IMPORTANT INFORMATION

We no longer use this page.

What you will find below is historic news of events and activities here at Sawley.

From June 2019, most of our celebration news has been posted on ClassDojo or Twitter.

We are now on Twitter!

@SawleyJuniors is the official School Twitter account.

If you use Twitter, please “follow” us to get the latest news and information about the school in your Twitter feed.

This new additional communication method will enable us promote the school and the outstanding achievements of our children and staff. We are committed to demonstrating safe, positive and responsible use of social media and encouraging the use of 21st Century technology.

Please note that Twitter will run alongside the traditional communication methods such as face-to-face contact at school, home letters and the existing school website and will not replace them:

4th July, 2019

Drumming Assembly

The children who have private drumming lessons with DCP Drums performed in a showcase assembly this morning! What fabulous talent all round!

DCP drums work with all our Y3 and offer private lessons. Pick up a leaflet from the school office if you're interested in learning!

23rd May, 2019

Enterprise Afternoon

by Emily Buckley & Jess Peel

Congratulations 5G!        

WHO BROUGHT IN 22 SMARTIE TUBES!!!

In reward to 5G (for winning) they would love to have a class party with snacks they have brought in.

5G are so excited to have they’re Smartie party!!!!  

23rd May, 2019

Enterprise Afternoon

by Emily Buckley & Jess Peel

Enterprise 2019

This week, Sawley have been very busy creating their Enterprise creations.

This year, the children are recycling paper to do their bit for stopping pollution.

The year 3 classes made milk carton elephants..

The year 4 classes made egg box crocodiles and vehicles.

The year 5 classes made bookmark corners and hedgehogs.

The year 6 classes made fridge magnets and plastic, pencil pots.

12th April, 2019

Easter Cafe - Bake Off Winners!

12th April, 2019

Easter Cafe - Decorated Egg Winners!

26th January, 2019

Author Week - Potato Day

Report by Jessica P & Emily B

This week – Author Week -  we have been making some amazing book characters. Not out of usual things  - but out of POTATOES! There was so much thought put into these potatoes it was amazing and unbelievable!

Now it’s time to see our WINNERS!

A BIG congratulations to  -     

1^st  - Lucy B in Y6 

2^nd - Millie J in Y4

3^rd - Myah R in Y3  

4^{th  -} Adam B in Y4                       

Have a look at the amazing photos of our overall winners and all the other class winners!

17th December, 2018

Christmas Cafe

Last Monday, The Friends of Sawley hosted their annual Christmas Cafe. Thank you to all the Friends for a brilliant afternoon.Huge thanks to everyone who donated cakes to be sold.

It was lovely to see so many parents and family friends joining the children in the classrooms - so many of you seemed to thoroughly enjoy some careful colouring and sticking!

As usual, we had some very creative entries to the Sawley Christmas Bake-Off - the winners were:

Children's Competition - Kiera  in 5G who created a Snowman Cake

Adult & Child Competition Lillie-Mae in 3M (and Mum) who created Santa's Campa Van

Raffle winners have been posted on the Friends Facebook page.

14th December, 2018

Christmas Jumper Day - Save the Children

Thank you to everyone who supported our now annual Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children. We raised £212.50 thank you!

To see where the money goes - click here.

Christmas Parties

All pupils will have a year group Christmas party on the following dates;

Year 3 Tuesday 18^th December 1pm-3pm

Year 4 Wednesday 19^th December 1pm -3pm

Year 5 Thursday 20^th December 1pm- 3pm

Year 6 Wednesday 19^th December 4pm - 5:30pm

All pupils in Year 3, 4 and 5 are welcome to bring a change of clothes to change into after lunch for their party. ( They will NOT need to bring any food this year as the school will be providing a small snack for all pupils.)

Year 6 pupils will be having pizza provided by the school. For their party they will need to go home at 3.15pm and return to school at 4pm.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

9.11.2018

Autumn Two, Week one, and we are off ... like a rocket!

Well we all returned rested and eager to go after our half term holiday and the first week has gone in a flash!  

We have crammed so much in this week and wanted to share some of the highlights with you all. 

This week has been an important week in school as it has been our annual anti-bullying theme week. The national focus this year is respect, this fits in perfectly with our Sawley school vision.  Assemblies and lessons have focused on a whole array of issues linked with bullying including, the different forms of bullying, what actions we can take if we encounter bullying and who can help us. Just walking around the classrooms we have seen children actively engaged in discussions; role-play situations and coming up with very inventive ways to support others in standing up to bullying. Hopefully your children have told you about some of the activities they have completed this week, if not then do please ask them! 

