It’s a bit of a bumper newsletter this week, probably because there wasn’t one last week! Lots of information below – happy reading!
Summer Tennis Camps
Details of Summer Tennis Camps at Stourbridge Tennis Club can be found here.
Forest School Update
Year 3 and 4 have enjoyed the sunshine in the woods.
The children celebrated the Summer Solstice and made their own stonehenge, created a beautiful natural mandela as well as painted beautiful sunrises and sunsets, which are now displayed in the hut.
Imaginative play was in abundance with the children enjoying the new car addition to the woods- thanks to Mr Hill for making it!
The craft table was full of resources for children to create in whatever they wish, tree cookie medallions seemed to be a hit and certainly helped enhance their play.
Year 3 love to create dens, using the loose parts to make a raft and painted a flag which proudly hang on the flagpole.
Some children wanted to use the flint and steel and perfect their fire lighting skills. One child, successfully lit the fire and continued to build and maintain a fire. He showed such perseverance and pride in doing so. A real magical moment.
We love a story whilst we enjoy our snack and over recent months, I have gained more skills in telling a story instead of reading one. The children really embrace them and it often leads to some great discussions afterwards. But it was wonderful this week when a Year 4 child asked if he could tell a story this week. It was a great story and the confidence to do that was just brilliant, all his friends were captivated. I think I may be out of a job soon.
If you haven’t yet completed the forest school questionnaire, I would be really grateful if you could. Your opinion matters to me and helps me reflect and evaluate my practice. Below is the link
https://forms.gle/oN1yZWVBm5CgNDkL8
Beat the Street
Dear Parents/Carers,
Let’s all get involved with Beat the Street! Please see the information below:
Dudley is being transformed into a giant game and your school is invited to play!
Beat the Street is a free, fun, walking and cycling game which gets staff, pupils and their families out and about in the local area, having fun and keeping healthy. The Dudley game runs from 29th June to 10th August 2022.
Beat the Street is designed to get children and communities moving by helping people to make small changes, such as walking or cycling to school every day, to improve health and help embed physical activity into everyday life. So far 1.5 million people and 4,500 schools have taken part in games across the UK and beyond. Evidence shows that the programme really helps adults and children become more active. Participation in Beat the Street can also:
· Provide evidence on wellbeing which can be used in OFSTED inspections
· Act alongside, or as a support to: Active travel/Daily Mile/Daily Boost programmes
· Help the school and its pupils achieve the Department of Health’s target of 60 minutes per day for young people
· Reduce traffic and air pollution around the school
· Help engage the wider school community
How does it work?
Your school will sit on school leaderboards that can be viewed by visiting www.beatthestreet.me. The leaderboards will be live once the game commences’. Top school teams will win hundreds of pounds worth of vouchers. The game is designed to work for large and small schools. Individuals can also win Lucky Spot prizes, including vouchers and Beat the Street goodies.
Game card readers called ‘Beat Boxes’ will be positioned around Dudley including one outside your school. Ours is on the lamppost on Parish Gardens. You can find the positioning of all the boxes on the map here. Players use contactless game cards to hover over these Beat Boxes as they travel around scoring points which sit on their individual and school leaderboards.
How to play
Register your card online at beatthestreet.me/dudley.
- Explore your local area, finding Beat Boxes using the online or paper map.
- Hover your card at the contactless Beat Box until it beeps and flashes.
- Visit 2 Beat Boxes within an hour and collect 10 points for each Beat Box – this is 20 points for the journey.
- Carry on your journey. Score 10 points for each extra Box you visit.
It is COVID-19 Safe
• Beat the Street Beat Boxes are contactless so it’s a perfect way to exercise and have fun with friends outdoors
• Don’t touch cards belonging to others
• As always, wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds when you return home.
Beat the Street is created by Intelligent Health, led by Dr William Bird, a GP working on the NHS frontline. The game has been carefully planned alongside public health advisors.
Pedmore Thrive
This week’s Pedmore Thrive, focusing on maintaining good mental health, can be found here.
Lunchbox Litter
A reminder, if you can talk to your child please. We have been reminding children who bring in their own lunchboxes, that they should put all the rubbish back in their lunchbox to bring home. The main reason for this is so you, as parents, can check what has been eaten/left. Thank you.
Stagecoach Halesowen
Halesowen Stagecoach are running some summer activities. Details can be found here.
Awards and Rewards in School
A few people have asked for some clarification about rewards in school. The most important, and most widely used, recognition used in school is praise. At times, children will also be given stickers for specific things they have done well. Occasionally, a member of staff will send a child/children to myself or Mrs Dowen if they have done something above and beyond/special/worked hard/ etc. We would then give them a sticker or sometimes a praise postcard. We have Pedmore Pride awards each week, which are celebrated in assembly. We have started this year sending home an Awesomeness Certificate. This works in a similar way to stickers in that a member of staff recognises something a child has done and fills in a certificate. This is all done digitally, and is sent to parents by ParentMail. The reason we do it like this is so that you, as a parent or carer, can surprise your child when you pick them up, or later in the evening, by sharing this with them. The children don’t know about this until you tell them.
We have also recently started a Values Award. Each week, myself and Mrs Dowen will look for a child who is demonstrating a value challenge that we set in assembly. These children then receive a sticker in assembly and a digital certificate is sent to you through ParentMail. Children who have received one of these are invited to a Reward Evening, this term held on Monday 18th July, starting at 4:00pm. More details of this will be sent out to the parents of those children who have received an award.
House points are awarded in school for good work and these are collected regularly by our Year 6 Ambassadors.
PTA 100 Club
See the latest draw here.
Safeguarding
This week our safeguarding focus is on TikTok. Please see the useful guides below:
Parents’ Ultimate Guide to TikTok | Common Sense Media
TikTok app safety – What parents need to know | Internet Matters
Take Care & Stay Safe
Mr Dunn
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