infants bring florence nightingale back to life!

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9

S K Y S W O O D P R I M A R Y & N U R S E R Y

S C H O O L N E W S L E T T E R

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

I N D O O R S P O R T S H A L L

A T H L E T I C S 2

G I R L S F O O T B A L L 2

S I X P O I N T S C L E A R ! 2

J U D O S U C C E S S F O R 3

N E T B A L L U P D A T E S 3

T A B L E T E N N I S R E P O R T 3

K I D Z C O R N E R 4 & 5

F O S S U P D A T E S 6 & 7

N U R S E R Y T O U R 8

F L O R E N C E

N I G H T I N G A L E P H O T O

G A L L E R Y

9

A C T I O N A G A I N S T

H U N G E R 9

A U T H O R O F T H E T E R M

C O M P E T I T I O N S

10

Infants bring Florence Nightingale back to life!

Our Year 2 children enjoyed a fantastic day earlier this week with

their ‘History off the Page Florence Nightingale Day.’ The children

learnt about the dreadful conditions during the Crimean War and

the fantastic work at the Scutari Hospital in Istanbul. The whole

class (and parent and teacher helpers) dressed up for the occa-

sion and enjoyed a series of role play activities, alongside the

opportunity to make pill boxes for the soldiers’ medicines,

candle holders, medals and lockets. The class also enjoyed

writing letters of application for various posts. Afternoon role

plays explored the importance of gardeners, maids and kitchen

workers. Everybody was busy cooking, cleaning, washing and

beating the laundry. All in all, it was an outstanding day. We

would like to thank all of the parent helpers who enabled the

children to take part in such a wide range of activities. There is a

lovely Florence Nightingale Photo Gallery featured on page 9.

Indoor Sports Hall Athletics Success!

Skyswood performed superbly at the St Albans District Indoor Sports

Hall Athletics heats, with both the boys and girls teams qualifying for the

Finals on the 25th February. Thirteen local schools entered the

competition, with the top six qualifying for the finals. The girls finished in

second place, with 232 points, behind Garden Fields, whilst the boys

also amassed an excellent total of 218 points, finishing in fourth place

behind three large three-form entry schools (Fleetville, Wheatfields and

Garden Fields.) The school finished in third place overall and will look to

build upon their fantastic efforts when they compete in the finals. Well

done to all of the children who represented our teams, it was a

magnificent effort!

Girls Football Updates

Our girls football team rose to the challenge of playing

against the St Albans District Girls team on Monday. The

game was a great warm up for the district girls before their

opening league matches and also an excellent warm up for

the Skyswood girls in preparation for two prestigious

national tournaments that take place next month. The

school team were missing one of our own district players,

Elizabeth, but put in a great performance against the repre-

sentative side, with Honey selected as Player of the Match.

On February 12th our girls team will be competing in the

Premier League National Girls Football Tournament, with

their regional competition taking place at Watford F.C

training ground on their 4G artificial pitches. Two weeks lat-

er the girls will take place in the National League Trust Un-

der-11 Cup. The regional competition will take place at Bore-

ham Wood Football Club in the South East (north) compe-

tition. Having been put forward to represent the district fol-

lowing their success in the St Albans leagues, the girls are

now in the final 48 schools nationally. The competition is

highly prestigious, with finalists actually getting the oppor-

tunity to play at Wembley in front of a sell-out crowd before

one of the League 1 or 2 Play-Off Finals. The girls improve

with every match and we wish them well in these two forth-

coming tournaments.

Mae, Chloe and Hannah pictured after the

girls’ match against the St Albans District

team ... Still in good spirits despite losing

out to top quality opposition.

Six Points Clear!

The school football team opened up a six

point gap at the top of the table following

their impressive 3-1 win away at Samuel

Ryder. Two goals by Luke and an excellent

strike from Seb, on his first team debut,

secured the points. The team enjoyed the

opportunity to play on the impressive 4G

pitch and Luke was only denied a hat-trick

through a stunning save. The Samuel Ryder

keeper also denied Daniel after an amazing

run, bursting out from defence.

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9

Judo Success for Jessica and Oscar

Congratulations to Jessica (Year 6) and Oscar (Year 5) for

their fantastic achievements this year at the Marshalswick

Judo Club. Oscar won the trophy for the ‘Most Improved

Member’ of the club, whilst Jessica (who started less than a

year ago) won the Club Trophy for 2018. The Marshalswick

Judo Club have served our community for several years and

many Skyswood pupils, past and present, look forward to

their Thursday evening or weekend sessions. Congratulations

must go to coach and club founder, Doug Seabrook, on his

70th birthday celebrations last week. Doug works tirelessly

on behalf of club (which was originally formed and based at

Skyswood). Well done Doug, thank you and your team for

the amazing commitment and the wonderful ethos that

exists within the club.

Netball Updates

The school netball team had a great start to 2019 with

a double victory over Prae Wood. The ‘A’ team enjoyed a

close match and, although it remained goal-less in the

first quarter, scored once in the second, twice in the

third and then again in the final quarter to round off a

hard-fought 4-2 victory. The team voted Chloe G as their

Player of the Match.

The ‘B’ team also enjoyed a strong performance,

winning by 6 goals to 2. Tilly, Kia and Bryony scored the

goals. Bryony, who was team captain, was also voted

Player of the Match.

