I had the privilege of co-directing this year’s IAPS Pre Prep and Early Years Conference. As delegates, we were inspired by a range of excellent key note speakers, including Natasha Devon MBE, Dr Brian Marien (well known to us here at Edge Grove) and Ian Parkinson, better known as Mr. P. The conference began with a focus on emotional well-being and how to nurture this in our pupils and ourselves. We then took a dive into using technology creatively and safely, maths taught through song and learned to lead the ‘lazy way’ from headteacher and author Jim Smith. The highlight of the conference for so many of us was hearing from Dr Suzie Imber. Suzie is a planetary scientist specialising in space weather and won the tv programme Astronauts, Do you Have What It Takes in 2017. She began by telling us that she wasn't particularly good at science but was just interested in it and followed her passion. From climbing mountains to playing lacrosse for England and learning Kung Fu, Suzie’s life is filled with adventure and challenge. She embodies resilience and risk taking and I hope that our pupils find their passions too. Meanwhile back at the ranch as they say, the highlight of the week had to be Year 1's brilliant History Off The Page workshop. The Pre Prep hall was turned into a castle and our Year 1 pupils were its inhabitants. Through a combination of role-play, practical activities and hands on experience with artefacts, this immersive experience certainly kept their inquisitive minds busy!
Year 3 - It has been another exciting week in Year 3. In English, we have been reading ‘The Hodgeheg’ by Dick King-Smith. The children are really enjoying this book, especially when the main character, Max, gets his words all up-muddled and turvy topsy! They have used their senses to write some excellent setting descriptions that include prepositions, adjectives and adverbs. In maths, the children have started to explore length and are learning to use a ruler to measure accurately and they did a measurement activity to see if there is a correlation between foot size and height.
Year 3 are enjoying learning important information about the River Nile including why the Aswan Dam was built and how it benefited the people of Egypt. They have also investigated how water flows from the source to the sea due to gravity. In science, the children have been researching magnets and their uses. Did you know that magnets can actually be used to repel sharks in order to keep them safe from fishing nets?
Year 4 - Another busy week for Year 4 this week was kicked off with the year group revisiting fronted adverbials in English in order to help prepare them for their story writing task they are soon to be completing. We then moved on to an English lesson which sent their senses into overdrive. The children were provided rocks, twigs, bark, moss and charcoal in bags. The children were encouraged to let their sense of smell and sound inform their imagination and generate ideas for their setting description of Grendel's lair. A lesson the children found exciting and helpful. Year 4 have also completed a science experiment on soundproofing whereby the children planned and completed an investigation into the most effective soundproofing material. This activity led to some fantastic class discussions about fair testing in scientific experiments.
Tuesday this week was International Women's Day. The day was kicked off with a whole school inter-house quiz about inspirational women which the year group found thoroughly enjoyable. The quiz proved to be a fun way for the children to learn more about amazing female figures such as Amelia Earhart, Amanda Gorman, Anne Frank and Malala Yousafzai.
Well done on a great week Year 4! Year 5/6 - This week saw the pupils take part in an inter-house interactive quiz for International Women’s Day, this was thoroughly enjoyed by both year groups. We especially enjoyed hearing Mr Kay’s fantastic singing voice. Well done to Churchills who won this quiz.
In maths the pupils in year 5 were looking at ratio and proportions. They also completed a challenging maths paper, testing their reasoning skills. In science the year 5s have just finished the learning element of their space topics. This means the space projects are about to start. We know the pupils will enjoy researching an element of space that interests them and we look forward to receiving their projects. The year 6s have recently completed an experiment testing whether liquids were miscible or immiscible and used the density of the liquids to identify them.
In English, Y6 have been continuing to work on studying a variety of autobiographies, most recently reading the reflections of Ruby Bridges in her book, 'Through My Eyes'. In November of 1960, at the age of six, pupils learned that Ruby became the very first African American child to attend the all-white public William Frantz Elementary School. Ruby and her Mother were escorted by federal marshals to the school. Learning about the US Civil Rights movement in Year 6 lays good foundations for further studies such as the work of poet Maya Angelou or texts such as To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee.
