A huge apology for the late update of this weeks blog. The company that we host our website with had a problem with their server and we could not gain access to update the website !

Anyway, that has been resolved and here is what has been happening at Darlinghurst Primary and Nursery School this week !

Miss Wakeford - RM - This week, we have been learning the phonemes ‘th’ and ‘qu’, continuing with our rehearsals for Christmas and working on the theme of ‘Winter’. We have started decorating our classroom and are looking forward to opening the class advent calendar next week!

Mrs McIntosh - RW - We have had a very busy week rehearsing for the Christmas nativity and a very enjoyable Friday!! We decorated our Christmas tree! (It looks a little overdonw at the moment!!)  We are trying to make the classroom look as Christmassy as we can! Next week the children will be getting very creative and festive, making lots of things using paint, glitter, salt dough and much more! Don't forget dress rehearsals start next week........Have a good weekend one and all.

Miss Barrington - 1B - Class 1B have been reading The Snowman by Raymond Briggs in literacy.  We have enjoyed this story and keep wondering when it will snow.  In numeracy we made our own clocks and can now tell the time on the hour and half past.  We even made a human clock and Mrs Daly was the long minute hand.  It is a busy time at school but l have been especially pleased with the children's spellings.  Class 1B are very excited as they are going to have a Santa's workshop in their classroom.  Father Christmas has been ringing Mrs Barrington at 7 o'clock each night to check how class 1B are doing.

Mrs Dutton - 2/1D - What a great  time  we  have  had!  This   week  we  have  been  thinking  about  how  much  coins  are  worth  and  adding  up  our  coins  to  see  how  much  money  we  have  got. We  have  also  been  using  our  thinking  skills  to  write  letters  to  Father  Christmas. We  are  going  to  leave  them  in  the  classroom  this  weekend  and  wait  for  some  Christmas  magic!     

Miss Bernard - 2/1B - In class 2/1B we have been investigating money. We have been identifying coins, adding more than 2 to find the total and then finding exact amounts.I have been really impressed with the way the children have approached their work, with enthusiasm and positivity. We have also written our letters to Father Christmas. I hope you all get what you asked for children? We are now beginning to find out about the reason that we have Christmas and are writing our own Christmas stories.Which some of you are finding difficult, so children, if you could find out as much as you can about "The Christmas Story" at home over the weekend, I'm sure that would be a great help.We are also having multipication week, so continue to practise counting in 2's , 5's and 10's. Have a great weekend!

Mrs Peacher - 3P - Class 3P have been learning how to tell the time this week and now have no excuses for being late! We have also finished writing our adventure stories set in Adventure Island and will be presenting them next week for everybody to read.

Miss Slann - 3S - What a fun week we've had finishing our Adventure Island stories, lots of action and tension - well done! I hope you are looking forward to the Christmas play and are happy with your part. Make sure you learn your words over the weekend if you've got a speaking part! Rehearsal is first thing Monday morning!!!!

Mr Bird + Mrs Amran - 4AH - Class 4A/B have been busy practising the many skills involved in preparing for the Christmas production during this week. We have been able to make a useful link with the children's experiences of reading scripts as they have been creating and writing mini plays to perform in class. There are some budding thespians in our midst! 

Miss Bolton - 4B - We have immersed themselves fully into our Christmas production rehearsals this week and all is going well so far. Thanks to all the parents that have sent in costumes. We will need them all in by Wednesday ready for our dress rehearsal on Thursday. If anyone is having problems, please make an appointment to come in and see us and we can help out. Our African masks are now finished and displayed and here's the picture to prove it!

Mrs Johnston - 5J - Rehearsals are going well, keep learning those lines and the song, bring in your costumes and keep up the good behaviour.  Although we are at a busy and exciting time of year it is still important to keep learning all of your times tables and read at home to an adult.  Remember our Victorian drama workshop is on Thursday morning.  I'm really looking forward to it - it means I get to dress up again!

