Did you have a good Christmas?

Thank-you to everyone who engaged in our first ever Santa discussion on SWGfL Merlin, despite being very busy Father Christmas managed to reply to every child who wrote, sketched or filmed a message to him in the run up to Christmas. He would now like to know if you had a good Christmas? Father Christmas' new discussion on SWGfL Merlin reads: 'Ho Ho Ho! It has been a busy time but I am back safe in the North pole and the Elves have already started preparing for next Christmas. Did you have a good Christmas? Why not use this discussion board to tell others what I bought you in my sleigh and what you did over the Christmas holiday. Did you visit family? Did you play games? Did anyone see snow? I look forward to reading your replies!' Login to SWGfL Merlin now to join in. #

Prince of Wales School Calendar for 2012

The Prince of Wales School Calendars for 2012 have now arrived! Come and collect the calendars that you have pre-ordered at the School performances (in the main hall) or after school by the Office.  If you haven't managed to order one and you would like one, please come and speak to us as soon as possible.

Last Week of Term

Thank you to everyone who sent in a carrier bag for last Friday's Technology Day the children all had a great time. 
I am now asking for another named carrier bag for this week for the children to bring home all their Christmas craft work.  We no longer have a supply in school, as we once did, so please do try to send one in for all their lovely Christmas work preferably by Thursday.
Another Thank You to the 9 parents who have already signed up for their contribution to the Christmas Party Food.  If you have not yet done so please do look on the board by the quiet room door and remember the children will not need a packed lunch or a hot meal on Thursday as we all have the party food together in the classroom.  Then after play we will have some party games and probably dancing after that.

Our Christmas Play is on tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday, 10am each day.  The children have all put so much effort into their singing and acting and I know you will enjoy watching our version of The Nativity- The Bossy King.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

Christmas Puddings - last chance!

Do you need a tasty pudding for Christmas? Hold off on that supermarket shop..... POWSA will be selling super tasty Plum puddings and Chocolate puddings from the 'Ulitmate Plum Pudding Company'. All proceeds will go directly to The Prince of Wales School. Buy them at the Christmas Performances on Tuesday 13th, Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th December 2011 in the main school hall.

POWSA Christmas Fair 2011

A big thank you to everyone that attended (and especially those that helped at)
the school fair. We had a great time and managed to raise a fantastic £721.55!

Fri 16th Dec - School Carols

This year we have decided to end the term with 'Carols in the School hall' as we tried out last year. This is a lovely opportunity for all children, staff and parents to squeeze in and sing together!



If you wish to join us then 2.45pm is the beginning of the Carols, please bear in mind that there might not be chairs due to numbers but we will gladly hand over a carol sheet and place words onto the screen!


Lastly, if you are a musician and would like to come and play along please let me know as we love the opportunity for children to see people playing instruments.


Many thanks, Mrs Mewett

Song for Dorchester

As a school, we are keen to support the 'Song for Dorchester' project currently being run by the Mayor of Dorchester. One plan to do this is to send a tag cloud to the mayor with our thoughts in and we would love you to help us with this. To add to the tag cloud, simply click the 'Song for Dorchester - Contribute Now' button at the top of school website homepage. This should take you to a form where you can give us your one word that describes Dorchester. The more popular a word is, the bigger it will appear in the tag cloud. Before sending the tag cloud to the mayor, I will share this with you all through our whole school blog. Thank-you for your help in advance. Mr. Spracklen

The rehearsals for the play are going well and the children have learnt some songs really well, others we are still learning although I'm sure they will be word perfect by next week!
All the acting is coming on and for some they have to remember what to do and where to walk or stand.  Some even have props to use at the right time, so well done year 1.
We all hope you  will be able to join us during one of the performances next week.

Many children in the class are continuing to bring in their home learning on a regular basis.  If your child does some maths or writing at home then please encourage them to bring this in for the class to see.

This week the children are making their Christmas cards and calendars and later doing a little seasonal cooking which will be coming home in due course.

On Friday it is our Christmas Technology Day and the class have chosen the 3 activities which they will be doing. Please send in a named carrier bag to bring home their creations, thank you. 

