Dear Parents and Carers,

The General Election takes place on Thursday 12th December and once again MJS will be used as a polling station for our community, this means that the school will be closed to pupils on this day.

As the end of term fast approaches your children will be starting December with a traditional Christmas Pantomime (Oh no they won’t! Oh yes they will!). We are exciting to be hosting two pantomimes on our newly lit stage on Monday 2nd December.

The end of term is an opportunity for the teachers to assess the progress and attainment that your child has made so far. Throughout the last fortnight of term I shall be meeting with all teachers to review the impact of their teaching on children ’s learning across the school. When the children go home on the last day of term they will bring home a summary report card for your information.

The children will be leading Christmas Concerts throughout the last week of term, which culminates in our Autumn Term Prize Giving on Friday 20th December where we celebrate the pastoral and academic achievements of your children.

Spring Term starts on Monday 6th January for all pupils – we look forward to welcoming you back to school in the New Year.

May I take this opportunity to wish you and your extended families a peaceful end to 2019.

Best wishes to you all, Clare D’Netto

Governors

Dates for this month

Parents In Partnership Sessions are: Tuesday 3rd December Tuesday 10th December Tuesday 17th December

Pantomime Monday 2nd December

School Disco Wedensday 11th December at 3:30-5:00pm

General Election Day School Closed all day to children - Thursday 12th December

Manor Bake Off Friday 13th December

Year 3 Trip to Shreks Adventure Tuesday 17th December

School Nurse Drop-in Tuesday 17th December - 9:00-10:00am

Christmas Concerts Monday 16th December Tuesday 17th December

Christmas Jumper Day Wednesday 18th December

Christmas Lunch Wednesday 18th December

Year 3 Trip to the Pantomime Thursday 19th December

Last day of Term School finishes at 3:20pm on Friday 20th December 2019

Start of Spring Term Monday 6th January 2020 at 8:55am

Contact Details:

Manor Junior School

Sandringham Road

Barking

Essex

IG11 9AG

Tel: 020 8270 4641/ 4642

Email:

office@manor.j.bardaglea.org.uk

Website:

www.manorjunior.co.uk

Facebook:

Manor-Junior-School

Twitter: ERIC@MJS@manor-j.bardaglea.org

Office hours are:-

8:00am - 4:30pm

Manor Junior School has seen significant and substantial improvement over the last 2 years and was judged good in its recent Ofsted Inspection (April 2018). The Governing Board has a vacancy for a Parent Governor, due to a current Governor moving out of the area. Governors play a key role in the school. Working as a team to provide support, challenge and influence strategies.

The Governing Body is made up of parents, teachers and other members of the community. Every term the Governing Board meets to support the work of the school, and together with the headteacher is responsible for making sure that the school achieves its objectives.

We expect all governors to be able to demonstrate the following essential qualities and attributes

Commitment to improving education for all pupils

Ability to work in a professional manner as part of a team and to take collective responsibility for decisions

Willingness to learn and to engage in training and development

Commitment to the school’s vision and ethos and to the democratic values of freedom, tolerance and respect for the rule of law

Literacy, numeracy and IT skills, sufficient to deal with governing body papers and school data

In addition to the above, we are particularly keen to hear from those with experience (paid or voluntary) of any of the following areas: governance; strategic planning; human resource and performance management; data analysis; financial planning/budgeting and legal understanding.

We are looking to make an appointment in early Jan 2020. Should you be interested, please contact me, via the school office, to arrange an appointment to meet and talk informally about being a School Governor.

It must be stressed that this is a strategic governance role and not one of a parent’s representatives. Previous applicants need not apply

Shamin Rahman Chair Manor Junior School Governing Board

December Newsletter

Page 2 Manor Junior School

Parents in Partnership by Mrs. Atere

Thank you to all who attended our November ‘Parents in Partnership’ sessions. It has been great to see so many new faces taking a keen interest in what is happening in MJS.

Sessions this month began with an overview of the French Curriculum and some children teaching parents new languages, from Japanese to Italian, and one parent teaching us Afrikaans! Thank you to Nevie, Maryam, Zainab, Minha, and Ana Marie.

