Junior School Newsletter - June 7 2019

JUNIOR SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER

Friday 7th June 2019

Dear Parents With 44 of Year 5 and 6 out at activities week, I dare say the Junior School has been quieter than usual! Those of us that ventured up north have been treated to a day and a half of Cumbrian rain, but this failed to dampen the intrepid Sibford spirit. The children have truly "lived adventurously" and it had been great to see them get stuck in to all the activities. Over the week they have been caving, canoeing, abseiling, orienteering, fell-walking, cook-outs, initiative tasks and obstacle course and even survived the tent experience (although the 4:30 dawn chorus on Tuesday morning was less appreciated by us teachers!)

We have been improving with the way they have developed their communication and teamwork abilities, supported each other, learnt new skills and faced daunting challenges. They will return home windswept, probably a little grubby (we have made them wash, honest!) and exhausted but full of a new found sense of self-discovery.

Lots of photos have been taken and these should make their way on to Firefly just as soon as we have a more reliable wifi connection!

In our absence the rest of the Junior School have been busy with trips, Celebration Meetings and maypole practices... I'm looking forward to finding out about it as much as you!

Congratulations to the following children who received Celebration Certificates today: Alice and Benjamin R-W – Years 1 and 2, Jonah – Y3, all Y4 for their Celebration Meeting.

Next week we have a load of sports fixtures and will be continuing to prepare for Open Day next Saturday - I look forward to seeing you there.

In friendship

Edward Rossiter Head of Junior School Sibford School

PS. Did you know that Lake Windermere is the deepest lake in England at 80m?

Foundation and Reception

Some vegetables are frozen for a very good reason…… The peas in the story Supertato (by Sue Handra) cause havoc when they escape from the freezer. Luckliy, Supertato is on hand to save the day! Unfortunately, we had left some peas, uncovered in our freezer when we went to meeting on Tuesday. On our return they had got up to all sorts of mischief. There was a cucumber taped to the window, an onion in our tree of curiosity, oranges wrapped in tissue and an apple trapped under a pan. The children got to meet Supertato himself who asked them for help. First, they had to help the vegetables in trouble, then follow some clues to help locate the peas hidden around the class and put them in Jelly (apparently this is what you do with naughty peas). It was a lot of fun and a lovely way to start our new topic on ‘heroes’. Our role play corner has been set up as a supermarket to link to the story, but I had forgotten to add prices to the products, so the children busily got to work adding labels and price tags. I thought £100 for a tin of peas was a little excessive.

In other news, in the small windows of sunshine we have had this week, we took the tents, instruments and fabric outside. We had fun making dens, putting on shows, dressing up as bats and making lots of noise! Later, one child decided they wanted to make a paper aeroplane. It was a little windy so we explored how putting a small weight (a paper clip) and using a stronger material (card) would improve our chances of getting them to fly. We also used metre wheels to measure how far we had thrown them. When one child lost her paper clip, she suggested that we could use a magnet to find it. We got the magnets out and did actually find it in the grass where we had lost it. This then turned into a game of hiding paperclips and using magnets to find them.

Year 1 and 2

G’day from Year 1 and 2 with their new topic ‘Awesome Australia’! They started the week looking at traditional Australian Dreamtime Stories and how these can teach us important lessons about cultures, beliefs or how things came to be. Did you know that a kangaroo actually got its tail from having a spear thrown at it by a wombat? Some of the children created their own Mimi (a spirit who tidies up the outback at night), whilst others wrote about how to retrieve a missing son from the Mimis using a stretchy arm or magical witchety grub! They will continue to look at Dreamtime Stories next week, perhaps writing their own.

It’s that time of year again where the Maypole dance is upon us and KS1 took the opportunity to think about distance, length, sequencing and timing to get their dance in order so early on.

However, not content with using dance as a platform for their maths, they also thought about the origins of Australian Damper Bread. Becca Edwards and Helen Sinton asked the children to carefully measure the different ingredients and follow instructions to create this traditional recipe, which originally would have been made over a campfire. Hopefully, you might be able to sample some on Open Day if you come into the Year 1 and 2 classroom, but with a few tweaks from the original recipe!

Having learnt that there is an array of different animals endemic to Australia, they looked at how to group animals, but not into mammals, reptiles, etc, but based on what they eat. Some of the children were quite surprised that bears or pigs are ominorves like us, but were certain what a Woma python around Ayers rock might eat!

Before half term, Becca Edwards asked the children to complete some mystery painting, which has now been transformed into their very own Ayers rock in their Dreamtime story role play area.

This helped them to visualise this massive physical feature and understand the definition when looking at physical features in their geography lesson. In addition to all of this, they managed time to look at indiginous Australian art, particularly focusing on how they use dots to create patterns and pictures, especially focusing on the natural landscapes and animals of Australia.

