NEWSLETTER
SUMMER
Week 6
The end of a great half-term!
We hope you are enjoying a week in the (occasional) sunshine during our half-term break. Here is your fortnightly update on all that our students have been learning and experiencing over the past two weeks. Use the buttons to jump to each year group and don't forget to explore the community noticeboard for information on local events and services.
We look forward to hearing how you have been spending your time off and have provided some tips for those preparing for exams in our Year 11 update.
Dates for your diary
Take note of these upcoming events and visit the parent's calendar to see an overview for the term...
Remember:
Y1 trip to Natural History Museum - Thursday 6th June
YR Parent Information Event - Wednesday 12th June at 9:15-10am and 2:15-3:00pm
Y5 watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Monday 17th June 1:15pm
Primary
Early Years - Key Stage 2
Primary spotlight on...
Phase 2 Enrichment!
Students in Phase 2 have been participating in some amazing enrichment activities over the past few weeks. Some of the activities we have explored are ultimate frisbee, stand-up comedy club, painting and musical theatre. We are excited to continue with these great activities throughout the remainder of the summer term.
Here are some of the best bits:
Nursery
This term we have been learning about things that grow and their life cycles: animals, people and plants. We have been watching caterpillars grow and form their cocoons. Hopefully they will turn into butterflies soon! We are developing our knowledge of patterns and symmetry by designing our own colourful butterflies.
We have also been busy completing one of our Big Goals. In the Saplings, this has been to grow a sunflower and, in the Seedlings, to grow cress. We are developing motor skills, sensory exploration and a sense of responsibility and accomplishment. We have been able to observe our plants’ progress and increase the skill of patience while we wait for them to grow.
A request from Nursery to support our learning:
Please could you send in any clean recycling. For example: yoghurt pots, toilet rolls and small cardboard boxes.
Literacy
We are continuing to learn about habitats. Last week we began the story 'Pongo' by Jesse Hodgson. Pongo is an orangutan that lives in the rainforest, the trees in the rainforest are very tall. Pongo encountered other rainforest dwellers whilst searching for the sun. We have been retelling the story by stepping it out and this week we are innovating some of the characters in the story.
Maths
For the past two weeks, we have been learning about money. We have been exploring making different amounts of money using 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p coins.
Practise at home:
You can practise making different amounts of money by creating a pretend shop at home and encouraging your child to pay for these items using 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p.
Year 1
Maths
In Maths this week we have been learning about money. We have had fun exchanging money for items. Children have learnt the value of coins and notes. We learnt how to calculate what change we will receive when we buy something with £1. Ask your children the value of items when you go shopping. Remember to practise numbots and your number bonds to 10 and 20.
Writing
In Writing, the children have excelled in learning about what a biography is and writing their own about the activist, Malala Yousafzai. Children were able to split their writing up using subheadings including: Early Life, Mind-blowing moments and Amazing achievements. We have now started planning for our independent write for this unit where children will write a biography by themselves about the activist, Mahatma Gandhi. This piece of writing will show off their skills using subordinating conjunctions and ellipses to create suspense!
RE and Science
It has been an incredibly busy couple of weeks in Year 2. As part of Reach's curriculum offer we teach the 5 major religions and the pupils always have a visit or a trip related to their religious education topic. Last term, Year 2 learned about Judaism so we had a visit from a Rabbi to answer all the children’s questions about the topic. We were also visited by a mobile planetarium where children were taken on a wonderful journey across the Solar System!
Maths
In Maths, we have been recapping our arithmetic strategies that we have learnt this year, practising addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, as well as finding fractions of a number and an amount. Next term, we will finish off the Y2 curriculum by studying measures (mass, capacity and temperature, 3-digit numbers and the 3 and 4 timestables).
Before this unit, it is of absolute importance that children start to build up fluency with recalling these facts. The children should be using TimesTable Rockstars to practise.
History
In History, we are coming to the end of our exciting unit learning about the Ancient Egyptians! Children have been focusing on understanding who the most significant Pharaohs were and how Ancient Egypt came to an end. Y2 were shocked to learn that the most famous Pharaoh, Tutankhamun, came to power at the age of 9 - it made them wonder how they would feel if they were in charge of a country when they are in Year 4…
Science
In Science, we have learnt about the importance of hygiene and the things we can do to be hygienic. During this lesson, we learnt about Florence Nightingale and her contributions to improve hygiene in hospitals.
A recommended read for Year 2!
Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are is a story that shows children's resilience through their 'spirit' and 'pluck'. Max is able to stand up to the Wild Things with their 'terrible teeth' and 'terrible claws' using 'the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once'.
