Junior School Newsletter - March 22 2019

JUNIOR SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER

Friday 22nd March 2019 Dear Parents

Phew what a busy week for sports! Having only just returned from matches and tournaments on Tuesday and Wednesday that have involved almost all of Years 4-6, we have further netball and fixtures tomorrow. Fortunately, the weather has looked kindly on us and, as a result, we saw some excellent performances – more on how the various teams got on later.

Elsewhere, away from the sports pitches, we have welcomed 16 new additions to the school in the form of some newly hatched quails. For the past fortnight, Key Stage 1 have been waiting patiently as the eggs incubated in the classroom and were met, on Monday morning, by a veritable chorus of cheeps and a collection of eggs moving of their own volition.

Understandably there has been great excitement from the children – not to mention staff, I don’t think Becca Edwards is used to finding that colleagues have found excuses to visit her classroom! There is more information about the quails later in the newsletter.

The arrival of the eggs though, threw us an unexpected challenge. Several of the eggs hadn’t hatched, which is expected in any batch laid, and this proved an interesting discussion point with the children. Those that hadn’t hatched were sensitively disposed of, only for Becca to hear a tap-tapping of a chick doing its best to get out. Quickly, the (just cleaned!) incubator was set up again the little bird was given some assistance in breaking out of the shell. Housed in my office, the little chap did its best to clean itself and had Lynne, in particular, in a state of angst witnessing the struggle. Sadly, despite our best endeavours, the chick didn’t make it and, though this was to be expected given the difficulties in hatching, it was nonetheless a slightly sobering moment.

In reflecting on the fragility of the life of the quail chick, I found my thoughts drawn to the horrific scenes in New Zealand to which we awoke last Friday. Fifty people went to their place of worship, as they would have every Friday, and did not return. Fifty people whose minds were likely focussed on all sorts of things from their prayers to more mundane matters of the every day.

The stories of these fifty individuals, heard in the news subsequently, show us that each life is unfathomably special, inextricably interwoven with those of others so that the one has a profound effect on the many. The beauty of life is found in the beauty of others.

“It is ‘life’ only that can lead to life, and no forms are availing without it. Seek the life in all things, and cherish it by all authorised means.” (Hannah Kilham, 1831, Quaker Faith and Practice 21.26)

Next week is proving to be as busy as this week was, as we gallop towards Easter with interhouse rugby, author talks, football fixtures, Key Stage 1 taking part in a multi-skills event, an Early Years “Stay and Play” session and the School Council’s Wild Animal Mask Day and Cake Sale (oh, and the small matter of a significant deadline on the 29th March – and I don’t mean

my wedding anniversary!)

Have a special and wonderful weekend.

In friendship Edward Rossiter Head of Junior School Sibford School

Ps. Did you know that quails reach maturity faster than any other poultry bird? So, if you want to see ours while they’re still cute you’d better get a wriggle on!

Foundation and Reception

Make hay while the sun shines! It may not have been that sunny, but it was not raining or blowing a gale, so we tried to get ourselves outside as much as possible this week. It started with a treasure hunt around the school grounds for natural objects such as pine cones, leaves, fallen blossom, etc. We used these, along with some hay, to make some Gruffalo inspired creatures, artistic pictures and finally stews in our mud kitchen. We also had the chance to get outside and plant some seeds.

The children cannot wait for them to start growing! Frogspawn has been spotted in the pond, so we had to go and investigate that as well.

The children enjoyed reading a lovely story about a tad pole that wanted to jump and watching videos about the life cycle of a frog.

We also explored one of our class favourites this week, ‘Oi Frog’ by Kes Gray, about a cat that informs a frog that he must sit on a log (as it is the rules). We made up our very own silly version using words that rhyme with our own names. Apparently, Nicola Keys must sit on peas! In Maths we have had great fun making tally charts looking at our favourite things. The children loved doing them so much that they begged me to take them to Year 1 and 2 to ask them about their favourite food/fruit.

The children in Year 1 and 2 kindly obliged and we learnt that apples and water melon are very popular.

It would not be Early Years without some child-initiated play. When I got the dolls house out, at the request of one child, they decided to take the roof off and use it as a ramp. We decided to head back outdoors and used crates and guttering to make ramps. We measured how far the cars travelled and marked the spots where they stopped.