Hopefully some of their artwork will be up on the walls in no time at all!

Year 3

Well Year 3 have had a busy week! Despite missing Helen Arnold who was with Y5 and Y6 in the Lake District, Year 3 have been delighting Hazel Sykes with their enthusiastic approach to just about everything! The class enjoyed doing some planting for Science on Monday for an investigation into what plants need to survive and grow. They varied the conditions that the plants would be grown in to work out what suited them the best thinking particularly about light, the depth seeds are best planted at and the space around them.

Some of the children then shared their amazing half term projects and wowed the rest of the class with the effort they had put in: a super descriptive story, and two different kinds of hill fort as you can see in the pictures. Finally, the children also thoroughly enjoyed their trip with Y4 to Pizza Express to learn about healthy eating and make their own pizzas which they brought back to school for lunch.

Year 4 Year 4 have had another busy week, with lots of new things and experiences. Alice Pennell has been teaching in Year 4KS, and has been delighted by the kindness, the enthusiasm and the positive attitude that Year 4 show towards all aspects of school life. They have been earnestly rehearsing for their Celebration Meeting, based on the Vikings, which was a tremendous performance, showcasing their acting and singing skills. They have also been busy thinking about ‘Celebrating Sibford’ and writing poems to express their feelings about our lovely school.

Sporty Sibford Soccer scoring, Football soaring.

Riders roaring, Never boring!

Maypole dancing, Horses prancing.

Netball fun, Triathlon run!

By Lotte

On Wednesday they were treated to a visit to Pizza Express, where they learnt about the different ingredients and methods used in making a proper pizza. Did you know the company was founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot, who opened his first restaurant in London's Wardour Street? Inspired by a trip to Italy, Boizot brought back to London, a pizza oven from Naples and a chef from Sicily! All this and Maypole dancing too!

Year 5 & 6 Activities Week

Discovery Award News

Finnley and Henry had a brush with politics over half term. As part of their discovery award they had written about litter in their town to their local MP - none other than erstwhile lord of the commons and current prime minister candidate Andrea Leadsom. Impressed by their eloquence and endeavour, Andrea contacted them asking if, together, they could carry out a litter pick in Middleton Cheney. The boys spent two hours (and Andrea postponed several meetings!) to tackle the problem.

The Discovery Award is coming to the end of its first year now and the children are currently

working on the planning for theme 5, their expedition, which will take place in the last week of term.

Junior School Eco Council – Eco Bricks

Don’t forget we are still waiting for your Eco-Bricks!

Any completed bricks can be brought to the Junior School office, where there will be a collection box after half term. Once you have placed your bottle in the box, you can collect a sticker to put on the display outside the office to help keep track of our total number of bottles! Thank you in advance for all your help.

Friday, 24th May 2019 – Pyjamarama Day

We are pleased to report our Pyjamarama Day raised £95.00 which will be donated to BookTrust. Thank you for your support.

SAVE THE DATE – ANNUAL OPEN DAY ON SATURDAY, 15TH JUNE!

Please save the date for our annual open day on Saturday, 15th June. This is a compulsory school day for all pupils. Families are encouraged to join and experience the wide array of presentations and displays put on by pupils, staff and parents. Junior School children are to arrive for 9.15am in full school uniform and school shoes (plus trainers for maypole dancing) and will be ready for collection at 1pm.

Wednesday, 19th June 2019 - Not to be missed! Rain or Shine Theatre company presents ‘As You Like It!’ in Holly House Garden, Sibford School

The performance at Holly House Garden, Sibford School is on Wednesday 19th June at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from both Junior School and Senior School Reception, pop in or call 01295781200, Rain or Shine 0330 660 0541 or ticketweb via www.rainorshine.co.uk. Tickets are limited so book without delay.

Sibford Junior School has so much to sing about and share that it now has its own dedicated Twitter page. Give @SibfordJS a follow on Twitter and keep up to date with all the Junior School news and daily activities. https://twitter.com/SibfordJS’

Thursday, 20th June 2019 – Junior School Summer Revue, 2.45pm in the Main Hall

The Children and Staff of Sibford Junior School would like to invite you to attend their Summer Revue which will include a selection of music and words involving every child, on Thursday, 20th June at 2.45pm in the Main Hall. During the Revue we also hope to celebrate the learning and achievements that have taken place since September 2018.

Saturday, 29th June 2019 – 2pm to 6pm – PSFA Summer Fun in the Sun – Family Day

A note for your diaries that the PSFA Summer Fun in the Sun Family day will take place on Saturday, 29th June from 2pm to 6pm. Entry is £3 for Adults and £2 for children. Refreshments will be available, have fun in the music tent, join in the art and crafts and enter a team in the “Sibford Challenge”. If you would like to help please email PSFASibfordSchool@outlook.com.

Booking and payment can be made with Lynne Singer in Junior School.