We have had an amazing 1st Summer term in Year 3. The children have worked incredibly hard and we are so proud of them!
Art
In Art this term, the children have been working hard to create their own kente cloth. Kente cloth refers to a Ghanaian textile made of hand-woven strips of silk and cotton. Historically the fabric was worn in a toga-like fashion by royalty among the Ewe and Akan. The children created their own kente cloth out of card. Please see pictures below of their amazing pieces of art:
.jpg?width=2000&height=1500&name=Year%203%20Kente%20cloth%20(1).jpg "Year 3 Kente cloth (1)")
Music
In Music this term, the children have loved learning the song ‘Mamma Mia’ from the musical ‘Mamma Mia’. This musical is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA. Please see pictures of Lemon class performing below.
History
The children have loved learning about Roman Britain in History this term. They have been learning all about how the Romans conquered Britain and how Boudicca led a revolt against the Romans and defeated the Romans in several battles. To test your child’s knowledge at home, please ask them to retell you the myth of Romulus and Remus.
Writing
In Year 4, the children have produced amazing stories about their own twist on Aladdin, whereby a child finds a magical object in modern day that does something. We were SO impressed with their writing and are so proud with how they worked on these pieces. See some amazing pieces below:
Maths
Additionally, the Year 4 children are working hard preparing for the National Multiplication Test, which takes place in the first week back after half term. We are so proud of their hard work, coming in every morning and practising their flashcards with their teammates. Special shoutouts to: Idiris, Toby, Roby, Samruddh, Parisha, Charlotte and Aryan for being on Times Tables Rock Stars every day during the past two weeks, keep up the amazing work!
Computing
In Computing, we have also been creating our own stop motion animations! We have done this using an app called ‘stop motion’ to record different frames of objects changing over time. Check out some of our creations here!
Year 6
End of exams
Congratulations to all of our Year 6 pupils who finished their KS2 SATs exams last week. We had a lovely afternoon playing games on the Secondary playground, decorating biscuits and painting pictures of our Cracking Contraptions using the watercolours.
Here are some photographs of our pupils with their spectacular Cracking Contraption explanation texts.
Writing
This week, pupils have been busy preparing their writing portfolios. Over the next few weeks we will be writing the following text types:
- a short story
- a thank you letter to the Gurdwara
- a set of instructions based on a delicious recipe
- an information text based on a subject of their choice
Homework
Homework will be set on Google Classroom and will involve publishing writing, planning or generating ambitious vocabulary to use in writing.
Secondary
Key stage 3 & 4
Attendance
We have been celebrating success across Year 7 as a number of students in the last 2 weeks have achieved a fantastic 100% attendance. Jordan won the attendance certificate this week and Payslip Hero Hajerah earned over 200 points!
Team Don, congratulations on becoming the Attendance Champions of Year 7 for the second time running. Team Tyne it's yours for the taking after half term!
Headteachers’ lunch
The Headteachers lunch invitation goes to Charlie K in Don class.
Charlie K is a true year 7 scholar who is a student that prides himself as hardworking, doing the right thing and being that exceptional role model to his peers. Charlie is highly respected amongst his peers and teachers. Well done Charlie - well deserved!
Shout Outs!
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Tom P: S/O to Tyne. Some really promising initial planning for the mid cycle which will set them up so well for success.
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Lily H: SO to team Don today for a fabulous lesson, lots of courage and great endeavour. A special SO to Joelle, Krish, Tyerell and Amelia S 👏.
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Chloe V: SO to team Tyne and Don for some great Spanish recall and linking previous knowledge to new concepts!
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Chloe V: SO to Team Don for Reflect, they did fantastic in their lesson and aspired to do better improving their Reach score each time. Special SO to Joelle for Reflect and Nelab for Aspire, such fantastic work and routines!
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Tom P: S/O to 7Tyne for a really focused double English lesson today - impossible to pick any specific students for praise, they were all Heads of the River!
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Kit: SO to spreadsheets legends Asil, Nelab, Waqas, Zakariya, Bhavvya who were very engaged and focused on our activities using Google Sheets!
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Louis: SO to 7 Tyne in RE. Paris head of the river for Endeavour both in written work and verbally. Also Asma, Charlie, Mia and Na’shawn were excellent!
Extra curricular activities
We have a large number of students who take part in a wide range of activities in their spare time from football to dance classes to Sea and Air Cadets and even competing in boxing competitions. We would love to share more on the activities your child/ren do outside of school so feel free to contact HoY7 with some photos to share in the next newsletter.
Shout-outs!
- Izzy: Huge SO to Thames, excellent lesson with some big reflection from team members like Varunan, Xavier, Ayaan. Also when circulating during the do now every student had perfect presentation and got themselves a merit, strong start to the week!