The following week was our Anti Bullying week. We discussed our school’s positive behaviour policy, reminded parents of the meaning of the S.T.O.P acronym, as well as looking at the resources used during the week with the children. We also discussed Restorative Justice approaches and the differences between conflicts and bullying.

Then we had a special guest PC David Izard from our Local Safer Neighbourhood team, discussing County Lines and Child Exploitation. This was well attended session with insight into how children as young as 7 years old are groomed into criminal activity, and what parents need to be vigilant of to prevent this from happening to children and young people we may know and have contact with. Please see the article later in the newsletter for more details.

Finally, Ms Wright gave us an insight into Maths Mastery and methods used in the classroom to teach maths. This was a great session introducing the Bar Model, a simple yet very effective way of using visuals to help solve maths problems.

Thank you to all who attended any of the events and supported us, at MJS, as we continue to strive to build links with our community, share information and successes.

Our December workshops include:

Workshops take place every Tuesday morning at 9:05 am where refreshments are available. Parents with children are welcome.

We look forward to seeing you at these sessions.

Date Session

Tuesday 3rd December Supporting children with learning needs

Tuesday 10th December Healthy School Meals

Tuesday 17th December 3I’s Homework Arts and Crafts / Christmas Coffee Morning

Personal Development - Personal Challenge by Mrs Arrarte

Put your ‘best foot forward’! Could you walk or ride to school? Let’s review how we are travelling to school. Not only will this help us to reach 60 minutes of exercise every day (the government suggested minimum requirement for key stage 2 pupils) but also alleviate the number of cars around our school and help to keep us safe!

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Year 3 by Ms Wright (Year 3 leader)

Oh how time flies when we are all learning and having fun. We are almost nearing the end of the Autumn term and the transition from year 2 to year 3 has been a smooth and joyful one for our students.

This term, year 3 have travelled back in time to the stone age, meeting a young boy named Ug on the way. We have been using our text ‘Ug’ written by Raymond Briggs, to establish how people lived during the stone age and help answer our 3i’s question ‘ How have changes in Britain rocked us?

“Ug is a funny character because he is always irritating his parents” Umar

Have you ever wondered why our houses are built of brick? In science the students have been looking at various rock types and been investigating how these rocks are formed and how durable these are, by putting them through stringent testing.

We wish the students a restful end of term and look forward to starting the Spring term with the introduction of our new topic on volcanos and identifying the wide range of emotions we experience. They will discuss and answer the following question… ‘Can a volcano force people to keep away?’

Year 4 by Mrs. Beveridge (Year 4 Leader)

Year 4 have been learning about, ‘What did the Ancient Greeks do for us?’ This has been our focus for our 3I lessons (inspired, integrated and independent curriculum). The children have enjoyed learning about how democracy started, the history of the Olympics and Greek Gods and Goddesses. “I am enjoying learning about Ancient Greece. It is interesting finding out how they lived. I also liked learning about the Greek Gods and Goddess, my favourite is Aphrodite,” commented Amelia. Our English focus has been on developing our joy for reading by sharing and understanding a wide range of Greek Myths. Our weekly comprehension lessons have shown a steady improvement of children understanding the text and developing their vocabulary and skills to answer questions with greater confidence. We will continue to develop these skills throughout the year with weekly comprehension homework too. Thank you for supporting your child with this. Year 4 have enjoyed the many enrichment activities that they have been involved in: the film festival, remembrance and anti-bullying week. “The anti-bullying show was cool! Then we were involved in anti-bullying workshops. I learnt not to bully and to talk to an adult if I think I’m being bullied,” commented Reece. Your child’s safety is important. If someone different is collecting your child at home time please call the school office and they will pass on a message to the class teacher. Everyone in Year 4 would like to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas.

Thank you for all your support.

Role play from the anti-bullying workshop

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Year 6 by Mr. Islam (Year 6 Leader)

Be warned the Blitz has just started in Year 6 as we prepare to defend Britain in the Battle of Britain. The pupils are very engaged and enjoying the topic ‘Can going to battle ever have a positive impact?’ “We cannot wait to go to the Imperial War Museum – I’m looking forward to seeing a Spitfire!” Quote from a Year 6 child.

