It has been wonderful this week to welcome to school EY/R/Y1 and Y6.
I have no doubt many of you have found the decision difficult but we have been delighted to see so many children return.
Thank you for supporting us with our "drop off", "collection" and social distancing arrangements.
Social distancing as we said before with very young children is very difficult if not impossible. However we are trying as far as possible to keep children in their own social bubbles in school.
I would like to thank Malcolm Jessop our school caretaker, Sarah Downs our cleaner for changing their shifts and making sure that particular attention is given to regular and thorough cleaning.
I would also like to thank all our staff, including Nikki Dawson and all teachers who have worked tirelessly througout this pandemic including their holidays to ensure we can do the best they can for the children in our care. It has not been easy for anyone and this transitional phase, being back at school but also still supporting those at home has brought new challenges.
Our children as always have been amazing. They have adapted and accepted the "new normal" which helps us all move forward.
From next week Tony Giles, our woodwind teacher has been called up to support the army deliver testing for Covid-19. He will be in touch with parents about music lessons and I know he is keen to keep lessons going but may not know yet how this will work until he has more information after his initial induction training next week.
Thank you for your understanding and enjoy the weekend.
Mrs Korcz
Calendar & Events
Summer Term 2020
Term Starts:
Monday 20/4/20
May Day:
8/5/20
Half Term:
25/5/20 - 29/5/20
End of Term: Wednesday 15/7/20
SCHOOL YEAR
2020-2021
Autumn Term 2020
Term Starts:
Wednesday 2/9/20
Half Term:
19/10/20 - 30/10/20
End of Term: Friday 11/12/20
Spring Term 2021
Term Starts:
Tuesday 5/1/21
Half Term:
15/2/21 - 19/2/21
End of Term: Thursday 1/4/21
Summer Term 2021
Term Starts:
Monday 19/4/21
May Day:
3/5/21
Half Term:
31/5/21 - 4/6/21
End of Term: Wednesday 16/7/21
ISSUE: 412 4th June 2020
IMPORTANT PARENT INFORMATION
Cool Cats Uniform Supplier: TGPS website - Please access the Uniform & Equipment heading on the home page there is a direct link to the Cool Cats website.
WEEKLY EVENTS
W/C 8th June SCHOOL OPEN FOR NURSERY, RECEPTION, CLASS ONE AND CLASS SIX CHILDREN AND KEYWORKERS CHILDREN. 8AM - 6PM
DISTANCE LEARNING CONTINUES FOR ALL REMAINING CHILDREN
Year 6 have enjoyed a varied programme of slightly different ways of working in PE this week. Team games have taken on a very different focus but the fun is still around. The Grantham and District Tennis Skills competition has been worked on every day and some new games of “Move It “ and “ Diceomania “ have been introduced to the Inter House schedule. These games have been introduced to the rest of the year groups to play at home and get the family bonding and pulling together to have some fun.
Juggling!
Evelyn has been using her time in lockdown to learn a new skill. She has learned the art of juggling. As you can see from her little video she is progressing very nicely. Is there anyone else who is able to juggle and would like to show off their new talent?
Congratulations
Congratulations to Cora who becomes our third County finalist from the At Home Grantham and District competitions that we have been running through our PE programme at home over the last few weeks. Cora tried Catching, Throwing, Bowling and even showed off some of her batting skills to top the entries from around the Grantham area. Cora joins Theo and Aurore in the County Final which will be held on 1st July. Well done Cora and congratulations to the 15 children who also entered the competition from Yr 3 - Yr 6 making us the highest represented school in the district.
Mr Park
Memories of Lockdown
Thank you to all of you who have sent in photos during the last few weeks. We have decided to create a "Memories of Lockdown" display board so that we can see some of the activites you've been doing during lockdown.
We would love to add to this board so please keep them coming in!
A gorgeous cinnabar moth making friends and landing on Enya, while teaching her about insects' camouflage. A lovely Science lesson, straight from nature.
I have been taking part in the Virtual Benedetti sessions for the last three weeks and it’s been amazing! I was part of the advanced orchestra and the pieces we were learning to play were Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams and Caprice No. 24 by Paganini. Every day we had different tutorials from loads of incredible musicians on things like how to play the pieces and warming up our bodies ready to play. We also had live zoom sessions in our sectionals with our tutors and Nicola Benedetti! On the last day we all joined in at home to play along with the final concert together on YouTube. It was also really cool to see my viola teacher Laura on the YouTube video and I even spotted myself and my sister at the end when we all said thank you to our tutors.
Phoebe
Virtual Music Lessons and Rockband
The children have enjoyed their music lessons in school which continue to be conducted by Zoom! There has even been a virtual Rockband!
A really warm welcome to Vivienne who has joined us in Nursery. Vivienne was very happy with the symmetrical pattern that she painted on her butterfly. What a very beautiful butterfly!
Our First Week Back
Our first week back and what a success it's been! After an initial period of settling back to familiarising themselves with our new layout and routines the children soon found their feet and have adapted fantastically!
We have kicked off this half term with our topic which is based on animal Habitats. The children have learnt about the amazing transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly by means of a special biological process called....wait for it...it's a BIG word that the children have learnt...metamorphosis! Phew that took some practice to say I can tell you!
Please look at our super caterpillar paintings! The children were asked to paint a segment at a time having learnt what a segment was from looking at an orange! Mrs Whinney acted as the go-between swapping colours between the children so they could make their caterpillars as colourful as possible!
