Christmas Plays

Monday and Tuesday saw the performances of our two Christmas plays- the infant department performed 'Cat in the Manger', a traditional nativity story adapted from the Michael Morpurgo book, whilst the juniors performed the more contemporary 'Bossy Christmas Fairy'. Both performances were of a very high standard, and it was impressive how quickly and how well the children had mastered all the different skills necessary to put show like this together.
During the break we were entertained by our woodwind players, who have now reached a very good standard. A good number of parents joined us for both performances, and a great afternoon was had by all! Well done and thank you to all involved in these productions.

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Carol Concert at St Alban's

Monday morning saw the whole school involved in a very coldd march up to St Alban's Church for our carol concert- led by our good friend and Chair of Governors Rev. Gary Phillbrick. The church is a magnificent building, and this along with the pipe organ music lent a real sense of occasion to the event. A busy Christmas week in school has begun!

Open on Monday

The weather has improved dramatically over the weekend, so we will be open as usual tomorrow. There is still strong probability of heavy frost, so make sure you wrap up warm and mind your step walking in. Let's hope that we've now had this year's dose of disruptive weather!

Friday Closure

The weather forecast overnight is for exceptionally cold weather (-9 c), given the amount of slush that is going to freeze under those conditions, we will not be able to get enough staff in to operate safely. The forecast for Saturday is for much milder weather, so we are fully optimistic that we will be able to open as usual on Monday.
We apologise for all the inconvenience that this decision will undoubtedly cause, but we hope that in deciding early, it will make it easier to arrange childcare.

Bored?

If you're looking for something to do- all our on-line learning tools are still available:

Click HERE. If EducationCity asks for a login: We are 852Swaythling, password 938282

Click HERE for Purplemash portal (login is same as Studywiz- if you don't know this just go to www.purplemash.com)

 e-city click HERE

We are closed!

Unfortunately, the snow last night was worse than expected,and we can't get enough staff in to operate safely. Update to follow later.

Daisy Dip: Success!

Hearts sank on Tuesday as we learnt that the Daisy Dip bid had missed out in the popular vote to a project in Portsmouth for the 'People's Millions' vote. Friday, however, brought better news- a phone call from Meridian TV asked us to get down to Daisy Dip quickly, and a film crew were there to record the presentation of the cheque for most popular runner-up project.
This is excellent news for the community, bringing about a much needed facility for the area, and the whole process has been highly educational for our children who have been involved throughout- learning that participation in the community brings its own rewards, and that determined people, working together, can bring about real, positive change.

Pictured here are some of the children who worked on the project, along with Mr Cappleman, parent governor and a huge driving force behind the bid. Well done everybody!

Primary maths Challenge

This week some of our gifted and talented mathematicians in Year 5 and Year 6 participated in the Primary Maths Challenge. Ten students completed a set of 25 questions on a variety of maths topics. The top scorers will get certificates in the next sharing assembly. You can try out some of the questions yourself at:   http://www.m-a.org.uk/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=259a

Daisy Dip Project

Last year our Year 5 children (This year's Y6) were involved in a project to improve Daisy Dip- a neglected and underused local area. Today is a very important one for our community- Daisy Dip goes head to head with a Portsmouth project for a £48,000 National Lottery Grant to improve the area for our children and all the local community. Please support this bid if you can!

You can vote, but only until midnight: 0871 626 8861
You can also see the report featuring our children on 'Meridian Tonight'. Fingers crossed!


Update: You can see the report- featuring our children here

Peter Pan

We are working hard to get more live theatre into school, and we recently enjoyed a real treat as our good friends at the M&M Theatre Company took us all on a magical trip to Wonderland by staging their latest spectacular show in our Hall. All classes attended, and if the cheers were anything to judge by, it was greatly enjoyed by everybody- adults and children alike.

Harvest Festival

Tuesday saw our annual Harvest Festival up at St. Alban's Church, led by our good friend and Chair of Governors, the Rev. Gary Philbrick.
As always, there was a real sense of occasion in the magnificent church interior, and we were joined by a good number of parents, who joined in enthusiastically with the singing!

Our families' generosity continues to grow and grow year on year, and the fantastic donations of food have now been passed on to the Basics Bank, a charity that works with those in need across Southampton.

The didgeridoos Have Arrived!

We are working hard to make sure that we offer a culturally rich curriculum, and this year we are working very closely with our good friends in the Southampton Music Service, to provide a musical dimension to our cross-curricular topics.
Year 5 are working with the Music Service on an 'Amazon' topic, whilst Year 4 are learning all about Australia. As you can see, there was much excitement when the didgeridoos arrived; and as anyone who was inside at lunchtime will be able to testify- they are definitely working!

Primary Languages Competition

Primary Languages Competition

On June 14^th a group of twenty children went to Beechwood Junior School to take part in the annual Southampton Primary Languages Speaking Competition. This provided them with an opportunity to show off their developing French skills in a creative way. The children prepared for the competition with great commitment and determination.

