Pre-School have been brilliantly resilient this week during the cold weather. This was particularly noticeable during Forest School, where we had a lovely morning working on our motor skills. Mrs Doughty introduced us to lots of fabulous parachute games which built up our gross motor skills, we then zoomed into our fine motor as we explored the garden on a pompom hunt. Finally, finishing our lesson with some balloon balancing!
Reception took a trip through the rainforest when Zoolab came to visit and we met a range of different animals from Mr Jangles the corn snake to Barbara the tree frog. We learnt some amazing facts about how they live and survive in the rainforest. Did you know that a giant African land snail has more teeth than a great white shark? But don’t worry, if they bite you, it would feel more like a cat lick. Or did you know that your favourite moisturiser is made from snail slime?? What a fascinating experience enjoyed by all.
Year 1 have relished the opportunity to use drama techniques and become Mr Postmouse’s son, Pipsqueak, in order to write a special letter of invitation to a party. We have explored hot seating, question marks and commas in lists with real verve, gusto and aplomb! All pupils are becoming very skilled and confident when tackling a variety of addition and subtraction problems, impressing each other and the adults who support them with initiative and resilience. Another highlight this week was a trip to the Wellbeing Centre where we meditated and embraced a wonderful opportunity for mindfulness.
In Year 2 this week pupils have absolutely loved learning about alliteration. They have been coming up with long, entertaining and descriptive alliterative phrases to describe themselves and each other. They then tried to recite various alliterative tongue twisters at pace and whilst us teachers were getting muddled, the children performed them excellently! It was also lovely to see the children developing their learning in groups this week. Their communication and teamwork skills have been exceptional and as groups they have been able to produce some beautiful posters all about winter alliteration.
In Forest School, pupils have risen to the challenge this week and had lots of fun fence building. They have been making collections of branches from around the grounds to repair the boundary fence surrounding Forest School. Long sticks have been safely transported to areas that needed mending and used to fill in the gaps.
We have also spoken about the “One small change” initiative - what one small change can we make as individuals to make a difference to our world? Some of the contributions the children made were incredible, especially from Year 1. The ideas ranged from planting trees and flowers to reducing the amount of food we purchase. We look forward to building on these ideas and sharing some of them in the coming weeks.
It has been a pleasure to welcome Pre Prep to the wellbeing centre to experience the wonderful setting and take part in a guided breathing session with Mrs Sharp. As we experimented with breathing techniques, a sense of focus and calm was truly palpable in the room, with the children themselves saying they felt ‘relaxed’, ‘happy’, ‘calm’ and even ‘sleepy’.
If you would like to learn more about the breathwork session please join Mrs Sharp for the online workshop, Breathing for Wellbeing, on Wednesday 8th February. More information can be found here in the newsletter and in the information section of the Edge Grove app.
The Apthorp building was filled with Pharaohs and mummies this week as Year 3 pupils took part in an Egyptian Day. The day was filled with exciting demonstrations, activities and creative workshops. Pupils returned home with handmade soaps, clay carvings and scented wax clay pots. Pupils (and staff) were taught lots of new and interesting Egyptian facts. Did you know that the Ancient Egyptians believed in over 2,000 different deities?
Year 3 continued their investigations into measurement in maths lessons this week. They were exploring capacity, using litres and millilitres to record their findings. On Friday the children used measuring jugs to estimate and measure the capacity of various containers.You can read a fantastic report on the day from Edge Grove Journalists, Roma and Joseph, in the section here.
There was more talk of creaking staircases, torrential rain and rattling window panes in English lessons this week as the children continued with their mystery story writing. Year 3 were encouraged to stretch their writing with the use of similes, metaphors, ellipses and rhetorical questions.
In science lessons this week the children were continuing with their investigations into light and shadow. There were great class discussions regarding objects that might be transparent, translucent and opaque. Ask your child to explain why we wear dark clothes in winter and white clothing in the summer.
Year 3 were keeping great rhythm in their music lessons this week as they were asked to perform rhythmical pieces on the drums. In drama lessons Year 3 continued to look at hot seating as a way to develop their understanding of a character.
Pupils were relieved that the sun finally made an appearance on Thursday, allowing matches to take place for the first time this term. Well done to all who took part.
This week, Year 4 wrote some factual newspaper reports based on the Lindisfarne raid in 793 AD. The enthusiasm for learning about the Anglo Saxons has been pleasing to see and the children have amazed us with their prior knowledge.
In maths, we have explored mixed numbers and improper fractions using manipulatives to order and compare. The story of Beowulf has continued to capture the imagination of the children in English, resulting in some vivid setting descriptions. They have focused on using a range of sentence structures, powerful word choices and fronted adverbials. This week they have also practised using apostrophes for possession.
