A group of Year 6 children went to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Warwick Arts Centre on Wednesday 15^th February and had a great time. Before the concert they had the chance to learn to play the flute with a specialist teacher. They then ate pizzas for tea before watching the orchestra, who were world class! They enjoyed hearing pieces by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The children behaved really well and were a credit to us.

Cool to be Kind week:       Friday 17^th February was the final day of Cool to be Kind week, which was a great success. Children were even kinder and more helpful than usual and achieved stickers for their actions. Well done everyone!

Car Parking - Click on this link, to read this important letter regarding parking on site.

2EW’s Class Assembly: On Friday 10^th February, we were treated to a wonderful retelling of the traditional tale, Jack and the Beanstalk, which was made even more entertaining with some singing and dancing. The children clearly know the story very well and they have also enjoyed sowing seeds and watching their very own “beanstalks” grow, in their classroom! Thanks for sharing 2EW – we hope your visiting parents enjoyed it, as much as we did!

 

Year 5 Mental Health Workshop: The Mental Health in Schools Team (MHST) visited Year 5 on Thursday 9^th February to discuss how to deal with changes in their lives A lot of things are changing around us and recently most children have had quite a lot of time away from school, as a result of the pandemic. The classes discussed how they had coped with this time and how they could help others who were also experiencing change. Lots of interesting and thought provoking questions were asked by the team such as: has anybody heard of the word resilience before? What does it mean? What is resilience and how can we build it? The children then identified what they felt was good about themselves and who they could talk to for help when managing changes that were happening in their lives.  It was a great opportunity to explore an often difficult and personal topic. Year 5 really enjoyed this visit and the activities they took part in.

 

Football Success: On Thursday 9^th February, our football team won convincingly against local rivals, St. Patricks. The team worked well together and created some fantastic chances – the final score was 3:0 and man of the match was awarded to Max.

 

Year 6 Visit to Grace Academy: On Tuesday 7^th February, the children in Year 6 spent the morning at Grace Academy, using their science facilities. They used resources to explore whether or not fruit and vegetables could conduct electricity and were amazed when they discovered that they did! The children thoroughly enjoyed the session and are all very keen to return soon. Well done Year 6.

 

Safer Internet Day: This year for Safer Internet Day, the focus was for children to think about what they want the government, parents, teachers etc to know about their online lives. The children participated in class discussions and shared what they like to do online. There were some great conversations about being responsible and respectful, whilst online. All children made a poster about their lives online and one poster from each class will be chosen to be on display in school. For further tips or advice about online safety, please have a look at this website: https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2023

 

4MW’s Class Assembly: Thank you to 4MW who shared a wonderful assembly on Thursday 2nd February. We discovered that they have been learning about the Egyptians - many of our younger children were shocked to find out that the Egyptians removed the organs of the deceased and even washed them! The children shared a song that they have learnt to help them with their times tables and we all enjoyed joining in. Thank you to 4MW – it was a fantastic assembly! 

  

School Council Trip: On Thursday 2nd February, our School Council were lucky enough to visit the Council House in the city centre. They even met the Lord Mayor who answered lots of questions about his role and gave them a tour of the special rooms in the Council House. The children were fascinated by the chambers and were keen to hear the Lord Mayor bang the gavel to keep all the council representatives under control - fortunately, this wasn’t needed for our Moat House children, as they were all perfectly behaved!   

Attendance :     As of the week ending 27^th January, we have over 100 children whose attendance is less than 90% since September. This equates to children having a day off every fortnight and this has a big impact on their learning. I am confident that their attendance will improve as we move towards the Spring and start to leave the season of coughs and colds behind and would ask that you only keep your children off if they are poorly and too ill to come to school.

 

In order to support with improving attendance, we have started a new attendance challenge! If the whole school attendance between 23^rd January and 14^th July is 95% or above we will be having an INFLATABLES DAY on 19^th July. This means that every child will have the opportunity to have up to an hour of fun on the inflatables. We have made a good start with this target because we are currently at 94.2%. So a bit of work to do, but plenty of time. Keep your eyes peeled for weekly updates in the newsletter. Good luck!

 

Football Stalemate:     On Thursday 26^th January, some of our children in Key Stage 2 played in a friendly football match against local rivals Henley Green. We were able to field two teams and both teams battled hard to draw in both matches. The scores were 0:0 and 2:2. Congratulations to Filip and Alex for scoring and well done to all of the players for a great team effort.

 

Mental Health in Y3:   On Monday 16th January and Wednesday 25th January, Year 3 took part in emotional awareness and regulation workshops. During the first session, they identified emotions and described the physical effects these can have on the body and your brain's ability to process this. During the second session, the children learnt that it is okay to feel different emotions and they were reminded that they can talk about these with trusted adults too. The children learnt about triggers for certain emotions, and they thought of some strategies to help control them using a zones of regulation table. In addition to this, they were taught how to use rollercoaster breathing, deep pressure exercises and movement as strategies to calm down if they are feeling like they do not have control of a certain emotion. The children found the strategies very useful, and they enjoyed learning more about their emotional wellbeing.

 

Support for Parents:   You will have received an email about a SENDIASS coffee morning due to be held at the Metropolis Restaurant in Coventry on Thursday 9^th February at 10 am. If you have a query about Special Educational Needs, then this session could be just for you and will be able to answer any questions that you might have. There is also a money advice session being held at the Coventry City Mission on Tuesday 31^st January from 11:30 am. If you have any questions that you would like to ask about utility bills or checking that you are receiving everything that you are entitled to, then this session could help.