This week’s guiding principle has been ‘Take Notice’, and we have all enjoyed making that little extra effort, and taking a bit more time to take our surroundings in on a daily basis. Whether this be in the form of really noticing some of the spectacular autumnal colours around the school grounds, or checking in with a friend to see how they are feeling, children and tutors have been enjoying swapping notes about how we can truly improve our powers of perception. One other subject of form time conversations this week has been goal setting. We’ve been looking at what goals are and how to make them ‘SMART’ i.e. specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound. All pupils are being encouraged to set themselves a personal goal. To achieve that goal, we’ll be thinking about what the specific ‘steps to success’ look like; I am looking forward to seeing the children’s progress as this half term progresses.
Bonfire Night Remember, remember the 5th of November. Covid has meant we have had to think very creatively about how to safely adapt some of Edge Grove’s most precious traditions - and for our Year 8s this year, we were able to keep the spirit of bonfire night well and truly alive. Socially distanced, our Year 8s marched with their drums around the fire, before saying farewell to the well-dressed Edge Grove 'guy'. Warm drinks, hot dogs and chips added to the atmosphere as the sun set in the sky; a beautiful evening.
Inter House Basketball Year 8 We could not have been prouder of the sportsmanship demonstrated by Year 8 in this week’s inter house basketball tournament. The tension in the sports hall was truly palpable as the children battled it out! I am looking forward to Year 7’s turn next week.
Subject news...
Science In science the Year 7’s have been learning about the topic of electromagnetism. They carried out an investigation to test the strength of electromagnets by changing the amount of current, the amount of coils and by taking out the core.
Computing Year 7 and 8 are swapping over their computing and PE lessons this week. In computing we are looking at E-safety for 11-13 year olds. Year 7 are making slides about their research and Year 8 are making their own advice websites.
French Year 7 have been answering questions about themselves and family and will write a small paragraph which will be used for their speaking assessment in a few weeks time.
Year 8 have been very busy revising the perfect tense and using it correctly to talk about things they have done during their holidays and during their weekend.
Geography Year 7 are learning why people live in dangerous areas such as next to active volcanoes and deciding whether the benefits outweigh the risks. They are also learning how to survive an earthquake and should be able to talk you through the 3 Ps.
Year 8 are building a case study on the London 2012 Olympics or rather the legacy of the Olympics. London won the bid on the claim they were to be the ‘greenest’ Games ever and we are now unpacking this statement to see if indeed the Games were sustainable and upheld the promises they initially made.
Maths Year 7 have been working on the topic factors, multiples and primes. Children have been using venn diagrams and prime factorisation to work out HCF and LCM and then writing answers using index notion.
Year 8s have been building on their expanding brackets work completed before half term to solve equations using 1 or 2 steps before moving onto solving inequalities.
History Pupils in Year 7 have now completed their ‘Stolen from Africa’ stories and are currently looking at what life was like on a plantation. The Year 8s meanwhile have been working on some Becket source work before moving on to the 1st Crusade.
Creative Arts Year 7&8 Textiles are continuing with their African batik designs. They have drawn out their design using hot wax and are now starting to paint their design using fabric paints. Don't forget to check out the Creative Arts section to see all the fantastic things Upper School have been up to in Music, Art and Drama.