Brookes Business 5th Issue

Including Cherry Trees Chatter

Dear Parents,

I hope this message finds you well. Spring has finally arrived and the school grounds are looking beautiful with colourful flowers blooming in the planters. The days are getting longer and students are enjoying playing outside after school.

This term we encouraged senior students to organise assemblies for their fellow students. I am proud to share that Year 8 students planned an informative assembly about dogs and their importance in our lives. This event is featured in our latest newsletter.

Recently, we held the annual Brookes KS2 swim gala and some longstanding time records were broken! I was extremely impressed by our students' sportsmanship and their support for each other, which truly exemplified the true Brookes spirit.

Best regards,

Natalie Taylor

Y3/4 25m Front Crawl

Eloise Perry 21.0s 2017

Ryker Jackson 20.20s 2024

Y3/4 25m Back Stroke

Eloise Perry 25.44s 2017

Ryker Jackson 24.00s 2024

Y5/6 25m Front Crawl

Noah Fisher Butler 18.73s 2018

Elysia Jackson 18.65ss 2024

Y/34 25m Back Stroke

Thomas Miller 23.85s 2018

Elysia Jackson 22.80s 2024

In the Caterpillar Room, we have been focusing on colours and shapes while continuing to explore the Montessori equipment. We have also been exploring the three primary colours, matching them together, and experimenting with mixing them to create new colours.

We have had a busy few weeks at Cherry Trees. The new children have settled in well, and we've had some exciting events, including the Someone Special event for Mother's Day and Science Week.

As part of this year's theme for British Science Week, which is focused on 'Time', the nursery and reception class invited Miss Wendy to explore with them the story and evolution of Earth. During the session, the children learned about the different eras of life and created a timeline that started in the Reception Class and went through to the Nursery Room. This helped the children understand the length of time before human beings came to live on Earth and the brief time we have been here. The children listened to the story, placed images and models on the timeline, and engaged in discussions on plants, the evolution of animals, and humans, including how some species are now extinct. The overarching aim was to inspire awe and wonder in the children and teachers alike and encourage them to explore evolution while fostering attitudes of responsibility towards our planet and its life.

In the Caterpillar Room, the children have been having fun exploring the forest and observing the changes that are occurring as we approach Spring. They have also been planting their own sunflowers and tomato plants in their garden, and are delighted to see them grow. The children have also been practicing their cutting skills using cloud dough, which has helped them to master using a knife and fork during meal times.

Hello! Bonjour! Mehbaba! Buna Ziua!  Hola!

At our Lower School, we take pride in our diverse community and have recently implemented our very own 'Lower School Language' programme. During each half term, Miss Lynch introduces a new language during our assembly and shares fascinating insights about the culture and geography of the country where it is predominantly spoken. Each language is associated with our families in the Lower School and is proudly displayed on the board in the hall, alongside our accomplishments and festivities. We have already learned how to greet people in Romanian and Turkish, as well as basic manners and greetings using Makaton. We invite you to take a look at our board next time you're in the hall and try out our Lower School language for yourself!

British Science week in Lower School

In celebration of British Science Week, the lower school recently participated in a morning of engaging activities centred around the theme of time. The students were divided into house groups and were tasked with various challenges, such as investigating pendulums and building one that would swing for precisely 30 seconds. Additionally, they explored different methods for measuring time, including using water, sand, and marbles to time 10 seconds. Meanwhile, key stage three students were similarly engaged in time-based activities and were challenged by Mrs Hyden to create paper planes that could be flown in the quickest, fastest, and longest durations possible.

Humanities

As part of the Year 8 curriculum, we study the mechanics of weather fronts. The students enjoyed creating 3D models of warm fronts and using them to write weather reports.

Humanities

Fieldwork is a fundamental part of any geography course. At the GCSE level, students must participate in two fieldwork days. This week, Year 11 went to Felixstowe to inspect the effectiveness of coastal management strategies.

House News

What an action-packed, phenomenal term we have had within our Pastoral House Programme. Since our House system was reinvigorated and re-branded back in September, the children and staff have been working incredibly hard to provide enriching experiences outside of the curriculum.

This term we have had various events and competitions involving every child in the school. Highlights of the term were the Pancake Race, Science Week, Lower School Swimming Gala, Cross Country and our ongoing monthly BeFit challenge.

The House competitions are a chance for the children to earn points for the overall House, however, children also receive House Points for personal achievements in class, in accordance with our Brookes values. This term we have seen a record number of children receiving their Bronze (50 House Points), Silver (100 House Points) and one child has even received their Gold Badge for 150 House Points.

We can’t wait to see what the Summer term will bring with many more events and opportunities for the children to be involved in our House Programme.

