Totternhoe CE Academy
  • Welcome
  • Christian Ethos
    • Our Church
    • Collective Worship
    • Collective Worship Club
    • Our Christian Values
  • Covid- 19 School info
  • Key Information
    • Overview
    • Policies & GDPR
    • 2020 - 21 Term Dates/Diary Dates
    • 2021 - 22 Term Dates/Diary Dates
    • Prospective Parents
    • E-safety Live Link
    • Safeguarding for Children
    • Safeguarding for Parents
    • SEND >
      • Squirrel Squad Nurture Group
    • Pupil Premium
    • PESS Funding Reports
    • Performance (data)
    • Wellbeing
  • News
    • Latest News! >
      • CYE News!
    • Newsletters >
      • Archived Newsletters
    • Totternhoe Times
  • Our Team
    • Our Staff
  • Governance
  • Wonderwood Forest School
    • Forest School Gallery and News
  • Curriculum
    • Curriculum Home >
      • Learning Platform - Class Dojo
      • Return to school September 2020: 'T-curriculum'
    • Whole School Curriculum Coverage
    • Autumn Term Curriculum maps 2020/21
    • Computing
    • English >
      • English News
      • Library Club
    • E-safety Live Link
    • Geography >
      • Geography News
    • History
    • Maths >
      • Maths Club
    • Modern Foreign Languages: French
    • Music >
      • Gallery and News
    • Online Safety
    • PE and School Sport >
      • PESS News
      • PESS Funding Reports
    • Phonics >
      • Phonics News
    • PSHCE
    • Religious Education
    • Science >
      • Science News
  • Classes
    • Classes - Home
    • Blossom (Preschool) - Mrs Tebbutt >
      • Preschool Information
      • Preschool Team
      • Pre-school Home Learning
      • Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
      • Preschool Registration
    • Cherry (Reception) - Miss Needham >
      • Cherry Gallery
      • Cherry Home Learning
    • Holly (Year 1) - Mrs O'Neill >
      • Holly Gallery
      • Holly Home Learning
    • Rowan (Year 2) - Miss Jesson >
      • Rowan Gallery
      • Rowan Home Learning
    • Oak (Year 3) - Mrs Harvey >
      • Oak Gallery
      • Oak Home Learning
    • Sycamore (Year 4) - Mrs van Vuuren >
      • Sycamore Gallery
      • Sycamore Home Learning
    • Hazel (Year 5/6) - Mrs Mitchelmore >
      • Hazel Gallery
      • Hazel Home Learning
  • School Council
  • House System
  • For Parents
    • Before and After School Club "Kidz Zone"
    • School Uniform
    • School Dinners
    • Parents' Association >
      • Parents' Association Gallery
  • Clubs
  • Photos
  • Testimonials
  • Want to join our Team?
  • Contact
  • Phonics

Latest News!

Miss Jesson's Word of the Week

bracing
The cold sea air wasn't just   fresh, 
it was   bracing.

2020-2021

For the latest Kid Zone Newsletter: see 'For Parents' tab.

Free Home PE

Picture
A message from Future Games:
If
you would like to sign up to our FREE 'Home PE' service for Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, please visit: www.futurepe.co.uk
where you can become a member and join over a 1000 users 🙂
The videos are arranged in user friendly 'channels' and our teachers and coaches are qualified specialists in their fields of delivery. There are currently over 50 videos on the platform and we'll continue to add new content weekly; with Cheerleading, yoga, indoor football, dance, gymnastics, multi skills, fitness and ball skills there's something for everyone.
We hope it's useful to you as parents - we wanted to help local children and families keep active! Feel free to share with your friends.
Best wishes,
The Future Games Team

KS1 & LKS2  Sports Hall Athletics - November/December 2020
Children in KS1 and LKS2 took part in the Sports Hall Athletics competition at Totternhoe meaning that every child in each class(Y1-4) was able to take part. The activities included: long jump, speed bounce and shuttle run. 
Picture
Picture

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!

