Upload
duongnhan
View
213
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Reception Class
We began this term learning about celebrations. We thought about celebrating the New Year and we each made a resolution which we displayed on our Tree of Resolutions painting inspired by Gustav Klimt’s “Tree of Life.”
On the feast of Candlemas we learned about Jesus visiting the temple for the first time and Simeon saying that Jesus is the light of the world. We shared a class liturgy and made some candle biscuits to celebrate this feast.
We also learned that we can celebrate each other’s gifts and talents and we made medals for one another. During Lent we are learning about growing and new life. We have planted sunflower seeds and sweet corn. We have investigated how to make a Gummy Bear grow! We are learning to grow in kindness like Jesus.
Some of our buddies came to read their Dragon Stories and Magic Spells to us. We were entranced listening to the dragon adventures and we were very impressed by the amazing illustrations! They have inspired us to be authors and illustrators too. The spells our buddies read to us were magical and we fell under their spell! We enjoyed them so much that some of Reception decided to write their own magic spells. This has given us the idea of making our own, “Little Shop of Spells!” Our shop will stock recipes for a variety of spells, such as, a spell to make you laugh, smile, change colour or change into a different character.
We are making a magical boat like Max’s boat in “Where the wild things are,” so we can sail away to an imaginary world. We have designed our own imaginary creatures and we have written stories about them and painted life-‐sized pictures of them. We have looked at David Hockney’s paintings of trees and we have used some of his ideas to paint our own trees.
NEWS REVIEW ISSUE 6 – MARCH 2015
2220142013JANUARY 201
Year One In Year ONE this term we have been learning all about ‘buildings’.
We looked at lots of paintings by L.S. Lowry, including one called ‘Coming out of school.’ We discovered he liked to paint churches in his pictures. We used grey, black and brown chalk pastels to draw our ‘Lowry’ buildings. We also looked at the work of an Austrian artist and architect Hundertwasser. He liked to paint and design colourful buildings, using unusual shapes. We used silky crayons to draw our own ‘Hundertwasser’ buildings.
We listened to the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and talked about the giant’s castle. We thought about what the giant might look like when he was angry. We worked together in partners and created enormous faces using chalk pastels.
In R.E. we have have been thinking about Lent. We have thought about how we can be closer to God during this time. We made a Lenten tree for our classroom. Each leaf has something that we will try to do during Lent. We also thought about how we can make our lights shine bright, by being kind, caring and thoughtful to others. We each wrote a Lenten promise on a special candle.
We have been thinking about how we can talk to God. Each of us have written our own message to God, for our class prayer book.
We have also been thinking about reconciliation. We listened to a story about a little boy who made lots of wrong choices. We all quietly thought about what bad choices we had made recently. Everybody was given a button to hold tightly in their hand. Each button helped us
remember a wrong thing we had done. Reverently and slowly we placed our buttons on a cross and said sorry to God for what we had done. We all promised we would try to make better choices in the future. Emera said it was like making a fresh start in Lent.
Thank you to everyone who came to our 'Last Supper' assembly. We hope you enjoyed watching the children, telling this important story. This assembly helped the children remember what happened to Jesus in the days before he died. We hope that during the holidays you can read more of the Easter story at home.
The children in Year One have been learning about signs of new life and spring. We planted beans and watched them grow. We were very lucky to see some of the chicks that were hatched in Year Two. Mrs Deakin and Mrs Ladbrooke held the chicks carefully and we all got a chance to gently stroke the chick’s head.
We went into the cookery room and made Easter biscuits. We made baby rabbits, chicks and egg shaped biscuits. We enjoyed eating them afterwards.
Year Two Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken ….
Meet Greg, Francis, Fran and Kim – the latest additions to Year Two. These four little chicks have caused great excitement across the school. We carefully placed our newly laid eggs into the incubator and waited patiently for twenty-‐one days. On Monday 16th March we arrived in school to find four little chicks had hatched over the weekend. We watched them grow day by day until it was time for them to leave for their new home with Martha and her Mum.
