PRIMARy NEWS - Kettering Science Academy

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20 LIBRARy Introducing KSA’s New Librarians KSA welcomed new librarian Heidi Economou who will work with all pupils across the Academy to promote reading and improve literacy. Mrs Economou, who worked at Latimer Arts College for the last five years, said the position appealed to her because it gives her the chance to work with younger children in primary right through to Sixth Formers. Mrs Economou’s love of libraries started as a teenager when she spent two weeks in her local library for work experience. She said: “I loved it because I met people from so many different walks of life. I loved reading anyway so when they offered me a job at the end of the two weeks, it just went on from there.” Her journey was to take her from an apprenticeship to library manager, with spells in mobile and even prison libraries. She said: “The job at KSA is brilliant for me because I get to sow the seed of reading with children at a young age and then develop that right through to Sixth Form. “One of the things I’d like to do is invite parents in to hear the younger children reading.” Mrs Economou said her favourite book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho because it inspired Launch of Accelerated Reader The Accelerated Reader programme is aimed at getting more children to read fiction and nonfiction books for pleasure. Through this reading for pleasure pupils will make significant progress with reading, spelling and comprehension skills. The programme has begun with Year 7 who took a reading star test at the start of the year. This generated each pupil a colour for their reading level and books in the library are also marked by these colours so pupils know which ones to select. Pupils are encouraged to read their books as part of their English lessons, CAPS lessons and in their own time. Once they have read a book, they complete a simple online quiz about it through the Accelerated Reader program which can be accessed from any computer or the library’s iPads. Quizzes can also be completed on any book students read, not just those from the school library, by searching for the books title in New Librarian Feels Right at Home This term we welcomed another new member of staff in the library, assistant librarian Emily Scott, who will work with Heidi Economou to promote reading. Miss Scott saw the opportunity for an opening in the school library and applied to follow her passion for books. Emily said: “I’ve wanted to work in a library for quite a while as I love reading and English was always my favourite subject at school. I really liked the idea of Pre-School Readers The Primary library has welcomed its first pre-school readers this term. Every Wednesday we welcome younger siblings of our pupils with their parents. They are registered on the library system and borrow a book to take the Accelerated Reader programme. Prizes are awarded for the number of quizzes completed successfully and for progress made. Prizes awarded include certificates, bookmarks, badges, Amazon vouchers and even a Kindle Fire. The elite prize is entry into the Millionaire’s club – a gold badge and special privileges for pupils who read a million words. Throughout the year teachers will be tracking pupil progress and league tables will be compiled to show each form’s progress so the houses can see how they are faring against other in the Accelerated Reader inter-house challenge. The house with the best results each half term will win the AR House Cup. In the future it is hoped the programme will be rolled out to Year 8 and Year 6 pupils as well as any pupil for whom English is not their first language. A link to the Accelerated Reader programme can be found on the Academy’s website. home and read with their parents. We hope this will encourage our younger children to begin to enjoy reading books before they start school. It also gives parents a chance to sit with any of their children and share a book in her to go travelling. “As soon as I finished reading it, I booked my ticket to Mexico,” she said. “At the time, the effect it had on me was profound. My favourite children’s book is The Hungry Caterpillar – it’s a classic and I’ll never get bored of it.” working in a school, helping students to enjoy reading. I am really enjoying this new role and it feels like I’ve been here for a while already. The staff and students have both been very welcoming and friendly.” When asked who her favourite author was she said: “That’s a hard one but I would probably say Roald Dahl; even as an adult all his books are fun to read!” Article by Charlotte Firman – Sixth Former Top Readers The following pupils borrowed the most books from the library in Term 1: Tayla Katebzadeh-Shahidi Year 8 Sanger 23 books Mohammad Usama Year 7 Hawking 15 books Loren Cooper Year 7 Da Vinci 14 books Ezri Mannion Year 7 Hawking 13 books Gemma Green Year 8 Franklin 11 books Jordan Ayre Year 9 Franklin 10 books Joshua Lane Year 7 Hawking 10 books Tamsyn Henderson Year 7 Socrates 9 books We congratulate them for their excellent attitude towards reading and look forward to seeing more pupils next term! a relaxed atmosphere. We would love more parents to come and join us and use the library for their younger children. Issue Thirteen • Under the Microscope
