Young Tribune

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We have had a very busy time again, back in full swing with residential visits for Year 4 to Stibbington, Bikeability sessions for Year 5, Year 1 and 2 local study walks, An Egyptian day for Year 3 and a Victorian day for Year 5. Children from Year 5 and 6 competed against local schools at AMVC in netball and football competitions. PE lead, Jan Pell said, “It was just fantastic to see the children’s smiling faces and their competitive spirit! They put all their determination into every game. Well done to both teams for an awesome effort!”

Northborough won gold and silver in the netball, and silver in the football.

Whole school events have included fundraising for Red Nose day, a STEM day with a range of science and technology activities carried out in our colour groups, Book week events and a Mothers’ Day gift shop. We are also raising money to support refugees from Ukraine by collectively running the distance from our school to Ukraine. Euphemia from the student council wrote to the parents to thank them, saying, “We have finished walking and running around our field, trying to raise money for the children of Ukraine. We really appreciate how much you have contributed so far - a whopping £892.19. We have now arrived at the Russian border. Thank you so much, from the School Council.”

Our Planet Protectors have continued to develop our grounds by sowing seeds into a wild flower labyrinth supporting the work at the Tower of London to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We can’t wait to see what they look like in the summer.

As a school in the heart of the community we wanted to let you know all the wonderful things our children have been doing in our school and beyond. Community is one of our core Christian values and I hope this article reflects what a diverse curriculum our school community has explored so far this year. Now covid restrictions are lifting we are excited to, once again, be able to look beyond our own grounds and explore what we can do in and for the wider community. Please do get in touch if you think there is anything we can do by emailing office@peakirk.peterborough. sch.uk Preschool has seen its highest numbers ever this term and the team has increased in response. They have continued to enjoy their new mud kitchen with full running water. The theme for the term really has been ‘outdoors’. They have been into the wooded area and outdoor learning space often, also enjoying the daily mile track each day, whatever the weather! They have enjoyed morning snack in their garden, searching for minibeasts and observing the changes in nature over spring. They were lucky enough to have a parent bring newts in for the children to hold and observe and pond dipping is being planned in the school pond which is always a popular activity. The preschool children were able to look after Reception's chicks for a day - holding them, observing them and talking about how to care for them. Now would be a good time to get in touch if you are looking for a preschool place for September - we’d love to show you around the amazing setting! The reception children have had a focus on science this half

By Amy Quarizzo

term. They have focused on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, converted the role play corner into a garden centre and grown their very own beans and kept bean diaries. Reception also had a very special arrival of 11 chick eggs which they watched hatch and looked after them. The children gained a great insight into the life cycle of a chicken and the needs of baby chicks. They helped to look after them by feeding them, giving them water and cleaning them out. They were then fortunate that one of our parents rehomed all of them.

Year 1 have been studying the Great Fire of London. They had a visit from Samuel Pepys who showed them how he buried his cheese to keep it safe! The children all made their own Tudor homes too.

This term Year 2 have been completing a spring onion experiment with Year 4 and learning about Rosalind Franklin for science week. In English they have been creating some amazing diary entries and newspaper report around their books ‘The Dark’ by Lemony Snicket and ‘The secret of Black Rock’ by Joe Stanton. In maths they have been learning about shapes and have just started to explore fractions. They have designed and created their own moving vehicles. They also had a lovely story and biscuit afternoon with pre school. Year 3 have been learning about pre-historic life in Britain this term. They visited Flag Fen to learn how people survived during this period of time. Activities included grinding corn and making their own bread, selecting natural resources to make their own medicines, making paint and using nettles to dye their clothes and building a wattle and daub wall (including the use of manure!). Back in class the children wrote some fantastic recounts and instructions using the visit as a stimulus. They have also enjoyed reading 'The Boy with the Bronze Axe' by Kathleen Fidler. Year 4 have been borrowing some Roman artefacts from a local archaeological group - FenArch. This term, Year 4 have been looking at the Romans, and have really enjoyed all of the artefacts loaned to them. It has really brought their topic and History lessons to life. Next term they will be looking at 'We Built This City', and looking at geography around cities and why we build where we do - and perhaps even have a go at building their own (digital) city using all the things they learn over the term! Year 5 have been writing instructions on how to survive a flood based on their book, Floodland, lots of learning about fractions, written diaries and letters. In RE they had a visitor called

Michael Buckeridge (fuzzy felt man!) who answered lots of the children’s very deep questions! They have looked at forces, gears, pulleys etc and the children are making space models with moving parts. They have covered volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and tornadoes in geography. Year 6 have been learning about Ancient Egypt...they have done lots of artwork, looking at artefacts, they’re reading a novel based around the finding of Tutankhamen's tomb and have been on a visit to The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to look at their Egyptian collection.

Many events are non-profit making, and for children, families and the community. Those that raise funds, directly benefit the school. The PGSA are helping to fund the redevelopment of the front playground by installing an adventure play area. The PGSA also held their annual Easter bonnet competition and Easter egg hunt, with the Easter bunny making an appearance later in the day to give out sweets at home time.

This Mother’s Day, the PGSA provided beautifully wrapped plants for £2.50 for children to give to Mums, Grandmas, Aunties etc.

A date for your diary - the ever-popular Summer Fete is being held on 26 June! This is always a hugely successful event which gets bigger and better each year! The Out of Hours club continues to be popular and a vital provision for many working parents. Currently running from the school hall, the club are excited to launch their exciting weekly film night on a Friday after school. The children have access to a wide range of activities, including full use of the fantastic outdoor space, and offering breakfast, snacks and refreshments too.

We all enjoyed a range of activities in the build up to and during world book day. Across the school the children have made a Supertato, designed their own Dr Xargle alien, designed a forest based on The Tin Forest, designed a marvellous thing from the museum of marvellous things, created Dr Seuss emojis, made a stickman, completed a Tiger who came to tea collage and created a giant very hungry caterpillar! Lots of children took part in the reading stars challenge and prizes were awarded to year groups in recognition. Science week was enjoyed by all, and the children were engaged in a wide variety of activities. All the tasks centred around the theme of growth and year groups have come together to investigate how slime grows (years 5 and 6), tree growth and identification (years 1 and 3), and how Spring onions grow (years 2 and 6). Reception and preschool have been growing their own beans!

We hosted a blue and yellow themed non-uniform day and raised £298.50 for the Ukrainian appeal and have received a number of donations of essential items too.

The children visited church to mark Ash Wednesday and have each written a Lenten promise. Purple is used in church to mark lent and so the children have been adding purple ribbons to the prayer tree to reflect their own Lenten promises.

Celebration worship is now a whole school session held weekly and celebrating achievements and acknowledging those who have been spotted upholding one of the Christian values. Mrs Willatt and the faith council, comprising of class representatives, meet regularly to discuss initiatives, support the schools Christian values and so on.

Other exciting news from this term includes a focus on Internet safety, The bike people visit - preschool bikes and trikes and scooters were repaired, as were the bikes of children brought in from home. The litter pick was a success, with children as young as 2 years old helping to clean up the environment. The school had some successes in a recent Sumdog Maths competition against other Peterborough schools. We also supported Red Nose Day.

The school has coped incredibly well in unprecedented times and now we are coming out the other side, it’s great to get back into school and experience first hand the small school with a big heart. Along with my fellow governors we have been able to attend events like Harvest Festival in the autumn and more recently the Ash Wednesday service, where parents, children and the local community can all come together. The events aside the staff and the children continue to be a credit to the school and we as governors look forward to supporting and contributing to our local school in the coming terms.