Archive for November, 2013

29th November 2013

Friday, November 29th, 2013

Maths Workshops

Thank you to everyone who came along and joined us for the maths workshop afternoon on Wednesday. I hope the sessions you joined in gave you a better understanding of how the children are learning the four operations. I am sure you will agree with me the children were amazing. The children I worked with explained their learning with confidence and certainly did not hold back in challenging me! Each Key Stage 2 class took part and Mrs Howell our maths lead made sure everything went smoothly. Thank you to Mrs Howell for organising the workshops and to all the teachers and Mrs McGeachin in the Quiet room who shared the work she does in helping children catch up with their maths skills.

Choir at Brighton and Hove Christmas Carol Concert

The Middle St choir will be performing alongside other Brighton and Hove schools at the Brighton Centre on Monday evening from 7.00 – 9.00. It is always a very special evening and quite amazing when over 1000 children are all singing together.

Christmas Shows

Tickets are available for the Middle Street Christmas Shows on Monday 2nd December. Tickets are £2 each and initially only two per family per show are allocated. More should be available later. A letter was sent home yesterday with more details so if it didn’t arrive home please ask for a copy at the office. Please note the timings of the shows have changed slightly from those I originally wrote about in previous Friday News.

Festive Fayre

We are all feeling very excited about the PTA Festive Fayre which takes place next Wednesday 4th December. The Fayre begins at 3.15. We have a wonderful afternoon lined up for you with tea and cake, Christmas crafts, festive photo booth, Tiny Tim’s tombola, a chance to throw custard pies and ‘snowballs’ at staff members, winter BBQ, mulled wine, Santa’s grotto, a live singer and much, much more. 100% of everything you see on stalls has been donated by local businesses and Middle Street families. Every penny raised will go toward the goal of buying 500 books for the school library. We are still accepting donations of wine, gifts, sweets/chocolates (no nuts please) and adult novels for a second hand book stall.

Typhoon Haiyan Appeal

Christina Williams says thank you to everyone who bought cakes from her stall this week. Christina is raising money to send to a village in the Philippines who suffered badly in the recent Typhone. Christina will have another stall at the Festive Fayre. So please support her and her fundraising quest by buying one of her delicious cakes.

Teaching Assistant Celebration Day

Each TA was awarded a learning superstars award in assembly this morning.  To say a little thank you for everything they do in school and in their free time to support the children in our school. At Middle Street we have amazing and very talented TAs. I believe we are one of few schools where TAs were actually mentioned in an Ofsted report. Thank you TAs you do a brilliant job and we really could not manage without you!

Football News

Middle Street played St Bernadette’s primary last Friday. Sadly we lost 7 – 1 but the team played well and worked hard against a very good team. The next match is today versus St John the Baptist Primary. Good luck team!

On-Time Teds

This week’s Key Stage 1 winners are Year 1 and in Key Stage 2 the winners are Year 5. Well done to both classes for being on time for school!

Governors Meeting

The full governing body are meeting on Tuesday 3rd December for this term’s meeting. We now have a governor’s page on our website and on there you will find profiles and photographs of some of our governors. The section is not complete yet, but will be very soon.

School Meal News

The school kitchen is now able to offer Halal meat products. If you would like to take up this option for your child’s school dinner please ask at the school office for the appropriate dietary form.

Please could I also urge you to apply for free school meals if you are eligible. You can do this online. At www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/onlinefreeschoolmeals It helps the school financially if all those eligible for  free school meals apply even if they do not have school dinners.

School Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner will be served on Wednesday 18th December.

Christmas Cards

Our Christmas postbox will be operational from Monday 2nd December. It is located in the school entrance. Cards should be addressed correctly for speedy delivery. Please write the name and class of the recipient clearly on the front of the envelope.

Christmas Break

The term ends on Friday 20th December for the Christmas break. Children return to school on Monday 6th January.

22nd November 2013

Monday, November 25th, 2013

Blue Friday

We dressed in blue today to mark anti-bullying week. The slogan for the week has been: ‘the future is ours, safe and fun connected’. Throughout the week children have been working on team games, working with others activities and special golden time activities. Hove museum loaned a box of blue artifacts to the school which has been used by the younger children to explore and talk about bullying issues.OTG

Book Fair

There will be a book fair in school from Monday 25th – Thursday 28th November. Do come along between 3.05 and 3.45 and do a bit of Christmas shopping. We get 100% commission which is all spent on new books for our library and book corners.