Year 1 and 2 After the excitement of the arrival of the quail last Friday, Year 1 and 2 have now got used to their new classroom inhabitants and have managed to get quite a lot of work done this week, despite the initial cooing and endless staring around the brooder! The week started with them investigating how to sort food into the 5 different food groups and then learning about how it is important to have a healthy balanced diet. Using this information, it helped them to design a meal and write about it.

Making it seem a little more understandable when they focused on the humble potato as part of their Geography. They learnt that the UK produces around 5.4 million tonnes of this carbohydrate, not surprising when they were asked to find mystery locations in the counties of the UK! Becca Edwards started one of their English lessons by giving orders, the children soon realised that in actual fact she was using bossy (imperative) verbs rather than just getting them to do endless classroom jobs. This helped them to think about how they can be used to give instructions and the importance of being clear and ordered correctly. Particularly important when once again Becca Edwards showed them a box full of potatoes. Thinking back to past and present farming techniques and foods which weren’t available, they learnt that potatoes were a vegetable which was easily available and grown in war times. So, groups of children were assigned a set of instructions and asked to prepare potatoes in different ways, from boiled to roasted. Some children were adamant that they didn’t like a particular style of potato, however once they’d prepared and cooked them themselves, it was a revelation how good mashed and jacket potatoes could taste; with many of their taste scores 5/5! Now being experts in following instructions, you could have been mistaken for the classroom turning into a sandwich factory. Thinking about the different steps needed to make a sandwich, they were able to create their own.

Having looked at still life and creating it digitally last week, this week they resorted back to good old cutting and sticking, however with a bit of a twist! Giuseppe Arcimboldo was an artist that used fruit, vegetables, meat, fish or flowers to create portraits. The children were asked to create a collaged self-portrait using a variety of fruit and vegetables. Between all of this, passers-by would have heard a tuneful chorus coming from the classroom as they started to learn songs in preparation for their celebration meeting next week!

Year 3

Year 3 began the week reminiscing about their Stone Age adventure from last Friday, whereby they drew a scene of hunter-gatherer family life, before cooking a delicious Stone Age-esque berry compote. They then delved into later periods in history, when they found out that historians can use a census in order to find out information about people who lived in the past.

Here, they studied a census of Queen Victoria’s household in the 19th century and found out that there were 21 people living in the palace at the time that the census took place, including 7 out of 9 of Queen Victoria’s children! Pupils then thought about questions that they might want to include in a census and came up with interesting questions such as ‘How tall is each member of your family?’ and ‘What is your favourite ice cream flavour?’

Year 3 have continued to investigate the uses of packaging in DT and this week they have been taking packaging boxes apart to find out the shapes of the nets that make up the 3d shapes. They then made their own 3d shapes from nets and decided which product each 3d shape would be appropriately shaped packaging for. They then decorated their boxes, taking note of font style and decoration. Finally, they created their 3d shapes so that it resembled the packaging for their chosen products.

Thinking about how the dinosaurs became extinct has been the topic of Science this week.

Pupils were surprised to learn that, although the theory of an asteroid hitting the Earth is a strong one, it is only a theory, nevertheless. They learned about the different possible theories and thought about which one (or which mixture) they thought could be the most likely.

Telling the time has been the topic of Maths lessons this week. As well as learning about the intricate movement of hands on analogue clocks and comparing these with corresponding digital times, pupils have been exploring how long a minute actually is. They have been finding out how many times they can write their name, do ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ and how many star jumps they can do in a minute amongst other tasks, and have also been timing various activities such as rolling a dice until the cumulative number rolled reaches 30.

Finally, they have put their archaeology hats back on and have been undertaking an archaeological dig in the living history area. They needed to be very careful so as not to damage any of the artefacts. The deeper Year 3 dug, the older the items were that they uncovered. Year 3 are now in the process of studying the items found in their trench and working out what might have been there many years ago.

Year 4

In English, 4MA put arguments for and against Zoos into a polite persuasive letter. The children are hopeful that their imaginary bad Zoo will now improve conditions for the animals.

The arrival of new pulleys in Forest school heralded an exhilarating challenge for 4MA. With a little ingenuity they swiftly created their own versions of zip wires.

This week 4KS imagined that they were Anglo-Saxons arriving in boats on the banks of the British shores. They were tasked with finding a suitable location in which to create a village, thinking about what a group of people would need to survive e.g. food, drink, shelter, warmth.

