After our fantastic visit to the Empire Theatre in Consett, Birch celebrated all of our achievement with our reading skills. We had a plate of party food and a cup of juice.

It was a great experience seeing ‘Aladdin’ at the Empire Theatre in Consett. We had so much fun and all the children represented Croft perfectly! Well done to all of Primary! We had the best time.

One of our new pupils came for a look around school last night and imagine our surprise when he turned up looking like this!! Welcome to Croft!

 

 

For our English lesson we have integrated our Topic lesson where we have been learning all about Italy and its geography.
We had to create a poster advert where we tried to persuade people to visit Italy. We developed knowledge on slogans and drawing the readers in.

We tested out flour, salt, sugar and coffee to predict which one dissolved to make a solution. We had a graph where we put the predictions in and then using a thermometer we used the same temperature water to learn the importance of a fair test.
We applied our findings from the experiment and we inputted them into our chart.

I’m sure you have seen in the news the reported increase in Scarlet Fever and invasive Group A strep infections.  I hope the information below is helpful.

The latest data from UKHSA shows that scarlet fever cases continue to remain higher than we would typically see at this time of year. Currently, there is no evidence that a new strain is circulating. The increase is most likely related to high amounts of circulating bacteria and social mixing. It is therefore advisable for to be alert for symptoms and seek medical advice accordingly.

Scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, but it is highly infectious. Look out for symptoms in children, which include a sore throat, headache, and fever, along with a fine, pinkish or red body rash with a sandpapery feel. On darker skin the rash can be more difficult to detect visually but will have a sandpapery feel.

Contact NHS 111 or your GP if you suspect a child has scarlet fever. (See advice for parents below).

Early treatment of scarlet fever with antibiotics is important to reduce the risk of complications such as pneumonia or a bloodstream infection.

If a child has scarlet fever, they should stay home until at least 24 hours after the start of antibiotic treatment to avoid spreading the infection to others.

Scarlet fever is caused by bacteria called group A streptococci. These bacteria also cause other respiratory and skin infections such as Strep throat and impetigo.

In very rare occasions, the bacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause an illness called invasive Group A strep. Whilst still uncommon, there has been an increase in invasive Group A strep cases this year, particularly in children under 10.

Our advice to parents: There are lots of viruses that cause sore throats, colds and coughs circulating. These should resolve without medical intervention. However, children can on occasion develop a bacterial infection on top of a virus and that can make them more unwell.

As a parent or carer, if you feel that your child seems seriously unwell, you should trust your own judgement. Contact NHS 111 if or your GP if:

• your child is getting worse
• your child is feeding or eating much less than normal
• your child has had a dry nappy for 12 hours or more or shows other signs of dehydration
• your baby is under 3 months and has a temperature of 38C, or is older than 3 months and has a temperature of 39C or higher
• your baby feels hotter than usual when you touch their back or chest, or feels sweaty
• your child is very tired or irritable

Call 999 or go to A&E if:

• your child is having difficulty breathing – you may notice grunting noises or their tummy sucking under their ribs
• there are pauses when your child breathes
• your child’s skin, tongue or lips are blue
• your child is floppy and will not wake up or stay awake

Good hand and respiratory hygiene are important for stopping the spread of many bugs. By teaching your child how to wash their hands properly with soap for 20 seconds, using a tissue to catch coughs and sneezes, and keeping away from others when feeling unwell, they will be able to reduce the risk of picking up, or spreading, infections.

Please circulate this information throughout your networks to ensure that parents and carers have the most up to date information and advice.

Please also note that the regional Health Protection Team (HPT) will continue to respond to cases in the usual way. That UKHSA alerts have been sent out to clinicians health care professionals with advice on presentations, treatment and prescribing antibiotics. At the start of the winter season schools received a  letter on winter illnesses which included including scarlet fever.

Today in Maths, we recapped our knowledge on coordinates. We all took part in following instructions using terminology such as, ‘Can you do a half turn, clockwise?’.  The children identified their left and right and how we can use our hands and jumpers to identify the correct position.

We then went through a PowerPoint helping our peers identifying which was the correct position such as using an image and having to create a sentence using the correct positions.

Finally, we applied our teaching to our work and completed work sheets that challenged us to find coordinates using a grid. We also had our Beebots and asked the children to control them by following instructions from our peers.

Excellent work, Birch!

Birch was introduced to Picasso, the Cubist artist that uses geometric shapes. The children were asked to recreate his style. The children got given a portrait of themselves and their peers and had the chance to style their pictures in the way that Picasso did.

It was great seeing the children’s creativity come out and create faces in an artistic way!

In our Art lesson we were shown how photos can be changed using Pop Art. The children were given a display of themselves and used oil pastels to create their own designs. The children had inspiration from AndyWarhol and others.

It was great to see how creative the children became! Well doneChildren!