The Chronicle

In their most recent Science topic, Junior 6 have been exploring the effect of exercise on the body. What is our heart rate, and how does it change when we exercise? Junior 6 set out to answer these questions by performing their own experiment. After a short burst of high intensity exercise, we took our heart rate at regular intervals and recorded our results. We then plotted these results into a graph to visualize our findings. Well done Junior 6 - you all thought like super scientists! An extra congratulations for Wednesday evening, you all sang and spoke beautifully.

This week, Junior 5 have continued to work incredibly well, which has included demonstrating brilliant adaptability. As we get closer to Christmas, the children have to adapt to changing timetables and extra school events, yet each and every one one of them take it in their stride, maintaining admirable resilience. In Science this week, pupils learnt about the word absorbency and used scientific equipment to determine which paper towel absorbs the most water. Early reports suggest that the most absorbent paper towel is officially Blitz; there are other kitchen rolls available. Well done to all of the children for yet another amazing week.

After the excitement of performing their year assembly on Thursday - read more about this in the Spiritual section - Junior 4 then had their Roman day. Children came into school dressed in togas and participated in a variety of activities. These included making their own laurel wreaths, designing and planning a year group mosaic wall, and crafting a lunula or bulla. They also made their very own Roman shields during their Art lesson, which were crafted with lightning bolts to signify Jupiter, the king of the Roman gods, and adourned in the red symbol of Mars, the Roman god of war. In Drama we worked together in tribes and acted out the beginnings of the Roman conquest of Britain, debating whether we should surrender or fight the Romans. Well done, Junior 4 - what a busy week we have all had!

Junior 3 have been making the most of our wonderfully refurbished school library. Every Monday we visit the library in groups with Miss Broadbent, clutching the well-thumbed books that we have read that week and are keen to exchange for another one! So many of us have now got into this rhythm of borrowing a book for the week, reading it as an enriching reading experience, then bringing it back to school again every Monday. We are very keen to explore the vast array of books on offer: picture books, chapter books, fiction and non-fiction to suit every reading taste. We have learnt how to behave and conduct ourselves quietly and calmly when in a library, so it remains a peaceful space for others to read and explore books without distraction. We feel very lucky to enjoy this weekly special privilege and it has certainly helped us to further foster a love of books. Thank you to Mrs Steeples for running this wonderful resource.

This week Junior 2 have taken part in their House Unihoc matches. Children showed great camaraderie showcasing intense competition. This brought children together working as a team and fostering a sense of unity and pride in their House. Great job! In addition, Junior 2 have been using their hand-eye skills to create amazing puppets. The children were shown how to use a variety of stitches and created such lovely art work. They are very excited to bring these home as soon as they are finished. 

The elves have arrived in Junior 1! There was huge excitement this week as each Junior 1 class had an elf visitor, keeping an eye on them during this busy time in the run up to Christmas and reporting what they see and hear back to Father Christmas. After they had been named, the classes received a gift from their elf of some candy canes, so they decided to write a letter to say thank you during their English lesson. This led on to writing letters to Father Christmas, asking how he was doing, if he’s ready for Christmas and finally asking for something special from him. Science was also Christmas themed, with every child having the opportunity to make a Christingle. The orange represents the world, the candle is Jesus bringing light and hope to people on earth, the red ribbon is for God’s love and Jesus’ blood when he died for us, and the sweets/fruit represent God’s creations in the four seasons.

This week, Reception are in full swing of Nativity rehearsals! The children have been practising their singing for weeks, singing at the top of their lungs with amazing actions! We have been in the hall to rehearse on the big stage for the first time with Junior 1 and wowed everyone with how grown-up and sensible they were. We can’t wait for everyone to see the show next week!

Another busy week whizzes past in Nursery!

A big hit with all the children has been our activity to make tinkly reindeer rattles out of recycled milk bottle tops. The idea is that the children ring the rattle at bedtime each night, so that by the time we reach Christmas Eve, the reindeer can follow the sound directly down from the night sky.

There are elf and Santa outfits in the home corner, as well as lots of beautiful baubles to hang on the tree, so the children have been making the most of this seasonal joy.

As we continue our Advent journey, we have been reinforcing the fact that even though Santa’s sleigh and a sparkling Christmas tree are great fun at Christmas time, the most important thing about Christmas Day is to remember and to celebrate that baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2,023 years ago.

Our set traditional tale during Twinkl Phonic sessions has been the Enormous Turnip, which has provided an ideal opportunity to explore some comparative weight during Mathematics: heavy/heaviest and light/lightest.