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Green Lanes School Newsletter

Issue 11: Friday 21st March 2025

Headteacher's update

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are now sending out our newsletter on a Thursday rather than a Friday. We hope this gives you a bit more time to read about what is going on at the school.

It has been a short half term but a busy one! The children are loving playtimes with a wide range of activities including scooters and the new woodland swing. From den building to construction to dancing on our ‘funky Fridays’.

We have introduced ‘Mark it’ Mondays. Weekly we will be encouraging you to check that your child has fully named uniform as we have a mountain of lost property that we want to get back to you.

Open evening is our next big event, Thursday 5th June 4:30-6pm. Why not pop along to hear your child sing and sign on the infant playground outside Year 2 classrooms.

Reception 4:45-4:55pm

Year 1 4:55-5:05pm

Year 2 5:05-5:15pm

Year 3 5:15-5:25pm

Year 4 5:25-5:35pm

Year 5 5:35-5:45pm

Year 6 5:45-5:55pm

Your child can also enter arts and crafts and baking under this year’s theme of Nature!

They can enter up to 2 categories:

Lego

Models kits/creative

Mini gardens

Artwork

Writing poetry/stories

Baking - tasting (due to allergies and making sure the bakers get them back. These are not for members of the public to taste. Just the judges! Tempting as they may be!)

Baking - decorating

Filmmaking

Photography

Items should come in from Tuesday 3rd June clearly labelled (available from classrooms) and cake items on Thursday 5th June.

Items where possible should be collected on the evening.

We have started our year group assemblies and it has been great to have you join us and celebrate your child’s achievements.

We finish at normal time tomorrow and want to wish you a great half term break. We look forward to seeing you on Monday 2nd June.

Warm regards,

Michele Johnson

Headteacher

Year 3 Assembly

9:00am – 9:30am

Half Term week - School Closed

from 26 May until 30 May

Year 5 Bikeability Level 2

9:00am – 3:00pm

from 02 Jun until 06 Jun

Year 3 Swimming Lesson

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Green Lanes Is Great

4:30pm – 6:00pm

Parent Cafe - Banksy

9:00am – 9:30am

Year 4 Times Tables Check

9:00am – 3:00pm

from 09 Jun until 13 Jun

Year 1 Phonics Screening

9:00am – 3:00pm

from 09 Jun until 13 Jun

Year 3 Swimming Lesson

1:00pm – 3:00pm

FS Year Group Assembly

9:00am – 9:30am

Foundation Stage

This week in Foundation we have been learning all about frogs! We have found out about the life cycle of a frog and how they start as tiny tadpoles! We learnt how to draw frogs in our art books and we learnt a song about 'A Little Green Frog!' The children have really enjoyed our 'Let's Grow' topic and we are excited to see if any of you managed to grow your bean. Don't forget to send in some pictures if you can. Next week is half term and hopefully you will be able to see some minibeasts whilst you are out and about enjoying the sunshine.

Click here to see the curriculum overview for this term.

Year 1

Year 1 have had a brilliant couple of weeks. They have enjoyed sharing different poems in our English lessons and have also written their own! In our maths, we have looked at sharing problems as well as starting to learn about telling the time. Our topic lessons have focused on 3D art, where the children have constructed Inuksuks using clay as well as using junk modelling to create a 3D sculpture of an owl. In our computing lessons, the children have been using scratch junior to program their own projects. As the weather is getting warmer, please ensure children have a named water bottle and hat. We hope you all have a restful half term!

Click here to see the curriculum overview for this term.

Year 2

Wow, what a busy half term it has been for Year 2! In our Reading lessons recently we have been exploring the life of David Attenbourough, we were thrilled to learn about his early life and how he was inspired from an early age to work with nature. We all then thought about what we would like to be when we get older. We then started learning about the lives of incredible women who have shaped the world. So far, we have learnt about Mary Anning and Rosa Parks. We all agreed that they truly were inspirational! In maths this week we have been using arrays to help us to divide and group numbers. In English we have finished writing our narratives. Last week, we published our stories and are very proud of our results. We are now learning to write informative instructions, concentrating on command and imperative (bossy) verbs. Have a lovely half term.

Click here to see the curriculum overview for this term.

Year 3

A huge well done to all of Year 3 for a great assembly performance. We were all impressed with your confidence and performing in front of so many people. It was great to see so many smiles while you shared all the great moments you have had so far in Year 3. Back in the classroom, Year 3 have been thoroughly enjoying our recent Science unit on Forces and Magnets. We have enjoyed investigating how forces and friction impact objects and how magnets interact with each other and magnetic materials. In Maths, we have been learning about adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator.

