This Wednesday was Careers Day at the Senior School. We were delighted to welcome 24 visiting speakers, largely drawn from the parent body, covering a wide range of sectors, including AI, engineering, programming, medicine, sport, and the arts. Careers Day is an important event in our school calendar, as it provides our students with the opportunity to learn about a wide range of careers and to meet with professionals in their field. We believe that it is important for our students to start thinking about their future careers early on, so that they can make informed decisions about their further education and training; Wednesday would certainly have helped with that. 

Careers Day is just one of the many ways in which we support our students to develop their career aspirations and we were delighted to be nominated for Careers’ Programme of the Year for this year’s national schools’ awards. We have since been confirmed as a finalist and will hear next week if we are a winner. The full programme includes a range of other careers-related activities and events throughout the year, such as work experience placements, our Post-16 Fair, interview technique, InvestIN talks, Morrisby careers profiling, enrichment activities, guest speakers, assemblies and the Dukes Careers School. 

We were lucky to have a range of speakers on the day and they were largely drawn from our parent body.  I’d like to encourage any parents who are interested in helping out by speaking at next year's Careers Day to sign up using the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/WRpz6fm3xv 

In terms of what’s involved, volunteers are asked to do two sessions, one aimed at our KS3 children, aged 11-14, and one for KS4, aged 14-16. Each talk is allocated an hour, although this includes time for Q&A and also, if time permits, an opportunity for the children to make notes and update parts of their Careers' Journal.  There will be no more than 25 children in each session.  Visitors have a teacher with them in each session, they can facilitate a Q&A or, if speakers have a presentation prepared, will ensure that this is shown. 
  
Our hope is that the children will learn more about the different opportunities available to them when they leave school and that these talks will help them understand more about the different routes into work they might consider, the skill sets needed to succeed in them, and the path through higher education that will allow them the best chance of success. 

You’ll find a pdf copy of the full programme of this year’s event in your Parent Portal. 

Thank you again for your support. 

Richard

Dear families, 

Our Monday assembly focused on our first ‘Big Write’ of the year. As part of the national ‘Poetry Together’ event, headed by Dukes Education, we all wrote a short poem on the theme of ‘Happiness’. The children wrote some touching, cheerful, entertaining poems. Winning poems from each class are now on display. 

Continuing the poetic theme, yesterday was National Poetry Day, which each class celebrated in their own way. The children are busy learning poetry by heart. Some classes chose poems from anthologies for a class ‘poetry performance.’  

Thank you to everyone who kindly donated a shoebox donation of non-perishable food items as part of our offerings linked to Harvest Festival. The donations have been taken to St Paul’s Church for Cambridge City Foodbank. We appreciate that times are challenging due to the cost of living crisis and appreciate your generosity. 

We are hosting our first Open Morning event tomorrow. Thank you to the children who have offered their time to support this event. 

Looking Ahead 

Next Friday is Just One Tree Day (https://www.justonetree.life/). The children are invited to bring in a £1 donation in exchange for wearing clothes that are earth coloured (green/brown). The donations raised will be put towards planting trees in an aim to combat climate change through reforestation. If your child has PE on this day, they can bring their home clothes with them, or their PE kit, to change into. 

You will have received information this week (via ClassList) regarding the Spooktacular Hallowe’en disco on Thursday 2nd November 4pm – 5pm. Ticket price of £5 per child includes a soft drink (squash), treats and the chance for a boogie. Please bring money if you would like to buy glow items from our pop-up shop. A reminder that if your child is attending, they should come into school in their school uniform, with their costumes in a bag, to change into at the end of the school day. 

Pumpkin Carving Competition 

Please save your amazing carvings and bring them along to the Hallowe’en disco. The standard last year was amazing. Each entry will receive 10 house points. The winner will receive 100 house points. Second place will receive 50 and third place will 25 points. We look forward to seeing your spooky creations. 

