X marks the spot! Pre-School have been on a fabulously freezing Winter walk inspired by our book ‘One Snowy Night’. The children used brilliant positional language to discuss and read a map of our lovely Pre-School which led them to some cheeky woodland animals hiding in their wellie boot shed! They then created some amazing maps of their own.
Brrrrrr…. Reception children have been exploring the outside conditions due to our recent chilly weather. Although cold, the frost and icicles have provided great learning opportunities. Pupils have then been painting the ice scenes on foil, creating beautiful pieces of art. Our budding scientists have also been developing their reasoning skills experimenting with how to melt the ice and why water freezes.
Exploring the format and method of letter writing by writing simple party invitations - in character, no less - to another character from our class story, ‘Here Comes Mr Postmouse’ has been the buzz in Year 1 this week. They have also excelled at using a variety of classroom resources to embed their understanding of addition and subtraction in the context of number bonds to 10 (and beyond). Science has been a triumph this week - they have relished using toy cars to investigate the difference between pushing and pulling.
Much to Mrs McManus’s delight, the Year 2 children have been working hard in maths, focusing on time. Their skills in reading the clock on the hour, a quarter past and a half past, on an analogue clock have been excellent. It has been especially interesting to see how long the children actually thought a minute lasted for! It would be a very good experiment for you to try at home too. They have also been focusing on understanding what time of day they do things. This is another skill you can practise at home to consolidate their understanding.
At Forest School, the children have encountered some of the coldest days this winter and that is reflected in the activities the children have participated in! Some children lit fires independently in the safety rectangle, using a flint and steel, using their knowledge from previous lessons to collect appropriate fuel, and construct, light and extinguish a small fire safely. Everyone who attempted this activity was successful which highlighted not only their super practical ability but also qualities such as resilience, perseverance and confidence.
The children have been fortunate enough to have a fire pit burning everyday, which has helped to feel and think warm thoughts when sitting around the log circle. They have been quietly listening to the wood crackling and snapping, whilst watching the flickering orange flames.
Year 3 have been working hard this week to create dialogue inspired by images from ‘The Mysteries of Harris Burdick’. The children used their work on complex inference to help them to answer questions they had created as a class.
In maths lessons the children were investigating measurement. They were using equipment to measure lengths and to convert between units. Year 3 had great fun using various equipment to measure the weight of different objects. Perhaps you could do some baking at home to test their newfound measurement skills.
In science lessons the children were investigating light and shadow. They were using mirrors to reflect light and to determine how light sources can be blocked or retracted. Year 3 were looking at the story of Holy Week in Religious Studies lessons this week and they were starting to sequence the main events.
There was much excitement as auditions started this week for ‘Edge Grove’s Got Talent’. What a talented bunch of Year 3 and 4's we have at Edge Grove!
In Year 4, it has been wonderful to get back to routine this week. After the pantomime last term and Christmas holidays, it has been great to get back into all of our new topics and routines. It has also been good to see so many parents again and to spend some time discussing Year 4's progress at parents evening. Please remember to keep checking Google classrooms for optional challenges over this term.
Year 4 have started to utilise the skills learnt last term in English to write some fantastic newspaper reports for topic about the battle of Linsifarne during the Anglo Saxon era. The children have enjoyed completing research on the chromebooks in order to write the reports.
In maths the pupils have recalled previously learnt knowledge on division techniques and really impressed us with their ability to complete the bus stop method so well. They are challenging themselves now with tricky word problems to embed their problem solving skills.
The children have all competed in the first round of the Edge Grove Lexathon. This encompassed a spelling test followed by some tricky puzzles and countdown style questions. Results will be published soon as to who has made it through to the next round. It was great to see the children so excited about this competition.
In the cooking club this week, Year 6 pupils made stir fry with Ms Modha. They learnt that garlic, ginger and chillies are staple ingredients for the cooking of foods from this part of the world! They went home and enjoyed dinner with the whole family.
In English, children in Year 5 have been learning how to write a discursive essay, and the pros and cons of home-schooling have been hotly debated in lessons. Prompted by Michael’s family taking off around the world in their yacht, the ‘Peggy Sue’, in Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom, Year 5 writers have been learning about paragraphing and the use of cohesive devices to help make their ideas more coherent.
In history, pupils in Year 5 were tasked with researching and putting together a presentation, using google slides, to show how mediaeval castles changed and improved since 1066. One of the success criteria for the task was to make the slides engaging, creative and informative - avoiding too much text where possible!
On Friday morning Year 6, alongside Year 7 and 8, listened to a Holocaust memorial talk given by Mrs Hayman, a grandparent of a previous student and a representative of Generation2Generation charity. Mrs Hayman explained her family’s experiences of the Anschluss in Austria in the lead up to the Second World War. It was a powerful and well-pitched presentation, focusing on the lives of ordinary people during this time, punctuated with testimony from Mrs Hayman’s grandparents, mother and aunt who were fortunately able to escape. Mrs Hayman commented on how incredibly impressed she was with the behaviour and concentration of the pupils throughout the talk, particularly the quality of their questions at the end of the presentation; showing how well they had been listening. Well done, Year 6!
