January 2023

Dear Parents and Carers. 

It's hard to believe we have already reached the last few days of January.  It's been a cold start to the year with lots of icy days, which I know the Early Years and year 2 have found particularly relevant as they have been learning about winter(EY) and about the arctic (Y2)  It has been amazing to see the early years children out discovering the beauty of the frosty mornings.  We have seen a rise in overall attendance across the school which is fantastic - lets keep this going.   

Over the next few weeks, you will have a chance to discuss your children's learning with the class teachers through the arranged phone conversations.  We know how important these conversations are to ensuring you as parents and carers are fully aware of your children's learning at this mid-point of the year.  

A reminder that the school will be closed to all children on Wednesday 1^st February due to strike action.  Please see my previous communication on this matter for details. 

Thank you all for your continued support and involvement. 

Mr Morrissey

Headteacher 

(To keep up with all of the news please see the school website.)

Monthly Reflection

Activities that have been taking place

Year R

Early Years have had a very busy few weeks learning about People who help us.  Ms Costello our Lollipop lady came and visited and  taught the children about road safety.  

Last week, Mr Chang came in to visit us and share about how their family celebrate Chinese New Year.  We have had lots of fun.  Thank you for sharing with us!

Year 1

One morning last week the children in Year 1 arrived to such a mess in their classrooms!  The Naughty Bus had crashed into all the resources and there was even paint on the tables with tyre tracks through.  The children became investigators and wrote an incident report about the commotion in the classroom.  As well as inspiring our writing, we will be trying out our own photography in a few weeks, in the style of the book.

Year 2

Year 2 have had an amazing start to their topic 'Ice'!  They began with a science investigation question:  Which method will rescue the Arctic animals from the ice blocks the quickest?  The children decided to use five different methods to see which would melt (or break) the ice the quickest.  Puffin class found that using spoons broke the ice very quickly, whereas Penguin class discovered that using a hairdryer melted the ice the quickest.  Later that day, we learnt specific scientific vocabulary such as transparent, translucent and opaque and explored materials that showed each of these properties.  Can your child impress you with an example of an object which is transparent, translucent or opaque at home?

In Science this week, Year 2 carried out an investigation to help answer the question: what do Inuit people wear to stay warm in the Arctic? In order to find out which material was the best insulator, we covered cooked jacket potatoes with different materials including tin foil, bubble wrap, polystyrene and cardboard and recorded their temperatures using a thermometer.  We then compared this with the temperature of a jacket potato that was not covered.  We discussed our findings as a class using scientific vocabulary.

Year 3

Year 3 have been enjoying learning about our new topic:  Marvellous Moving Machines!  We have started looking at a range of inventions, small and big.  We wrote about a few that are very useful in our every day lives. 

Year 4

Year 4 launched their fabulous Rainforest's topic with an art lesson using the book Actual Size by Steve Jenkins as inspiration. The children worked with a variety of media to create incredible life-size rainforest animals for display in their classrooms.  They thoroughly enjoyed being creative and are really looking forward to learning more about their topic this term.

On Friday 20^th January, Toucan class enjoyed sharing their assembly on rainforests with the junior school and their adults.  The children wowed their audience with the knowledge they have already learnt so early on in their topic.  They all spoke clearly and confidently. They shared information, poetry and drama.  The children were also inspired by Juliane Koepcke who spent several days alone in the Peruvian rainforest having survived a plane crash at the age of 17.  She is still alive today.  Toucan class are looking forward to learning more about this topic.

Year 5

Year 5 explored space at South Downs Planetarium. We watched the dome turn into the night sky, toured the International Space Station and visited the planets of our solar system. We learnt so much about our universe.   

Year 6

Year 6 have started their new topic 'When the siren sounds', particularly focusing on the impact of World War Two on children and the home front.  They have developed some fantastic diary writing based on the book 'War Boy' by Michael Foreman. They also researched the different ways Britain defended itself against the potential of invasion, presenting their research into an informative report.  Here are some examples of their wonderful work.

Reverse Advent Giving in aid of  Worthing Food Bank

Thank you so much to all our families for your generous toiletry donations for Worthing Food Bank. Richard and Wendy Marshall, who co-ordinate the Body Basics section of the food bank, collected the donations this morning. We filled their two cars! Wendy commented that our continued support is all the more important this year as demand remains high, so thank you again to all those that were able to contribute. Merry Christmas! 

Visit of Author Kate Thompson

The children in KS1 were visited by Kate Thompson, author of: 'Super Heroes Don't Get Scared, Or Do They?'   We had a fantastic morning finding out about how to become an author and we enjoyed listening to her latest book. 

Hens and Ducks were able to take part in a 'super hero workshop' where they enjoyed designing their own superhero.

Kate showed us the first book that she had made at school and we loved seeing her amazing knitted characters that were created in the image of the characters from her book.