“Ho Ho Ho!” - Father Christmas is now on SWGfL Merlin

Pupils can now join a discussion started by Father Christmas using SWGfL Merlin. To access the special Father Christmas page, log in to SWGfL Merlin and click the ‘Father Christmas comes to Merlin’ title. On this page you will find a Christmas countdown, Christmas games and even a ‘Santa Tracker’. At the very bottom of the page you will see  a ‘Father Christmas’ discussion board’. He has already posted his first question asking you: “What you are doing to prepare for Christmas? Have you put up your Christmas tree yet? Have you started your Christmas shopping? Have you written me a letter telling me what you want for Christmas?”. Log in now to join the discussion.

REMINDER - POWSA CHRISTMAS FAIR! (TONIGHT)

Just a short reminder to say that the POWSA Christmas Fair is tonight (Friday 2nd December, 2011). The Christmas Fair will take place in the school hall from 3.30pm until 6.00pm. Teas and cakes will be available from the pre-school stall from 3.00pm onwards. We hope to see you all their supporting POWSA (The Prince of Wales School Association) and their fundraising for the school. Mr. Spracklen

Fri 9th Dec

All musicians who learn an instrument at The Prince of Wales School have been invited to play a Christmas piece in this informal assembly if they wish to. The main purpose of this is to give all the opportunity to play in front of an audience, work towards a goal and hopefully enjoy themselves and give them confidence for the year ahead!
The assembly will begin at 10.10am, if you and your child are happy for you to come along then of course you’re welcome to sit on a bench along the side of the hall and watch the performance.


Any questions please see me. The music teachers should have made clear to children if they are performing or not.


Mrs Mewett

Christmas Games for all on SWGfL Merlin

The '12 Games of Christmas Game' is now available for all pupils to play through SWGfL Merlin. This features 12 educational games and activities for children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The games have a value of £29.99 and we hope that you will enjoy playing them free through SWGfL Merlin. P.S - If you have forgotten your login details, please see Mrs. Dukes in the Library or Mr. Spracklen who will happily get you a fresh copy.

OLYMPIC TORCH HAND OVER

On Monday 28th November 2011, pupils from our school took the DASP Olympic Torch to Manor Park. Carrying banners proclaiming the Olympic values, we walked across town to deliver the Torch. As we passed Dorchester Middle School, we were cheered on by all the pupils who had come out of lesson to see us. On our walk we were accompanied by members of the Thomas Hardye Student Voice. A large number of Manor Park children welcomed us on our arrival and watched the  handover of the Torch.

DASP Olympic Torch Arrives

Today (23/11/11) we received the DASP Olympic torch which is making its way around all the schools in the Dorchester Area Schools Partnership. Today children from St Mary’s Dorchester shared with us some of their learning about the Olympics. On Monday (28/11/11) November some of our children will be making their way across town to Manor Park. We shall be working with some of their classes and passing on the work we have done in making our banners. All of this will be filmed by students from Thomas Hardye School. For more information on the torch relay visit the dedicated page on the DASP website: http://www.dasp.org.uk/daspolympictorch.htm. Mr. Spracklen

MARK NEWTON - PARALYMPIC MEDALIST VISITS

Today Mark Newton, former pupil of Maiden Castle School visited us. Mark competed at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, winning a bronze medal in the 4 X 100m relay. Mark, who has cerebral palsy, led an assembly with Mr. Spracklen and unveiled a special piece of art work that the pupils in Year 2 have created. The work includes a picture of mark made of all the images of pupils in Year 2 using a mosaic effect. Mark inspired us to think about what we could become if we are determined enough. Following the assembly, Mark worked with unit roll and other pupils on a special PE session led by Mrs. Hibberd. Mark also visited each class and had a picture taken. We now all very inspired! Mr. Spracklen

Maths through the use of Merlin!

I'm hoping now that aswe are well into the Autumn term your child is coming home and showing you Merlin, what they can access and some of the work they've been producing?!
On the Yr 1 page is a photo of maths chalked on a blackboard. If your child clicks on this it will take you to a page where all recent programs they've been using are laid out, all they do is click and it takes them straight there! Have fun sharing these with your child, practising these skills is a great way to increase their mental abilities which are so important as your child progresses in school.

                                                         Mrs Mewett

Ofsted Parent View

As you know at the Prince of Wales First School we are always looking for feedback and encourage you to provide this in a variety of ways. Whether this is through face-to-face conversation, comments on our class blogs or through our annual parents questionnaire, we always welcome your feedback. Building on this, we would now encourage you to go online and express your views using the new ‘Parent View’ website from Ofsted. This 12-question survey will help other parents as they make important choices about their child’s education and provide Ofsted with information about our school that will help them inform their priorities for inspection. The questionnaire does not allow free text comments but invites responses to a series of closed questions. To express your view, please visit our school website now and click on the parent tab and look for the link to the Parent View website. Alternatively, visit: http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/.