Mrs Palmer-‐Thompson promises that she will send updates and photos of the chicks so that we can see how they are getting on.
As part of our current topic Our Amazing World -‐ Lorraine visited Year Two in March to teach us some Aboriginal dancing. We learnt different moves to represent different Australian animals and then performed a dance together. We loved taking part in the workshop.
Visiting Author On Tuesday, 3rd February, the children’s author, Paeony Lewis came to visit St Francis. In our assembly Paeony read us a book she had written called “Hurry Up Birthday”. Her daughter inspired her to write the book because
she was so excited about her birthday that she crossed off each day leading up to it. It takes Paeony up to three years to write each book and she has written lots of books. Paeony helped Year Two to tell a story about the Morning Bird. We acted out our story and then we went off to create our own Morning Bird
character. We really enjoyed our morning of storytelling. For more information about Peaony, check out her website: www.paeonylewis.com/page3.html We travelled by coach to St. Andrews Hall. When we got there we were shown where to put our coats. While we were waiting, we told jokes and you couldn't really hear them. Everyone sang to each other and the helpers listened. Soon more mums and dads came in and then the real performance began. First everyone sang 'She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain'. Another school sang two other songs then it was our turn. We sang 'Day Off' and 'Our Ship Sailed From China’. And then we all sang ‘Chatanooga Choo Choo’. Then one other school sang 'There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly' and 'Lets Go Fly A Kite'. Finally the last school sang 'Square Wheels' and an aeroplane song. And then all of us sang 'I Want To Ride In A Tuk Tuk'. Finally it ended and some people went home in the car with their parents or they walked. Beth and Laura 2 O'K The Teddy Bear Hospital On Wednesday 4th February, some doctors came to our school. First, we went to the operation. There was another Teddy. He had an operation. Then we went to the healthy eating game and me and my teddy shook the tambourine. Next we went to the Doctors. She gave me a plaster to put on my teddy. Finally, we went to the skeleton game. I found out kidneys are in our hips. I didn’t know you could put plasters on teddies. I loved it because I got to shake the tambourine. Luke B 2K
Year Two Learn Orienteering Skills
On Monday afternoon something amazing happened … Mr Hall came and did map skills with us! First Mr Hall showed us some map signs. We had to tell him what they meant. Next we went outside and stood on the yellow line. Mr Hall gave us a map each. Then we went with our talk partners. With our talk partners we searched for the flags with letters. Then when we found the flags with letters we wrote them on our maps and we couldn’t tell anyone and when the whistle went we had to go to Mr Hall and give our maps to him. We really enjoyed that. We know something about maps now!
Rivana and Summer -‐ 2 O’K
Year Three
This term our topic has been ‘Different Places, Different Times’.
At the beginning of the term we were visited by the physicist Stephanie Taylor from the Ogden Trust. She helped us to understand the planets from our Solar System and we have since been colouring in a planet on our own solar system picture every time we get all our spellings correct. By the end of this term, if we have managed to colour in the eight planets, (not counting Pluto as it is now considered to be a dwarf planet) then we will officially become a St Francis of Assisi astronaut in a celebration assembly. As part of this topic we have studied other countries and we all made our own ‘Flat Stanley’ based on the book by Geoff Brown and sent these flat versions of ourselves to different places throughout the world. Thank you to all those of you
who have been able to return these well-‐travelled ‘Stanleys’ before the end of this Spring term. In music Year 3 have been following a programme of work called ‘Charanga’ and each class has videoed their own performance of ‘The Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley. All the children had the opportunity to play the glockenspiel and the recorder. We have been fortunate enough to have a specialist gymnastics teacher work with the children in PE and the children have been learning the correct way to perform such tasks as a tuck, a pike or a straddle. In this picture some of 3K are performing a Japana!
