Weekly Blog Friday 29th November 2024
Date: 28th Nov 2024 @ 7:38am
Attendance
Every week in our Celebration Assembly, we celebrate the class who has achieved the highest attendance for that week. This week Miss Dunn's class had the highest attendance with 98.04% - well done Year 6! That's two weeks in a row now - can you make it a hat trick next week?
Please see below for the attendance figures for this week. The target attendance for all children is currently set at 97%.
Nursery - 81.33%
Reception - 96.88%
Year 1 Mrs Birkinshaw & Mrs Ward - 96.30%
Year 2 Mrs Davies - 94.22%
Year 3 Mrs Parkes & Mrs Ronan - 97.49%
Year 4 Mrs Wood - 95.10%
Year 5 Mrs Pickersgill & Mrs Walker - 90.22%
Year 6 Miss Dunn - 98.04%
Celebrating fantastic attendance!
Each week, each class with 100% attendance on a particular day will receive one letter from the word MAYFLOWER to put on their classroom door. Once a class has spelt out the word MAYFLOWER, a member of the class will bring all their letters down to the office to claim their prize from our box of Awesome Attendance Activities!
Please see below where each class stands at the end of today:
Nursery - M A Y F L O W E R
Reception - M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O W E R M
Year 1 - M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O W E R
Year 2 - M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O
Year 3 - M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O
Year 4 - M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O W
Year 5 - M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F
Year 6 - M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O W E R M A Y F L O W E
This week, our Reception and Year 1 classes have got their MAYFLOWER for the second and third time respectively. They will be choosing their rewards to have next week. Well done!
Is your child a HERO?
As advised on last week's blog and in our email earlier today, next week we will be having a real push on encouraging all children to be Here, Every day, Ready and On time. Every child who arrives on time for school every day next week will be entered into a prize draw, with a chance to win a movie night hamper for the whole family to enjoy.
We hope everyone is up for this challenge! We can't wait to share who the prize winner is on next week's blog!
Stars of the week
Each week in our Friday Celebration Assembly, we celebrate our stars of the week. Each class teacher chooses 2 children from their class each week who have really impressed them. Here are the children who have been chosen this week.
Nursery & Reception
This week our star of the week in Nursery goes to Hughie who has worked really hard to become more independent when getting himself ready for home-time. He has been really proud of himself when he has been able to do some of these things by himself.
In Reception we have chosen two children this week, as they have both been amazing! We have chosen this person as one of our stars of the week because she is always sensible and is very caring about her friends and the children in the class. She makes sure that everyone is always safe, pointing out classroom hazards to adults. If anyone is being unkind she makes sure that they are okay and that the school rules are being followed. Well done Isabel 🙂
Our second star of the week this week is Jackson. Jackson has been a super star in phonics this week, he has done some amazing listening and joined in with all the new sounds that we have learnt this week. Jackson has done his best writing in phonics and should be so so so proud of all of the work he has done. Well done Jackson 🙂
Year 1
Nova - Nova (as always!) has had a wonderful week in school. She has been shining like a star during our nativity rehearsals- she delivers her lines beautifully and follows instructions so carefully. She is setting a great example and is being a wonderful leader. We can't wait to see you in the show next week!
Louie - Louie is such a wonderful member of the class. He leads Year 1 with his great example of being ready to learn and how to listen carefully. We have loved seeing Louie participate in all activities this week- from English group tasks, to Smartboard games, to singing in the nativity! You are trying so hard and we are very proud of you!
Year 2
Jacob and Thomas M - for responding so positively to being given responsibility in class, for their own learning and in school in general. They believe that their actions can make a difference. They have become more engaged, confident and effective learners because of the way they have taken responsibility for their own actions and their own learning. They are both leaders in a quiet and thoughtful way.
Year 3
Olive - Olive was inspired this week after Mrs Powell's assembly about leadership. She went home and wrote a speech about the things that she would change if she was the Prime Minister. Her ideas were excellent and I can't wait to see the positive changes that she goes on to make in the world. You are a natural leader Olive - I am really proud of you.