Can you help? (Cheese Boxes - Year 2)

Can you help? Miss. Mertens in Year 2 is on the hunt for circular cheese boxes like the one pictured above. If you have any of these boxes we would be very grateful to receive them.

Discussion - What have you been up to this half-term?

A big thank you to Jack in Year 2 who started a discussion in the whole-school area of our SWGfL Merlin pages asking: 'What are you doing this holiday?'. Why not share with Jack and others what you have been up to this half-term through adding text, an image, a video or a sketch? We would all love to hear what people have been doing as well as see the pupils practising their SWGfL Merlin skills. Mr. Spracklen

POW on the BBC!

On Sunday 30th October at 6pm, BBC2 will showcase excellence in education when it broadcasts the 2011 UK Pearson Teaching Awards ceremony – held at the Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus in London. As you may know, pupils from our school made a film at the end of last term about our school and it has since been made a finalist in the National Teaching Awards, ‘Film my School’ competition. Pupils and staff will be traveling up to London for the awards ceremony and will be joined by host Lenny Henry at the event. Other stars presenting awards include Minnie Driver, Al Murray, David Morrissey and Beverley Knight. More information on the competition and other finalists can be seen at: http://www.teachingawards.com/film_my_school

The weather next week may well be cold or wet so if it is please will you send in a suitable coat and a pair of named wellington boots [in case the ground is muddy] as we will still be going to particpate in all the exciting outdoor activities on Wednesday when it is our  "Vardo Day".

Thank You

The Vardo

Next Wednesday we will be having an exciting day as our learning about "homes" continues.  On Monday a vardo - a life sized bow-topped wagon - will be arriving at school and Year 1 will be learning all about traveller culture during the week. The children will be experiencing a special day on Wednesday when 2 visitors from Traveller Education service will be teaching us some Romany words, and dancing.  We will also be building "bender tents" and finding out what it is like to live in a vardo.  Then there will be time in the day for some art work based on Traveller Culture. 

Wow! What a great time we'll have and so much to find out.
Come to our class assembly on the last Friday of the half term, the 21st October to find out what we have learnt.

house photos

If you have not sent the photo of your house in already PLEASE will you do so by Thursday.  We have begun to use them for our writing and I know Mrs Mewett has planned an activity for Thursday so we do need them now.
Thank you

P.O.W.S.A Blog

P.O.W.S.A (The Prince of Wales School Association), now has it’s own section of the school website which includes a blog detailing all their latest news and events. To access the P.O.W.S.A page simply click the link labelled ‘POWSA’, at the top of any page within  the school website.

Farm trip

Just to let you know that the children have a note in their book bags with information about the trip to Maiden Castle Form.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that  the weather remains fine.  Please may I remind you that if this  sunny weather does continue the children will also need sunhats and sun cream.

Also please may I highlight  the need for regular hair checks  as there have been some cases of lice/nits found by some parents in Year 1 this term.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine.

Harvest festival reminder...

Just to remind all of our community that Harvest Festival is taking place this Friday (30^th Sept) in the school hall. KS 1 begins at 9.15am with produce sold afterwards. Then KS2 begins at 9.50am again with produce being sold afterwards. All produce for Harvest please take to the Servery in the morning; we will be awaiting you to begin placing onto our display areas.

If you are bringing in cakes, etc for the Harvest Café please take this to the classrooms; we will then collect this later on in the day when the hall is prepared for the afternoon. Harvest Café is open to parents, friends from 2.30pm and will close at 4pm, this is so hopefully pre-school children and parents can come over and join us. Children will be able to buy two cakes and a drink for 20p.

We very much look forward to seeing you, thank you for your help and support.

A busy Week

Thank you for sending in the wellies today the children who did the gardening with Henry had a good time.   Those who have not yet had a turn will shortly I will confirm nearer the time. Next Tuesday we have our trip to Maiden Castle farm and the following week we are having an exciting week in year one - more of which by the end of the week.  But it will involve some activities outside which will be great fun if previous years are anything to go by.

We are also making some breadsticks for the Harvest Cafe and still have two more groups to have a turn at this. So hopefully they will have a go tomorrow.

As part of our literacy this week we are reading the story of The Little Red Hen and I plan to make a loaf of bread with the children tomorrow so they will all have a taste.

week beginning 26.09.11

Apologies for the lack of a blog last week.