Mr Duff - 5D - What an improvement from our last rehearsals in Year 4. Wow, you have really grown up ! You listen to instructions, remembered your lines (well most of them), knew when to come on and your behaviour was superb. Next week I am looking for exactly the same ! Don't forget your homework, spellings and times tables. Remember your Victorian costumes for next Thursday and have a good weekend !

Mr Haulter + Mrs Chatterton - 6HC - We had an explosion in our class this week! One of the ginger beer bottles exploded! No harm done, all were safely inside black sack. It caused great excitement in the room. Panto is starting to come together. There are various outfits appearing in class. We have been writing formal persuasive letters this week, the children have picked this up really well, so watch out parents for some of the skills being put into action at home.

Mr Martin - 6M -Thanks for all the people who have contributed to raffle prizes and costumes for the end of term show. Unfortunately, time got the better of us this week so we weren't able to make our Hanukkah festival food- but we'll definitely be heading for the kitchen next week!

So there you have it ! Again, apolgises for the late update but it was worth it in the end. What a week !

Have a fantastic weekend !

Take a look at what has been happening here at Darlinghurst Primary and Nursery School !

As you will know this week has been Anti-Bullying week. There has been assemblies, wear blue day and many classroom activities to enforce what bullying is and how can it be stopped.

The children have been fully engaged with this and have had lots of fun within this serious message.

Miss McIntosh - RM - I am really pleased with the sensible and mature attitude of the class this week whilst we've been talking about what bullying is. The children have taken on board alot of things! Next week is lots of rehearsing for the Christmas play...........if your child has lines please practice them with them. Thank you! Have a great weekend

Miss Wakeford - RW - This week, class RW started rehearsing for their Christmas production.  We started singing our songs and had a photographer from the Evening Echo in to take a photo of us in our costumes. A great big thank you to all the parents for some fabulous outfits! The children looked amazing!

Mrs Barrington - 1B - Class 1B have been looking at the story of Cinderella in literacy. We have written about the different characters and the main events. For our anti bullying we discussed the behaviour of Ugly Sisters in the story. In numeracy the children have been learning the days of the week, seasons and months of the year. Next week we shall be working on time. Thank you for your support with this weeks homework, the days of the week chains have been displayed in class.

Mrs Dutton - 2/1D - What a great week we  have  had  finding out how we might feel  if  we  are  being bullied and what we can do to help ourselves if  we  are  being  bullied.  We  now  know  we  can  say  "stop,  I  don't  like  it."  and  we can  tell  an  adult  we  trust.  We  have  also  been  thinking  about  2D  shapes  and  symetry,  as  well  as  how  plants  and  animals  are  different. Next week  we  will  be  writing  a  letter  to  a  very  important  person!  Can  you  guess  who?

Miss Bernard - 2/1B - It has been a very productive week in Class 2/1B for highlighting the problem of bullying. In Literacy the children have discussed different types of bullying and thought about the types which affect us the most. We have used role play to help us think about what we need to do if we are being bullied or if we witness somebody being bullied.They have also written poems based around slogans which promote anti-bullying and made masks to show how people can hide their feelings behind a smile when they are actually feeling very sad. I feel that we have learnt a some valuable things through these activities and that they will definitely benefit the children by helping to prevent them being bullied or becoming bullies themselves.Next week we are investigating money in Numeracy. We will be counting, adding and taking away using money. So get practising over the weekend children! We are also getting very excited because we are beginning to practise for our Christmas performance and writing letters to Father Christmas!

Miss Slann - 3S - We have had a great week learning how to plan exciting stories and we are now all ready for the writing to begin next week. As part of our topic on 'Our local area' we discussed how Southend pier could be improved and what it may look like in the future. The children then deisgned some wonderful piers that they could imagine might be built in years to come. Well done everyone, you've worked really hard!

Mrs Peacher - 3P - We have been planning their adventure stories this week. We have had lots of good ideas and will keep you posted as to how they are coming on next week. For anti-bullying week we have made positive message posters that will be pinned up around the school.

