The report highlights the strength of relationships between the staff, pupils and families. Pupils are safe and learn well. Pupils learn how to be good citizens and understand that people are different. The report states ‘They say that everyone is unique and treated equally. Pupils live out this belief in this inclusive school.’

The wonderful start that our youngest children receive in Nursery was recognised as well as the smooth transition into Reception. The report recognises the hard work over the past few years to ensure we are delivering an ambitious curriculum with a sharp focus on reading.

Please see attached letter from Mrs Anstey and to read the full report please click here.

The children made posters highlighting the problem of plastic pollution, and then in the afternoon we spent time outside in the woodland area, enjoying the environment and creating some natural art.

Hetty H – I enjoyed learning about respect. I like people being happy and playing with each other.

Ivy H – We listened and did not talk. Showing Matt and Nick respect.

Last week (Wednesday 12 th October) Ash and Willow welcomed Matt and Nick back to talk all about ‘NO ROOM FOR RACISM’. The children took part in a discussion about racism and inclusion. Their attitude and determination to learn grew and the children are ensuring they include their friends inside the classroom, on the playground and outside of school. In today’s workshop the children were asked to create a poster all about ‘No Room for Racism’

Charlie W – I like that they are taking real life things that are happening and helping to change minds. I thought it was really important learning about this and I will make sure everyone is included.

Hope W – I enjoyed learning about inclusion today. I like the idea of everyone playing and joining in and no one being left out.

Evie H – I enjoyed creating a poster today all about Racism. They even took a copy of our poster!

Their role will evolve over the course of this academic year but it will include reading stories to children, keeping the books and reading areas organised and well replenished for everyone to enjoy, recommending stories and reporting on reading events and opportunities.

An important part of the reading squad’s role is to read with a group of children in KS1 on a weekly basis to help to promote a love of reading and act as reading role models to our younger children. All members of our reading squad have been trained to carry out one to one reading sessions and have been buddied up with a partner from either year one or year two. The reading squad will spend time with their reading buddies, listening to them read, supporting them when they find words difficult, talking about the books that they have read and asking them questions. This process can help model good reading and promote an enjoyment of reading. By being Reading Role Models to our younger pupils, our reading squad will have the opportunity to further develop their self-confidence and their communication, leadership and problem-solving skills.

As with any skill, reading needs to be practiced on a regular basis and with this practice, as well as modelling, the children can improve their own skills.

The reading squad look forward to delivering you more reading related news over the coming months.

“Reading is dreaming with our eyes open.”

The children saw lots of interesting flowers and plants, before looking around the home of William John Bankes and learning many  interesting facts about how they used to live.

We were very grateful to the parents that came to help us too, hopefully you've all dried out by now!

They also brought uniforms for the children to try on!

They are each in charge of a particular exercise station (sports sanctuary) which involves organising and running an activity as part of their job. 

More than this though, they live up to the words on the back of their jackets and support others in the playground 

Love / Joy / Peace / Patience / Kindness / Goodness / Gentleness / Faithfulness / Self Control

We wanted to reward them for all their hard work so treated them to a trip to Costa. I think the smiles say it all.

Apologies to the older gentleman in the background who thought he was going in for a quiet cup of coffee!

We were very excited to have our favourite author, Lorna J Child join us in school to read and do workshops with the children.  Children took part in a whole host of activities during the day which included, fancy dress parades, drop everything and read and our nursery children particularly enjoyed making their bookmarks.  We were delighted to welcome parent volunteers to read their favourite stories to the children, this also included some Spanish story times. 

The theme this year is 'All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online'. Within school there will be a themed worship, followed by activities promoting positive online behaviour and exploring what to do if they encounter negative experiences online.

Please see below resources you can use at home.

We will be encouraging children (and adults) to think about how they have grown, what they need to help them grow, and how they can help others to grow too. We will continue to draw upon our growth mindset learning and explore how challenges and setbacks can help us to adapt and try new things, which can help us to move beyond our comfort zone into a new realm of possibility and potential. We will take many opportunities to reflect on how we have changed and the things that have made us stronger.

During Children's Mental Health week, we will be working with the children in the classrooms and in worships to promote, The 5 ways to Good Mental Health.

We would also like to invite the children to 'Dress to Express' on Friday 11^th February, to give children an opportunity to express how they’re feeling. They could wear their favourite colour or a unique outfit, it can be as simple or elaborate as you like! Dress to Express is an opportunity for self-expression and celebrating a diverse range of emotions.

As parents and carers, you play an important role in your child’s mental health. Please see the free resources for families by clicking here.

The Reading Reward trolley has been topped up and our children are loving having the Library back up and running.  

"You can find magic wherever you look.  Sit back and relax, all you need is a book"

Dr. Seuss  

Here are some quotes from the children in Beech Base.

