Monday 19 December 2011

Happy Christmas!

Dear Parents

It was a very busy last week at Oakwood!

It was really wonderful to see so many of you at the two Christmas performances and I was very proud of our talented singers, dancers, actors and technicians!

I hope the performances got you in the Christmas mood!

We had a really lovely Christmas dinner – roast turkey, stuffing, chipolatas and all the trimmings. Thank you to our amazing kitchen and lunchtime staff for producing fantastic fare for us!

And on Friday morning, we had our Carol Service. This is always a very magical occasion and we were joined by the team from Lordshill Church, who led us in celebration.

As we come to the end of 2011, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas on behalf of everyone at the school. Enjoy spending time with family and friends and we’ll see you in 2012! School reopens for pupils on Tuesday 3 January 2012.

Best wishes
from all at Oakwood Junior School


Wednesday 14 December 2011

It's Pantomime Season!

Oh, no it isn't!
Oh, yes it is!


Who would have thought neglectful parents, evil goblins, spooky talking trees and child-boiling witches would make for fun Christmas entertainment?

Well, when the panto is in town, good always triumphs over evil and Y4 and Y6's performance of Hansel and Gretel was no exception, as you can see from the photos below...



If you missed the amazing rehearsal videos at the start of the performance, catch a glimpse of them below...





And if you want to keep a careful check on what the Robbers got during their Tango, the evidence is clear:



Well done Years 4 and 6!!!

Monday 12 December 2011

Bah Humbug!

It was nearly an end to all Christmas celebrations at Oakwood tonight as Mr Humbug took over.

He wanted to clear the place of tinsel, streamers, glitter, stars and anything even remotely fun or festive.

Only the intervention of four ghosts could help and Years 3 and 5 managed to convert him into a jolly, Yuletide-loving headteacher with the widest seasonal smile on his previously glum face.



Indeed! Mr Humbug Sees The Light!


Well done to everyone involved and thanks for getting us into the Christmas Spirit!*

*Please Note: The Christmas Spirit in Mr Humbug's hipflask was purely for dramatic purposes only!

Stand and Deliver!

As part of their Victorian topic, Year 6 have been studying the works of Alfred Noyes, a famous Victorian poet.

His most famous ballad was The Highwayman and the children have learned it off by heart as part of our whole-school work on oral storytelling.

You can watch their performance of it below. (The story is not for the faint-hearted. Have your smelling salts at the ready...!)



If you're interested, you can read the ballad yourself...

Oscar joins the cubs for Christmas!

I went to the cub carol service tonight. The service was at Avenue St Andrew Church, The Avenue.

All the cub groups in Southampton were invited, so there were a lot of children.

We saw a familiar face, it was Chris, who told us the story of the shepherds. He got 4 cub leaders to dress up, they looked really silly.

Each cub was asked to bring along a toy that they no longer wanted to the service. All the toys were placed under a Christmas tree in the church. They will then be collected by SCRATCH who will give them to children in Southampton who wouldn't normally get any presents. Chris said last year they gave presents to more than 17,000 children and this year it could be even more. Helping other people is part of the cub promise which is why everyone was asked to bring something.

Lots of Christmas carols were sung and afterwards the cubs had a party in the church hall, it was really noisy, but lots of fun.

Getting Christmassy at the OSA Fair!

A fantastic time was had by all at the OSA Christmas Fair!

As usual, there was lots to do, many things to buy, things to eat and drink and lots to win...

Santa and his helper Elf gave their usual sleigh rides around the playground, and even a slight drizzle didn't put them off. (Santa is used to inclement weather!) The reindeer were in training, so the sleigh was pulled for one evening only by a magnificent white horse.



Thanks to all the children helpers, visitors, stall holders, staff and the committee of the OSA - a grand total of £3334 was raised, which will be split between the two schools.

In the junior school, we use the money to pay for our M&M performances - the next of which is Cinderella on 4 January 2012!

Thank you all!

Thursday 8 December 2011

Christmas Production Podcasting in Year 5

Years 3 and 5 would like to bring this exciting event to your attention! Mr Humbug Sees The Light!

