It's beginning to look, and sound a lot like Christmas here at Grayswood Primary School, as preparations for our Nativity performance and Carol Concert are now well underway! The sound of carols ringing around our beautiful Edwardian building is a real highlight of the school year for us all.

Helping to add to the atmosphere is our stunning Christmas Tree, once again donated by Haslemere Garden Centre. Please do pop down and visit Gary and his lovely team at the garden centre if you can. They have some lovely Christmas items in store, and you can treat yourself to a cup of tea and cake in the café whilst you’re there!

With lots of festive fun planned over the coming month, please refer to the School Calendar for the very latest dates and times you need to be aware of.

New apps for Grayswood Pupils

This month we have launched two new apps to enhance both our Maths and PE offering in Key Stage 1. First, we have BURSTS - a fun and simple-to-use PE app that offers exciting, meaningful, personalised physical activities designed to improve your child's physical literacy through play.

We also have the White Rose 1 minute Maths app. Individual one-minute tasks focus on adding and subtracting – and on ‘Subitising’, the skill of instantly recognising the number of items in a group without counting. Multiplication and division topics are also now available.

Use of either app is completely voluntary, but we feel they are good resources to share with parents to help your child.

Clubs News

Please don't forget to book your child into their lunch and after-school clubs for next term. Places are always limited. To see what we have on offer, please visit the Clubs section of the school website.

We are always on the look-out for new and exciting clubs to offer. If you are able to run one, or would recommend a local provider, please contact Shelley in the School Office.

Year 1 Visit Bocketts Farm

Mrs Smith would like to congratulate Woodpecker class on not just their wonderful behaviour during their recent trip to Bocketts Farm, but also their fabulous work writing a recount completely independently. Here's a snippet of one:

"First we stroked the horses. Next we saw the racing pigs. Then we went inside and we saw rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs. Then it was lunch time. After lunch time we saw the pigs race and then we watched the pigs race back.'  By Henry.

As always, thank you to the parent helpers on the day!

Year 2 Visit to Fort Nelson

Robins enjoyed a fabulous and informative trip down to Fort Nelson near Portsmouth last week, where their learning about Florence Nightingale was brought to life in the very best way. The Fort is a genuine Victorian building and with rooms, cells and spaces similar to those 'The Lady with the Lamp' would have worked in during the Crimean War; there was real awe and wonder added throughout the visit. 

 

The children spent the day with Florence and Mrs Major, learning what conditions were like for soldiers injured in battle and the changes that Florence made in hospitals, before helping her to inspect the fort and ensure that improvements had been made. The whole class got involved and were engaged throughout the day - a really positive learning experience for them!

Year 3 Visit to Butser Farm

"On Monday, 6^th November my class went to Butser Farm to learn all about the Anglo- Saxons.  

On arrival, we met Shaun who led us to an Anglo Saxon house. Our first activity was drawing pictures or writing using a quill, dipped in ink. Then we sewed our initials using Anglo Saxon writing called runes. 

After lunch, we did an archaeological excavation. I dug up some pottery, flint and rocks.

Finally, we visited the Iron Age roundhouse and a terrific Roman villa and wow, there was a BIG difference.

We thoroughly enjoyed our school trip. I would really recommend it to everyone. What a brilliant day!"

Report by Autumn, Year 4

MasterChef comes to Grayswood

The photos from the first Grayswood pop-up restaurant with chef Dan Britten last Saturday night look amazing!

Thank you so much to the 40 guests who joined us as we transformed the school hall into a restaurant serving a four-course menu with wine pairings.

The event, including raffle ticket sales, and sponsorship money, raised an amazing amount of money for the school.

We hope everyone who attended had a wonderful evening!

Thank you to Dan for the incredible food, to Simeon for the mammoth effort that went into organising the fundraiser, and to the event sponsors: Browns Body Repairs | Amy Lou's Godalming | Provenance Meats | Grayswood Garage

Winter Reading Challenge Live

It’s back! Spark a love of reading even in the most reluctant reader with the free online Winter Mini Challenge. Children can unlock rewards for reading and find fun activities on the dedicated children’s website created by The Reading Agency.

 

To find out more, visit here

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 month, we track the attendance for each child and classes as a whole. The percentage attendance figures for November are:

Diwali Dance Day

Last Wednesday, all classes enjoyed a Diwali Dance Day when they reenacted the story of Rama and Sita through movement.  It was lovely to see the children really enjoy celebrating this special festival.

"To begin with, our dance teacher Megan reminded us of the story of Rama and Sita. We started off with learning the actions of the characters,  then added the music bit by bit. We picked it up quite quickly and enjoyed getting into character:  Sita, a lovely lotus flower above our head, Rama, a menacing bow and arrow. Lastly, we rehearsed the full dance with music at the end. It was a really fun, memorable experience and I would love to do it again!"

Report by Coco & Neve, Year 6

Sports Crew Training for Year 6

11 children from Year 6 recently attended Sports Crew Training.

They learnt about how to be good Sports Leaders and the qualities necessary to encourage children to be active and have fun.

They were taught the: Mr Nedd method

Mr

NAME

EXPLAIN

DEMONSTRATE

DELIVER

The Grayswood Sports Crew all achieved their Bronze award at the end of the morning. Well done to you all!

Beacon Hill Girls Football

Last Wednesday, Beacon Hill Football Club came to give a taster session to the girls in Woodpeckers, Robins, Kingfishers and Swallows.

They gave the girls a really fun session where they practised their ball skills, played a game of 'Squirrels and nuts' and a mini-game of football. It was lovely to see the girls playing football, and I am sure they have all been inspired by the success of the Lionesses over the past couple of years.

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