Hopefully Henry the gardener will be in tomorrow and able to work with the first group of children, [Jacob, Polly, Stanley, Georgia Greenwood, Sam Murrey, Rocco and Fynn]. Thank you to those parents who have remembered the wellie boots each week.

Many children changed their non-fiction library book today but those who did not, will be able to tomorrow.

On Friday it is our Harvest celebration and the children will be making some bread sticks for the Harvest cafe this week.  This will link to the book of the week The Little Red Hen which we started this morning.  We will also be making some bread for the children to try in class.

ICT

Year 1 have started using the ICT suite to access work through Merlin. You will receive the children's passwords again tomorrow (Fri 16th Sept), please if you can practise this with your child as time can be much consumed just inputting the passwords!!!On Merlin we have used Purple Mash to fill in a house outline when talking about our family and also had great fun filling in the Hansel and Gretel house outline. Choosing sweets to fill in was a favourite with most children! Please look at these at home if you wish?
In maths we are using I Board which again you can access through Merlin. The children have accessed Yr 1 account, '2, Counting and Understanding number'. The children have accessed the 3 activities along the top of this page which all begin with 'Comparing....' Please let them practise these activities, another activity is under section 3 in Yr 1 account called 'Allowing two dice', again a simple practise in adding two numbers together.
Finally on the Merlin Yr 1 page, if the children click on the photo with 'the chalk and calculation on' I will place on another activity weekly which they can access and play when they fancy.

Thank you, Mrs Mewett

Year 1 Topic

Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our information session, I hope it was of some use to you.

Our topic this term is Houses and Homes and we will be starting with the children's own homes so will you please take a photo of your child outside your house and send it into school as soon as possible so that we can include it in our class topic lessons.  The children will be learning about the different materials used in construction and looking at a wide range of different homes.
Thank you

gardening

We  will be beginning gardening tomorrow. This will be taking place on alternate Tuesday mornings.  One group at a time will be working in either the poly tunnel or the Victorian garden.  It will however take a few weeks for all the children to take part so please look out for the names of the children who are participating each fortnight.
Starting tomorrow it will be - Jacob, Polly, Sam M, Rocco, Fynn and Stanley. Please send your child in with a named pair of wellie boots on the day of their session as the ground may be muddy after the recent rain. Thank you

Many apologies to you but we have just heard from Henry the gardener that he will not be able to come today so this group will begin gardening next week.

Information Session

Good morning everyone.

On Tuesday I am holding an information session in the School hall at 9.00 for about half an hour.  I do hope you will be able to stay as I will be telling you  about all the exciting things we are planning for this term.
I look forward to seeing you then.  If however, you are unable to attend then I am happy to let you have a copy of my notes so that you have a picture of this terms work.

A good start to the term

The children all settled really well and they have produced some really good work on this first day, I am very pleased with them.

We have done some Letters and Sounds work, Maths and art today.

Our PE days are - Monday and Thusday mornings and Tuesday in the afternoon.

Library books will be changed on Mondays so hopefully next week all the children will have the chance to chose a new non-fiction title. As before these are kept for a week and returned the following Monday ready to change for a new one.  Please feel free to keep this book at home, as often  they can be quite big and heavy to bring in every day.

We are starting to give the children a new individual reading book each and will begin our Group reading next week.

On Thursday mornings Mrs Mewett will be working in the class and the children will be working on the computers in the suite during this time.  On Monday afternoon she will also be taking them for music.

This term our topic is Houses and Homes, so could you please take a photo of your child outside your house and send it into school in the next couple of weeks as this will be used for some writing activities.  Thank you for your support.

welcome

We all hope you had a great holiday and are ready to start in Year 1.
We are really looking forward to working with you and know we will all have a super year.

Please put PE kits in the red box, lunchboxes on the trolley in the cloakroom and book bags in the children's tray which are in the middle of the classroom.

The children's names are on one of the tables with the activitities and they will remain in these groups each morning for this year.

Water and snacks go in the green boxes by the door as you come into the class. 

SUMMER HOLIDAY NEWS!

Well done to Mr. MacBean and Mrs. Howell who are the first to respond to our discussion on SWGfL Merlin asking what has been your highlight of the summer holidays. Log on to SWGfL Merlin now by clicking the logo on our school website (www.princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk).

New SWGfL Merlin!

