Goodbye Hargreaves Class

Back in September 2012 this motley bunch (and three others) joined Year 1 in Hargreaves class. Over the year they have moved from group to group -  Mr Happy, Mr Tickle, Mr Strong, Mr Rush and Mr Bump. They have worked with all sorts of learning partner pairings, have had reading buddies from Year 5 and coped well with several changes of LSAs

 

 

We have investigated and learnt about the Great Fire of London, met Samuel Pepys (well not the real one), watched some dinosaur eggs hatch, visited the Library, the seaside and the NHM in London, read lots of books, used apps on the ipad, grew all sorts of things, sung and danced - a lot, have entered Ware in Bloom, and danced on stage at Chauncy. The children paddled in the sea, made bread, learnt they could walk further than they thought (Chauncy and back) and held a tea party to raise money for The Gambia. 

 

They have played in the snow, the rain, the wind and the sun. They have got wet, muddy, paint splattered, and have been sent to wash their hands and faces more times than they care to remember. They are all experts in circus skills and were confident performers on stage during assemblies and the Christmas production. They have eaten many obscure sandwich fillings and have played at being lighthouse keepers.

 

We all learnt together to adapt to having Amy's wheelchair and then walking frame in the classroom and I was proud of Amy for coping with these new demands and with the rest of the class for their unfailing helpfulness. I did think the novelty would wear off after a few weeks, but no, they carried on cheerfully helping Amy right to the last minute of term (whether she wanted it or not!).

When asked for their favourite activity in Hargreaves class and what they wanted to do more of in Year 2 the answers included all of the above and many, many more things and to sum up I will use Jack's words - "It was Awesome!" Jack, I agree with you and look forward to more of the same next year, even though I will not be teaching you, Year 1 and 2 work closely together and so will continue to learn and have fun together. We already have some exciting pirate activities planned!

 

Thank you I loved this banner and was stunned
to arrive on the last day and find it up.

 

Many thanks for all the lovely gifts you gave to me during the last week and the many cards filled with such lovely messages and thoughts. I have really enjoyed teaching Hargreaves this year and thank you for all your support along the way. I will miss them and will be watching closely to see what they achieve next year. I know Miss Stickley and Miss Ball want to say the same.

Summer Maths Challenge

Hopefully you will have all seen this parentmail and are planning some interesting photographs:-

Everyday patterns - which ones repeat?

As some of you may remember,  last year we asked you to take photos of your children reading Roald Dahl books.

This year during the summer holidays we would like you to take photos of anything associated with maths in every day life. This could be:

• Door numbers
• Maps
• Shapes of familiar/unfamiliar objects
• Money

We will be making a display in school using the photos we receive.

Many Thanks

Mrs Adams & Mrs Anstead

End of year fun

Hargreaves class would like you to watch their latest video offering. As you can see they were very enthusiastic when making it!

When I asked them their favourite topic, Dinosaurs came out on top, closely followed by The Great Fire of London. We had already made a film about that and so Dinosaurs it was...and this was one of their favourite songs from the whole year. 
 

Dinosaurs from Mrs Matthews on Vimeo.

The children in year 3 and 4 have had a fantastic day taking part in some Olympic game events, making olive wreaths and Olympic torches as well as creating their own Olympic themed word searches to test out on a friend.  

It was a great way to celebrate the end of our Ancient Greek topic this term. 

Thank you in particular to Adrian Devine from Rivers Education Support Centre who coordinated our track and field event competition. 

Well done to everyone who took part and to the winning house – Mark.

Gambian fundraising

As you know, each class has, once again, been challenged to raise a minimum of £25 to help support our twin school in Chessay Ma Jaw.

 

A few weeks ago Butterworth had the inspired idea of selling ice lollies after school. They went as fast as the proverbial hot cake and the class made over £70. Well done!

Hargreaves held their event, an afternoon tea party. The children spent time this morning decorating a biscuit, decorating a fairy cake and making a sandwich. Yes, fish paste was one often filling options. 

 

After lunch the children donned their party clothes and went outside to pay some team games. After this we played duck, duck, goose and fruit salad. This was followed by a glass of juice and range of party food. At 2.30pm some parent joined us for half an hour before Hargreaves headed back inside to tidy up and collect their belongings

Potter class have planted and carefully tended many different plants this half term and sold these at a stall after school and the the Fine class concert. Many seemed to appreciate their home grown plants.
 

 

All 3 Keystage 1 classes found unique ways to fund raise and all three enjoyed their events. Thank you for supporting us.

Seaside

This half term has been an exciting one for KS1 who have been learning more about the seaside.

