Thornhill School News Issue 18 News from Miss Clark News from Mrs Colley SCHOOLSCHOOL This Week Future EventsNext Week News from Mrs Figes Attendance- 92.7%. Low attendance last week, mostly due to sickness. 2 late marks in Key Stage Two. Let’s talk……. I. Mon- Sports Club (£1) Tues- Gym club (KS2) WLA visit Year 5 & 6 Wed- Relax Kids AM Wed –After school dance club cancelled Thurs- Lego and Recorder clubs Fri- Youth Club (£1) Our school is a family because… This week we have begun to listen to and explore Greek Myths. We have heard the story of Icarus and his fateful trip to the sun. We have also started to hear the tale of Theseus and the minotaur. Alongside this we have looked at Primary Sources: evidence from the past. We have created our own mini museum showing different artefacts and what they teach us about Ancient Greece. Mon- Sports Club (£1) Cycling Proficiency Tues- Sellafield ‘rocks and soils’ to visit KS2 Thurs- STEM forces and Movement day Fri- Warm Up Britain Bobble day! Half Term th Feb 20/2- Rugby League Training for Year 5 and 6 starts. 21/2- Mobile Library visit 26/2- KS1 Gym competition Fri 1 st Feb 2013 Zumba Classes Every Wednesday 5.30 to 6.30pm in the school hall Brownies If your child is interested in joining Brownies please contact Rachel on This week we have compared different versions of our focus text. We listened to the story on a CD, watched it on a DVD and read it as a playscript. We found that there were some similarities but lots of differences. In art we looked at photos of lightning. We learnt that lightning is a form of electricity and can create beautiful patterns in the sky. We had a go at painting some lightning pictures which look very effective on black paper. This week we have been investigating friction, by making spinners and comparing different types of surface. In maths we are beginning to extend our knowledge of time with the Year fours looking at the 24 hour clock and Year threes reading analogue and digital clocks. Year five and six are working with timetables.

Relax Kids We had a special visitor into school on Wednesday morning. Her name was ‘Magic Mel’ and she came to do workshops with both classes on how to feel positive about ourselves. She played fun games and encouraged the pupils to develop techniques for relaxation. Feedback from pupils was overwhelmingly positive. We will be using relax kids methods during our school week. We hope that gentle massage, meditation and positive thinking will help with self esteem, combat stress and aid concentration. Ofsted: Thornhill is still a ‘Good’ school You will have received a letter from her majesty’s inspectors of schools (OFSTED) this week. As you will have read, the letter shows that pupils at Thornhill Primary continue to receive a good education. Our results show that pupils progress at Thornhill is as good, or better, than national averages. Moreover that pupils who traditionally do less well in other schools, those from poorer backgrounds and those with SEN, for example, do well here. This endorsement from OFSTED proves what we have always known: that small schools can be successful and that Thornhill is a successful school. The hard work that staff, Governors, Friends of School and parents do, to support the pupils here, has been recognised and I would like to thank you all for that. I know that we will continue to build on these strengths in the future. Congratulations Thornhill Primary!! Bobble day- 8 th Feb Next Friday we will be raising money for AGE UK by wearing a bobble hat, woolly scarf or woolly jumper to school at the cost of £1. All monies raised will help Age UK West Cumbria to bring lonely older people together for hot meals, friendship activities and to supply heaters, hot water bottles and socks to those in need. SCHOOL CLOSURE REPORTING Cumbria County Council have developed an online reporting tool which enables schools to report emergency closure ie in the event of snow etc. You can access this website via closures/ if you are ever in doubt as to whether we are open. This link is also on our website closures/