Junior School Newsletter - March 20 2020

Junior School Newsletter Friday 20 March 2020

@SibfordJS The official newsletter of

DEAR PARENTS El Dorado High School teachers

When I think of all the many newsletters I’ve written, this is produced in the strangest circumstances. The decision made last night by the government, though expected, nonetheless marks an alarming upsurge in the action to tackle the spread of coronavirus. The children, resilient as ever, have responded to the news in a typically upbeat fashion. They’ve balanced the seriousness of the situation with a genuine disappointment (honestly!) at what could have been considered a premature end of term, but instead will mark the beginning of learning in a different way.

On Monday next week, as we enter this unprecedented and unsettling period, the children will have their home-learning packs, challenges to develop learning stations at home and an enthusiasm to embark upon the challenges that lay ahead. The situation for after the Easter holidays remains unclear. Certainly, we want to be back at school as soon as possible, but should this not be the case, we have tried to put in place as much as possible to keep the children’s learning progressing.

This Monday we began the week with a Meeting for Worship where we explored the importance of keeping friendships close, even in a time of separation. I shared with them the following passage from Quaker Faith and Practice and exhorted them to cleave to their relationships at school.

“I can think with thankfulness of Friends who have brought light to my darkness – perhaps a single sentence, a friendly letter, a walk on the downs: their help was perhaps given unconsciously, but it was because they were sensitive to God’s leadings that they were able to do it. Do we seek to be the channels of God’s love and caring? ‘Caring matters most.’”

Edward H. Milligan, QFP 21.20

@SibfordOxon

@SibfordOxon

Junior School Newsletter Friday 20 March 2020 For all that we’ve had the spectre of an impending school closure hanging over us, it hasn’t held the staff and children back from some exciting and innovative learning opportunities. From Year 6 Shakespeare workshops to impromptu Easter egg hunts and even a social call from a bucktoothed and floppy eared visitor.

Next week we are looking forward to applauding the children who have been be given some of our termly awards. Usually we would have celebrated them at our end of term Meeting, and we will present the trophies on our return, but we wanted to make sure that we noted their achievements this term. We will notify you of the awardees in next Friday’s newsletter and will continue to stay in contact, via Firefly and other platforms, trying, as much as possible, to keep business as usual.

This week congratulations goes to the children who received Head Teacher Awards; Year 5 - Chelsea for kindness to others, Emily H and Lucy for co-operation and Thomas C for helpfulness and organisation. Year 6 to Alice for netball and Kezia, Amy, Erin and Evie for drama.

In the meantime, keep in touch and keep together.

In friendship

Edward Rossiter Head of Junior School

PS. Did you know that at Chichen Itza, Mexico, the Mayan celebrate the first day of spring with “The Return of the Sun Serpent.” On the evening of the spring equinox, the setting sun creates a triangular shadow on the El Castillo pyramid that looks like a descending snake.

@SibfordOxon

@SibfordOxon

FOUNDATION AND RECEPTION This week we have had lots of fun making up our very own versions of Mr Gumpy’s Outing. We made up stories using toy animals, blue fabric and a cardboard boat. We then made our own animal masks and re-enacted the story outside using the crates. We had a shark that was told not to bite, a polar bear who was told not to chase rabbits, a crocodile that was told not to snap and a dinosaur that was told not to roar. They all did, and we ended up in the water again.

We could not study John Burningham without exploring ‘Would you rather…..?’

We used this as an opportunity to do some Philosophy for Children (P4c), thinking about agreeing and disagreeing. We learnt that it is ok to agree, disagree and even change our minds in P4C.

In Maths we thought about shape and created animals using different shapes.

We also explored length, thinking about how big an elephant and giraffe are.

Some big giraffes are 6 small children tall!!! One child even tried to build a boat big enough for an elephant using crates (we needed a few tyres too).

On other news we had lots of fun in the sun on Monday: building shelters; painting daffodils; and feeding the lambs.

YEAR 1 AND 2 Year 1 and 2 have been busy looking at traditional tales this week. They started the week by working in groups, each reading a different story, then to find out information such as the characters, setting, problem/plot and the ending. Following on from this, they continued to work in their groups, but this time focusing on using traditional tale language, by then creating a stick puppet to then perform their story to rest of the class.

There were some great voices, especially for the wolf in 'The Three Little Pigs'!

Linking to our topic of Turrets and Towers, Becca Edwards then shared 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. Though wasn't so nice once they'd heard the story, as she jumbled up the order, so they had to put it back together, so it made sense! They finished the week looking at the sort of things that characters might say, starting to think about dialogue and some children with different words for 'said'.

After focusing on Paul Klee and his styles, they looked at the importance of shields and how certain colours or patterns represented what 'team' you were on; then creating their own shields. To end a busy week, they ventured to the pottery studio to make the final touches to their clay castles, using special underglaze. These will be fired and collected (at some point in the future!). If you're a mother to one of the children in KS1 you hopefully might also find a special envelope lurking in their book bag in time for the weekend...

Although a turbulent week with some uncertainty, Becca Edwards set the children the challenge of creating their own learning home learning area as part of their weekly Home Learning Task. Would you believe that some children have already got it sorted for next week, a special well done to Abby and Erica - it looks great!

YEAR 5 We began this week with an exciting forest school session, where the children were challenged to build something fun or useful using just rope and tarpaulin.

There were some brilliant creations, but I think everyone’s favourite was definitely the hammock. The children impressed us with their creativity and ingenuity, producing this without any adult help (with the exception of a little guidance on the knot tying). Well done girls – you did a great job.

By the middle of the week, it became clear that it was necessary to prepare for school closure. Some of our normal lessons were abandoned in order to make time to learn new skills that we will all need over the coming weeks whilst we are all learning from home. The children have done an absolutely brilliant job, learning to access their email accounts, create, edit and attach a document and master a number of other online resources that will be essential during the period of time when we will all be away from school. They have done all of this with smiles on their faces and have maintained a fantastic attitude towards their learning throughout. We have been astounded with their reliance and independence during this time – they should all be tremendously proud of themselves.

As the week draws to a close, we have cleaned, tidied, organised and prepared for a whole new way of working. Remote learning begins next week and we are all ready to embrace the challenge. Well done to every single member of our year group, for doing your absolute best this week and being an outstanding team – you really are a great bunch!

YEAR 6 Year 6 had a fantastic drama workshop this week with Neil Maddens. As they entered a dark, candlelit Oliver Studio to the sound of magical music, the children were instantly drawn into the mood of “the island with no name”. Driftwood, ropes and lanterns were strewn across the floor, and they were spellbound by the mystical atmosphere. After creating their own, rather noisy, soundtrack, the children were transported to the high seas in the middle of a terrible tempest. They swayed and steered until they were thrown into the icy waves. Waking once again to the magical sounds of the island, they had to explore the unknown forest. It was a brilliant experience, and really made Shakespeare's words come to life.

OTHER NEWS

Covid-19-Cornavirus Updates Please note that full details of the Junior School closure procedures can be found in the Parents Area on our website and updates will also appear there; https://www.sibfordschool.co.uk/parents-area/covid-19-coronavirus-update/sibfordjunior-school-procedures.