Hello there and a very happy Christmas to all the parents and carers of Bloxwich Academy Primary! Yesterday, we welcomed you all in to school to join us at our Festive Fayre, and we must thank you for making it a huge success! The final total raised from both Santa’s grotto and the fayre was in excess of £1219; a fantastic amount which we will put towards arranging future events and treats for the children.

A huge thank you has to go to Mr. Dick who kindly volunteered to take part in the ‘Soak the Staff’ challenge; he took every sponge on the chin, literally, and the children had so much fun! The Hook a Duck was also a huge hit, and there were some fantastic prizes won on the raffle. We really appreciate the support from the school and the community, and cannot wait to hold more events like this in the future.

On behalf of Friends of Bloxwich, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and an amazing New Year.

After over 18 months of COVID restrictions preventing us from singing in school, it has been fantastic to hear the sound of singing filling our corridors once again.

Children from Year 1 all the way up to Year 6 have been rehearsing their Christmas songs for our carol concert and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Each year group has already been filmed singing their song, so watch out for the concert coming soon to a smart phone, tablet or computer screen near you!

Children in Early Years have also worked incredibly hard to learn all the songs for their Christmas production ‘Away in a Manger’. Parents have been able to come into school (socially distanced and masked) to watch their children perform over four separate performances this week. We thought the children would be exhausted but they have taken it all in their stride and still seem to have plenty of energy left!

Year 2 have just completed a very Christmassy unit of Music work named ‘Ho, Ho, Ho!’ They have really enjoyed learning to sing the song and have even performed the rap sections. The rapping was very tricky to begin with as it was so fast, but they soon got the hang of it. They learned to play some notes on the glockenspiels to accompany it too.

Meanwhile, Year 4 have been getting into some pop music! They have been learning about the music of Abba in their Music unit ‘Mama Mia!’ They have learned the song ‘Mama Mia as well as accompanying it on glockenspiels.

Another music video for you to look out for is our Year 4 and Year 5 pupils performing, A Christmas Jingle. The school has invested in instruments for every child in Year 4 and 5 so they do not have to share. You can see them playing clarinets, trumpets and even trombones!

They have only recently started learning to play these instruments but already sound fantastic together. We cannot wait to see their talents develop over the year.

We hope you enjoy your children’s performances and that you find some time to belt out some festive songs too. After all, singing is great for our mental health and is something you can enjoy doing with the whole family!

Exciting news – Bloxwich Academy have purchased every child a book bag!

Your child has brought their book bag home with them and inside should be their reading book, reading diary, and their library book.

Your child’s reading bag should be brought into school every day to enable them to read with an adult in school.

As a school, we suggest that you hear your child read at home at least three times a week. After you have heard them read, please fill in their reading log and sign to say you have heard them read!

Unfortunately, if a book bag is lost an additional cost of £3.50 – will need to pay at our school’s reception for a replacement.

Children in Early Years will be taking part in World Nursery Rhyme Week this month. We will be challenging children to participate in the ‘Rhyme a Day Challenge’ by singing nursery rhymes and taking part in supporting activities. 

Nursery rhymes are excellent teaching tools and can help to develop:  

• Language and literacy skills 
• Numeracy skills 
• Social skills
• Physical skills
• Emotional skills – they are so much fun 

All children in Nursery and Reception are asked to dress up on Monday 22nd November 2021 as their favourite Nursery Rhyme character. Please do not feel obliged to spend money on a costume. Home-made outfits are often the best. To help prepare your child for this experience you could sing the official rhymes of 2021 at home:

• Incy Wincy Spider 
• Sleeping Bunnies 
• Wind the Bobbin 
• Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes 
• Down In the Jungle 

Or, use this link to watch the nursery rhyme videos. https://bit.ly/3Ezl87W 

If you would like to explore a wide range of rhymes please visit Piccolo Music by using this link https://bit.ly/2ZJJ9tI