This week we have celebrated the end of our topic with an International Day. Well done to all the children who managed to dress up, and for all the delicious food that has been cooked, prepared or provided by parents. Finally, in RE we have been thinking about reconciliation and how we can change for the better in this period of Lent. Many of the children are in the process of making their first confession in preparation for their First Holy Communion which they will be receiving soon. Next term we will be having a celebration Mass in the school Hall on 10th July at 9:30 am. Parents will be most welcome to celebrate this occasion with us and we are extremely fortunate this year as Bishop Alan will be leading the Mass for us. So please make a note in your diary!
Year Four
Our Trip to the Castle Museum On Tuesday, 3rd of March, my class 4M went to the castle museum. We went because we are learning about the Romans. We met a Roman soldier, Roman official and two Iceni tribe members. Firstly, we went to one of the Iceni tribe members. We got to make some necklaces called torcs, and we got to look at some of the statues. She told us all about how the Iceni lived. I liked the bit where we got to make the torcs. I learned that if an Iceni got caught by a Roman with a torc on, then the Roman would take it off the Iceni. Next, we got to meet a Roman official called Marcus. Marcus showed us two types of roof tiles, tegula and imbrex. Matilda got to place tegula on top of imbrex. I liked it when he went round the room saying “Samian”. I learnt that when children were at school, they had to write on wax. Then we had lunch. After lunch, we got to meet another Iceni member. We got to chant round a fire “Iceni, Iceni, ICENI” until we got a bit too loud. We also got to pretend to be part of the Iceni village, my group got to be fishermen, some of us got to be fish, some fishermen. I liked being a fish. I learnt that children didn’t get to go to school, instead they worked all day long.
Phoebe 4M
4S Class Mass On Wednesday 21st January we had our class Mass to celebrate God's Word. Father David led the mass. Some parents and relatives came. Father David told us why he wore his garments and showed us what he put on the table. Before all the parents arrived we were allowed to ask Father David questions. He told us it could be about anything, so someone asked him, "What is the moon made out of?" Father David said, "Green cheese and I'm telling you the truth!" At the start of the Mass Father, David lit a candle and we sang and signed 'Share the Light'. Father David then welcomed us all and we asked God to forgive our sins. We were all involved in the Mass. We heard a reading from the Old Testament, read by Rushvinth, Hannah and Aoibhe. After that some children
read the Psalm. Four children then read the Bidding Prayers, which is now called Prayers of the Faithful. Then some of us brought up the Offertory. Bells were rung to represent the blessing of the bread and wine. We learned that this is called the transubstantiation. After we received Communion, Father David said, "Go in peace, the Mass has ended." “My favourite part of the Mass was ringing the bell because me and Pedro rang it for the first time.” (Josephine) “The most special part for me was seeing my dad walk in the room because I didn't think he was coming.” (Aoibhe) “For me, the most special part of Mass is always Communion. Taking the body and blood is a very special thing. It always makes me concentrate on God.” (Jasmine) “The most important part is when we light the candle because Jesus is the light of the world.” (Miriam)
Year Five
During the Spring Term, Year Five children looked at Greek Myths and Legends and other aspects of Ancient Greek civilisation, read, analysed and wrote about the poem 'The Highwayman', and started some map work on the Broads topic ready for their visit early next term to How Hill. The children enjoyed the varied but narrative style work and created some lovely written work and art. Work in RE centred on Reconciliation, Lent and the importance of prayer.
Year Five children visited the Sainsbury Centre Gallery as part of their Ancient Greece topic. In addition to a guided introduction to some of the works in the Collection, children were able to investigate and discuss some of the earliest and most mysterious sculptures of human figures -‐ originating from the Cyclades: a group of islands in the Aegean Sea. Learning focused on just a few artefacts from the huge variety on display; as well as modern art by artists such as John Davies, Degas and Henry Moore. It is hoped the visit will inspire the children to continue their interests in sculpture and painting, as well as their own creative responses, during our Creative Arts Week in the Summer Term. Mother and Child by Henry Moore
The Sainsbury Centre is like a world of history, with paintings, sculptures and many other fascinating artefacts from all over the world. On 3rd, 4th and 5th March each Year 5 class went there to learn about art and history. 5C went on a bright but windy Wednesday 4th. Soon after arriving at the Centre our class was split into two groups and introduced to our guides, who showed us some very interesting and unusual artefacts. We studied some Cycladic figures – which had large heads, no eyes or mouth but a big nose! We saw
a modern sculpture of the ‘bucket man’ which was so realistic it looked as though he would walk off his platform. Degas’ ballerina stood in an elegant pose as we marvelled at her. By the entrance we saw a smooth Henry Moore sculpture of two people sitting on a marble square. After a short break we were allowed to explore the whole area in small groups, draw sketches of our favourite artefacts and record information on our worksheets. We saw the little stone hippo, which looked quite cute, the silver llama and a strange fox mask.
