A Fantastic Finish for year 2

Year 2 had a 'Fantastic Finish' to their Where is Sunny?' topic on Tuesday 27th November and all came dressed as animals! They started the day with a spot of animal yoga in the hall. In the afternoon parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and other family members all joined us to make a shoebox habitat. Mrs Goodchild and Mrs Brundish were amazed with the incredible designs, some of which are on display outside Mr Gallagher's office. 

A huge thank you to everyone who made the day a success!

Science Week

Listen up! Year 4 Science Week

The Year 4 children had a hands-on, jam-packed week learning all about sound and how we hear. 
We learnt all about the parts of the ear as well as finding out how sound travels. The children used lots of different scientific investigation skills, creating sound 'telephones' as well as incorporating various musical instruments into our learning, fine-tuning our listening skills and use of technical terminology. Please see last week's Twitter feed for lots more photos and updates of how the Year 4 Science Week went! 

The Tale of Shakepeare's Macbeth

On Friday 23rd November, our Year 5 and 6 pupils were again visited by The Young Shakespeare Company and on this visit were enthralled by a stunning performance of Macbeth. The children were inspired by just the right mix of participation, explanation and the traditional play itself. It was a real treat to be so close to such excellent actors and the children were utterly mesmerized and buzzing; a memory to inspire and treasure.

Year 2 Fundamentals

On Wednesday 21st November, our two Year 2 classes headed to Derby Tennis Centre for a Fundamentals session with Derby City SSP. the children had a super afternoon with some scooter training and tennis skills before showing off their dance moves. You can visit our Twitter feed to see some more pictures and video from the afternoon.

Year 1 visit Pickford House

On Tuesday 20^th November Year 1 visited Pickford House for the fantastic finish to our ‘Through the Keyhole’ topic. We had a brilliant time and were able to see a house from a long time ago and all of the objects within it. We asked some super questions and were keen to find out as much as we could.

A play date with Year 5/6 and FS2

As we opened our doors for the afternoon of Friday 15th November to welcome prospective new parents and children to our school, our Year 5 and 6 pupils took the opportunity to spend some quality time together. Making new friends, sharing stories and practicing lots of skills our pupils had a fabulous afternoon together. Silverhill Spirit at its best!

CycloX Champions

It was a fresh and crispy day on Thursday 15th November when our CycloX team headed to Markeaton Park to join Derby City SSP and Cycle Derby for their cycling event. Congratulation to our Year 6  team, Addison, Carter, Ayla, Solomon, Charlotte and Imogen, who came away with GOLD! Super Silverhill SPIRIT - well done team!

Year 6 trip to Denstone

On Wednesday 14th November our latest Year 6 recruits returned to Denstone College to experience their cadet accademy for a cadet experience. After a delicious dinner in the beautiful college dining hall, the children tried their skills at marching in formation, wearing the cadet uniform, holding a genuine (but unloaded!) rifle and even sampling some ration pack food! Thank you once again to Denstone College for their wonderful hospitality.

Supporting Children in Need

Due a very busy week ahead, Silverhill dressed in spots and stars for BBC Children in Need on Tuesday 13th November. Thanks to pupils, parents and families generous support we raised a fantastic £386.92p This money will go towards supporting the charity to try to change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK. Their vision is for every child to have a safe, happy and secure childhood and the chance to reach their potential. Thank you to everyone who supported the day.

Fantastic Phonics

Wonderful news for our Year 2 pupils and Key Stage 1 staff who have received a letter from the Minister of School Standards, Nick Gibb MP, congratulating them on their fantastic year 1 phonics test - well done everyone for helping them on their way to be amazing readers of the future!

100 Years Remembrance

On Friday 9th November, Silverhill pupils marked the 100 years since the end of World War 1 in a special assembly. In front of staff, pupils and parents, featuring a display of work from all Year 6 pupils from the previous 4 years and class poppy wreaths created by every pupil currently in school, the children showed tremendous respect for those who have fought and lost their lives during conflict. Our Year 6 pupils performed war time songs and poetry and shared their own moving poems and their war-time shelters were on display for parents to see. Thank you to Steve Rogers from the British Legion for leading our minute silence, our PTFA for proving tea and coffee and Evie's mum for the wonderful cakes.

Girls soccer success

May we present to you our girls mini soccer team who, on Thursday 8th November, won the County finals! What an incredible achievement. These girls have taken part in our girls footie lunchtime club for most of their time at Silverhill and all that practice has paid off! Congratulations to Coach Turner for his commitment to lunchtime sessions, motivating the girls so well and attending the competitions and to Derby City SSP for providing the pathway to the finals.

Fantastic Futsal

Well done to our Year 6 boys Futsal team who competed in the Derby City SSP competition on Wednesday 24th October. This is a brand new competition for us and the boys did us proud winning 2 of their 3 games. Great job boys!