Mr Humbug sees the light (mp3)


Script written by Louis, Alice, Nathan and Jacob.
Presented by Cheyanne, Sophie and Kezia.

Monday 5 December 2011

Winter Time

Mr Barrett has finished sweeping up leaves and it is getting much colder. We have been making snowflakes, robins and snowmen using materials from our environment...




Friday 2 December 2011

Year 6 Victorian Day

A great day was had by all in Year 6 yesterday when the clock turned back over a hundred years at Oakwood.

As the school bell rang,the children stood in line ready for the early morning drill before registration in the school hall. Knees trembled as children gingerly placed their hands on their desks for inspection of fingernails. Unfortunately not all passed the test. One insolent child even dared to come to school with a dirty face.

Following instruction in the 3Rs, children filed out to prepare for the afternoon fayre. As a result of many weeks of hard child labour parents, and other children throughout the school, were able to share the fun of the day, while partaking in home made refreshments. Year 6 would like to thank everyone who helped us to raise an AMAZING £313 4s 6d



Wednesday 30 November 2011

Let's Dance!

Year 3 had a wonderful day yesterday! First they all arrived dressed as evacuees ready for inspection, then onto learning all about rationing in war time. Next the children made sandwiches (using ration quantities) ready for their tea party.

In the afternoon parents and friends joined us to share wartime recipes and have a dance with the children - waltzing and jitterbugging.


Thank you to all that came and joined us in a fantastic day!

Tuesday 22 November 2011

An ICT Club Puzzle...

ICT Club have been doing many things over the past few weeks:

  • Photo Stories with narration
  • Sumo Paint patterns
  • Emailing securely
  • Learning about sharing security settings on Google Apps Presentations
  • Using Comic Life for Scrapbook Covers
  • Using Pivot Stick Animator
Today, most people also had a go at creating online jigsaws - have a go yourself!




Monday 21 November 2011

This Week's Quiz...

There's not been a quiz for a couple of weeks, so this one is particularly hard!

The answer isn't on the blog, but somewhere inside the school building!!

How many silver cars has Ursus Wehrli tidied up?

You will have to be really eagle-eyed  to spot the answer to this...

Don't leave your answer as a comment - fill in this form instead.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Your change changes lives...

Not a lot to read in this blog, because the House Captains have explained what we did - just have a listen...

House Captains Children in Need (mp3)



Thursday 17 November 2011

Buenas tardes! Como estas?

It has been a few weeks since we last posted so I thought I'd fill you in on what's been happening here in Mexico.

You heard about my journey to school on the buses in our last blog - well, this has all changed. I am now lucky enough to be picked up and brought home again by private taxi! Two other families from my school, who live quite near to me, were already doing this and so we managed to join in. We have the same driver everyday - his name is Miguel, and we having to learn Spanish very quickly to speak to him! It doesn't make my day any shorter because I am collected first and dropped off last but it is good to be travelling with other children.

The students at school are very friendly and, most of the time, I enjoy it. However, I get a LOT of homework - about 3 hours every night, sometimes more!

The school, although international, runs on an American curriculum and so we have to sing the American anthem every Thursday and pledge allegiance to the flag!! Do you even know the words to the British National anthem?

In October, we had a school campout. Well, it's called a campout, but it was actually overnight at a water park. This was in an area called Oaxtepec - another opportunity for you to go onto Google maps! It was good fun and, because there are only 28 pupils in my school, we all went, including our families. We played silly games, enjoyed the swimming pool and diving boards, ate good food and generally enjoyed two days away!



My school didn't get a half term holiday in October, but I will get a week off for Thanksgiving. I don't have to go into school for the week, but I will have two days' of home assignments. Thanksgiving is actually on November 25th and, because two Americans live in our house too, we will be having a Thanksgiving dinner! What can you find out about Thanksgiving? Rachel, one of the Americans that lives here, is a great cook and we have had some fun baking already so I'm looking forward to helping with the cooking.

