We were delighted that over the summer we completed our installation of solar panels on the roof of our main building. This was part of an upgrade designed to make the school more environmentally friendly and to reduce our energy bills moving forward and our carbon footprint. We managed to raise the funds for the panels through a mixture of capital grants and a £4,000 contribution from the town council, which provided the final part of the funding we needed. The system will save us between £4,500 and £9,000 per annum, depending on the weather, giving a payback time of five years or even less. Not only is this great news for the climate, but also means freeing up funds for other uses within the school.

It was wonderful to welcome so many families to our Harvest Service on 26th September. There was a lovely atmosphere in the church as the children enjoyed sharing their Harvest artwork, poems and reflections. The church was filled with produce, which was kindly donated by our school community and given to the Henley Food Bank. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our survey about the service. We were thrilled that 97% of those surveyed felt the service met their expectations and 100% felt at ease. 

I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight to you the new statutory duty on schools in relation to attendance and the documentation - Working together to improve school attendance released by the DfE. Schools are legally obliged to provide support and intervention for pupils who are at risk of persistent absence (90% attendance or below). This will take the form of meetings with parents, school-based interventions, and the offer of support from outside agencies and professionals. We are very keen to identify the barriers to attendance that families face and we welcome opportunities to overcome these barriers together. However, when a child's attendance falls outside of the parental legal obligations to send their child to school, there are now legal pathways that must be followed. Further information about this can be found on our school website: www.trinityprimaryschool.org/attendance 

In Reception we have been working on our first Learning Means The World (LMTW) topic of All about me! We have been looking at who is in our family, who lives in our house. We have been looking at ourselves, things we like to do, activities we like to undertake and food we like to eat. We have been telling our new friends in the class what we like and dislike.  

In Phonics we have started learning the sounds s, a, t, p, i, m, g learn the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b. We have learn a range of words that begin with the above sounds. We have started blending simple CVC words (e.g. s-a-t is “sat”, d-o-g is “dog”) and have started segmenting words (e.g. “pin” is p - i - n). 

In Maths we have been: 

• comparing size, using the vocabulary, big, little, large and small
• comparing amounts, using the vocabulary, more and fewer. 
• comparing heights, using the vocabulary, taller than, shorter than, tallest and smallest
• comparing lengths, using the vocabulary, longer than, shorter than, longest and shortest
• comparing shape and size 
• making a repeated pattern using two objects
• making repeated patterns using different colours and shapes
• making repeated patterns using large and short objects, long and short objects and narrow and wide
• finding many ways to represent number 1, 2 and 3
• sorting objects to show 1, 2 or 3

In Literacy we have: 

• started our new class book ‘Ruby’s Worry’ where we will learn about our feelings 
• started to write the sounds we can hear in words, such as ‘s’ for ‘sad’ 
• looked at different action words and noticing words from the story 

Our new LMTW topic is 'Autumn here we come' and we have been looking at: 

• the four seasons - Autumn, Winter, Summer and Spring 
• the fact that in Autumn leaves change colour and fall off some trees
• the fact that in Autumn the weather changes: turns colder, rains and gets darker 
• how hedgehogs, dormice and bats hibernate in the winter in the UK
• how Deciduous trees lose their leaves in autumn and Evergreen trees do not lose their leaves 

In KS1 this term the children have been immersed into the world of media and broadcasting during their 'Inter-Nation Media Station' Learning Means The World Unit. The children have learnt about the history of communicating news and messages, from smoke signals to using semaphore messages.

They actively worked together to solve the semaphoric messages using an alphabetic code, before creating their own messages using coloured spots to represent words. The children have discussed the three most popular ways the news is spread today (tv, radio and newspapers) and compared the positives and negatives of one means of sharing news from the past with a current method.

Following this, the children explored the meaning of the words 'media' (the different ways news, or promotional messages are shared with people) and 'broadcasting' (using technology to share the news with people around the world).