Santa's sleigh is coming to Totternhoe and surrounding areas - please see listed areas below.
Just a reminder, we are NOT collecting cash this year but please make a phone or online donation via one of the three ways below, you can do this anytime as all 3 streams are now live, and are working! Totternhoe CE Academy Parents Association is one the charities that will benefit from this collection so please give what you can as every penny counts. Please also LIKE, COMMENT & SHARE the posts you will see by the Rotary and via the Totternhoe CE Academy Facebook groups.
We have 3 ways to donate:-
1.  On Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DunstableRotaryClub 
2.  By Text     3DRC to 70085 to give £3   ( 5DRC   10DRC  or   20DRC )  
3.  www.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/santa2020
We really appreciate your support, in this unprecedented year. 
Here are the December dates that Santa can be seen.
We will be adding a complete list of road names over the next few days so keep an eye out on the Facebook page.
Wednesday 2nd  TOTTERNHOE
Thursday 3rd  FRENCHS AVE VAUXHALL WAY
Friday 4th BULLPOND LANE
Saturday 5th KENSWORTH/ STUDHAM/ EATON BRAY
Sunday 6th BEECROFT EST
Tuesday 8th LARK RISE
Wednesday 9th HOUGHTON RD
Thursday 10th PRIORY
Friday 11th PRINTERS EST TO CHILTERN RD
Saturday 12th HOUGHTON HAMLETS
Monday 14th WEATHERBY - BREWERS
Tuesday 15th DOWNSIDE HALFMOON
Wednesday 16th OLDHILL
Thursday 17th EDLESBOROUGH
Friday 18th HOUGHTON - CEMETERY - CLARKES
Saturday 19th JEANS WAY/ WOODFORD RD
Sunday 20th RIDGEWAY AVE/ KATHERINE DR
Monday 21st HOUGHTON VILLAGE/ BIDWELL
Tuesday 22nd LANCOT - PIPERS - SPINNEY
Wednesday 23rd TODDINGTON

A massive Thank you!!! to the Rotary Club for bringing this joy once again to Totternhoe and across Dunstable.
Your PA Committee
Picture
For the latest Library Services Newsletter: Click Here

​Is your child due to start school September 2021?
 Key dates to remember

Applications are now open if your child is due to start school, or transfer to middle, secondary or upper school in September 2021.
If you are applying for a place to   start school or to join a middle school, you have until    15 January 2021    to make an application.
To ensure you have the necessary information to enable you to make an informed choice regarding your child’s education, our   school admission webpages  also contain further information about schools in Central Bedfordshire and about the application process.
Last year, a high percentage of families in Central Bedfordshire got their first preference of primary or lower school (95 per cent), middle school (89 per cent), upper school (97 per cent) and secondary school (95.5 per cent).
We would encourage you to apply for a school place using our   online application system. It’s a quick and simple process that allows applications to be reviewed or amended at any time until the deadline date.
Alternatively, paper application forms are available from our School Admissions team. Call 0300 300 8037,   email     or write to School Admissions, Central Bedfordshire Council, Watling House, High Street North, Dunstable, LU6 1LF.
Could you be a Totternhoe Governor? 
Do you have experience  in finance, marketing HR, business or education?
​Your local school needs you!

KS2 Musical Theatre Workshop  - November 2020

I am Harrison, the Sports Ambassador and all the Key Stage 2 children enjoyed the musical theatre workshop. Not all of the class were confident to join in but they persevered and they joined in and loved it. The best bits were learning new dances and it was fun and got us all active because during Covid some children have not been active so it was good to do it. We worked in teams and we communicated with each other and if you use teamwork, it will help you dance and perform better. I would like to do this again because it was good and we learnt new things.
By Harrison

KS1 & KS2 Run4Fun  - October 2020

​Due to the current pandemic, the Leighton Linslade School Sports Partnership will not be operating any inter school face to face competitions for the moment, but never fear, we will do them virtually over the Autumn term. One key benefit is that EVERY child in Years 1-6 will be able to participate. Our first event was the Run 4 Fun. Each child in KS1 ran 500m and in KS2 ran 1000m. We were so glad that we had a new track installed! All of the children tried very hard and persevered until the end. It was wonderful to see everyone supporting each other too. Here are our fastest times:
KS1 Girls:                                                     KS1 Boys:                                           KS2 Girls:                                   KS2 Boys:
Esmae - 1:58                                        Jack - 1:47                                       Evie - 3:54                               Jase - 3:30
Millie - 2:03                                            Harrison - 1:53                       Darcy - 4:00                       Elliot & Billy - 3:46
Ashley - 2:07                                        Ethan - 1:55                                 Sophie - 4:10                     Ashton - 3:54
Isabella  & Kimberley - 2:10          Harry - 2:07                                  Lacey - 4:25                           Noah - 3:55
Picture

2020-2021 Sports Ambassador

Congratulations to Harrison, who has taken on the role of Sports Ambassador this year! Harrison will play a vital role in promoting PE and School Sport at Totternhoe, helping to run and organise inter-house competitions, leading by example, especially in PE lessons and at break and lunchtimes and attending school council meetings. We think he's going to be fantastic! 

2019 - 2020

New Track Installed - 17.07.2020

Exciting news! 
We have had a running track installed over the playground and field. Our two key worker pods, Deer and Pigeon, were the lucky bunch who had the first run. Go onto the whole school Dojo page to watch the video. We can't wait to have  you all back in September so that everyone can go for a run! 

