This week we were excited to be able to invite parents back into school to run workshops for the children. Diwali, such a happy festival based around community, care of each other and celebration was the perfect opportunity for our volunteers to share their knowledge and first hand experience with all our pupils. Of course, fireworks are a recurring theme in early November and Year 1 learnt more about the science behind these explosive delights during a visit to the school’s science laboratories. We are so excited to introduce our space themed reading den nicknamed the ‘Reading Space’ to Pre-School, where the children are able to explore the world of reading. They will be able to access the area in small groups and have free choice within a calm setting - perfect for diving into a good book! We will share pictures very soon. Year 2 are studying all things money related in maths and like all the best lessons, a practical element helps to reinforce skills. Each child drew or painted a masterpiece and then offered it for sale in a shop, naming their price. Their classmates could then come along and purchase a painting of their choice to take home, as long as they had brought along enough money to pay for it; change was given of course and I was pleased to see that no one left the shop without checking that no mistakes had been made!
Year 3 - In Year 3, it was wonderful to see the superb effort made by the children on their Black History Month projects. The children have enjoyed sharing their research and it has opened up important discussions about equality.
In maths, we are working on addition and subtraction using our place value skills developed last half term. It has been pleasing to see that many children have used TT Rockstars during the break. In English, we have been using poetic devices such as alliteration, similes, metaphors and onomatopoeia to create a bonfire night poem.
In science, we are exploring rocks and soils and our topic this term is volcanoes. The children were very excited to have a whole day in the hall exploring a selection of rocks and fossils led by a palaeontologist.
Year 4 - It has been wonderful to have the year 4’s back for the second part of Autumn term. We have enjoyed listening to and seeing their Black History Projects. A great effort has been made with these.
The Year 4 pupils impressed us with their Roman costumes and had a great morning learning about all things Roman. We look forward to the 1st December when we have our full Roman day as planned.
In English the children have been writing their own Explanation texts based on a Wallace and Gromit invention. The children have shown enthusiasm for this topic and have demonstrated an excellent imagination when explaining the different features of the machine.
In maths the children have worked hard on learning the conversions of measurements. They have used the bar and part whole model to assist with their learning. This has been a challenging topic so their perseverance has been admired.
Year 5 & 6 - Year 5 and 6 presented their Black History Week projects this week. It was wonderful to hear about all of the people that have inspired them from the world of science, art, maths, literature and sports. These were presented as podcasts, posters, PowerPoints and pieces of art. We look forward to seeing some of these being displayed in our Edge Grove ‘museum’ next week. On Wednesday the children attended an assembly presented by Shrimad Rajchandra from Mission Dharampur UK. Year 5 and 6 were encouraged to raise money for areas that had been badly affected by Covid. On Thursday we celebrated Diwali with a very tasty lunch consisting of tandoori chicken, squash and paneer curry, poppadums, mango rice and coconut ice. The week ended with a bang with the Edge Grove Firework and Bonfire Parade.
In Year 5 maths lessons the children looked at decimals. By the end of the week children were able to order decimals, convert fractions into decimals and round digits to 1 decimal place. This week saw the start of our Shakespeare unit in English lessons. The children started to look at the story of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Before looking into the plot and characters, Year 5 researched Shakespeare and the Globe theatre. See if your child can tell you some new facts about this historical landmark. In theology lessons classes were discussing the existence of God. They looked at the viewpoints of various religions and the evidence that they use to support his existence.
In Year 6 Maths (Red Set ) the pupils have been completing exam preparation, with a particular focus upon angle rules in triangles and those involving parallel lines. In English the year 6’s during their Shakespeare topic have been studying The Twelfth Night. In science the year 6’s have started a new topic learning about Energy. They have looked at different items such as wind up toys, light bulbs and elastic poppers and named the energy changes occurring.
In other news Georgina in Year 6 has created a beautiful photo book containing her flower photography named ‘Outside in Close Up’. All the photos are taken on her iphone and are not edited showing the fantastic skills that she has with a camera.
Year 7 Poetry Recital Congratulations to every single member of Year 7 who shone on stage in last half term’s Poetry Recital. Adjudicated by Gaby Finer, our LAMDA teacher, and Senior Deputy Head Miss Jo Leighton, the recital itself was a celebration of many of the works of poet Joseph Coehlo, taken from his anthology Overhead in a Tower Block . Prior to this week’s event, the children have been studying poetry in English, and had selected one of his poems to recite and rehearse. We were so impressed by their confidence, engagement and expression, as well as the support, kindness and appreciation they extended to their peers - an embodiment of our School values and guiding principles.
Congratulations to Runners Up Shona and Henry for their excellent performances. A special ‘Judge’s Prize’ was awarded to Freddie. And the overall first prize went to Max C for his superb rendition of ‘Red Table’.
Appointment of Year 8 Prefects Miss McDonald announced the first round of Year 8 Prefect appointments. Congratulations to Stephen, Mark, Henry, Stephie, Sophie, Arjun, Hayden, Theo, Joseph, Liam and Roman who submitted excellent applications, and conducted themselves very well throughout the interview process. We look forward to awarding their badges and ties in assembly and will enjoy discussing their roles and responsibilities in and around School.
English and Art Year 8 have been combining both their artistic talents and imaginative writing to create war scenes with willow charcoal overlain by their own original poetry written in English lessons. Mrs Broadis, Head of English, said, "The results are stunning. In many ways art, poetry and music are the same - they all are created to have an emotional impact on their audience. Year 8 can be very proud of the work they have produced." Some poems will be read in the school's Remembrance Service, "It is fitting that young voices are heard, retelling experiences from the past. The education we offer children must enable them to be empathetic and understanding." This project has certainly helped our pupils engage with the wartime experiences of troops and their families.
The Games Department are delighted to announce the Sports Star of the term award. This award is to recognise one person in each year group who has excelled over the previous half term for outstanding effort, focus and sportsmanship in the lessons. I am very pleased to announce the first winners of this award. Well done to you all.
Year 3 - Freya S Year 4 - Max S Year 5 - Sofia C Year 6 - George MJ Year 7 - Emilia C Year 8 - Charlie P
Well done to everyone taking part in fixtures. It's great to see so many pupils back on the sports field! You can view all the Match Reports here.
A great start to the new half term in the Music department. Christmas is already looming in the air…Rehearsals have commenced for the Year 3 & 4 Christmas musical ‘Dragon Days’ which is already sounding fiery! We look forward to hearing the Year 4 Choir sing a rendition of some of the songs they have already learnt at the Apthorp Donor Recognition event on Saturday 13th November. Year 5 have been experimenting with different rhythmic patterns by using their bodies as instruments to create ‘body percussions’. The teamwork and creativity they conveyed during their lessons was brilliant. Some groups even showed what the difference is between the rhythm and the beat. Year 6 have been delving deeper into their knowledge and understanding of musical note values and have been composing their own rhythmic patterns using accurate musical notes and rests. Year 7 & 8 have been exploring different, popular chord progressions involved in many pop songs and are now experts at being able to play ‘Wild Thing’ and ‘Let it Be’ on the bass, piano and drums! We also had some brilliant vocalists who Miss Saville dared to share the mic with! Lots of Y7&8 pop bands coming to life… with lots of creativity in the mix.
This week in Photography we launched the Young Photographer Charity Competition, the theme of this is ‘My Peaceful Place.’ The competition supports Stem4 which is a youth mental health charity. Submissions for this need to be completed by Thursday 18th November so can then upload them during our Photography lesson.
Both Photography Module and Elective have been working on manipulation via distorting. Great work from Mirabelle and Mali from Module and from Evan and Max C from Elective.