|
|
Welcome!
Here we are with our final newsletter of the year... and what a year! The last 365 days have been filled with so many special learning moments, bucketfuls of botheredness and lots and lots of fun. We have welcomed new learners and said goodbye to others but we have shared lots of smiles along the way and cant wait to see what 2024 brings for TEAMPCP.
Read on to hear more about our recent special moments.
|
|
|
Breakfast Club and After School Club
We have had a busier term than ever in our wrap-around clubs, which are proving to be a destination of choice for many children. From 7.30am until 5.30pm, our school is a fun place to learn and be with friends. Thanks for the kind words from many of you when you drop off your 'early birds' or pick up your 'night owls'.
The booking windows are now open for Spring 1 term. You can still book weekly (a week in advance) or block book until the end of the half term.
You have until 31st December to book for the first week back in January.
|
|
|
Early Years Update
EYFS have has a wonderful end to the Autumn Term. Nursery visited the magical Christmas postbox and posted their letters to Father Christmas. On their return to Nursery it looked like a winter wonderland with glitter and footprints all over the place! Reception have been busy in class and have really enjoyed their Santas Workshop role play areas. Our Christmas Sing-a-long was amazing. All of the children did so well singing along to the songs with all of your faces looking at them. We cannot believe that there were over 90 of them on the stage and they all took part so beautifully. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did and are sure that you will agree it definitely got us in the festive spirit.
Deadline for Reception Applications September 2024 is fast approaching. Even if your child is in our Nursery you have to apply for a place before 15th January 2024. If you miss this deadline, you will be classed as a late applicant and your child may not get a place. The last few years we have had a waiting list and we already know that we have had over 60 applications. Knowsley residents should apply on the Knowsley Council website:
https://www.knowsley.gov.uk/residents/education-and-schools/apply-for-a-school-place/annual-school-admission-procedures
Non-Knowsley residents should apply through their own Local Authority website.
Nursery places for January 2024 new starters have been issued and we only have 5 remaining for April 2024 new starters. Please email: admissions@prescotprimary.org.uk if you require a place in April 2024, September 2024 or January 2025! Our Extended Childcare Offer Places fill up fast, so add your child to the waiting list now.
|
|
|
Final EYFS Open Evening
We will be having another Open Evening on Wed 4th January, 4-5pm.
Please ring 0151 432 7100 or email admin@prescotprimary.org.uk to book a place.
https://www.knowsley.gov.uk/residents/education-and-schools/apply-for-a-school-place.aspx
|
|
Parent Governor Update
We are pleased to announce that we have two new Parent Governors. We are currently awaiting final checks to be completed but will share further news in the new year.
|
|
Educational visits
Year 2's trip to Liverpool
What a fantastic day! The children were extremely busy from start to finish. Before they got onto the ferry, the children were able to look at Liverpool’s historical buildings such as The Liver Building and enjoyed exploring The Beatles statue.
They were all extremely excited to be boarding the colourful ‘Dazzle Ferry’. They enjoyed singing ‘Ferry across the Mersey’ and working out the different buildings across the Liverpool skyline. Some children were ecstatic to see the new Everton stadium being built.
We then enjoyed our lunch with a beautiful view of The Albert Dock.
The Maritime Museum was a fantastic, educational visit where the children were able to explore different artefacts of boats from the past that they had been learning about in class. They looked at Liverpool’s role in the Titanic story, the history of the Albert Docks and the life on board a ship through the ages.
As well as a fun-filled day, every single child’s behaviour was impeccable and even members of the public were complimenting the children.
We are all so very proud of year 2, well done!
Year 4's trip to Chester
Our PCP Penguins loved living the lives of Roman soldiers for the day. They visited an amphitheatre and learned about gladiators; they travelled across the seas from Rome; they explored ancient artefacts and marched like legionaries. It truly brought their 'I am Warrior! project to life.
|
|
|
|
|
Attendance
As you know, we rigorously monitor rates of attendance and punctuality across all year groups. We all recognise the importance of attending school on time every day and the negative impact poor attendance can have on wellbeing, achievement and progress.
