The Chronicle

In English this week, Junior 6 are reading Chapter 2 of The Spiderwick Chronicles focusing on the author’s use of language and creation of atmosphere. We were thinking about why an author chooses particular words or phrases and the impact that this has on the reader. We then looked at the different reading skills we need to be able to use, and thought about retrieving information from a text, inferring information, predicting what we think might happen next, explaining our ideas and opinions carefully and precisely and summarising what we have read. We have also read a section of The Hobbit to deepen our understanding of how to create atmosphere, which we will use to write our own description of a cave.

Junior 5 have continued to amaze us with their wonderful enthusiasm for learning. This week in Geography, they learnt about places around the world, using mini globes to locate continents, oceans, cities and many other places. It was lovely to see their curiosity, which they all demonstrated by asking many intelligent questions. We have all been very impressed with how all of the children have continued to settle into their new routines, and cannot wait to see what they can all achieve over the next few weeks.

This week in Science, Junior 4 have been conducting experiments about the journey of sound. This includes how sound is created, how it travels to our ears and how our ears receive and interpret it. We conducted a sound walk around school registering how noisy different areas of the school are and then discovered how various instruments create the sounds that we hear. We also investigated how we can change the volume and pitch of sound by changing our interactions with the instruments. Junior 4 also resumed their swimming lessons at the Xcel Leisure Centre which the children thoroughly enjoyed. 

This week, Junior 3 travelled far, far back in time to understand where the Stone Age sits in history. The children brainstormed all the historical periods they’d ever heard of and then got into groups to put pictures of them into chronological order. There was some very interesting ordering, triggering lively group discussions. It wasn’t long before the children reflected on each other’s timelines and went back to eagerly put their pictures into the correct order, realising just how long ago the Stone Age was placed, but noted that it wasn’t nearly so long ago as the Big Bang and the dinosaurs!

This week in Junior 2R we have participated in Forest School where the children have demonstrated an intellectual approach and deep appreciation of the natural world. What we witnessed during this lesson was how imaginative and creative the children all were. They all helped each other when faced with problems and showed great resilience as they worked together building positive relationships. Forest School is an excellent way to offer a holistic approach to learning and foster a deep appreciation of the natural world.  Junior 2B - it will be your turn next week!

This week Junior 1 have started to develop their gymnastic skills in PE. Mr Vaughan was very impressed with how well everyone joined in and how keen they were to show how flexible they are. Great interest was had in History while finding out about Celtic homes. We learnt how they were made and what materials they were made from. The children were surprised to find out that these early houses had no windows and that the people slept with the animals! Geography saw us zooming in to the local area using Google maps and seeing what our school looks like from above. This linked in with looking at a map of the school and its surrounding area and how things are represented on maps.

We have had a fantastic week getting busy outside in all weathers! We were able to practice putting our puddle suits on in the rain on Tuesday and spent our lunchtime jumping in puddles and generally proving the statement true; that 'there’s no such thing as bad weather, if you’re dressed right!' We then met Mrs. Clark for Forest School later in the week and the children all surprised everyone with how quick and efficient they were at getting ready before heading outside. Soon everyone was busy exploring: sliding, jumping, swinging and climbing amongst the trees in the wonderful Windmill Wood.

This week we have started our extra-curricular activities.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first Forest School session of the year. Lots of lovely turn-taking, collaborative teamwork and an opportunity to let our imagination run free in the woods.

We learnt some new rhymes in our French lesson with Mrs Westerman and how to say ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Au revoir’.

Some of the children took part in their first Rugby Tots session.