We have started our class novel which is, ‘The Silver Sword’ by Ian Serrailler. Alone and fending for themselves in a Poland devastated by World War Two, Jan and his three homeless friends cling to the silver sword as a symbol of hope. As they travel through Europe, where they believe they will be reunited with their parents, they encounter many hardships and dangers.

“It’s so sad that the family have been separated – I hope there is a happy ending.” Student in Year 6

Children have taken part in Road Safety workshops to learn about road safety and how to identify potential

dangers.

Year 5 by Miss Reddy (Year 5 Leader)

This half term, the children have been reading the magical story ‘Journey to the River Sea’. This story describes the life changing experiences of Maia as she leaves London to begin her new life by the River Amazon. There is an amazing buzz in the Year 5 classes when exploring this text as the children seek to make links with their own life experiences of starting a new school or moving to another country to Maia’s experiences. We have particularly focussed on developing the skill of summarising a text in recent weeks. Many children have written summaries of chapters from the story at home which have shared in lessons. It is fantastic to see the children so enthusiastic and committed to their learning both at home and in school.

Taybah shared ‘I enjoyed reading the book and finding facts. I listed the main points of the chapter and used these to write my summary’.

In Science, the children tested a range of materials to discover their properties and identify similarities and differences between them. They tested their transparency, magnetism, electrical conductivity, hardness and thermal conductivity.

At the start of November children worked very hard on their Remembrance assemblies. The progress that every child made from the first rehearsal to the final performance was outstanding in terms of projecting their voice, speaking with expression to convey the appropriate emotions and the quality of their singing. They all looked very professional in their black outfits with a simple red poppy.

“I really enjoyed performing my own acrostic poem about war.”

Big thank you to everyone! We raised £613.64 for The Royal British Legion from our poppy appeal.

Attendance and Punctuality by Mrs Virdi

As you are aware we have worked closely with Manor Infant School and Barking Abbey Secondary School to ensure our holiday dates coincide and so reduce the need for families to take their children out of school during term time.

The schools have agreed to start the summer holidays early so ensuring that families who wish to get away earlier can do so. The Autumn Term ends on Friday 20th December and you are reminded that your children will be taught up to the last day of the school year on Friday 17th July. Gates opening at 8.45am but school starts at 8.55am - that means children should be in and sitting at their desks ready to learn from 8.55am. Please get your child to school on time so that they do not miss the start of the first lesson.

Congratulations to the following classes:

Please be aware that from the 1st February 2018, ALL parents will be asked to provide medical evidence for illness if your

child’s attendance falls below 90%. Without this evidence your child’s absence is likely to be marked as unauthorised.

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Week Beginning 28th October 4th November 11th November 25th November 18th November

4B = 100% 6IT = 99.33%

4A & 4W = 100% 5L & 6T = 100%

3D = 100% 5RW & 6H = 98.67%

4PA = 98% 5H & 5RW = 100%

3W & 4A = 100% 5L & 6H = 99.33%

Would you like to learn more about the following…

ADHD Anxiety Auditory Processing Disorder Autism Dyslexia Dyspraxia Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome Selective Mutism Sensory Processing Difficulties Tourette Syndrome

We have a selection of “Can I tell you about…..” Guides to offer simple introductions to a range of limiting conditions and other issues that affect our lives.

Friendly characters are used to help learn about the conditions, the experiences and challenges and how they would like to be helped and supported.

These books serve as an excellent starting point for family discussions.

If you would like to borrow any of the books please come and ask for Mrs Sagoo or Mrs Pearson in the Inclusion team. We are here to help!