Summer Reading Challenge 2020

The Summer Reading Challenge, presented by The Reading Agency and funded by Arts Council England, encourages children aged 4 to 11 to set themselves a reading challenge to help prevent the summer reading ‘dip’.
This year, Silly Squad, the Summer Reading Challenge 2020, will celebrate funny books, happiness and laughter. Children taking part in the Challenge will join the Silly Squad, an adventurous team of animals who love to have a laugh and get stuck in to all different kinds of funny books!
With the disruption caused by COVID-19 and the impact of social distancing on schools and public libraries, the 2020 Challenge will launch as a digital activity to keep children reading over the summer and support parents and carers with children already at home.
More information can be found on the following link: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/parents-carers
Happy reading!

PE Home Learning Week - WC 11.05.2020

We started the first of our themed home learning weeks with PE and what a success it was! Children were asked to complete a range of challenges and activities including creating a yoga/dance/gymnastics routine, a healthy meal plan, workout or obstacle course to name a few.  In addition to this, we joined 'Get Sets' mission to travel to Tokyo with a total time of 60 hours and 50 minutes and 100% enjoyment. Furthermore, we joined the Leighton Linslade School Sports Partnership Dance Challenge. 
Thank you to everyone (including parents/carers) for taking part and making it such a fun and memorable week.
Congratulations to our winners:
  • Personal Best Challenges - Mikolaj 
  • Lesson Plan - Jack 
  • Healthy Meal Plan - Poppy 
  • Dance Routine - Sophie 
  • Gymnastics Routine - Lilia
  • Circuit - Joseph C 
  • Yoga Routine - Amber K 
  • Game - Seren 
  • Workout - George
  • Obstacle Course - Liam
Road Safety
As many students are currently being home schooled, Central Bedfordshire Road Safety Team has compiled some work sheets/ puzzles regarding Road safety for parents/carers to use at home.
Please feel free to share these with parents/carers for open discussion about Road Safety, I:E crossing the road, cycle safety, or as a worksheet for completion.
This is an ideal time to teach and review good Road Safety practices and start looking at safe routes to walk to school for those students that are starting new schools in September:
  • Year 1 and 2 worksheet
  • Year 3 and 4 worksheet
  • Year 5 and 6 worksheet
  • Word search
  • Green Cross Code questions
  • Green Cross Code answers
  • Bicycle quiz questions
  • Bicycle quiz answers
  • Scramble with clues
  • Scramble without clues
  • Scramble answers
Who to contact    Joanne Glen - Road Safety Officer, Highways
Telephone - 0300 300 6171

New Home Learning Helpline Available

StarLine home learning helpline
 I am pleased to tell you that    StarLine – a new home learning telephone helpline - is now live to support parents and carers nationwide.
StarLine will help parents and carers in the following ways:
·         By providing access to a team of qualified teachers, education and parenting experts.
·         By focussing on providing practical ideas, support and reassurance.
·         By offering tips, techniques and resources to enable parents to give their children the support they need to continue learning while schools are closed.
·         By supporting family wellbeing and mental health.
·         By covering all phases of education and subjects plus behaviour, pupil wellbeing and SEND.
StarLine is available to parents and carers of pupils from all schools nationwide. Free, confidential advice is available six days a week by phoning the StarLine team on 0330 313 9162. For more information, visit   www.starline.org.uk or follow @StarLineSupport on Twitter.

Platinum School Games Mark - 2019-2020

I am delighted to tell you that we have retained our Platinum School Games Mark status for 2019-2020!   These figures maintain our School Sports Partnership (Leighton Linslade) as being the highest figures within the Eastern Region and also within the TOP 3% ACROSS THE COUNTRY.   The School Games Mark is a Government led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and in the community - we are elated to have been recognised for our success.   With many children competing in local inter-school competitions this year, we are extremely proud of our children for their dedication to all aspects of school sport, including our young leaders who have made our competitions possible.   We are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year - Go Team Totternhoe!
CHERRY CLASS ASSEMBLY 20.03.2020
CANCELLED  FOR PARENTS

World Book Day - 06.03.2020

The world of literature came alive on Friday as all the children and staff took part in World Book Day 2020.   The children dressed up in a variety of characters whereas the staff went with a Roald Dahl them - everyone looked fantastic!   In the afternoon, we had a parade of all the children in their costumes and then the children split off and  heard a story of their choice read to them which proved a big hit.   A big thank you for all the effort put in by parents/carers and children!

Holly & Rowan Class Trip to Roald Dahl Children's Gallery - 02.03.2020

Holly & Rowan Class left excitedly to board the coach that would take them to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery. We are pleased that they have arrived safely and have already received some photos. 
Have a look at the Rowan and Holly galleries to see more pictures! 

