Owls class thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Houghton Fields Mulberry development to visit the new homes and the building site. All the children were invited to have a site safety talk with the Project Manager to learn about how to stay safe on a building site and spot the dangers. We were also very grateful to receive high-visibility bag tags to help all the children at Houghton Conquest stay safe and be seen in the dark nights, in line with Road Safety Week. We would like to give a huge thanks to all the volunteers who helped Owls class and the team at Mulberry Homes Development for this opportunity.
Phoenix Class produced a fantastic Remembrance Day assembly, on Friday 9th November. The children worked hard all week to organise the assembly. The class read and analysed war poems, such as “Flanders Field” and “For Fallen” by Laurence Binyon, to inspire them to write their own.
When we visited Bletchley Park we learned that pigeons were used to send secret messages in the war. Phoenix Class wrote notes of their hopes and prayers for Remembrance Day 2018. Each child attached their note to one of the homing pigeons before they were released at the end of the assembly.
A special thanks to Mr Gruzilier for bringing his pigeons into school and Mrs Liddeth for all her support and help with the Remembrance service.
On Monday 5th November we welcomed Neetu and Amrik into our school to talk about their faith and how they celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas at this time of year.
The children listened to traditional music, saw Neetu’s traditional dress and learnt about all the amazing food and gifts that Sikh people enjoy and give each other within the Gurdwara and within their homes.
There were amazing moments where the children discussed values they use in school and listened to how Neetu and Amrik use their values within their faith, family and personal achievements.
The children were able to link their experiences of fireworks to how Neetu and Amrik will celebrate their Sikh holiday on Wednesday 7th November, enjoying fireworks with their family in the evening.
Big write days are planned three times a year and are designed to excite the children and provide meaningful context to inspire children to write. On these days, learning is centred on one theme and
each year group plans their writing based around this theme.
This term the theme was character description. All children spent three lessons with a teacher from the school listening to the teacher’s favourite story and carrying out a range of exciting activities in relation to the story. Children chose from titles decided upon by different teachers; The Gruffalo, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or the Twits. They then worked with the teacher in their room during the related activities.
This was a wonderful experience for all pupils to engage in learning across the year groups, with children from Robins working in groups with children from across the school, right up to Phoenix class.
Next Friday (5th October) you will receive your child’s Writing Progress book in their school bag. You will be able to share your child’s writing experience with them and make comments or provide feedback in the book before returning it to school.
The whole staff community thank you for attending our first major event of the school year last week. We hope you enjoyed looking around the School and Pre-school and have benefited from meeting your child’s class teacher(s) and Pre-school staff. As always any feedback would be appreciated – please either email office.hcls@cbc.beds.sch.uk or use the suggestion box in the School Reception. We hope you agree that the school environment looks amazing and you were able to see how much work your child has already completed in the first weeks of term.
All information discussed and presented is included in a class information booklet which was handed out and will be available next week to download from our website. If you were unable to attend
and collect a copy yourself, you will have found a copy in your child’s book bag. We appreciate that a minority of parents were unable to attend for various reasons. The next formal opportunity for parents of school children to meet your child’s class teacher will be at the Parent Teacher Consultations in October. Bookings will be open from Wednesday, 3rd October. You can pop into Reception, send an email or phone the school office to make your appointment. Time slots are available between the following times for all classes:-
Tuesday, 16th October from 5pm – 7pm
Thursday, 18th October from 3.30pm – 5.30pm
Welcome back to a new academic year and to our first newsletter. As before, our newsletters will be produced on a monthly basis with the next one being published on Friday, 2nd November. Our newsletters aim to provide you with an insight into what goes on in school, provide you with information throughout the year and a list of important dates for your diary so you don’t miss anything.
Remember you can always download or check previous newsletters on our website (www.houghtonconquest.beds.sch.uk). If you require further information please remember to talk to the School Office who will be happy to help or point you in the right direction.