This week at Gainsborough…
Spring 2
This half term we have focused on:
As we reach the end of the Spring term I wanted to update families on our successes towards meeting our objectives in this years medium term plan.
Improving school punctuality and attendance – we have seen improvements in attendance this term. More and more children are coming to school every day which means teaching is more efficient, children experience less anxiety and children ultimately learn more!
- The % of children being in school 100% of the time has increased.
- The amount of children attending school for more than 90% of the time is improving.
- The number of children taking holidays in term time has reduced.
- We need to continue to support families to get to school on time so that children are making the most of daily reading lessons, so they feel calm and relaxed in school and so we are continually improving children to form good learning behaviours.
- Well done Gainsborough, we are making good progress.
Launching a school food initiative – Gainsborough has written a school food strategy with support from families, parents, staff, stakeholders and children. We are really excited about the work we have done so far:
- Offering a weekly cooking and dining club through Eat Club with families weekly
- Launching TastEd food exploration sessions in classes
- Improving our DT curriculum offer with high quality cooking lessons
- Formed a circular food economy team to ensure we able to grow food as part of the curriculum and for our school kitchen
- We are launching the food co-op, for our community, next half term
Striving towards being a more sustainable organisation – We have recruited 2 school food educators and a gardener this year to ensure we can support our circular food economy. These roles have changed how food is thought about, used and explored and eaten at Gainsborough. We are looking to install heat pumps in the school building, replacing the pre exisiting gas boiler and heating system. We have also looked at our geography, history and campaign curriculum through a sustainability lens to ensure we are learning about sustainable ways of living across the globe and how sustainable living has evolved over time. We have a climate action plan c0-produced with UCL and through this partnership we have also been part of a video case study and written case study showcasing our work on sustainability, this is on our school Instagram page and linked here youtube.com/watch?si=z8asYDIvWkJ_qDni&v=MSYrLT32qaw&feature=youtu.be
Improving our academic outcomes for pupils at statutory checkpoints – at Gainsborough we strive for excellence in everything we do. We have focused on ensuring children across Reception, Year 1 and 2 have had high quality phonics teaching and intervention. Children have made excellent progress. We are now focusing on maths as start the Spring term, with a particular focus on fluency in our classes, making sure children are really secure in the four operations.
We will start a new cycle of school improvement throughout the Summer term. Our reflections on our current learning tell us we need to focus on the following:
- Improving the academic achievement in maths, for both children finding maths hard and those who work really efficiently in maths
- Developing our music curriculum and wider music offer for children
- Developing a play strategy for children and families
- Applying the teaching and learning policy to all areas of the curriculum
- Developing the application of SCERTS at Gainsborough to support children with communication and language needs
Gainsborough end of term Easter Egg Hunt
Thank you to the egg hunt hiders, face painters, music players, gate guarders, hot dog cookers, football tournament managers and obstacle course supporters, and most of all the families who came and enjoyed our end of term fun. The children really enjoyed taking part in the Easter Egg hunt and it was nice to celebrate a wet and wild end of term with you all! Happy holidays!
Year 4 visit from Hackney Vampires
We have been working with a charity called Hackney on Ice. Hackney on Ice are a small charity working with Gainsborough to get children into ice hockey. As part of this work children Years 4 and 5 were invited to attend an ice hockey session at Lee Valley on Tuesday 17th March. While the children were there they had the chance to meet 5 ice hockey players who who showcased some skills a short match. The charity are small and are currently only working with Gainsborough to identify 10 children who they can support to start playing ice hockey. This week a group of players also visited Gainsborough to speak with the children about the joy of ice hockey. We are looking for 10 players from Gainsborough to take up ice hockey, to receive support and be able to attend some sessions at Lee Valley, the children and families will be selected and written to if they are selected for this opportunity.
Gainsborough Food Co-Op Opportunity
We have had enough interest from families to set up a food co-op. Here is a message from Saul and Co-operation Town!
TT Rockstars Battle
Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 were challenged to a TT Rockstars battle against Ms Brown last week. We have some children at Gainsborough who are becoming very hard to beat in our TT Rockstars battle. This week on average Ms Brown beat the children of Gainsborough, however there was one child who manged to score 7098! James, year 6, kept the title with the children and has challenged Coach Terry to the Easter holiday battle, this battle spans 3 weeks! Will any of the children be able to beat Coach terry in this epic battle?
Reader of the Week
Each week we will award one child from Years 1-6 with a new book, as the Reader of the Week. The award is for commitment, reading progress, engagement or sharing their love for reading. Please support your child with reading at home! After all, reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Year 1 Gabriel
Year 2 Jayzen
Year 3 Faith
Year 4 Zivah
Year 5 Pawal
Year 6 Treasure
Most Improved Writer of the Week
Each week we will award one child from Years 1-6 as most improved writer of the week. The award is for those who have shown a significant improvement in handwriting or writing throughout the week.
Year 1 Lucy
Year 2 Milan
Year 3 Siyam
Year 4 Amiya
Year 5 Johnny
Year 6 Ibrahim
Golds!
Each week we celebrate an amazing achievement from each class. Children are celebrated in assembly, receive a gold certificate and their name in the newsletter. Please celebrate their learning at home too!
Nursery Ducks
Ducks class were awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for having great fun in their learning all week. Well done Ducks!
Nursery Geese
Megan was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for exploring and describing the life cycle of a butterfly. Well done Megan!
Nursery Swans
Asia was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for making excellent compromises when sharing with her freinds. Well done Asia!
Reception Magpies
Jerome was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for being an excellent role model, completing fantastic work and having a great attitude. Well done Jerome!
Year 1 Doves
Benji was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for making excellent progress in writing this week. Well done Benji!
Year 2 Wrens
Everyone in Year 2 Wrens was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for incredible learning all half term. Well done Wrens class!
Year 3 Owls
Year 3 Owls were awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for making great progress in their lessons, working incredibly hard and making lots of improvements in their learning. Well done Year 3 Owls!
Year 4 Hummingbirds
Owen was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for mastering decimals in maths this week and also being an incredible role model on the trip. Well done Owen!
Year 5 Hummingbirds
Melissa was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for her continued efforts in all areas of learning this week. Well done Melissa!
Year 6 Skylarks
Everyone in Year 6 was awarded a Gainsborough Gold award this week for working incredibly hard in their tests this week. Well done Year 6!
Coming up at Gainsborough…
Summer Term at Gainsborough
This half term we will focus on keep green in assemblies and homework! We will plant, recycle and consider ways to save electricity and energy, we will be working on persuading you at home to be greener too! Please join us in week 6 for parents in class, where we will all be planting!