On Thursday a visiting theatre company came into school to delight pupils in all year groups with their entertaining interpretation of the story of Robin Hood, performed in pantomime style!  Our journey took us back to Sherwood Forest where we met our hero Robin Hood, Maid Marian and the villain - the ever so horrible Sheriff of Nottingham! We cheered for our heroes, gave a big thumbs down for the Sheriff, sang along and were thoroughly entertained and captivated by this extravaganza.

Thank you to the parents of children in 5G who came along to the class assembly this morning, as with all the Year 5 assemblies this year, the children's vast knowledge accrued over the last term about the rainforest was shared in a creative and thought provoking way.  Given some of the performances we have witnessed in the class assemblies so far this year, we clearly have some stars who may be destined for a career on the stage in years to come!

To round off the week, we felt we wanted to demonstrate our respect by marking the Armistice Day centenary in our very own way.  During the day we have produced some lovely work based on this theme, please see the slideshow below.  We ended the day with special assembly, an opportunity for us all to collectively pause and reflect. This active demonstration of respect seemed a very fitting way to end a week, reinforcing a week where the qualities of our pupils have once again been demonstrated.

3rd October 2018

Well done to the Y3/4 and Y5/6 Cross Country Teams! 

A massive congratulations to all the children who participated in the Erewash Sports Partnership Cross Country Event  at Wilsthorpe today. Despite the field looking quite big and daunting upon arrival - You did it!!   Each and everyone of you did an excellent job of representing our school and put super effort in to the races you took part in.  Amazing result for Olly who came 4th overall in the Year 5/6 race.  I think we could well have some running stars of the future! 

11th September 2018

Bob the Owl Man

On Tuesday, we had our annual visit with Bob and his school flying team. With Bob this year were Archie the Barn Owl, Gizmo the White-Face Scops Owl and Spike the African Eagle Owl. The children learned all about each of the owls - their natural habitats, their prey, their wing spans and much, much more. The owls are very 'at home' in Sawley's hall - Archie was very inquisitive, she (yes - Archie is a she!) inspected the lunch boxes to ensure they were suitable and she checked to see who had the comfiest lap -  Mr Poole, Connor in 3W or Mrs Whittington. She even checked the projector was in good working order.  Spike and Gizmo inspected the PE equipment for any health and safety faults. Fortunately on this visit- Bob didn't need to use any of his special wipes, although he did look a little worried when Archie was on the projector above the children's heads and they all looked up..... thankfully no accidents!

10th September 2018

Keep on Running!!

Closely on the heels of Mo Farah, who secured his fifth 1st place in the Great North Run yesterday, was our very own Mrs Whitmore.  Mrs W travelled to Newcastle this weekend and after a big bowl of pasta on Saturday night for tea, she was up early to warm up for the big run ahead.  At 10.40am the race started and several months of training were put to the test. We are very pleased to share that Mrs W successfully completed the half marathon. 

Everyone at Sawley Junior School would like to offer their huge congratulations and share how proud we are of Mrs W and her achievement. Clearly she has fulfilled our school vision target of 'Trying My Best and Aiming High' a well deserved merit for her. 

Once the aching muscles have eased, we will look forward to hearing what Mrs W's next challenge is...apparently there's a big race held in London round April time each year...!  

12th July 2018

Our very own sporting icon hangs up her Sawley trainers!

It was sad day today as Mrs Lacey stood at the front of the Sawley Juniors hall to congratulate one last team before she (finally) goes off to enjoy her retirement. And what a finish! This final congratulations went to the Y3/4 tennis team as this week they became County Champions.

Mrs Lacey has worked with Sawley Juniors for 12 years after she 'retired' from teaching full-time PE at The Long Eaton School. Those of you who have been to competitions with Mrs Lacey will know there is no-one more passionate about school sport. Her enthusiasm and tireless effort to ensure Sawley children have been a part of as many competitions, events and festivals as possible cannot be rivalled. You will also know she is the first to running up and down any competition line and jumping up and down with excitement and pride. Over the last 12 years, she has taken Sawley children to around 150 competitions and guided us to be Erewash champions in netball, basketball, football, hockey, and tennis.