Later some of the children got to talk to Kate and have their books signed too.  If you were unable to receive you books in time for the book signing, Kate will be visiting the Worthing area on Tuesday 31st January and will come to our school at lunchtime. Please bring your books into school labelled and she will be happy to sign them for you on this day.

Other News

SPORTS REPORT

Year 5/6 Indoor Athletics – 3rd

24 of our athletes went to Durrington High School to compete against 4 other schools in a huge range of running, jumping and throwing events.  There were 44 events in total, with our team claiming some excellent results in many of them.  The children were superb as they cheered and encouraged each other from start to finish. It was an extremely enjoyable afternoon and the children were proud of their performance.

24^th January - Year 4 Girls Football – 6^th out of 9

The girls competed against 8 other teams and showed excellent team spirit throughout. They had a mixed bag of results with some wins, draws and defeats and ended in a respectable 6^th place.

26^th January - Year 3 Football – Runners-up and silver medals out of 12 schools!

The boys went to Durrington High School and competed with 11 other schools in the year 3 tournament.  In their group of six teams, they blew the opposition away with 1-0, 2-0, 2-0, 3-0 and 3-0 victories to earn the maximum 25 points and finish in top spot to claim a place in the final.  Unfortunately, they lost the final to an outstanding Durrington side but were still the runners-up and went away with extremely well deserved silver medals!

ECO COUNCIL - The Big Battery Hunt!

The Big Battery Hunt is a nationwide programme to help educate and inspire young people to recycle more used batteries.  There are some amazing prizes to be won including £3,500 towards garden and outdoor equipment, a Nintendo Switch and a trophy for the winning school.  Plus, certificates for participating pupils!  We are really excited to be taking part for the second year running and ask that if you have any old or unused batteries please bring them into school with your child.  Each class has a small box to store batteries, but for larger quantities please use the recycling bin in the main office.  The competition is running until June 2023. 

Don't forget we also recycle ink cartridges, textiles and pens so please do bring these hard to recycle items into the school if you have any. These bins are all located in the school main entrance.

Message from F@B 

We have lots of exciting events planned for this year.

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 2nd February 7pm F@B Committee Meeting in the Studio at school.

Friday 24th March- Discos

Saturday 22nd April- Bingo night

Friday 26th May Broadwater School’s 150th anniversary (provisional in term date, event TBC)

Friday 16th June- Non uniform day in exchange for Summer Fair donations

Friday 30th June- Summer Fair 150th themed

These events cannot happen without the support of the families of our school, and we would like to invite you along to our committee meeting (approximately an hour long), to bring your ideas and thoughts to our fundraising events.

This year, is especially important, as it’s the school’s 150^th anniversary and we would like to make it a year to remember.

Please don’t forget about the pre-loved uniform, please email:  fabuniformonline@gmail.com for any requests of our school uniform.

Reminders

Chartwells

• All meals can be booked up to the Easter Holidays
• Monday 20th February - Chartwells had not set up a menu for this day.  This has now been rectified so please do remember to book this date's meal.

If you forget to order a meal, please make sure you provide your child with a packed lunch - Chartwells has reduced the amount of food being ordered to combat waste.

Data Information Forms 

A huge thank you to those parents/carers who have handed these back.  

Spring Term:

SCHOOL CLOSED FOR PUPILS

Weds 1 February (Teachers' Strike Action)

Class-led Assemblies for Parents to attend:

Y6 Kestrel Class -  Friday 3rd February (9.00am)

Y1 Robin Class -  Friday 10th February (9.00am)

Parent Telephone Consultations:

Mon 6th - Thurs 9th February (book online)

Spring half term holiday:

13th - 17th February 2023

Upcoming school trips and activities:

Y6 - Tues 21 Feb - Newhaven Fort

Y1 - Thurs 23 Feb - 'Bike Day' (at school)

Y2 Puffin Class - Mon 27 Feb - Anne of Cleves House

Y2 Penguin Class - Tues 28 Feb - Anne of Cleves House

Y1 Phonics Meeting for Parents

Thurs 2 March at 2.45pm repeated at 6.00pm  

Please see the parent calendar on the school website for a full list of events and dates.

TERM DATES for 2022-2023

AUTUMN TERM

Thursday 1st September 2022 (Note: INSET DAYS 1st Sept and 21st Nov) – Friday 16th Dec 2022

(Half term holiday: 24th - 28th October 2022)

SPRING TERM

Tuesday 3rd January 2023 (Note: INSET DAY 3rd Jan)– Friday 31st March 2023

(Half term holiday: 13th - 17th February 2023)

SUMMER TERM

Monday 17th April – Friday 21st July 2023 (Note: INSET DAYS 20th & 21st July)

(Half term holiday: 29th May – 2nd June 2023)

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