All too soon it was time to get back on the coach, where we could excitedly exchange stories of the weird and wonderful things we has seen, and return to school in time for lunch. Thank you to the parents who kindly gave up their time to accompany us on our trip. I’m sure many of us will be encouraging our parents to take us on a second visit to this amazing centre. (With contributions from: Molly, Saffron and Ita) 5C Choral Project
On Thursday 12th March 5C went to the Anglican Cathedral for a special concert with two other schools and some of the Cathedral choristers. We were greeted and shown to our seats by Mr Weekes, who had come to our school on two occasions to teach us the three songs. Each school had a quick run through their own song and then the three choirs climbed onto the special tiered stage to rehearse the two joint pieces together for the first time. After that some familiar faces arrived – our parents! – who wished us well and took their places behind us. The concert started with the Cathedral choir singing ‘O for the Wings of a Dove’ which
everyone enjoyed and thought it a fantastic start to the concert. After that there was a short organ demonstration where the organists played some really quiet and very loud notes! Next it was our turn to sing our song ‘This Little Light of Mine’. We gave our best performance and our parents (and Ms Crook) were very proud of us. Hillside Junior were next up and sang a beautiful song called ‘When you Believe’, followed by Costessey Junior who were lucky enough to get to sing ‘Let it go!’ To finish the concert all three choirs joined forces to sing ‘Paradise Bop’ and ‘Zadok the Priest’, which sounded amazing in the brilliant acoustic of the cathedral. It was a truly unique and special occasion which we all enjoyed immensely. Mrs Ludden was so thrilled with our performance that she even asked us to sing our pieces again in the Celebration Assembly the following day! (With contributions from: Ella, Amy and Paul)
Year Six In Year Six this term we have been studying the Victorians which has been full of drama activities, writing and lovely art based on the artist William Morris. In RE we have been studying the topics Jesus Bread of Life which included the Catholic Mass and Jesus Son of God which particularly examined the role of Jesus as Man and as Son of God. We have been enjoying gymnastics and dance this term and produced some great Hakka and Bollywood routines. The writing in Year Six is now awesome and all children have made brilliant progress this term. We have been continuing to work on our grammar and spelling ready for SATS and all children are working hard in Maths. We hope all the children have a great Easter holiday and come back refreshed and ready for lots of hard work and fun in the summer term.
On Monday 2nd February the Chetham’s School of Music came to show us how talented they were. The group consisted of two violin players, viola and cello their group was called a string quartet. In addition to the string quartet there was a pianist. The five students inspired many of the children to practice more and take music lessons. After listening to them, they played a game where one of the violin players played a tune without the other players and the children had to guess what the tune was. The competition was pupils versus adults and the adults won. Overall it was very
good as it was a great opportunity for the children to hear live music. “I really enjoyed thinking about the way they performed the music. I don’t know how they got to move their fingers so quickly!” Cleo. “I didn’t expect to enjoy it when I first saw them but actually it was really good.” Lachlan “I thought that they were really brave to perform in front of so many people.” Alex “We learnt a lot about different composers and the countries they came from.” Daniel
Evangeline and Maddie – 6F
In February all the Year Six children walked to the Playhouse to watch Notre Dame’s performance of Les Miserables. Having seen previous shows, our expectations were not that high. How wrong we were! The show was absolutely outstanding and blew away every child and adult who attended with emotion and joy. Praise could not be high enough for those who performed in the production and indeed for those who directed it. As always the Year Six children were a credit to our school and many now look forward to performing in future productions when they attend the High School and indeed our end of Year Six production.
