*** Thank you ***

Dear parents,

Thank you for all of your fantastic efforts over the last 8 weeks, you and your children are amazing! 

I am so looking forward to seeing all the children on Monday! Have a lovely weekend! 

Mr T 

Hello children and parents,

I hope you have all had a restful half term and managed to enjoy some quality family time, after what was a difficult term for you all. I am so glad that we will be back together in school on Monday 8th March and that our remote learning will only have to continue for the first 2 weeks! 

As you will know, having received correspondence from the school, every class will be participating in a whole school community project called Quest. The aim of the project is to foster collaboration, redevelop empathy skills, rebuild confidence and encourage self-expression in all our children. We will be using the texts to promote discussion on subjects such as identity, personal feelings, similarities and differences and community belonging. These discussions will be vital for the children as they leave their home school environment and return to the classroom.

The project is based around the two picture books below, beautifully crafted by Aaron Becker, which will stimulate imagination and creativity. Being wordless, the books are accessible to all whilst offering a high level of challenge for every age group. The books will act as a stimulus for writing, and as a springboard for scientific, historical, artistic and geographic studies. We will study 'Journey' in Weeks 1 and 2 and 'Quest' in Weeks 3 and 4.

Whilst Maths and RE will be taught discretely, English and the foundation subjects will be inspired by the illustrations and concepts in the books. Each week will have a different focus:

Week 1 - Understanding the World - History

Week 2 - Understanding the World - Geography

Week 3 - Understanding the World - Science (British Science Week 5th - 14th March)

Week 4 - Expressive Arts and Design 

Since we are all looking at the same text and studying the same subjects each week, siblings will be able to collaborate on projects at home whilst bubbles will be able to work together in school to produce a final product. These group activities will then continue once we are back in school.

At the end of the project we hope to create a whole school exhibition to celebrate all the fabulous learning the children have done together. This will further help us recreate our sense of community. To this end, please bring into school any of the activities the children have created at home when we are allowed to return.

For our children in EYFS, these books will encourage lots of discussion and help with their communication and language development, as well as helping them to use their fantastic imaginations to be creative.

Have fun! 

Mr T 

EAD - Expressive Arts & Design

UTW - Understanding the World

C&L - Communication & Language