We shared with you our exciting plans for the development of our Early Years facilities, presented by James Clarke, explaining both the practical development of the space and our educational goals behind the changes. In addition to this, we launched our own podcast channel with the first session focused on ‘how children learn and why they forget’.

We were also delighted to host the Swift Course for Trinity parents and the members of the wider community – the aim of the course is to develop a shared understanding and consistent strategies to support children with autism or social communication needs at home and in school. Following on from this, we have our second SEN coffee morning upcoming this week, which is another opportunity for our community to come together and share experiences.

We also welcomed three work experience students from Gillotts – Freddie, May and Isla; they were all eager to get involved in primary school life and our pupils loved having them here. We hope we have inspired some future generations of teachers as a result of their time here! In the same week, our Year 5 pupils undertook their Silver Major of Henley Expedition and did an excellent job on their challenging walk!

We were extremely proud and impressed of our Year 6 pupils during SATS week - every single pupil tried their best and showed a wonderful attitude towards the assessments. I also wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to our governors and parent volunteers who enabled us to provide everyone with the best environment possible to concentrate and achieve their best with the right arrangements suited to their learning styles. We are really grateful for this support from our wider Trinity community.

We have also been busy with recruitment this term due to some members of staff changing their working hours for the next academic year. I am delighted to share that Mrs Beverly Danckert will be joining us as a full-time class teacher from September. Mrs Danckert undertook part of her teacher training at Trinity earlier this year in Rundell Class and has returned this week to complete her training here in Murphy Class. I also wanted share that Mrs Holly McIntosh confirmed this week that sadly she won’t be returning to Trinity next year following her maternity leave, but I am delighted that she will be joining us for the end of year church service so we can say a proper farewell and thank her for her huge contribution to Trinity as SenCo and part of the school leadership team. I will provide further details about staffing for all classes next academic year early next term.

I am delighted to share that our overall school attendance has risen this term to 96.07%. We continue to focus on ensuring we are supporting any pupils or families who are at risk of low attendance. High attendance is so imperative for pupils to be successful at school and we have further explanation around this on our website page - Attendance.

We will be rounding off this term with class photos on Thursday and our ‘Crazy Hair Day’ on Friday raising money for FOTS. I hope everyone has a lovely half term break and we look forward to seeing you back and ready for the final term with much to look forward to, including Sport’s Day with an all new format on the first Friday back! 

DAHL - Meva, James, Isabel, Martha and Isla R

COWELL - Arlo, Hugo, Benji, Ava B and Amy

COEHLO - Jack, Lucy, Rupert, Maddie and Arina

PILKEY - Bella M, Finley G, Finley S, Archie and Harlem

PALMER - Alex, Thea, Sid, Aroha and Grace P

ZEPHANIAH - Will, Eva, Darcy, Bella and Peony

RUNDELL - Flo C, Ella S, Eve and Millie G 

This term in Reception, we have been thoroughly enjoying our learning through the story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. The children have loved joining in with the repeated phrases and exploring the different settings and plot points from the story. We have been working hard on our writing by creating simple sentences about what the characters could see, hear and feel on their adventure, using our senses to help us describe each part of the journey. The children have shown great enthusiasm and imagination in their ideas, and we are very proud of the progress they are making with their independent writing.

Our new topic, Come Fly with Me, has taken us on an exciting journey around the world! We have been learning about different countries, including India, China and Egypt, exploring their landmarks, traditions, food and culture. 

In Maths, we have been developing our understanding of addition and subtraction within 10, using practical resources and games to help build confidence. We have also been learning about 2D shapes, identifying and describing their properties. The children have continued to impress us with their curiosity, enthusiasm and willingness to try new things each day.

English
This half term, the children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring The Storm Whale by Benji Davies and using the story as inspiration for their own narrative writing. Through drama, discussion and exciting experiences, they have developed their ideas and built confidence in their sentence writing skills. It has been wonderful to see the children using ambitious vocabulary and a range of writing features, including adjectives, verbs, adverbs, similes, onomatopoeia and conjunctions. They were especially engaged by the story’s themes of friendship, family and feelings, and took great pride in planning and writing their own stories inspired by the text. 

Learning Means the World
This half term, the children have loved learning about the Arctic Circle through our Come Fly With Me topic. They have explored where the Arctic is located, what the weather and seasons are like, and how animals and plants survive in such extreme conditions. The children were fascinated to learn about Inuit life, including traditional homes, clothing and customs, and greatly enjoyed discovering the beauty of the Northern Lights. This topic has inspired lots of curiosity and creativity.

Peter and the Wolf

Thanks to The Art Society of Henley, pupils in KS1 enjoyed a performance of Peter and the Wolf, performed by the professional musicians of Chamberhouse Winds with a narrator. The performance included flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon and the players also talked about and demonstrated their instruments.

It’s been another busy term for LKS2.

The children have been enjoying our topic – Come Fly with Me Africa. We have learnt about the different terrains found in Africa, the food, and how Africa differs from our culture here in England. The children particularly enjoyed learning about ‘The Big Five’ – why they are called that, where they live, what makes them ‘The Big Five' and what they eat. Some of the children and staff have been lucky enough to go to parts of Africa and it’s been lovely to see them sharing their experiences with their class.

This term the children have loved having forest school back in their timetable – they’ve made the most of the somewhat drier weather and thoroughly enjoyed building dens, making mud kitchens, swinging in the hammock and everything else forest school has to offer! Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered their time this term to help us make it happen.