As part of the Victorians topic each class dressed up as Victorian children for the
day and travelled to Great Cressingham Victorian School to experience life as a child in 1895. As well as writing on slates, singing songs, playing with spinning tops and hoops, the girls made lavender bags with beautiful stitching and the boys learnt about nature and the world. It was a superb experience and really enriched our learning.
Clubs and Events
Film Club FilmClub meetings continue to be popular, although there is always room for more audience members! This term we have watched, and talked about, a wide range of films. We watched Hue and Cry which was the first of the Ealing Comedies, made in black and white in 1947 as well as lots of more modern films such as Rio 2. Some of the films have been chosen by Miss McDade and Miss O’Kelly but we have had lots of requests from the club members too. As well as watching and enjoying films we enjoy talking about films. After we have watched a film we have a chat about it … 3 word reviews, what we have enjoyed, which parts we did not like, whether the film reminded us of other films, members are then able to write reviews of the films that we have watched for the FilmClub website. FilmClub runs once a fortnight, alternately Tuesday and Thursday – see the poster outside Miss McDade’s classroom for details of the next screening.
History of Art Club We have had a good attendance at History of Art Club this term where we have looked at a range of modern and old art, inspired by the Bible, myths and legends and social history. The carefully observation, considered responses and opinions that have come from the children have been truly insightful and they have been full of creative ideas. We are really looking forward to the arrival of our new interactive whiteboard after Easter so that we can have a better appreciation of the true colours of the art we look at!
Mrs Hope
Sign2Sing On Wednesday morning we went to our Sign2sing assembly. Sign2sing is where we learn to sing a song and sign at the same time. It is very important because there are people who can't speak like we can and use signs instead. Doing Sign2sing helps us to know about these people and means that we learn some signs so that we could talk to them and they could talk to us.
Before the assembly we had to learn the songs and the signs. There was a film with a lady called Fletch who demonstrated the signs and we had to watch it lots of times to get the hang of it. We learnt two songs. We learnt one new song called Friends Forever and we relearnt Get Up and Sign which we did last year. Some people remembered Get Up and Sign immediately and eventually we all got the hang of it. It was quite hard to learn the songs and especially the signs but finally we learnt them really well. When we walked into the hall and saw all of the Mums, Dads, brothers and sisters we were amazed and delighted that there were so many people. First Mrs Ludden welcomed all of the visitors to the assembly and she told them a little bit about Sign2sing. Then we sang and signed Friends Forever. When we had finished all of the visitors clapped because they thought it was so lovely. Next Mrs Ludden asked us to turn around to perform Friends Forever again facing the audience so that they didn’t just have to look at the back of our heads! Adam thought that it was tricky to sign and sing when he couldn’t see the film. Miss O’Kelly got in a bit of a pickle but most of the children were brilliant. Summer thought that it felt funny and Amelie felt a little bit shy because there were so many people looking at her. After that we sang and signed Get Up and Sign. Finally it was the end of assembly and we lined up carefully to walk back to our classrooms but we had time to put some money in the pot as we walked past. We all enjoyed the songs. Jobe, Chika and Jack liked Get Up and Sign best. Jobe found it easier to sign than Friends Forever. Martha found Friends Forever easier to sign and Ben liked the tune of Friends Forever best. Tatenda liked both of them and we are all looking forward to next year and learning a new song for Sign2sing 2016.
School Council Yet again, the School Council has been busy in its weekly meetings representing the views of children who wish to bring about improvements in our school community. Lunch menus, a buddy bench and new play equipment have all been hotly discussed with regular representations to Mrs. Payne. Democracy is alive and well at St. Francis!