A huge well done to this awesome bunch who took part in Year 6/7 Futsal this on 6th November. They finished in Silver position after losing 2-1 on penalties in the final to a secondary school! We are so proud of you all and the amazing news is they have made it through to another County final! Amazing result girls with fantastic Silverhill Spirit! 

Stay Safe on the Internet

At Silverhill, we are committed to ensuring all our pupils leave school knowing how to stay safe, especially online. This year, we are introducing a new digital safety scheme of work, produced by Parent Zone and Google called ‘Be Internet Legends’. As a fantastic introduction, we were lucky enough to have them come in to visit us for an assembly. We were introduced to their own special land - Interland. It is made up of four separate places called Reality River, Mindful Mountain, Kind Kingdom and Tower of Treasure. Each place focuses on a key Digital Safety message. The assembly was great fun with lots of joining in, games and important messages, not to mention the incredible set up they came with! We are now all looking forward to finding out more about each of the different areas of digital safety in the classroom and learning how to keep ourselves safe when using the internet.  

Mrs Hall (Y6)

A busy afternoon

It was a very busy afternoon here at Silverhill on the 25th October when we welcomed our Year 4 grandparents and our Year 5 parents into school.

Year 4 really enjoyed their Grandparents Afternoon. They have loved learning about London, exploring our British Values and especially finding out about the traditional British Afternoon Tea. So what better way for generations to join together to share our stories and new learning, than over a good cup of tea and a slice of cake.

Year 5 had an exceptionally hands on afternoon with many parents helping build some wonderful space crafts as a part of this term's Journey into Space theme. Visit our Twitter pages to see the results of  the afternoon's work. There was a huge amount of cardboard, paint and glue but the outcomes were fantastic!

Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who were able to join us and share in our Silverhill SPIRIT.

Ofsted visit

We are proud to be able to share the report from our recent Ofsted inspection. After a Section 8 – short inspection, we are delighted to announce that the Lead Inspector feels that the school has improved considerably since the last inspection and that has found enough evidence over the day that indicated that we could be ‘Outstanding’ therefore she has recommended that our next inspection should be a full two day – Section 5 inspection where hopefully we can demonstrate that we are ‘Outstanding’.

This is fantastic news and everyone within the Silverhill community should be very proud. The support from parents, children and staff was overwhelmingly positive through the inspection. A copy of the letter sent from the inspector can be read here - we hope you enjoy reading how brilliant your children were and thank you once again for your continued support and positivity.

Harvest Hope

 Our Friday assembly saw all the pupils sharing some wonderful songs for harvest, whilst Phil from Hope Centre Derby, shared with the children what will happen to all the donated goods and how essential they are to helping those in need. Thank you so much to all our families who so generously donated to our harvest collection.

Anderson Shelters

A challenge was in store for our Year 6 pupils, when they were asked to design and make their own Anderson Shelters out of a very large pile of donated cardboard. Through their World War topic, the pupils have been learning all about the need and purpose of these shelters during this time before designing their own models. On Wednesday 17th October the children set to work to create their design with some fantastic results, they were also joined by a super helpful group of parents - thank you to all those who came. The children produced some wonderful models of which they are very proud.

New football kit

Thursday 16th October was yet another successful evening for our Year 5/6 boys football with a 1-1 draw and 3-1 win against Allenton Primary. A great result for the boys in their fantastic new kits which were voted for on Twitter over the summer holiday. Well done boys fantastic SPIRIT and looking great! 

CycloX day

On Friday 12th October, Anne from Cycle Derby came back to school to provide our Year 5 and 6 pupils with a super CycloX experience day. Using a much drier lower field than last year, the course was mapped out and the bikes were provided, as the children took part in some super riding and racing. Our Silverhill SPIRIT was shining through with some great teamwork, perseverance and independence shown with learning and developing this skill.

Cross Country Champions

On the 15^th  October Silverhill entered a selection of fabulous cyclists into a CycloX competition. Amazingly we didn’t come 3^rd or 2^nd we came 1^st out of 11 teams. Out of three races we achieved two third places and a second place, but we didn’t have any positions out of the top ten. In the first race our year six boys got second and eighth! Next the girls got second and sixth! Finally in the mixed race we came third and fourth! Overall, it was a fantastic performance from the Year 6 team and along with Mr Turner  are ready for the next challenge before the county finals. Well done Year 6 Cyclo cross!

By Charlotte and Sol

Purple for Polio

On Friday 12th October, we welcomed Peter from the Rotary Club of Derby into our assembly to present us with 500 crocus corns to plant.when these bloom annually, they will be a burst of purple flowers and remind us of the ongoing battle to rid the world of the childhood disease.