House News

Overall House Point Totals Falcons Eagles Hawks

2129

1950 2071

Well done Elysia Jackson for being awarded all three House Point awards –Bronze for 50, Silver for 100, and Gold for 150. She is the first Brookes' pupil to be awarded the Gold award.

During the spring term, students at our school have been busy in the IT room exploring various topics such as web design, spreadsheets, word processing, image manipulation, and digital photography. As always, we had our regular Internet safety week where we discussed how to stay safe while using the Internet. In today's digital age, children have access to a vast array of content from a young age. While most of this content is positive, Many sites are not suitable or appropriate for young people. While students are at school, all web content is screened by the school's firewall, which has been updated this term and is very efficient at filtering out inappropriate content. However, outside of school, students are at risk from the content available online. Therefore, we urge parents to look into parental controls on their children's devices. Both Android and IOS operating systems allow these controls to be set.

It came as a surprise to me that YouTube is rated as an 18. To Change your child's content-level setting from YouTube:

1. Sign in to YouTube with your linked parent account.

2. Go to your profile picture.

3. Select Settings.

4. Select Parental settings.

5. Select your child's profile or account.

6. Under 'YouTube Kids Settings', select EDIT next to 'Content settings'.

The above chart shows the age restrictions of social media apps and PEGI ratings for games.

‘A true Montessorian…’

In 1982, Wendy Compson made a bold decision to start a nursery in her own home due to the lack of suitable facilities in the local area. As the nursery became increasingly popular, it outgrew her house. Eventually, Wendy convinced the bank to lend her the money to purchase the Pink House, which was later converted into a nursery and pre-prep for children aged 2.5 to 5 years old, now known as the White House. Wendy's passion for the Montessori Method led her to become authorised by the London Montessori Centre, and she created a Suffolk training centre to train the staff for her growing school and nursery.

Little Acorns Celebrate 10 Years -2006

Here we see Y6 students posing with babies from the baby unit. They joined Cherry Tress as babies. A testament to the enduring success and dedication of Wendy and her team.

Wendy has a wonderful archive of newsletters from the 1990’s through the 2000’s showing the adventures of the school and nursery

The enrichment of extra-curricular activities was certainly diverse from helping to look after a pig to staging a production at the Theatre Royal!

A high note must be the recognition of her achievements by being awarded the Montessorian of the year 2008. During Dr Martin Bradley speech at the Montessori National workshop he said

“by involving the children and carrying them on her wave of enthusiasm, Wendy has given them ownership. By giving the children this strength she has also been guided and led by them which reflects what a true Montessorian is, and why Wendy should become Montessorian of the year”

Natalie Taylor, the principal at Brookes, is a great believer in the Montessori approach. Recently, she invited Wendy back to help train and reinforce the values that she holds so dear. Wendy's energy and enthusiasm are contagious, despite her age.

'Someone Special' celebration was wellattended. Miss Sheena created a beautiful tea room in the school hall to welcome our families. They enjoyed a cream tea while chatting among friends and families of the Brookes community.

World Book Day!

It was amazing seeing some of our beloved book characters come to life.

Student Leadership

This term, senior school students were given the opportunity to create and present their own assemblies as part of their leadership development. Year 8 students, in particular, worked hard for several weeks to prepare an assembly about the benefits of dogs. They took full ownership of the project, which involved researching the health benefits of dogs, the different types of service dogs, and the mutually beneficial relationship between humans and dogs. Cyrus' mother arranged for Mike, a search and rescue dog handler, to bring in Hywel, his Labrador, to give the senior school a demonstration of how Hywel searches and rescues people. Mike's talk was informative and engaging, and the students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet Hywel at the end of the assembly. The Year 8 students deserve the highest praise for their hard work and dedication to the project.

Ciaran and Theo organised for their mums to come in with their dogs, Alfie and Cookie, to talk about how their dogs have benefited the health of their family.

DatesFor YourDiary

25

April

June

6Th Cherry Trees Closed

8th Grandparents lunch

9th GCSE exams begin

13th Reception & key stage

15

21st Year 7 transition afternoon

23

May July

And finally

The Brookes Easter Hunt was a great success, enjoyed by children, students, and even Mr. Jackson, who dressed up as the big pink bunny! ( sorry to ruin the surprise!) I thought we would finish the newsletter as we started with staff dressed up in silly costumes……..

Edited by Melanie Nichols, contributions from Natalie Taylor, Graham Ellis, Vanessa McAndrew, Bill Pipe, Helen Childerhouse, Melanie Nichols, Sarah Elford, Emma Herd, Becky Lynch and Claire Gale.