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We have had a busy month as we explained last time we want our pupils to have more involvement in selecting books for their class libraries to increase engagement and enjoyment. We have now put ‘request’ slips in each class for books they would like to see in the library and recommend to others. So parents if you find or know books that you think would be of interest and benefit to our pupils I ask that you pass the information on to me. As promised every class enjoyed choosing £10 worth of books for their library at the book fayre and again teachers reported back this was very popular and stimulated a great deal of discussion and enthusiasm for reading. We also purchased over £200 more books from the fayre which as many are sold at half the price made them a bargain! The author Sue Cheung who wrote ‘Chinglish’ came into speak to our Y6 pupils. They thoroughly enjoyed it and the copies that I bought for each of the 5 class libraries haven’t been seen on the shelves as they eagerly change hands. A number of pupils found it fascinating to talk with her about her experience of leaving in a dual language household. One pupil said: “that’s like my family we speak ‘Hindish’”. Others agreed that at their homes a combined language was used. One of the results of a recent review that concerns us is that many of our more competent, fluent readers particularly among the younger year groups believe that they have nothing else to learn because they find it easy to decode the text. Some of these expressed they felt adults should not hear them read or discuss the content because “it is quicker to read in your head and I can do it!” This is a great shame because at MJS we view reading as a journey where every child goes beyond the learning to read (simply decoding the words and knowing what they mean) so that they not only thrive in an ever changing world but develop the ability to make informed choices, express and explaining personal opinions, share these with others and have a genuine love of reading for life. In our opinion there is no good or bad journeys – we are all unique thus, our journeys are too. Obviously, there is a lot more to reading that just decoding words and understanding the meaning at a superficial level such as the skills of inference by inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying these with evidence; predicting what might happen with detail from what they have read so far; evaluation, the author’s intent, and use of techniques to engage the audience. To try and improve this situation we are just about to embark on a process of tweaking our use of reading records. Each year group will be giving their pupils sentence starters and questions to help them get started and help them focus their thinking. These will help the pupils delve deeper into the book and go beyond the most obvious layers. Parental support is very important in seeing these changes have maximum impact, so please will you:

Regular show interest in what your children are reading. Ask them to tell you about the story and ask for reasons.

Sign their reading record weekly (at least) ensuring that they have read for a minimum of 5 times a week or for an 1¼hours.

Encourage them to write a comment in the book which only fits this book by being book specific rather than general.

Make reading an enjoyable experience a time to share quality time together; there ’s no reason why you can’t share the reading try out different voices for the characters, talk about what they are like as people.

If you notice that they are reading the same type of book over a long period then help them try something different. There are suggested reading lists on our website or ask your class teacher if you would like one.

By Ms Fergusson - English Lead

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Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.

Here at MJS children acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering computing and art. Pupils learn to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Last half term year 4 made robots in connection to their English topic on the Iron Man, children thoroughly enjoyed this and were inspired to carry out more practical activities at home.

What you can do with your children to help your child get hands-on, boost their confidence and

have fun (and make mess!) with materials at home:

Stop-Motion Animation Video

Here’s an excellent option for creative STEM learning. We’ve all seen the fun stop-motion videos online, but you probably never thought of creating one yourself or, better yet, with your kids. With just a few objects, a smartphone or iPad and a stop-motion app, your kids can learn about the technology behind movie-making and create a video unique to their own likes and interests. This would be used for 3is homework.

Build a boat

Select and look at pictures of boats. Search the internet together; look at different designs for various purposes. Encourage your child to look at the materials that are used for building boats, any pulley systems and sails.

Ask them to design a boat for a specific purpose (travelling, fishing, exploring), thinking carefully about the materials they would use, the way the boat would travel and how many people would be able to travel in it.

Jellybean Building

All you will need is a pile of jellybeans (or large marshmallows) and toothpicks for your student or child to start learning about structures. By connecting toothpicks with jellybeans, encourage your child to see

which shapes hold together well, which shapes stack well and which shapes are most interesting to look at.

This activity can help them start to understand the thought, design and technology behind structural engineering. Try challenging them to create a house or a specific structure - it’s a blast to see them con-sidering their options as they build.

A great way to spend a Winter afternoon!

Gingerbread men

Easy to follow recipe: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096

By Mrs Ali

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We at MJS believe that for a child to reach their full reading potential, they need to read regularly and have exposure to a wide range of reading materials. However, some of our children are reluctant to read. This is often due to lack of confidence and having past negative experiences around reading. Here are some ideas that you can try at home that will expose them to reading in a positive way, making it an activity they start to enjoy.