Mr Conroy and Mrs Deakin Farewells
It’s always hard when someone we have known for a long time leaves. This term we have said good bye to three very good friends. Mrs Anson left St Francis at half-‐term. Mrs Marchant and Miss O’Kelly both left at Easter. We gave all three ladies lots of cards and presents and thanked them for all they have done for us over the year. We wished them all well for the future and hope they will all find time to visit us. Mrs Anson is already sneaking back in for yoga once a week and we are sure that Mrs Marchant and Miss O’Kelly won’t be too far away!
SPORT COMPETITIONS THIS TERM
Cross Country Trials and Finals Another cold and blustery day found thirty-‐two pupils from Years Three, Four, Five and Six (eight from each year) in Earlham Park for the Cross Country Competition. The race distance ranged from 1200m for Year Three to 1600m for Year Six. Due to the number of schools taking part there were up to eighty children in each race, with a separate race for boys and girls by year group. In order to go represent Norwich Schools in the Count Finals later in the term, children had to finish in the top ten. Our Year Three boys did very well – three finished in the top ten. We also had top ten finishers in Year Five, and Year Six. Everyone ran extremely well and were great ambassadors for the school. In the County Final, later in the term, our six finalists had to travel to Gresham School, Holt for the County Final. All the runners did their very best, and Maddy Short did particularly well to come sixth overall in the Year Six Girls Race.
Tag Rugby On a cold winter’s day, with a smattering of snow still on the ground at Lakenham Hewitt RFC, two teams (thirty children) from Year Six arrived to participate in a Norwich Schools Rugby Competition. Unfortunately for us, the team manager (Mrs Watt) made a fatal decision and told the children to not wear studded boots. As the day warmed up, the snow melted and the pitches became a mud bath, making it very difficult to run and dodge past the opposition. Despite this, both teams played with great spirit and even managed to score tries in each match – with more appropriate footwear they would have been hard to beat. It was great competition and everyone enjoyed taking part – well done to all for their team play and perseverance, and their willingness to get truly muddy. Swimming Gala The annual Colman Pool Swimming Gala for Year Five & Six children was held just before half term. Participating teams came from schools that use the pool for their swimming lessons namely: St Francis, Colman School and Poringland School. The races include all four swimming strokes: butterfly, freestyle, breaststroke and back stroke in both individual and relay races. In past years, one school or other has tended to dominate the gala, but this year all teams were evenly matched, making the event extremely exciting and nail-‐biting right to the end to see who would win. Colman were the eventual winners, with St Francis a well-‐deserved second and Poringland in third place. Superb swimming and team spirit was shown by all.
Mrs Watt Year Six Hi 5 Netball. In March eight Year Five girls (Eva P, Eva S, Ciara, Ava, Maia, Isabel, Lily and Sahanna) went to the UEA to play against lots of others schools in the Norwich High Five Tournament. We have not had many practices this year so we knew we were not contenders to win and went for the experience. A great experience was had by all and the girls definitely improved throughout the 6 matches they played. We all look forward to the next tournament in April. On Monday 16th March eight Year Six Hi 5 netballers had the opportunity to play in a tournament against eighteen teams from various schools throughout the county. I was
immensely proud of the six girls and two boys who played extremely well and showed tremendous sportsmanship. They drew two of their matches and won two in their group and went on to come fourth overall. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon for all! A particular thank you to Mr Lightfoot who gave up his time to accompany us at the last minute! Well done to all the team!
Mrs. Knowles and Miss Furness
Singing Clubs The Singalong Club continues to meet before school on Monday mornings. Children from Years Two and Three who like to sing come along and join in with lots of different songs. Before the holidays we gave a little concert of our favourite songs for our families and friends. Children from Years Four, Five and Six who like to sing get up early every Thursday to come to choir. We have spent a lot of time learning a number of very different, and some difficult songs for the CASMA concert in March. We were really excited to perform at St. Andrew’s Hall. Thank you to all the adults who support the choir!
All the children took home World Book Day Vouchers on March 5th and were entertained by some willing members of staff who re-‐enacted the first chapter of Paddington Bear which hopefully inspired many to read the book and maybe even become actors!