Welcome back to you all, I hope you had a wonderful Easter break, although it does seem a while ago now...!

Upon your return, you may have noticed a fresh batch of the most beautiful bedding flowers and olive trees dotted around the school. Once again, we have been very lucky to have been gifted these from The Flower Stand Battersea. The children are looking forward to getting these planted for all to enjoy. A big thank you to Mr and Mrs Shaw for your very generous donations :-)

Coronation Celebration

Next Friday, as a school we will all be celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III. We have lots of exciting things planned, and the children are invited to wear their party clothes for the celebrations.

If the weather is fine on the day, we are hoping to take the children onto the village green to have their picnic lunch, and we welcome parents to join us from 12.15pm. However, if the weather doesn't play ball we do have a back-up plan in the school hall for the children only. We will keep you updated!

Mindfulness

This month, our Year 6 students have begun a six-week Mindfulness for Ninjas course, led by Tosh Brittan, a Mindfulness, Resilience & Wellbeing coach. The course is designed to empower them to connect more to themselves through practices such as belly breathing, mindful eating and the body scan.

They will look at ways to manage worries and fears around friendships and change, how they show up for others and how they trust themselves more when they are challenged.

Finally, they will have a session focussing on all that they are rather than all that they are not, so they can grow their confidence moving forwards.

Bikeability

On Thursday, 20^th April, Swallows class took part in Bikeability Level 1. Report below by Huw in Year 4. 

Firstly, we started with the basics. We tested the bike and saw whether it was fit to ride. We tested the tyre pressure and the handle bars to see whether they were loose. After that, we started riding our bike around. We learnt how to use your vision and look over your traffic shoulder. Additionally, we did some signalling to indicate a turn.

After a break, we continued with bike aerobics. It was great fun!

We had a good morning of learning and I felt we came out better prepared than when we came in.

Swimming

Thursday saw the Robins undertaking their first swimming session at The Herons. The children were madly enthused about going – simply arriving at the leisure centre was greeted by the children as though it was their birthday AND Christmas Day at the same time, so you can imagine what they were like when able to swim with their friends.

Even though there were some nerves to begin with, every child gave the swimming a really good go and all came out smiling and talking excitedly about what they had just experienced. This week they were assessed by the swimming instructors and sorted into groups, which they will swim in from next week. A brilliant first session for the class and lots of memories already made!

Feet First

This week, Kingfishers took part in road safety training called ‘Feet First’.

After some lessons in class we got to spend some time outside of school putting it all into practice.

The trainer talked us through safe places to cross, what to check for and also explained to us the meanings behind the different signs and in particular what their shapes represent.

We all definitely learnt something new. We would recommend it to others!

Report by Isabella and Jemima, Year 3

Earth Day

On Tuesday, the whole school marked Earth Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring action to tackle the various environmental challenges facing our planet. The children really got stuck into learning about how they can make a difference to the world around us. 

Each class had a particular focus e.g. plastic pollution, water pollution, litter and climate change.

All children made thoughtful and considerate contributions, demonstrating how passionate they are about protecting our planet and providing a better future for generations to come. 

Here are just some examples of work completed by each class...

Swifts Growing Their Own

The Year 5 classroom has just welcomed a futuristic addition - an Aeroponic Tower Garden. This vertical gardening system is a sustainable way to grow leafy greens and healthy herbs all year round without the need for soil, pesticides, and plastic salad bags.

One of the other benefits of using the Aeroponic Tower Garden is that it uses up to 90% less water than conventionally grown food, making it a more environmentally friendly option. Moreover, the produce also grows three times faster, which means we'll soon be inundated with fresh produce! 

Turkey and Syria Appeal

Once again thank you to everyone who donated to raise money for the Turkey - Syria Earthquake Appeal. We are delighted to announce we have raised £686.21 which has gone to the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Thank you to our School Ambassadors (plus Layla and Tessa) for taking the lead on this- a perfect example of our school values of love and kindness in action. 

Sponsored Read

Before Easter, some of our children took part in a sponsored reading challenge, managing to raise over £200 for new library books.

Congratulations to Rose, Jacob, Ivy, Maxi and Ava, our top fundraisers!

Good attendance is not just valuable, it's essential. Good attendance promotes good outcomes for pupils and provides them with the very best opportunity to reach their potential.

Each term, we track the attendance for each child and classes as a whole. Percentage attendance figures for April are:

A football first for Key Stage 2

Huge congratulations to our Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 girls who took part in their very first football tournament this week.

Their lack of prior experience was eclipsed by their super team spirit, enthusiasm and perseverance! We are all very proud of them.

Hosting a party? 

Don't forget you can hire our school hall for your parties, events or clubs. It's available after school, at weekends and during the school holidays.

To find out more please contact Mrs Simpson, our School Business Manager, on sbm@grayswood.surrey.sch.uk

Swallows' Class Fundraiser: "Guess the weight of the Crown" - win a celebration hamper for the family!

Make a guess for £1 on Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th May after school in the playground. Winner announced on Friday 6th, so they can take home their prize at pick up, ready for the bank holiday.weekend.

Good luck everyone!

Tickets available to book for the Glow Disco

You have until Monday 1st of May to book tickets for the Robin's class fundraiser, the Glow Disco

More details can be found here

Congratulations to Ron De Cort who is the lucky winner of the March draw of the Frogs Lotto!

The FROGS Lotto’ provides Grayswood families and friends with a simple and fun way of supporting our School. For as little as £2.50 per month, you can be entered into a monthly draw, giving you the chance to win up to £50. The more members, the more money to give to the school and the bigger the prize for the monthly winner!

You have to be in it to win it, so please complete the simple online form here

Alternatively you can email us at grayswoodfrogs@gmail.com.