Year 5 have been identifying the turning points in their novel Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. Sophie explains, "A turning point is a dramatic change in the storyline where the mood can change and the characters can have a different perspective." There are a number of turning points in the novel: when the redundancy letter arrives, when the Peggy Sue is bought, when Michael falls overboard and most recently, when Michael is stung by a jellyfish. Year 5 are working on their formal academic writing skills and learning to embed quotations in sentences when giving supporting evidence to justify their points. Please see the below photos of Jannah’s and Amelie’s work.
MATHS Primary Maths Challenge - Following the Primary Maths Challenge in November, five pupils qualified for the follow-up paper which they sat last month. Congratulations to Artem who top scored with 22/25 and achieved a gold award on this challenging paper, along with Yousuf and Robert (silver) and Maria and Ayo (bronze). A fantastic result - well done to all of you! This week in Year 7 Latin, pupils have been translating a section of Virgil’s Aeneid in which Aeneas meets Queen Dido. The pupils have reflected on their translations to examine the significance of a female leader at this time and the influence she had on the Greco-Roman world. They considered the representation of women in general in this epic and the contemporary attitudes that this may reflect.
Congratulations to all the boys and girls who took part in the Hertfordshire Schools Individual Table Tennis competition last weekend. It was great to see so many pupils taking part and there were some excellent performances.
Congratulations must also go to Ellie who competed in the England Squash Northampton Copper Girls Under 11 tournament at the weekend and won it! An amazing achievement Ellie! Well done.
You can view all of last week's match reports here.
Art - Another busy week in the art department! The Year 3s are really moving forward with their Ancient Egyptian artworks. They are now painting their cartouches with their names written in hieroglyphics.
Year 4 have been constructing their 3D hot air balloons and I have been most impressed with the care they have taken to draw around their templates and cut them very accurately. Year 5 have finished their artist research slideshows and are now learning about line and form as they compose their designs for their Pop Art projects.
Year 6 have also finished their artist research slideshows and are now identifying the ways in which Bridget Riley created her optical illusion artworks. The drama electives in Years 7 and 8 are coming to the end of their projects on neurographic art, which look fantastic, while the art electives are recreating some of the well known masterpieces out of plasticine,
Music - We had another fantastic Rush Hour concert this week to begin everyone’s Wednesday morning on a musical high! It was a pleasure to see pupils perform their upcoming ABRSM exam pieces as well as our youngest students getting the chance to perform what they have been working on in their music lessons. Thank you all who took part and to all the parents that attended. We are already looking forward to the next one after Easter! Please see some pictures below. Well done everyone!
Peter Pan rehearsals are sounding amazing and we are so impressed with the Year 6 pupils who are really going to take the roof off the theatre… after 2 years! Year 5 are also forming an excellent ensemble and are an asset to the performance. Please see some rehearsal shots below.
Mathilde Milwidky violin and Joseph Havlat piano
Edge Grove pupils can attend the above concert free of charge (adults must pay). The concert is taking place at The Radlett Centre on Tuesday 15th March at 8pm. Although the concert starts late, we have cleared it with The Radlett Centre that pupils may leave during the interval. This would be a wonderful opportunity for our violinists and pianists to watch some professional musicians and to hear some classical repertoire.
We are delighted to invite you to participate in the 2022 Edge Grove Golf Day to be held on Friday 20th May 2022 at Aldenham Golf and Country Club. We would like to encourage golfers of all standards to join us. The day includes tea/coffee and a breakfast roll before you start, 18 holes of golf followed by a 2 course sit down lunch. The cost of the day is £65 per person. If you would like to secure your place on a team or submit a four ball, please click here to book your place. If you have any questions please email Sue Maughan on smaughan@edgegrove.com.