Our study of Beverley Naidoo’s Journey to Jo’Burg was given extra meaning this week in Year 6 English lessons, when the whole year group had the opportunity to listen to Mr Stanley’s reflections of growing up under Apartheid as a boy. You can read about his talk in the School Journalists’ section of the newsletter, along with reflections on another autobiography shared by Miss Senior’s Grandpa. Reading and listening to firsthand accounts is an important and powerful way to understand different perspectives. Year 6 are building up a collection of research material for a final essay which will close the unit.
Evie in Year 6 has created a wonderful replica of the Trojan horse in her spare time. She has used clay, string and wooden sticks to make this fantastic creation which her peers have all been able to learn from. Well done Evie!
In the Upper School, how are we addressing the skills our senior pupils truly need to thrive and succeed in their future studies, and career journeys? One way we do this is by ensuring that we are making clear and explicit links to the four core character qualities that we promote within the Edge Grove Baccalaureate: leadership, communication, critical thinking and teamwork. At regular points, the Year 7s and 8s reflect on and review their progress, as well as set future targets. In addition to these four key areas, I am very excited about a new initiative we have to broaden these even further to include the World Economic Forum’s top 10 key skills of the future (see below). We look forward to mapping these top skills to ensure that our seniors can identify, develop and apply to them all aspects of their academic and co-curricular lives. Whether it be originality, resilience or problem-solving, we are aiming for our students to be proud and take ownership of these skills and inspire younger members of the Edge Grove community to explore these traits too. Watch this space to see how this journey emerges…
The WEF’s Top 10 Skills of the Future:
Analytical thinking and innovation
Active learning and learning strategies
Complex problem-solving
Critical thinking and analysis
Creativity, originality and initiative
Leadership and social influence
Technology use, monitoring and control
Technology design and programming
Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation
On Friday, we were incredibly fortunate to listen to a moving and enlightening lecture on the Holocaust. Judith Hayman, a representative from the charity Generation2Generation, visited Edge Grove to speak to the children about her mother’s experience of escaping Naxi-occupied Austria. The story of her survival was incredibly thought-provoking and prompted a series of original and thoughtful questions from the children.
It was very disappointing to not be able to play any rugby matches this week due to the frozen ground. We do try to avoid cancelling fixtures as much as possible and always wait until between 10:00am and 12:00pm to make the final call in order for us to give the conditions as much of a chance as possible to ensure that they go ahead as we do understand how much the children enjoy their matches against other schools. Parents will be notified of any cancelled matches or changes to arrangements via an alert on the school App. Hopefully the worst of the weather is behind us and we will have no more disruptions.
We took advantage of the time this week to run a number of Inter House events with Year 3 and 4 doing “bench ball” and Year 5 to 8 continuing with their badminton competition.
Netball - Morning Clubs
On Mondays (Year 3), Thursdays (Year 4) and Fridays (Year 5 & 6), a morning netball club is held in the Sports Hall from 8.00am-8.25am with Miss Rose. It is an excellent way for the pupils to start their day, with fun, fitness and lots of skill development. Anyone within the year group is welcome to come along! This is a drop in session and there is no need to book in advance. Each week focuses on a new skill area for the pupils to really raise their netball game.
Outside of school achievements
Congratulations to Roma S in Year 6 who has been signed to London Girls Development Academy football club, playing for their U12’s team. She’ll be training twice a week with competitive matches being played on Saturdays against other Hertfordshire teams, including both league and cup games. LGDA are a FA chartered standard girls youth football club run by FA qualified coaches. Well done on this excellent achievement!
Design & Technology
Year 5 Cultural Masks - Textiles
Year 5 are finishing their cultural masks, adding embellishment such as sequins, ribbon and feathers. They have had a lot of fun designing and painting their masks with fabric paint.
STEM club
The pupils in STEM club worked together to create different structural bridges, learning about the physics and engineering that allows the structures to be strong and stable with the forces involved. They manufactured a unique car to test it on the bridges made out of lego.
Music - On Saturday 28th January, Ronnie Scott's will be hosting an all-day Musical Instrument Amnesty, collecting the city’s disused musical instruments. All instruments - from plastic recorders to violins and state-of-the-art mixing desks - will be donated to school-aged children in the UK and overseas, enabling musical education amongst communities across the world.
The iconic Frith Street venue will open its doors between 10.00am-3.00pm for the public to drop by and donate. Alongside a cup of tea or glass of fizz, donors will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with stars and celebrities who have graced the Ronnie's stage over the years, whilst learning more about the project, and the impact their donation will make.
The Edge Grove Computing Department is encouraging all pupils in the school from Reception up to Year 8 to take part in the digital leaders programme.
Digital Leaders recognise the safe use of technology in a way which facilitates learning, collaboration and academic progress. They will be expected to lead by example and to help and inspire those around them. They will have a say in how technology is used in school and how to get the best out of it.
Pupils will need to fill in a questionnaire on the Computing Google Classrooms (Year 3-8) or on Purple Mash (Reception - Y2), indicating if they meet the required skill sets, or are working towards meeting them.