I went to the dance sanctuary and it made me feel joyful and happy. It also made me calm and made Mrs Palmer smile. Olivia

I went to the target sport sanctuary and it made me feel determined. Saul

The superhero poses made me feel happy and relaxed. Aaron

I felt like me. Enjoying what I love to do! Matilda

Springhead encourages the children to experience and value the rural environment, and to learn about the sustainable use of natural resources.

Each day consisted of a number of activities, which included learning about wildlife through pursuits such as pond and river-dipping, building dens in teams, drinking fresh water from the natural springs and going for walks in the unspoilt countryside.  Children utilised the amazing surroundings and the weather was certainly on their side, with glorious sunshine on both days.   

Each class took it in turns to stay into the evening and enjoy a BBQ, parents then collected their children which gave them the lovely opportunity to show their parents around the beautiful grounds that Springhead has to offer.

We used spices mixed with water to make our own ‘paint’ and used our fingers to apply it to the walls and floor in the style of dots. We tried to create our own images of the Rainbow Serpent!

"My favourite part of the day was the daubing because I liked mixing the clay and hay together, it was really messy!" - Jasmine

"I loved archery, it was really fun and I scored 20!" - Henry

Once children returned to school their enjoyment continued, as part of their learning the children then designed their own solar powered toys.

Children dressed up as either a real-life or fictional hero and as superheros need to be in tip-top mental and physical condition, children started the day with some fun superhero games to challenge their super strength and skills, they also participated in a number of different activities following the superhero theme which included making masks and the main challenge of the day was designing and making their own superhero vehicle.  Children learnt all about wheels, axles and chassis and how they are combined to make the framework of a vehicle, as well as how to create an eye-catching body.

During their worship, children wrote a Beech Base prayer to say thank you to the heroes in our life.  No matter if they wear masks, capes, scrubs or uniforms, everyone has someone they think of as a superhero.

Children have been “ busy bees” and Nursery was buzzing as children enjoyed understanding the bee’s vital role in our natural world together with learning about becoming a beekeeper with Mrs Palmer.  Children enjoyed eating honey sandwiches at snack time, drawing and painting bee and hive pictures, they also made honey gloop and sang and danced to ‘The Honey Song’ and made flowers.  

Children received a lovely thank you letter from Moreton House who expressed a huge amount of joy at sharing this day with them.  Residents will be sharing their photos of their events with the children and look forward to celebrating with the children again in the future.

Please click here for further information.

Our Head Teacher, Adam Parsons, will host a presentation via Zoom, giving you the opportunity to meet some of our teachers and to see photos and videos around our fantastic school. We are very proud of our school and we are looking forward to welcoming you.

Please contact the school office@verwoodfirst.dorset.sch.uk of call us on 01202 822652 to obtain further Zoom invitation details.

Thank you Zak and Zara for the additional prayer to our Harvest Festival:

Our application was supported by our many Eco initiatives, including recycling over 7000 crisp packets, recycling milk cartons, drinking straws, stationery and of course our 300 Eco bricks filled with unwanted plastic. We were hoping to have an Eco brick trainer come and work with us this summer to build stools for our reading corners.  This is now on hold for the future. 

Please see below video for further information, including the chance to watch one of our Sycamore children, Amelia and her clip that was used in our application.

Please keep up the great eco work in school and at home.

Spiritual values are the values that will help you make a life!

The spiritual values that we hold dear are the fruits of the Spirit, taken from the book of Galatians in the bible. These are:  faithfulness, goodness, self-control, peace, love, joy, kindness, gentleness and patience.

Please see attachments.

Please see below link, this may help in supporting your children, please also see below an attachment Coronavirus - A Book For Children, this is an illustrated useful book that can help support a conversation with your children:

Supporting your child during COVID-19

Please see Online Safety link, this was shown in Miss Tizzard's video on Wednesday 29th April:

Online Safety at Home

But that’s not all. Next week, some of our best entries will be heading to Emmanuel Middle School to determine an overall winner from Verwood 1^st, Hillside and Emmanuel, with even more prizes to give away! We look forward to seeing all of the home learning as part of the amazing collage display in the science department.

British Science Week runs from 6^th – 15^th March so if you fancy doing any more science learning at home, take a look at this useful website (https://www.theschoolrun.com/fun-science-activities-try-home) for lots more fun ideas!

“My favourite part of the trip was when we went down onto Lulworth Cove beach and we created some fossil art with the natural things on the beach. I made an ammonite using stones, seaweed and even some fossils!” – Erin

“I liked going to Lulworth Cove beach and sketching the cove, including all of the 5 different types of rock that we had learnt about.”- Bradley

“Although it was a little bit stormy I really liked looking at Stair Hole from the top of the cliff because I could feel the ocean breeze on my face.” – Theodore

Thank you to all the parent volunteers who helped us on the day. 

We made paper plate characters from Disney films and iced Disney biscuits. We have really enjoyed learning all about Walt Disney’s life and how he has influenced animated cartoons and movies during his life time.

As part of our topic we have also been learning about the state of Florida, where the Magic Kingdom is located and the work they have been doing to conserve endangered sea turtles.