The Echo Spring 2015

THEECHO ECHO ECHO

Record Year!

Spring 2015 Edition

After last year’s outstanding 11+ results, the current Year 6 children knew that they had a hard act to follow. In true St Margaret’s style, they all rose to the challenge and once again produced a remarkable set of examination results - achieving a record number of 13 scholarships and exhibitions. These awards recognise not only academic excellence,

but also achievement in music, drama and sport. 100% of our pupils will be attending their first choice of secondary school in September they never cease to amaze us. It is with enormous pride that we publish our examination results for 2015 and we send congratulations to the children and the staff on this significant achievement!

Jack Abigail Archie Beatrice Charlotte Freya Grace Henry Isabella K

Lily Marcy Megan Octavius Oliver Sophia

Jacob Maximilian Toby William Alexander Catherine Daisy Holly Lily Amy Anna Isabella C Jemima Josephine Madeleine Sarah Hannah

Abbeyfield School Day Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Academic Scholarship / Music Scholarship Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Academic Scholarship / Music Scholarship Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School* Day St Mary’s, Calne Day Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Day Dauntsey’s School Academic Scholarship Dauntsey’s School Music Exhibition

* Denotes chosen school

Kingswood School Prior Park College Prior Park College Prior Park College Rendcomb College The Royal High School The Royal High School Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Sherborne Girls St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne Westonbirt School

Day All-Round Scholarship Drama Exhibition Day Day Day Day Day Boarding Sport Exhibition Day English Exhibition Sport Exhibition Academic Scholarship Day Academic Scholarship Boarding

Welcome to the Spring 2015 Edition of The Echo Since returning to school in the dark days of January, the list of accomplishments over the past ten weeks has, once again, been extensive. As always, the entire St Margaret’s community has worked together to ensure that the children have enjoyed an exciting and busy spring term.

The focus for the Year 6 children has obviously been the 11+ examinations, whilst the Year 3 & 4 pantomime, Snow White, brought January to a rousing conclusion!

Everybody embraced the activities during Book Week and particularly enjoyed the non-fiction workshops

delivered by children’s author John Townsend.

The pupils in Year 5 welcomed Devizes-based chef, Peter Vaughan, back to the school to improve their bread-making knowledge! All of the children have enjoyed a range of personal triumphs, from obtaining maths badges, gaining full marks in their weekly spelling tests, or representing the school on the sports field.

I congratulate everyone on their significant achievements and send children, staff, parents and friends good wishes for a peaceful Easter holiday.

www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk 3D or not 3D that is the Question This term in Reception P, the children have been learning about 3D shapes.

They have explored spheres, cylinders, cubes and cuboids. Everyone has had fun describing a 3D shape that they chose to bring in from home for their class ‘Show and Tell’.

Reception C are ‘Beside Themselves’ Reception C have been actively demonstrating their understanding of a wide range of positional language.

They have enjoyed participating in physical literacy-based activities linked to the story ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.’

These included re-enacting the story outdoors and joining in actions from the animation, as retold by the author Michael Rosen. During another activity, based in the Wildlife Garden the children each took a turn at positioning their plastic dinosaurs ‘above,’ ‘below,’ ‘on top of,’ ‘next to,’ ‘underneath,’ ‘besides,’ and ‘through’ different objects. They all tried hard to get it right!

5G Find the Solution The children in 5G have been learning all about dissolving in Science. They have carried out a range of experiments to discover what factors speed up dissolving, each group devising their own test and choosing their own solute to dissolve.

Lots of general knowledge from working in the kitchen is invaluable in this area! Smaller particles, hotter water and stirring all speed up dissolving.

In the laboratory, the class had to decide how long a mystery sugar would take to dissolve after testing the speed sugars with different particle sizes. They also found out that there is a limit to the amount of solute that can be dissolved in a solvent; this is called a saturated solution. The class really enjoyed all the opportunities to carry out practical work during this unit.

Bore da from 3R! This term 3R have gone on a journey over the Severn Bridge to discover the country of Wales.

As part of the changing Geography curriculum the class has studied the human and physical features of the country. The children have worked hard to appreciate how the landscape effects how the land is used and where the towns and cities are located. They have been lucky enough to truly immerse themselves in the culture of Wales too; making and eating Cawl, learning numbers 1-10, singing in Welsh and even having a visit from a traditional Welsh lady and a Welsh dragon who shared some myths and legends from Wales with the children. Everyone is looking forward to next term when they will actually go to Wales for their History unit on the Romans!

1C get Jammy!

Children in 1C have been learning all about halves and quarters.

The class enjoyed working with a friend to make jam sandwiches and then worked together to cut the sandwich into 2 halves and then into quarters. They used play dough to make different food items and then shared them equally between groups of 4, making sure they used the correct mathematical language.