The charity we have come out here to work with has had two mini brigadas on Saturdays. This has been great for me because I've been able to join in! This involves taking medical aid to poor areas on the outskirts of the city. We take large tents with us to set up on the road, to give us some shade, and are based at a church that has applied for a team to come. The people can come and register for medical, optical or hair care. We also have a children's area, so that they don't get bored while they are waiting, and a jewellery area. If we have a dentist with us then there is also a dental area. One of the churches we visited are involved with a charity called Compassion and, although their building is very basic and only about 50 people attend the church, they feed up to 300 children three times a week!! It is a very poor area and there is a lot of crime and so the children are very grateful for a decent meal.

It is difficult to remember that it is November because the weather here at the moment is hot and sunny. We are still just in t-shirts and only occasionally put a long sleeved top on in the evening.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Art Attack!

Art Club have had a very busy and creative few weeks.

We have made recycled robots, used radial drawing techniques to create some pastel firework pictures, made pasta and lentil pictures and...

...this week we upscaled our work and made 'Art Attack' style pictures on the floor!

We used some yellow/white discs (which had kindly been donated by a parent) and items of clothing to create some school characters. We then joined some of these together to show friendship as part of our Anti-bullying Week.

Can you spot the message in one of our photos?

Friday 11 November 2011

Part of something special...

We were very privileged to be invited to unveil the new Memorial Walls next to the Cenotaph in Southampton city centre this morning.

Our House Captains represented the school after we took part in the fund-raising by the Youth Parliament.

The new glass panels replace the roll of honour on the existing Portland stone Cenotaph in Watts Park which has been eroded.



House Captains, along with representatives from several other schools in the city, stayed for the Remembrance Service at 11am and took part in the two minutes' silence.

Children back in school also observed the two minutes' silence, and talked about the significance of the poppy.

You can catch a glimpse of our House Captains on BBC South Today...



...and they are also on the main photo on the Southampton City Council website Memorial Walls page.

Year 3 Remember

Today was a very special day for Year 3. Traditionally, every Year 3 child at Oakwood visits Hollybrook Cemetery on Remembrance Day, and today was even more special as the date was 11/11/11.

After walking really sensibly from school to the Cemetery, we arrived at the World War One graves and Cenotaph. There we met Robert, our local vicar, who is also a member of Lordshill Historical Society. A few members of his group had gathered to commemorate Remembrance Day along with a member of the Royal British Legion.

The children listened carefully to some information about Remembrance Day, before respecting two minutes' silence. We then laid a wreath that the children had made, which carried a thoughtful message from every child on a poppy. The Royal British Legion provided small wooden crosses, adorned with poppies, which the children then laid at each grave.

Soon after, we moved to visit the Second World War graves, which also included some German soldiers. It was very interesting to hear how the people of Germany lay white chrysanthemums on war graves, rather than poppies.

Year 3 had a lovely morning, learning lots and showing respect at all times. We are very proud of them!



Wednesday 9 November 2011

Hook Day: A Long Way From Home

On the first day back this half-term, year 3 immersed themselves in the experiences of the evacuees during WW2.

We began by reading replica war-time newspapers. Then we dived into our class book "The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips" and prepared questions for the "special guest" arriving in the afternoon. We also shared what we already knew about evacuees, and what we'd like to find out.

Before lunch Mrs. Whitmarsh taught the class about war-time dancehalls, before the class went 'strictly' and Waltzed with finesse. In the afternoon our special guest John, who was 10 when war was declared, answered all our questions. He explained about rationing, black-out, meeting evacuees from Southampton and the sorts of games he played as a boy. Finally, we became museum curators and carefully examined an evacuees case - crammed with interesting objects from that time.

Enjoy the photos!

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Competition time!

Judy Short, one of our governors, loves collecting words and has her own magpie book. Her latest word is dragée. She will give a prize to the first person who tells her the meaning of the word and uses it correctly in a sentence. There will be another prize for the first person who can guess correctly where she read the word. Submit your answers here. Good Luck!

Thursday 3 November 2011

Year 5 Home Learning Project Exhibition


Year 5 showed off their super homework skills during their recent Home Learning Project exhibition.

Please see the photo gallery below to see how well they did!