Our approach to monitoring attendance hopes to build communication and trust with families; we know that strong home-school relationships benefit all aspects of school life.
Currently our attendance rate is falling below the national average. Whilst we recognise that there has been a prolonged period of illness across school, we do need to reflect on how we can improve attendance rates for all children.
In the new year, we will start to identify families who may be in need of further support in order to increase attendance and punctuality - and in turn help more children to be present in every lesson.
Please get in touch if you feel that you would like to discuss this issue with the Attendance Team in school.
|
|
Y6 Swimming
We went swimming for 2 weeks with school and at the start I couldn't swim at all. It was really fun and made me really happy to see that I was progressing. I definitely feel more confident in the water now and I'm so happy that we all enjoyed it! Jack Hagan
My instructors taught me how to improve my front crawl and when I got things a bit wrong they always helped me try again until I got it. We got to have a go at diving from the diving boards and it was a bit scary at first! Everyone cheered me on and the instructors kept me safe - it ended up being really fun! Nevaeh Taylor
During our time swimming, we learned lots of things: water safety (that will be really useful if we ever fall into unsafe waters); going from on our front to on our back (an easy skill to master but can definitely help) and the way we help someone in the water to get out safely. Michael Valentine
|
|
SEND Update
Sensory Circuits.
You may have heard your children talking about sensory circuits. At PCP we do these in three different ways. Some children complete a sensory circuit in our Hive, some complete them in the corridor with an adult and the majority of our children will engage in sensory activities while in class.
What is a Sensory Circuit and why is it important?
Sensory circuits are a short sensory motor skills exercise that help set up children for the day ahead. It enables children to reach the level of alertness required to concentrate during the school day. The brain requires sensory input in order to develop and function properly. This can be done in the form of sensory circuit activities seen below.
Some children need help to reach the level of alertness required to concentrate and be ready to learn. This is were we can help them with a sensory circuit. There are three sections to a sensory circuit and ALL sections must be completed to have a positive change.
1 - ALERTING SECTION
The aim of this section is to provide vestibular* and proprioceptive* stimulation within a controlled setting. This prepares the brain for learning.
Activities can include such things as:
2 - ORGANISING SECTION
This section includes activities that require motor sensory processing, balance and timing. The child needs to organise their body, plan their approach and do more than one thing at a time in a sequential order.
Activities includes tasks such as:
-
balancing on a beam
-
log rolling
-
climbing wall bars
-
throwing bean bags into a target
-
arm push ups against the wall
-
blowing bubbles or blowing a paper ball to a target
-
wobble boards for balance work
-
T-stool for balance work (one legged stool).
-
Skipping and jumping a moving rope
These are skills that may increase a child’s focus, attention span and performance within the classroom.
3 - CALMING SECTION
The calming activities are very important as they provide input to ensure that children leave the circuit and return to their classroom calm, centred and ready for the day ahead.
Activities include proprioceptive or deep pressure activities such as:
-
placing feet or hands in weighted bean bags
-
lying under weighted blankets
-
having balls rolled over their backs
-
hot-dogs (rolling child up tightly in a blanket)
-
reading a book snuggled on the couch
Your children may benefit from continuing to complete sensory circuits throughout the Christmas holidays.
|
|
|
Supporting our favourite charities
We know that the Autumn term has lots and lots of opportunities for our children to learn more about the work of charities. From Odd Socks Day to Children in Need to Remembrance day to World Children's Day - it certainly has been a term full of kindness. The children have learned about the act of giving: including giving time, sharing knowledge and support and even simply just sharing a smile.
Thank you for all of your generous donations and botheredness when we celebrate an awareness day as a whole school. We all really appreciate it.
|
|
Online Safety Update
This Christmas may bring more gadgets and devices into the family home. This may include your child's first phone. This is a huge responsibility and would suggest that parental guidance is key to a child learning how to navigate the digital world. If you need any guidance of how best to teach your children to stay safe online, this website offers some great advice:
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/digital-parenting/
We also have an archive of online safety newsletters for you to read:
https://www.prescotprimary.org.uk/information/online-safety
|
|
|
Special learning moments
As part of their 'Gods and Mortals' project, Year 3 had a 'Gods and Goddesses' day. The children looked amazing! Y3 had Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hestia and Ares. They also had some children dressed as climbers who were ready to climb Mount Olympus to meet the Gods and Goddesses. Thank you to all of our families for sorting the fantastic costumes and props.
