Junior School Newsletter Friday 17 January 2020
DEAR PARENTS The official newsletter of
@SibfordJS
El Dorado High School teachers
I considered opening this week’s newsletter with a cheery “G’day” as a nod to today’s Casuals day but given the tragic circumstances there it seemed a little trite. The impact of the fires was brought to focus with a talk from some special guests who have a close knowledge of the disaster. While shocking to hear the reality, it has helped frame for the children something that is easy to think of as distant and to see where the money we have raised is going. Hearing stories from another part of the world was also embedded in a very interesting talk from Toby Spence’s predecessor, Michael Goodwin, on Thursday evening. Michael told us about his experiences during three months in Jerusalem working with an ecumenical accompanier. It was heart-rending to see the plight of some of the families living in the occupied territories, especially when faced with the future challenges of the region. And yet there were also nuggets of good news in amongst the trauma – stories of groups campaigning for peace even going against the prevalent trends of their communities, whether on religious or national grounds. Both these stories, and the responses to them, tie in wonderfully with this term’s Meeting for Worship theme of “Thinking of others” and I challenge the children to continue to look around them to see what they can do for others. Elsewhere, we have had another busy week, hosting a swimming gala and this afternoon’s parent meeting about the forthcoming Year 5 and 6 Activities Week. However, this pales into insignificance beside the excitement of our STEM fortnight starting on Monday with workshops, experiments and presentations loosely connected to the theme of sustainability. As part of the topic we’d like to invite you to our open classrooms at 3:30 on Friday 24th January, where you’ll have a chance to see experiments in action, and our STEM Celebration Meeting at 3:30 on Friday 31st in the dining room.
@SibfordOxon
@SibfordOxon
Junior School Newsletter Friday 17 January 2020 Congratulations to Will, Y6 who has received the Head Teachers Award this week. Have a wonderful weekend. In friendship Edward Rossiter Head of Junior School PS. Did you know that fires in Australia cover an area of land equivalent to the whole of Southern England stretching up to Nottingham?
@SibfordOxon
@SibfordOxon
FOUNDATION AND RECEPTION
We have had a ‘romping’ start to our new topic Dinosaurs, looking at the story, ‘Bumpus Jumpus Dinosaurumpus’. As the name would suggest, this is not a story that we have been learning sitting down! Inspired by the illustrations in the story and some printing we had done earlier, we created massive dinosaur pictures. They were so huge that we had to clear the tables and put them on the floor to print designs on them. Some children even had a go at writing about all the groovy moves the dinosaurs were making. We have a very exciting collaborative dinosaur activity to do with Year 3 on Friday – check out twitter #SibfordEYFS #SibfordJS for more information! In other news, when I asked a child how we should set up the role play area they suggested - ‘Santa’s Grotto’. The other children all jumped at the idea so out came the nicely packed away Christmas box and we relived Christmas. Not wanting to get bored, some elves even bought their phones for the sleigh ride. Well I guess they, ‘wish it could be Christmas everyday’ and in Early Years it sometimes feels like it is.
YEAR 1 AND 2 Ahoy there from KS1! The children have been further investigating all things pirate related in the classroom this week, especially when it comes to understanding a bit more about pirate food. Lasagne, chilli and lettuce were some of the children’s least favourite foods, but they were taught that pirates had that, multiplied by ten and then had to eat it every day! Also that fresh food/water wasn’t readily available and so much of the food they ate was rotten or contained maggots… After writing job applications to Captain Pete Pigeon last week, they decided to play a little bit of a trick on him and write him a recipe for horrible pirate soup. You might see the great example of writing by Darcey on the WOW board as you wander through the school. Becca Edwards asked them to think about how they could use time connectives to help put instructions in order, use imperative verbs and add some adjectives for all the nasty ingredients, such as crunchy brown toenails! They then also improved their understanding the features of instructions by following some to make ‘Hard Tac biscuits’ and generating some of their own instructions after making fruit cutlasses! Despite time always flying by in the Year 1 and 2 classroom, the week focused on revisiting aspects of telling the time, but focusing especially on the duration of activities. Some of the children believed that they could get ready in 2 minutes and quickly realised that perhaps 2 minutes isn’t that long if you’ve got to get suited and booted in your boiler suit due to some of the horrendous weather we’ve had this week! Pirates are always looking for treasure and that’s exactly what the KS1 children did too. They investigated how magnets might help them find more interesting treasure, when searching through trays of different materials. In addition, they continued to look at the structure of boats, making their own from a net and using different construction equipment in the classroom to make their own! Some of this work will set them in good stead for STEM fortnight.