The year 4 children performed beautifully a traditional French song and dance, and won their category. Several year 5 and year 6 children showed off their spelling skills in the Spelling Bee, which was eventually won by Kundie. The year 5 and year 6 entrants excelled in the Culture Quiz, answering quick-fire questions about French geography and culture in front of the large audience. Ariba was the year 5 winner and Claire was the year 6 winner. The children were all so quick and confident that the only way to decide upon a winner was through sudden-death play-offs .

All of the children behaved very well and performed with enthusiasm and confidence.  Bravo!

 

We were very proud of the children’s efforts and of their fantastic behaviour, which was commented upon by parents who attended. “Bravo tout le monde!”

Chess Club

As a school which believes passionately that children can be taught to think, we are really happy that we have been able to start a Chess Club for Year 3 & 4.
Chess is great fun; a game which can be enjoyed at any age, but also a great way to develop logical and strategic thinking.
Many thanks to our friends at Southampton University Chess Club who are running the activity with us. As you can see from the picture, the concentration was incredible, and all the children who attended had an absolutely brilliant time. Let's see who the first grandmaster to emerge from Swaythling Primary will be!

Egg Rolling

One of the long-standing traditions at Swaythling School is the annual Easter egg roll. Using only their noses, our children propel Creme eggs across the hall floor to thunderous applause! A great time was had by all. Many thanks to FOSS (Parents' Association) for providing the creme eggs.

Basketball Competition

On Wednesday our children took part in a basketball competition at Cantell. It was a great competition, thoroughly enjoyed by all the children who took part. Whilst we weren't ultimately triumphant, the behaviour and attitude of the children who took part was a great statement about the school- well done everybody; and thanks to Mrs Ryan & Miss Brewer for organising the event and taking the children.'

World Maths Day

As in the last few years, we are once again taking part in 'World Maths Day'. This is an annual event which encourages children all around the world to compete against each other, sharpening their mental maths skills at the same time. Let's see if we can be world champions!
Click HERE to go to World Maths Day site

Maths Games for Years 5&6

I am very excited that we can offer access to the 'Manga High' resources for our Year 5 & 6 children. These games are certainly challenging- parents, you may wish to have a go too!
Click HERE to access the site.

Yes we are open!

Today (Wednesday)'s weather has come as something of a surprise- but we are open. Take great care on your journey, as once again, none of our surrounding roads have been treated.
The weather forecast at the moment suggests that it will get warmer, and much of the snow and ice will melt, so all being well we will close at the normal time.
Meanwhile, congratulations to those of you who correctly identified the man in our mystery lollipop man contest (thank you Trish...)

Back to Normal!

Thank you all for your co-operation and patience over the last week, I am pleased to report that we are back to normal hours today: start at 8.55 and finish at 3.10. The playground is still not safe at the moment, so play will be indoors.
Basketball and Tiptap clubs will start next week.

Update

We are all back into school, and lessons have resumed as normal. The children are not able to get out to the playground, which is one large sheet of ice at the moment!
We hope to be completely back to normal as of tomorrow, so school will start  and end at the normal time.
For today, we are closing at the usual time, but children may be picked up from 2.45 onwards if you need to.
Breakfast & After School Club are provisionally scheduled to re-start tomorrow (Tuesday).
Once again, thanks for your patience during this trying time- let's hope the worst is behind us, and we can get back to life as normal really soon.

Monday morning

Monday 11 January 2010

It's not possible to give you definite news about school opening on Monday 11 January until fairly late on Sunday afternoon.

If the weather doesn't get any worse and we are open...

We will open at 10.00 and expect all children in school. The late opening will be to allow more time for everyone to make a safe journey to school. We will expect all children in school. We need to get back to normal as soon as it is safe.

We will close at the normal time (3.10pm) but allow children to be picked up any time from 2.45pm - this allows a longer "school run" time if Mayfield Road is still icy.


There will not be any breakfast club, or after school clubs (including Film Club & multi-skills).


If the weather gets worse...

If we have to close, we will try to let you know by 6pm on Sunday evening.

We will put an announcement on this website. On Sunday afternoon, we may not be able to get the information updated on the city's School Closures List or Radio Solent.

No School Friday

Once again we are in the difficult position of having to close the school- Mayfield Rd is in a treacherous state, and has been the scene of many minor accidents today- we are just not on the gritting route the council has been maintaining.

I really hope that we will be able to get back to a near normal service next week, but with more snow forecast for the weekend, make sure to watch this space.

Particular thanks to our friends who live opposite the school for keeping me informed of the state of the roads in the area.

Try these:
Year 4:
Homework

Year 5:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/ks2bitesize/maths/problem_solving.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/

more maths

Year 6:

http://www.spellanywhere.co.uk/spellings.php?view=2&id=21112

Homework Sheet

Anyone: Fancying a real challenge! (Y5/6, parents)


Practice your French (Username swaythling, password: Saints329)

Snow

Further update 11.30- Having looked at the forecast for overnight which suggests that temperatures will fall to -6C, we have reluctantly had to decide that we will not be able to open the school tomorrow (Thursday 7th January).

We regret any inconvenience this will undoubtedly cause many of you, but hope that this early notification will enable you to make alternative arrangements more easily.

Watch this space as the situation develops.

For up to date weather information:

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=so173sz