November 2021

20 Buckden Roundabout November 2021 School & Pre - School What a busy October we ’ ve had so far! The children have settled well into the Preschool routine, learning our Preschool promises and showing us how creative they are. They enjoyed learning all about daddy long legs and other insects and made their own using play doh. They also worked on their listening and attention skills, listening to classical music and playing the soundtracks music bingo game. To improve their motor skills, we set up a threading activity using penne pasta, and a table with stacking blocks and shape sorters for the younger chil- dren. Motor skills are crucial for writing, and to practise letter for- mation we supplied sand and shaving foam. They loved this, and we now have slates and chalks out alongside their name cards, and letters to collage with pasta shells, to ensure their mark - making experiences are varied. We also created a sea life interest table which we changed over time, incorporating water and ice to create a sensory ex- perience for the children. One of our featured books was ‘ The Three Little Pigs ’. The children were given various materials and construction elements to see if they could build a stronger house than Miss Charlene and Miss Jasmine, encouraging de- scriptive and comparative language such as bigger, smaller, strong, weak. However, the children spent much of early October outside, making the best of the mild weather. They ’ ve been on regular walks to see how work in the Valley was progressing and wave to the friendly workers, toured the village spotting scarecrows and visited the sheep at Buckden Towers. They visited St. Mary ’ s too, taking their food bank donations along with them. There, they met the Reverend David, plus Chris and Charlie the puppet, who talked to them about harvest. With plenty of autumn and winter festivals coming up, the rest of the term is set to be busier still. We look forward to meeting more of you on our walks out and about, and hope everyone is staying safe and well. There are limited spaces available. Please call 01480 810600 or email us at buckdenpreschool@yahoo.co.uk to arrange a visit or apply for a place. For committee enquiries, please contact our chairperson, Jo Chillmaid, at buckdenpreschoolchairperson@gmail.com or on 07393650084. For more information, visit www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk or see our Facebook updates at https://www.facebook.com/ www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk/. BUCKDEN CHURCH OF ENGLAND PRIMARY ACADEMY October 2021 It doesn ’ t seem possible that we are now approaching October half term. All our new children have settled into the school routines with ease and look as if they ’ ve been here for much longer than they actually have!! We are all making the most of the lovely weather. We are continuing to use the school field for our games and PE les- sons. The children from our Gardening Club have been to our allotment to tidy it up before the winter months set in. They have grown some lovely runner beans, garlic bulbs and chillis. Once again thank you to the people who are keeping an eye on the allotment, helping to keep it tidy. We do appreciate your help. If your child is born between 1 st September 2017 and 31 st Au- gust 2018 and is due to start school in September 2022 you can apply on line at Primary school admissions - September 2022 - Cambridgeshire County Council before 15th January 2022. Unfortunately, due to the current COVID restrictions, like last year we will be holding an online information session on Tuesday 2 nd November at 4.00pm for the parents of chil- dren who will be starting school in September 2022. For fur- ther details of the Zoom meeting please contact the school office office@buckdenacademy.org A reminder for our Year 6 parents that Secondary school appli- cations need to be submitted by Sunday 31 st October. Second- ary school admissions - September 2022 - Cambridgeshire County Council One of the highlights during the first few weeks of the term has always been our Harvest Service. This year the service was slightly different in that instead of the children visiting the church, Father David came to us to deliver his assembly on Harvest Festival. The children brought gifts of non - perishable foods which have been donated to the Godmanchester Com- munity Foodbank. Thank you to our parents for their generous donations. Our new Reception children had fun creating a scarecrow for the Village Scarecrow Festival, they designed a hero of the future dressed in Buckden Primary ’ s school uniform, our scare- crow was of full knowledge of how we can help to improve our environment and practice sustainability. The children from our Upper School have come up with the idea of Fruity Friday, they are running a fruit stall during Friday break time. All fruit will cost 20p, so if your child would like to buy a piece of fruit please send them in with money. In line with the rest of the country we have seen a steady rise in the number of confirmed positive cases of COVID - 19 amongst students and staff at school since the start of term. We are in regular contact with the Local Authority and Public Health England and are following their guidance. We have asked parents that if their child is displaying any of the key and additional symptoms ( early warning signs of COVID - 19 in chil- dren include upset stomach, headache, sore throat, unusual fatigue), we are asking parents to book a PCR test as per the Local Authority guidance. We would like to thank all our parents for their help and co - operation with the COVID measures, as we are doing all that we can to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus to keep our children and staff as safe as possible.