The Pre-School are continuing to explore measuring and I was very interested to see the fruits of their investigations. The use of comparative language is impressive and it is surprising how many times a day that you can build this into every day language. Reception continue to use The Smeds and the Smoos by Julia Donaldson as their focus text; there are just so many themes to explore. My assembly on Friday was based on one of its central points, how important it is to recognise and celebrate the fact that we are all different. Year 2 helped me to find an excellent selection of books from the library to recommend to everyone. I am delighted that our new school librarian Ms Volioti will be running library sessions with every class in Pre Prep over the course of the term. Each child will learn more about how a library is organised and will be taught how to explore and review our ever-growing catalogue of titles. Year 1 are enjoying the opportunity to hear and identify a range on instruments in their class music lessons. As each one makes a unique sound they then work in teams to repeat back a rhythm. I am very much looking forward to the first Rush Hour concert, where for the first time Pre Prep instrumentalists will play alongside their peers from all across the school. There was a rogue penguin on the loose at Edge Grove and Year 2 were given photographic evidence of its adventures at various locations around the school. They were then tasked with writing very descriptive sentences about each location so that we could track it down. The whole thing caused such a stir that the pupils felt that they must write newspaper articles to record the event. I have it on good authority that the penguin has been safely returned to its UK home.
Year 3 - In English, the children have been exploring the book The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo. They have made comparisons to the original story of Cinderella and have looked at how verbs create the action part of the story. They have debated whether or not it was a happy ending giving their point of view.
In maths, we worked on multiplying 2-digit by 1-digit numbers. The children explored various methods and solved word problems. In science, we have continued to look at light and shadows designing shadow puppets to be made in the coming weeks.
Year 4 - In English the children have started learning about non-chronological reports. Each child has been given an egg and they have been allowed to let their imaginations run wild, with what type of dragon their egg might contain. The children looked at creating questions in a structured format looking at particular aspects of their baby dragon’s life such as their appearance, diet, habitat and adaptations. This will form the basis for them writing their own reports next week.
In Maths the children have begun looking at formal written methods for multiplication and have been encouraged to explain and demonstrate as many different ways of answering the same question as they can.
In Topic this week the children have been learning about maps, the features, functions and uses of maps in different contexts. This will form a basis for exploring both human and physical features of two contrasting towns.
Year 5 - This week Edge Grove pupils were educated on the events of the Holocaust in order to recognise the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day. This took place on Thursday 27th January. Every day during form time, the children read a chapter of ‘Them’ by Tom Palmer. The story focuses on a group of Holocaust survivors who arrive in the United Kingdom in 1945. Form tutors were very impressed with the maturity of year 5 pupils and the poignant discussions that were taking place between them in the classroom. In English lessons this week children were asked to write a diary entry as Michael from ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’. The children were asked to write their diary using the past and present tense. They wrote about terrifying hairy spiders in Australia, a game of football on the sandy beaches of Brazil and safari trips in Africa. Year 5 looked at percentages in maths lessons this week. They enjoyed playing a matching game to join together fractions, decimals and percentages. By the end of the week the children were able to find percentages of amounts. In art lessons the children started to create their own aboriginal inspired artwork. Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed creating their own adverts for an imaginary product they were trying to sell. These ranged from spy glasses to an inflatable house. There were no matches against other schools this week so the children continued with their rugby and netball training. Showing themselves to be particularly hardy playing in the cold weather this week! In history lessons this week the children continued to look at the Archbishop of Canterbury, creating a storyboard to document his relationship with Henry II. There was much delight this week in DT lessons when the children were challenged to make chocolate cookies. I wonder if there were any left by the time they got home… Year 6 - This week the year 6s were given their parts for the production of Peter Pan. We are really looking forward to helping the children learn their lines and seeing them wow us in their performances later this term.
Although matches were cancelled this week the pupils still had a lot of fun in their Wednesday Games sessions. The Netballers completed a circuit of different drills and activities, working on their netball skills as well as their agility, balance and coordination.
In English this week the year 6s have been writing descriptions of a mountain setting within the book Clockwork. Please see the brilliant work of Yuya who has achieved an academic commendation for his writing.
In Science this week the pupils have been discussing the differences between reversible and irreversible reactions. Below you can see a picture of Mrs Cookson and 6DW carrying out an irreversible reaction, adding Vinegar to Sodium Bicarbonate within a model Volcano.
Last week we had a number of pupils taking part in their mock and real Common Entrance exams and scholarship tests. Well done to you all on your hard work. It was also lovely to see some fantastic netball practice taking place in the Walled Garden last week as our Upper School girls took a break from fixtures due to Covid. You can see some photos here.
It is with great disappointment that all our fixtures for the next two weeks have had to be cancelled. We are still taking advantage of our games lessons to prepare the pupils for our future matches and the effort and enthusiasm shown by the children has not waned at all.
Congratulations to Dotty in Year 4 who did a sponsored swim in the December holidays to raise funds for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. She swam 100 lengths in an amazing time of 1 hour and 13 minutes. Dotty set out to raise £100, but she’s reached £600 and the giraffes are pretty happy!
Music - The orchestra, chamber choir and Prep chorus are currently rehearsing for upcoming events in both the Spring and Summer term. The Prep chorus choir is singing one of Miss Saville’s favourite show tunes ‘There's No Business Like Show Business’!
A reminder that orchestra practice takes place every Thursday morning 8.00am – 9.00am. Please can we ask that students make it a priority to attend on time each week to ensure an efficient rehearsal practice.
Photography - Upper School Module Photographers have started to look at composition and making edits which they think would make their photographs look better. With a range of crop and adjustments they have made great progress on what makes a good photograph.
Year 7&8 Elective have started a new project called My Face, which is on the theme of David Hockney's movement work. I hope to be able to share these edits with you next week.
Drama - Year 3 had lots of fun portraying different feelings and emotions using their facial expressions and body language! They realised how important these dramatic techniques are whilst playing different characters.
Art - We have enjoyed a very busy week in the art department. The year 3s have finished their cave art projects and are embarking on their Ancient Egyptian projects, first revising their knowledge of the colour wheel. The Year 4s are now very close to finishing their Hundertwasser inspired mixed media paintings. They are so bright and colourful! Just what we need during these dark, wintery days. Year 5s are putting their knowledge of the skeleton form to the test as they complete their Aboriginal animal paintings. They were interested to discover that all animals with an internal skeleton are derived from the same original form. Even dolphins have five finger bones inside their fins! Year 6 have almost finished their Angie Lewin inspired seed heads and will finish their backgrounds by the end of this half term. Year 7 and 8s are enjoying the relaxing approach to neurographic art.
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.
Tickets are now on sale for the Edge Grove Big Apple Ball taking place on Saturday 2nd July. Click here to book your tickets.
On Friday 11th we will be celebrating International Day of Women and Girls In Science for all pupils in Years 3-8. We would like to use this as an opportunity to showcase to the children in the Lower Prep and Upper Prep the many ways that women can be involved in careers in science; and to do our part to counter the outdated gender stereotypes that have lead to women being underrepresented in these fields. One of the aims of International Day of Women and Girls In Science is to inspire and engage women and girls in science, with the hope of empowering them to be agents of change as they grow up! To offer our pupils a small insight into what is possible, we would like to invite members of our community (mothers, aunts, grandmothers) who work, or have previously worked, in a science field to come and speak to the pupils about their job, how they got there, and their experiences as a women working in science. If this is something you would like to get involved with, please email Miss Piper on epiper@edgegrove.com. The details are not yet fully confirmed, but you would need to be available on either the morning or afternoon of Friday 11th February. We look forward to hearing from you!