Miss Bolton - 4B - Such a busy, hectic but fun week in 4B. Firstly, we're a bit sad to be seeing a little less of Mrs Burns but happy to welcome in a new member of staff to Darlinghurst in the form of Mr Lloyd, 4B's latest LSA addition. He'll be working with us mornings. You have to be slightly mad to do this job sometimes and Wednesday proved that by deciding to cook lunch, with the children, for the whole class. Lunch came a little later than planned, but we did it and there were plenty of happy children eating shephards pie which most said was "better than my mum's!!" And our African masks were completed.....at last! They look great. Watch this space for pictures of some of them next week.

Mr Bird + Mrs Amran - 4AB - Everyone in 4A/B have really entered into the spirit of investigating what life was like in World War Two. The children explored what emotions an evacuee may have experienced and generally agreed that they would not want to have to cope with that situation. Thank you to those parents, guardians and extended family members, who have already started to provide memorabilia for our display. Please keep sending artefacts and interesting stories relating to our history topic, as the children find them fascinating and are keen to show them to the other classes once we set up our mini museum.

Mr Duff - 5D - I would like to say a huge well done to 5D for their excellent behaviour this week. I was out of the class for two days and in my absence you were a credit to yourself. This was also reflected in your superb bahaviour on our trip to Westcliff High School for Girls. What a fantastic day this was. Some of us have even managed to get into tonights Evening Echo, page 11, top right hand corner ! The Cinderella play parts have all been given out and this weeks homework is to sort out your costumes, if you have any problems, please let me know. Have a great weekend !

Mrs Johnston - 5J - We were very pleased to see PC Sawyer again this week as we finally solved our crime and he assures us arrests will be made.  He talked to us about his work with the police and we were amazed to see how many gadgets there were on his belt.  We really appreciate all the help PC Sawyer has given us to make our Police Week so much fun.  Unfortunately, behaviour in 5J was not very good at the beginning of the week but everyone excelled themselves at WHSG and finished the week well.  Please make sure you learn your words (if you have any) and sort out your costumes.  Remember all parts are important!

Mr Hautler + Mrs Chatteron - 6HC - We have been making 'ginger beer' with Mr Hautler. All week the class have fed the yeast with ginger and sugar. Today they have been busily straining it. They now have to wait another 10 days before it is ready! We have been busy auditioning for our dance scenes, singing and acting in 'Cinderella', It has been very competitive, with Mrs Chatterton and Mrs Mclauclan acting as judges for the dancing. Lily and jodie have choreographed both dances and have been stars in teaching the rest of the children.

Mr Martin - 6M - This week we've been investigating the role of the Macabees in bringing about the Jewish festival of light- Hanukkah! We shall be continuing the theme next week and therefore will be making the celebratory foods of cheese and latkes. But why do Jews eat dairy foods and foods fried in oil during this eight day festival? Ask your child!

It looks like all classes had a fantastic time this week ! Lots of things learnt, ginger beer, yes please !

Have a super weekend !

Wow !! What a week at Darlinghurst Primary and Nursery School

First of all it was International Week. Then we had Mrs Johnston's class, 5J, being a police station all week and finally we had the Science Curriculum evening on Wednesday.

Here are some pictures from that very successful event.

What else has been happening around the school this week?

Miss Wakeford - RW
RW have been continuing to learn about Toys this week. We sorted old and new toys and talked about the different materials they were made from. We had a fabulous response for our Talk Tray this week, which was to bring in something French. Don’t forget to bring in your Christmas production costumes for next Thursday when the Evening Echo will be in to take your photograph!

Mrs McIntosh - RM
RM have also been continuing to talk and learn about Toys and what they are made of. On Wednesday Shakira, Rebecca and Samuel did some fantastic speaking and listening in our Science evening. It was superb! (They even got to try the cakes they made!!) Next week we will be getting the Christmas play well under way so can all the children remember their costumes! Thank you!