Well done superstars
Stepping Stones and Stilts!
Nursery and Pre-School have been enjoying the sunshine this week and have been testing their balancing skills on the stepping stones and stilts. Its hard not to fall off!
A very warm welcome to Dominic who has joined us in Year One. I was able to catch up with Dominic this morning and he told me a few interesting things about himself. Here are just a few things he wanted to share:
Dominic has some pets at home, he has some fish and also a dog called Digger. Digger is 2 years old and loves to chase lights and shadows on the floor! He has a younger sister called Lara, he absoloutely loves playing with Lego, especially Star Wars lego and his favourite food is chips!
Lovely to chat with you Dominic and a very warm welcome from us all here at Grantham Prep!!
Bubble Art
Here is a picture of Freddie with all the ingredients for making bubble art. His Mummy says he had great fun making a magic potion after completing his picture! This was the final online assignment set for Year One...we are going to be back together on Monday!
Settling in Beautifully!
Year One have adapted beautifully to the new and the necessary requirements set out by the government. We now work within small class 'bubbles' named after birds - Owls, Kingfishers, Puffins and Robins. The children have chosen a regular place to sit and have been more than excited to bring in their own fabulous pencil cases. They have brought in a cornucopia of styles to use and keep in their personal trays. Whilst in enforced lockdown, the children have been honing their learning skills by accessing their daily lessons on Edmodo and I am so pleased to see that due to their dedication to task and determination to learn, the quality of their work is superb. The photos you can see include my hardworking little friends and a selection of this week's work.Well done to everyone and thank you so much to all Class One parents for all their support.
For STEAM this week I challenged class 3 to draw their own celtic knot. They were given step by step instructions to complete this tricky task. It took patience and determination and here are some of their creations.
Well done class 3.
Extreme Earth
Class 3 have begun a mini project called Extreme Earth. We began by looking at just how the Earth is made up and then moved onto exploring how volcanoes develop and erupt. The children have really enjoyed the Geography lessons and have produced some super work as you can see.
A very proud Miss Linehan
Celebrating Eid
During half term on Sunday 24th May, class 3 got together via zoom to celebrate Eid. It was a lovely opportunity for Yara and Taseen to share with their friends how they were celebrating this important day.
The children have enjoyed listening to the story ‘Stig of the Dump’ and this week have focused on creating a character profile for ‘Stig’, a caveman who appears on earth and sets up his home in a hidden cave next to a rubbish dump. The novel has given us the opportunity of looking at the importance of how we manage and dispose of our rubbish.
STEAM
This week class 4 have risen to the challenge of creating their own Bowling game by decorating a variety of plastic bottles. They have used paint as well as other materials for this task. Matthew H also recorded his finished work as the game took place. Well done.
Mrs Kennedy
Matthew has been very imaginative in making his bowling pins!
Curve Stitching
Mrs Chamberlain set Year 4 the task of completing some curve stitching. Curve stitching is a form of string art where curves are created through the use of straight lines. Below are Olivia and Thomas's examples.
Look at these wonderful miniature books that Year 5 have created!
The Benefits of Drawing
Every week Class 5 are tasked to take some time out from their usual thoughts and work schedule and just draw. Drawing is a great way to relieve stress and give your brain a break, leaving you feeling mentally clear and calm. Here are some of their pieces so far.
There are 12 children in school and it has been wonderful seeing them face to face each day this week. Things are different, but for the most part we are learning together, enjoying fresh air together and having fun; being together. We have kept in touch with those at home, at least twice everyday.
We have been reading The Ickabog by J K Rowling and getting back into some written work. We even did some handwriting work today. In Spanish, we imagined we were in a Spanish cafe, had a go at ordering food and drink and made a menu. For STEAM we tested each other on trivia about our bodies. Did you know our eyes don’t grow? And then tested our sense of touch by working out what some items were while blindfolded. I chose items from my desk that could be wiped between each go. We’re all quite tired, but have enjoyed each other’s company.
To end off our science chapter, ‘Material Changes”, for the term the Year 6 students explored how to make their own filtration system. Their goal for this activity was to discover that ground materials can clean and purify water before it is returned to the surface.
The criteria for the investigation was that their filter system needed to be durable and easy to use, have three layers and the layers needed to be made of ‘natural’ materials that they could find in their yards or nearby park. They could also make use of recyclable materials.
Blouberg International School SOUTH AFRICA
Farewell Sirius’2020
Every year SEK Las Américas prepares a farewell lunch for our 12th-grade students, sadly this year we haven´t got the chance to get together physically to spend a moment with them, but the Pandemic didn’t stop us from preparing them a special surprise. Last Monday our Staff prepared a unique lunch for our graduate students through the Zoom platform, we sent each one of them a surprise cupcake, we talked about our memories and best wishes for all. The most nostalgic moment was when Ms. Vicky surprised them with the song “The Climb” and every teacher showed a handwritten message.
Colegio Internacional SEK Las Américas REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA
School Bus Collection Points & Times
Bookings for this week:
Please contact the school office to book a place for your child.
8.10am Normanton on Cliffe
8.20am Ancaster
8.25am Wilsford
On Fridays the bus will run 15 minutes earlier to ensure pupils arrive in time for the *Music Machine" School Band rehearsal.
Access to the School Building after 4.30pm
As you are all aware there is now a gate which has a key code access to the Creche in the evening. If you do not have the code, please call 01476 593293 and your call will be answered by Creche.
