We are delighted that our three boys Jack, Fraser and Freddie enjoyed their Real Madrid football tour and returned safely with Miss Howard on Tuesday evening. They represented our school with distinction and made many new friends from our sister schools.
Next week is exam week for our Junior school. We want our children to be prepared and organised with their pens and maths equipment and class teachers have worked hard helping them this week. We want it to be a useful, positive experience. Exams are part of school life and help prepare the children for secondary school. We also need to find out about any areas of the Curriculum that need more attention before the end of the Summer term, so that we can correct any misconceptions before moving onto their next class in September.
After exam week we look forward to our House Music Festival. Please encourage your child if you can, to prepare a piece to perform in front of their peers. It is not easy and requires courage, but as we saw from this morning in our Y2 assembly, performing in front of others helps to improve a child's self-esteem. It can also be great fun too!
This year’s Inter-House Music Festival will take place on Friday 20th May. It is not compulsory but it is a wonderful opportunity for the children to perform in front of their peers and our guest adjudicator Mrs Kerby.
Letters about the event and entry forms have been given out today in school. Should your child wish to take part they must complete and return the entry form by Friday 13th May, with a copy of the piano accompaniment where relevant.
As much as Year 6 likes to work hard, there is still time to have a game or two (of course related to what the children are learning!). This past week the children have had time to challenge each other and the teacher, to learn their multiplication tables through multiplication grand prix and multiplication derby, two online games which look to improve multiplication recall. As a child becomes faster at recalling multiplications of 2 -12, they will be able to solve more complex maths in much less time. This is because the core understanding has already been established.
Also in French this week the children had a chance to practise learning place names around town by having a game of hangman and pairs with Madame Balestra. The children are showing a real understanding of this language, which many have only just started this year.
Class 4 are showing some of their knitwear projects, completed over last term.
Pupils worked on a design brief to create striped jumpers in limited colour ranges, and Fair-Isle graphs to show their understanding of how to notate a knitwear design.
Some pupils produced their own fashion drawings, and blending coloured pencils to create some lovely work. Woolly hats and gloves, along with twisted cables and patterns of Aran knitwear were also depicted.
Finally, the work was assembled onto a design board, selecting suitable colours, and making a fun pom-pom to top off their woolly hat. Fabulous fashion design work, Class 4!
Class 3 have been getting to grips with forces in Science. They have been learning that some forces need contact between 2 objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance. The children then set up an investigation to explore friction and compare how things move on different surfaces.
Class One are really looking forward to meeting Victoria's new baby brother. She is so proud of little Harry who is now one month old. She has been busy helping with his care and giving him some wonderful, big sister cuddles!
In the classroom, the children have been busy with their topics in History and Geography; The Seaside and Weather respectively. The children will be keeping a weather diary, including recording the daily temperature and percentage chance of rain. They will also create their own video weather forecast. We will be visiting the seaside later in the term to find out about the care provided to coastal animals by the staff at Natureland. We have lots of fun learning! In all subjects, everyone is approaching the set tasks with enthusiasm and care; showing great pride in their achievements. Well done to you all.
In PE the children in Reception had an excellent tennis session. They were so excited to get their own tennis racquet and have a go at keeping control of the bean bags up and down on the racquet at the start. As they progressed through the session and became more confident to control the bean bags they moved on to tennis balls which were a bit trickier but they all mastered it very well.
They have also completed some excellent outside physical learning using the tricky obstacle course that has been set up on the field for them to move around on. All the children had to find lots of different ways to balance on the equipment. Well done Reception it’s so good to keep fit and to keep moving!
As mentioned previously in the newsletter, Pre-School are this term investigating the topic ‘Habitats’ and in particular for this half of the term Ocean habitats. Over the past week the children have been introduced to the names of the 5 Oceans of the world, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, Pacific and the Southern Ocean also known as Antarctica. For this week, our main focus has been on the Atlantic Ocean and the sort of creatures that make the Atlantic their habitat. They have learnt that lemon sharks live between New Jersey and southern Brazil in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, Seahorses also live in shallow temperate waters around coral reefs of the Atlantic and that the beautiful King Emperor Penguins live in the very southern part of the Atlantic. As part of their ‘homework’ the children were asked to find out some facts about the Atlantic. Tillie and Ava produced some lovely work as you can see in the photos. George decided that he would help look after the Atlantic that ‘if it became too hot’ he would ‘get rid of the plastic and cool it down’.
The children have also been busy practising their letter formation and their sounding out and blending of the letter sounds. Some of the children are beginning to read which is very exciting! I’m very pleased with how well our children are doing with this and other areas of their learning.
Well done Nursery and Pre-school for a super week of fun learning!
The rugby season has come to an end and awards were handed out on Sunday morning. Each child got a medal and a few got trophies. Daniel won a trophy for the most improved player in the under 7s.
He really enjoys playing rugby and tries every week to do his best and was very happy to receive his trophy for all his efforts
SEK-IES INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTION AND REAL MADRID FOUNDATION
Having the opportunity to experience a historic moment such as seeing Real Madrid win the League is priceless.
From the stands, 135 students from the SEK-IES International Institution, coming from the United States, Chile, Ecuador, South Africa, Italy, Guatemala, Colombia, Paraguay, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, England, and Spain, attended the decisive match of the Spanish National Professional Soccer League; they had this opportunity after participating, from April 27th to May 2nd, in the SEK-IES Soccer Clinic in the "Real Madrid City".
They have travelled thousands of kilometres to live an experience that only an Institution like ours is capable of giving its students.
An intense week, full of learning and emotions in which our students shared great moments and their passion for football, forming together a great team, such as the SEK-IES International Institution.
Laura Gomez Maderuelo
Communication Coordinator
SEK International Institution
Bookings for this week:
Please contact the school office to book a place for your child.
8.05am Honnington
8.10am Barkston
8.20am Ancaster Playing Field
8.25am Ancaster Leisure Car Park (The Tank)
On Fridays the bus will run 15 minutes earlier to ensure pupils arrive in time for School Band.
The school bus mobile:
07784 343749
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.