge thank you to all the adults who joined the trip.

It was lovely to see some of you at the parent workshop this week. Antony Cook (Chair of Governors) and Kirsty Maceachen (Vice Chair) spoke about the role of the Governing Body and I gave an update on the New Ofsted Framework and our priorities for the academic year. The slides will be sent next week for your information.

Year 2 have been working hard completing their SATs tests this week and will continue with these next week. They are being done in a very low-key way and the children are doing a great job showing off their learning over the last two years. 

Onyx and Zircon class assemblies were an absolute delight - they were written by the children who shared the knowledge they had learnt this term. The parents in Zircon class were tested after each section to check they had been listening! Onyx parents were treated to a song, sung in two parts, conducted by one of the children. I was extremely impressed.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Frances Bracegirdle

Headteacher - headteacher@vineyard.richmond.sch.uk

Parent workshop - PSHE - Wednesday 7th June at 8.45am and 5.30pm

If you would like to find out about what your children will be learning in the 'changing me' unit during the second half of the summer term please join us at one of the workshops. They will include the material we will be teaching on puberty and growing up in years 4,5&6.

Attendance

Wow!! The attendance is so strong this week. Well done to all the year groups for getting above 96%. Let's hope it stays this way as we go into the last week of the half-term. 

Summer Fair-  17th June 12 to 4pm

There will be bouncy castles, games, tombolas, food & drink and also a petting zoo. Please secure your tickets here: buytickets.at/thevineyardschoolpta/905296 

The PTA is still on the lookout for some amazing raffle prizes - if you (or your business) have something offer, please get in touch with the PTA. 

Bouncethon 26th May

The children will get an opportunity to bounce on the bouncy castle and so all need to be in their PE kits on this day. 

Thank you Didem!

Didem has done an amazing job with the beautiful looking V shaped plant bed with the added white stones outside the big hall. Thank you so much for offering your valuable time to this. It looks fantastic! 

Vineyard Recommended Reads!

We are having our recommended reading from Weymouth this week as the children have been enjoying their books in their rooms as a way to relax and wind down before bed.

Gus in Year 6 recommends: Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

Reading Age: years 5 - 6

Genre: Greek Mythology Fantasy Fiction

Ignore the mess (if you can) as in the chaos we find peace and relaxation in a good book. It has been a part of our routine to read before bed on this trip and this book has entertained me throughout this trip. 

Karan is reading Cogheart which we started in year 5; Mael is reading The World’s Worst Pets as you may tell from the massive smile on his face.

Next week, we will have a reception pupil in 6 Garnet to recommend their favourite book, this could be a short story, a picture book or their favourite poem.

Teaching and learning

It was great to observe our newly designed reading lessons taking place in KS2 this week. In Year 3, children were using their phonics knowledge to decode words and commit the spelling pattern focus to their long term memory through a variety of practical and partner-talk based learning. In Year 4, children were exploring characterisation through echo reading, choral reading and performance. The atmosphere is the classroom was electric, with children bursting to put on character’s voices to depict their personality and mood.

Year 3 with their current reading lesson book

Year 4 with their current reading lesson book

Year 5 with their current reading lesson book

In KS1, I observed children consolidating their phonics and using story and voice to make connections to their focus phonics’ special friend of the day. They were so engaged and were very enthusiastic to read the alien words in their head, before saying them out loud to their group and teacher.

Ms Reilly- AHT Teaching & Learning

Parent Survey

Please complete this parent survey so that we can gain an accurate picture of our school and we want to hear from you about your views on the school.  This is the most comprehensive parent survey of the school year and the large majority of families complete it.

The survey can be taken online using this link:   https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3GY8RCC

Please complete the survey by Wednesday 24 May.  Your feedback is very important to us and we want to hear from as many of our families as possible.

Copter Competition – May 25^th 3.30-4.30 in the school library – raising money for the London Air Ambulance service

Children will be dismissed as usual on this day and their parents/carers walk them round to the front office to enter the exhibition for a donation

Every child across the school is invited to create a helicopter to display in the exhibition. They can make it from any materials they wish and they can be as imaginative as they would like!

For example, the ‘Copter’ can be made out of:

• recycling
• lego
• cake
• a painting
• play dough
• clay

Children can bring these into their class in the morning and the Green Team will collect the ‘Copters’ from your child’s classroom to set them up in the library ready for 3.30. If it is something that needs to be kept refrigerated until the exhibition, a parent/carer is welcome to drop it to the office at 3pm.

The exhibition will be open for parents/carers and their children to visit after school in the library on May 25^th for an entry donation. There will be refreshments and music as part of the exhibition.

If you wish to contribute, our fundraising page is here.

Looking forward to seeing you at the library on the day!

Open Classrooms - 09.06.23 - 8.45-9.30

This is an opportunity for you to visit your child's classroom so they can show you what they have been learning over the last term. You will need to drop your child at school at the normal time. The class teacher will register the children. Once this has been done you will be able to enter the classroom so you child can show you their books.

The all aboard club run inclusive train play sessions for autistic and ADHD children and are offering free sessions in Brentford during the weekend of 24^th and 25^th June. You will need to book in advance, as they are likely to sell out quickly. Check their website: www.allaboardclub.com