Christmas in KS1

Christmas was a busy time for Hargreaves, Butterworth and Potter. It was our turn to perform the school Christmas play (year 3 and 4 will do the Easter one and Years 5 and 6 the summer one).

This year we decided to preform a play from our new music scheme and it proved popular with the children, staff and those who watched it.

Hargreaves class were trusted to look after Hargreaves the reindeer. Each day they rushed into class and searched for him. Once found, he set the children a challenge and they were all sad to say goodbye to him at the end of term. 

Lots of craft activities take place at this time of year  and cards and calendars are made as gifts.

Christmas parties are held and food is made to be eaten at the party, reindeer cakes went down well!

We watched a pantomime, sang carols, watch a Christmas DVD, celebrated in church and finally shared gifts and cards with each other.

Mrs Matthews, Miss Wake, Miss Ball, Mrs Henning, Mrs D'Arcy, Miss Stickley and Mrs Fearn would all like to say thank you for your generous gifts and cards and all the lovely messages you wrote or said. We hope you have a joyful, peaceful and restful Christmas and look forward to seeing the children again in 2015!

Ware Library

As part of our topic "Books and stories", KS1 made a return visit to Ware Library and once again, each class, enjoyed a session with the children's librarian.

We started off with an explanation on how to use the library and a tour...

 ...and then we had time to choose and read book and ended with a story time.

Everyone enjoyed the trip and the adults were all surprised to learn that you can now borrow e-books from the library. I know several of us tried this out at the end of school or intend to soon.

Emily Brown and Stanley

Hargreaves class were very fortunate to receive a letter from the "book fairy". She set the children a series of challenges. Each pair could earn one token for completing them. They took us all over the school!

The letter instructed us to take the tokens to the school office. Which we did and were delighted to find out that we had earned enough to swap for a book. It had been left in the care of Mrs Beckwith.

We read the book and all loved it. Coincidentally, we needed a book for our next 3 weeks of Literacy! The children suggested we used our present and so began 3 weeks of work based on Emily Brown and Stanley.

We made story maps, re-told the story with actions, re-wrote the story and then wrote our own version. Finally the children wrote a band new story based on the structure in the book.

Potter and Butterworth also selected they own books. They decided on decided

Potter

and....

Butterworth

They also enjoyed their 3 weeks of learning their book, re-telling it and writing new stories based on it.

Christmas Displays

Once again, just in time for the Christmas Bazaar, our school is looking very festive.

Corridor displays...

Hall hoops...

Fireworks in Year 1

During our joint Year 1 time, Mrs Matthews showed the children this blog entry from 2011. 

The year 1 children, ably assisted by Mrs D'Arcy and Miss Wake, followed the instructions and made their own. Here are two of them soaring into the sky!

Traction man

 As part of our superhero topic KS1 are reading about Traction man. We have enjoyed his many adventures and think his pet "scrubbing brush" is very cute.

The children have enjoyed reading about his adventures and can re-tell many parts of the story.

Last week all three classes set up a washing up bowl area to allow the children to get their hands wet and experience some of the feeling Traction man might of had when "diving into the foamy waters of the sink"

The children in Hargreaves class said they loved feeling the gooey pasta, the wooden spoons, the hard slippery glass, the slimy string  and the soft bubbles. They were glad the water was hot and they all commented on how soft their hands were after doing this!

They are enjoying the story because they like the adventures, think it is funny that Traction man gets a knitted green suit and bonnet and find the poisonous dish cloth, scrubbing brush and the evil spade funny.

Rhys said "I really enjoy learning about Traction man because he has a pet called scrubbing brush and the book uses fantastic words such as infrared mask."

BBC Ten Pieces

BBC Ten Pieces. Year 5 and 6, this is what we are going to see on Tuesday.

John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (1st movement)

Britten: 'Storm' Interlude from 'Peter Grimes'

Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King from 'Peer Gynt'

Handel: Zadok the Priest

Holst: 'Mars' from 'The Planets'

Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 (3rd movement)

Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain

Stravinsky: The Firebird – suite (1911) (Finale)

Anna Meredith: Connect It

Thank you to everyone who has already returned their slip and money, everyone else, please make sure you have returned your permission slip and money by Monday morning to enable you to join in the adventure.