Noah J - Noah takes on a leadership role in the classroom in a quiet and calm way. He is able to lead others by allowing them to follow his example. He consistently works hard, is respectful and is kind to his peers and adults in school. Noah can influence others in a positive way to enable everyone to achieve their best.
Year 4
Evelyn - Evelyn shared her experiences in school as a Maths Ambassador at a conference for teachers on Friday. She was clear in what she said and gave excellent advice to teachers about how to introduce Maths Through Stories to their class. She showed true leadership and is an excellent role model!
Daniel - Daniel had many ideas about what he would do if he was Prime Minister. He was passionate about contributing to food charities to ensure that everyone has the food they need. In class, Daniel is showing excellent leadership skills when working with his partner.
Year 5
Frankie - When working collaboratively, Frankie is focused and knows his role in contributing to the efforts of the group. He is often eager to share his ideas in class discussions but will also take in to consideration the thoughts and opinions of his peers. He demonstrates excellent leadership qualities in group projects.
Noah - When working collaboratively, Noah demonstrates good skills in coordinating and delegating activities to ensure that the task is completed. He has a positive outlook and boosts his peer's confidence with encouragement when they are struggling. He demonstrates the qualities of a good leader when working on a group project.
Year 6
This week in school, we have been focussing on leadership skills; adults across school have been looking for those children who consistently demonstrate the qualities and attributes of an effective leader. This week's Stars of the Week in Year 6 have been chosen with this in mind.
Sophia - Sophia is an excellent role model for leadership in Year 6. She always works collaboratively with others in paired and group situations and shares her ideas, clearly explaining the rationale behind them. Sophia also listens to, and takes on board, the views of others and is happy to accommodate these views, even if they differ to her own, to ensure that groups tasks are completed effectively.
Kaylan - Kaylan is a quiet leader in class who demonstrates the attributes necessary when working with others. He collaborates well with other children in class, sharing his ideas and thoughts whilst also actively listening to the views and opinions of others. He always considers others and makes decisions based upon what he thinks is best - even if this means abandoning his own ideas in favour of the ones of his peers.
Headteacher Award
Each week in our Celebration Assembly, Mrs Powell chooses someone who has really impressed her during the week and presents them with her Headteacher Award trophy.
Our theme for assembly and pupil voice linked to UK Parliament week and we thought about the issues we would like to tackle ‘if we were Prime Minister’. This week’s Superstar Award goes to this amazing Mayflower pupil who does this from the heart, thinks about the real things that matter, and tries to make the difference when she can. Well done Olive, your speech was inspiring and we can’t wait to send it off to our local MP, Lee Pitcher, to gain his thoughts on your wonderful ideas.
Makaton Sign Of The Week
The children are continuing to learn Makaton's 'Sign of the week' each week. Each Monday, the children learn the new sign for that week. We thought it would be useful to share the following week's sign with parents/carers on our Friday blog so you can get involved too if you wish. Please click on the link below to see the sign for the coming week.
https://makaton.org/TMC/News_Stories/SOTW/SOTW_Winter.aspx
Collection of children from school
If your child will be collected by someone else at the end of the school day and your child's teacher is not aware of this arrangement, please ensure you have either let them know or phoned the school office. This will avoid any delays in collecting the children, as if we haven't had a message we will need to contact parents/carers prior to letting the child leave.
Christmas postbox
Our Christmas postbox will be in the main entrance near the school office from next Monday, 2nd December. If your child would like to send Christmas cards to their friends, they can pop their cards in the postbox and they will be delivered to class as soon as possible.
Please make sure the name of the child the card is for is on the envelope, together with their year group. It would also be really helpful if the cards could have an elastic band round them or be in a small bag if they are all for the same class please, to help speed up delivery.
Christmas Jumper Day Friday 6th December
Next Friday, 6th December we would love it if the children came to school in a Christmas jumper. Please don't worry if your child doesn't have a Christmas jumper, they can just come to school in non-uniform that day. We would like to ask for a suggested donation of £1 for this event; this is a suggested donation and children can come to school in Christmas jumpers/non-uniform whether they donate or not. All donations received will go towards providing additional experiences for our children throughout school.
