We were very fortunate to welcome parents into Pre-School this week to talk to the children about Passover. There is no better learning than hearing from someone who is living that experience and we very much look forward to working with other parents who are keen to be involved to support our curriculum.
As a keen geographer I am very much looking forward to our topics this term. I will be diving into oceans with Reception and Pre-School and exploring the world from a hot air balloon with Year 1 and 2. When I taught geography here at Edge Grove, the global location lessons were always a favourite with pupils and there is nothing more enriching than learning about different countries, cultures and environments. St George’s Day provided the inspiration for learning in Year 2 this week. We studied the concept of national saints, delved into the myth itself and finally re-enacted the story with a wide variety of props, which included shields, swords, crowns and fierce dragons. Although great things are always happening in the woods at Forest School, we have some particularly exciting developments in the planning stage at the moment. Thanks to funds donated by the Friends of Edge Grove, we (well, I should say the maintenance team and Mrs Doughty) are in the process of installing a new shelter. We will move the log circle and camp fire to its new all-weather home under the shelter to complete the project and I very much look forward to sharing some quality time there with the children very soon.
Year 3 - The children have certainly been working hard over the holidays to research deforestation and put together some fantastic presentations to share with their teachers and friends. Well done to those who completed the optional prep task!
In English, we have started exploring report writing and identifying the features we will need to include in our own reports. We will be combining our topics this term and researching deforestation in English whilst studying rainforests in topic and habitats in science. Our first book is ‘The Vanishing Tree’ by Richard Platt which has already prompted some excellent discussion.
In maths, we have been introduced to fractions and decimals. We have even explored some mixed numbers and improper fractions!
Year 4 - It has been wonderful to welcome the children back to school this week and we have enjoyed hearing about their holidays.
In English we have started reading Varjak Paw, our novel for this term. Children have thoroughly enjoyed reading this so far and are keen to learn more about the character of Varjak. This week, we will be using the novel as a basis to write our own newspaper reports.
In Maths we have been learning about decimals and have been working on how to accurately record these both numerically and pictorially. Children have had the opportunity to order these and have discovered that sometimes they aren’t as obvious as they may seem.
Children have been very excited to start our Topic about The Shang Dynasty. This week the children have explored the meaning of the word dynasty and we have looked at ancient maps of China; we have plotted key features on a map which relate to the topic.
Year 5 & 6 - It has been lovely welcoming the pupils back to Edge Grove this week and we have been enjoying the sunny start to the term. This week started with a whole school assembly delivered by Miss McDonald discussing values and how we can identify our values by looking at what things we believe are important. We identified that a love for football meant that we valued teamwork and loyalty and thought about how this would affect our everyday lives. This was followed with our discussions in PSHE where we made value word clouds, it was great to see values such as kindness and respect being stated as important to the pupils.
In games this week we started the cricket season by practising throwing, catching, bowling and batting skills ready for their first matches. We hope the pupils enjoy participating in both hard and soft ball games this term.
In music this week students were introduced to the inter-house music competition. This is a competition which will be running through summer term for musicians from Year 2 to Year 8. It was great to see the students enthusiastic about this project and it will be a great chance for all students, both musicians and not, to develop their musical, performance and confidence skills. We will be analysing performances in detail and will be discussing how we can improve our stagecraft, overcoming nerves and learning how to manage them within a performance context which will provide invaluable, transferable skills for students.
Please note: If your child is performing next week (they have already been informed) they must remember to bring in their instrument, music and piano accompaniment for their timetabled music lesson. Year 5 - This week in English the children were discussing the texts that they had read over the Easter holidays. The classes had good discussions about the classic texts that they had read.
The children started off this new unit looking at a familiar text: ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’. The English department were particularly impressed by the impressive increase in lexile scores by the majority of Year 5 pupils. Keep up the good work!
Below you can see photos of Ophelia and Holly presenting their discussion on the similarities and differences between the books Black Beauty and The Railway Children. You can also see work from Oliver F and Alex G comparing their Easter reads.
In maths lessons the children were looking at using BODMAS to solve tricky equations. They refreshed their understanding of the four operations, solving decimal equations and tricky two step word problems. Pupils ended the week by looking at some 11+ maths paper questions. Year 5 used their reasoning skills to solve some challenging problems and were encouraged to explain verbally how these were solved.
In science this week the year 5’s have been presenting their space projects to their classes. It has been magnificent to see how much hard work has been put into them both in class and over the Easter holidays. We have been delighted to see so many new concepts researched.
Year 6 - In English the pupils have been studying magic realism, a genre of literature that depicts the real world as having an undercurrent of magic or fantasy. They have started this topic by comparing their holiday book reads.
In maths the pupils have been studying percentages, they have carried out a problem solving task in order to create an image which they discovered to be a pyramid. Photos below show Miss Modhas maths class undertaking this task.
In science this week the year 6’s have started a new topic looking at classification. They have studied how we use branching and numerical keys to identify different types of organisms.
It's great to have all our Year 7 and 8 pupils back in school after a well-deserved Easter break. Just a reminder that we are looking for parent volunteers to speak at our Upper School careers morning on Friday 17th June. If you would be happy to present to the children on aspects of your career - how to prepare for a particular profession, the various types of opportunities there are in your industry, or a general overview of what you have learned in the different jobs you have worked in then please email Mrs Warren on awarren@edgegrove.com.
Well done to our all our pupils who took part in the IAPS Table Tennis National Championships on Saturday. You can view the match report here. Fixtures resume this week with cricket for both the girls and boys. Good luck all!
Drama - Another busy term ahead for the drama department and this term it's the Upper School’s turn to perform their show. There was excitement in the air as we did a complete read through of their script 15 Reasons Not To Be in a Play by Alan Haehnal. This is a comical sketch show with lots of humour throughout and both the children and I are very much looking forward to casting, staging it and getting into full rehearsals.
Music - In music this week pupils were introduced to the inter-house music competition. This is a competition which will be running through summer term for musicians from Year 2 to Year 8. It was great to see the pupils enthusiastic about this project and it will be a great chance for all, both musicians and not, to develop their musical, performance and confidence skills. We will be analysing performances in detail and will be discussing how we can improve our stagecraft, overcoming nerves and learning how to manage them within a performance context which will provide invaluable, transferable skills for students.
Please note: If your child is performing next week (they have already been informed) they must remember to bring in their instrument, music and piano accompaniment for their timetabled music lesson. Photography - This week during photography module the Upper School children have been linking photography and textiles together. They have begun taking photographs ready to be stitched into over the next few weeks. I hope to be able to share their sketches of these next week.
Photography elective are currently mind mapping their own assignments as to what interests them within the field of Art Photography. There is so far a broad range of ideas and I am looking forward to their final pieces and presentations on them in a few weeks time.
The 2022 Edge Grove Golf Day will 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.