Click here to see the curriculum overview for this term.

Year 4

Over the last two weeks in Year 4, we have been delving into the fascinating world of Ancient Egypt, looking at the period from an historical perspective as well as using it for inspiration in our writing. Pupils wrote their names in Hieroglyphics, explored the stages of mummification and life on the Nile. If you are looking for a great FREE Half Term activity, please consider going to the British Museum to see the Ancient Egypt exhibits, they really are fascinating - even see real mummies! In Maths, we have finished our introduction to long division and have been reviewing our knowledge on time - please support your child(ren) at home with this by asking them to read the time (even challenge them to do 12hr and 24hr) and maybe calculating journey times. After Half Term we will be studying Sound in Science and building electrical circuits in DT, with our most significant date being the times tables screener on the 12th June. We hope you have a pleasant and restful Half Term.

Click here to see the curriculum overview for this term.

Year 5

We’re excited to share with you all the wonderful learning happening in our classroom this week! The children have been enthusiastic and engaged across all subjects, and we’re very proud of their efforts. Here’s what we’ve been focusing on:

Mathematics – Angles and Problem Solving
In maths, we have been learning all about different types of angles, including acute, obtuse, right, and reflex angles. The children have been identifying these angles in shapes and everyday objects. We have also been working on how to calculate missing angles using what we know about angles on a straight line, around a point, and inside triangles and quadrilaterals. Ask your child to show you how they can estimate and measure angles at home!

English – Mythical Narrative Writing
In English, we’ve been exploring the world of myths! The children have been planning and writing their own mythical narrative stories, focusing on creating strong characters, magical settings, and exciting plots. We have also been learning how to use powerful descriptive language, dialogue, and a clear story structure. It’s been wonderful to see their imaginations come to life on the page!

Computing – Online Safety and Social Media Awareness
This week in computing, we have been learning about how to stay safe online. We’ve discussed the importance of keeping personal information private, creating strong passwords, and knowing what to do if something online makes us feel uncomfortable. We also had thoughtful discussions around the benefits and potential harms of using social media. Topics included:
-Benefits such as staying connected with friends and family, finding inspiration, and learning new things.
-Harms such as cyberbullying, screen time concerns, and the risks of sharing too much information online.
We encourage you to continue these conversations at home to help your child build safe and responsible online habits.

Click here to see the curriculum overview for this term.

Year 6

Firstly, we would like to say a massive well done to year 6 for their SATs tests last week! We were blown away by their hard work and positive attiude. We are very proud of all of them and enjoyed ending the week with a great year group game of rounders. This week we were able to resume some normality with a new geography unit, where we have focused on comparing the Lake District, the Tatra Mountains in Poland/Slovakia and the Blue Mountains in Jamaica. We also did a new art unit, focussing on depth and movement when drawing fish in water - the children have produced some amazing work which they will be showcasing at Green Lanes Is Great. In addition to this, we held auditions for our year 6 production. The children will be finding out their parts tomorrow and will be bringing home their lines to learn.

We hope the children have a great half term - they thoroughly deserve a break!

Click here to see the curriculum overview for this term.

Inclusion / Family Worker

Special request from Banksy:

If you have any complete puzzles of varying ability you are more than welcome to donate to Banksy, we would be ever so grateful!

The staff and Governors are very happy to announce that green lanes are the first school in Welwyn and Hatfield to be awarded the Herts Shining Star Communication award.

The award is a tool for schools to use to support and improve the outcomes for those children presenting with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
The aims of the tool are to:
? Empower schools to recognise their strengths in terms of the support they already provide for children with SLCN.
? To help schools to identify areas for development in terms of the support provided for children with SLCN, set specific targets and monitor progress towards these targets.
? Increase knowledge and skills of SLCN at a universal level across the whole school.
? To raise the profile of SLCN within schools – Communication is Everyone’s Business!
? Maintain high quality teaching practises that benefit all pupils in the schools, particularly those with SLCN.

Parent Cafe

GLSA - Summer Fair 29th June

#WakeUpWednesday

May 2025 Activities

Parent/Carer Kids Eat for Free & Workshop Posters

Join your local library today!

To celebrate World Book Day, not only would we like the children to come dressed up as their favourite book character, we would also like them to join their local library.

We are planning a trip to the library, in small groups, and in order to visit, parents will need to sign up. So that we know your child is registered, please complete the consent form on Arbor (under Arbor Trips). Once we know your child is registered with their library, we will arrange for them to participate in one of the trips. We will send further details of the trips once confirmed.