Christmas Performances
Our younger children are working their socks off in their final preparations for their Christmas performances next week. Our Year 1 and Year 2 children have been true professionals, learning their lines and learning how to project them on stage. The singing is sounding wonderful too.
Our Nursery and Reception children are loving this new chapter of their school life! They have got stuck in to learning their songs and are doing brilliantly.
Everyone is in for a real treat next week!
Don't forget that at all our Christmas events, including these performances, our Head/Deputy boys and girls will be selling raffle tickets for our Chocolate Raffle. Tickets are £1 per strip of 5 tickets and all proceeds go towards providing additional experiences for our children.
Christmas Chocolate Raffle
Raffle tickets for our Christmas chocolate raffle will be on sale from next Monday, 2nd December priced at £1 per strip of 5 tickets. Tickets will be available in each class and also from the school office before and after school each day (with the exception of a Tuesday afternoon, when the school office is closed). Tickets will also be available at all of our Christmas events.
Thank you to those who have already donated chocolate for this raffle. We are beginning to get a lovely selection and will display these in the main entrance from Monday onwards. Please don't worry if you are not able to contribute at this time - we appreciate that things are difficult at the moment and there is no pressure at all to donate anything.
Just a quick reminder that if you are able to donate anything, we are a nut free school.
The raffle will be drawn during the school day on Friday 20th December, the last day of this term.
Good luck everyone!
Thank You PTA
We would like to say a huge thank you to our PTA for organising and running the Key Stage 2 film nights that have taken place over the last couple of weeks. Special thanks go to Mrs Dolby and Mrs Necola, who supervised the children at both film nights.
Without our PTA we could not provide our children with those extra experiences and events that make a difference. If you could spare a bit of time, however small, to help at our PTA events it would be most appreciated. It doesn't have to be a long term commitment - whatever time you can spare either before or during the event will really help. If you would consider helping our PTA, please contact them via the PTA Facebook page or contact the school office.
Rocksteady Concert Wednesday 11th December
We are really looking forward to those children who take part in the Rocksteady music sessions showcasing their learning in their end of term concert on Wednesday 11th December. Parents/carers of the children involved should already have been notified of this concert by the Rocksteady team.
Alex, the band leader, is once again blown away by the talent of the children involved. Each group just gets on with their sessions and are always enthusiastic and determined to achieve their very best.
If you will be coming to the concert, please come to the school office to sign in. Please arrive by 9.50am at the latest to ensure that the concert can start on time.
PTA Christmas Shop Friday 13th December
Christmas Market in school Monday 16th December from 2pm
We are really excited in school to be underway with our preparations for our Christmas Market which will take place on Monday 16th December from 2pm. The market will be the culmination of our Enterprise project. Our PTA has given each class a small sum of money which they will use to buy resources to make items which they will then sell at the Christmas Market.
Whatever profit each class makes will be theirs to keep to use during the school year on something extra for their class.
We would like to invite parents/carers/extended family members into school from 2pm on Monday 16th December to view and hopefully purchase the items the children have made. Some of the suggestions have been really creative so we are looking forward to seeing the finished products.
Further details regarding the market will be sent out via email at the beginning of next week.
Holiday Childcare
First Steps Active Care, our wraparound and after school club provider, is currently looking into the possibility of setting up some holiday childcare in school. To gauge interest, they would appreciate it if our parents/carers could take a few moments to complete their survey by clicking on the link below.
https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/WLDcTY
The deadline for completion of the survey is Friday 6th December.
Do we have some new police recruits at Mayflower?
Last week, PC Jepson and his colleague PC Vicky visited school. Our younger children got the opportunity to speak with both police officers to find out more about what the police do and how they make where we live nice and safe for us. The children had the opportunity to wear some items of police uniform and also had the chance to go in the police van. They were all in their element! They were beeping the horn and sounding the sirens - our neighbours close to school must have wondered what was going on!
We would like to thanks PC's Jepson and Vicky for spending some time with our children. PC Jepson is keen to build links with our school to promote the role of the police within society, so we look forward to his next visit.
Congratulations!