Day O Drums

Both Keystage 1 and Keystage 2 had the opportunity to play with Day O Drums. We were taught how to play several simple and then more complex rhythms.

Both days were a great success and every child had the opportunity to play an instrument. 

In Keystage 1 Keira said "I liked the sound that the big drum made when we hit it with a stick. We had to be really careful and gentle."

Keystage 1 were able to perform their pieces to the rest of the school.

Guide dogs

The whole school enjoyed a visit from a Guide dog puppy and his trainer. We were able to learn more about the work that goes into training a Guide dog and will be holding a non uniform day to help raise funds to aid this valuable work.

Harry

Harry and Sarah

Mr Jarra

Teachers and pupils from Christ Church Primary School and Nursery learnt about life in an African school when they were visited by a headteacher from The Gambia last week. Mr Jarra spent a day at the Ware school as part of a two-week visit to the UK organised by ‘Helping’, a Stanstead Abbotts-based charity that supports schools and communities in the West African country. Christ Church School is twinned with Chessay Ma Jaw school.

The Gambian teacher was keen to find out about the ways children are taught in this country and plans to take some of the ideas back home. “Mr Jarra was fascinated by our active way of learning; the interactive and colourful displays around the school; the fact that teachers asked for the children's opinions; and that our children were so engaged in their learning,” explained Mrs Vaughan. “Teaching in The Gambia is still very formal, however, this kind of visit will help to initiate change.” 

Mr Jarra also took part in an assembly and spoke to the children about education in his home country, highlighting the differences between the lives of the pupils in The Gambia and the UK. “Some of the hardships experienced by Gambian children are very difficult for our pupils to comprehend,” said Mrs Vaughan. “There is a considerable shortage of resources; for example, it is common for six children to share one exercise book and a pen. Many children can only afford to attend school for three months and work for the rest of the year to raise the necessary funds – there is no free education in The Gambia.”

Christ Church pupils presented Mr Jarra with a cheque for £600, which was raised during the summer term following a variety of fundraising events, including a bake sale, a pyjama day, a joint artwork, a pinic and a traditional fair. The money will go towards stationery and uniform for the poorest children, as pupils cannot attend school in the Gambia without the correct uniform. “Mr Jarra expressed his most sincere gratitude to all the children for their continuous support,” said Mrs Vaughan. “The money raised will make a huge difference.” This was Mr Jarra's first visit to the UK.

Summer reading challenge

Well done, to all the Christ Church children who took part in the reading challenge this year. I know you enjoyed the books and using the app to make the creatures come "alive". I was fortunate to be present at one of the presentations.

KS1 Superheroes

Today saw KS1 invaded by superheroes and their friends  They had all turned up to take part in the superhero training camp that we were holding, to ensure that we only have real life, genuine superheroes participating in the next half term of activities.

There were five elements to the day...

One - look the part

Superhero costumes!

Two - mental agility

Solving challenges in the classroom

Three - physical fitness

We hopped, skipped, jumped, ran and balanced 

Four - ability to dodge laser beams and use super powers in the four corners of the earth

Working outr which super power to use with which situation

Avoiding the laser beams

 Five - graduate and get your certificate to prove you are a superhero

Congratulations

Silver Award

Congratulations Year 1 - tonight you were awarded a Silver certificate in the Ware Town allotment holder awards! We also got a good bag with a few useful items, some seeds and a Teddy bear.

Incredible Edible Challenge

For the last few years, Year One have taken part in the Ware in Bloom wheelbarrow competition. This year a new challenge was launched and we accepted our mission - to become "allotment holders" and grow things we could eat. Can you identify these plants?

Today Ware in Bloom judges visited us and learnt about our plots. They also gave us some useful advice for the future. Thank you.

Now that the judging was over we were free to sample some of the fruits of our labour. We harvested, cooked and ate. Potato salad was made with fresh herbs mixed in, mixed salad leaves eaten, radish was "tested" and most the class tried a bit of everything, even if they thought they did not like it.

By the way, the lack of uniform is because it was also our Gambia fund rasing event today and so we all wore the colours of the Gambian flag. Can you guess what they are?