What's been happening this week at Darlinghurst Primary and Nursery School

Miss Wakeford - RW
RW have had a good week learning the phonemes z,w,ng and v. We started a new outdoor play rota this week using lots of outdoor equipment and enjoyed our work on toys. Next week, we are learning oo, y and x. Don't forget to ask your mums and dads if they have any old fashioned toys that they used to play with, that we can compare to new toys next week. Keep up the fabulous reading!!!

Mrs McIntosh - RM
This week RM have worked really hard. We have learnt the sounds z,w,ng and v. We have also started a new topic of Toys and the children brought in their favourite toys today! Next week we are learning oo, y and x. Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Barrington - 1B
Class 1B have been busy counting back in numeracy .  In my attempts to help the children with counting back I told them  l was 100 which meant we had to do  lots of counting back.  We have nearly finished our moving teddies as part of our D.T.  I soon hope to put some pictures onto the site. Thank you for supporting your child with their weekly homework.  Keep it up!

Mrs Dutton - 2/1D
What a great week we have had, finding out about living on a small island and measuring everything in the classroom. We now have a life-size drawing of Paige on the wall!  Spelling  Test results were very good this week too.  Have a well earned rest this weekend. 

Miss Bernard - 2/1B
We have had a brilliant week geography based topic week, An Island Home. The children have done some persuasive writing on advantages / disadvantages of living on an island / mainland. We made models, designed our own islands and did role play. Next week we are doing poetry, so make sure you bring in your favourites children !

Miss Slann - 3S
We had a great week learning about different story settings. We also Google Earthed the whole planet !

Mrs Peacher - 3P
We really enjoyed the Southend Soccer coaching this week. Next week make sure that everyone has appropriate P.E. kit.

Miss Bolton - 4B
Another busy week in 4B. We are already excited about International Week next week and learning all about South Africa. We have already started on our African masks and been doing papier mache every spare minute we have! Our classroom now has a perminent smell of glue in it though!Our Brain Academy display is finally finished and up on the wall and it looks like we have some super maths detectives in our class....watch out Dr Hood!!

What's been happening this week at Darlinghurst Primary and Nursery School

Miss Wakeford - RW
Miss Wakeford and Miss Porter were thrilled with the children's half term holiday homework. They made number books which the parents will be able to see on the Science Curriculum Evening. Next week the children will be learning the phonemes z, w, ng and v.

Mrs McIntosh - RM
Mrs McIntosh would like to say a big WELL DONE to all the children who read and practised their words over the half term ! It was great ! Next week we will be learning the phonemes z, w ng and v.

Mrs Barrington - 1B
We have had a fun week listening to stories by the auther Jane Hissey. Class 1B have worked very hard with their spellings. Mrs Barrington lost and found her voice. The children really looked after me. Next week we shall be continuing with our toy topic and more Jane Hissey stories. 

Mrs Dutton - 2/1D
A great week for Literacy this week, well done. You have all used good adjectives in your stories. I am looking forward to next week.

Miss Bernard - 2/1B
Well done children, you have had a brilliant week working on your doubles and halves. I am also very pleased with your attempts to use adjectives in your stories based on "The 3 Little Pigs". Next week we are doing a Geography based week, all about "An Island Home".

Miss Slann - 3S
Well done everyone for making some fantastic firework cards. Your ICT skills are really improving. Have a great, safe firework night !

Mrs Peacher - 3P
The class have enjoyed maths this week - especially counting zombie arms and ghostly eyes on halloween !

Miss Bolton - 4B
The class have told me how much they have enjoyed this week, particulary doing a whole Brain Academy maths week and starting our new WWII history topic. Please keep practising your tables this week too !

Mr Martin - 6T
This week we've been finishing and evaluating our shelters and looking at microbes and the prevention of their spreading.

Mr Haltler + Mrs Chatteron - 6HC
Mr Hautler and Mrs Chatteron have enjoyed their first week with the class. They have built fantastic shelters in D+T using natural resources.

So, as you can see, the second half of Autumn has started with a bang !

That reminds me, have a fun bonfire night but please be safe and careful.

Enjoy yourselves !