Last Friday I had the pleasure of sharing my thoughts on the role and importance of words in the lives of our children. A broad vocabulary is essential for academic success, and it has been shown that the size of a child’s vocabulary correlates with professional success in later life as well as health and well-being. My slides from the presentation can be found here. I am happy for you to contact me jbroadis@edgegrove.com if you have any questions.
Myself and Miss Treadwell-Collins will be delivering a similar presentation to parents in Years 3 and 4 on Tuesday 24th January to share how we use lexile testing to measure children’s progress in reading.
At this time of year, as Holocaust Memorial Day approaches on January 27th, I always read and recommend books that give an insight into the plight of Jews during the Second World War. ‘The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die’ was recently published by Scholastic on January 5th and is appropriate for children from Year 5 upwards.
The story is based on the author’s memories and describes an extraordinary journey, made by himself when a boy of five, through war-torn Europe in 1944 and 1945. He soon realises that this adventure is really a nightmare whilst watching bombs falling from the sky outside Vienna and learning maths from his mother in Bergen-Belsen. All this is drawn against a background of terror, starvation, infection and, inevitably, death, before Peter and his mother can return home.
Professor Peter Lantos lives in London and is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and, in his previous life was an internationally renowned clinical neuroscientist. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2020 for 'services to Holocaust education and awareness' and is one of the last of the generation of survivors and this - his first book for children - will serve as a testimony to his experience.
The Bookseller interviewed him here.
We were delighted with the quality of work submitted after the holidays. Holiday reading in Years 5 to 8 helps to build vital foundations for the learning in the following term's English lessons. Children were invited to choose which book to read within a particular genre, and then choose how to respond to their reading. In Years 5 and 6, children explored themes of exploration, survival and adventure in Year 5 reading, juxtaposed with themes of injustice and discrimination in Year 6 reading. Congratulations to those pupils whose work has received a Headteacher’s Award and you can see a video of the work displayed in school here.
Don't forget to check out the Edge Grove School Journalists section of the newsletter. This week we have two excellent interviews with Mr Balfour. Enjoy!