Oakley's Competition

Picture

KS1 & KS2 Gymnastics Competition - 04.02.2020

12 children from Years 1-4 took part in a schools sport partnership competition at Harlequin Gym in Leighton Buzzard. In small groups they performed a routine, some to music and some without,  as well as a vault exercise. They also had the opportunity to try out some of the equipment on offer at Harlequin. It sounds like a great morning was had by all - including Mrs K and Mrs Backhouse!

Reading Ambassador  

Congratulations to Darcy who  has become our first Reading Ambassador!
We asked children in Years 4 and 5 to write a short paragraph explaining why they would be suitable for this role. After a vote,  the staff decided that Darcy would be a superb ambassador.
Darcy will play a key role in promoting a love of reading, helping organise reading events such as World Book Day and our Extreme Reading Challenge, encourage children to use the reading shed and lunchtimes and lead by example in all lessons. 
Congratulations Darcy!

Extreme Reading Challenge

Picture

Sports Ambassador  

Congratulations to Fraser who  has become our first Sports Ambassador!
We asked children in Years 4 and 5 to write a short paragraph explaining why they would be suitable for this role. After many discussions, the staff decided that Fraser would be a fantastic ambassador.
​Fraser will play a key role in promoting PE and School Sport at Totternhoe, help run and organise inter-house competitions, lead by example, especially in PE lessons and at break and lunchtimes and attend school council meetings. 
Congratulations Fraser!
Keep your eyes peeled for information about our reading ambassador!

Oakley - Pets as Therapy Dog ​

We are VERY excited that we have started to be be visited by a school therapy dog as part of the Pets as Therapy Read2Dogs scheme. Jacqui is visiting us along with her dog, Oakley each week. Most weeks she is spending time with our Squirrel Squad and then she  visits another class.
How it works
Most adults are apprehensive about speaking in public as it can be very daunting and young people are no different. Research shows that young people can become nervous and stressed when reading to others in a group. However, when a PAT Dog enters the group, children often become less stressed, less self-conscious and more confident as the dogs are non-judgemental. Before long the young people are starting to look forward to the reading experience as they are going to read to their new friend.
PAT Dogs provide comfort, encourage positive social behaviours, enhance self-esteem, motivate speech and inspire young people to have fun.
The children have been told how much Oakley enjoys hearing stories and they have been sitting and interacting with Oakley. We're not sure who is enjoying it more! 

CYE - November 2019 -   See CYE News! page 
Dear Parents,  the internet connection is very slow, and Mrs Mitchelmore is doing her best to start uploading some photos. 
In the meantime  Mrs Harrison had a little more success on the Kensworth page, so please take a look at :
https://www.kensworthacademy.com/latest-news.html
for some  photo updates and a video.

Aldi's 'Kit for Schools' Campaign

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has sent in stickers as part of the 'Aldi's Kit for Schools' campaign. We have sent off the poster and are awaiting our free kit and to hear whether or not we have won £20,000 to build on our health legacy at Totternhoe - fingers crossed!
Picture

Y1-4 Run4Fun -  8.10.19

10 children from Year 1 and 2 and 10 from Year 3 and 4 took part in the Run4Fun at Linslade Middle on Tuesday 8th October.  They all came back bursting through the door telling us all about how much fun they had had. They took  part in a variety of activities such as team relays and mass participation. Thank you to Mrs Backhouse, Miss Murray and Miss Kanyuka for accompanying them.

Totternhoe Football Festival -  5.10.19

On Saturday 5th October we held our annual football festival. We were joined by teams from Kensworth, Lancot, Mary Bassett and St. Augustine's. Many children came out of the festival gleaming with pride and their were lots of positive comments from visitors and parents. Thank you to all our helpers: the PA, Mrs Mitchelmore, Mrs van Vurren, Mrs Tebbutt, Mrs Backhouse, Mr Backhouse, Mrs Coote, Mr Shuffleton and Mrs Reason and anyone I may have missed! We were extremely proud that we raised £557 which will go back into the school.   Just to add to the excitement, it didn't even rain! We're now looking forward to our Netball Festival next year.

Y3/4 Football -  26.9.19

10 of our Year 3 and 4 children took part in a football tournament, as part of our Leighton Linslade School Sports Partnership, at  Leighton United Football Club, Tilsworth. Although they weren't successful in winning any games, they all said what a great time they had had.  That's the spirit!