The children had such a wonderful and busy day. There was Greek singing and dancing, Greek food tasting (which caused lots of funny faces) and researching about the Gods and Goddesses. We also designed Greek Pots.
We hope this day will be a happy memory for our Zebras!
Y2 also enjoyed a day of discovery as they came to the end of their 'Land Ahoy!' project. Children came dressed as RNLI rescuers, explorers or pirates and travelled the oceans solving puzzles and learning sea shanties!
Y5 enjoyed revolting at the end of the 'Princes, Peasants and Pestilence' project. The children learned about the concept of rebellion and the reasons behind significant rebellions in history. They began to understand more about the impact of the Black Death and compare our most recent pandemic to that of the 12th century.
These engagement days help knowledge and concepts to 'stick' and the children will hopefully build their concept-confidence up over time.
|
|
|
Reading Update
It’s the busiest time of the year, and our children have so much to do both at home and in school, yet they are still managing to find time to enjoy a book or two. We knew they would.
The library has been open at lunchtimes and is filled with Year 5 and 6 readers, all silently engrossed in our warm and cozy space as they escape the bleak weather outside. We really appreciate their maturity as they choose to spend this time productively and with respect for other readers in the room.
We have already seen a lot of success this year; our bookworms never fail to surprise and amaze us. We had our first word Millionaire in November- Kanishka from Year 5 reached those lofty heights, and there are 12 half-millionaires hot on her heels so watch this space.
We would like to thank M&Y Maintenance, and our Governor Sarah Benyon, for their continued support in helping us to reward our children for their reading efforts. They care as much as we do, as do the families who donate so many pre-loved books from their homes.
Reading at PCP is about numbers as well as words. This year so far, we have read 32,305,723 words, quizzed on 4425 quizzes and borrowed 1,105 books from our library. These are outstanding statistics which grow year upon year.
We wish you all a very merry Christmas, and hope Santa pops some books into your stockings to enjoy over the holidays.
|
|
|
|
Christmas @PCP
The last few weeks have brought much joy to all of the children across school.
We have shared our many adventures on Twitter #pcpchristmas - but we would just like to say a huge thank you for keeping up with us as we enjoyed all of the December events together, including: Winter Wonderland, a EYFS Singalong, a walk to the postbox, KS1 Nativity, KS2 Talent Show (Country & Western style), Christmas Markets, a visit from Santa and his gingerbread friend, Christmas Jumper Day, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Hampers and Christmas parties...could we be anymore festive?
Thank you to our team of Christmas Angels, the parents and carers of George Moorcroft, Christian Jones, Isabella, Amelia, Sofia & Lucia Godfrey, Joshua and Jacob McGrady, Ophelia and Mabel Parr, Matthew Griffiths, Owen Parr, Bella & Alex Slack and Diya, Mithra & Thagana Chandrakanthan. Your help was much appreciated.
We mustn't forget to mention the winners of this year's Talent Show: Y4 Penguins! Our theme this year was 'Country & Western' and their performance of 'Achey, breaky heart' was simply amazing - with horses, tractors, sheep and line dancing. All of the children got into the spirit and enjoyed a bit of friendly rivalry. We love our annual event - and this year all year groups raised the bar. Just brilliant.
|
|
|
Forward financial planning!
Y6 Kangaroos - World War 2 Experience, in school. January 2024
Y4 Penguins - Kingswood Colomendy. 1 day residential. March 2024
Y5 Tigers - Y6 PGL Boreatton Park. 3 day residential. Sept 2024
|
|
From all of us at Prescot Primary and Nursery School, have a safe and happy Christmas break.
See you on Wednesday 3rd January!
|
|
|
