It has been a very exciting first week back after Christmas. The children in year 2 read the book Man on The Moon and talked about if there is alien life form out there in the universe.

Year 3 started a new block of learning and looked at narrative poems. Year 1 have started to build on the work they started last term by developing their story writing. Year 4 Aspen used their persuasion skills by helping house buyers to decide how to buy a property and Year 4 Rowan spent time developing the important skill of converting lengths. Year 5 have been using their knowledge to write facts about mountains whilst Year 6 have been writing flattering sentences to a fly as part of their learning on the very famous poem the Spider and the Fly. Well done to all the children who showed their excellent work in assembly.

This week Parkside have been getting in the spirit of Christmas starting with Christmas Jumper Day where children and staff come into school to wear their Christmas Jumpers.

In the afternoon we had our traditional Christmas Dinner where we all sat together in classes and staff. A massive thank you to our lovely kitchen staff who provided us all with an amazing meal.

We hosted our very first Christmas on Friday 13th of December.

The Christmas fun-filled event consisted of face painting, glitter tattoos, henna, nail painting, hair braiding, arts and crafts, gingerbread decoration, soft toy tombola, Santa’s grotto and many other festive stalls. We asked local community businesses to be a major part of the event which turned out to be an inspired decision. All the funds raised will go towards renovating the school playground. We thank you all for being part of our Christmas fair and look forward to future events at Parkside. Well done to the PFA of Parkside and the staff for helping to make the event so memorable for families. Thank you one and all.

On Monday morning we welcomed Rabbi Debbie to our school to talk to us about Judaism in a whole school assembly.

In assembly we learnt more about Hanukkah and the children were shown a PowerPoint about its importance in the Jewish faith. They shared their learning and even touched on the way Alexander the Great made it difficult for jewfish people to practice their faith.

What is Hanukkah?

This is a Jewish festival which lasts 8 days from the 25th day of Kislev (in December) and commemorates the rededication of the Temple in 165 BC by the Maccabees after its desecration by the Syrians. It is marked by the successive kindling of eight lights. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means ‘dedication’.

What is a Menorah?

In Hebrew, the word menorah means ‘lamp’. The ancient menorah had seven branches, one for each day of creation and it burned in the Temple. The candles are placed on the menorah from right to left, the same direction in which one reads Hebrew. However when lighting the menorah you move in the opposite direction using the Shamash to light the candles from left to right.