Is the big bad mouse heavier than the Gruffalo’s child?  The children used a bucket balance ‘seesaw’ to compare the weights of the different characters.  They were so good at this that they were challenged to predict the results by pretending to be the balance before checking. 

Wow!  We are fabulous at using positional language; on, in, beside, next to, in front of, behind, above, below, under and beneath.  Can you describe the position of the penguins?

In Maths this week we have been exploring shapes and measurements. We have been recognising the properties of shapes and exploring the new terms ‘height’ and ‘length’. We ordered cubes by height ‘tallest’ to ‘shortest’ and investigated the comparison words ‘longest, longer and shortest’, through cutting different lengths of string. 

Ofsted: This school continues to be good 
This is the second Ofsted inspection in my role as Headteacher of LHPSN and I am delighted to share the latest report with you. It reflects the wonderful ethos, achievements and successes of the whole school community. Thank you everyone for your united efforts to ensure our children can dream, believe and achieve their very best. Here are some highlights from LHPSN’s Ofsted report (December 2018) which recognises and celebrates:

‘a carefully nurtured a staff who give high priority to developing pupils’ well-being and happiness as well as their academic success.’

Pupils who ‘clearly enjoy teachers’ carefully planned lessons which inspire pupils’ interest and imagination.’

‘Teaching assistants (who) are skilled in providing,substantial,well informed support for pupils.’

‘Pastoral staff (who) know individual families well and provide considerable support for both the adults and pupils involved.’ 

‘a united team of staff, pupils and governors who exemplify your current school values.’

‘All staff and governors convey a strong commitment to pupils’ safety and well-being.’

‘…..pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well.’

‘Pupils in the resource base ….follow carefully designed learning sessions and go on to make good progress…’

The full report can be found on the school website and in your Parentmail email inbox. 

On behalf of the staff and governors at Lickey Hills Primary School and Nursery, I wish you all a very merry Christmas break and look forward to welcoming you back to LHPSN on Tuesday 8th January 2019. Very best seasonal wishes, Miss Salisbury

The KS2 garden is really starting to take shape now, with most of the hard landscaping now complete. Over 2019, the children will be growing, propagating and planting out the plants to create a quiet retreat for break times as well as it being a space available for outdoor learning. 

Meanwhile, in the wildlife garden, we have sown wild flowers with the aim of creating a small meadow to benefit pollinators such as butterflies and bees. Hopefully, the seed will take and the children will have a new habitat to explore in the summer term.

Take a look at our super clauses we have been writing for our non-chronological reports. In literacy we are working towards creating non-chronological reports about different animals that are indigenous to Australia. 

We had the most amazing week at PGL! Last Friday, we all got together as a year group to share our favourite parts. Here are a few of our highlights…

Year 1 enjoyed exploring the wood area and they used different adjectives to describe the things they saw, hear and felt. 

British parasport rower and former wheelchair athlete Lauren Rowles, former pupil of the school, spoke to the children in a special assembly.
She shared her story from being a sports mad able-bodied young girl to becoming a celebrated Paralympic Gold medalist and MBE.
Teacher Dave Weston, who used to teach Lauren and organised the visit, said: “The children were captivated by Lauren’s story and were inspired by her attitude and ambition.

“Lauren is a perfect example of our school values of perseverance, positivity and determination. To have gone through what she went through at such a young age and then achieve Paralympic Gold and become an MBE inspired both the children and the staff.” He added: “The staff and children are still talking about her assembly now and we cannot wait to see what Lauren goes on to achieve next.”