Many thanks to the children who took the time and effort to answer my Blog Box question last week; it cheered me up when I finally received some answers!

We’re still getting used to our new website but I hope you soon become familiar with locating the Blog and other news items.

I have been into classes again this week and will be popping in again next with Mrs Moore when she comes to visit on Wednesday. We have had a real focus on improving vocabulary choices and developing structure in writing this half-term as well as making good use of PLL (pre-loaded learning) to help in the main part of the Maths lesson and I am looking forward to showing Mrs Moore some of the results of our improvement work in your books.

Next week is also Assessment Week and it will be your chance to show us what you’ve learned throughout the term. Tests can be scary but in a strange way they can also be a lot of fun and a great opportunity to use and apply the skills and knowledge you have acquired. Have a positive mind-set and show us what you can do!

I am really pleased to announce that Foresters have finally won their first star of the year and have won the House Point race. It just goes to prove that hard-work and perseverance pay off eventually.

Jaguars were the proud winners in last week’s Reading Challenge, Orangutans won the Maths challenge and the two Y3 classes (Penguins and Polar Bears) tied for first place in the Attendance Race with 100% each; magnificent! I’ll announce this week’s winners in assembly this morning.

Today is our annual Christmas Fair and I am looking forward to the afternoon’s activities which should be a lot of fun. FoS have some fabulous raffle prizes, great stalls and fun games so make sure you support them and remember to say “thank you” when you see them around school.

Last Friday saw our basketball team come second in a very hard-fought match against Heathfields Primary in the tournament at Pingle. They had played superbly in all of their previous matches to reach the final but unfortunately missed out at the end. However, their performance was commended by all of the SSP coaches who were extremely impressed by their skill and commitment and I am confident that they will be the team to beat in the future.

Our Y5 classes also gave a wonderful performance last Friday when they sang at The Delph as part of the Swadlincote Christmas lights celebrations. It certainly made everyone feel very Christmassy and that feeling of excitement and anticipation is definitely in the air.

Mrs Cormack will be hosting the Spelling Bee on Tuesday afternoon and I am really looking forward to the event to find out who will be crowned as new champions.

Just before I sign off I’d like to give everyone a reminder about being kind, helpful and respectful, both at home and at school. As we mentioned earlier, it’s an exciting time of year but sometimes people get overly tired and are mean to each other; definitely not the kind of behaviour we expect. It’s important to remember that we should treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves and to demonstrate the values that we hold true here at Springfield.

Have a super weekend and remember to keep reading and practising your times tables facts!

Mrs Hughes

Blog Box question: what do we call the first part of a Maths lesson?