How to Boil the Perfect Egg

On Friday The Kids’ Cookery School from Acton paid us a visit.  They set up their cooking equipment in the Annexe and then gave free lessons, in how to cook with eggs, to some of our junior children.  The event was sponsored by the Egg Marketing Board. 

The children learned how to boil the perfect boiled egg and how to make omelettes with a variety of healthy, delicious and nutritious fillings. The children loved the day and took home what they made for their parents to see and taste.  Some were insistent that they were going to make the meal for the family that evening.  

All the children who took part were given a free cooking apron to keep and remind them of the day as they develop their cooking skills.   

Back to School

We hope everyone has enjoyed a great summer break, and look forward to welcoming the children back at the usual time on Wednesday 4th September. I am sure the playground will be the usual mixture of sighs of exhausted relief and tears!

St. Alban’s 80th Anniversary Music Celebration

Monday evening saw a really wonderful event at St. Alban’s Church; as part of the 80th anniversary celebrations, children from our school, Bassett Green and Cantell took part in a concert for parents.
It was a wonderful way to celebrate the talent and hard work of our children; the choir, violins,
cellist and woodwind performers all rose the occasion and produced a wonderful experience for all the audience. My thanks to the children for this fantastic experience, but also to Mrs Terraz, Mr Oliver, Mrs Green, Mrs Porter and Mrs Hunting both for giving up their time to come along and enable the children to take part in the event, and also for their hard work and dedication in getting the children to the very high standards that they have reached.

www.mathletics.co.uk

WOW! Congratulations to Year 4 for scoring a massive 51, 045 participation points on Mathletics at the end of last half term. This was more than Year 6's previous record of 44, 545 participation points during SATs week. 

Can they be beaten? The challenge is on! 

Amongst us we speak over twenty different languages here at Swaythling School and like to celebrate our cultural diversity as often as we can with assemblies, displays and competitions.  Today saw the three winners of the 'words from different languages' competition presented with their prizes in assembly.  Their pictures will go up on our languages display in the main corridor of school.

Spring Music Concert at Swaythling

This afternoon we heard from the choir and musicians at Swaythling School as they formed an informal ensemble to showcase their talents and the progress they have made this term.  The half hour concert, enjoyed by an audience of parents and children, was the culmination of a lot of practice and an afternoon's workshop.  Following the concert was a cake sale which raised money to sponsor some of the lessons next year.

The Big Pedal a Big Success at Swaythling School

We are almost at the end of a very successful three weeks of The Big Pedal.  Last Wednesday, 13th,  we had a well attended Bikers' Breakfast - our best yet with 26 children and 2 parents.  The Bike Doctor was here that day too and serviced 28 bikes and scooters.  By this Wednesday; 20th March we will have finished the course and know our overall position.

OPEN

Yes, we are open as usual today. There is only a light dusting of snow, and certainly nothing that would prevent us operating safely as normal.

The Big Pedal at Swaythling Primary

Since March 28th, the number of children cycling or scooting to school at Swaythling Primary has tripled.  The reason is that we are one of only five schools in Southampton to be taking part in The Big Pedal.  This three week nationwide event has been organised by Sustrans which is a charity promoting healthy forms of travel.  Hopefully even after the event is finished a large proportion of our children and parents will continue to cycle or scoot to school each day.  On 13th March we will be having our second visit from the Bike Doctor and Matt Porter will be running another biker's breakfast.  We celebrated the start of The Big Pedal with a Superheroes Day (pictured).

It's World Maths Day!

http://www.worldeducationgames.com

The World Education Games already holds the record for the largest online maths competition. This year they are trying to beat this.

All children from Year 1 to Year 6 have log ins and can participate in World Maths Day NOW!

 There are awards and certificates for the highest scores and for taking part.

Show off your maths brain and have a go!

