The Chronicle

This week Junior 6 have enjoyed a week of enrichment activities to mark the end of the examination period. We began the week with some bread making and the children kneaded, pushed and pulled their dough to create bread rolls and even hedgehog rolls. There were many comments from hungry staff about the wonderful smell wafting through the hall!  The heart and eyeball dissection had the children fascinated as they were able to handle a sheep’s heart and watch Mrs Vaughan cut into an eyeball to see the different parts that make up the eye and its different sections.  The STEM challenge enabled pupils to pit their creative and engineering skills against each other as they were tasked with making the tallest tower possible out of 40 pieces of cards without using any adhesive.  There were some superb results. We have also made Christmas decorations, completed mindfulness activities, watched a movie and had treats and snacks and are looking forward to the annual ‘cake off’.  Wow!  What a week!

This week Junior 5W have been learning about the geography of the United Kingdom. First, we identified the four countries that make up the UK; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and their capital cities. Next we mapped man-made and natural landmarks that we have visited such as The Tower of London, Bournemouth, The Shard, Legoland, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Blackpool, the Titanic Museum, the Angel of the North, Snowdon, White Cliffs of Dover, Bath, Stratford-Upon-Avon and many, many more. We really enjoyed discussing British culture too, including fish and chips, pubs, chicken tikka masala, roast beef and a full English Breakfast – yum!

This week Junior 4 made measuring and recording fun when they went outside using a trundle wheel to estimate and measure the area of places around the school. Areas visited included the hall, the astro playground and the lower playground.  They recorded their measurements and then compared their answers with each other back in the classroom. They have had larger numbers to multiply and all have enjoyed being outdoors in their Maths lesson. On Thursday they decorated the class Christmas tree and met Eric, the mischievous Christmas Elf, who now greets us with his mayhem each morning! 

This week Junior 3 have been generating some fantastic descriptive language to describe a rainy day. It is fortunate that the weather has played along, providing us with some ‘dull and dreary’ inspiration. The classroom has been ‘awash’ with adjectives, adverbs, similes and onomatopoeias as we have discussed the fizzy crackle of lightening, the pitter-patter of drumming raindrops and the sky as grey as a wet blanket. All our vocabulary development will surely be put to good use next week when we embark on writing our own stories inspired by tour core text Lila and the Secret of Rain. We are very much hoping that the jokes that we produce can encourage the sun to begin to shine once again. Remember to think of some real tummy ticklers this weekend children.  

Our Maths lessons have also been alive with excitement as we really get to grips with the 3x table. We have explored equal groups this week, built arrays and even made bead stings to represent and help us count in groups of three. Keep practising using the ‘1-minute Maths’ app and we will soon have mastered the threes, Junior 3.

This week children have been busy practising for the nativity; what a showcase it will be! In Science, we have been finishing off our module on squash, twist, bend and stretch and no better way to showcase these skills than using model balloons. Children worked hard following instructions to create a balloon dog.

In English, children continue exploring Tell Me A Dragon by Jackie Morris and have been creating Dragon worlds and Wanted posters.

We began Advent by lighting the first Advent candle in our assembly on Monday. This led on to us learning about the Christingle and how the light of the candle represents Jesus at Christmas time. We then made a Christingle each, using an orange, a candle, sweets, dried fruit and a red ribbon. What a fascinating way to learn about Jesus’ love for us! This linked into our Geography lesson where we were finding out what sorts of fruit and vegetables can grow in our country and what needs to be imported in from warmer climates. We finished the week with the exciting arrival of the ‘elf’. Both Junior 1 classes now have an elf who is keeping a close eye on their behaviour and looking to see who deserves to get some special gifts this Christmas.

This week Reception have been learning about the winter season. They have been thinking about the weather in winter, and the type of clothes we wear in winter to keep warm. We also had a special delivery on Thursday, with a message from Santa. An elf will be staying in our school to keep an eye on the children and report back who has made it onto the good list in time for Christmas. The children have also enjoyed decorating their class Christmas tree this week and have made a start on making some Christmas crafts in preparation for the festive season ahead.

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