The Chronicle

This week in Junior 6, the children had fun in their French lessons learning about some of the different Christmas traditions from around the world. They learned about what people in different countries might have on the dinner table at Christmas time and tried to learn how to say them all in French!  This brought to a culmination the work they have done over the last few weeks about their likes and dislikes relating to school and meal choices. They shared what their favourite food is on their own Christmas tables and tried not to argue about whose choice was the best! Linking to this, in Science the children considered what keeps them healthy and the need to make healthy food choices. They learned about how food is labelled and how to have a balanced diet.

In Junior 5 this week, it has been a pleasure to experience the extraordinary writing talent and dramatic flair of our pupils as they work towards their Christmas writing piece. With a little help from our friendly neighbourhood DADWAVERS, the children have been writing about their own personal superheroes as well as creating their own caped crusaders! Meanwhile, as the weather outside is frightening, the children have been heads down, writing letters telling us all about their perfect Christmas present. We can’t wait to read them Junior 5 – don’t stop now!

Junior 4 have had an amazing week and this review has to start with their wonderful Advent service, which they performed with enthusiasm and expertise. It was an absolute delight having the opportunity to watch them all and we were delighted to have parents there too. In preparation for Christmas, J4 have also been busy taking part in festive crafts and creating lovely cards for family and friends. This included decorating multiple baubles and class Christmas trees – elves on the shelves are loving the new, shiny hiding spots! The children have made sure that the festive fun hasn’t disrupted their hard work and it has been a pleasure reading all of their imaginative and descriptive Christmas letters. Well done J4, for a truly splendid first term. We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Junior 3 have had an extremely busy week working very hard towards their assessments and thinking about the magic of Christmas morning and a much-wanted gift appearing under the tree. All things ‘festive’ have been happening in both classrooms, Christmas smells (orange, pine, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg), Christmas trees, baubles, gifts and cards in preparation for their Christmas write – The Gift. We are so excited to see how their ‘letter’ challenge plays out! To extend the pupil’s learning Christmas reading has been a must, with The Nutcracker, Pussycat’s Christmas and The Little Matchgirl our favourites.

The whole year group had practised really hard for their performance on Wednesday evening. Ms Holmes and Mrs van Zyl and the team were delighted with how the children conducted themselves throughout, with less than the usual practise time. Well done one and all! Parents were able to watch the show and so many kind messages came in after the event. Lovely to have so much support as we move through into the busiest and most exciting time of the school year.

As our work on Kenya draws to a close, the pupils have been creating wonderful Maasai necklaces, we hope you enjoy seeing them once they get home.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Junior 2 have had a wonderful end to the Michaelmas term. The beginning of the week saw Edward and Jess playing their guitars to the Junior 2 classes – what a beautiful start to the week! On Tuesday we performed our Nativity and we all had a fantastic afternoon. We are sure that our audience enjoyed it and we are looking forward to watching our performance on the video that Mr Kefalas kindly took for us. The rest of the week has been filled with making Christmas cards, decorations, and other Christmas surprises. We would also like to say a big thank you to the Parents’ Association for the Christmas Fair on Monday; it was so much fun, and we really appreciated all the time and hard work which went into organising this.

Wow! A brilliant performance of A Little Bird Told Me was put on this week for the parents to watch and enjoy. Everybody remembered their lines, sang the songs with enthusiasm and added the right actions to the words. There were numerous rounds of applause and laughter from the audience throughout the show and it was a fantastic way to start the Christmas season. After our nativity, we still had work to do in the classroom! We have re-told the Christmas story in a special booklet, found out about food that is grown in other countries and learnt who St. Nicholas was and how he became known as Santa Claus. We then finished the week off with making our own Christmas cards, decorations and a calendar for next year.

It has been another very busy week in Reception! We had great fun performing our Nativity play, Busy, Busy, Bethlehem to our families, who enjoyed watching us sing, act and dance. All our teachers were proud of us and think that after such a stellar performance, that the West End beckons soon! Writing letters to Father Christmas, putting the finishing touches to our Christmas crafts and learning about squares and rectangles in Maths has certainly ensured that it has been another productive week. Our classroom elves have been keeping an eye on us and have been up to lots of mischief too, one even hid in a Christmas tree – how cheeky!