- Elly: SO to Thames for my favourite lesson of the year so far with them today - SO to Carlos for reflecting on how he wants to better his digital footprint by removing the videos of him dancing when he was younger.
- Chloe.S: Shout out to Team Thames - such maturity and enthusiasm when preparing for their French presentations in a francophone country!
- Kit: SO to Team Leam- it was amazing to see their confidence in maths applied to computer science today! 🌟
- Lily: 8 Leam were delightful in English, some exceptional acting from Harlow, Max, Alan, DJ, Yara, Logan, Ezaan.
- Elly: Leam were a joy today - Excellent contributions from Willow, Max, Ezaan and Logan all about their digital footprint 🖥️
- Chloe.V: Massive SO to Leam, they all wrote a fantastic paragraph by the end of the lesson, so outstanding work from Lily, Ishaan, Yara and Sharun and some really amazing work produced from Logan who has shown such great work recently in French lesson!
- Elly: SO to Thames for fantastic contributions in Team Reach today - Bertie HOTR and thoughtful responses from Daisy, Catlynn, Esther, Carlos and Tyler.
- Kit: SO to Anvita who was HOTR for science today- she gave great contributions and endeavoured throughout! Also bonus SOs to Hannah and Austas who had such depth of knowledge about environmental issues.
- Kit: For comp sci today- Elias, Nihanya, Bikal, Lorenzo, Zulaykha, and so many more were on it with doing binary calculations! Maths knowledge applied IN ACTION! 🌟
- Lily: SO to Tyler for HOTR in English today, so kind and helpful
- Shiv: SO to Team Thames for such enthusiasm in wanting to answer all questions in maths #aspire
- Kit: SO to all of Thames for fantastic work in Science! Especially Austas, Elias, Sana, Rosie, and Brandon who had fantastic evaluative paragraphs 💗
- Lily: SO to Thames for a delightful double lesson this morning, 5 on the reach score 🌟 Hannah was Head of the River for some really thoughtful responses and questions
- Chloe.S: SO to Anvita who was HOTR for Fre today she showed so much endeavour and her focus was incredible in her new seat. 🌟
- Gareth: SO to both Thames and Leam, fantastic paragraphs written in Science. Credit to humanities for setting them up with the skills to build arguments and express themselves 🙂
- Lily: I had SO MUCH fun with Thames this morning, such good energy reading DNA and their reactions were priceless. Couldn't choose just one HOTR so have given 3 whole class merits (which I never ever do so is a testament to how great they were!) Also special shout out to Anvita who was so respectful and kind letting me know when Ananya needed support ❤️
- Izzy: Same from me! Thames were an absolute delight this morning. I also couldn’t pick HOTR and had to give 3 whole class merits 🤣 they are on fire today
- Waleed: Leam were amazing in English today! A special shoutout to JC, AS, YS, MH, SS, LJ, HA, WJ and ES for having the courage to stand at the front of the classroom and act out DNA!
- Izzy: Special SO for Patryk, every time I mark his book I am so so impressed. His amazing diagrams are so well done!
- Lillian: Thames were fantastic today! We had such a great lesson talking about if women should lead the church. So much maturity and really interesting ideas. Special SO to Anvita, Hannah, Tyler, George and Esther. 🌟⛪
- Anna.V: Shoutout to R-jay, sat with me doing one step equations - super successful!
Year 9
Focusing on our future!
This week, a group of Year 9s had the opportunity to visit Royal Holloway University and meet with the leadership team. They were excellent representatives for Reach Academy and gave great responses to the senior leadership team and also asked some appropriately provoking and interesting questions of their own!
Here are some of their reflections on the visit:
- Pupils didn't realise there were so many different options of study and pathways when you came to university and found it really interesting to learn about that
- The tour was really engaging and the student ambassadors were excellent
- Students appreciated having the opportunity to talk directly to senior leaders at the university and felt they were ‘attentive and thorough’
- Students really liked the fact there is a history behind the university and enjoyed learning about this on the tour
- Students liked hearing about a 'day in the life' of students
- They appreciated the senior leaders who shared their personal journeys/career paths - they found it fascinating
- Students enjoyed having opportunities for general networking with staff and students
A recommended read for Year 9!
Pigeon English is the debut novel by English author Stephen Kelman. It is told from the point of view of Harrison Opoku, an eleven-year-old Ghanaian immigrant living on a tough London estate. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2011.
.jpg "Y9 Recommended Read Pigeon_English_(Kelman_novel)")
Shout outs:
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Ryme - English - SO to Ribble - they remind me everyday how smart they are and how joyous it is to teach them ❤️
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Anna V - Cam Form Tutor - HUGE shoutout to cam - just had the most joyous lesson teaching them!!!
