Ware in Bloom

Once again, Year 1 took part in the Incredible Edible Challenge and were delighted to receive a certificate and some prizes.

Rememberance

Both Keystages held a special assembly today to explain the significance of the Poppy and the 2 minute silence. After this the children and staff stood, in either the hall or the playground, to show respect for those who have died in a war. The people in the playground were able to hear the church bell signal the start of the silence.

We are proud to say that most children did their best to stay still, silent and respectful for the whole two minutes.

Fireworks in Year 1

The children in Year One thoroughly enjoyed exploring Bonfire night. They did this through paint, food and d and t fireworks.

Edible sparklers

Bonfire paintings

Bonfire painting

Fireworks

Pirates - NMM

Keystage One, once again ventured into the realm of Pirates. All three classes visited the National Maritime Museum and found out some more about the life on the sea.

All of the children had a chance to take part in "Pirate School" where they pledged to be all things pirate and learned the dos and don't s of the pirate way of life.

Pirate School

They explored the galleries and looked for items of treasure to draw in their treasure chest and visited the Big map of the world.

Looking for treasure

Ahoy! exploration area proved very popular and here the children had the chance to role place different seafaring activities, such a cooking, mending the boat, stoking the boiler, and so on.

Manning the ship

This is the second time we have visited the museum with KS1 and it proved as popular this time as it did before.

Making music

On the way home we were also able to catch a glimpse of the majestic Cutty Sark. The children very delighted to see a "Real pirate type ship".

Ahoy!

Ahoy!

Exploring the world

When asked about the trip the children all said it was fun and they enjoyed it.

I loved this trip - Alice
The pirate lady was scary - Chloe
I can be scary and make a pirate face - Oscar
Ahoy! was amazing - Isabella

Bye-bye Year 1

Way back in September 2014, this motley bunch (and several others) joined KS1 and in particular Hargreaves class. We have laughed, danced, sang, play the ocarina, played the glockenspiel, cooked, made ice lollies, grown and eaten potatoes, investigated many topics and grown in confidence and stature.

It has been an enjoyable year and Miss Wake and I will miss the class - a lot. Have a lovely summer break and I know you will all enjoy Year 2 and will thrive on the new challenges.

Many thanks for all the lovely gifts and cards you gave us today. I know that the staff in Potter and Butterworth were equally delighted and extend their thanks as well. The cards contain such lovely words and I am glad so many of you had such a good year. Have fun, enjoy your holiday, may be send your new class a postcard and see you all in September 2015!

Chauncy community day 2015

Today KS1 spent a fun filled day at Chauncy school. In the morning we made pizza, sandwiches, tuna pasta salad, chopped vegetables and decorated cakes. The children then shared this for lunch along with glasses of juice.

The afternoon was spent partly on the field trying out a couple of sports and then in art and craft, pottery or science. We had a great day and would like to say a big thank you to Chauncy.

Apologies if some photos are sideways. The computer/blog does not want to play ball! 

Seaside

KS1 had a great trip to the seaside today. Sun, sand, sea, ice cream and fun! It was a great day and many memories were made.

Digging

fun

Team work

Castle

parachute

castle

Ice cream

Let's go fly a kite...

Dan Freedman

This Friday we are delighted to welcome Dan Freedman, the author, to our school! He will talk to the children and there will be a book signing after school. 

If you own a Kindle, or have the Kindle app, you can get a free taste of Dan's work, by reading the Kindle version of Born to Play. What a great way to get a taste of the series.

KS1 will not be present for the talk, due to being at Chauncy, but are welcome to attend the book signing and can buy a book. 

Music Day in Hargreaves

The class listened to and watched The Firebird, they then designed a puppet and finally made the puppet. After lunch these were used to make our own mini film in response to the music. 

Music Day 2015

Music is an important part of Christ Church School and this year we have all worked hard to raise the profile of this subject throughout the whole school.

The year started with Year 5 and 6 visiting Harlow cinema to experience the launch of the BBC Ten pieces project and the introduction of our new music scheme Charanga Musical School.

During the year, classes have worked with both projects, we have had three Charanga assemblies, where each class has performed the piece they have been working on and most recently we rounded off the year with a music day.

Each class listened to the Ten pieces and voted to choose the piece they would work with. They then spent the day responding "creatively". The day ended with a school concert where each and every class had a few minutes to perform an item from their day. We started with the Nursery who responded to "Short Ride in a fast machine" through the medium of movement and ended with Year 6 who spent the majority of the day in the ICT suite using Pivot to animate "In the Hall of the Mountain King". 

The year groups in between treated us to poetry, dance, collage, musical phrases, shadow puppets, paintings, news reports and much more. All in all it was a wonderful round up of an exciting musical year.

The entire school also rose to the challenge and performed "Connect it" en masse. It was amazing to watch and listen to. Well done all.

Ice lollies

Over the last few weeks, the children in KS1 have had the opportunity to taste lots of different juice flavours and try many combinations. They chose their favourites and made up a final blend.

This week Hargreaves class used this research to make ice lollies. These were placed in the freezer, ready to the taste test - today! A welcome treat on a very hot afternoon!

Butterworth and Potter still have this treat to come!

Mill Green Museum

The Foundation Stage Children had a great time at The Mill.  The children got to listen to the story of the Little Red Hen and join in wearing masks.  They played with grains and made badges. We even got to meet the Miller who showed us how he makes the flour.  We used the flour to make our own bread rolls...yummy!
The children all behaved so well and were a credit to our school.  Thank you to all our adult helpers!

Dental talk

Dental talk

24.6.15

Today the children in Carle and McKee Class had a visit from one of the school Nurses.  She talked about looking after our teeth.  She demonstrated how to brush teeth using a giant set of teeth! The children watched a short Topsy and Tim clip about going to the dentist.  

They were told to remember the two's...
Brush your teeth for 2 minutes.
Brush your teeth twice a day.
Go to the dentist twice a year.

EYFS music

Inkpen, Carle and McKee love singing and have always done lots of it! This year they have joined the rest of the school in using Charanga and have followed their own units, learning some new songs and enjoying familiar old favourites. The children have enjoyed themselves and the staff say it has been fun. They have also made use of the instruments.

Thank you to the PSA who have bought a few new musical items for these three classes. This ensures that they have got instruments that fit their smaller hand size and the children can be hands on in their music making and learn about and use percussion instruments, as and when they wish, without having to check the timetable to see if another class in the school is using the music trolley.

The first items have arrived. Each class now has a "singing sack". These contain instruments, fabric and puppets. Mckee class were very excited when they were shown theirs and are looking forward to using it.