Thank you

Many thanks for all the lovely gifts you gave to me today and the cards filled with such lovely messages. I have really enjoyed teaching Lewis this year and thank you for all your support along the way. Miss Stone

Lamps for Gambia

Back in April we set ourselves the task of raising money to buy lamps for The Gambian school with whom we are twinned. To set the ball rolling we held a non-uniform day.

Each class also pledged to raise a further £25 each in order to purchase 10 lamps. Events were planned and held. These included a bike/scooter ride ride, teddy bears picnic, art exhibition, penalty shoot outs, fashion show, plant sale, sponsored walk, Gambian colour day, Pyjama day, cakes sale, a quiz and several other activities.

The children and staff had a lot of fun participating in these events but never forgot the end goal was to help save lives in Chessay Ma Jaw. Through the children's hard work and your generosity we have raised an amazing £1076.53! This will buy a lamp and batteries for every child in the school. Well done to all who took part or donated, we think you are amazing and want you to know what a huge difference you will make to the lives of these Gambian children - you may have even indirectly help save the life of them or their family. The staff are so proud of you all.

McKee class 2011-2012

Back in September 2011 this motley crew (and three others) joined McKee class. Over the year they have moved from group to group -  Mr Benn, Toucan, Bernard or Elmer. They have worked with all sorts of learning partner pairings, have had year 6 buddies and reading buddies from year 5 and then years 3/4.

Penguins featured in our curriculum for a long time and we even adopted one, we walked in the woods, grew all sorts of things, have entered Ware in Bloom, won some buggy buddies and danced on stage at Chauncy. The children went on a bus, watched The Great Bed of Ware arrive, visited the Museum, held an Art exhibition and celebrated the jubilee. They have played in the snow, the rain, the wind and the sun. They have got wet, muddy, paint splattered,  and have have been sent to wash their hands more times than they care to remember.

When asked for their favourite activity in Mckee class and what they wanted to do more of in Year 1 the answers included all of the above and many many more things and to sum up I will use Olivia's words - "I looked on the blog and have learnt so much. It was fun". Olivia, I agree with you and look forward to more of the same next year when I join some of you in Year 1 in Hargreaves class.

Many thanks for all the lovely gifts you gave to me today and the cards filled with such lovely messages. I have really enjoyed teaching McKee this year and thank you for all your support along the way.

Mrs Matthews

Walk for Gambia

On Wednesday Lewis Class and Fine Class took part in a sponsored walk around the school playing field.  Despite they grey skies, the children completed their walk with many laps covered.

A big well done and thank you to Lewis Class.  As you know each class pledged to raise £25 to buy 10 lamps for children in Chessay Ma Jaw and Lewis Class exceeded this target with a whopping £153.49.

This will buy 60 lamps for children in Chessay Ma Jaw and will keep them safe in their homes.

Miss Stone and Miss Byrne would like to thank all the friends and family who supported this worthwhile cause.

Kit Cars at Chauncy

On Tuesday Year 3 and 4 visited Chauncy school as part of their community day.  The children enjoyed building a 'Kit Car' with the support of the Chauncy students.

The day began with the building of the car chassis.  The children were given instructions on how to fix the wheels to the chassis using axle holders and axle holders.  This was followed by attaching the motor to the gear of the car.

Later on in the morning, the children had time to design their car body.  Designs included lightening bolts, stars and various shades of pink.  The body of the car started out as a flat net template, which was later folded and attached to the chassis.
 

In the afternoon, the children took part in races using their 'Kit Car.'  The children took part in various heats, racing their cars on different surfaces and across various distances.

At the end of the day, certificates were given out for best design and fastest car.

The children had a thoroughly enjoyable day and we would like to thank Chauncy for having us.

Olympic Poetry

 Today you might have heard the sounds of music coming from Lewis Class, as we composed our own Olympic poetry. The class read aloud three Olympic themed poems: The Ants at the Olympics, 9 Gold Medals, and the Olympic Race. We considered the poetry techniques, such as rhyming patterns, and thought about the message which was conveyed by each poem.

 In small groups the pupils brainstormed ideas and created their own poems, using the ideas we had discussed as inspiration. The outcome was extremely innovative and original, with ideas ranging from various animals at the Olympics, to meeting the Olympic mascots. The groups experimented with different rhythms and rhyming techniques, while tying their ideas into an Olympic theme.

 After practicing their poems the class listened to the song “Move to the Beat” which has been featured on a Coca-Cola advert. For this song Mark Ronson travelled the world to create a music track using the sounds of sports from 5 Olympic hopefuls. The track is accompanied by vocals from artist Katy B, as an inspirational song for the London Olympics. The class identified sounds which were used throughout the video, such as running, jumping from spring boards, table-tennis and archery. 