Joseph in Year 3 addressed the congregation at St Nicholas' Church last Sunday. Joseph can be seen here reading the book 'How to Pray' to the church congregation. This is a book that the church uses in Sunday School to teach young people the Lord's Prayer. Well done Joseph! Doing this shows a huge level of confidence, which you clearly have. We know you love all books so can imagine the enjoyment and pride you had when doing this. What a superstar! Thank you for sharing this with us.
South Family Hub festive timetable
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Raring2go Doncaster winter magazine
Raring2go is a handy local magazine guide of what to do and where to go for parents and their children aged between 0 and 12. Each edition of Raring2go! is packed full of family friendly editorial, events listings and quirky features.
Please click on the link below to see the winter edition of the Raring2go magazine.
Lunch Menu for week commencing 2nd December 2024
Please see the menu below for next week. There may need to be last minute changes to the menus on occasion, to take into account availability of items or delivery issues.
Diary Dates
Please see below our current diary dates. It may be that there are dates on here that involve your child that you haven't had any information for yet. Please don't worry, information will come out in plenty of time prior to the date concerned. Dates that have been added since the last blog are shown in bold.
Monday 2nd December - raffle tickets for chocolate raffle go on sale in classrooms and in the school office from today
Monday 2nd December - Key Stage 1 Nativity Dress Rehearsal 10.30am
Tuesday 3rd December - Foundation Nativity Dress Rehearsal 10.30am
Tuesday 3rd December - Key Stage 1 Nativity Performance 2pm
Wednesday 4th December - Foundation Nativity Performance 10.30am
Wednesday 4th December - choir singing at Bawtry Residents Christmas Lunch at Bawtry Hall
Thursday 5th December - Foundation Nativity Performance 10.30am
Thursday 5th December - Key Stage 1 Nativity Performance 2pm
Friday 6th December - Christmas Jumper Day/non-uniform day - Suggested donation of £1
Friday 6th December - panto in school during the school day
Tuesday 10th December – Year 1 to Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery
Wednesday 11th December - Rocksteady Concert 10am - for those children taking part in the Rocksteady music sessions
Wednesday 11th December - Nursery & Reception Christmas craft workshop 9am to 10am
Friday 13th December - PTA Christmas Shop
Friday 13th December - deadline for Y2 National Emergency Services Museum takeover in school contributions
Monday 16th December - Christmas Market in school from 2pm onwards
Tuesday 17th December - Carols round the tree after school in the lower hall - refreshments being served
Tuesday 17th December - school office open after school today - closed Wednesday 18th December instead
Wednesday 18th December - Christmas Jumper Day - no donations requested
Wednesday 18th December - Christmas Service at St Nicholas' Church 9.30am for children in Years 1 to 6 (walking to church straight after morning register - we would love family members to join us for the walk to and from church and to enjoy the service)
Wednesday 18th December - Christmas Dinner Day - for those on school dinners and those who have completed the online form. If you didn't order the Christmas Dinner or your child doesn't want a Christmas Dinner, they will just need to bring their packed lunch as normal.
Wednesday 18th December - school office closed after school today
Thursday 19th December - Christmas film and pyjama afternoon - further details to follow
Friday 20th December - Christmas raffle to be drawn today
Friday 20th December - Christmas parties - non-uniform/party wear
Friday 20th December - Christmas party food for lunch - for those on school dinners and those who have completed the online form. If you didn't order the party food or your child doesn't want party food for lunch, they will just need to bring their packed lunch as normal.
Friday 20th December – last day at school before Christmas holidays
Monday 23rd December to Friday 3rd January 2025 – Christmas Holidays
Monday 6th January 2025 – first day back in school after Christmas holidays
Wednesday 15th January 2025 – deadline for Reception applications for September 2025
Tuesday 21st January 2025 - Nursery fine motor skills workshop 9am
Thursday 23rd January 2025 – Year 3 visit to National Coal Mining Museum
Friday 24th January 2025 – Year 2 National Emergency Services Museum Takeover Day in school. Change of date – was originally Wednesday 22nd January 2025.