SWGfL Merlin has received a big update and now looks very different with lots of new features and extra functionality. Over the coming weeks Mr. Spracklen will be working hard to prepare our VLE (virtual learning environment) for the new academic year. In the meantime, why not log on to SWGfL Merlin in the usual way and check out what’s new? As one suggestion why not have a go on the V-Me editor which now includes new items like a space suit (see picture) or a pirate costume. To access the V-Me editor simply click the ‘Home’ tab followed by the ‘My Account’ button on the left hand side. For pupils in Years 3 and 4 (or 4 and 5 depending on how you now see yourself) click the ‘My Place’ tab to see you e-portfolio instantly. While you are on it why not update your blog with your latest holiday news? More ideas to follow, Mr. Spracklen.

Hello Year 1

Year 1 it was a pleasure to see you all again today and meet your parents as part of open afternoon. We have an exciting year ahead in Year 2 and I look forward to seeing you all in September. Mr. Spracklen

Open afternoon

Monday 18th July – 2.30pm – 4.30pm


Just a reminder of this opportunity!
In the School hall will be a gallery of all the children’s work compiled through their work this week in school ‘Gambia week’. Also you are more than welcome to visit your current child’s class and look at their work and join in with this session. At 3.30pm you will then be able to go along and meet your child’s new teacher and discuss with them any questions that may have arisen.

We look forward to seeing you Monday!

What do you think of Merlin?

How do you use it? What are your favourite tools? Are you batty about blogs?  Wild about wikis? Or dotty about discussions? As a pupil you are invited to tell SWGfL Merlin what you think of Merlin and in return for taking part they will put our school forward to win one of three amazing prizes! A year subscription to I am Learning for your school, the Merlin Team in your school for a day and a stunning digital photo frame. To take part in the survey please Click here. (You will need to sign in with your Merlin username and password).

Our afternoon in Year 2

 We had a lovely afternoon in Year 2 with our new teacher Mr. Spracklen and Mrs. Webb. ‘Smoothies’ were the theme for the afternoon as we considered the ‘mix’ we want to achieve next year as Year 2 pupils. Mr. Spracklen had a collection of ingredients named after different classroom characteristics like, ‘caring’ - (orange juice), ‘name calling’ - (mustard), ‘courteous’ - (fresh raspberries) and ‘calling out’ - (vinegar). Our job was to decide which of these characteristics we want in our new class and which of those we didn’t want. We put all the good characteristics in our Year 2 smoothie and all the bad ones in another. At the end of the afternoon we got all got to try the new smoothie which was delicious!

Echo Vouchers - DEADLINE

Please check your draws, pockets and bags for any remaining ‘Dorset Echo School Build Challenge’ tokens. The last day our school office can accept tokens is Monday (11/07/11). See previous message: 'The Prince of Wales First School are finalists in the Dorset Echo's 'School Build Challenge' which has a top prize of £3000. To win we need as many people as possible to collect vouchers on behalf of our school. The winning school will be chosen by the highest number of votes per pupil attending the school - this means that every single vote counts. Tokens will be printed in the Dorset Echo every day until 9th July 2011 with the aim being to collect as many tokens as possible. Every batch of tokens must be counted and the number of tokens and your chosen school (The Prince of Wales First School) must be clearly marked on the envelope. Tokens can be given to us at school through the office or sent to the Dorset Echo at School Build Challenge, Dorset Echo, Fleet House, Hampshire Road, Weymouth, DT4 9XD. All tokens must be received by the closing date of 11th July 2011. To win this prize we will really need to go for it and urge you to ask your neighbours, work colleagues, family and friends to save their tokens for our school. For what we would spend the prize fund on please see Mr. Farrington's thoughts as expressed in the Dorset Echo earlier this month - http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/9050042.__6k_up_for_grabs_in_Echo_competition/ Thank-you for your continued support, Mr. Spracklen'

Art Competition

Healthy Living Week at POW School

This week is Healthy Living week and we have visits from the dental nurse and an officer from the British Transport Police. The children will be shown the importance of dental care and how to stay safe on the roads and railways.

Sports Day is on Wednesday morning and everyone is invited. The children in year 1 will be designing and producing a Sports day poster on Monday, so you'll be seeing those up around the school. Hopefully they'll persuade you to come and join in!!