YEAR 3 Now that Year 3 have their dinosaur paintings finished, they have been busily incorporating them into a landscape. With this image in mind children have been thinking how much fun it would be to bring their dinosaurs back to life or to animate them at least! With the help of Sukey Symes and ‘Green Screen’ that’s exactly what they have been doing. With a little more technical knowledge (and practice!) parents may get to see some of their results during our STEM fortnight. In RS children thought about creation and tuned to the Old Testament to read all about the Christian and Jewish beliefs regarding how the world was created. Some excellent drawings demonstrating creation followed. Later in the week Stone Age problem solving provoked excellent conversations and ordering as children were challenged with: “ Imagine…you have just woken up in the middle of nowhere. · You have nothing to wear, · You are hungry, · You are tired, · You are thirsty, · You have no shelter and · You have no tools. What are you going to do first?” A very insightful Year 3 agreed finding water should their first priority. Still on the theme of problemsolving children thought about and created excellent ‘fat balls’ for birds to eat during forest school which fits nicely with some of their resolutions to do something good for their environment.
YEAR 4 This week in English we have been introduced to Michael Morpurgo’s Beowulf, discussing the characters we have met so far, and listening out for powerful language. As well as using it as an opportunity to think about the features of a legend, the children have imagined that they are a character from the story… What might they be thinking & feeling if they could read their mind? In History we turned back the clocks to 450 to become Anglo-Saxons landing on the shores of Britain. We discussed the basic needs of a group of people thinking about shelter, food, defence and trade and ranked our criteria for the perfect settlement. In RE we took some time to think about the worship of Buddhists and the places that are special to them. We learned about how they worship, drew detailed stupas or pagodas and finished the lesson with some quiet contemplation as we attempted to empty our minds to meditate.
YEAR 5
Year 5 have begun a new Science topic for this half term “Material World” in which we will explore the properties of different materials that make up everything in our world and why certain materials are chosen to perform tasks. For example, the children have started to consider the relative benefits of a metal spoon over a plastic one for eating or cooking, considering what happens to each material when heat is introduced. We have also thought about the longevity of different materials (how long will each last?) and what impact choosing the right material can have on our planet. Expect some Science sleuths closely examining your household objects for the next few weeks! In the photos you can see one group weigh up which will make the best packaging material to help transport very fragile meringues, whilst another group are considering which material is the best “mopper-upper” for a spillage. As you can see, they clearly decided on the fluffy green cloth! Outside, under the guidance of Harry Wragg, we have also been putting our backs into preparing one of the raised beds for planting later and also finding a home, by the fence to the raised beds area, for some forgotten bulbs which we hope will cheer on our efforts in later weeks when they begin to sprout.
YEAR 6 This week, Year 6 have been continuing their study of The Highwayman. They began the week by creating some of their own poetry in the same style as Alfred Noyes’ poem. The children used the rhythm of the poem, placed metaphors and similes in the same place and utilised similar descriptive effects such as repetition, but used a (slightly scary) picture of a fantasy-style castle as their inspiration (see below). Here is a selection of their poems: By Phoebe The moon was a shy child, looking for somewhere to hide. The path was a tongue of a venomous snake, flicking from side to side. The lava was a pool of death, threatening a terrible demise And the dragon was circling – circling – circling The dragon was circling, with its glowing eyes. By Lily The moon was an eye of madness, watching down on me. The castle was a graveyard of thorns, as sharp as the sting of a bee. The path was a serpent, ready to take a bite And the glow of their souls was leading – leading –leading The glow of their souls was leading me into the light. By Amy The castle was a shadowy hollow, the evil crying out, The sky was a deadly whirlwind reflecting the darkness about. The lake was a pool of lava hiding a misty floor And the blood red dragon came swooping – swooping –swooping The blood red dragon came swooping, down to death’s door
YEAR 6
6NH received their superb pottery Anderson shelters back this week. As the photos show, these were made to an excellent standard by all the children. John James has said that he’ll be expecting great things from the children when they do pottery with him in Year 7.