The children have learnt about the invention and development of the television from the past to the current day and as part of their discussions the children explored the change from black and white to colour tv.

The children learnt about the work of Theresa Elvin and 'colour pops' (splashes of colour on a monochrome image).

Next, the children learnt about, rehearsed and performed jingle's using a range of percussion instruments.

In recent lessons, the children have explored the concept of facts and opinions and learnt about the importance of sharing their views, not everybody having the same views and how to take on board the views of others. This has led to some class debates on topics such as school uniform, homework and watching too much tv.

KS1 enjoyed listening to Jacqueline Wilson at The Henley Literary Festival. They learnt that Jacqueline has two dogs, a cat and four hens, that she started writing when she was just a little girl and she soon knew she wanted to be an author when she grew up.

After listening to a snippet from her new book, The Magic Faraway Tree (originally written by Enid Blyton), there was time for some questions: 

Phoebe asked 'What is your favourite animal?'

A lemur because they love to sunbathe and stretch their arms out like I do, and my pet dog, a cavapoo called Molly, but don’t tell my other pets she’s the favourite!

James asked 'Where is your favourite place to be?' 

My home in the country, but Henley is certainly my second favourite place to be now I have visited it.

Lottie asked 'Why did you write books?'

I have a great imagination, and I always loved playing with dolls and making up stories for them to act out. I have loved writing since I was very young, as young as you are all now! And I love to include my own pets too.

The children listened exceptionally well and all received a book to take home.

This term has seen us very busy with lots of exciting events.  

For Harvest Festival, we made /recited poems linked to the changing of the season.  The children were confident and happy to perform to an audience.  Thank you for your support with all the produce for the Food Bank. 

At the beginning of October, we visited The Henley Literary Festival and saw Cressida Cowell talking about her latest book. 

Our unit ‘Lightning Speed’ in Learning Means The World.  We saw engaged children making circuits, learning about famous inventors and then making a quiz with lights, switches and buzzers to show if they were correct.  They went on to study how alarm systems work and in groups, made their own.  Technology at its finest! 

We have been learning about Edison and his phonograph. Several generations of one of the children in our phase’s family worked in the music industry and have three Edison phonographs from the 1890s. Lexie’s mum brought it in and we all had a good look.  Did you know that the first song to be recorded was Mary Had a Little Lamb?  We did! 

In our English lessons, the children have enjoyed our module on George’s Marvellous Medicine, working hard on paragraphs and then publishing their work. We have written negative character descriptions of George’s wicked grandmother, and written recipes on how to turn her into a kind, cuddly lady! 

This term in Maths, we’ve been busy building a strong foundation in number skills. Our Year 3 students have focused on understanding place value up to 1,000, including rounding numbers, finding 1 more/ 1 less, and exploring 10 more or 10 less, as well as 100 more or 100 less. They’ve also been learning how to use number lines, partition numbers, and compare and order them confidently! 
Meanwhile, our Year 4 students have taken these skills to the next level, working with numbers up to 10,000. They practised similar skills but with larger numbers, including exploring thousands and learning how to find 1, 10, or 100 more or less with ease. Year 4s have also tackled more challenging tasks like ordering and comparing larger numbers, ensuring they have a solid grasp of how numbers work on a bigger scale. We even introduced Roman numerals, which was a lot of fun! 

Both year groups have shown incredible progress, and it’s been wonderful to see their confidence in Maths grow! 

In Year 5 and 6 this term we have enjoyed our Learning Means The World topic of ‘A world of bright ideas.’ We have been busy learning about different inventions, inventors from the past and seeing how their inventions have developed over time, the history of musical instruments and different forces. We conducted our own experiment based off Galileo’s study and created other experiments to show the force of gravity, as well as creating our own lever and pulley mechanisms. This term we have also learnt what legal requirements are in place when you want to turn your idea into a reality, such as; copyright, patents and trademarks.