Comments Please

We have all been working hard on updating our Blogs at The Prince of Wales First School and have slowly been building momentum with this method of communication. We would now encourage you all to comment on our blog posts to support our work and encourage your child's class teacher and/or year team to keep blogging! To add a comment to any post simply click on the blog title which will load the chosen blog from www.blogspot.com.Next, click the 'comment' button below the post and enter your comment. You will need one of the supported accounts to post your comment, e.g. 'Google' and all comments will be moderated for content. Thank-you all for your continued support, Mr.
Spracklen

Learning for week commencing 20/6/11

Literacy
This week, we are going to start writing imaginative stories. We will be looking at some examples, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and various others looking at the main feaures of a story and thinking up our own, which we will be relating to our Minibeast topic. We will be acting them out in the hall, using the ICT suite and Purple Mash to support our writing and then writing the stories out in our Literacy books...should be exciting and I'm really looking forward to readng the stories. Year 1 have great imaginations!
Maths
We are revisiting the unit on measures, looking at weight, capacity and length. Have a go at home with your child and see if thy can estimate how heavy an object is, how much liquid something contains and how long something is. Then measure it accurately using scales, measuring jugs and rulers. There are plenty of opportunities to try this out. We will be using g/kg, cl/l & cm/m.
PE
We are building up to Sports Day next week with the emphasis being on athletics and some ball skills.

Don't forget Friday's assembly.

Have a great week

Mr Cox

£3000 challenge! HELP NEEDED

The Prince of Wales First School are finalists in the Dorset Echo's 'School Build Challenge' which has a top prize of £3000. To win we need as many people as possible to collect vouchers on behalf of our school. The winning school will be chosen by the highest number of votes per pupil attending the school - this means that every single vote counts. Tokens will be printed in the Dorset Echo every day until 9th July 2011 with the aim being to collect as many tokens as possible. Every batch of tokens must be counted and the number of tokens and your chosen school (The Prince of Wales First School) must be clearly marked on the envelope. Tokens can be given to us at school through the office or sent to the Dorset Echo at School Build Challenge, Dorset Echo, Fleet House, Hampshire Road, Weymouth, DT4 9XD. All tokens must be received by the closing date of 11th July 2011. To win this prize we will really need to go for it and urge you to ask your neighbours, work colleagues, family and friends to save their tokens for our school. For what we would spend the prize fund on please see Mr. Farrington's thoughts as expressed in the Dorset Echo earlier this month - http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/9050042.__6k_up_for_grabs_in_Echo_competition/ Thank-you for your continued support, Mr. Spracklen

Learning for week commencing 13/6/11

Literacy
Following on from the very enjoyable visit to Lorton Meadows, the children will be producing their own information leaflet. To be successful in this, they need to make the leaflet as attractive and informative as possible. Quite a challenge!! The chidren will be using photos, drawings, Purple Mash ICT progamme and handwriting. We will make a display of their work in the classroom and also send some leaflets to LOrton Meadows as a thank you.
Maths
This week we are tackling 'time'. It would be great if you could practise the concept at home with your children. Refer to clocks in the house and ask them the time. Also, do they have a concept of when they get up, for example? What about when they go to bed/school/have their tea etc? Some childen find telling the time hard and some find it easy, it depends on the child and is quite a tricky subject to teach, but by the end of the week, the children will have a better understanding!
PE
This is dependent on the weather this week, but we will be continuing our athletic development. The children were fantastic last week and the trophy for attitude and progress will be passed around the class until the end of term - evrybody deserves it.
Also, we are acting out the Ugly Bug Ball in preparation for the class assembly on 24/6. Listen to the song with your child and practise the lyrics.

Exclusive Interview with World Champion

Lamb Cam has gained an exclusive interview with 5 time World Champion sheep shearer David Fagan. David Fagan is the world’s most successful shearer. He has set 10 world records and won the New Zealand Golden Shears contest a record 16 times. David has additionally won 5 world titles, 6 world team titles and 16 national titles. In total, David Fagan has won more than 600 open titles worldwide since 1983. Click Lamb Cam to see the exclusive interview now.

Welcome back!