Recommended Christmas Reads Here are KSA’s suggested reads for Christmas – why not treat someone this holiday? Pre-School Christmas Peekaboo! RRP £6.99 It helps you play festive peekaboo with your baby and hear them giggle in delight as hidden Christmas surprises are revealed! Read together and lift the giant flaps to reveal Christmas presents and a glittering snowman; then explore the soft, shiny and bumpy textures. Where’s Christmas baby gone, is she behind the present? And who will you discover behind the snowflakes? Find them all, they are waiting to say Peekaboo! This is an award-winning series for babies perfect for developing imagination, early-thinking and memory skills. Age 5-8 How Santa Really Works – Alan Snow RRP £5.99 Beneath the Arctic Polar Ice Cap, deep underground, is a bustling community with one mission and one mission only: to make Christmas happen. Have you ever wondered how Santa can pop out of a chimney without a soot stain on his red velvet? Elves, of course – fully trained at the Elf Academy in chimney sweeping! And does Santa really have time to check if every single child’s been naughty or nice? Of course not – that’s why he created the CIA (Christmas Intelligence Agency) to train elves to spy on children. Age 9-12 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel – Jeff Kinney RRP £12.99 The ‘Third Wheel’ is the hilarious next book in the brilliant, bestselling and award-winning ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ series. Perfect for readers of 8+ and all the millions of Wimpy Kid fans. Love is in the air, but what does that mean for Greg Heffley? A Valentine’s Day dance at Greg’s school has turned his world upside down. As Greg scrambles to find a date, he’s worried he’ll be left out in the cold on the big night. Age 13+ Guinness World Records 2013 RRP £20.00 Guinness World Records 2013 is crammed with new and updated records, and never-before-seen photography. Meet the new shortest living man and a slam-dunking parrot, and witness the fiercest predators in the ocean – you can see them in 3D with our new augmented reality app! Adult Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals – Jamie Oliver RRP £26.00 Following the record-breaking success of ‘30-Minute Meals’, Britain’s most-popular cookbook of all time, Jamie Oliver brings us the even-better ‘15-Minute Meals’. This book is completely devoted to what we are asking for – super quick, tasty, nutritious food that you can eat every day of the week. Elmer Competition Last term the primary library ran a writing competition based on the popular Elmer series of books. Children had to write about Elmer’s adventures based on the question: if he packed his trunk for a holiday, where would he go and what adventures would he have? Sophie Evans in Year 4 was our Key Stage 2 winner and received Elmer books and some chocolates. Sydney Pearson from Reception was our Key Stage 1 winner. She also won books and some chocolates. LIBRARy WORDSMITHS CELEBRATE Roald dahl day Pupils took inspiration from one of the greatest children’s authors during Roald Dahl Day. They were challenged to come up with their own version of the BFG and had to describe their character in the same imaginative style as Dahl. The winner, Ben Richards from Da Vinci 9, was congratulated for his “wonderful vocabulary and whopsi-wiffling description”. The Special BFG Word Award went to Erzi Mannion thanks to her contributions to the Gobblefunk Glossary. Other winners were: • Pippa Williams for writing which showed a great sense of humour • Loren Cooper for her imaginative similes • Courtney Halliwell for her creative sense of drama • Olivia Difante for her use of engaging sentences to entice the reader. Their work has been put together in the form of ‘An Anthology of Fantabulous, Whopsi- Wiffling, Scrumddliumptious Work’ and is available from the library. Librarian Heidi Economou said: “Year 7s had been learning about creative writing in their English lessons so we held this competition as part of their studies. We had nearly 50 entries and they were so fantastic.” The winners received a copy of the anthology, a Dahl book and a Willy Wonka chocolate bar. PRIMARy Library Club Library Club has now started in Primary to offer new services to pupils and their families. On Tuesdays Key Stage 1 and 2 children come to the library after school until 4pm. This term the Library Club is giving children the opportunity to find out about illuminated books. They will be having a go at their own illuminated writing using quill type/bamboo pens and ink, and decorating their text with gold and silver as the monks in medieval times would have done. Under the Microscope • Issue Thirteen 21
Page 1 and 2: m under the croscope Term 2 Newslet
Page 3 and 4: KSA TERM dATES Term 2 Friday 21st D
Page 5 and 6: HOUSE NEWS House Captains Ready to
Page 7 and 8: CHARITy COMMITTEE’S EFFORTS RAISE
Page 9 and 10: Introduction to French Years 1 to 6
Page 11 and 12: yEAR 1 Celebrations Year 1 started
Page 13 and 14: Art Here are some fantastic example
Page 15 and 16: MATHS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOgy The
Page 17 and 18: The debate on the pros and cons of
Page 19: Revision Sessions KSA recently orga
Page 23 and 24: Horse-Riding Star Eleanor Broadley

PRIMARy NEWS - Kettering Science Academy

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