Choose a story that you think your child will enjoy and read it to them. Bring it alive by using different voices for the characters and make them believe that you love the story. Do not ask your child to read it themselves. This is for them to sit back and enjoy. Make this a nightly occurrence - just before bed would be perfect.

Share news articles that you feel they would find interesting - especially if they have pictures. Talk about the article with them.

Let the child choose a comic every week - reading comes in many forms and comic books are a great way to engage a child that is nervous of books. You may need to read it with the child initially.

Use a new book that they can choose as a reward - allow them time to mooch around a bookstore before making their choice.

Take them to a library - set aside an hour so the child can choose books and browse them with you.

Remember, an anxious reader needs non-pressured exposure to reading before they will be prepared to immerse themselves in books.

What An Amazing Squad We Took to the Borough's Basketball Competition!

Although our 2nd team did not win their pool, they managed a respectable 3rd place, while our 1st team got to the finals without conceding a single point.

At the whistle, scores were drawn, so the game went into extra time. The atmosphere was electric and the team played to their strengths, with Adam supporting in defence and Zikra so fearless and confident enough to start shooting, to great effect.

The way Musa played, it would have been a crime if he had not scored, but we were all elated when he finally got the ball in the basket.

Although the games were won through amazing team work, it has to be said that captain Tomas really led the team to the final with an amazing number of baskets supported by Armandas with the quick 1-2.

At the buzzer, we were 1 hoop behind, but did they pout? No... They immediately shook hands and congratulated Ripple and accepted their silver medals with pride.

Great teams with amazing team spirit and team work. We are so proud of each and every one of them.

By Our Inclusion Team

By Ms Kelly

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Page 10

We are pleased to announce that we are looking to continue to develop our community links as we join hands with Manor Infants School in the form of the Team Manor PTA. Following a month of Christmas fayre preparations and meetings with the infants this half term, we are keen to get as many parents on board, to support our schools, to help raise crucial fund and to unify our community.

Regular meetings will be held on a Thursday mornings to get together and share ideas. This term the meetings are held at Manor Infants School. While we appreciate, many of our parents work during the school day, there are so many opportunities to still get involved prior to and following events (many of which will be later in the evening). There are many roles that any help or support would be greatly appreciated. With our first joint event happening on 17th December we are keen to gain the support of any adults with skills, interests, or talents such as henna or arts and crafts activities, that you might be able to support us with. Materials will be provided. If you are interested in supporting our schools in any way, please get in touch. If you have any

queries or questions about how you might be able to get involved please contact Mrs Arrarte on 0208 270 4641 or email office@manor-j.bardaglea.org.uk

The Christmas Fete will be on - Tuesday 17th December after school in the Shared Hall.

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Play Review of “The Tempest” at Forest School On 21st November 2019 we went to see this passionate, spellbinding production that has created a “storm” with unexpected audiences.

The dimly lit stage, wooden crates deserted in the open space combined with flashes of lightening that shocked the filled room of tense spectators.

We sat as still as statues, waiting in anticipation. With a rumble and a shake, the play burst into action, like a flock of singing birds. The actors were splendid.

The Tempest starts, the storm howling, people staggering. The waves wildly crash into the boat and they are brought to the usually peaceful island that belongs to Prospero, the ex-duke of Milan. The King is plotted against, but in the end the plot is discovered and Miranda and Ferdinand, who are wistfully in love and get married.

I thought that Prospero (who is played by Isobel O’Neil) was an amazing actor, and played her role extremely well. She had so many lines and did not stumble on even one.

The lighting was very realistic and the staging created the effect that we really were stranded on an island. Combined with powerful musical effects for the puppets of Caliban and Ariel made for a magical show. Overall, I thought it was a very well-acted and amazing show and I would definitely recommend it.

Zareen Khan, Year 6

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PC Izard, our local safer neighhood officer, came and shared some vital information regarding County Lines and how to keep children safe. Below is an acronym of signs and symptoms of potential child exploitation.