The children then had fun on the playground giving each other an instruction for turning a whole turn, half a turn or a quarter of a turn.

1C look forward to using what they have learnt about halves and quarters to help them tell the time!

2T say ‘Jambo’!

The children in 2T have had an amazing time learning about Kenya and how living there is so very different from living in Wiltshire. The children have learnt to play African drums, speak a few words of Swahili as well as creating some beautiful Kenyan sunset pictures using colour wash and printing techniques. They used their inspiration of Kenyan animals to make amazing hand puppets using felt, buttons and other materials for features. The children really enjoyed developing their sewing skills to include not only running stitch but sewing on a button!

The learning about Kenya culminated in an assembly where the children retold the story of ‘Baby Rhino’s Escape’ using giant stick puppets which they had collaged and printed animal features onto.

4NC Settlements Year 4 have had an exciting time looking at settlements this term. This links to their Viking history unit and also enabled them to use ‘Digimap for Schools’ which has just been introduced into the geography curriculum.

The children studied the invasion of the North East of England by looking at OS maps and tracing the origins of village and town names.

They then made their own maps starting with the basic necessities needed for a settlement to be successful and then looked at how these villages changed over time. It was very interesting to use the fade feature on Digimap to look at how our home villages and towns have changed over the years as well.

2A are Electric!

The children in 2A have thoroughly enjoyed learning about Electricity this term and have had an amazing time discovering the importance of it in our everyday lives. The class has learnt about the sources of electricity and the dangers of it with the designing of safety posters. They have built their own circuits and learnt the symbols for the equipment. An investigation was conducted that required the children to use their knowledge of electrical circuits to predict, test and conclude on circuits that would/wouldn’t work. They performed a wonderful assembly, informing the whole school about electricity with the help of Electro Man to warn them of the risks and how to stay safe. It has been an electrifying and enjoyable term!

THEECHO ECHO ECHO SPRING 2015 EDITION

Year 6 Build Bridges Year 6 have been doing practical, focussed tasks in design and technology this term. The children used a sheet of A4 paper to create a bridge, they then used newspaper to make 20cm squares which they reinforced and finally they took part in the marshmallow and spaghetti challenge!

Everyone had to make the tallest, most stable structure using 4 large marshmallows, a handful of small marshmallows and dry spaghetti.

The children needed to remember all they had previously learnt about triangulation and reinforcement. Some chose to plan their structures - some structures needed modifying; some were tall, but unstable; some were short, but very sturdy!

These practical tasks will help the children to focus on the design details that they will use when they eventually make their bridges next term.

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5W Practice Looking Over the first half of term, Year 5 have been building up the skills to be able to draw portraits of each other. First, the class looked at what an artist means by the word ‘portrait’ and agreed this might be a drawing, but could equally be a sculpture or a photograph. Then they looked at work by several artists, including, among others, Howard Tangye.

Over five weeks, the children worked on continuous line drawings of each other, learning to look at proportion in the face and thinking about use of colour to show light and shade. They discussed how important it was to keep going and not worry about producing a ‘photographic’ portrait. By the end of the process, everyone agreed that their drawing had improved and they were looking forward to using their eyes (rather than their imaginations) in their next project on still life.

4B Enjoy the Vicious Vikings!

4B have had great fun learning all about the Viking era in a variety of different ways. The unit began by looking at the type of clothing worn in Viking times; the children drew a man or woman on card, cut it out and then collaged it using fabric.

The Sing Up site proved very handy as it enabled the children to learn ‘Viking Rock’ with 4NC and then help them out by singing the second part in their class assembly.

The children also researched King Alfred using secondary evidence such as pictures, history programmes and non-fiction books and amongst other things, discovered that Alfred had a winter retreat in Chippenham!

The children enjoyed learning about the many gruesome punishments that were dished out for breaking the law; some of the particular favourites were ‘Ordeal by Fire’ which meant you had to walk over red hot coals whilst holding a red hot iron bar in your hand for 1 minute, or being declared an ‘outlaw’ and sent away from your village, all of your weaponry taken away and nobody can help you. 4B agreed that they felt much safer in 2014 than in AD 700 – 1100!

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Year 6 Samba and Bikeability IJ Explore Moving Animals 1J have been learning all about animals. In Design and Technology the class chose an animal and decided which type of lever they would need to make it move. They designed and explored using lots of different types of levers to create a moving picture. Using their skills with scissors, card, a hole punch and split pins the children made a variety of different levers. Some made the legs of their animal move whilst others moved the head or tail. The class made lots of different creations from a hedgehog who moved his legs to a squirrel that moved his arms whilst holding a nut! Everyone had great fun and really enjoyed showing the rest of the class their finished moving animals.

