Lots of sporting events taking place this week. We had a team of 8 children attend Hartpury College and participated in a range of games. I am so proud of them all because they showed great sportsmanship and their behaviour was exemplary. They came 7th out of 10 and all got a t-shirt and a medal.
Then we had a team of 10 representing Clearwell at a small schools football tournament. They had a lovely time and enjoyed the event. Don’t they look smart in our new kit!
Bug Hotel
Our children have been creating and playing in our garden, using a branch that they brought back from welly walk last year! They have made a bug hotel and feed the insects left over fruit. I had a guided tour this afternoon with all of the components explained to me.
We had a fabulous Saturday at gymnastics at the Forest of Dean Schools competition with 9 of our pupils participating. For such a small school we did really well in the medals. Here is a summary of the results:
Overall Gold in Level 1 – year 4 boys Third on vault in Level 1 – year 3 & 4 girls Overall Bronze in Level 2 – year 5 girls Overall Bronze in Level 2 (First on vault) – year 6 girls
Needless to say we are all extremely proud of the children and we all watched their routines in school as inspiration for next year.
I applied to Gloucestershire County Council for a music grant to enhance our provision, in particular Glockenspiels. We wanted to run a club and use the percussion as part of music lessons. We were fortunate to be awarded £1,000 and friends have given us an additional £500. We have been able to buy 30 Glockenspiels, an alto xylophone, a soprano xylophone, a bass xylophone and an African drum . We are all very excited about using them!
Comic Relief
Thank you to everyone who donated to Comic Relief, the children had their noses painted instead of selling plastic noses. We are conscious that we need to reduce plastic waste and this was one way of doing this. Next we need to tackle the plastic milk bottle wastage. We took time in Worship and class to reflect on what our £1s actually do to support people around the world and Willow watched a short video about a refugee. We talked about what it might be like to have to flee our homes with nothing so that we could stay safe.
Second Hand Uniform
Friends have been coming into school to collect and clean the school uniform that we have in the cupboard. It is being bundled up and sold on FB. We are very grateful for this as the monies go into school funds
Our Celebrations
Our Christi-Angels
Housepoints
12 Pink Pips
Attendance – 100%
Our Stars
Lent Activities
As part of our Lent celebrations this week we have been focusing on what does it mean to pray and how we pray. We have established that praying can take take place at any time and by numerous means, including singing, dancing and being creative. We also thought about how important it is to be able to say Thank you, Sorry and Please (TSP) and have all decorated teaspoons to hold with us to remind us of this
Thank you so much for all of the effort that have gone into World Book Day costumes. There were so many fabulous costumes worn by children and adults. We were able to raise over £30 for bookaid.org which means that 15 books can be purchased to provide books for people at all stages of their lives: from picture books for the youngest child just learning to read a few words right through to law books for lawyers in need of the latest case law.
Clearwell Primary School looking fabulous!
Oak Class
Oak have opened a garden centre in their new outdoor free flow area and have been learning all about what makes plants grow. They have been predicting how long it will take potatoes to grow.
Internet Safety
PC Greg Steer and PCSO Jo Dickens visited our school today to discuss with years 5 and 6 about staying safe with online gaming. Some of the things that were discussed included:
What games children play online
How long they play on games
Momo and the urban myths associated with it
PEGI – age rating on games
Behave online as you would in really life
What is safe to do online
How to keep online profiles safe
What makes a good password
Adlent – Forest Food Bank
One of the charities that we support at Clearwell is the Forest Food Bank. The adults and children agree that we need to help out those who need help if we can. Our donations so far have helped so many people, at Christmas we donated 32.5 kg which equates to about 79 meals. We are going to take part in Adlent too, so if you are able to donate any of the items on the image below, please bring them into school. You don’t have to be a pupil to help out, just drop your donations off at reception. Thank you.
Over the half term break we had more play equipment installed for the children to enjoy. This again is something that the children had requested. There are so many things to do at Clearwell during break times!
Adding to our play equipment, we have been very fortunate to have been bought a full size table tennis by Forge Motor Sports Ltd. They even delivered it to my house ready to bring to school! Thank you Pete and Zac.
As you may remember we reviewed our curriculum in May last year. As part of this process we decided that we needed a ‘tag line’ that summed up our school. Governors and staff came up with:
“A small school providing endless adventures.”
This will not only appear on our headed notepaper and website but it is something that we truly believe in and forms the basis of our curriculum.
Staffing
This week we said goodbye to Miss Parsley, who in the short time she has been at Clearwell has made a big impression. Unfortunately for us she is relocating to London so she had to admit defeat because the commute is a bit too much. We wish her well and thank her for everything that she has done for the pupils in Oak class.
We have been extremely lucky to recruit a someone to work in Oak class starting on Monday. Natalie Warr will join our team and we are confident that she will fit in and compliment our skills perfectly.
We will be advertising for another TA to work 1:1 with a pupil so keep your eyes peeled on our website.
100 years in Clearwell
Willow class have been demonstrating their historical inquiry skills this week. They composed questions to ask a local resident about their life so that they can write a biography about them. Unfortunately our first speaker was taken ill but fortunately Mr Clive Elsmore, local councillor and Pops of two of our pupils, stepped in. He was fabulous and gave us lots of information about life in the Forest over the years. Thank you so much for stepping in with about 30 minutes notice
This afternoon Willow class went for a walk led by Mrs Griffiths around Clearwell to look at the listed buildings. It was intriguing to see what is listed. In addition to what is listed in Clearwell, I learnt that there are over 200 pigsties listed! Here is a selection of some of our listed buildings. This was one of many walks around our beautiful village. See how many you can find around Clearwell.