Tremendous Titanic Day!

To end our recent topic, Year 5 had a fantastic day as passengers on the Titanic. During this half term we have been researching survivors of the Titanic have written some super diaries in role as these passengers. On Friday we arrived dressed-up as these real passengers and recreated the departing day of the famous ship.


We began by having passport photos taken. Then we made our passports and tickets - making sure to remember which class of passenger we were.

Later on, tickets and passports were checked and we were finally able to embark on the journey of a lifetime! Once we were inside the ship of dreams, the elegant first class passengers performed a graceful waltz. After that, the third class passengers treated guests to an Irish jig (we were pleased that all third class passengers passed their health checks).


Finally, all passengers enjoyed delicious scones prepared earlier and all were confident that nothing would go wrong on Titanic's maiden voyage...

Monday 24 October 2011

Who needs drums?

Oakwood's Percussion Academy left the drums in the cupboard to finish off the half term...

Having already drummed on drums and had a week of body percussion, they decided to attack the chairs this time!



They had a fantastic time, thanks to Alex from Showcase Percussion Association.

PS. The Oakwood Schools take no responsibility if percussionists damage chairs at home!

Who needs drums?

Oakwood's Percussion Academy left the drums in the cupboard to finish off the half term...

Having already drummed on drums and had a week of body percussion, they decided to attack the chairs this time!



They had a fantastic time, thanks to Alex from Showcase Percussion Association.

PS. The Oakwood Schools take no responsibility if percussionists damage chairs at home!

Friday 21 October 2011

Year 4 Roman Art

To complete their Roaming Roman topic, Year 4 took part in an amazing art day.

They made plasticine Roman boots, clay models to remember Boudicca and mosaics of their star signs.



What features did Year 4 include in their Roman boots?

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Year 3 Photo Fun!

Year 3 worked extremely hard constructing their photo frames yesterday.

Well done Year 3!
 

Monday 17 October 2011

New Clubs...!

Here are just a few photos from three of the new clubs we are running this half term...

Drama Club - exploring emotions and stage presence!
Logs Club - practising spellings, tables and reading and being tested for awards!
Chess Club - checking if it's check or checkmate!



These are just three of the vast range of clubs we're running this term - over 150 children in clubs over the week!

Walk to School Week

Thanks to David Deane, who is the Walk to School officer for Southampton City Council, we had a really good launch to Walk to School Week this morning!

Everyone who walks for five days this week will get an exclusive Strider "football" badge and then have the chance to earn more badges by walking once a week for the rest of the year.


We also have chances to earn extra badges for quizzes and other walking events.

Here's Dave's presentation so you can remember what his message was!

Saturday 15 October 2011

This Week's Quiz...

What time is it on the iPhone?

Year 4 Roman Projects

Year 4 have been enjoying learning about the Romans this half term.

We have just had our Home Learning Project Exhibition. Everyone was very impressed with the quality of work produced. There were mosaics, Power Points, stories, quizzes, photo albums, models and even a Roman film!

Well done Year 4!



If you visit 4KP, look out for their new clock...!

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Autumn Leaves are falling down

The Reception classes have created an Autumn wall with their work. Look at the collage, the Autumn colours and our leaves. We had lots of fun!!





Tuesday 11 October 2011

Year 6 Plasticine People

Here are the latest 3D sculptures created by Year 6 as part of our People in Action art topic. We think the results made all the tired hands and aching muscles (as plasticine was pounded to soften and shape it) worthwhile. Take a look:-



Keep an eye out on the blog in the next few weeks for some amazing metal sculptures and something (or someone!) BIG coming this way, as part of this ongoing project.

Friday 7 October 2011

Hola!

In Mexico City:


Well, we have been in Mexico City for one week and are adjusting to not only living in a new country but also to living in a city!

Our journey was longer than we'd expected because all the electricity at Mexico City Airport failed just as we were coming in to land, so there were no lights on the runway and we were diverted to Toluca......see if you can find it on Google Maps!

Having sat in the plane on the runway for 4 hours, we were told that the lights were still out at Mexico City Airport and so we had to get off the plane, collect our luggage and go by bus the rest of the way.