PTA Festive Fayre

Date for you diary: PTA Festive Fayre – Wednesday 4 December after school. Come and enjoy Christmas crafts, winter BBQ, tombola, games and much much more. Including of course Santa’s Grotto! It’s all in a great cause – this year we’re raising money for 500+ books for the school library.
We need your donations for the fayre to the school office of: wine, unwanted, unused gifts, sweets/chocolates (no nuts please).
Mrs McGeachen would like donations of good quality and good condition second hand novels for a stall she will be running at the Fayre. All proceeds will go towards buying new books for the school.

E Safety

A message from Annie-Mae’s mum, year 2: a colleague has just written a book called  ‘From One Parent to Another’ offering tips for parents to help keep their family safe in the digital world. Please go to http://www.avg.com/ebooks/one-parent-to-another#.UoyV18TIYkE to get the free download.  It’s brand new and is a hands-on practical guide and discussion of the challenges parents of all ages are facing in today’s digital world.  Especially useful for those parents thinking of buying internet connected devices for presents over the next few weeks!

Anti Bullying Junction Box

You may have noticed the junction box against the school wall in Middle Street which has been decorated to raise awareness of on-line bullying. A group of children aged 12 – 14 were supported by Safety Net staff in exploring the impact of online bullying and why someone might become an online bully. The children created some key messages, tips and strategies and with help of artist Daryl Bennett they designed images to bring the messages to life.

Maths Workshops

Parents are invited to come to school for the afternoon on Wednesday 27th November to attend a maths workshop. This is an opportunity for you to be shown, by the children, the calculation strategies they learn throughout KS2. You will receive a letter with further information about this afternoon.

Middle Street Football

Our football team played really well this week against St Margaret’s Primary. They were defeated by 6 – 2 games but were pleased with how they had played. The next match is tonight against St Bernadettes primary. Good luck team! Next week they will play against St John the Baptist primary.

Typhoon Haiyan Appeal

Please come and join Christina Williams and Christian and Charlie on Tuesday 26th November in the afternoon for a ‘bake sale’. The bake sale will take place in the school foyer to raise funds for families in the Philippines affected by the recent devastating typhoon. Your generosity and donations will be very much appreciated by  those families and will help with providing life saving aid and the rebuilding of homes for those who have lost everything.

Volunteer for Nursery

Mrs Denyer is hoping there is a parent or carer who would like to regularly volunteer to help in our nursery on a Thursday and Friday. Do let the office know if you would like to do this. Mrs Denyer would love to hear from you.

Free School Meals

If you are eligible for free school meals could I encourage you to take a few minutes to sign up for them. Please do so even if you don’t take up the offer of a school dinner. The number of free school meals directly affects our budget and, as we are finding the school budget very uncomfortably tight, every little helps. So please help if you can by carrying out this small task. The online link is: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/onlinefreeschoolmeals

Teaching Assistant Celebration Day

Next Friday is the time to show your appreciation of the teaching assistants here at Middle Street. You will be aware of all their hard work in supporting our children with their learning and their happiness and well-being. In addition TAs carry out many other tasks often in their own time to make Middle Street the fabulous school it is. At the moment there is the suggestion in the world of education that TAs are not necessary and have little impact on outcomes for our young people. We know that is not true so please show your support by taking the time to say a simple thank you to our wonderful TAs next Friday (or on any day you wish). I really do not know what we would do without them!

On-Time Teds

This week’s Key Stage 1 winners are Year 1 and in Key Stage 2 the winners are Year 6. Well done to both classes for being on time for school!

Christmas Break

The term ends on Friday 20th December for the Christmas break. Children return to school on Monday 6th January.

15th November 2013

Monday, November 18th, 2013

Anti-Bullying Week

Next week is Anti-Bullying Week. The focus is ‘The Future is Ours, Safe, Fun and Connected.’ Throughout the week the children will be taught co-operative skills through ‘Working With Others’ activities and through playing team games. We will also be talking about e-safety. Next Friday we will all wear blue to raise awareness of bullying and to show our commitment to working together to stop bullying.

If you are interested in knowing more about the anti-bullying campaign you can visit www.antibullyingweek.co.uk

Fire Engine Visit

The Nursery had an exciting and informative visit from the Fire Brigade yesterday. The children enjoyed exploring the Fire Engine and learnt about fire safety. Our Reception children are looking forward to experiencing this next week.