We hope that everyone had a great half term holiday and that they are looking forward to some exciting learning in the last weeks of year 1.
In Maths we are looking at simple multiplication and division, using plenty of resources such as coins to help the children understand the concepts. You could practise sharing at home. A good start is to have 12 coins and then share them between 2,3,4,6 friends/toys or whatever. Some children will come home with a timestable worksheet and grid. Give it a go!
In PE we will be focussing on athletics (relay racing) and some throwing skills.
In Literacy this week, we are studying Concrete Poetry. Not poems about concrete, but these are poems based on our Minibeast topic. The idea is that you use the shape/outline of a minibeast and then write around or inside the shape words that relate to the animal. For example, today we had a simple drawing of a spider on the IWB and the children thought of words such as 'hairy', 'creepy', 'leggy', which we wrote inside the web. The Woodlands Trust website below is very good and one which we will be exploring this week in ICT.

www.wild-about-woods.org.uk/elearning/concretepoetry

 

Mr Cox

Royal Wedding DVD Deadline

Just a quick note to say that the last day for accepting orders for the POWSA Royal Wedding DVD is Friday 27th May (3.45pm) - after this time we will be unable to accept any additional orders. If you have mislayed your original form and would like an addtional copy please see the Office Team who will be happy to help you. Mr. Spracklen

Year 1 PE

I have asked the children to think about their PE lessons and what they like/dislike about them.
Do they have any suggestions for activities that they would like to have a go at?
We are concentrating on athletics, with ball skills and dance this next half term, but any suggestions would be welcome. Is there a piece of music that they would like to focus on for the dance class (no pop, please!)? We are looking at animal movement in dance, with an emphasis on mini beasts and bugs, although we do like to throw in a bit of jungle rhythm sometimes.
Mr Cox

Watercress Company

The children had a really good trip to the Watercress Company and were a credit to you all we hope you all enjoyed the bags of salad and watercress and hopefully the children shared their day with you.

Our thanks to The Watercress Company for a really good trip.

Dates for your diary

Wow! we cant believe that we are nearly in the last term of Year One, and what an exciting term to look forward to :-

9th June Lorton Meadows Trip    (please remember to send back the permission slip and payment thankyou)

24th June      Year One class assembly  9.20am

29th June      Year One Sports day am

15th July       School reports home

18th July       School open afternoon

22nd July      LAST DAY OF TERM

We are sure there will be more exciting things happening we will of course keep you posted.

Collecting children

Can I remind all parents of our ‘Collection of children policy’? If your child is to be picked up by someone different to normal routine then the year team must know this and write it on their communication board within the classroom. Likewise if you have booked a session with a childcare provider please let us know as soon as this is made.


We cannot allow children to leave school with other parents/members of the community if the parent themselves has not expressed this either by writing, telephone message or verbal communication.

Many thanks for your support in this matter.

Mrs Mewett

Good work Year1

I just want to praise all the children in year 1 class for having such a good day today when I taught them. We had  really good behaviour from everyone, your writing in the Literacy lesson was great, your maths was very good (the number bonds to 10 are starting to stick and we went up to 20 today!!) and their jungle dancing was spectacular.

Well done year1!!

Mr Cox

POW Garden Allotments (Pre school field)

Can those parents and familys who placed their names on the previous list and who still want a allotment plot please enter their names on the board outside of school and tick if they would be prepared to assist with the development and running of a plot holders group. We don’t know how many plots we will have yet so they will be offered on a first come basis. Successful applicants will be contacted via the details held in the school office.

Music on Monday's assemblies

At The Prince of Wales school we ask all children who learn a musical instrument to sign up to play on a Monday’s assembly when they feel ready to do so. It’s a wonderful opportunity in practising in front of others, the audience love to see what other children in the school are up to as do the staff and it really helps build upon their ability to play live.
The music teachers are aware of this opportunity but if after talking to your child they wish to put their name down, the list is just outside the music room.




Mrs Mewett

Summer Term

I'd just like to say how good it is to be back in year 1 after four weeks away!! I've thoroughly enjoyed my first week back and look forward to a term that will be full of interesting learning for the children and also fun. Mr. Cox

Maths

We have been practising our 'number bonds 'to 10 and counting on and back using a number line. It would benefit all the children if parents could have a go at these exercises with their children at home as they embed good mental maths techniques.


With number bonds to 10, we need two numbers that added together make 10.

So, for example if you say 5, your child will, hopefully after a bit of practice, say 5.................... 5 + 5 =10.

If you say 7, your child will say 3.................7 + 3 = 10

If you say 4, your child will say 6.................6 + 4 = 10
etc.

Junk Models!!!

As most of you are aware the children love to make really important things out of junk!!

Please Please could u help us by letting us have cereal boxes egg boxes bottle tops etc anything that can be used .

many thanks
Year One

Summer Term

Welcome back!