Unfortunately, our luggage didn't get put onto our plane and so we couldn't collect it - in fact it was delivered to us three days later. I wonder where it went? The bus ride took another hour and a half so by the time we actually arrived in Mexico City, we were about seven hours late!

 

Lucy started school on the 3rd October and is enjoying meeting children from different countries. She is going to a very small international school where there are only 28 pupils. In fact she is one of only three in her year group! The other children come from various countries: Mexico, Korea, Cananda, America, New Zealand and Ireland.

The school day is very like Oakwood - it begins at 8.30am and finishes at 3.05pm with 45 mins for lunch. There is a park opposite the school (which is a large house) and the children are allowed to go and eat their lunch and play there.

Although the school is only about 7 miles away it takes about an hour and a half to get there! This means we leave just after 7am and take two buses. The buses do not run to a timetable and the driver will often sit and wait until the bus is full before setting off, as this is more cost effective. The roads are busy and noisy - there aren't many road rules! If the traffic is at a stand still the driver will turn off the main road onto the side streets and make up his own route. This was a bit scary the first time it happened because we didn't know where we were going! Thankfully, he pulled back onto the main road before we had to get off and we recognised where we were. It only costs about 8 pesos each to do the whole journey. Can you find out how much this would be in the UK?

We are living in a large house, which is also where the offices are for the organisation we are working with. We have two rooms and then share the kitchen. The kitchen has a good fridge/freezer and cooker but no built in cupboards or sink. The sink is outside and only has cold water!

We are hoping our Spanish will improve quickly so that we can understand more and speak to the Mexican people.

Adios!

This Week's Quiz...

What flavour are the crisps...?

Thursday 6 October 2011

(Stick) People in Action

Year 6 have been working really hard at their art topic People in Action...

They have used posable action figures, sketched in their sketchbooks, created string portraits and made fantastic Plasticine models.



They have also started to use Pivot Stick Animator to show actions just with a few lines...

Charlotte's animation is a really clever first attempt!



Governors’ Stupendous Day!

We had a wonderful time when we visited school last week. Sadly we missed Year 6 who were at Oasis Academy for the day, but we saw lots of exciting learning – Wow words, Reading Roundabouts, tables and spelling logs.

This was Ann Crocker’s first visit to the school since becoming a governor – “I was bowled over by how happy and confident the children are. The teachers welcomed us into their classrooms and it was a pleasure to watch them at work. I had a school dinner which was a lot nicer than when I was at school! A thoroughly enjoyable day and I am really looking forward to the next one.”

It was also Julie Yeo’s first visit as a parent governor. She enjoyed hearing from Mrs Worley about the new after-school clubs.

Jackie Kerwood spent time with Year 5 finding out about their Titanic project. “All of the children were eager to tell me about the Titanic survivor they had chosen to research, everything from 1st class royalty to men who had been working the engine room.”

We ended the day by discussing with Mr Taylor and Mrs Whitmarsh how we can all work together to make Oakwood Junior School even better.

Thank you to all of you for a stupendous day.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Year 3 Become Artists!

Year 3 had a wondeful morning visiting Southampton Art Gallery yesterday. We found out all about charcoal and how to use it to make portraits.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Year 4 Romans have a feast!

The Year 4s had a day of sampling small amounts of the food Romans ate. They started breakfast with bread, dates, figs and half a teaspoon of honey.

"I liked the bread and honey. It was really really nice."

Throughout the day the children took turns to either prepare, cook or serve food. Their afternoon feast consisted of a vegetable & barley stew, bread with fish dipping sauce (Garum) and a side salad of cucumber and celery.

"The stew was quite nice but I didn't like the fish sauce."

The children researched Roman food, Roman lesiure time and concocted their own Roman menu.

Monday 3 October 2011

Keeping Safe from Fire...

We had a very important visitor in assembly this morning, with a very important message.

Firefighter Simon Packer came into school from Redbridge Fire Station to tell us all how to...