Reminders 

Parent Consultations will take place on Tuesday 17th and/or Wednesday 18th October.  Last week you received an email asking you to book a session with your child's teachers. If you have any questions regarding this booking system, please contact ioana.bird@sanctonwood.co.uk  

Can we please remind families that they should not be using the staff carpark for parking their cars or bikes at drop off and collection times. Thank you. 

We have Peripatetic music teachers offering tuition in: guitar, flute, recorder, drums, violin and piano. If you would like further information, please contact the front office staff (office.prep@sanctonwood.co.uk).  

If your child attends an after-school club, we will offer them additional fruit. However, please pack a more substantial snack if you wish to do so. The children are particularly hungry at the end of the school day. 

Please remember to send your child into school wearing their blazer. 

Please follow the following link to ensure you are using the most up to date version of Times Tables Rock Stars: play.ttrockstars.com/reset 

Please use this link for Accelerated Reader https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6704289 

Holiday Club 

The holiday club for children in Pre-Prep (Reception – Y2) will take place on Friday 20th, Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th October. At the end of the Michaelmas term, the club will run from Thursday 14th-Wednesday 20th December. Booking for both clubs will begin at 4pm today. Please contact Mrs Zermane directly (christine.zermane@sanctonwood.co.uk) to book your child’s place. 

Have a super weekend. 

Kylie (Head of Prep) and Nic (Head of Nursery and Pre-Prep) 

Highlights from each year group this week have included:

Thank you to everyone who attended our phonics and reading workshop Monday morning; we hoped you found it informative and useful. 

The children have had another great week at school. We’re pleased to report that we have also had full attendance in class this week, which has been wonderful!  

Yesterday, the children enjoyed a ‘Little City’ session in the hall along with Tiger Class, where they engaged in role play. We saw vets, doctors, builders, hair stylists and firefighters along with a whole host of other professions and roles. This was such fun and a great way to develop communication and language skills; It was great to see the children's self-expression and imagination being encouraged. Thank you to Louise from ‘Little City’ for setting this up for us. 

Thank you for the food donations. 

Reminders 

Next Friday, children should come to school in their PE kit and can then change if they wish to into their home clothes for Just One Tree Day. 

We started the week of with our Big Write, where the children all wrote some wonderful poems about things that make them happy. The children all worked so hard on these and have all made so much progress since the beginning of term with their writing.  

I think it is safe to say that Thursday was a real highlight for the Y1s this week. We were lucky enough to have ‘Little City’ visit us, and the children got to immerse themselves in this for a morning. They were vets, doctors, hairdressers, shop keeps, fire fighters and a whole host of other professions. It was wonderful seeing them so engrossed and having a lot of fun.  

This week the children have made some fantastic posters about a missing bucket. They have also completed our first Maths unit; next week we move on to learning about addition and subtraction.  

As the weather starts to get cooler please could I remind you that all your children need their navy storm coat in school each day.  

Have a lovely weekend,  

Ellie 

The children have worked very hard this week on their Big Write task, writing a poem about happiness. Congratulations to Murphy, our Big Write winner this term. 

In Science, we carried out our first scientific experiment looking at the different properties of materials.  The children had a lovely time working in groups, sharing resources, and recording their information. 

Yesterday, the children enjoyed having the ‘Little City’ role play company come for a visit. They had great fun dressing up as postmasters, police officers, construction workers and much more. It is fair to say that they lived the experience and let their imaginations unfold! 

Enjoy the warm weekend! 

Kylie and Lucy 

We kicked off the week by writing our ‘Happiness’ poems for the Big Write. The children all came up with such wonderful ideas and produced some amazing poems.  

Congratulations to our Big Write winner George W. 

In History this week we learnt all about how the Romans built their roads throughout England. The children carefully used atlases to pinpoint different cities of Roman origin before linking them with roads. They were all surprised to learn that some Roman roads are still about today!  

Thank you very much for our harvest food donations. 