We would like to thank Mrs Lacey for everything she has done at Sawley and we wish her well in her (second) retirement - although we have a sneaky suspicion she will never be very far away from something sporty! Thank you!

12th July 2018

Sawley Makes History!

Sawley Junior School are the Y3/Y4

County Champions!

Once again huge pride in our Y4 tennis team - Imogen R, Jess P, Oscar J & Sam K who have just made history at Sawley Junior School by becoming the winners of the County tennis finals - that's 1st place out of around 400 schools! We have been to County finals before in other sports but have never come home champs. 

Sawley played Derby West in the final only losing 1 of their 5 matches. Overall they won 25 of their 36 matches.

Well done to all of you - and Mrs Lacey of course. We are so proud of you!

4th July 2018

Y5 Active Maths Visit to Pride Park

Mrs Cotter took her maths group on a visit to Pride Park on Wednesday. Following up the active maths sessions delivered by Derby County Community Trust earlier this year. Our group was invited to go along to the stadium to participate in a couple of sessions where they applied their maths skills to a series of challenges.  Firstly the children were given a task requiring them to blow a budget of £200 on DCFC product in the shop or tickets!  In the second task the children had to make a presentation promoting a maths club in school. 

Following lunch we began our stadium tour, seeing maths in action.  We observed, estimated and calculated during out tour.  During our tour we visited the club shop, the VIP lounge, the trophy cabinet (including the Brian Clough Trophy... sorry just had to mention that!), the changing rooms and finally onto pitch side. 

A very interesting day was had by all concerned and our thanks go to Elliott and his colleague at DCFC Community Trust. 

4th July, 2018

More Musical Talents at Sawley!

Wow! Having only been learning to play the violin for 6 months, this morning we were wowed by three Year 3 children with a violin recital. It's a huge achievement to perform for the very first time in front of an audience and we are so proud of you all. Grace, Evie and Joshua entertained us with a selection of music they have been learning with Mr O'Connor.

20th June 2018

'Music to our Ears' Y4 Play with the Halle Orchestra

Year 4 who have been learning to play the ukulele throughout the year with the Derbyshire Music Partnership had the chance to play with the musical maestros of the Halle Orchestra on Wednesday.  The children joined other schools from around Derbyshire (who have also been learning instruments) at Derby Arena, to showcase their musical talents by playing special musical arrangements in the company of one of the UK's very best orchestras. 

The children had an amazing time with many being quite mesmerised by the experience since returning to school they have been enthusiastically recounting the event to staff and fellow pupils alike.

Another great example of Sawley Junior School supporting our children to 'experience different things' and giving them memories that will last them a lifetime.

15th June 2018

Year Five say "Anything Mary Berry can do, so can we!" 

Take a look at the Year Five Bake Off and VIP Afternoon Tea, click the link below.

24th May 2018

Drumming Assembly

Fantastic rhythm from Felicity, D'Vonte, Joel, Finlay T, Ewan & Finaly H  when they showcased they're new drumming skills in assembly!

If anyone would like to sign up for drumming lessons - visit DCP Drums.

Sawley Junior School are - 

Erewash Tennis Champions!

A Huge well-done to our Tennis Winners team -

Imogen R, Jess P, Oscar J & Sam K

who won the Erewash Tennis finals and will now be off to represent the school at the county finals! We are all very proud of you and keeping our fingers crossed for county success too!

Also taking part in the tennis tournament were - 

Jessica-Grace, Lily-May V, Finlay M & Lucas C

23rd March

Easter Cafe & Bake-Off

Bake-Off Winners

22nd March, 2018

Mr G's Science Show

We had fabulously explosive assembly with Mr G today. He demonstrated the power of heat, friction, vibrations and chemical reactions. Mr Poole had the opportunity to set fire to a flammable gas! There were 'ooohs' and 'ahhhs' galore!

Everyone in Year 6 today took part in a Yoga session led by Naomi from YogaBeamz.  Pupils and staff began to explore how a form of Hatha yoga can rejuvenate the body and calm the mind.  Using positive affirmations, breathing techniques and yoga movements, we began to learn how yoga can boost fitness and support mental wellbeing.  This initial session will be followed up in the next few weeks as part of our school programme to support the children as they approach their end of key stage tests in May. Everyone involved seemed to enjoy the sessions and we are looking forward to working with our yoga buddies and doing the Sun Dance (though Mrs T really did not like the crocodile!).  