In English, we have just finished writing our adventure stories based on the book ‘The Explorer’ by Katherine Rundell, and have begun planning and learning non-fiction features ready to write a letter as the character of Fred, describing the adventure he has been on to his father. This term in Maths we have been focusing on place value, Roman numerals, rounding and numbers up to 10,000,000.

In PE, we’ve had a lot of fun learning dodgeball and tag rugby. We have been focusing on the skills and rules of both games, particularly agility and hand-eye coordination, which are key skills for success in each sport.

At The Henley Literary Festival, we got to meet Anita Mangan, who taught us how to illustrate some of the characters she has created, as well as speaking to us about lots of different books and authors she has illustrated for, and answering all of our questions. The children were lucky enough to meet Anita and get their illustrations signed along with a copy of the new book ‘The Day I fell Down the Toilet!

We also had a visit from two Olympic medal rowers, and the children got a private question and answer session and were able to try on the medals!

It has been a fantastic start to the year!

Swimming

The swimming gala at Henley Leisure Centre on Friday 11th October was a very popular event and three teams of Year 4, 5 and 6 children were selected at random to take part. It was very unfortunate we couldn’t take everyone who wanted the opportunity.

A huge thank you to Mrs Calderbank who stepped in at such short notice to take the children on the day and huge thanks also to our parent volunteers. We would not have been able to attend had it not been for all of you. 

The children swam very well and worked superbly as a team. Valley Road won, but we were only a point behind, so worthy runners-up! Well done everyone!

Cross Country

The children have been really enjoying Cross Country Lunch Club on Wednesdays and Fridays and have gone from strength to strength at the Saturday Cross Country races and competitions.

Jessica Davidson, Year 1 took part in the Grey’s Court South Oxfordshire Cross Country race in September and came 2nd. She loved it so much she attended the MECE Cross Country race last Saturday, came 3rd and got herself into The Henley Standard! Fantastic, Jessica. 

The Cross Country Championship on Sunday 29th September at Jubilee Park brought many families together as children ran between 200m and 1500m. Trinity children came in their droves and we were super proud of each and every one of them for participating. All the hard work and training paid off as we lifted the trophy and were named Trinity Champions!

Very well done to everyone who comes along to Cross Country Lunch Club (all invited from Year 2 - 6, no need to sign up and you get house points for completing a certain number of laps) and who come along to the races and competitions over the weekend. It’s so lovely to see so many children taking part.

If anyone is interested in any future Saturdays, please see below for dates and location. These are for anyone (EYFS-Y6) and you can just turn up on the day:

• Saturday 9th November at MECE from 10am
• Saturday 7th December at MECE from 10am
• Saturday 1st February at Shiplake College from 9am
• Saturday 1st March at MECE from 10am

This year our new School Council team has been busy deciding what charities we will support and thinking of different ways we can fundraiser for them. Our first charity we have chosen to raise money for is Epilepsy Action - a charity that supports people living with epilepsy and provides advice to those who care for them. To help raise awareness and money, Trinity children came into school wearing something purple and learnt a bit more about the health condition. Thank you for all your donations!

Oxford Health is holding several webinars for parents over the coming academic year. These awareness sessions contain useful information about how to support your child with some of the commonly seen emotional and mental health concerns. The webinar format allows parents to join from home. Cameras and microphones will be off, but questions can be asked through the Q&A function.

• Exam stress and anxiety
• Supporting young people who self-harm
• Promoting resilience
• Understanding the teenage brain
• Sleep awareness
• Childhood anxiety (for primary / transition)

For more details please visit Parent webinars | Oxford Health CAMHS or use the QR code below

The mornings and afternoons are getting darker, meaning parents and children walking to and from school need to be even more aware of the potential dangers they face as pedestrians. It is never too early to start talking to your child about road safety. Oxfordshire Fire & Resue Service Road Safety Team have produced a guide called Footsteps to give you some ideas of how to begin to support your child in developing the decision-making skills that will help them become a pedestrian able to keep themselves safer when they eventually walk to school or a friend’s home independently.

Please click Footsteps guide to download the guide