2018 - 2019

Platinum School Games Mark Award

Picture
Picture
We are delighted that we have achieved the Platinum School Games Mark!We are delighted to announce that we, Totternhoe CE Academy, have achieved the School Games PLATINUM Mark Award for the 2018/19 academic year. The School Games Mark is a Government led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success. 
Our sporting achievements this year include: 
Running a football festival
Attending Weatherfield and Lancot's football festivals
Raising money for team GB with Luke Lennon-Ford through Sports for Champions
Holding workshops including cheerleading, golf, judo and cricket
Taking part in many of the Leighton Linslade School Sports Partnership events such as: tag rugby, athletics, orienteering, tri-golf and gymnastics
With  many young people competing in local inter-school competitions this year, we are extremely proud of our pupils for their dedication to all aspects of school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who made our competitions possible. As part of our application, we were asked to fulfill criteria in the areas of participation, competition, workforce and clubs, and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year. 
We look forward to applying once again in 2020!

Y3/4 Orienteering -  2.7.19

8 children from Year 3 and 4 took place in our last event of the year as part of our Leighton Linslade School Sports Partnership. The children had lots of fun but were very tired by the time they came back after competing in sports day during the morning! Mrs O'Neill and Miss Smith were so impressed by the children throughout the day, their perseverance and attitude towards each activity - even teachers from other schools were commenting on how amazing they were!​

Sports Day 2019

We had a super morning of sports on Tuesday 2nd July at Sports Day. The children took place in various races including running, bean bag hat race, egg and spoon, relay, hurdles and medley. Water came in 4th place with 108 points, Air in 3rd with 111 points, Earth in 2nd with 132 points and Fire managed to hold onto their title from last year, coming 1st with 149 points. Thank you to the PA for providing refreshments for the adults and ice lollies for the children!

Arts Week 2019

​We have had another fantastic arts week this year! We hope that you enjoyed the afternoon where you had the opportunity to come and see all of the beautiful work that the children have created. With Mrs Hughes they made bird feeders out of lolly sticks, with Mrs Mitchelmore they went into the Wonder Wood and made bug hotels, with Mrs Backhouse they sewed cushions, skirts etc., with Mrs Beary and Mrs Petherick they decorated feathers and made pom poms and badges and with Miss Jesson they made smoothies, mini pizza quiches, peppermint creams and biscuits. Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers - Mrs Beary, Mrs Petherick, Mrs Tunstall, Mr Mitchelmore, Mrs Knight, Mrs Bowles, Mrs Harvey, Mrs Robson, Mr Kelly, Mrs Titmuss, Mrs Burke, Mrs Fowler, Mrs Kennet, Mrs Calvert and Mrs Halling - we couldn't have done it with you!

Tri-Golf Competition - 20.6.19

We had a lovely afternoon at the beautiful Leighton Buzzard Golf Club.  All of the children tried really hard and kept persevering when the pesky ball didn't end up where they wanted it to! At the end of the tournament we finished with 209 points!

Lancot Football Tournament  - 8.6.19

6 children from Year  1 and 2 took part in the Lancot football tournament on a very wet, windy and cold June morning. There was a cracking goal from Connor, Emily and Holly both made a fantastic save, Bobby was SO close to scoring and Amber gave her all in every game. All the children worked well as a team and got better and better as the day went on. We were EXTREMELY proud of them!

Year 3/4 Quad Kids Athletics

8 children from Year 3 and 4 took place in the athletics competition at Fullbrook School on Wednesday 22nd May 2019. Mrs Backhouse and Miss Murray were SO impressed with their effort, sportsmanship and behaviour. Great job!

Young Writers Poetry Competition - Year 1, 3 and 4

We were thrilled that EVERY child in Year 1, 3 and 4 who wrote a poem for the Young Writer's poetry competition, were chosen to be published in their poetry book. We cannot wait for our copy of the book to arrive and to display it in pride of place in the library!  Take a look at some of the fantastic poems below.

​Dogs have a good sense of smell
Only dog I know is called Kiki
Grumpy, big, fluffy, naughty and cheeky
Sometimes jumps over the gate
By Camron 
 
Hamsters like straw
Animals like to exercise
Many hamsters like to climb
Sometimes hamsters have a wheel
They have a soft tummy
Enjoy playing
Really want a hamster
By Delphi
 
The Snow Squirrel
When I woke up, I looked out the window
It was sparking snow shining in the sunlight
Then I saw a cute orange squirrel
And its tail was swishing around the garden
Suddenly, the squirrel was digging
In the thick snow, looking for something
With his big eyes
Then I followed hum with my parents by my side
Then I knew what he was looking for
Some nuts for him and his family
By Darcy
 
BBQ In the Snow
Once were having a BBW
But a newsflash announced
“Huge snowstorm coming, have a BBQ if you dare…”
Delicious burgers got covered in snow
A penguin came and stole the crispy chips
Some really nasty kids from next door threw snow at us
A huge snowman that the nice kids made fell on us
The biggest icicles you’ve ever seen fell on us too!
We’re having another one tomorrow
Do you want to come?
By Joseph
 
Dolphins Under the Sea
Dolphins splashing over the sea
Water flying over me
The sun is setting far and wide
Seagulls soaring through the sky
Stars are jumping in the night
Dolphins exploring at height
Their flippers shiny as the sea
Seaweed glowing, just like me
By Leah
 
School Fire
School’s on fire!
Can someone call the fire brigade?
House next to us is calling them
Okay
Oh no, the fire’s spread!
Look, the firemen are here!
 
