Water Meadows Primary School

Newsletter Term 5, Week 5 2020

Here we find ourselves at the end of another week. I know that this week will have bought a lot of questions and concerns for you all. As a Trust, we have been working tirelessly to put a plan together, in line with the Government guidance, to ensure that safety of all out pupils, parents and staff. As a Trust, we will be sending you a letter on Monday, explaining the measures we will have in place for the phased opening on Monday 1st June and a questionnaire, which we would appreciate you completing and returning as soon as you can. This week was due to be a very busy week in our school calendar as our Year 2 and Year 6 children would have been completing their National Assessments. Whilst they have not had the opportunity to showcase how great they are in the tests, we know that they would have done incredibly well and should be very proud of themselves and their achievements throughout the year. I would like to take this opportunity to tell not only our Year 6 children what I would have been saying on Monday morning but all of our Water Meadows stars- you are all special and unique; each and everyone of you have strived to achieve your best in everything. Your smiles and kindness, singing, dancing, drawing, sporting abilities and computing wizardries –to name but a few– are just some of the things that matter the most and make Water Meadows such a fantastic place to be. We are all proud of you all. Please continue to keep yourselves safe and well Mr Martin and all the staff at Water Meadows.

This week’s inspirational messages were bought to you by Mrs Ireland, who wants you all to remember the Wright Brothers (and Albert Einstein!).

Water Meadows Primary School

Here are some wonderful examples of the Home Learning which has taken place over the past week!

Please keep sending your photos in to:

watermeadows@ stouracade-

mytrust.org.uk

Brilliant Maths work Aurelia– Miss Wilson was especially impressed with your reasoning.

Well done Laura, lots of hard work and lots of new information about dinosaurs! Keep it up!

Well done for working so hard and being so keen Benjamin! Your fruit kebabs looked delicious!

Fantastic work and writing about the Sikh army Dylan! We can’t wait to see what you produce next.

What a great bug hotel you created for Geoffrey the Snail, Phoebe!

Excellent Science work Amelia– I love that you have created such a lovely life cycle with photos.

How exciting seeing your chicks hatch Ayla! I am wonder-ing how many will have hatched when you see this newsletter?

Great work with counting and adding up to 5 Lila Grace. Keep working hard as we love seeing your successes.

Water Meadows Primary An update from our PSA, Mrs. Sam Webb. Contact: sam.webb@stouracademytrust,org.uk

Dear Parents / Carers, I hope you are all keeping Safe and Well during these unprecedented times. I have seen some of your lovely work that you have been during whilst working at home, keep it up. Most importantly re-member STAY SAFE, SOCIAL DISTANCING AND STAY AT HOME. Please take a look at the school website as I have put there some useful information and tips from the NHS on Sleep help for families and also what to do if you or your child become ill but not with covid-19 and also how to safely stay on touch with loved ones. Contact me I am here to support parents both practically and emotionally with any issues you may have regard-ing your children and/or school. I can offer support and guidance and also signpost to appropriate services, if you and your family are experiencing hardship/financial issues during this time please contact me and I may be able to put you in touch with organisations who may be able to offer you additional support. You can contact me during this period by emailing

sam.webb@stouracademytrust.org.uk or by calling my work mobile 07404266737

The nearest Food Bank that Canterbury residents can access is detailed below Canterbury St Dunstan's Church Food Bank Address: c/o Riverside Church, Thanet Way, Chestfield, Whitstable, CT5 3JQ

Mental Health and Well-Being

Water Meadows Primary School

Mrs Stokes

Hi everyone! I do hope that you are all well and staying safe. I am missing

you all so very much, especially the wonderful Dragonfly Class. I have been keeping busy, creating some exciting Year 4 home learning videos

and even developing my ICT skills too! This week, I celebrated my birthday, which was very different this year! However, I still managed to

have a slice, (or two) of cake! Delilah and I have been busy getting creative. She is very proud of her footprint work so I thought I would share

them with you. I hope you are enjoying your online lessons and I look forward to hearing all about the wonderful, new skills that you have learnt.

Stay safe and keep smiling!

Mrs Moat

I hope you and your families are all well and keeping safe. Are you all keeping busy and even learning new skills or taking on new challenges? I can’t wait to hear all about these when we return to school. I wonder how many of you managed to crack my Gnomish code message? I decided to set myself a challenge to continue reading the Artemis Fowl books (8 in total). I wonder how many I will complete before we return to school? I have also been trying to keep busy by going on a daily walk, whilst listening to my music and trying out a range of different recipes using my slow cooker. My latest was this fudge, (it was very yummy). My boys and I are continuing with our regular family board games; I am still the Queen of Cluedo!

Can’t wait to see you all, hopefully really soon. Take care and keep safe.

Mrs Shields

Hello everyone, I want to say a massive well done to you all for staying home and keeping safe. Also I have really

enjoyed looking at the home learning that you have completed and I know it must be very tricky working from

home. I have kept myself busy by doing some home learning, sewing, gardening and sitting in the sunshine

reading. Alfie (Naughty Norman), has thoroughly enjoyed having me at home, as I’m able to take him on lovely,

long walks. I really can’t wait to see you all and be able to do some great afternoon activities, such as: bug hunts, den building and lots, lots more. Until I see you all, keep

up the great work that you are doing and keep safe. Miss you all.