The children have been learning about changing states of matter in science. They have explored boiling, condensation, melting, freezing and solidifying.
Class 5MT were delighted to have Adam from Year 3 stop by last week to deliver an informative, passionate and well prepared lesson on the Titans and Olympian gods. All pupils were completely engrossed by his stories and have already asked if we can make this happen again soon!
Once Adam finished his teaching, he stayed with us to see how a typical Year 5 Classics lesson runs. He had the chance to flick through a few books and even got to grips with some basic Latin.
Thanks for coming by Adam; hopefully see you in SB5 again soon!
In Year 5 English, we are back on the Peggy Sue having finished our discursive essays (you’ll be happy to hear that most children in Year 5 prefer coming to school rather than being home-schooled), and we have been revisiting the features of descriptive writing whilst revising verbs forms for the past, present and future tenses.
In Year 5 Mathematics, pupils have been learning about the various methods used in calculating percentages. From converting between fractions, decimals and percentages to building percentages out of 10%, 5% and 1%, pupils are now equipped with an array of tools to help them tackle those challenging word problems!
Writing dialogue between characters can be tricky and sometimes, without enough description, exchanges can be stilted and unrealistic. In Year 6 English this week, pupils have been using the acronym SEAT to help think about bringing life to words that their characters speak: Speech, Emotions, Actions, Thoughts. Accurate punctuation of speech has also been revised.
In Year 6 Mathematics, pupils have been introduced to Algebra. They have learnt how to collect like terms and simplify expressions as well as how to solve one and two step equations. This conceptual understanding of algebra and all associated methods will form the foundation of problem solving going forward.
In science pupils in Year 6 have been studying the differences between chemical and physical changes. They observed that when sodium bicarbonate is mixed with vinegar a chemical change occurs. Additionally, the pupils relighted a candle, from the vaporised wax, proving that when a candle burns the gas wax reacts with oxygen to combust, rather than the solid wax.
Congratulations to each and every member of Year 8 for participating with such enthusiasm and energy in last week’s values workshops with Mr Stanley. The pupils’ input has been exceptionally valuable, and we are excited to see some very promising results emerge from their discussions. It is exciting to see our seniors demonstrate leadership and collaboration in action. Watch this space for the next chapter in this journey….
The science laboratories have been as busy as ever this week. Our Year 7s have started a new topic studying plant and animal cells. This picture shows Rohan and Kamil arranging cards to match the organelles of cells with their pictures and functions.
Our Year 8s have studied how moments create turning forces. They completed an investigation to prove that if an object is in equilibrium (balanced), the total anti-clockwise moments are equal to the total clockwise moments. You can see pictures of 8 Red completing this practical.
Year 7 EpiPen Training - Can you recognise the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis? Do you know how to administer an auto-adrenaline injector pen? Year 7 do! Thank you to Helena Hebbs, one of our school nurses, who facilitated an excellent training session. Well done to all pupils for engaging with such maturity and focus. Next week, it will be Year 8’s turn to be trained up.
Finally, all members of the school community will see Year 8 fulfilling a number of duties this week. In recognition of being ‘commissioned’ by Mr Stanley to adopt the mindset of ‘service leaders’, our seniors have signed up for a weekly job. From serving snack, to buddy-reading to meeting and greeting parents, we hope you will see our Year 8s in action, smiling and ready to serve!
It was another frustrating week for the rugby players as frozen pitches across Hertfordshire meant that all rugby matches on Wednesday were cancelled again. We were lucky enough to have the Year 3 and 4 pupils play their very first rugby matches of the season on Thursday and they all performed extremely well.
Congratulations to our cross country runners who participated in the Inter Schools cross country run at Beechwood Park. It is a very big run with over 17 schools taking part. The U9 girls did extremely well finishing second overall and the U9 boys finished 3rd overall.
You can read the match reports here.
Well done to Dotty in Year 5 who has been selected to compete in the Herts County Championships for swimming. Dotty is racing over the next few weekends in six events: the 50 breaststroke, 50 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 100 IM and 200 IM. Dotty is the youngest female to be selected so this is a huge achievement. Well done Dotty, you have the whole of the Edge Grove community cheering you on from home.
There was lots of excitement and anticipation in the air as Year 6 pupils entered their music and drama classes as they were moments away from finding out their casting for Alice the Musical. It has been wonderful being able to delve deep into wonderland and begin to bring these classic, well-known characters to life during rehearsals. Well done everybody!
We are inviting pupils to take part in this fantastic competition from the ISA Arts. Please submit entries to Ms Neale on lneale@edgegrove.com by Monday 20th February. For more details please contact Ms Neale.
