www.ryders-hayes.co.uk Friday 15th January 2015

On Wednesday this week, we officially opened our brand new all-weather sports pitch naming it after former pupil

Natasha Whale.

We were successful in their bid to gain funding for a new all-weather pitch

from Sport England.

Due to our limited space for PE and the high number of children at the

school, Sport England awarded the school a grant to build a new sports

pitch on their school field last summer. The pitch, designed for children of

all ages in the school, will be used for PE lessons and extra-curricular clubs

in netball, football and other activities. The official opening took place with

Chair of Governors; Jo Hill in attendance (pictured right); Ian Bond, Vice

Chair of Governors; staff past and present; pupils and Natasha’s mum.

We held an inter-house netball competition with the Year 6 pupils to celebrate the opening of the Natasha Whale

Pitch, named in memory of the former pupil tragically killed in February 2014.

Natasha was a keen footballer at the school with huge amounts of sporting talent. We hope that naming the pitch

after Natasha will inspire current pupils to pursue their sporting goals.

After a tense and well fought final, Beech were the eventual winners of

the inaugural House Netball Competition. With a 6-5 win for Beech

against Oak, it was a fantastic final with top scorer Amelia performing

excellently as goal scorer and Wil-

liam as fantastic centre. Well done to all

who took part!

Please can YEAR 1

bring donations next week

Thank you for your support.

This award is given to the class which has the highest

attendance each week, and week the award went to:

RS & 6B

ROAD RESURFACING REMINDER

Walsall MBC are due to carry out carriage re-surfacing in Gilpin Cresent, from Smithy

Drive to Lothians Road, commencing on Tuesday, 19th January to Friday, 22nd January.

Please allow additional time for dropping off and collecting your child during this week.

We will be operating our usual Morning Walking Bus and an additional Evening Walking Bus during this

week. You should have completed and returned the slip attached to the letter sent out on Wednesday,

6th January Re: Road Resurfacing.

CAN WE ALSO ASK THAT PARENTS WHO ARE NOT USING

THE WALKING BUS DO NOT WEAVE INBETWEEN THE LINE,

CAUSING THE WALKING BUS TO SPLIT UP. IT IS CRUTIAL

THAT ALL CHILDREN ARE WALKING TOGETHER IN A LINE.

Puffin Academy iPad App

It is a free web browser app, but it will only allow access to approved

educational sites. The app allows access to sites on the iPad that re-

quire flash, that otherwise wouldn't work.

This will allow your pupils to access MY MATHS from home using an

ipad.

The children are encouraged to read or have read to them, a specified Roald Dahl book for

the month / half term (depending on the length of the book).

The first book will be the BFG which the children have until half term. There will be a prize

for every three Roald Dahl books they read throughout this academic year. Please visit the

local library to get a copy of the book or alternatively you can purchase good quality used

copies, relatively cheaply, from Amazon. Seeing adults read is a great inspiration for young

children, so please encourage your child to take part in this challenge, and read with them.

Thank you for your continued support!

Over the past two weeks, Year two have been reading ‘The

Flower’ by John Light. We have re-written the story using a

story map and written a diary

entry imagining we are the

main character, Brigg. We

have all enjoyed reading the

book and the writing we have

produced has been fantastic!

Well done Year Two!

Year 3 had a fantastic day exploring and having a go at different

types of art. We love creating our street art and graffiti in the

hall working in cooperative groups. We also made clay animals;

studied our faces in a mirrors; and used pencil strokes to draw miniatures.

In Year 4 this week we have started our new Electricity topic. We

have been investigating different objects and whether they use

electricity or not, including whether they are rechargeable. In Eng-

lish, our new The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe topic is prov-

ing very popular and we have had some fantastic descriptions

about finding the wardrobe.

Years Five and Six

Year Six were really proud to be part of the opening of the new all-weather

pitch and the unveiling of the special plaque. Many children took part in the

netball tournament, lead by our sports captains. The final between Beech and Oak houses was nail-biting,

end-to-end action! Oak were “pipped to the post” by the victors with an outstanding performance from all

team players – but the star of the show had to be the unstoppable Amelia G!

This week saw the swimming trials for our upcoming gala – look out for the team in next week’s newsletter.

Thursday evening saw many children take part in an energetic dodge ball competition – results to follow!

Well done Year Six – you have made us proud!

In Year 5, we are enjoying our Space Explorers topic. We have been learning about

Aristotle and how he proved that the Earth was a sphere, not flat. We have used

our knowledge of rockets to write explanation texts. Next week we will be learning

about Galileo and his scientific discoveries!

Dear Parents / Carers

We will be starting a reading project in school based on Roald

Dahl’s books. Each book can be read to your child ( by you or

an older child) or the pupil can read it themselves.

The children will bring home a reading card where you can sign

to say they have read / listened to the book.

There will be small prizes for completing 3 books.

We will be reading the following books ;

BFG

Enormous Crocodile

The Magic Finger

The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me

George’s Marvellous Medicine

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Twits

Matilda

Esio Trot

The Witches

Fantastic Mr Fox

James and the Giant Peach

These are available from the local library

or you can buy them from bookshops or online (Amazon are

currently selling a copy for £3.49).