What have Dragonflies been up to?

Water Meadows Primary School

for Grasshoppers: ‘Butterfly Lion’ by Michael Morpurgo is a book in my book collection that has been read so many times that the pages are now falling out! It is a wonderful emotional tale of a young boy who grows up in South Africa and adopts a white lion cub. Sadly, when the boy has to move away the lion is sold to a circus. Years pass, with the boy telling tales of his childhood to his good friend Millie via letters during the war. The tale has a beautiful ending that will make you smile. This story is a fantastic read for any animal lover!

for Ladybirds and Bumblebees: We have been reading lots of books in the Graham house-hold over the last few weeks. The ‘oi’ series are a constant in our house and Sophia’s new found favourite is ‘Oi Puppies’. It is a hilarious follow up to ‘Oi Frog’ which tells the tale of what happens when the animals don’t follow their seating rules! Try and guess all of the funny places the cheeky, misbehaving puppies finally sit. Maybe you have a dog at home with one of the names used in the story? After we read it, we like to think of more places where they could sit by using our rhyming words.

for Dragonflies: Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Disney! There is nothing I love more than watching some of the classic Disney stories. We also read a lot of the children’s stories to Sophia who loves Disney almost as much as I do! However, I have recently discovered a fantastic series of books aimed at older children too. Disney’s Twisted Tales tell the tale of some of the classic Disney stories such as the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin in different ways. What would happen if Aladdin never found the lamp? What would become of Eric if he had married Ursula after all? When Belle finds out her mother was the enchantress that caused Beast’s curse, how will she help to free him? All of these questions are explored through the books. A challenging but worthy read for those who love Disney!

Mrs Graham recommends...

Water Meadows Primary School

How are tornadoes made? Tornadoes are made by a force that pushes inwards making objects move towards the centre of its circular path. Make your own tornado in a bottle with just a few resources you already have at home! You will need: A bottle Water Glitter Washing up liquid Method: 1. Fill up a plastic bottle with water until it reaches around three quarters full. 2. Next add a few drops of washing up liquid. 3. Sprinkle in a few pinches of glitter to make your tornado easier to see. 4. Screw the cap on tightly. 5. Turn the bottle upside down and hold it by the neck. Spin the bottle in a circles for a few sec-onds. Stop and look inside to see if you can see a mini tornado forming in the water. You might need to try it a few times before you get it working properly!

Mrs Graham Challenges You!

Water Meadows update

The electricity ducts have been installed ready for the electricity supply to the new building. Some internal works to the existing school building have been started too– watch this space for some photos soon!

Water Meadows Primary School

Mrs Bryant had a wonderful time celebrating VE day with her family. They threw themselves into the celebrations by creating their own decorations. They painted their own Union flags, which they strung together to make bunting. Next they created paper chains using the colours of red, white and blue. They finished off by making delicious decorated treats. By using icing sugar to make a runny white icing, covering rich tea biscuits and then adding red and blue sweets, Mrs Bryant made fantastic VE day snacks!

Mrs Bryant’s art challenge!

Mrs Bryant created a paper chain using 3 colours.: red, white and blue. She created a repeating pattern by using the same colours over and over again. She challenges you to create your very own repeating pattern. You could use more than 3 colours and can arrange them however you like but remember, your pattern must repeat over and over again! Here’s some ideas for you:

VE Day

We loved seeing what some of you did to

celebrate too!

Water Meadows Primary School

You will need:

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

100g caster sugar

100g icing sugar, sifted

4 food colouring gels or pastes (we used pink, yellow, blue and green)

small amount of white and black ready-to-roll fondant icing for the eyes and mouth

4cm round cutter or circle to drawn around

1 large piping bag fitted with a large open star nozzle (1cm)

4 small paintbrushes

Method 1. Heat the oven to 120 C/100C fan/gas ½. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Using a

4cm round cutter as a guide, draw 22 circles on each piece of parchment in pencil. Turn the parchment over

2. Whip up the egg whites in a stand mixer or with an electric hand whisk until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add the caster sugar in, a spoonful at a time, whisking in completely between each addition. Repeat with the icing sugar

3. Put the piping bag nozzle down in a tall glass or jug. Roll down the top of the bag a little, over the rim, then paint a thin stripe of each coloured food gel from the nozzle all the way up to the top of the bag. Spoon in the meringue mixture.

4. Pipe swirls of meringue onto the trays using the circles as a guide. Bake for 20 mins then turn down to 100C/80C fan/gas ¼ and cook for a further hour, or until they are completely cooked through and sound hollow when tapped on the base. Leave to cool in the oven.

5. Mould small pieces of white and black fondant icing to create eyes and mouths. Stick these on the cooled meringues with a small dab of royal icing (if they don’t stick by them-selves).

Mrs Ireland’s Unicorn Poo Meringues

Remember to start baking as “The Great Stour Bake off” is here!

Just choose your ingredients, follow your recipe and BAKE!

Send in your photos to bakeoff@stouracademytrust.org.uk The closing date for entries to be sent in is 31st May 2020.