The Courier

Please click on the link below to read all about what the Reception classes have been learning this week. 

Reception Round Up - 11 Feb 2022

Class 2W children have been investigating rounding.  They know that they need to select the multiple of 10 higher and lower than the target number before counting on or back to say which it is closer to.  Next week we will be solving rounding problems.

We like to think in different ways in philosophy club. This week the children were given a paperclip and I left them to think about its purpose but also its other uses. Some of the ideas were a phone holder, a hairclip, a pendant, a key, a book mark and an instrument. It was great to see the children thinking creativiely.

Class 4M have started their new topic this week: List Poetry. We began by analysing some great examples by Gervase Phinn and Robert Hull, and particularly focusing on the use of simile and imagery.

Then it was the children's turn. They worked in groups to create a title, and they came up with some very creative ideas: 'What you find in Dumbledore's Office', 'Things you find in a Teacher's Drawer', and 'Things that Lurk Under the Floorboards' were a few examples.

Then they each wrote two lines and worked on their language to make them as good as they could be. Finally, they placed the lines in order, and ....voila! They had created a group list poem! Some pictures are attached.

Well done, 4M!

This week, Class 6W took a walk through Bilton to spot features of Victorian houses which we have been learning about in History lesson. The children noticed features such as sash windows, stained glass and Welsh slated roofs. 

In Maths Year 6 have come to the end of their topic on geometry. So to put all their expert knowledge and skills to good use, Ms Forth challenged the class today to create perfect polygons. There was plenty of accurate and careful measuring and drawing with protractors and rulers and lots of beautifully accurate angles and edges. We clearly have some budding engineers - well done Year 6!

On Wednesday, Class 6W travelled to the small lake at Princethorpe College to test the boats they had designed and created in DT over the past few weeks. There was great excitement as most of the boats travelled across the lake. There was only one which made a spectacular nose-dive but was later retrieved with its motor still in operation!

The pupils (in groups) had made very unique designs which were powered in different ways, including wind turbines, motors and solar panels. Two of the boats, the 'CRC' and 'Ebony Dragon' were selected to be entered into ISA STEAM Competition 2022.

I was extremely pleased with the skills, creativity and resilience shown throughout this DT project by Class 6W. 

Year 5 were very pleased to welcome members of the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service recently to school for a Junior Fire Safety talk.

The firefighters led an hour’s informative and fun fire safety session that explored the different fire hazards within the home, looking at the ways the children could ensure both they, and their families, remained safe in the event of a fire.

Then last week, the Fire and Rescue Service returned to visit Year 1. In an interactive session, the children considered how the firefighters uniform keeps them safe, then learned the difference between safe and unsafe fires and finally the Stop, Drop and Roll technique that you should use if your clothes catch fire.

So much discussion and learning took place that will hopefully keep the children fire safe for life. Many thanks to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue for all they do to keep us all safe!

The children were very busy in Forest School this morning, working hard under the sunshine. We placed some left over bird seed balls around the site, at different heights, for all of the visiting animals to enjoy. I then told the children about the mouse I had rescued earlier that day and released in Forest School. Some of the children decided that they wanted to make a mouse house, or mansion, for the mouse to live in whilst he is there. They worked together to make a fabulous mouse house, which was also part bug hotel. Any bugs the children found in the site were safely relocated to the newly opened bug hotel.

Whilst this was being built, other children were making clay faces and creatures on the trees and fence posts. We had people, cats and a man to guard the area and keep the animals safe whilst we were away. One child asked a great question;

‘Why don’t trees have belly buttons like humans?’.

She then decided to make a belly button for the tree so that it didn’t feel left out. The left over bits of clay were used to make a bowl and plates for the mouse to eat his food from.

We also made a great muddy puddle using the left over water and some of the children had a great time splashing and rolling around in the mud. We even had some children make a wormy mud pie!

One of the children had a lovely relaxing time self-reflecting at end of the session. It’s been lovely to watch the children’s confidence, resilience, and imagination grow over the weeks. Until next time.

Craft club has been exploring Chinese New Year and chose to make dragons and lanterns. They have done a fabulous job.

In After School the children have enjoyed playing on the playground making the most of the lengthening days and this week's lovely sun!

They have played football, loved running around, and played in the play zone. They used the new benches just next to the Horton Centre as work tables to make bird feeders for the Great Schools' Bird Watch.

There was a lot of laughter and fun!