Have a lovely weekend,  

Hannah 

This week has been a week of reading, reciting and writing poetry, including composing our ‘happiness’ poems, which will be sent off to the Poetry Together competition in November.  

In Maths, the children have impressed me with their eagerness to complete the challenges set. We have now moved onto column addition.  

The highlight of the week has been creating Yayoi Kusama-inspired pumpkin artwork! 

Please keep encouraging the children to read and to bring their books into school. I would love for all the children to have completed at least one quiz this half term.  

For Action: could I also ask you to send up to 10 plastic carrier bags in with the children ready for our art project on Thursday 12th, thank you. 

Have a restful weekend,  

Louise  

We have had another busy week in Year 5.  

We have had our first Big Write of the year. The children had to write a poem about what makes them happy. There was such a wonderful variety of styles; it made it very hard to choose a winner. 

In Science, we experimented to find the most streamlined shape through the water using plasticine. The children had to make different shapes and record the time it took for their plasticine to drop to the bottom of a cylinder of water.  

In Maths, we have begun our unit on Addition and Subtraction, adding and subtracting five- and six-digit numbers. The children have really enjoyed this and would be happy to show off their skills to you!  

Thursday was National Poetry Day, which we celebrated with ‘poetry performance.’ We had a wonderful time reading poetry books, discovering poems that we loved, and choosing one to read aloud to the class. 

It seems to get earlier each year, but we have begun making our Christmas card designs. Please watch out for information on how you can stock up on mugs, cards and coasters this festive period.  

Have a fabulous weekend, 

Simon, Hannah and Lauren.  

Year 6

I overheard Y6 playing pianos and banjos above me, in the new Music Room. Mr Scott was impressed by their work, which will be refined over the coming weeks. I look forward to mellifluous melodies wafting down to me. 

The class is making Mayan-style masks in Art. For this project, they will be using papier maché and have need of a supply of newspapers. I know newsprint is much supplanted by online versions but, if you do read a physical paper, we’d be grateful to receive it. 

I enjoyed reading the children’s ‘happiness’ poems and they will all be sent off for the ‘Poetry Together’ competition in November. 

I’ve attached a photo reflecting a recent PSHE lesson about our school’s values. The children’s thoughts are worth reading: ‘A community of fun and energy creates a paradise’ is one. 

The weather remains warm. However, as we look to colder days (at some point), the children will need coats. If they have a school storm coat, that’s great. If not, we don’t expect you to buy one for the few months they’ll wear it. However, any coat worn in school must be plain navy blue. 

Have a safe and happy weekend. 

Angela 

Magic Science

This week in our STEM club "Magic Science" we had fun with soap bubbles. We tried a recipe to make very resistant soap bubbles by mixing water, washing up liquid and glycerine. The glycerine is very viscous, it makes the bubbles more resistant and slows down the evaporation of the water (which would cause the bubbles to pop). Despite the wind, we had fun making giant bubbles in the playground! 

Events and Articles 

• Growing strong and happy families - Online 3-part parenting course with coach and counsellor Lulu Luckock – Part 2 (12 October), Part 3 (9 November)
• Free e-sports academy trial class for 6 – 11 year olds with Meta Lions E-Sports Academy (21 October) 
• The 5 steps: Solutions to bullying for anti-bullying week – Julie Wilkinson, Director and Trainer at Brave the Rage shares her step-by- step solution focused framework. The first five attendees to register and attend the course will receive a free signed copy of Julie's book Krumpled Kirsty (17 November) 
• Mini Chefs En Cuisine -  En Cuisine’s immersive cooking camp for 3-5 year olds (16 – 20 October)
• Kids En Cuisine - En Cuisine’s immersive cooking camp for 6-12 year olds (16 – 20 October)
• 25% off Ultimate Activity Camps – Dukes Club members can claim 25% off Ultimate Activity’s half term and holiday camps across the UK