As the warmer weather approaches us please make sure your child brings to school a bottle of water, a sun hat and sun cream.

This term the class topic is about 'minibeasts' it is an exciting topic and we have some really fun trips planned details to follow on this .

Year One also welcomes Mr Cox who will be joining the class until the end of the school year .

POWSA: Royal Film Premiere

POWSA invites you to a preview of the Prince of Wales School Royal Wedding DVD on Tuesday 17th May 2011 at 15.45 in the school hall. Reception, Years 1, 2 & 3 were all involved in their own Royal Wedding on Thursday 28/4/11. This celebration was filmed and combined with features from the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to create a unique DVD.   We would love you to come with your children to the preview as above in the school hall.  Orders will be taken on the night for you to purchase your own copy if you would like (these will cost £4).  -A lovely souvenir to commemorate this special occasion!  The DVD lasts approx 40 minutes and refreshments will be available.  All welcome, parents / adults need to be responsible for their children.

OUR SCHOOL NEEDS YOU!

Our school needs you to check your bags, wallets, handbags, purses, etc for missing Tesco schools vouchers! Vouchers collected in previous years have exceeded 20,000 and have helped us to obtain some exciting resources. This year we are lower than ever so we are issuing this appeal to find the missing vouchers! Please collect as many vouchers as you can and do not be afraid to ask your friends, neighbours, work colleagues for their vouchers as well. Many people who do not have children simply discard these vouchers and we could make valuable use of them. Collecting boxes are by the school office. Please bring in your vouchers on or before 01/06/11.

Royal Wedding Fever!

Royal Wedding Fever has spread through the classes at The Prince of Wales First School this week with pupils learning all about the significance of marriage and the history of the Royal Family. Children in Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 will be marking the special occassion with their own 'Wedding Ceremony' on Thursday 28th April, 2011. The service will be conducted in the school hall with a full bridal party with all guests dressed in formal attire. Following the service a reception will be held complete with speeches and a disco!

Easter Greetings!

We wish all our parents and pupils a happy Easter, if you would like to share your Easter greetings with others then you can now do this through SWGfL Merlin. To do this, login to Merlin and click the 'send your Easter greeting' text - you can then add a note for all to see. We hope you enjoy doing this and that you have a wonderful break - we will see everyone back at school for the start of the summer term on Tuesday 26th April.

Red Nose Day 2011

A big thank you to everyone who baked cakes and purchased them on Red Nose Day. Staff and pupils had a fantastic day helping to raise money for Comic Relief. We are pleased to announce the total amount raised is: £225.28. Well done Prince of Wales!!

WE ARE COLLECTING

Sainsburys and Tescos have launched their annual voucher collecting scheme, we are participating in both of these schemes. Vouchers collected in previous years have helped us to obtain some exciting resources. Please collect as many vouchers as you can and do not be afraid to ask your friends, neighbours, work colleagues for their vouchers as well. Many people who do not have children simply discard these vouchers and we could make valuable use of them. Collecting boxes are by the school office.

Home Learning with SWGfL Merlin?

Can your child share with you some work they have been doing within SWGfL Merlin recently? Perhaps they have written an article for Merlin Times our Online School Newspaper or have created some work in PurpleMash? Alternatively, they may have explored EducationCity.com or Mathletics? Why not spend some time at the computer with them and see what wonderful resources lie behind the login screen of SWGfL Merlin.

Parentmail

Thank you for those of you who have already returned the Parentmail forms. We would really like to get as many parents as possible onto this new system, so if you don’t have an email address, but you do have a mobile number then please still complete the form. This new system has promised us a quicker and more efficient way to communicate with you,saving time and resources. If you have mislaid your form, we have spares in the school office, just ask.

Our class assembly date is on Friday 25th March 2011 at 9.20.
The class visit to Scaplens Court in Poole has been arranged for Thursday 17th March 2011.  If you were wishing to volunteer thank you, however we already have the the number of adults we need for this trip.

tomorrow we are having visitors in school who will be speaking to the children about Bananas.  We will then be following this up later in the week. 

Follow Mr. Spracklen @ BETT 2011

Today (Wednesday 12th January, 2011), Mr. Spracklen will be going to BETT 2011 - BETT is the largest education technology exhibition in the world and offers delegates the opportunity to view, touch and test all that is new in I.C.T. You can follow Mr. Spracklen at BETT and see some of his pictures by clicking on the link from our school homepage. Keep checking back throughout the day to see updates.