  • keep ourselves safe
  • keep our friends and families safe
  • keep our homes and schools safe
  • keep firefighters safe


He reminded us that only adults should deal with anything to do with fire, such as barbecues and fireworks.

He told us some important information about last year:
  • There were 727,200 emergency call outs
  • There were nearly 50,00 house fires - which some of which injured or killed people
  • Over 280 firefighters were hurt putting out fires, rescuing and protecting people.
He reminded us that in a real emergency, we can dial 999 to call out the fire brigade, or any of the emergency services, but that we must never phone pretending there is an emergency because it could put people in danger.

Thanks, Simon!

Here's a link to the firework code for Bonfire Night!

Saturday 1 October 2011

A Mexican Adventure!

Some old friends of the school have just arrived in Mexico!

Lucy (an ex pupil of the school) and her Mum and Dad have gone out to live in Mexico for a few years.

They went to Mexico a few yeas ago when Lucy's Mum, Hilary, worked for the school as a teaching assistant. They took SAM with them, and you can read about the good work they did while they were out there.



SAM and Lucy, looking a bit younger than they are now, with their Mexican friends.

This time, they have gone to do more work with the same charity, and have offered to keep everyone in the school up-to-date with what they achieve.

Many of the children and families in the poorer parts of Mexico City don't have access to clean running water, let alone a school to go to, and they make their living by foraging on the city's rubbish dumps.

We are looking forward to hearing how the Hamilton family settle in, about Lucy's new school and how it's different to Oakwood and about all the work they will be doing for the charity.

Good luck, Lucy, Hilary and Aaron!



This Week's Quiz

What's the name of the university near to the waterspout...?

Friday 30 September 2011

Designing Stable Structures

Welcome to Year 3's wonderful structure designs.

Having looked at a range of real photo frames, we decided to experiment with what a standing structure has to have. We used card, lego, kinex and straws to make a piece of floppy paper stand up. 'Strong' shapes like triangles and rectangles were found to work well, and when a problem was found - we made changes to fix it.

Enjoy! (we did).

Thursday 29 September 2011

Terrific Titanic Tour

This week Year 5 explored Southampton to discover many of the areas that were affected by the sinking of the Titanic. It was a fascinating morning!

The children discovered that out of 800 crew, 750 came from Southampton. Also, in 1912 a local school was severely affected by the sinking, in fact every child in that school lost at least one relative.

Year 5 were shown that the best way to see the history of a city is just to look up! As you can see in the pictures the children took, many of the buildings in Southampton existed in 1912, even though at eye-level they look modern.

We visited the docks where the Titanic left, the train station many passengers arrived through and the hotel where first class passengers (including Bruce Ismay, the owner of the White Star Line) stayed the night before the ship departed.

All of year 5 learned so much on the tour - if you bump into a year 5 pupil, please ask them to tell you the story of the Slade brothers and what happened when they spent too much time at the Grapes pub!

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Where was Oscar...?

I also went away in the summer holidays, but not quite as far as SAM, who went to Sweden...

There is a small prize if you can guess where I was when I had my photograph taken...



Be very careful to read the question properly!

Hej från Sverige!

Hej!

(That's how you say "Hello" in Swedish!)

I went to Sweden during the summer holidays to a little town called Värmdö, which is near Stockholm, the capital city...



As you can see from the map, this part of Sweden is made up of thousands and thousands of little islands, so there's lots of water... - change to the satellite view and zoom in for a proper look round!

What do you think the Swedish words on the safety ring in my photo mean?

from SAM



PS I am in both photos, I'm just a little harder to spot in one of them!

Friday 23 September 2011

Keep up to date...

Don't forget that there's a special page on the blog where you can keep up-to-date with this week's news!

Here's this week's news...


As an incentive to watch, there will be a small prize each week for the first person to answer a question about the week's news. This week's question is:

How much is the prize for the winner of the pylon design competition?
(Teachers: you're not allowed to enter!)

Our Young Leaders!

We had special assembly when sixteen Year 6 children put themselves forward as House Captain candidates. This is a very prestigious position in Oakwood, as there are lots of responsibilities and challenges ahead for anyone who wants to take on this role. Four candidates for each house put forward their reasons for wanting to be a House Captain, explained the skills and attributes they thought would make them effective in the role and also suggested how they might be able to help improve the school during their tenure.