After the stresses, strains and huge success of their entrance examinations, Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed relaxing to the challenge of a number of new activities. Immediately after their examinations the children all spent two days with specialist Bikeability trainers learning how to cycle safely.

Although the weather was cold and a little icy in places, everyone wrapped up warmly and all 32 children successfully gained their Bikeability awards. In addition, Year 6 have loved revisiting and developing their Samba skills. Under the watchful eye of Mrs Gibson, they have learnt a difficult routine which they plan to perform at this year’s Spring Concert.

A highlight of these sessions has been when Mrs Gibson has asked different children to lead the group and to control not only which instruments are to be played, but also the volume!

Kindergarten get into the Rugby Spirit!

Celtic Homes in 3D

Kindergarten has been having fun on the astro pitch learning new rugby skills! The children start their Games session with a warm up, and talk about how important it is to warm up, how their heart beats faster, and that their bodies become warmer when they exercise.

They practice their listening skills by playing listening games, and listen carefully for when the whistle is blown; once the whistle is blown everyone can then have a go at scoring a try. One of the favourite games that Kindergarten play is a game called ‘sharks’.

This involves the children having to run from one side of the pitch to the other, trying to dodge the teachers! Throwing and catching the ball is great fun, and when they run, the children hold the ball in two hands so that they always have good control over the ball.

At the beginning of this term, the children in 3D were sent home with the challenge of creating a model roundhouse to demonstrate their understanding of the type of homes in which the Celts would have lived. After two weeks of creative construction they bounded into the classroom, excited to exhibit their models and eager to examine what their classmates had achieved. The children showed great resourcefulness when gathering materials. They transformed plaster, straw, clay, tissue paper, card, moss, lollypop sticks, grass, plasticine and hanging baskets into an impressive collection of sturdy roundhouses, which the Celts would surely have been proud to call their homes, had they been built to a larger scale!

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Encouraging and Enabling all to Achieve their Potential!

At St Margaret’s our over-riding ethos is to meet the needs of every individual and to help them make as much progress as possible. We aim to promote a culture of determination and enjoyment of learning where children recognise the many different learning styles that exist, including their own preferred style, so helping them develop their own goals and expectations. By promoting a ‘can do’ culture of high expectation and a ‘next steps’ approach where all pupils are involved in setting their targets and goals, all pupils will reveal, display and celebrate their abilities.

As such, an extensive programme of Booster Groups and Focus Groups now take place throughout the school to support the fully differentiated activities planned by teachers. The programme is overseen by our Head of Learning Support in close liaison with our Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator. The key is that wherever a child would benefit from some targeted support, either to boost confidence levels or to extend their learning, that we try to provide short and medium term targeted support that will meet these needs. Indeed, this term has seen children work in small Booster Groups focusing upon areas as diverse as the English Speaking Board examinations, handwriting, Mathematical Number, individual reading, comprehension and the ‘High Five’ emotional intelligence group. Many have also attended Focus Groups aimed at extending and developing skills further. A recent example of this was the Gifted and Talented Science group who investigated how to make snowflakes using a Borax solution. Within a day the children had used pipe cleaners as a framework on which the crystals grew. Hugely exciting!

Cross Country Success St Margaret’s children attended the annual Westonbirt Cross Country Tournament on a beautifully sunny afternoon in February.

Given that the Tournament was cancelled last year due to inclement weather, the children were even more excited and eager to compete.

This is a huge competition with over 20 schools attending from all over the South of England. This event is always well supported and this year had upwards of 100 children in each age group racing.

St Margaret’s gave a great account of themselves at this event, with some excellent individual performances across Key Stage 2.

This year the U8 boys and U10 girls were particularly strong and competed in a field of 56 boys at U8 and 63 girls at U10 from 20 schools. The U8 boys (Year 3) recorded a 1st, 12th and 16th place and the U10 (Year 5) girls fought hard for 6th, 13th and 14th place.

Although every placing is important, there were notable performances on the day from Alistair who was the first U8 boy home with Taylor (12th) and Max close behind (16th). Other strong performances came from Year 4 pupils - Theo (16th), Hannah (11th), Aurora (12th) and Izzy (18th). The placings for the U10 girls were: Kitty (6th), Lily (13th) and Sydney (14th). In Year 6 Beatrice came 9th and Jemima was 20th.

We look forward to competing next year and seeing the children defend their successes!

St Margaret’s Preparatory School, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 0DF Tel: 01249 857220 Fax: 01249 857227 Email: office@stmargaretsprep.org.uk Website: www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk