Primary and Foundation Stage: FOBISIA Finalists FOBISIA finalists, STA Book Week is almost here, and our EAL and Special Needs teachers undertake training in speech and language. All the while, Year 3 get creative with Greek vases and Year 2 swim under the sea with their new classroom displays. And finally, its March Media Mentor Month.

FOBISIA finalists, STA Book Week is almost here, and our EAL and Special Needs teachers undertake training in speech and language. All the while, Year 3 get creative with Greek vases and Year 2 swim under the sea with their new classroom displays. And finally, its March Media Mentor Month.

FOBISIA Finalists from STA

FOBISIA recently ran a short story competition with the theme of 'Spark' and here at STA we had two finalists!

Congratulations to Anais and Maya for being finalists with their wonderful stories. You can read the quality stories here.

Book Week Coming Soon

Book Week will be launched on Friday 2nd April by Miss Leanne where students will find out all about how they can get involved, enter competitions and share books with each other. Fortunately, here at STA we have our own wonderful published author in Miss Pepa who will be working with students all week to share her work and help our budding writers to produce their own stories.

Below are Miss Pepa’s 4 books she has written so far. You can find 3 of these titles on Amazon while "Bounce Bounce", her latest book, will be released during Book Week.

 

Staff Communication Training

Congratulations to a group of our staff who recently completed their Speech and Language training in Elkan ‘creating communication Friendly Schools’ qualifications.

A group of classroom, EAL and special needs teachers completed the Level 3 Award in Speech and Language Support for 5-11 year olds which involved deepening skills and knowledge in verbal and non-verbal communication development in young children, understand comprehension assessments and strategies in mainstream classrooms and modifying teaching practices to communicate with a range of learners.

A larger group of Learning Support Assistants across Learning Support and STARS programs completed Let’s Talk about a Special Children Course which looks at communication in young children in the school context and how adults can plan, implement and assess activities to build the social communication skills of our students.

The school is currently taking part in a universal training initiative with the aim of achieving Elklan Communication Friendly School status. This project involves the entire staff body, developing their understanding of language and communication and how to support student needs in these areas throughout all school contexts. Our registered trained Elkan tutor, Speech and Language Therapist, Ms Niamh, is leading this program and we look forward to seeing the outcomes.

Year 3 Greek Vases

After creating their Greek vases before the half term holidays and leaving them to dry, this week the children in Year 3 got to decorate them. Having already created different designs similar to those used in Ancient Greek times, the children used Sharpie pens to carely draw on their designs and pictures showing what daily life was like in Ancient Greece. It was a fun activity enjoyed by all and the children are looking forward to taking their Greek vases home and displaying them in their own homes.

Displays in Year 2

If you are in the Year 2 corridors anytime soon, make sure you take your snorkel with you because you will be entering the great depths of the ocean! The Year 2 team have created a wonderful underwater display around the Year 2 area to support their topic on Seas and Oceans. I think you’ll agree they look fantastic.

March is Media Mentor Month

Media Mentor Month is a global education initiative designed to help parents develop a positive relationship with their children around digital technologies. It provides prompts to celebrate positive uses of technology, explore creative pursuits, and encourages us to take time for important conversations about how we best use our devices.

Organisers have created a game board where parents can select the activities they wish to explore from the gameboard. As you complete them, cut out the corresponding pieces and glue them to the game board. Have fun!