On Tuesday, the teams played their second match of

the term away at Samuel Ryder. In an exciting match,

the girls fought hard after conceding two early goals

and were unlucky to eventually lose out by four goals to

two. Hannah was named the Player of the Match for

her excellent passes and footwork. The ‘B’ team also

lost out by a two goal margin, fighting back to 3-1 after

being three goals down. Well done to both teams, all

four games have been highly entertaining since the

start of the new year.

Table Tennis Report

Our upper juniors enjoyed a return fixture against

our neighbours (and Herts County champions)

from Wheatfields. It was tough test for all of the

players, with our top seeds such as Sofia and Dan-

iel having to face some of the leading juniors in

Hertfordshire. Eleanor and Harry both won two of

their matches, whilst Mae, Jessica K and Jessi-

ca B also picked up victories in a thoroughly en-

tertaining contest. Well done to all of the table

tennis team, you certainly did the school proud!

S K Y S W O O D P R I M A R Y & N U R S E R Y S C H O O L N E W S L E T T E R

Year 6 People in Action Arts Project

Our Year 6 children are currently enjoying their People in Action Arts Project, which has focused on

sports action images. The class have created bracelet drawing and experimented with multi-media

images using oil pastels, watercolour, sketching pencils and charcoal. This will lead into some 3D

sculpture after half-term. Here are a few examples of the multi-media pictures that the children

have created: These pictures were created by Jessica, Aaron, Seb, Natalie, Bryony, Nathan,

Saharsh and Elizabeth.


Reception Dinosaurs

Our reception class are clearly enjoying their project on dinosaurs and the children enjoyed the chance to

create some colourful stegosaurus pictures. Their pictures are all fantastic,. The examples below were

created by Filip, Sophia, Kingsley, Alma, Shradda and Lila.

Year 5 Speech Presentations

Our Year 5 children have been learning the skills of speech writing and presentation in their literacy

sessions. Having studied some famous historical speeches, the children used the key features to help

them to shape their own. Four speeches were judged as being worthy finalists. Daniel, Laura, Jack R

and Alizah then presented their speeches to the whole school in Monday’s assembly. Each of the

speeches were delivered with passion and expression, with Alizah being voted the Year 5 Speech

Champion. Here are some brief extracts from each of our finalists:

‘I have a vision of a world where every child has

the opportunity to achieve more than the bare

minimum in learning; Where we fight with

knowledge rather than guns and where no-one is

afraid to step outside their own front door .’

Laura (based on the story of Malala Youfazi.)

‘We are at war with Germany. This is the day

before the first gunshot is heard. This may be

scary for you, but don’t forget...you are saving our

country. You are all brave men so we will win this

war!’

Jack R (based on Churchill’s speech.)

‘I have a thought that even if the other teams are

slick and fast, we will win because of teamwork and

our hope and desire will power us to climb the

ladder to glory; the crowds will chant our team’s

name across the nation.’

Alizah (motivational speech to a swmming team.)

I have a vision that the world is free, that it is free

from the binds of pollution, that the tinniest tots to

the elderly elders can breathe fresh air; That

people shall have a good life. That there will be no

deforestation.’

Daniel (speech on deforestation.)

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1


Ofsted “Outstanding”

& big smiles too!

Our final School Tour before the

application process for September

2019 ) closes is on...

Thursday 7th February

10.15 a.m.

Please call Mrs Foster or Mrs Spitall on 01727 8541674 if you would like to

reserve a space.

Skyswood Nursery

The best possible start for your child’s education!

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Florence Nightingale Picture Gallery

Mr Bridle and the School

Council will be organising

an Action against Hunger

Cake Sale on the last day

before half-term. We have

always had an amazing range of cakes at

previous cake sales, any contributions on the day would be most appreciated!

Action Against Hunger Cake Sale

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9

Jeff Kinney—Author of the Term Competitions

There will be three competitions for our Author of the Term. Although the ‘Meltdown Movie’

competition is aimed at our older children, all three competitions are open to all children in the school.

Create a Cartoon Character Competition

Jeff Kinney’s character illustrations have a

distinct style. Create a new character in the

Wimpy Kid style. Remember to give your

character a name. Here are a few pictures of

Diary of a Wimpy Kid characters, to give you a

good idea of the drawing style. Greg Manny Grandpa Fragley

Rodrick Sweetie

Diary Challenge

Create a page (or double-page) diary entry using the style of Jeff Kin-

ney’s books. Choose one of the following three titles for your diary

page/s.

The Wimpy Kid goes to Whipsnade Zoo

Wimpy Kid at the Seaside

The Wimpy Kid at Uncle Ernie’s Farm

TOP TIPS: Bring your diary to life with some illustrations

Read a couple of the books to get an idea of the style

‘The Meltdown Movie’ Competition

‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid– The Meltdown’ is going to be made into a mov-

ie. Either design a poster to advertise the film, or create a short ani-

mation (a trailer) to promote the movie. You can use any resources

available to you in order to complete your poster or your animation.

All entries must be sent in to Mr Bridle (and named please) by Friday

29th March at the latest. You can work on your own, with a friend, or

with some help from parents or grandparents.

infants bring florence nightingale back to life!

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