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Chloe V - French - SO to Ribble for some great work using the conditional in French and learning techniques that can be useful in languages
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Ben - PE - Shout out to year 9 in PE today playing badminton, in particular Lexie, Sara Akshayah and Valli Sala
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Jonny - Form Tutor - Shout out to Ribble; equipment, planners and blazers come a long way over the last few weeks!
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Kit - Computer Science - SO to Ahmed and Mohamed who were competing for the most merits in Comp Sci today! Bonus SOs to Ashleen, Nicole, and Eshan for some great answers.
June mini mocks
Year 10 have one month until their mini mocks which take place over Week 8/9 (Mon 10th June). Most of the exams take place during Week 9, a full timetable will be released closer to the date. All students will be off timetable during Week 9 to accommodate the exams and to carry out independent study.
All students have been given a revision timetable which they have been filling out during form time (example below). Please encourage them to show you their timetable to help hold them accountable for revision. There are many resources made available to them on Google Classroom which they have been shown.
As a parent you can help them prepare for these exams in the following ways:
- Check in on their timetable and encourage them to do lots of short bursts of revision
- Make sure they are getting enough sleep and relaxing whilst not revising
- Checking in with them to help them manage stress in the build up to Week 8/9
Celebrating our frontier cohort
Y11 are now thoroughly into exams, with 2 weeks to go after the half-term break. We are incredibly proud of all of their efforts! We waved them off this Friday after their celebration event, with lots of memories of their first few years at Reach as our frontier cohort.
Exam prep and information
We are not at the finish line yet! They will be back in school on Monday 3rd for another full week of exams, with some study leave starting the week after depending on what subjects they are taking. The Exit Timetable below:
I also wanted to give you a reminder of what you can do to support your child with revision:
Ways to support revision at home
Getting enough sleep
Sleep is an essential element for optimum health, so make sure your child is getting enough rest. Teenagers need a lot of sleep given the huge changes taking place in their bodies – somewhere between eight and ten hours each night. Tempting though it may be for them to revise into the small hours, they will be much better off putting work aside and settling down for an early night. Work backwards! If they have to get up at 7.00 am, then they need to be asleep by 11.00 pm – which probably means being in bed much earlier.
Eating the right food
Food is fuel for the body, so making sure they eat at regular intervals with plenty of healthy ingredients is vital. Try to ensure they have a healthy breakfast before leaving the house (even if it is only cereal), provide a nutritious supper in the evening.
Establishing routine
Routine is important, not only when it comes to creating a revision timetable, but also for homelife in general. People respond well to routine and by creating regular activities at regular times, you are creating your own family rituals and traditions.
Try to set breakfast, dinner, family time, family activities at similar times to create stability and familiarity. It can be difficult when everyone has their own schedule but it is worth having some anchor points throughout the week when you all get together.
Taking breaks
It’s vital for effective study that your child takes regular breaks (both long and short) – without feeling guilty! Creating regular activities at regular times of the day will help your child take breaks from revising as well as improve their time-management skills by having to organise revision around these times.
- Short breaks: When helping them create a revision timetable, ensure they factor in five or ten minute breaks within 30 or 60 minute study sessions. Short bursts of studying produce much better results than long stretches.
- Long breaks: It’s important for them to take time out and do things they enjoy – such as watching a film, being part of their regular sports team, attending a concert, spending time with friends and family. Not only does this give the brain a chance to switch off, refocus and assimilate information, it’s an important way to find an appropriate work-play balance to ensure a productive and happy life in the long term. Try and help them ensure their breaks include a variety of different activities (not just staying in their room watching a Netflix series).
- Taking a day off: From time to time, we all need to take a break. When things get tough, it can sometimes be helpful to step away from the problem and revisit it with a calm mind and renewed outlook rather than struggle on.
.png?width=1380&height=200&name=Feltham%20College%20-%20Primary%20Logo%20(Positive).png "Feltham College - Primary Logo (Positive)")
Royal Holloway University visit
Some of our Year 12 students visited Royal Holloway University this week to meet with their Senior Leadership team. Here's Alyssa, Raniya and Harry helping shape the university's future strategy. The trip was organised by the Reach Foundation.
Exam season is in full swing and we are so proud of our Year 13 Scholars. Here's Same and Caleb looking super smart for their first A level Physics paper - A huge good luck to them all!
Our Year 12 pupils enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Law Firm Linklaters in central London. They experienced a talk from a Managing Partner, some networking activities, a tour of the office and a delicious lunch!
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