 

 

Lewis Class were then able to create their own music to accompany their Olympic poems. They used a variety of instruments and improvised techniques to perform their poetry. We focused on reading poetry aloud with good expression and gestures, resulting in some lively and amusing performances.

We hope you enjoy watching our poems as much as the class enjoyed making them!

Kealie Mardell

Volunteer Assistant

If you go down to the woods today....



"You are here" or so said the map.



...beware because McKee class have the taste for exploring.

We really did have a lovely day and the weather held for us - we even saw that elusive property called sunshine!

Looking for dinosaurs

We walked from school to Post Woods and spent the morning hunting for mini beasts. Most of the photos feature the children who were in the 3rd of the class I was with. The others were there (I promise) just else where in the woods.

The group I was with managed to find slugs, snails, millipedes, spiders, flies, beetles, daddy long legs, earwigs, a bee, woodlouse and many ants.

Magic Mirror tree!

la-la-la-la-la-la-la lunchtime!

We then headed to Great Amwell Scout HQ to eat our lunch on their field and get over excited at the sight of two green tents (!!) before heading back into the woods to build shelters and dens. We also used a "natural see-saw, had an impromptu rendition of "Something squidgy" and under Rebecca's guidance found hidden treasure!

Oooh a tent!

Something squidgy

Rumour has it that we also spotted bears and the Gruffalo's child (which turned out to be a pile of sticks). The bear however was never disproved.

Hiding from a bear

A shelter

We then walked back to school with tired, but happy children and Hollie was heard to say "That was the best day EVER, can we do it again tomorrow?"

Once back at school the best bits ranged from eating lunch to building dens and looking for bears. Everyone enjoyed it and can not wait to do it again.

We found a number 5

A natural see-saw

By the way The "voice over" at the end of the video clip was a spontaneous comment from a child - It was not scripted, but was just a perfect summary of the day!

Teddy Bears Picnic 17th July

To

day Carle Class had a Teddy bears picnic!

On Monday we wrote invitations to our bears inviting them along to our fun afternoon.

The Teddy's that came to school were all different! We sorted them into different groups and put them into size order - big, medium and small. One of the bears even wore school uniform!

This morning we spent time preparing for our picnic. We decorated teddy bear biscuits (thank you Mrs. Botevyle -delicious!)

We also made some teddy bear cakes.

We even made teddy bear shaped jam sandwiches!

The children made some great moveable teddy's, teddy masks and teddy jigsaws.

After lunch we went on a bear hunt. There were bears hiding everywhere! We went through some long swishy grass and even some squelchy mud.

Our teddy's had fun racing... 'Ready, teddy, go!'

Then the most important part...the picnic! Lot's of very quiet children!

We finished our teddy day with some teddy bear songs and then we took our bears out to play in the sunshine. What a fun filled day!

Here are some of the comments the children made;

A.P - I liked eating the cakes the best.

T.M - I liked racing with the teddy's, it was funny!

F.H - It was a great day

O.B - This was the best day of school ever!

A.O - The bear hunt was really fun

G.F - We had a great time at the picnic and we liked eating!

Toddler leaver service

Today McKee, Carle and Inkpen attended the Toddler Leaver service. We joined in with the songs, played the instruments and watched a DVD of Guess how much I love you.

The children, and adults, learnt that no matter where they are or who they are with God will always love them and be with them.

It was a timely reminder to our children as they move to KS1 or into Reception.

African Art Exhibition

"50p per person please"

McKee class have worked hard this week to produce items for our African art exhibition. As you know each class has pledged to raise £25 to buy 10 lamps for children in Chessay Ma Jaw and this was our effort.

Crocodiles

Mrs Matthews asked the children to come up with some ideas and the most popular one was to sell their paintings and the idea of the exhibition was born.

Sunset and village

This afternoon we set up the displays and awaited "our public" and they came.

Refreshments

Normally I would ask the children to contribute their words to the blog, however I am so overwhelmed at the generosity of everyone who came; this included several members of staff and parents who do not have a child in McKee class, that I wanted to let you know straight away that we made over £170 and still have several IOUs to collect. Thank you so much, we will let you know the final total when we have it.

People

Several works of art were unsold at the end and are still available to purchase - please speak to Mrs Matthews. We hope those who have already made their investment enjoy their items for many years to come and thank you for attending our event and being so generous.

Giraffe

Mask designs

Line drawings

Tie-Dye

Woven mats

Explaining her work

The children said they enjoyed the art sessions and were all very excited at the exhibition and thoroughly enjoyed showing their families, around as well as some other adults. Well done McKee I am proud of you. Those who purchased the art will receive it next week.