The Chronicle

In English this week, the children began looking at The Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. During their first investigation into Pullman’s fantasy novel, the children began to discover all about Lyra’s strange world and the Daemons that exist in it. We looked at how, in our own work, we can use sophisticated linguistic techniques, such as expanded noun phrases to add pertinent and precise to elevate our writing. Well done Junior 6 - you approached this new topic with enthusiasm and curiosity. We can’t wait to hear about your own daemons next week! Keep up the hard work!

This week, amongst the onslaught of rain, Junior 5 enjoyed learning about the lifecycle of a plant. To support their learning, they dissected a flower and learned the names for the key parts of the reproduction process. Once again, they continue to work like bees, buzzing from topic to topic and engaging positively with every lesson. They have much to be proud of and we have been very impressed!

Continuing with Junior 4's Anglo Saxon theme, in Art the pupils have been working on designing and making their own Anglo Saxon jewellery. The Anglo Saxons wore jewellery, including amulets, talismans, brooches, beaded necklaces and bracelets, made from gold, silver, bronze and copper and they were worn to show their wealth and rank. The pupils made their own authentic piece of jewellery, first out of clay complete with decorations and gems and, further into the term, they will be using pewter. 

On Friday, Junior 3 took part in a creative carousel of hands-on learning through practical activities all about Ancient Egypt. From making their own shaduf, used to irrigate crops from the River Nile, to writing their names in hieroglyphics on real papyrus, to making their own Lego, and then paper pyramids, the children were very busy! The children recorded their learning by photographing each creation, and then creating a mini-report using the microphone or video tool in Seesaw on Ipads. It was a very exciting history lesson!

Junior 2 children have revelled in the wonders of Forest School this week, they have immersed themselves in a unique and enriching learning environment. Surrounded by the rustling leaves, towering trees, and the symphony of nature, their curiosity has come alive. Many have used their skills to build shelters, some made chocolate drinks using the mud kitchen, some just explored the natural world. In this open-air classroom, they not only have gained knowledge, but also developed resilience, teamwork, and a profound appreciation for the beauty that unfolds in the heart of the forest.

We started a new book in English this week – Where The Wild Things Are. What a fabulous book it is! We retold it with actions, created a story-map and wrote a letter to Max asking him questions about his adventure to help us practise using question marks and setting a letter out correctly. Geography was a hit too as we looked at all things English. After having ‘Afternoon Tea’ with tea and scones, we found out that St. George is the patron saint of England, our flag is a red cross on a white background and when King Charles is staying at Buckingham Palace he flies the flag to let us know. Maths was equally interesting as we learnt how to use a ruler to measure and draw lines in centimetres, while over in Science we learnt about minibeasts and how to classify them using a key.

This week in Reception we talked about Nocturnal animals… and how they come out at night when we go to sleep. Our story was The Owl Babies and we really enjoyed retelling the story with puppets, and then sequencing pictures and writing sentences in our books. Our Art lessons were ‘owly’ too – we created some fabulous collage pictures of owls after choosing and using lots of different media. Our other job this week has been getting ready for our Mother’s Day Assembly, we can’t wait to share everything with you – and look forward to seeing you all next Wednesday morning.

Our Dormice have been exploring colours this week, using different objects and puzzles to explore and learn. The egg sorter was a favourite amongst the children, pracitising good hand-eye co-ordination and colour identifying, introducing 'light' and 'dark' shades of blue. Wooden puzzles were also available to assist those early skills in recognising shapes, which help children when they start learning to read.

In Badgers and Hedgehogs we focused on Rainforest creatures, going on a Grand Tiger Hunt during Forest School. The vertical stripes camouflaged those prowling tigers very well between the trees and branches, so most of us would have quickly become a tiger’s dinner for sure!

In the Outside Learning Area the children practised making dens and hides to observe the jungle animals and all the colourful birds.

Our small world tray also transformed into a mini rainforest, complete with giant spiders, slithering snakes and a plethora of wildlife.

During Music, the children joined in with a drum concert, which was great fun and got everyone’s hearts racing.

PE involved a carousel of apparatus. Hedgehogs and Badgers were introduced to new pieces of apparatus called wobble boards, which really tested their balance.