Finally, the flames are getting smaller,
I can believe it
Rent a building to use as a school until the fire’s gone
Eventually, the fire will go
By Timothy

Trim Trail Grand Opening - 13.5.19

We were excited to officially open our new trim trail area, including the all weather surfacing that has been put in place. Thanks to the PA, £9000 was put forward by them  from the Co-op community fund. Mrs Morgan attended as their representative. Mrs Hayward represented the Governor's Trust who gave a £1000 donation towards the development. Mr Brown completed a charity bike ride and raised £300. The rest of the money was funded by a sugar tax grant and our PE sports funding money. A representative from the Leighton Linslade Schools Sports Partnership, Mr Seymour and Mr Brown, had the honour of cutting the ribbon.

All Stars Cricket - 8.5.19

The children enjoyed a workshop run by Brad from All Stars Cricket yesterday. More information about becoming an All Star can be found  here.
Picture

Greatest Showman Workshop - 2.5.19

Each class had a musical theatre workshop run by Premier Education throughout the day on Thursday 2nd May. The theme of 'The Greatest Showman' proved very popular and the fun could be seen on each child's face. They each took part in some warm up activities such as moving around the room in different ways and then learnt a small piece of choreography to one of the songs from 'The Greatest Showman' and of course they were allowed to sing! Photos coming soon!

 Y3/4 Dunstable Town FC Weatherfield Football Tournament - 6.4.19

9 children from Year 3 and 4 attended  the Dunstable Town FC Football Tournament at Weatherfield School on Saturday 6th April. They took part in various warm up activities and then played  5-a-side in mixed groups. The children who had taken part, along with their families, were then invited to DTFC's match against  Bedford Town.

KS1 Athletics  - 28.3.19

 4 children from Year 1 and 4  children from Year 2 attended the KS1 Athletics event at Vandyke Upper School which was lead by their  young leaders. They took  part in a carousel of athletic activities including: jumper, pitcher, launcher, runner, bouncer, skipper and thrower. At the end of the event, the children then took part in various relay races. They all had a great time and were very excited to be driven by Mrs. Backhouse in the minibus!  To top it off, we came in 3rd place overall with 68 points!
World Book Day - March 2019
Totternhoe CE Academy had a fantastic time celebrating World Book Day on Friday 8th March. Among the costumes were characters such as Matilda, The Lorax, Harry Potter, Horrid Henry, Dennis the Menace, The Worst Witch and Little Red Riding Hood to name a few. The staff joined in too. Staff dressed up as characters from David Walliams' books, including The Midnight Gang, Gangsta Granny, Billionaire Boy, Mr Stink and the Demon Dentist. The children with the best home-made costumes from each year group were awarded a certificate and an extra World Book Day voucher to spend. As the theme this year was 'Share a Story', each teacher shared a story with their class. Reception heard, 'Owl Babies',  Year 1, 'Man on the Moon: A Day in the Life of Bob', Year 2, 'I'll Take You to Mrs Cole', Year 3, 'The Magic Paintbrush' and Year 4, 'Until I Met Dudley.'  As well as this, in our mixed year group houses, we had  'Book Buddies', something that we do throughout the school year. The older children read the books that they and their younger partner had brought in.  We are all looking forward to celebrating again next year with our NEW Year 5s!
Picture

Festival of Sport  -  27.2.19

Children in Year 1, 2, 3 and 4 took part in a  'Festival of Sport'  ran by the Young Leaders at  Leighton Middle. They took part in activities such as  floor curling, archery, tennis, throwing and catching, bowling and rolling balls onto a target. They all had  a lot of fun - the younger children especially loved the  trip in the minibus! Miss Hughes and Miss Smith were very impressed with their  behaviour throughout the event.
Picture
Susie Davids Author Visit -  25.2.19
We were all very excited to welcome local author Susie Davids to Totternhoe. She spent some time with each key stage where she read one of her stories (Alfie and the Greatest Creatures: Alfie in the Tropics) and answered all of the children's questions. This story is part of a set of stories that follows Alfie's quest to find the greatest animal.  We are all excited to welcome her back in May for another reading!
Picture
KS1 & KS2 Gymnastics @ Harlequin Gym - 5.2.2019
KS1 and KS2 took part in the LLSSP Gymnastics  event at Harlequin Gym. KS1 performed a choregraphed routine to Aladdin's 'Arabian Nights' and also an individual vault piece. Half of KS2 performed a set body management routine and the other half performed a set floor management routine. They also all  performed an individual vault piece. Mrs Beary, Mrs Backhouse and Miss Jesson were extremely proud of their confidence, performance and team work!