They showed that they were able to identify the basic needs that a new settlement should provide and understand how local resources can be used by settlers, as well as interpreting and drawing sketch maps.

During History some children also researched Anglo Saxon vocabulary. Children discovered place names ending in -ham (village), -worth (enclosure) and -ford (river crossing) all came from our Anglo-Saxon ancestors.

Year 4 also happily welcomed Year 3 through their doors to embrace the book week challenge of reading to someone younger than themselves, there was lots of animated reading and engrossed listeners.

Year 5

In Maths this week Year 5 have been examining fractions and placing them along number lines. They learned that they had to look closely at the space available along a line and then divide it into sections according to how big the denominator was - the number at the bottom of a fraction. They could then decide where their fraction should be placed along the line. Developing this skill helped them to divide up our raised beds outside into the available space needed for each crop. They also needed to do some careful measuring and calculating to make sure they left enough space for each vegetable to grow to its expected size. Having squeezed in all the necessary rows of veg we then had a vote to decide which vegetables we would have two rows of. You may be surprised to learn that Year 5 wanted more cabbages, parsnips and swede. They will tell you why if you ask them!

“If music be the food of love – play on.”

Year 6

Which of the Bard’s plays have Year 6 been studying this week? Yes, Twelfth Night – with a string of mistaken identities and more unrequited love. This one, however, had a happy ending (unless you were Malvolio), despite the fact that at the start Orsino is in love with Olivia, who is in love with Viola, who is in love with Orsino! None of the children were even remotely confused about this, or with Viola pretending to be Cesario, or the fact that in Elizabethan times you would have had a man playing a women who was dressed as a man (are you keeping up?).

Year 6 have also been studying the features of a play script and using this learning to turn prose into script. They are now well versed in the “Yellow Stockings” scene of the play, so don’t be surprised if they tell you that “Some are born great and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

In Maths 6NH have been multiplying decimals together and learning that rules can’t be ignored, but you can work around some of them, while 6AP’s group have been finding and problem solving with the first 25 prime numbers.

There has been a lot of sporting events, and some excellent performances once again from all Year 6s; children who were not on a fixture have worked with Jason Harris to maintain the Willow tunnel. I think we would all agree that it looks better after its haircut.

Sport Reports Tuesday U11B Football vs Cokethorpe Lost 6-1

A collection of Year 5 and 6 pupils took on a very strong Cokethorpe team but showed a significant improvement to their last outing at the Sibford 6-a-side tournament. Defensively they played well as a unit and improved communication meant that they were more cohesive when in possession of the ball. There were excellent displays from Max and then Sam M in goal, while the Cokethorpe referee certainly felt that the goal of the match was Oscar’s lob from outside the penalty area – he tells me he meant to do it….!

Wednesday U11 Bruern Abbey 6-a-side Football Tournament – Runners-up

Travelling as the defending champions, the team lost in their first match to a very strong Milton Keynes prep team (who eventually won the competition). In spite of this they bounced back with an excellent performance against the host, a subsequent win against St John’s, as well as draws against Christ Church and Chesterton – in both of which they were the dominant team. Throughout the afternoon they showed strong tackling, pace in the midfield and improving distribution. By the narrowest of margins (having one better goal difference!) they finished second and should be proud of their achievement.

U10 and U11 Netball at Cokethorpe

On Tuesday all girls in Y5 and Y6 travelled to Cokethorpe to take part in an afternoon of friendly matches. This was an excellent opportunity for our girls to experience playing full matches of four quarters.

The U10 team played very well and Kezia, playing GS, scored her first goal for Sibford early in the game. Unfortunately for our girls, the opposition proved to be the stronger side. Despite some lovely passes between the Sibford girls and excellent movement on the court, particularly in the centre third, Cokethorpe won the game. This was a very useful experience for the girls and they have lots to take forward into future matches. Player of the Match – Ellen The U11B team worked tirelessly throughout the afternoon despite both illness and injury within the team! This was a very close match between the two sides and strong defence from the Sibford girls limited the goal opportunities for Cokethorpe. In the final quarter, the match could have gone either way. The girls displayed true Sibford spirit throughout the match, playing with determination right up to the final whistle. Unfortunately, the Sibford girls were narrowly defeated on this occasion but should be very proud of their performance. Well done girls! Player of the Match – Mila The U11 A team’s match was very fast moving with some fantastic netball on display. The Cokethorpe team got off to a very strong start making the most of early opportunities. At the end of the first quarter, they had a clear lead. The Sibford girls reflected on their play and came back stronger – fast accurate passes ensured that the ball was delivered to the circle where Lara and Olivia worked together to make the most of the shooting opportunities. At the half time break, Sibford girls had taken an impressive lead. From there, the girls continued to go from strength to strength. Excellent team work and swift movement on the court ensured that

