28 December 2023
In September we had our usual ‘Meet the teacher/team’ events which were well attended by many parents and where we were able to let parents know about key information for each class
We have had a big focus on Anti-bullying events in the term including
- the visit of Rock Kidz in October taught us all about the importance of being kind (plus we all enjoyed rocking out with battle times and ‘the Monkey’!)
- Odd Socks Day (where we raised awareness that it’s ok to be different)
- Anti-bullying week (we’ll be carrying on over the year to stamp out bullying and make everyone kinder)
We raised money for Macmillan cancer research and support, with our coffee and cakes event (and raised some money for one of our mums who is poorly)
Year 6 loved their residential activity visit to Hothersall Lodge in November where they learnt to canoe, abseil, climb, orienteer, work as a team and faced their fears on the zip-wire – we were immensely proud of their behaviour and skills.
We continued to develop our love for reading with
- the Scholastic Book Fair visit to school for a week in September
- a special author visit by S F Said to Year 5 & 6 who wrote the novels ‘Varjak Paw’, ‘Phoenix’ and has recently written and published ‘Tyger’. He spoke about the process of writing great stories, getting published, answered some great questions from the children and then gave out a copy (free of charge) of his new novel to every child in Years 5 and 6 which he also signed for them
- Fantastic Book Awards (reading club for nine to eleven year olds run by Miss Hickson)
- additional volunteer adults have also been coming in to hear our children read in school each day and this has really helped our children in their reading progress
We introduced a new focus on ‘Learning Powers’ to the children as a way of helping them become super-hero learners. The ‘Learning Powers’ that we are focusing on at Seven Stars are:
- Participation (engage in all learning and ‘have a go’ at all times)
- Concentration (ignore distractions, listen well and focus – which means coming to school ready to learn)
- Resilience (keep going even when it is tough and face learning challenges with determination)
- Pride (doing the best you can in your learning and in everything you do)
(we are measuring how the children get on with their Learning Powers and will report to parents how children are doing in the above four areas)
We further developed ‘Zones of Regulation’ to all classes as a way of helping the children understand and regulate (manage) their emotions/moods.
The four Zones of Regulation (and their linked characteristics) that we focus on are:
- Blue Zone (sad, bored, tired, sick etc)
- Green Zone (happy, focused, calm, proud)
- Yellow Zone (worried, frustrated, silly excited)
- Red Zone (overjoyed/elated, panicked, angry, terrified)
For all of the above we have been teaching the children that no ‘Zone’ is wrong (they are all useful at times) but also how they can develop strategies to support themselves when they are feeling a certain way. Each class has a ‘regulation station’ (an area for calming and reflection)
We have revised and re-launched our School Values this academic year so we now have seven school values for Seven Stars which are:
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Resilience
- Kindness
- Pride
- Empathy
- Courage
We are spending a few weeks learning about each one and over the Autumn term we have specifically focused on Resilience, Respect and Kindness (with the children learning popular songs related to each value and a regular ‘class reflection time’ learning about what each value means)
The children received mini-certificates throughout the weeks of the value being taught, with one child from each class receiving the VIP certificate at the end of the sessions for being a shining example of that particular value in class
In September we opened our new Apollo class (part of our Spacehub alongside Galaxy class) in our SEND Unit and it has been wonderful seeing the children make such great progress and settle in so well.
In October our PTFA organised a spooky Halloween Disco for the children from Year One upwards. Some of the costumes were very imaginative and the children had a great time (and all money raised will go towards further equipment and events for the children)
In October we had a STEM week (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) where the children explored various aspects of STEM, including a STEM afternoon where parents and family came to the hall and took part in lots of exciting investigations that the children were demonstrating. The afternoon included exploding chemical reactions, finger-print observations, rock identification, solar system puzzles, magnet and ‘lava lamp’ fun and much more.
As part of the STEM week we also had a visiting ‘Science Boffin’ (Boffin Joel) who taught the children about plasma, polymers and ‘fantastic flames’
Y6 pupils attended a ‘Cyber Challenge event’ at UCLAN in November. The children had to use all of their problem solving detective skills to prevent a fairy tale-themed cyber crime! The children were excellent ambassadors for our school and even had the opportunity to meet very important people from the Ministry of Defence!
Several Year 6 pupils attended prospective High Schools as they chose their preferences for the next stage of their education, while a number of parents came to look round Seven Stars in our ‘Open Days’ as they consider what Reception class they want their child to attend.
Themed delicious lunches prepared by Dawn and Kerry in the kitchen included:
-Movie theme (children came in the movie star glasses)
-Halloween special
-Christmas Polar Express
CONLONs started their work in November on preparations for our exciting new school building (which will be completed towards the end of 2025). James is our site manager and he has worked closely with staff to minimise disruption to learning and also to help us out where possible.
Lots of meetings have happened behind the scenes over the last few months so it has been good to see things moving along now with the new temporary classrooms craned in and a plan in place for the first big move over the one Millbrook building after Christmas.
The children have enjoyed watching the builders work as a team on the first parts of the construction and it will be a great experience moving forward for us to get first hand experience of all the construction work taking place.