Monday Opening

There has been little fresh snow since Friday, but the very cold temperature last night (and also forecast for this evening), mean that the playground, paths and car park are very slippery, and unsafe at the moment.
In view of these conditions, we will be opening tomorrow, but in order to make it as safe as possible for everyone, we will delay opening by an hour, so school will open tomorrow at 10:00. Please note that the playground will not be open, so you should not arrive any earlier than this.
We apologise for the inconvenience a late start will cause; however, it gives us a chance to clear the paths around school enough to get everybody in safely, and avoid another day's closure.
Please also note that there will be no Breakfast club or Film Club. We will let the relevant people know about after school club as early as possible tomorrow.
If there is a significant change in the weather, we will let you know any change in plans as early as possible. Fingers crossed everyone...

Bored?

We hope everyone is enjoying the snow!
Thanks Channel 4; I've just spent a long time trying (and failing) to make a snow dog! If you've created a snowman or similar that you're proud of, email your pictures to snow@swaythlingprimary.org, and we'll post some of your pictures later (make sure you get permission from your parents before you email them in).

If anyone's fed up of getting cold, we urgently need your points on Mangahigh:

We have been challenged by a school in Lancaster, and are currently losing!

Also, don't forget you can also use Mathletics and Bug Club:

Snow Closure

School will be closed today (Friday 18th January). The driving conditions in and around Southampton are very dangerous, and we cannot get enough staff in for the school to operate safely. Weather forecasts vary widely for the weekend; we will update you if there are any more problems, but we plan to open as normal on Monday.
Enjoy the snow, and stay safe.

Eco-Schools Community

Yesterday was the first Spring Term meeting for the Communities groups. 

The Eco-Schools Community talked about how we could reduce waste at school. We watched a video clip about different types of waste and started to come up with ideas to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.



Waste Week Video

We're in the Newspaper!

Following July's successful OFSTED inspection, the Echo have run a piece celebrating the school's success! It is great to have the whole school's success publicised in this way, and we all feel very proud of our school. (It's just a shame that the photographer cut off most of the teachers' heads!)

OFSTED Report

We were visited by OFSTED in July, the new report has just been posted on the OFSTED website. It is really pleasing to see that the great progress the school has made over the last few years has been recognised.
We are particularly proud that the community nature of the school has been judged as outstanding- OFSTED's highest category. Our overall category has been upgraded to 'Good'; this is a great boost to all the staff who have worked so hard to improve the school in this way.
A wonderful way to start the Summer break!

You can read the report for yourself here

Sun, Sea and Sand

Tuesday 7th. June saw a mass exodus of the school to Alum Chine Beach in Bournemouth as part of our 'Sun, Sea and Sand' whole school topic week. Whilst there was plenty of sea and sand available, the sun was in rather shorter supply!
Everyone involved had a great time (as you can see from the pictures), many sandcastles were built, and we all enjoyed the freedom and space of the beach.
As well as being great fun for all involved, the visit was a tremendous boost to the children's creative work- their writing, art and drama work were all of a much higher quality for having taken part in the trip.
Many thanks to all the parents who gave up their time to come and accompany us on this visit.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

half-term ended with areal treat for the children of Key Stage 2, as we played host to our good friends of the Nuffield Theatre who put on a visually stunning performance of  'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase' for us. The audience were absolutely spellbound for a couple of hours as they were transported to an alternative version of Victorian history, which also explored themes of loyalty, friendship and trust.

We have a real commitment to enriching children's learning through culturally significant plays, literature and art- this production was by common consent probably the most engaging and enjoyable production we have hosted. We thoroughly recommend getting along to catch it at the Nuffield Theatre.

Violin Concert

Last Wednesday saw the first concert given by our strings section. Year 3 have been learning to play the violin since September, and really gave a fantastic display of their growing musical ability. Many proud parents looked on as we were treated to a range of pieces of varying styles and complexity.
Our increasingly talented woodwind players provided some contrast with a very confident performance. Another step closer to the Swaythling symphony orchestra!

Back to School!

Happy New Year!
We hope everyone has had a great Christmas break; a reminder that school re-opens for the spring term on Wednesday 5th January at the usual time.