Sticking with the history theme, on Thursday all of Year 6 took a stroll around the village, looking at the buildings in The Sibfords and Burdrop and learning how their use had changed over time. Looking at historic photos, Year 6 found it fascinating to find all the things that had not changed in the villages over the last 100 years or so, as well as the few things that were different. From the oldest maps of the area that the children have studied, they saw that the layout of the roads has stayed the same since 1833. Next, we move onto the history of the school.
DISCOVERY AWARD STORIES The pupils participating have come to the end of the first term and the first two themes of this year’s Discovery Award. From September to Christmas the children focussed on “Letting their life speak” (looking at supporting and addressing local issues) and “Living adventurously” (learning a new skill). Here is another story below from Thomas in Y5. Linking well with our Casuals Day today, Thomas has been working hard on his own initiative to raise money for the animals affected by the Australian bush fires. A while ago he expressed an interest in selling homemade lemonade or selling Lemon-Aid (to raise money for charity) to the public. This weekend he had a stall at Long Compton Village Hall. Thomas made his own homemade lemonade, to his own recipe, he set up the stall, then ran the stall from 11-2pm. He sold £14.00 and received total donations of £34.30. Once costs had been deducted, Thomas had a profit of £41.62 which he specifically would like to donate to the charity which supports wildlife affected by the Australian bush fires (WIRES).
OTHER NEWS
STEM Fortnight 20th-31st January Next week the Junior School will be embarking on a fortnight of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based activities. These will include presentations from parents who use STEM in their jobs, workshops from Science Oxford and a Vertical Learning Morning. Our primary focus will be on STEM and Sustainability, however there will be a broad range of actions taking place. We will also be launching an Eco-project that we are very excited about – more information on that to follow! Sport Report - U9-11 Swimming Gala - Wednesday, 15th January On Wednesday we hosted an U9 and U11 swimming gala with Warwick Prep, Kitebrook and Windrush School. It was a fantastic afternoon with a lovely atmosphere where all schools demonstrated outstanding team spirit. For some of our pupils it was their first ever competition and I was delighted with the effort and determination that they all showed. There were many outstanding swims by the Sibford team with many securing personal bests. The final results were U9 Girls 3rd, U9 Boys 2nd, U11 Girls A 2nd, U11 Girls B 4th, U11 Boys 3rd. Well done to all. After School Lego and STEM club Children continue be tasked with a Lego and a STEM challenge each week. This week the STEM challenge involved children carrying out a Paper Towel Colour experiment. They thought about what happens to food colouring as water is added and what happens to the paper towel after it has been dipped in coloured water? They used scientific words (such as absorption) to explain what was happening.
OTHER NEWS Les Misérables School Edition Tickets for the Sibford School production of Les Misérables School Edition are now on sale and selling well. Performances take place at 7pm on March 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. You can purchase tickets online via this link for the price of £8 + booking fee: http://bit.ly/SibfordLesMis. Alternatively, tickets are now on sale via main reception for the price of £8. We can accept cash or cheques made payable to Sibford School.
Sibford School Fun in the Country Holiday Club! The Sibford School Fun in the Country holiday club is now taking bookings for 2020 school holidays in February, April, May, July/August and October. The club runs for ages 5 – 11 and costs £30 per child per day. Children can be dropped off between 8.30am and 9.10am. Collection should be between 4.30pm and 5.30pm. Activities include art, crafts, forest school, swimming sessions, climbing, team games, sports and outdoor play. The number of children per day is restricted so early booking is recommended. To book, click here: https://www.sibfordschool.co.uk/fun-in-the-country/.
OTHER NEWS
PSFA MAY BALL - TICKETS NOW ON SALE
‘A Night on the Orient Express’ May Ball is being held on Saturday 9 May 2020 and bookings are now open! Tickets are £65 each, and are excellent value for what promises to be a fantastic night, including reception drink and canapés, formal 4 course meal with coffee, live music, live and silent auction, and as always, some surprises on the night! The event is supporting another fantastic charity this year, Blue Skye Thinking (you can find out more about them here: www.blueskyethinking.org), as well as raising funds for PSFA to support projects within the school. If you would like to book a table or tickets (we can do tables of any number between 8-12) please email Heidi Fowler at psfa@sibfordschool.co.uk. In previous years tickets have sold out so do book early to avoid disappointment.
Junior School Newsletter Friday 17 January 2020
DATES FOR THE DIARY
The official newsletter of
El Dorado High School teachers
@SibfordOxon
@SibfordOxon
@SibfordOxon