 

The assembly was also attended by Southampton City Councillor Keith Morrell, who was very impressed with the hustings and said he was relived that none of the candidates was up against him in the city council elections. He was convinced they were of such high quality they would give him a run for his money! We'll be announcing which children were elected as House Captains and Vice House Captains soon.

Miss Minchin for Headmistress?

Thanks to generous donations from the Oakwood Schools' Association, we welcomed four multi-talented performers from M&M Productions into school last Wednesday!

Our visitors not only drive and unload their own van, set up the stage, operate the sound and the lighting, but they perform an hour long show, with nearly a dozen characters - what stars!

Our show was the Little Princess, which told the story of how a girl escaped an evil headmistress with the help of her father and her friends.



Seeing high quality performances really helps children when they come to perform in assembles and plays themselves - and these are always special occasions at Oakwood!

Thanks M&M! We are looking forward to welcoming you back after Christmas!

Thursday 22 September 2011

WOW! Start to Year 4

Year 4 are off to a fabulous start:

They have already been to visit Fishbourne Roman Palace, which really hooked them into their Roaming Romans topic.

They have been writing an historical story of the life in the Roman Army in the form of a diary, generating plenty of vivid vocabulary (WOW words) to describe chores such as cooking duties and cleaning the Roman toilets!

They are beginning to settle into the routines well and have been incredibly well organised.

We are all looking forward to their Roman Feast day on 28 September. They will be researching Roman menus, cooking and sampling examples of Roman food!

Year 5 visit the Southampton Boat Show

Year 5 have already been on their first trip of the new school year.

As part of their Titanic topic work they visited the World renowned Southampton Boat Show.



The first 'port' of call for the children was to climb aboard the luxurious Sunseeker and Princess boats and explore these £2,000,000 vessels!


They had a guided tour of one of the RNLI's rescue boats, they even got to sit in the crew's seats down below! They saw boats, boats and more boats around the Marina; Yachts, catamarans, and even one shaped like a shoe.


Later on they explored Solent Park and got to see all the various exhibits, they espically liked the University of Southampton tent which had some marine artefacts from the ocean floor.

Finally they picked up their goody bags from the Daily Echo stand and made their way back to school.

Year 5 Boat Day

Year 5 have had a fantastic start to the year with the brilliant Boat Day!

The day started with a boat construction challenge. Could the children use only a piece of sugar paper and folding skills to make a craft that would float for at least ten seconds...?



Most of year 5 were successful and we saw many truly creative creations!

After that, the children were taught how to create an origami boat. Luckily, Year 5 had some experienced Scout experts who were able to help Miss Beavill and Mr Ackland to teach the rest of the classes. In the afternoon, everyone used their artistic skills to create some fantastic stormy sea pictures. Please see our gallery below to see the great day we had!


Wednesday 14 September 2011

Smile Year 3!

Year 3 have had a wonderful start to the year!

Have a look at our pizza making skills and art work inspired from the artist David Hockney.

We had a fantastic day launching our new topic 'Smile'!

 

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night!

Arrival



Inside



Masks and Groups



Balloons!

Oriana makes it a double-double!

We had a very busy Final Celebration Assembly this morning!

We celebrated:

And we said goodbye to Mrs Hayter and Mrs Heathcock, who are retiring this year.



Our House Cup was awarded to Oriana, for the second year in a row - it's been a brilliant year for them as they won the Sports Day Cup too!



A fantastic last day of term day all round!

Have a brilliant summer break!

Monday 25 July 2011

Magical Masks!

Year 6 have been putting the finishing touches to the masks they have made especially for their leaving prom. We think they are pretty impressive-take a look!

Saturday 23 July 2011

Let's Dance-Part 2!

Not content to sit still after their brilliant leaving production, Year 6 have been learning yet another dance for their upcoming prom on Tuesday. This time the tempo was taken up a notch as they got their dancing feet doing the Salsa. Take a look at them in practice!