Several Sports events have taken place over the Autumn term including:
-Basketball festival for all classes
-Swimming every Thursday (Years 4 and 5 and some Year 6)
-Ten Pin Bowling event that we attended with Galaxy class and others and came third place
-Netball club and competition
-Dodgeball competition for Year 3 and 4 at Worden
-PASTA club (parents/family and children cooking a healthy meal together and exercising)
-Tag Rugby competition at St Marys for our older children at which we achieved third place
-Football events
Years 4, 5 and 6 performed a dance in a special assembly at the end of the year for the whole school and were really impressive in their interpretations of the Theseus and the Minotaur myth (Year 4), a Tudor banquet dance (Year 5) and the Saxon story of Beowulf’s journey to Hrothgar and fight with Grendel (Year 6)
We welcomed our wonderful parents to school for some special events over the Autumn term including:
Meet the Teacher at the start of the year
Parents afternoon/evening where a number of parents came along to talk to their child’s teacher and talk about how their child is getting on
OPAL lunch for parents to see how things are going with our Outdoor Play and Learning
Macmillan coffee morning
Early Years Stay and Play sessions in early November in the Superstars Unit
As well as our wonderful Christmas performances of ‘Baamy Bethlehem’ (Years 1, 2 and 3) and Nursery Rhyme Nativity (Nursery and Reception)
Our PTFA Race Night (with bingo and human fruit machine!) was great fun for all those parents and families who came along
We had a number of special assemblies including
- A fortnightly OPAL Play assemblies (where we presented children who demonstrated great OPAL play skills with a Golden Welly Award)
- Remembrance assembly (where we remembered all those who have given their lives and suffered from conflicts around the world over the ages)
- Rewarding children with Local Hero certificates who demonstrated acts of kindness in the community
- Liz from the local Leyland Baptist Church who talked to the children about the meaning of Christmas for Christians (with follow-up workshops for Years 5 and 6)
We had special appreciation days for our amazing Teaching Assistants, Support Staff & Teachers (Stars in our School) who work so hard and go above and beyond for all our pupils.
We had visits from Brian at Money Matters to Years 5 and 6 teaching the children all about managing money, budgeting and talking about debt – really important life skills.
Pupil Mental Health Day took place in November with a special visit from the Yogi group who taught the children ways of relaxing and de-stressing.
We elected our Pupil Parliament children in the Autumn term who are a key part of moving our school forward and ensuring the pupils’ voice is heard in the school.
Christmas
As well as our brilliant Christmas performances for the parents we also celebrated Christmas with
- a delicious ‘Polar Express’ Christmas lunch for everyone in school prepared by Dawn and Kerry
- a visit from the actual Father Christmas who gave every child a selection box of chocolates (thanks to his kind helpers from the Leyland Community Network)
- our Key Stage Two choir visited Clough House and Balshaw Court and sang some Christmas carols for the residents who absolutely loved it!
- We had our annual Christmas shop with additional raffle and tombola for special Christmas gifts (raising money for the school)
- Our lovely Nursery children earned their Elf Training ‘diplomas’ (developing a lot of Design Technology skills along the way as they learnt how to cut, wrap, write and deliver special Christmas gifts)
- Christmas end of year assembly where we enjoyed the Year 4 Christmas dioramas, learnt a bit more about the meaning of Christmas with the help of the Year 4 Christingles, were dazzled by the Galaxy class ‘light boxes’ and enjoyed singing together as a whole school
‘Goodbyes’ and ‘Hellos’
Amongst those members of staff who we said goodbye to over the Autumn term were:
Mrs Pullin and Ms Holme who both secured positions in other schools
Ms Godsland who has secured a part-time teaching role
Mrs Warner who has taught in the school for over 15 years and who is going to be teaching in a school nearer to where she lives
Miss Mault who has left to go on Maternity leave but will be returning to us in a few months time
We said a big hello and welcome to Miss Ward, our new Year 6 teacher who has worked so hard with our children and ensured they have made progress in their learning and enjoyed their trip to Hothersall Lodge in November. We welcomed a number of other staff and they are all working so hard to support our children, including Mrs Halstead who is helping us in the office.
We also welcomed a new Governor onto our Governing Body – Jess Richmond, who is a former pupil of Seven Stars school and keen to support us as we move forward into the coming exciting years ahead
Lots of learning has taken place and the curriculum themes for each class are stated below (see the school website for more detail about what has been taught over the Autumn term):
Nursery (Moons): ‘Marvellous Me’
Reception (Rockets) – ‘Helping Hands’
Year 1 (Dorado) – ‘This is Me’ (including work on the local area and Animals in Science)
Year 2 (Orion) – ‘London’ (including History work on the Great Fire of London/Samuel Pepys)
Year 3 (Hercules) – ‘Stone, Bronze and Iron Age’ (and Science focus on Rocks)
Year 4 (Pegasus) – ‘Groovy Greeks’ (as well as Hinduism in RE and Electricity in Science)
Year 5 (Leo) – ‘The Tudors’
Year 6 (Phoenix) – ‘Anglo-Saxons and Vikings’
Galaxy Class – ‘The Groovy Greeks’
Apollo Class – ‘London’
What a brilliant term and we are all looking forward to further success in Spring term 2024
Posted by Mike Mitchell