Sports for Champions Athlete Visit - Luke Lennon-Ford - 16.1.19

On 16th January, we were visited by Team GB's Luke Lennon-Ford, a 400m sprinter. The children all took part in a 4 minute circuit which included leg drives, star jumps, spotty dogs and press ups. They were very supportive of each other and cheered their classmates on. The whole school then went to an assembly held by Luke where he told us about his daily routine, showed us some of the workouts that he does, talked about what he eats and also gave us the opportunity to ask him any questions. We learnt that his personal best was 45 seconds and that he has been recorded running at 26mph. With the money that the children raised through sponsorship, we were able to send Team GB £487.80. We also raised £94.20 for school.

Y3/4 Sports Hall Athletics @ Cedars -  15.11.18

8 children from Year 3 and 4 took part  in the Sports Hall Athletics at Cedars. There were a variety of activities that they had to complete including long jump, throwing, speed bounce and relay races. They worked incredibly well as a team and were supportive of each other at all times. Thank you to Mrs. Harvey who accompanied us. 

Y3/4 Tag Rugby @ Cedars - 08.11.18

Well done to our Year 3 and 4 tag rugby team.  They worked well as a collective team and improved with each match that they played. Thank you to Mr. Street for running a  session prior to the event. A big well done also   goes to the children that  had never played tag rugby before!
Picture

Dunstable Town FC Football Tournament - 20.10.18

Congratulations to Totternworth for the wonderful football that they played at Dunstable Town FC's friendly Football Tournament at Weatherfield. There was some amazing football by all involved! The children were then treated to lunch and invited to be mascots at Dunstable Town FC's match against Corby Town where they drew 3-3.

Year 3 and 4 Boys Football   - 27.9.18

 A big well done to the Year 3 and 4 boys  who took part in the football tournament  at Cedars Upper School. They all showed great sportsmanship and team work throughout all four of their matches on a beautiful, sunny Thursday afternoon. 
Picture

2017 - 2018

School Games Gold  Mark Award - 3.7.18

We are delighted to announce that we have achieved the School Games Gold Mark Award for the  2017/2018 academic year. The School Games Mark is  a Government led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust, rewards schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.  We are extremely proud of the children for their dedication to all aspects of school sport .  We are pleased that the hard work of everyone at Totternhoe has been rewarded this year. We look forward to applying once again in 2019!
Picture

MKDons Football  Competition - 17.5.18

Well done to the Year 4s who took part in the football  competition held at Stadium MK, home of the MKDons.  The children all played very hard, showed great team spirit, perseverance and sportsmanship. They all looked  professional and were very well behaved.
Picture
21.4.18
Congratulations to our fantastic football team. They braved the hot weather and joined the football festival held at Weatherfield Academy. We are extremely proud of all the players, who showed great team spirit as well as our Totternhoe values of; Justice, perseverance and service. 

8.3.18 Indoor Athletics
Well done to our indoor athletics team who traveled to Vandyke Upper. Mr Seymour has just sent through our results...

Your School Highlights from the day.

2nd Place in Pitcher Event
4th Place in Jumper Event
Determination School Games Value Award -
​Nominated by the PE and School Sport Apprentices

 
7th Place Overall  

We are all over the moon that we won the Value award! We are super proud of you all. 

We  are now a  RWI MODEL school!!

Picture
We were very proud to receive national recognition from the Oxford University Press in the award of Model School Status for our phonics teaching in the Read Write Inc scheme.
The award recognises the commitment, passion and excellence of the staff's delivery of the program and the progress of the children we teach. This is an exceptional achievement as the school has been delivering the program for less than 2 years. 

Ruth Miskin (creator of the program), says, “I am so thrilled that the children in Totternhoe Lower School are making such fast progress. Model Schools are vital in our drive to help children in other schools make the same progress.”
Oxford University Press Educational Consultant, Angela Boba says “I am delighted that Totternhoe Lower School has become a Read Write Inc. Model School. It has been fantastic to see the school develop and flourish, it’s great that other schools in the area can visit and see their brilliant Read Write Inc. lessons in action.”
Angela attended the  celebration assembly at the end of Autumn term to present the certificate to the school
We  will now be used as examples of good practice for other schools.
The consultation period to become a primary school has now ended. Thank you to everyone that completed a form to share your views. Please read Octobers newsletter for the outcome!

Volunteer of the Year!

Our very own Mr Kelly won the Volunteer of the year award at the same ceremony for all his years of dedicated work both as a governor at our school and for his commitment to the British Heart Foundation. Well done Mr Kelly. 