Wednesday 5th February 2025 - Prostrike sponsored event - further details to follow
Thursday 13th February 2025 - PTA Discos - Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 3.10pm to 3.50pm (Nursery and Reception parents/carers to stay with their child), Years 3 to 6 4pm to 4.45pm. Entry £1 - there will also be a tuck shop at this event
Thursday 13th February 2025 – Young Voices concert at Sheffield Utilita Arena
Friday 14th February 2025 – last day in school before February half term
Monday 17th February 2025 to Friday 21st February 2025 – February half term
Monday 24th February 2025 – first day back at school after February half term
Thursday 27th February 2025 - PTA Bag2School Clothing Collection - further details to follow
Tuesday 18th March 2025 – Year 2 visit to Austerfield Study Centre
Wednesday 19th March 2025 - Rocksteady Concert 10am - for those children taking part in the Rocksteady music sessions
Wednesday 26th March 2025 - Nursery & Reception Easter craft workshop 9am to 10am
Thursday 27th March 2025 - PTA Gifts for a loved one shop. Gifts from 50p to £3
Friday 28th March 2025 – last day in school before Easter holidays
Monday 31st March 2025 to Friday 11th April 2025 – Easter holidays
Monday 14th April 2025 – first day back at school after Easter holidays
Wednesday 16th April 2025 - PTA Easter Egg Hunt
Wednesday 16th April 2025 – Year 6 visit to Crucial Crew. Year 6 will do their Easter Egg Hunt on a different day this week.
Thursday 17th April 2025 - Nursery maths workshop 9am
Friday 18th April 2025 – Good Friday – school closed
Monday 21st April 2025 – Easter Monday – school closed
Wednesday 23rd April 2025 to Friday 25th April 2025 - Year 5 residential to PGL Caythorpe Court
Monday 5th May 2025 – Bank Holiday – school closed
Thursday 8th May 2025 to Friday 9th May 2025 - Year 3 residential to Austerfield Study Centre
Thursday 15th May 2025 – Y4 parents meeting for Hollowford residential in Year 4 classroom 3.10pm
Wednesday 21st May 2025 - Nursery phonics workshop 9am
Thursday 22nd May 2025 - class photos
Friday 23rd May 2025 – last day in school before May half term
Monday 26th May 2025 to Friday 30th May 2025 – May half term
Monday 2nd June 2025 – Training Day – school closed to pupils
Tuesday 3rd June 2025 – Training Day – school closed to pupils
Wednesday 4th June 2025 – first day back in school after May half term
Thursday 5th June 2025 - PTA Discos - Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 3.10pm to 3.50pm (Nursery and Reception parents/carers to stay with their child), Years 3 to 6 4pm to 4.45pm. Entry £1 - there will also be a tuck shop at this event. Change of date - was originally 26th June 2025. Portakabin on top playground open for refreshments if parents/carers have children in both discos.
Friday 6th June 2025 - PTA Bag2School Clothing Collection - further details to follow
Thursday 12th June 2025 - PTA Gifts for a loved one shop. Gifts from 50p to £3
Wednesday 18th June 2025 – Sports Day – Foundation AM, rest of school PM – timings to follow
Thursday 19th June 2025 - PTA Summer Fair
Wednesday 25th June 2025 to Friday 27th June 2025 – Year 4 Hollowford Residential
Tuesday 1st July 2025 – Year 2 visit to Cleethorpes
Wednesday 2nd July 2025 - Nursery & Reception sewing morning 9am to 10am
Wednesday 9th July 2025 - Music Hub (guitars, woodwind and brass) Concert 9am - for those children taking part in guitar/woodwind/brass lessons in school
Wednesday 9th July 2025 - Rocksteady Concert 10am - for those children taking part in the Rocksteady music sessions
Thursday 10th July 2025 - PTA Colour Run (if the weather isn't on our side on this day, the event will be moved to Thursday 17th July 2025)
Thursday 17th July 2025 - alternative date for PTA Colour Run if weather isn't suitable on Thursday 10th July 2025
Friday 18th July 2025 – last day at school before Summer Holidays
2025-2026 School Year
Wednesday 1st October 2025 - individual/sibling photos
