Headmistress’s Newsletter

Issue 131 15th January 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope all Bronte families had a restful break and I would
like to wish a ‘Happy New Year’ to you all!

We are, of course, disappointed not to have all the

children in school with us and to be operating Remote
Learning once more, but we all understand the current
situation globally, nationally and locally. Thank you for
keeping children at home and helping to keep our local
community safe.

Once more, our children have adapted brilliantly and

teachers/TAs are impressed at their engagement and
hard work. I am pleased to show some examples of their
endeavours over the following pages.

I look forward to the day when Mr Hardwick and I can

greet all parents and children in person at the school
gates. Until then, please do keep safe.

With very best wishes to you all,

Emma Wood
Headmistress
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Digital Platforms
Parents and children are becoming used to accessing lessons through Google
Classroom once more, with much work being set and submitted digitally too.
Alongside GC, Google Drive and Zoom, children in all year groups have been
making the most of the other digital platforms available to them, with some
work being set through Mathletics and Purple Mash.

Congratulations to the children below who have achieved a GOLD certificate in

Mathletics – you have obviously worked very hard indeed.
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Year 3 children have been simply AMAZING! They have been working so hard. Mrs
Durkin and Mrs Botley are very impressed with their super attitudes and
wonderful work. Well done Year 3!

Mrs Prescott and Mr Dickins have also been very impressed with Year 6 who are
working hard and showing such independence and motivation. Well done Year 6!
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Year 1
Once again, Miss Dhillon and Mrs Hilditch have been impressed with how well Year 1 have
worked during the first few days of their remote learning. This term children will be learning all
about 'Bright lights, big city' with a focus on the royal family, the map of the UK, transport and
buildings. Already, Year 1 have built palaces fit for a Queen using their lego sets at home.

Can you spot Her Majesty's corgis, horses and Prince Phillip?
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What if worms had wheels......

If toothpaste were caterpillars...…
If toes were teeth......
This week Year 4 have been focusing on the importance of illustrations. They read and
discussed If..., a picture book by Sarah Perry, which has some very interesting and amusing
phrases and illustrations.

Year 4 have created their own illustrations based on the book. Can you guess what the phrases
might be?
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Reception – Mrs Kybert reports…..

“We have enjoyed lots of dinosaur stories to
introduce our animal topic and been working
hard on developing addition strategies.

Our whole class phonics sessions have been

absolutely brilliant, and I am very proud of all
the children (and their mummies & daddies!).”
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Violin Success
We would like to congratulate the seven children who have recently achieved exam success playing
the violin. Their certificates arrived in school this week and will find their way to these children
shortly. Shraddha and Ore (Year 6), Tommy, Ayrton, Alina, Naveen and Maija (Year 5) all did a
wonderful job in their exams and we celebrate with them, thanking Mrs Patience for her hard work
too.

Year 6 – Classics Challenge

During the Autumn Term, Year 6 were given the opportunity to take part in the 'Classics Challenge'.
Mrs Prescott and I are both passionate about the children having access to good quality books,
such as 'Swallows and Amazons', by Arthur Ransome and 'Stig of the Dump', by Clive King, as well
as thought-provoking modern classics, such as 'Refugee', by Alan Gratz.

The Challenge involves reading five of the books available, during the Autumn Term, and Mrs
Prescott is delighted to report that five children from Year 6 have successfully completed this.
When the children return to school, they will each be presented with a £5 book token.

Very well done to Tristan, Ore, Alice, Joshveer and Jaya.

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Art with Mrs Britton:

Year 4 impressed Mrs Britton in their first lesson

with these accurately drawn Cactus plants, while
Year 2 enjoyed drawing houses using bright colours
and undulating lines (in the style of Austrian artist
Friedensreich Hundertwasser). Meanwhile Year 1
created their vibrant pictures using the Primary
colours - red, blue and yellow.

Well done to all the children!

Thank you to all parents, children and

staff at Bronte for supporting the Fun
Day, held before Christmas, in aid of
Children in Need.
We raised £384.03!
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Year 2
Children in Year 2 have been exploring the globe to find out the names, locations and characteristics of
the five oceans. Here are just a few examples of their wonderful work. Mrs Lonergan and Mrs Ellis are
very impressed with their creativity and their knowledge - well done everyone!

A particular mention should be given to Hera, who joins our Year 2 class, and is getting to know her
classmates via Zoom – welcome from us all!
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Since we have returned to School, we are

pleased to welcome Keira into our
Kindergarten class. The children are excited to
have another friend to play with, and the
whole Bronte community welcomes her and
her family.

The KG children have also been learning about

our school pets, Eric and Ernie. Did you know
Guinea Pigs teeth never stop growing and
their nails need to be cut regularly?

All our Kindergarten are continuing to develop

gross motor skills and mark making skills with
lots of fun activities and challenges - as you
can see from these photos of our first days
back at School.
 Year 3 German – Frau Barwell

“This week I discovered that Dave the Minion, Rapunzel and Captain Hook - along
with a whole host of other characters - all speak wonderful German!

Year 3 were asked to get into role and then record a short video in German telling
me all about their character, where they live, their age as well as their favourite
colour, film and book. Did you know that, according to Saoirse, Queen Elizabeth II's
favourite book is 'The Queen's Knickers' and her favourite song is The National
Anthem? As you can see from the photos, Simran made a very convincing Captain
Hook and Nidhi played the part of Rapunzel beautifully.

Can anyone guess, though, who is hiding behind the Dave the Minion mask? I bet
Mrs Durkin wasn't aware that she has a cheeky minion in her class!”

Year 5 PE

Year 5 (and Miss Walters) spent some time with Joe Wicks this week – when they all undertook a
HIIT workout together! Although it was hard work, it was also great fun …. and they even
answered some Geography quiz questions too. Did you know a peninsula is a piece of land almost
surrounded by water or projecting out into a body of water?

The lesson wasn't without one (shattering) hiccup though! Before the Zoom, Miss Walters did a
'practice' star jump in her living room. In doing so, she hit her head on her glass lampshade and
smashed it to smithereens! Year 5 found this hilarious ... Miss Walters didn't know whether to
laugh or cry!