​​​​From Mrs Ross

Some of the boys were surprised to learn that our brain does not sleep whilst our bodies rest. Many were intrigued by the notion that our brains are indeed, extremely busy during our sleep, organising experiences into memories and resetting for the next day. 

After a somewhat discombobulating Bank Holiday weekend, we have all agreed that all Pilgrims are in need of a good weekend with both outdoor, physical activity and plenty of sleep, in order to reset and be ready for a five-day week at school, next week!

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Save the Dates

• Monday 15 May Year 1 trip to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
• Thursday 18 May Year 2 boys to Peregrine Falcon workshop at the Cathedral 
• Friday 19 May Pilgrims' Play 1000-1100 for pre-schoolers
• Friday 26 May Celebration Assembly for Parents 1115-1145
• Friday 26 May Half-Term begins 1200
• Monday 5 June boys return and hen eggs and incubator delivered to Reception class
• Friday 16 June Cathedral Assembly 1500
• Monday 19 June Pre-Prep Move Up Meeting for parents (Present Year 1, Year R and Prospective Year R) 1900
• Wednesday 21 June Year2/3 Move Up Meeting for parents (Present Year 2) 1900
• Wednesday 28 June Year 4 and Pre-Prep Performance 1500
• Thursday 29 June Year 4 and Pre-Prep Performance 1500
• Friday 30 June Pre-Prep Sports Day 0900-1100
• Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 July Open Classrooms for parents 0815-0845
• Wednesday 5 July Pre-Prep End of Term and Final Celebration Assembly 0845-0930
   

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Pilgrims' Shell Awards

• Year 2 – to Dev for settling into Year 2 well and for all his small acts of kindness. Well done, Dev!  
• Year 1 - to Aaron for writing some excellent instructions on 'How to plant a beanstalk'.
• Reception - Arthur J-for his positive attitude to school and learning.

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Notices

Menus for next week are available on My School Portal. 

Reminder: no food is to be brought into the school and/or given to boys at any time, especially at sign-out.
 

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From the PPA

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Year 2

Tuesday’s trip to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth was the highlight of this week for the whole class, I am certain! From axolotl to wrasse, from piranha to skate, the boys’ wishes of particular sea creatures to spot were fully granted. We had a hugely enjoyably hour in small groups exploring the aquarium. We saw lion fish, dog fish, catfish, long-horned cow fish, angel fish, puffer fish, long-clawed lobster, banana moray eels, a hermit crab, fire shrimp… the list could go on and on! Following that, we were able to watch the sharks, rays and skate being fed their daily diet of fish. The boys were amused by the litter picker the aquarist was using to hide prey in the sandy floor, so the predator fish had to 'hunt' for their prey.  

There was even more ocean information for our fact-hungry boys to gobble up in our aquarist-led session on sharks and rays. We were able to handle some very exciting objects too. 

• Did you know that sharks do not have bones, but their whole skeleton is made of cartilage hence they can wriggle and squirm their way around the ocean?  
• Did you know we get 40 types of shark around the coast of the UK depending on the season?  
• Did you know a Great White Shark has to keep swimming otherwise it will drown?  
• Did you know that shark skin is covered by tiny flat V-shaped scales called dermal denticles which means 'skin teeth'? This made the shark skin abrasive and was used as sandpaper by pirates! 

I am sure your boys will have told you all of this and more! Their thirst for knowledge was really exciting. Thank you Year 2 for a fabulous day out, full of learning! 

** On Wednesday, the boys were asked to start collecting information on their plastic use each day. They have a Plastic Diary in their reading zippy. The aim is to collect information on how much plastic they use each day during the week. Do encourage them to complete it each day and talk about your use of plastic as a family. These need to come back to school next Wednesday for us to discuss. ** 

** Next Thursday, the boys are going peregrine falcon spotting at the Cathedral. If they have their own binoculars at home that they wish to bring, they are more than welcome to bring them (named) for Thursday 18 May. ** 

Mrs Ford 

Year 1

The boys have worked very hard on all the different activities that have been asked of them this week. There was a lot of chat about the Coronation and how the boys celebrated, or not, with watching from home to watching in London, to dressing up, and joining in with street parties. I hope you were all able to enjoy your weekend.

Great excitement occurred in the classroom on Tuesday morning when the boys arrived in school. One beady eyed member of the class announced, 'Mrs Huntley, Mrs Huntley, look! Our beans are growing!' Not even a week since the beans were planted for Jack has passed, and they have indeed ALL started to grow. It is fascinating to be able to actually see the shoot, roots and now stem growing and getting taller each day. The boys are very keen to look after their beans and support them at school before coming home. To extend the planting theme further, the boys have also now planted beans in flower-pots and soil to see if they grow as quickly. The boys decided that the pots which were put closer to the light would grow best as plants need sunlight to help them grow. While planting, the boys were able to follow instructions really carefully. Instructions of their own were then written, ready to send to Jack with letters that will accompany these by the end of this half term.

What a fun and busy week!

Mrs Huntley

 

Year R

Take a story - Mr Gumpy’s Motor Car by John Birmingham 

This week in Maths we have been working on addition. After sharing the story the boys were challenged to build their own motor car large enough for a passenger and some farm animals, just like in the story. The boys set to work immediately, and were proud of their cars, each unique with passengers onboard.

Later in the week they returned to their models / drawings and worked on ways of recording their addition sentences.

Mrs Kent

 

Forest School

There was a touch of magic in the air during Year R’s Forest School session. Using sticks and whatever natural items they could find on their journey to the arboretum, the boys had fun creating their own magic summer wands. Some of the boys used their wands to make the birds sing and the flowers grow!

Inspired by the work of Anthony Goldsworthy, Year 1 had a very creative time making their own circular and spiral patterns using natural items. A couple of the boys even linked two spiral patterns together! At the end of the session the boys were invited to take off one of their boots and find out what the ground felt like. The general feeling was that it felt lovely and cool!

The boys in Year 2 spent the first part of their session practising their knot skills and had a go at trying to make a simple raft; we even tested some of them to see if they could float and the boys were pleasantly surprised. They were then given various challenges based around using twigs to test their imagination, fine motor skills as well as memory!

Mrs Walker