Autumn term 2019
December 2019
We have had a great start to our Advent and festive time of year.
Many thanks to Father Roger for leading our first Advent celebration and for lighting the first candle of our advent wreath.
On Friday 6th December our Ocean class visited the United Church in Dorchester and took part in their 'Journey to the Stable' activities. All the children appeared to have had a great time.
On the same day the Amazon class were joined by Mr. Lindsay Wilson a former member of the military. He has recently been involved in the coordinating of the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Landings. The children were very fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with him and ask him questions about the importance of D-Day.
Many thanks to the parents who supported the Early Years Phonic sessions for Year R and Year 1 on Monday 9th December 2019. Mrs. V gave a great presentation on how the children are taught 'Letters and Sounds' and the different strategies and stages the children experience. It was lovely to see actual footage of the children learning in class.
Today (Thursday 12th December 2019) the whole school has been exploring 'Incarnation' through our Understanding Christianity focus day. It has been exciting to see the different activities the children have taken part in and hear their discussions about 'What Christmas means to them'.
Week ending Friday 29th November 2019
Congratulations to Mr. Dailey and his wife on the safe arrival of their baby daughter this week. Mr. Dailey sent the children a message and a photograph to share, we are all very excited.
It was great having Ms. Paula Stanley back in school. Welcome back from everyone!
Mr. Chadwick our Exec. Head from the Greenwood Tree Academy trust (GTAT) joined us on Tuesday morning for an assembly. He showed the children a very special 'short film' that has been created by the pupils at St. Mary's Middle School about having a 'green' Christmas and reducing the amount of plastic we have. If you are interested in watching the film please go to the St. Mary's website.
The GTAT pupil voice are now going to lead a project about how we might use recycling to create new Christmas decorations - if you have any great ideas we would love to hear about them.
On the evening of Friday 13th December from 3:15 to 5:30pm the school and 'Friends of PV' would like to invite you to a Christmas craft evening. The children will have an opportunity to have a go at making a number of different decorations or crafts. Parents will be pleased to know that the 'Friends of PV' will be serving hot drinks and perhaps even a mince pie during the event. We do hope you will join us.
It was great to see the creativity of five of our Year 3/4 pupils this week - using the Knex construction to work collaboratively to build a fantastic car/buggy and then went on to make it move using a motor. They were all keen to use their knowledge of circuits to make the car/buggy work. Great team work...I think they have just created the Piddle Valley Robot games! Well done.
Can I just say a big thank you to the Year R and 1 class for the delicious fruit and marshmallow rocket I was given to eat...delicious! I do enjoy our Friday afternoons when our young chefs are being creative in the kitchen!
Week Ending Friday 22nd November 2019
Congratulations to our Year 4 netball team.
On Thursday afternoon 8 of our pupils attended the DASP netball festival at St. Mary's Middle School led by Mr. Dailey and the Year 8 sport leaders.
Our pupils had the opportunity to learn some of the skills in netball as well as take part in a couple short games. All the children showed skill and enthusiasm - a great team!
Mrs Miles the Chair of the GTAT Board and our current Chair for the local Governing Committee visited the early years on Tuesday to see all the great work the staff and children are doing. She was very impressed with the learning environment, especially the Piddle Space station - a firm favourite with all the children. The children enjoyed sharing their learning including their writing and space stories.
Staff attended the second twilight session at St. Mary's Middle School with Gary Wilson. Once again the focus was on engaging boys with their writing but the session offered lots of top tips that can be used to inspire all our pupils.
Congratulations to Ms. Briony Simpson and Mr Bevis on the great news that they are expecting their first baby in May 2020...such wonderful news for our Piddle Community.
Week Ending Friday 4th October 2019
The week started with much excitement as the school was keen to find out who had been elected for the School Council 2019/2020. Following our day of voting I am pleased to announce that the following children were voted in as our new council;
Year 1 - Georgie and Mollie
Year 2 - Gregor and Millie
Year 3 - Elodie and Rebecca
Year 4 - Sophie and Dom
The Greenwood Tree Academy Pupil Voice will be represented by Arthur and Lily.
Congratulations everyone!
It was lovely to see so many parents/families in the hall on Friday during the Harvest Celebration. I would like to thank everyone for their generous contributions of tinned food. We had a great display of tins and fresh fruit and vegetables. The tins have now been delivered to the foodbank based at the Dorford Church in Dorchester.
Looking ahead...we have been invited to take part in a Year 2 Tag Rugby festival next week with Mr. Dailey so anyone interested in taking part 'look out for your letter'.
Welcome back to the autumn term - I hope you all had a great half term break!
Many thanks to the Friends of PV for their amazing efforts with the organisation and running of the Firework & Bonfire night. Despite the weather, a brave decision was made to go ahead and well done … a great decision...the rain and wind held off and the bonfire was lit followed by a fantastic firework display.
Thank you to everyone who braved the evening but especially to all the helpers who came and helped to set up and be there during the event.