In Butterworth class the children were able to have their photograph taken at a traditional seaside kiosk.

In Hargreaves they were able to help Mr Grinling keep watch from the lighthouse.

Everyone was very excited when the seaside gift shop asked us to design and produce some souvenirs to sell in the shop...

 

 

Would you buy any of these to remind you of a great holiday?

Lewis Class Smarties Challenge

Raising Money for Gambia

Lewis Class Challenge:

Share a tube of Smarties with your family and friends, and then fill the empty tube with 1p, 5p, 20p or £1 coins – a full tube will hold approximately £13 of 20p coins or £27 in pound coins.  

The challenge is to raise funds for our partner school in the Gambia and all tubes received by Tuesday 23^rd July will be entered into a prize draw.

Chauncy Community Day - Years 1 and 2

Today the members of Hargreaves, Butterworth and Potter were fortunate enough to go to Chauncy school to take part in their community day.

The first activity was the same for all three classes. The children learnt about the history of pizza and then made their own mini pizza, they talked about eating 5 fruit and vegetables a day, made a side salad and then to finish up made a chocolate coated banana with sprinkles on. Fletcher said that he had had the most amazing day and Archie loved making his own pizza. Mason was very pleased to be able to put pepperoni onto it.

Ready to start

Spreading sauce

Adding the toppings

Dipping the banana in melted chocolate

Adding the sprinkles

Grating a carrot

Dicing, slicing, grating and generally making a mess with salad vegetables!

After they had made these, we had a 20 minute playtime on the field, before returning for the children to eat the fruits of their labour. They all thoroughly enjoyed making their own lunch.

 

Playing whilst we wait for lunch

 

Pizza and side salad

 

In the afternoon, the three classes separated and undertook their own activities. Hargreaves had a fun afternoon creating their own mystical animal, giving it characteristics and then playing a top trumps type battle with different partners using their own creatures. The ultimate winner was Jessica. Daniel loved making his creature and Amy wanted hers to be 3D.

 

Creating a new creature

Let the battle commence

The ultimate winner, who did not lose a single round!

Potter and Butterworth, were elsewhere in the afternoon and I will update this when I know more about what they did. Year 3 and 4 were also at Chauncy and had their own fun filled day.

Thanks to the staff and students for providing us with a unique chance to have fun and learn at a different school, with different people.

Walton on the Naze

Today, the intrepid explorers from Year 1 and Year 2, left behind the sunny climes of Ware and ventured to the rather greyer seaside venue of Walton on the Naze. It was good to see most children recognised the beach side kiosk from the descriptive writing they did yesterday based on a photograph taken a couple of weeks ago.

 

Arrival

As soon as we arrived, we braved the elements, (wind and a few drops of rain) and headed for the beach. This was, after all, where everyone was itching to get to. We ate a snack and then it was down to the serious business of having fun.

 

Paddling

 

Maths Monkey goes for a paddle.

 "My favourite bit was paddling in the sea. It was freezing!" said Grace. Tilly, Evie and Emily agreed, they loved the sea.

 

Making castles

Digging a big hole

"We made lots of sandcastles with our buckets and spades. It was fun." Fletcher told us and Zachary, Daniel and Alex agreed that digging big holes with their friends was the best bit.

 

Lollies

More lollies

Finally the sun came out and we were able to enjoy our Ice lollies whilst basking in the warmth. Everyone enjoyed this part. Jessica thought it was the best bit and so did Evie.

 

Lunch

Games on the beach

We ate our lunch on the beach and everyone enjoyed the picnic, some groups played with the toys whilst on the beach and others used them once we were up on the grassed area. Fionn preferred the grass because he did not like the sand between his toes, but did enjoy seeing all the shells. Alex enjoyed seeing the seaweed bobbing in the sea.

 

In the play area

In the play area

Kite flying

Nicola and Rhiannon thought the play area was the best part of the day because each group got to spend a short time in there, as well as flying the kite, playing football, playing tennis and using the parachute. After a very busy day we all headed home and it was noticeably quieter on the coach home, with several people falling asleep. The staff were very proud of the children and their behaviour and hope they had a great day and memorable end to their seaside topic.

Well Done!

Holding our collage

 

Well done to the children, and their parents, who turned up on a blazing hot day to represent our school by walking with the Ware Town Fair trade group. You all looked fantastic and I was glad you managed not to concuss each other with the placards. An inflatable banana seemed a safer choice!

 

Parading!

 

Ware Carnival

Remember when the Year 1s took part in the fair trade collage competition?

Well today is the day some of them are joining the carnival parade. Along with their parents, they will be walking with the Fair-trade entry. Give them a wave if you see them.