6th October  17

Picture
WE ARE A RWI BADGE SCHOOL!

We are a “Get Reading. Keep Reading. Change Everything.” school.

We use the highly successful Read Write Inc. Phonics programme to teach our children to read, write and spell. Our children do well in the phonics screening check and by Year 2, the majority are fluent readers with the best chance of success in the KS1 tests.

Ruth Miskin Training recognise us for teaching the programme with fidelity and passion – we know what it takes to make reading and writing pleasurable and rewarding for our children.

This badge recognises that we:
  • Raise standards in reading and writing for our children
  • Are all expertly trained by Ruth Miskin Training – including our headteacher Mrs Bates
  • Gain the latest programme updates through regular visits from our Ruth Miskin trainer
  • Support our most vulnerable readers with extra one-to-one teaching every day.
To visit the parent pages on the Ruth Miskin Training website go to: http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/
sign up to the Ruth Miskin Training newsletter go to: http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/newsletter-subscribe/ 

Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you for all the support at home with reading and phonics. 

Victorian day was a huge success! Thank you everyone for the effort with costumes, the children looked amazing. We were celebrating 150 years of a school being in Totternhoe. Please see here for more information about what the school looked like 150 years ago.
Macmillan Coffee Afternoon
Fri 29th Septmeber
Well done everyone you have raised £145.55! School council, House Captains and PA all worked together to ensure a super time was head by all. 
September 2017
Thank you to everyone that  attended the Phonics Workshops.  We hope they were useful. If you have any suggestions or comments, remember to come to parent forum or jot them down for the suggestions box in the foyer. 
6.9.17
Year 3 and 4 at the Living Rainforest. 
Picture
Picture
RE AWARD
​I am delighted to announce that we have been awarded  the Bronze RE Quality Mark. The inspector was especially impressed with his meeting with the children and how well they spoke about what RE means to them and  the school. ​

2016 - 2017

Tring Museum - Holly class
18.5.17

Picture
Holly class arriving at Tring

St Albans
16.1.17

The children in  Oak and Sycamore  have arrived safely and are busy reenacting history!

MyBookBlog

Picture



The children in Rowan and Sycamore are now using this exciting new reading website resource. We are fortunate enough to be one of the few schools in the country to have this fantastic opportunity.

Please encourage your child to read and click the MyBookBlog logo above to access their own blog page to get blogging.


Picture
  31st December 2020 HT    News 
Dear Parents / Carers,
Happy new year everyone. 
We are really looking forward to  welcoming  you back to school. Please remember to wrap up, coats, gloves and hats (all named) are essential as we will be learning and playing outside.  Windows will also still be open in class so don't forget the thermals under your uniform! 
We can't wait to see you all again on Tuesday 5th January 2021!
If you are applying for a place to   start school or to join a middle school, you have until    15 January 2021    to make an application.
Please keep an eye on the dates page as we are adding all of our virtual events for you. 
What we will do if we get a positive case of Covid-19
We are really clear of what needs to be done by when and who will do it.
The Senior Leadership team will follow ALL advice by Public Health England. PHE will give us all of the letters that we must send out to you and they will tell us who must self isolate. We will inform you by letter whether your child must self isolate or whether you can return to school. 
We CANNOT tell you who has had the positive  test, and we would  really appreciate you not speculating on social  media, as this can cause  worry and anxiety   to others. If you do have any worries about a positive test result at school, please call or email us so we can get back to you ASAP.
Please look at our covid tab for more details.  


Only water in bottles please (no juice or squash) and every child needs their  own named bottle every day.  
Best wishes,
Mrs Bates

​

Children's Wordle 

Picture

Staff Wordle 

Picture

Attendance Teddy winners
7 to 11 December 2020
Whole School Attendance = 98.3%

Cherry - 98.4%
Holly - 98.7%
Rowan  - 100%
Oak - 98.4%
Sycamore - 97.4%
Hazel - 96.4%

School target 97%
Autumn Term Total = 98.4%

St Giles Church
We have strong links with St Giles Church. Please click here to go direct to  the church web page. 
Living God's Love Prayer
Living God, draw us deeper into your love;
Jesus our Lord, send us to care and serve;
Holy Spirit, make us heralds of good news.
Stir us, strengthen us, teach and inspire us
to live your love with generosity and joy,
imagination and courage; for the sake of your world
and in the name of Jesus,
​Amen.
Picture
 



 Home  -   Team -   News  -  Curriculum  -  Contact

Totternhoe CE Academy, Church Road, Totternhoe, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1RE
Parent and Public Enquiries: please ask for Mrs Barford or Mrs Coote
Telephone: 01582 662959 
  E :    totternhoeoffice@tot.dsamat.co.uk
Picture