Sibford maintained their lead and finished the game with a convincing win. Player of the Match Lily G U11 Netball Tournament at Warwick Prep

On Wednesday, in glorious sunshine, the U11A team travelled to Warwick Prep to take part in another afternoon of intensive netball with 11 schools taking part in the tournament. The Sibford girls started their first match well taking an early lead with 2 lovely goals, however an injury then knocked the girls off their stride and, despite excellent effort from the team, they conceded the game. Nevertheless, the team’s spirits remained high and, captained by Lara, they entered the second game determined to win. This set the mood for the rest of the afternoon as the girls’ play went from strength to strength. The team proved to be versatile – changing positions as needed and became confident in calling for the ball, moving into space and making the most of early opportunities. In the group stages, Sibford girls won the next 3 matches resulting in them finishing in 2nd place in Group 2 and securing a place in the semifinal.

In the semi-final, Sibford played against the winners of Group 1 and were set for a tough match.

This match proved to be the most challenging of the whole tournament and resulted in a draw, leading to extra time!

Further goals from both sides looked like we were heading for another draw until Sibford scored the winning goal in the final seconds securing a place in the final! In the final match, Sibford played the only team that they had lost to in the group stages. Nevertheless, the girls did not let this knock their confidence – they worked fantastically well as a team, holding their positions on court and following their passes to support one another. Their hard work paid off and, playing in front of a large crowd, they secured a win to become the tournament winners!

Congratulations to the whole team who worked exceptionally hard throughout the afternoon and demonstrated real skill in netball and excellent teamwork. Particular thanks also goes to Hanne-Lydia (Y5) who stepped in at the last minute to join the team. Well done girls – we are very proud of you all!

Year 5 and 6 Activities Week – Parent Information Meeting – Thursday, 28th March 2019

Ed Rossiter will be holding an information meeting for parents at 3.30pm on Thursday, 28th March in the Ensemble Room in the Music Block.

Junior School Council’s – Animal Mask Day – Friday, 29th March 2019

We will be holding a wild animal masks day, whereby pupils can pay at least £1 to come to school wearing a wild animal mask. Be as creative as you can! We’re looking for feathers, sequins, interesting designs and anything else that will wow teachers! Prizes will be awarded for the most creative designs! Please note that this is not a casual day, but that pupils can come to school wearing a mask to go with their uniform.

In addition, we will be holding a cake sale with a wild animal theme. Again, creativity in key. If you think that you can contribute with some delicious goods, be it tiger tarts, crocodile cake or monkey muffins, please leave them with Lynne Singer either on Thursday 28th March or the morning of the 29th. The cake sale will be held during Friday lunch break, so pupils can bring

some money (no more that £1) if they would like to buy a cake. Remember we are a nut-free school.

All proceeds from the event will go towards WWF and the Lawrence Home Nursing Team, so please give generously!

End of Term Awards Meeting – Friday, 5th April at 9.15am in the Main Hall

Our End of Term Awards meeting will take place on the last day of term and all parents are welcome to attend. Tea/Coffee/biscuits will be available from 8.45am prior to the start of the meeting in Small Dining Room (opposite Junior School car park).

Cycle Safety Training – Summer Term 2019

For those children in Years 5 and 6 who have not yet done their Cycle Safety Training/Test, there is the opportunity to do this in the Summer Term. If you would like your child to take part please email Lynne Singer, lsinger@sibfordschool.co.uk by Monday, 25th March. There are 12 spaces and they are offered on a first come basis.

Lost Property

Rhett, Y4 has lost his waterproof PE top which is named, please could everyone check their bags in case it has been picked up in error.

ITEMS NEEDED

We would be grateful for any old newspapers for Year 1 and 2. Please leave in Junior School Reception.