Remember, Remember

The whole school started off the second half of this term with a ‘bang’ by spending a full day learning about: the events of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, the significance of celebrating Bonfire Night in Britain each year on 5th November and the history of Catholic-Protestant relations across the country. Following an introductory assembly and talk by the school nurse about safety in the morning, classes in each primary phase were mixed up and the children took part in a variety of exciting cross-curricular lessons about the above topics:

Reception found out about the key events of the Gunpowder Plot and did lots of firework art. Years 1 and 2 discovered who Guy Fawkes was and why his effigy is burnt on bonfires each year. Years 3 and 4 created a timeline showing how the events of the Gunpowder Plot happened and did a quiz to test

each other on their knowledge and understanding. Years 5 and 6 examined the impact the Reformation had on the plot, researched the role different people had on

the plot’s development and debated if the plotters were heroes or villains.

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Creative writing fortnight

A mysterious, wooden trap door appeared in the hall one Monday morning in November and in assembly, Mr Kemp soon received news of others that had appeared in schools across the country! This exciting event inspired each class to do lots of English work about what could be behind them, with every child creating a story book of their own ideas for an adventure. For example:

drop-ins

Parents of children in Years 1 to 6 sat alongside each other in the hall to learn about our new online maths resource – Mathletics. Children can log in to complete assigned tasks, race against others in the class answering questions and earn points to win bronze, silver and gold certificates.

Crucial crew

Year 6 went 'crucial crewing' to learn all about how to keep safe when out in the community such as how to respond to a fire and some basic first aid skills to help somebody who is unwell.

Walk to school

Led by the school’s Eco Team, children have started trying to walk to school at least once every week for a month to earn a special virtual reality badge, cut pollution and reduce traffic.

Kenya talk

Mr Brooker visited classes to recall his experiences in helping fund the building of a school in Kenya and to talk about how life there compares to in the UK.

Experience harvest

Years 2 and 4 visited All Saints and Martyrs’ church in October to learn some Bible parables and about the importance of charity. They rotated around different activities such as: decorating a harvest altar, moulding bread dough into shapes and creating a paper fishing boat.

Year 4 wrote about ancient Greek Gods escaping from it!

Year 3 wrote about Mrs Wobble’s cruel manager trapped beneath it!

Reception made a peek-a-boo book of different characters hiding under it!

Year 1 wrote about falling down it and landing in Kenya!

‘P’ day

Reception parents joined their children for an afternoon of activities related to the letter sound ‘P’ to help teach them about phonics – making pizzas, dressing up and playing games.

Sounds and sums

Year 4 went to Chetham’s School of Music where they had to work out musical clues to solve a giant number puzzle.

Children in Need

We raised over £250 for this year’s event. Children: paid £1 to wear ‘wacky’ hair designs to school, bought spotty cakes and paid to tape Mr Barnes up to the wall in assembly.

Class assemblies

Year 2 Year 2 talked about the human body in their assembly - the functions of major organs and the purposes of our five senses. They also compared different animal classes and how they can be identified.

Year 6 Year 6 presented 'Strictly come evolving' in their class assembly, in which a variety of animals competed against each other to adapt and evolve – finches, giraffes and monkeys.

Science week

During this year’s Science week, classes in each primary phase worked alongside each other to investigate different topics about the subject:

Years 1 and 2 learnt about our five senses to understand how humans perceive the world around them and how each one of us likes and dislikes different things.

Years 3 and 4 visited Alkrington Woods where they observed, classified and recorded the different types of plants and animals which live there in that habitat.

Years 5 and 6 investigated how the size of birds’ beaks affects their ability to pick up different seeds and researched Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

The whole school also enjoyed watching an exciting science-themed show called Down to earth all about: our solar system, how shadows form and water particles.

Created by Mr. Haughton

Eco award

Our Eco Team were pleased to have helped the school receive the Eco School’s Green Flag Award this term for their commitment to promoting eco and environmental awareness.

VE Day

Years 5 and 6 finished their World War II history topic by having a day recreating the celebrations of VE Day in May 1945. They all came to school dressed in 1940s outfits and did activities like: building Anderson shelters, playing traditional wartime games and making bread and butter pudding.

Ancient Greeks

Years 3 and 4 were visited by an Athenian lady and Spartan man who taught them about the history of ancient Greece. The children: were shown how to make Greek coins, re-enacted myths about Gods like Zeus and Hercules, learnt how to play a traditional chess-like game called Pebbles and compared what life was like for people in the two city states.

"We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!"

Christmas celebrations

Many families had a go on stalls at our fair such as ‘Christmas Tucker Trial’ and ‘Hook a Cracker’, as well as the ever-popular tombolas.

Reception and Year 1 had tea with Santa who also brought them all gifts.

Years 2-6 enjoyed having a festive movie night with popcorn.

The whole school took part in a special Christmas church service at All Saints and Martyrs, Langley.

The choir sang beautifully to shoppers in Middleton Arndale.

Reception sang some traditional carols for parents whilst Years 1 and 2 retold the nativity story from a sleepy shepherd’s point of view.

Everyone enjoyed eating a roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings.