Posted on: 25/11/2021A message from Carly EllisCan you believe that we are now at the end of November? I took my children to see the Christmas lights being turned on in town at the weekend, which seemed really early! School life seems to be maintaining its fast pace which will be notched up again with the preparation of the Nativity. Due to the constraints of COVID we will not be able to share this with you in person. We would hate for the Christmas period to be dampened with positive cases which may have been a result of sharing our Nativity in person. We hope you understand. I hope you all had the opportunity to see all the Poppies that were created in Forest School and tied up on our front gates as a remembrance to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. They looked amazing. We raised £162.81 for Children in Need - thank you all so much! The children always enjoy a good dress-up day and looked great in their outfits. The children had a railway safety awareness assembly to demonstrate the dangers and to deliver key messages. This has come as a rise in incidents on railways recently. Stag and Badger class had a visit from SWT Engagement Lead Angela Bolitho and Elaine Jones from ENGIE (the main contractor) to talk about the dangers of trespassing on a building site. This is currently really important with the regeneration project that is underway in North Taunton with both demolition and rebuilding that is going on. Angela has said that they were very impressed with how well behaved the children were, how well they listened, participated and took on board the important messages they were sharing about the dangers on building sites. There is currently a lot of roadworks around Taunton too. We have just been informed that on 4th January (for a month) there will be a road closure turning into Wedlands from Cheddon Road. We are currently putting together a preloved uniform list which we are hoping we can make ‘live’ very soon where you will be able to purchase good quality second hand logo uniform items for £3. There is a trade in option where, if you trade in a good quality logo item, you can purchase another for £2. We will let you know when this is up and running. Please enjoy the day tomorrow as school is not open and we will see you all on Monday 29th November. Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
Posted on: 22/10/2021A message from Carly EllisIt is definitely feeling very autumnal now! I am amazed at how quickly this half term has flown by. The teachers have, and are, working incredibly hard to make sure that the curriculum is engaging and interesting, building on previous learning and providing first hand experiences. I do hope that you have a look at the learning that all the classes have been up to and not just your child's class. Dojo is amazing but I sometimes feel, that as parents, you are missing out on what the whole school is doing as classes post on their class pages. You get a sense of how much we are developing and how many experiences your child will get as they move through their school career in Priorswood. We are working hard to develop our curriculum page to reflect this. As a taster, Stag class were lucky enough to not just learn about the heart using diagrams but they actually had the opportunity to dissect one! An experience that children might not have had until they reach secondary school. We also had a wolf (not the real thing!) who invaded Badger class and left a path of destruction and Hedgehog class became detectives. They had to find out what cold and slimy material had covered 'Tim' the class hedgehog by experiencing the touch of lots of materials. It's all very exciting! How I would have thrived in this sort of environment at school! We have been working really hard on our school library. It is now a space that is used at break and lunchtimes where children can use story sacks, complete quizzes, listen to the adult audio books and read quietly. Each class has a reading for pleasure time in their classrooms too. We are nearly at the stage where we will be able to provide you with a link to the audio books so that the children can listen to stories at home. A story a day would be fantastic! There is a Reading Challenge that we will be taking part in as the Trust so watch this space for more information about that. I hope you all have a wonderful half term. Keep safe, especially on the approach to Halloween! Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
Posted on: 24/09/2021A message from Carly EllisI can’t believe we are at the end of September already! Where has the month gone? Well done to the school community for such a calm start to the year. The children have settled in really well and as usual, there is a nice atmosphere in school. The children look very smart in their uniform but please make sure that cardigans and jumpers are named. The children have been busy getting to know their new teachers, expectations and the classroom routines. They have been busy learning about their class animals. I’m sure they have come home sharing some fascinating facts. As I am writing this, Year 6 are on their residential at Pinkery Outdoor Education Centre and Year 5 are currently there. Although we haven’t been updated as much as we usually are with Dojo photos and snippets of how much they are enjoying themselves, I am pleased that Mrs Lancey reassured you all with a phone call to school with Mrs Hartland messaging on her behalf. I’m sure they are all getting very dirty and I can’t wait to hear all about their adventures. Next week we have more year groups visiting Magdalen Farm – exciting! Next week the children will begin to be historians in their discovery project. I’m looking forward to getting into the classrooms to see all the learning that will be taking place. Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
Posted on: 16/07/2021A message from Carly EllisA message from Carly Ellis I cannot believe how quickly this half term has blown by. It feels like I have never been away! I hope that the next academic year has less challenges than we faced this year. I would like to extend a thank you to Mrs Lancey and the whole Priorswood school community for the support you all gave during such a testing year. I would like to thank Mrs Lancey for driving my vision for the school forward in my absence and for continuing to build on the progress in the previous year, despite all the obstacles along the way. The visits we have had from the CEO, Deputy CEO and Paul Jones (an external reviewer) and many others who have visited throughout this term have all commented very positively about the school. They have been impressed with how well the children settle to their learning and the experiences and activities that the children are being given. Some of the experiences have made it into the local newspaper! They also commented positively on the quality of the learning seen in class and in the children’s books. A recent visitor (who had come to visit the kitchen) praised the school saying that she felt really welcomed and wanted to come back! She said that the school is really calm and recognised how lucky we are to have all the outside space. Although we have still had many restrictions in place we have managed to get a few trips in. Stag class did a Dawn to Dusk day at Magdalen Farm, there has been a trip to French Weir and Otter Class did a trip to the County Museum to find out more about the Anglo Saxons. The Year 6's took part in a Sports Festival run by SASP at Wellsprings Leisure Centre and are looking forward to their trip to Crealy next week too! We have been lucky to be involved in a project called Priorswood Pollinators. Children mapped the school grounds looking for areas that encouraged pollinating species. They also identified areas that were poor and have now planted these areas with a range of plants including herbs, lavender and apple trees. Part of the project involved our Year 6's working with a filmmaker to film the project. We have a few changes in staff next year which were mentioned in more detail in the class structure letter that went home. We are looking forward to welcoming Miss Ashleigh Thompson and Miss Katy Collard to the team. I’m really looking forward to next year and I hope that you all have a wonderful summer holiday! See you in September! Good Luck Year 6! Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
Posted on: 25/11/2021
Posted on: 25/11/2021
