Week Commencing: 23 May2016

St Michael’s Academy Bulletin

The Week Ahead
Lower School / Upper School

Health Week
26th Meals for w/c 6 June need to be ordered and paid for.
27th Celebration Assembly 1.30pm

Health Week
26th Meals for w/c 6 June need to be ordered and paid for.
27th London Trip payment in full
27th Celebration Assembly 2.30pm

Staffing
I would like to take the opportunity to inform you of some staffing changes for September. Mr Sam Davies and Mr James Bisgrove will both be leaving us at the end of this term for new teaching posts nearer to home. Both James and Sam have given an enormous amount to the children in the time they have been at St. Michael’s and we will miss them enormously. However, a new opportunity has arisen for them and they have grasped it. On behalf of the whole school community we would like to thank them for all they have done, and wish them well for the future.
Swimming
As a reminder, all buses and classes walking leave for swimming at 8.30am. Can you please ensure your children are in on time? If your child is not swimming can you please ring into the school and let the office know and they need to be back in school at 10am. Thank you for your co-operation.
London Residential
The payment for the year 6 residential trip to London needs to be paid in full by 27 May 2016. We currently have £2,000.00 outstanding for this trip. If payment in full is not made by 27 May then this trip will be cancelled as the academy does not have the money available to cover any shortfall.
This is a matter of some urgency,several children have not returned their medical form or behaviour contract, and whilst London may seem a long way off, it is actually only 6 school days. If your child has lost theirs either you or your child must come in and ask for one from the office.
THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR LONDON WILL BE GIVEN OUT ON MONDAY, 6 JUNE
Year 5 Octagon Theatre

On Tuesday 7th June the year 5 children will be visiting the Octagon Theatre to watch a performance of "Little Red Riding Hood" performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra. This is a very exciting opportunity, I'm sure the children will enjoy it immensely.
There will be no cost for this visit. We will be leaving school at approximately 11:45 am and will return to school before the end of the school day. The children will be having an early lunch.
Health Week – Week Commencing 23 May 2016
For the duration of health week the children can come to school in their PE Kit as during the week there will be lots of activities.
Hair Cuts
Can we ask you not to send your child/ren in to school with a haircut which is lower than a Grade 3 please? I have included an extract from our school prospectus to remind you. Many thanks for your cooperation with this.
Y3 Woodlands Trip
As part of the year 3 'mountains' topic this term we have arranged a trip to Woodland Adventures near Bath due to all ofyour support.
ROSEN CLASS
Tuesday, 28 June / DKS CLASS
Monday ,4 July / COLE CLASS
Tuesday, 5 July
The children will spend the day talking about survival and participating in team building activities such as den building and fire building. For the trip children will need a packed lunch and suitable clothing; old clothes and trainersthat can get a bitmuddy, please also bring a raincoat in case of bad weather. A packed lunch will be provided for those who are in receipt of Free School Meals.
Please make sure on the day your child is going that they come into school at 8:15amso they areready to leave at 8:30am. We will be returning to school at approximately 3:45pm for the children be picked up. The cost of the trip is £22 however if your child is in receipt of free school meals/pupil premium then this trip can be covered by your funding.
Please complete and return the attached slip by 17 June 2016. We are aware that this trip is a lot of money and if we do not receive enough payments these trips will be cancelled.
What’s Been Happening in …………..COLE CLASS
This week in Cole class we have been learning about fractions! We have learnt that a fraction is a part of a whole and that some fractions can have the same value e.g. 1/2 and 2/4. Luckily there was a birthday this week so we had to cut up a cake into 24/24 helping proving that we use maths all the time! After that we learnt how to add fractions with the same denominator and thencompare and order them by size.
A highlight in Cole class this week was our Science lesson. In Science we are learning about rocks because our topic is mountains. This week we had to learn about the differences between rocks, we learnt how sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks are formed and then put our knowledge of this to the test!In order to do this we tested different types of rock for hardness, we tested: Granite, Chalk, Limestone, Felspar, Quartz, a fossilisedAmmonite (in Limestone), Basalt and Slate. In order to do this we conducted a scratch test using an iron nail, a finger nail and a paperclip. We had to put a tick in our table next to the name of the rock if it made a visible scratch using the three tools. We found that rocks such as granite wouldn't scratch, however some rocks like Chalk and the Ammonite did scratch even with our finger nails! As a class we concluded that sedimentary rocks (e.g. chalk, limestone) must be the softest type of rock as they are formed over millions of years from bits of animals, plant, sand and clay. They are made of lots of different layers and therefore 'bitty' so we were able to scratch them with our finger nails.
Finally In Literacy we have been developing our stamina for writing by doing some extended writing activities this week using a story starter to help us. The pupils have said "I love writing stories becauseit's fun!"
Year 6 Crealy Reward Trip
As a reward for all the hard work they have put in while they have been at this school, a trip has been organised for the year 6s to Crealy on Friday, 15 July 2016
The cost for this trip is £16 per child. If your child is a Service Child or eligible for free school meals then funding is available through Pupil Premium Funding.
For those children who normally have the cooked free school meals at school, a packed lunch will be supplied, but for those who normally have a packed lunch or pay for their school lunches you need to bring a packed lunch in a disposable bag for the day.
Timings: Leave school at 09:00 to arrive back at St Michael’s Academy at approximately 17:00
NO CHILD CAN PARTICIPATE ON THIS TRIP WITHOUT A COMPLETED AND RETURNED PERMISSION SLIP AND PAYMENT.
NEW SCHOOL MEAL MENU
The new Summer Menu and up-dated allergen information is available on the school website.
under Admissions then Menu on the drop down list. The new menu comes into effect upon our return to school on Monday, 6 June.

For those who pay for school meals and require them after half term they need to be ordered and paid for by Thursday, 26 May. Then back to paying on Mondays (6 June) for the following week (13 June) and every Monday thereafter.
RETURN TO SCHOOL – MONDAY 6 JUNE 2016
The end of term house point winners will be announced after we return to school in June and a date set for their non-uniform day reward.

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Year 3 Woodlands Trip

I give permission for my child: ______to take part in the Woodlands Trip with their class on the date below: (Please tick box)

 ROSEN CLASS
Tuesday, 28 June /  DKS CLASS
Monday ,4 July /  COLE CLASS
Tuesday, 5 July

I enclose:

 £22.00 to cover the cost of this trip

 I would like to claim FSM/Pupil Premium/Service Child Funding for this trip.

Signed: ______Date: ______

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Year 6 Reward Trip to Crealy - Friday, 15 July 2016

I give permission for my child: ______in ______Class to participate in the reward trip to Crealy.

(Please tick applicable boxes)

 I enclose £16.00 to pay for the trip

 I would like to claim funding for my child via Pupil Premium/Service Child Funding being available

 I would like a packed lunch to be provided as my child normally has Free School Meals at school.

 I will provide a packed lunch for my child in a disposable bag.

 I will collect my child at 5pm

 I give permission for child to walk home alone.

Date:______Signed: ______