From Mrs Ross

Happy Lunar New Year!

The musicians played the guzheng, flute and steel drum for us. We were also treated to an impressive KungFu demonstration to music and finally, a beautifully elegant Chinese fan dance. The Chinese Association of Southampton will be performing in The West Quay Shopping Centre in Southampton on Sunday, as part of the Lunar New Year Celebrations.  This will include Lion and Dragon dances!

Our busy Pre-Prep week culminated in a visit to the Cathedral for an Assembly with Canon Roly.  Thank you to those parents who were able to join us.

 

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Pilgrims' Shell Awards

• Year 2 – to Sahil S for his independent focus on all African flag work this week. 
• Year 1 - to Matthias H for super ideas in his Literacy writing this week, including accurate spelling and exemplary handwriting.
• Reception - to Ben H for super progress with his reading.

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Diary dates

 

Diary dates	Times	The week ahead
Saturday 21 January	from 0830	Wellbeing Matters Live talk followed by Meet the Next Head meeting Zoom code here Meeting ID: 319 401 8732 Passcode: ASD300 Please remember to bring a device with you (phone, iPad, computer)
Friday 27 January	1000-1100	Pilgrims' Play session for pre-schoolers
Friday 10 February	1115-1145	Celebration Assembly for Parents, Octagon

 

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Notices

Menus - Please find a link to next week's menus here, on My School Portal. 

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From the PPA

To book tickets for the PPA Quiz night, please go to My School Portal and select the Bookings tab. Then choose the PPA Quiz form.

 

Year 2

Money Money Money! 
Year 2 have really enjoyed another week of investigating money. We have explored the different ways of making the same amount in pounds and pence and compared different amounts of money. We have practised drawing our own money and making sure our pounds are larger than our pence! The boys had a lot of fun practising their money skills in our ICT Maths lesson on Wednesday afternoon buying various items to create their own car. 

Maps and Flags
Having 54 countries in Africa means there are 54 flags to investigate. Did you know that green appears in 79% of Africa’s flags? Red is another prominent colour. The boys have investigated what the different colours mean. Can they teach you about the meaning behind the black and yellow colour found in the South African flag? We experimented with a painting programme on the Surface Gos called 2Paint by Purple Mash which allowed the boys to create their own flag using the mousepad and touch screen. We thought about particular colours we would include that would be meaningful to us. 

Lila and the Secret of Rain
During our whole class English lesson this week, we learnt a little more about the country of Kenya and created our own descriptive noun phrases with a partner: “golden, dusty wheat” (Theo), “heavy water buckets” (Teddy J) and “sky-high volcano” (Alex L) are a few examples of the fantastic ideas the boys had. We read the start of a story set in a Kenyan village called Lila and the Secret of Rain. The whole village are praying for rain and Lila hikes to the top of the tallest mountain in the hope she can make the sun feel sad enough to cry. The boys have been very thoughtful towards the experiences of Lila in the story. They have posed their own questions: “Will her plan work?” (Aarav) “Will the village get any water?” (Alex O) “Can she get back to the village?” (Finn)  

Another really interesting and exciting week to work with these boys in Year 2! 

Mrs Ford
 

Year 1

Despite the very cold temperatures outside this week, the boys have been lovely and warm in our classroom. They have engaged beautifully in their learning, and are thoroughly enjoying their new topic about Castles and Knights.

 

The role play corner has been transformed into a Castle where the boys can enjoy dressing up, setting a banquet table and sharing books during sit down reading time. They have learnt about how castles have changed over time and will be exploring chronology.  Do ask them about this. They have also labelled parts of a castle and discovered what, for example, a portcullis, battlement and keep are and whey they were important for castle security.  

Alongside our daily Read Write Inc. sessions the boys have been excited to discover more about a key text, The Knight who wouldn't fight, in Literacy. Who is the Knight? Why wouldn't he fight? What do Knights usually do? Why is there a dragon and mouse on the front cover? These were amongst many questions asked while exploring the text. The boys have made predictions about what this book might be about and who the main characters are going to be, and what these characters might be like. They have been introduced to what an adjective is and shared fabulous examples of these.  They have also had the challenge of adding the word because into their writing. Ask them how we remember to spell the word b-e-c-a-u-s-e!  Super independent writing!  Well done boys!
 

Mrs Huntley

Reception

This week there was no stopping the Reception boys, who were eager to get out into the garden to investigate the ice. Having turned the mud kitchen into a bakery, the boys were keen to see how their cakes and biscuits were affected by the cold weather. There was much discussion over how things had frozen and turned to ice. They also predicted that the sun might melt the ice during the day if the temperature warmed up, turning it back to water.

We have begun looking at vehicles that travel on the road; the boys have enjoyed playing with the diggers in the sand, while others got busy in the mud kitchen. 

Take a story and let your imagination go wild... In this case, it was Mrs Armitage on Wheels by Quentin Blake.  The boys turned inventors adding beds, umbrellas, snow blades to name just a few items, to their bicycles, just like Mrs Armitage in the story.

What a great week it has been boys, well done!

Mrs Kent

 

Forest School 

A new year means new promises and wishes for our planet, and what better way to do that than to make a birthday cake for planet Earth – out of mud of course! Year R used a simple gardening tool, mud and natural decorations to create some wonderful birthday cakes, and as a class, we all sang Happy Birthday to planet Earth!

Year 1 had a lovely frosty start to Forest School this week, so we spent time exploring the amazing patterns with our magnifying glasses. We then had a sticky time creating some fat balls for the birds. Using lard, raisins, and cheese, some boys combined all the ingredients to make some rather delicious fat balls! We also made some fruit garlands for the birds, and the boys proudly hung all their creations in the trees. Over the next few days the boys will observe the feeders to see if they get any visitors!

We introduced some simple mapping skills to Year 2. Working in pairs, the boys were each given a small section of the arboretum to focus on, and were asked to take 10 paces forward from their designated section. They then collected something from within that zone, and repeated the process several more times. The boys then placed the items they had collected into their designated section in the order they were collected. As a class we had created a simple woodland map of the arboretum!

Mrs Walker