We’ve been fortunate to enjoy Cricket with Ed this term in Year ¾ and it’s been great to see their bowling skills improve and their enjoyment for the sport grow. MNR have been building on their skills in Athletics, training the children ready for Sports Day. We hope to see you there on the 5^th June!

To end this term, we are looking forward to the crazy hair day on Friday before a very busy final term commences. Next term, we are looking forward to sports day, the Ekiden, the FOTS camp out and many other opportunities!

We hope you have a restful, happy half term!

Trips and Visitors

It has been another busy and exciting term for UKS2. Year 6 worked incredibly hard during their SATs and celebrated their efforts with a well-deserved trip to Chessington. Meanwhile, Year 5 enjoyed a visit to watch a Chiltern Arts performance. The whole phase also welcomed Chris Woodcock (from the Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service) who delivered an informative talk about fire, water, road and home safety.

Morning Sessions

In English, we completed our narrative writing unit based on the short silent film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore. Inspired by the story, the children created imaginative narratives in which they were ‘blown away’ into magical lands of their own. The children thoroughly enjoyed the unit and produced some fantastic writing.

The phase is the first in Trinity (and Henley!) to receive free access to the new eLibrary service that we are trialling - the children have access to over 300 titles from any internet-enabled device.

In Maths, Year 6 have completed their units on algebra and ratio, while Year 5 have finished learning about decimals and percentages.

In RE, the children have been exploring how a person’s world-view helps them decide what is important in life. They reflected on their learning in RE so far and considered how beliefs can influence the choices people make.

Learning Means The World

This term, the children have worked extremely hard studying North and Central America, with a focus on both geography and history. A highlight of the term was our America Exhibition, where parents are invited in to view the children’s research projects and displays. It was wonderful to see the children so engaged with the topic and proudly demonstrating our school values of ‘curiosity’ and ‘a love of learning’.

PE

Year 5 have now completed their swimming sessions. They greatly enjoyed the experience and developed their confidence and skills in the water. The highlights for many were the fun sessions and learning those all-important lifesaving skills. They have also been practising athletics in preparation for Sports Day next term.

Alongside athletics sessions with MNR, Year 6 have been enjoying developing their cricket skills.

Mayor of Henley

This term, 22 Year 5 pupils completed their Silver Mayor of Henley Award. They have worked incredibly hard throughout the year to complete the Faith, Skill and Physical section of the Award, showing great commitment, courage and resilience to take on new challenges. To conclude, they completed the final section: The Expedition. This culminated in an 8 mile walk around the local area. The children showed great determination, resilience and put all the skills they'd been learning to the test. Thank you to Miss Kirton and our parent volunteers - we wouldn't be able to do it without you! All the children who completed the award should be very proud of themselves and I look forward to seeing what they get up to next year for the Gold Award!

Schools Triathlon

Well done to the pupils who took part in the Schools Triathlon at Abingdon School. They showed great team work and support for each other and their fundraising efforts deserve recognition as well.

Great School Run at Stonor

Trinity was well represented at the Great School Run at Stonor. Well done to everyone who attended.

Rugby

Congratulations to the Trinity pupils who were awarded prizes at our local Rugby Club, Henley Hawks.

This term, the School Council have been busy deciding how to spend the money raised through the Henley Youth Festival Run. After gathering pupil voice from across the school, they decided to purchase arts and crafts equipment for children to use during break times. Starting next term, this will provide a calming and creative outlet for pupils during playtimes.

We will also be continuing our community project with Acacia Lodge, visiting the local care home and taking part in short services with the residents.

Finally, keep an eye out next term for the return of the Trinity Talent Show! This exciting event gives children the opportunity to showcase their amazing talents while raising money for our partnership school in Uganda, New Brainstorm School.

Trinity to Paris Charity Bike Ride

We would like to say a big thank you to all the local businesses that have supported this event.  These include Hamptons, Daisy Love, Reids of Henley, Rush Sport and Entertainment, Hostsmart, HOT Moves, Big Storage, The Rug Shed and Athlete Service.  We are grateful for all of their generous donations.

The event itself is on Fri 12th June.  Come cheer the riders off at around 9:30am from the Trinity School playground where there will be a French-themed breakfast on offer. If you would like to donate you can on the link below:

https://www.friendsoftrinityschool.com/team

Invitation

I’d love to invite Trinity School parents to a community launch of our exciting Room for Growth project, a £2 million plan to transform our church building into a space that will better serve our Henley community for decades to come. It’s an exciting, but daunting prospect, and we’d love you to know what we’re planning. The event is at church, 7:30pm on Friday 19th June. There's a link to RSVP here. 

Assemblies this term

We’ve set ourselves the ambitious challenge of working through the story of the whole Bible this half term! Here’s the summary: ‘I love you’, ‘I miss you’, ‘I promise’, ‘I’m here’, and ‘I’m coming back’! As ever, it’s a joy to see children so thoughtfully engaged. Inclusive, inspiring, and invitational is what we’re aiming for, and if you ever have any questions, please just be in touch. 

During the week at church… 

We run a baby cafe and toddler group (Junior Jivers) every Friday morning in term time, and a popular after-school club for Reception - Year 2 (Jivers) on Mondays after school. Details on our website. All very welcome! 

Very best wishes, Rev Sam Brewster