The Chronicle

Junior 6 have revisited learning Mandarin numbers from one to ten this week. 

Based on their prior knowledge and recognising that Chinese numbers have patterns, they swiftly moved from eleven to ninety-nine. This progressed to Junior 6 saying months of the year matched with their birth month - January is ‘one month’ and December is ‘twelve month’. 

Continuing with the number theme, they learnt how to say dates (1st to 31st), putting months and dates together to say their birthdays in Mandarin. 

Well done, J6!

This week in Junior 5, all of our pupils worked enthusiastically to design, make and test out a parachute, to tie in with our 'Forces' Science topic. Everyone eagerly launched their designs and the slowest parachutes per class were our worthy winners. Agnes was the winner in 5L, followed closely by George W and Harry G! Marley is in the lead in J5R at the moment, but we have one more parachute to test!

In English, all of the J5’s have been busy designing and describing their very own 'Flanimal' creature - inspired by the books written by Ricky Gervais. Made up 'Flanimal' like vocabulary, ambitious words and examples of figurative language were all heard in the J5 classrooms, as they excitedly wrote and shared their fabulous creations! 

As part of our 'Extreme Weather' topic in Geography, J4B rehearsed what to do if they were in a real-life earthquake. We learned how to 'drop, cover and hold on' and where a safe place to take cover would be. We had great fun!

The children are still finding our Electricity topic very exciting. We investigated whether materials are insulators or conductors and we are so good at making complete circuits that allow the current to flow. This week has seen us design our own electric Christmas cards with a complete circuit including a switch. We have had a visit from our Christmas elf but he is self-isolating at the moment. We are looking forward to seeing what mischief he gets up to when he gets out!

We are also taking the time to reflect on our achievements this term; we think we have been awesome! 

As we turned over to the month of December,

Christmas festivities have begun.

Sparkling and glistening, jolly and playful

Christmas trees bring a warmth of fun.

Elf on Shelf and Secret Santa

Virtual nativities, reverse advent calendar

Tis the season to be jolly (careful)!

Yet, still time to write a Stone Age story.

This week and in our bid to highlight significant women of colour, we have focused our history lesson on the very famous ‘doctress’ from the Crimean War, Mary Seacole. Mary was an important woman who left her home to attend to soldiers in the Crimean war. As well as being a doctress, a female doctor who can cure illnesses with local herbs and medicines, Mary was also a businesswoman who set up hotels and shops throughout her life. An outbreak of Cholera – a contagious disease that causes vomiting, cramps and diarrhoea – hit Jamaica in 1850. Mary studied the disease, and with the help of a military doctor learned how to treat those people infected. She later treated an epidemic of Cholera in Cruces, and caught a mild case of it herself!

We explored the herbs and vegetables she would have used which was very exciting. Children focused on a range of medicinal plants and fruits that are useful as remedies. Did you know there is a Mary Seacole Memorial Statue in London?

Advent has arrived in Junior 1 with the customary visit from our cheeky elves.

This year, we have welcomed Chippy and Poppy into our classrooms to the delight of all of the children, who excitedly come into school each morning to see where they are hiding. Our elves brought cups and candy canes, with a special letter from the North Pole arriving at the school office on the same day. The children were all keen to respond and immediately busied themselves by writing their replies. We have also explored the meaning of Advent in our RE lessons, with the emphasis placed on waiting for baby Jesus.

The children learnt about the Advent wreath and what each of the candles represent. We discovered the wreath is made with evergreen leaves in a complete circle to represent God’s everlasting love. This linked perfectly with our science lessons where we have been learning about evergreen and deciduous leaves, how they change colour or stay the same and how they remain on the trees or fall to the ground. Amongst all of our classroom learning we have also been practising our Nativity with Mrs Olden and Mr Vaughan and we are really looking forward to sharing our wonderful production with you very soon.

Reception received a special visitor in the form of an elf from the North Pole this week!

You can imagine how surprised we were when Mr Duigan came rushing into the classroom clutching two mysterious but very magical looking parcels. He explained that he had heard rustling noises in his office, caught a glimpse of red and green and turned around to see the parcels on his desk.

Upon opening these wonderful parcels, we found an elf, a letter from Father Christmas and some of Mrs Claus’ cookies too! Excitedly, we named our elf (we voted for ‘Chip’), and promised that we would be kind. Chip has been reporting back to Father Christmas each night – so far, so good!

Along with our North Pole role play and Christmas decorations, we are certainly getting into the Christmas spirit!