Christmas has well and truly arrived at the Pre-School with lots of different activities set up. These included a Polar Express small world train ride with real snow to explore, line stories with Christmas trees and decorating Gingerbread men baked by our wonderful catering department. The children have also walked to the church to practise our nativity.
In Reception, in literacy this week the children have been developing their imaginations using a concept called ‘Helicopter Stories.’ The children recapped what the stick was used for in the ‘Stick Man’ story and then chose their stick from outside and decided what it could be used for in their own story. Whilst thinking carefully about characters, settings and making the story develop the children shared their story and it was written by an adult word for word. The children then directed their own story with the class, using their peers as actors. It gave them great ownership of their stories and they were so proud to share them with their classmates.
In Year 1 and 2, the highlight of the week was of course their Nativity. We are so proud of them all. They sang with gusto and remembered all their lines. Well done all!
Year 3 & 4 - It was showtime for year 3 and 4 this week as the curtains opened on ‘Bah Humbug!’. Well done to all of the pupils who performed and sang beautifully in both performances.
In Year 3, maths and English lessons this week were largely assessment filled as the children impressed their teachers with their newfound comprehension skills and number knowledge. In art lessons the children received video messages from a range of different artists to inspire their own art creations. Miss Harkin was very impressed with the budding fashion designers in the class. During science lessons the children concluded their unit on rocks and fossils. The children were busy evaluating the results of their recent investigation. They were discovering which rocks were hard, soft, impermeable or permeable.
Year 3 continued to look at different types of volcanoes in humanities lessons. Year 3 were then asked to describe each volcano and locate the different types on a map of the world.
In Year 4, the children have also been researching a continent which resulted in some amazing posters and presentations. They used Chromebooks for their research and worked well in their groups, taking turns and listening to one another.
In science, the children have sorted mains and battery powered devices in a Venn diagram. Most children could explain what should go in each section of the Venn diagram.
On Thursday we had a visit from Chaplin's pantomimes who performed ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. There were lots of singalongs and giggles had by all!
On Friday the Apthorp building was filled with rockstars as the children enjoyed a day dressing as rock icons for our Times Tables Rockstars day. In maths lessons pupils took part in times tables battles against each other. Who knew learning could be such fun?
Year 5 & 6 - Year 5 and 6 have had another busy week in the run up to winter break! We hope you all enjoyed the Christmas Fair last weekend. The Upper School spent a long time preparing for their stalls and I am sure you all agree that they did fantastically, raising a lot of money for their chosen charities. We hope it has inspired those year 6s staying with us next year!
Year 5 and the year 6 siblings had the opportunity to watch the year 3 and 4’s production of Bah Humbug! It was a fantastic show and got us in the Christmas spirit.
On Thursday this week the Year 8 house captains decorated the trees with the decorations you have all been making at home. Thank you to those of you who spent time making beautiful decorations for your house.
The highlight of the week in Upper School was definitely the Year 7 poetry recital. With the fire roaring in the Library, they performed in front of parents and a VIP panel of judges, including Mr Stanley, Mr Balfour and Miss Neale. Pupils performed their own poetry and the quality of the writing and delivery was simply exceptional. They spoke about resilience, culture, family, identity and belonging and we were bowled over by their maturity and sensitivity. Well done, all.
Following our success in the Table Tennis District Championships on November 17th, all four of our teams took part in the County Finals. The U11 finals were held at Edge Grove on November 24th; with teams split into two pools the boys in their first match lost 1-7 to a strong King's team which went on to win the competition. The other pool matches were very close, 4-4 v Bengeo, 5-3 v Welwyn and 3-5 v Gardenfields. Their final playoff match was a 7-1 win over Pixmore to secure 5th place. The U11 Girls won their pool after a 4-4 draw v Greenway and wins over King James (7-1) and Welwyn (8-0) but had to settle for silver medals by narrowly losing out to King's 3-5 in the final.
The U13 teams travelled to Ridgeway Academy in Welwyn on November 28th and both teams returned with medals. The boys were unbeaten in their pool with wins over Monk's Walk (7-1), Thomas Alleyns (6-2) and Ashlyn's (8-0) as well as a 4-4 draw with St Albans. Unfortunately St Albans won more games overall so went through to the final and Edge Grove had to be content with a 6-2 victory over Sandringham to secure 3rd place and bronze medals. The U13 girls played in a league of 5 schools and their 100% record saw them become County Champions and gain gold medals.
Winter Cricket Nets
In preparation for the cricket season we will be offering indoor cricket nets next term on a Tuesday evening from 4:30pm to 6:00pm, as well as a Saturday morning. The Saturday session for Year 3 to 5 pupils will be from 9:00am to 10:00am and the session for Year 6 to 8 will be from 10:00am to 11:00am.
I would strongly encourage all pupils who are interested in cricket or who are hoping to play hard ball cricket to sign up to one of these sessions.
All of these sessions will be chargeable at the normal rate of £100 per term and numbers will be limited so please book early to secure your place.
We have just one match report for basketball this week, with our U13 match against Lochinver House. You can read the Match Report here.
Music - MTech Announcement - Congratulations and well done to Elliott W and Josh C who have won the prestigious M:Tech gold disc award this term. We were blown away by the quality of their work and really proud!
Please see their finished video composition here.
Christmas performances
“‘Tis the season to be jolly” and last week was certainly a jolly and joyful week as the beginning of the end of term Christmas performances got under way. Year 3 and Year 4 set the bar extremely high with their excellent performances in Bah Humbug! All the pupils gave a fantastic performance and it was brilliant to feel the Christmas performance spirit, which we’ve missed for so many years, back where it should be. A half-terms work came down to two final performances which lifted the roof off the Edge Grove theatre.
We were also very proud of Year 1 & 2 for performing and singing so beautifully in their Nativities last week. We look forward to this final, busy week ahead with all that is still to come: A trip to Kestrel Grove Residential Home to sing and entertain residents from our local community, a Pre-School & Reception Nativity and of course the Prep School Carol Service on Thursday at 6.30pm.
Mr Leutfeld & Miss Saville wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
D&T - Year 7 3D printing project - Product Design:
This term the Year 7’s have been working on a 3D printing project that focuses on the influence of biomimicry. The pupils have been tasked in creating a 3D model using SketchUp to create an innovative design that has been influenced by nature or animals. The pupils were able to render their 3D printed models using paint to represent the intended colours of the materials of what the product would be made out of and how it would look if it were the life size product.
STEM club - Christmas challenge
In STEM club this week, the pupils were given a Christmas challenge to design and make a decoration out of MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard). The students came up with some great creative designs and utilised a variety of tools and equipment in the workshop that included, twist drills, scroll saws and the belt sander.
Drama - Well done to all our Year 3 and 4 pupils for their fantastic performance of Bah Humbug last week. You should be very proud! Splaat Media have photographed our Year 3 and Year 4 Production and these images will be available to purchase online using the details below. Orders placed by Sunday 11th December will receive 25% off and this discount will be automatically applied at checkout. You can see a small selection of them below.
Link: https://splaatmedia.co.uk/galleries/edge-grove-school-december-2022-show/
Password: edgegrovealdenham