15th December, 2017

Christmas Cafe

Firstly - huge thanks to the Friends of Sawley for a wonderful Christmas Café this year. It was fabulous to see so many parents, grandparents and family friends supporting the event and joining their children on the classrooms for Christmas crafts.

As I wondered round taking photos the expressions on some of the adults’ faces showed a great deal of concentration and determination to complete the tasks in hand to the best of their ability. I recall one dad’s concentration as he attempted to thread a needle. I saw a granddad completely focused on his colouring skills. Most of all, I enjoyed seeing Sawley families enjoying activities together. Have a look at some of the photos below.

Thank you to all of our community who supported this event – initial figures are coming in at around £800 raised.

15th December, 2017

The Sawley Christmas Bake-Off!

What fabulous entries we've had! See for yourselves. Winners announced later....

1st December, 2017

Purple 4 Polio - Crocus Planting

A few lucky year 5’s got the chance to plant some purple crocus bulbs, near the Year 5 classroom block, to represent those who have Polio.

Rotary have helped to raise funds to support this important work immunising 2.5 billion children globally since 2015.

Sawley Junior School have raised £108 to help. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are going to treble this amount of money, so our total will be £324. This will fund 1620 vaccinations.

Many people have died from Polio in the past. However, we are making progress to get rid of Polio for good. Polio is a disease that can infect the lungs, legs, arms and can have terrible results in the veins and blood vessels.

Thanks to Barbara James and Sawley Parish Council for supporting the children in this worthwhile cause.

30th  November, 2017

Long Eaton Lights Switch On

Our school winner Max A in 3F had the exciting task of switching on Long Eaton's Christmas lights on Thursday 30th November. The Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor Mary Hopkinson presented Max with a certificate.

Highlights also included children from our wider academy -  Dovedale Primary School  - taking part in a light procession of handmade illuminated puppets inspired by snowmen.

23rd  November, 2017

Community Coop Fund

17th November, 2017

Children in Need

Congratulations to Max A in Year 3 who has been invited by the Mayor of Erewash Cllr. Mary Hopkinson to switch on Long Eaton Christmas Lights on Thursday 30th November.

Each child had to write finish the sentence 

I want to switch on Long Eaton's lights because.... and Max wrote I love living in Long Eaton and Christmas time is awesome!

17th November, 2017

Children in Need

We raised £428.56

14th November, 2017

The Wizard of Oz Performance

We had a fabulous performance today from a theatre company of the Wizard of Oz. The children's faces showed sheer enjoyment as they participated panto style!

Oh no they didn't - oh yes they did!

19th October, 2017

Drumming Assembly & Workshops

Firstly - if you haven't seen the photos of our Y6's residential - check them out here.

This morning Dan and Yasmin from DCP Drums came into school to deliver drumming workshops for Year 3. They began with a whole school assembly before engaging with all Year 3 classes and some of our Year 6 children. The children thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity - their faces were a picture! Most of them didn't realise that you need to be quite fit to be a good drummer. 

DCP Drums will be offering private tuition in school starting as soon as possible after half-term. They use teaching pads and electrical kits for these lessons. We have leaflets available for the children who are interested. We will need around 12 children to sign up in order for the lessons to take place. We are also chatting with Dan about coming back in the new year to deliver some further workshops.

A wonderful surprise this morning was Brandon H in Year 5 who came out to the drum kit and wowed us with his drumming talent-  very few of us knew of this budding musician in our midst!

16th October, 2017

Evacuation

A huge thank you to all our parents and families for collecting the children promptly today following the evacuation. We were first alerted to an issue when the lights in school started to flicker. It would appear that one of our phases has blown: this caused some quite loud bangs and a few puffs of smoke. The Fire Service were called immediately and the building was evacuated. We currently have a team on site carrying out the necessary repairs who assure me that we will be able to open tomorrow. Please check the website to make sure. It could be quite late this evening before we know for certain.

Ofsted

You will be aware of our visit from Ofsted last week. Following this visit, the school will be graded and a report will be produced to share their findings. We will share this outcome with you as soon as we are allowed.

The children were wonderful as they always are. Inspectors were very impressed with the ethos of respect in school and the high standards of behaviour both in the classrooms and outside. They said our children have a wonderful enthusiasm for learning. Thank you to all the parents who shared positive and supportive comments with the inspection team and spoke highly of the experience that Sawley Junior School provides. Your comments were appreciated. 

