The two little words that I enjoy hearing the most in school are “I wonder”. As a little girl I was always described as having my head in the clouds or my nose in a book - well, I was actually busy wondering! Just like the little boy in Faye Hansons’s beautifully illustrated book The Wonder, we need a great imagination and curiosity about the world if we are to be successful learners. I set Year 2 a challenge this week as I was wondering if the UK could host the Winter Olympic Games. Their reflective answers, based on all that they know about climate zones together with a healthy dose of imaginative solutions will be presented in assembly. Gross motor skills have an influence on so many of our every day tasks and so it is important that Pre-School and Reception children especially have the opportunity to develop them during the school day. In Pre-School, I was therefore excited to see the children painting a huge canvas hung on the garden fence using brushes made of twigs, branches and various foliage. A giant paint pot provided the colour and the collaborative masterpiece was a joy to behold. Weekly Forest School sessions provide Reception with the opportunity to flex their muscles as they drag logs, wobble on them and build with them while at the same time hunting for worms and bird watching from the crook of a low hung branch. Year 1 proved to be very purposeful in their mathematical wonderings this week as they continue to explore number. Their work is never ‘finished’ as the children are challenged to explain their answers and also to explore any exceptions.
Year 3 - On Tuesday, Year 3 were transported back to the rule of Akhenaten, the controversial pharaoh who forced Egyptians to worship the ‘new’ gods. The children visited the marketplace and created all sorts of beautiful wares including canopic jars, amulet necklaces and perfume cones. There was lots of gossip to share (including a very treasonous Miss Jancey) and the children were kept engaged by asking stall holders interesting questions. In the afternoon, the children worked in groups to perform at the pharaoh’s feast. The performances included the story of Isis and Osiris, the Apis Bull, the dance of the River Nile and the wax crocodile. The feast was concluded by Akhenaten sentencing the traitor to being buried in the desert! The children all looked positively ancient and learnt so many interesting facts.
Year 4 - In English this week the children have had the opportunity to write their own non chronological reports based on their dragon egg they were given at the beginning of the week. The children had the opportunity to draft their writing. An important skill for developing excellent writing. The children up-leveled their work using the success criteria, which has lead to some outstanding pieces of writing.
The children have enjoyed a practical topic lesson this week whereby they have populated a large map of Brighton noting down the human and physical features that they have located. This will form a wonderful basis for a comparative study next week between two contrasting towns.
In maths the students have developed their understanding of division though applying their times table knowledge to calculate some tricky division equations. We rounded off the week competing in the national Times Table Rockstar challenge in aid of the NSPCC.
Year 5 - This week we entered the Chinese year of the tiger. Thank you to Tara for a fantastic Chinese New Year presentation, it was such a shame that Devika was unable to present with you. In English this week the children continued to read the story of ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’. Year 5 were harnessing their comprehension skills, answering tricky inference questions in response to the text. In maths lessons, the children refreshed their understanding of long multiplication. They were then challenged to solve decimal multiplication equations using the methods that they had been taught. There were very inviting smells coming from the cooking classroom this week as children continued to cook up a storm in design and technology lessons. Children were challenged to make falafels and they looked delicious! The other half of the year group continued to work on their sea life textiles project. In science lessons the children continued their lessons learning about the moon, the earth and the sun. They investigated reflections from the sun and the moon and how they can be viewed on earth.
In music lessons year 5 started to rehearse the songs for the year 5 and 6 Peter Pan musical. We can’t wait to see their performance at the end of the term. Despite there being no matches, Year 5 continued to work on their netball and rugby skills. In P.E lessons the children had great fun playing ultimate frisbee. Year 5 created storyboards to retell the story of Henry II and Thomas Beckett in history lessons, they are now expert detectives in solving historical murders! In drama lessons year 5 started to direct their prepared tv adverts. Their selling techniques are very persuasive!
Year 6 - This week's assembly was delivered by Tara who explained the traditions surrounding Chinese New Year. Tara explained that this year was the year of the Tiger, which is a special animal for many of our Year 6s as this is the year they were born! Tara gave out red envelopes with three coins in them which symbolise good luck. Thank you Tara for such a great assembly!
The Peter Pan rehearsals are in full swing and the pupils are focusing on learning their lines and figuring out their entrances and exits.
In science this week the pupils have finished their topic of elements, compounds and mixtures and have been practicing their revision skills by completing a trigger word sheet. They are excited to move onto our next topic that involves getting their Bunsen burner license.
Last week our Year 8 pupils worked hard to encourage pupils to get involved in the inter-house photography competition and jazzed up their house boards to drum up some team spirit.
Year 7 also impressed us in science as they worked collaboratively to identify the different parts of a cell.
We are excited that fixtures will be resuming this week (see the Information Letter for fixtures information) so last week we took advantage of our games lessons to prepare the pupils for our upcoming matches. The boys took part in some rigorous rugby drills (check out the photos here) and the girls kept the netball courts alight! Good luck to all our teams with their fixtures this week.
Photography - This week in Photography the Upper School module group started to edit using layers, they were set to do one natural photograph and then another ‘wacky’ one. The results look great as you can see.
Elective Photography group have been finishing editing their photographs on the theme of ‘My Face.’ After uploading their David Hockey style piece they were then editing using opacity as their editing tool.
Drama - Peter Pan rehearsals are in full swing and the Year 6 pupils have been working hard on blocking the show and remembering where and when to enter and exit. This week we will be focusing on their character development. Year 5 have been looking at duologues and performing a small script in a variety of genres i.e. in the style of Soap Operas or Musical Theatre; some of the results have been very comical! The Year 7 & 8 Elective group have been choosing their Shakespeare monologues to enter into the ISA monologue competition and I look forward to watching their entries. Year 4 have continued to look at myths this week and devised and performed their own myths. Music - Below is a picture of the Edge Grove orchestra in action during their weekly rehearsal practice. It was delightful to see more pupils attending. Please remember that it is imperative you practice your parts at home prior to the orchestra rehearsal on a Thursday morning.
Another great week for Year 6 who are rehearsing for Peter Pan. The songs are already sounding great and pupils are really grasping the challenge of singing in 2-3 part harmony.
Year 3 spent time investigating ‘me’, ‘soh’, and ‘lah’ and explored the concept of pitch within the doremi scale. It was great to see some of our pianists playing the scale for their peers in the lesson.
It was delightful to resume the Edge Grove Rush Hour concert last week and we look forward to the next one after half term. Well done to all pupils involved, it was a wonderful, informal showcase of your talents!
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!
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.