Maths Specialist

Year 4 was very lucky to have an expert maths teacher teach a special maths lesson today. A number of teachers from other schools came to watch the lesson.

Maths Workshops

Parents are invited to come to school for the afternoon on Wednesday the 27th of November to attend a maths workshop. This is an opportunity for you to be shown, by the children, the calculation strategies they learn throughout Key Stage 2. You will receive a letter with further information about this afternoon.

Football Matches

We have 2 football matches next week. On Tuesday Middle Street play against St Margaret’s and on Friday we are playing St Bernadette’s.

Good luck team!

Book Fair

There will be a book fair in school from Monday the 25th to Thursday the 28th of November.

On-Time Teds

This week’s Key Stage 1 winners are Year 1 and Reception and in Key Stage 2 the winners are Year 5. Well done to both classes for being on time for school!

Christmas Shows

Our Christmas Shows take place on Thursday the 12th of December at the Sallis Benny theatre. The performance times will be different to previous years and will not be as written in the Friday News last week. Both performances will be in the afternoon so do make sure you have the date in your diary. We will confirm the times of the shows next week.

Christmas Break

The term ends on Friday the 20th of December for the Christmas break. Children return to school on Monday the 6th of January.

8th November 2013

Friday, November 8th, 2013

Diwali Celebrations

Middle Street children celebrated Diwali yesterday. We were very lucky to have a group of parents who organised the day for us and provided food and lots of activities to celebrate this special occasion. The parents of Prian, Hannah and Kian planned and organised the day for us and were helped by a group of volunteers; Finley’s mum, Cole’s mum and Daisy’s mum. There was special delicious food, welcoming  Rangoli patterns created, Mehndi hand patterns and Indian clothes to wear. It all looked amazing. Thank you so much to all the parents for the wonderful day. You are what makes Middle Street such a fabulous school and community to be a part of!

MP Enjoys School Dinner

Caroline Lucas M.P joined children for lunch yesterday as part of National School Meals week. Caroline enjoyed one of our delicious school lunches and chatted to the children. You can see the photos in today’s Argus.

Eliot’s Poem

Eliot in Year 5 wrote a poem in school last year and entered into the Ledbury Poetry Competition. I am delighted to say that he was recommended in his age range. Well done Eliot! The poem is printed at the end of the Friday News for you to read. The website link for the competition is http://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/poetry-competition.html

Learning Superstars

We have changed our celebration certificates which we award in Fridays assembly. The certificates are now ‘Learning Superstar Awards’. The children in the class make suggestions to the teacher as to who should receive an award and why. The teacher makes the final decision and the awards are still a surprise to the children when they are read out in assembly. The focus is very much on learning and the language used is language for learning. So the awards will be for example for concentration, perseverance, rising to a challenge, overcoming a difficulty etc. You will be hearing more from the school in the future on the work we are doing around language for learning and how you can help at home in developing your child’s ability to evaluate and reflect on their learning and the development of a growth mindset. If you are interested in doing a bit of reading you might like to read: ‘Mindset’ by Carol Dweck.

Individual Photographs

The school photographer will be in on Friday 15th November to take photographs of individual children and family groups. Don’t forget to wear your best clothes and brush your hair!

Christmas Shows

Our Christmas Shows take place on Thursday 12th December at the Sallis Benny theatre. The infants’ performance is at 1.15 and the juniors’ takes place at 2.15. So do make sure you have the date in your diary.

On-Time Teds

This week’s Key Stage 1 winners are Year 1 and in Key Stage 2 the winners are Year 6. Both classes had zero late marks! Well done to both classes for being on time for school!

Government Changes to SEN

Do you want to know more about the proposed changes to special needs in schools? Are you confused by the various terms and want to know more? Well help is at hand as you are warmly invited to a workshop on 14th November at the Brighthelm Centre at 10.00 till 2.00. Staff from the Local Health and Social Care and Amaze will explain more about the proposed changes and answer you questions. Lunch is provided. Email: debbie@amazebrighton.org.uk

Or phone the Amaze helpline on 01273 772289.

Christmas Break

The term ends on Friday 20th December for the Christmas break. Children return to school on Monday 6th January.

 

Eliot’s Poem

 

Black

Black is a panther.

Black is ashes from a fire

and blackberries you find when trying to hide,

Black is darkness and silence after a choir.

 

Black is a cave
with a sound that was never there.

Black is a demon
that will give a scare.

Black is a feeling

that you get when you’re confused or scared.

Like when your
enemy suddenly cared.