The report should be ready to be shared with you soon after half-term.

6th October, 2017

New Classrooms

A few pictures of our brand new classrooms.

5th October, 2017

Cross Country Run

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Addi for his Silver Medal in today's Cross Country Competition. What an achievement  - 2nd place out of over 100 children. We are very proud of you! A huge well done to the rest of the Sawley Cross Country team who all ran their very best: in particular Joe C who came 9th in his age group. Once again, fantastic sportsmanship from all the Sawley children.

28th September, 2017

Brownlee Foundation Triathlon

We've had a brilliant afternoon at the Brownlee Foundation Triathlon today. Being the first time we've been able to attend one of these events, we were unable to answer some of the questions the children had about a whole variety of things. We needn't have worried as the whole event was extremely well organised and ran like clockwork. The Brownlee Foundation worked really hard to ensure all the children had a great day. Alistair Brownlee stood at the finish line cheering on every single child - he also signed the free t-shirts the children were given. We brought home lots of smiley children who once again made us feel very proud - they've been great team mates today and behaved impeccably. 

15th September, 2017

Bob the Owl Man

The Year 3 & 4 children had a great morning with Bob today learning all about owls. Bob brought along what he calls his 'school flying team'. Whilst Bob shares his knowledge of the owls, they fly around the school hall stopping to perch and watch for a while. I think the pictures and the looks on the children's faces say it all! Visiting this year were Archie the Barn Owl, Gizmo the White-faced Scops and Spike who is an African Eagle Owl.

13th September 2017

Art Week in progress....

The children seem to be thoroughly enjoying Art Week! We have lots of different activities going on - Year 5 & 6 appear to be either turning themselves into Tudor kings and queens or designing Tudor roses. Year 4 are making Egyptian canopic jars - lets hope they're not going to fill them.... (ask your child!) And Year 3 are focusing on pointillism and collage.

We'll post more photos of finished masterpieces later in the week on the class pages.

13th September, 2017

We are delighted to announce that once again we

have achieved the 

BRONZE School Games Mark Award

for our commitment to sport in 2016/17.

We are delighted to announce that once again we have achieved the BRONZE School Games Mark Award for our commitment to sport in 2016/17.

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:

20th October 2016

Year 6 Erewash Boys Football finals

 2^nd place

20th October 2016

Year 5/6 Erewash Girls Football Finals

1^st place

5^th October 2016

Year5/6 Erewash Basketball

2^nd place

6^th March 2017

Y56 Erewash Hockey

1^st place

16^th May 2017

Y34 Erewash Tennis finals

1^st place

11^th July 2017

Y34 Derbyshire County School Games Tennis Finals

4^th place

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 fulfil 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.

A special thanks to:

Mrs Lacey who has worked diligently to ensure Sawley pupils had opportunities to attend clubs and take part in sporting activities. She is passionate about children having a positive experience of sport and this shows in the way she can always be found jumping up and down on the sidelines encouraging each every team member – THANK YOU!

We look forward to applying once again in 2018!

11th September, 2017

Welcome back to a new term at Sawley Junior School. It has been good to see the children looking so smart and eager to learn at the start of this new academic year. We particularly welcome the new children in Year 3 and their families to our school community.  

New Classrooms

Our new classrooms are brilliant! They seem so spacious and light. Huge thanks go to Mr Lennon and Galliford Try who have completed the tarmac areas from their Community Fund hence costing us - nothing! 

Staff List 2017 - 2018

Recent Letters

Communications Protocol

Huge thanks to all the parents who are already supporting this new system - if you missed the letter, please find it below. 

A letter from the Willows Academy Trust newly appointed CEO.

Mrs Jeannie Haigh - previously headteacher at Dovedale Primary - is now the CEO fro Willows.

Co-op Community Fund

The Co-op Local Community Fund is their way of giving back to its members and their communities - giving money to local causes that our members care about. We are registered this year with the Co-op fund and have already raised over £700. You can help us raiuse further funds by:

• making sure you have a Co-op card
• Registering your membership card online and nominating Sawley Junior as your chosen charity (Friends of Sawley).
• Shop at the Co-op!

We'd love to hear from anyone who can garden with us on a weekly basis, or might have some time to hear some children read. Please let us know if you are interested. We will also be running the Parent Forum this year, keep an eye on the Forum page for the first meeting.