Dear Parents,
We have very high expectations for your children, but the Year 5s and 6s version of Macbeth, The Scottish Play, surpassed the boundaries of excellence, beyond what I thought they are capable of achieving. The drama of the chorus and the many exceptional individual performances were outstanding. Eli's and Isabelle's creative talents are truly inspirational.
The Year 6 Parents' Presentation this morning was also outstanding. The Prep Hall was abuzz with the children sharing their projects with their parents and their friends' parents.
Transition events continued with the Year 5 children enjoying their Year 7 Taster Day this week, and I was delighted to welcome the Reception 2022 parents into school this week too; there is a real upbeat feel all around the school!
Amanda Ilhan
Head of Nursery and Preparatory School
Nursery
This week we have kept our Ducklings nice and cool with lots of water play. We have had great fun splashing around and looking at the different resources that float and sink.
This week in Pre-School, we had an experiment and checked how fast the objects will move down the water slide. We talked about 'fast' and 'slow,' and 'heavy' and 'light.' The children discovered that the bigger the object is, the slower it is getting down the water slide.
Nursery Team
Reception
To reflect on last week's outdoor learning adventures again, the Reception children had great fun hunting for minibeasts in the kitchen garden at Parkview. All sorts of creatures were uncovered from their habitats including woodlice, worms, a fast-moving centipede and ladybirds. We relaxed in the afternoon with a play in the park.
At the Wild Boar Park, the children found out about the different boars from our guide Bob. There was one very grumpy daddy boar who caught the children's attention because he kept pushing the others away! We enjoyed the opportunity to hold and find out about chicks and some giant minibeasts which included African land snails, a very long millipede and a rather long snake. We all had great fun.
Miss Allen and Mrs Walsh
Year 1
After a very exciting week last week, we had a slightly calmer time this week. The children have been working together in small groups and pairs on tricky money games to reinforce their learning about adding quantities of coins together.
On visiting our area of the school garden, we were surprised and delighted to find some strawberries and a huge courgette where we did our planting at the end of the Spring Term. Needless to say, the strawberries were delicious!
Mrs Smith and Mrs Brooker
Year 2
Last week, the children learnt about lots of different animals, minibeasts and birds. They also had a wonderful time learning forest skills such as den building, fire lighting and most importantly fire safety.
We all walked many miles, often in quite hot temperatures but always with a smile on our faces. We embraced the wonderful techniques of Andy Goldsworthy in our beach art and created amazing spirals, circles and lines with beach materials.
Our final day was at the Wild Boar Park where the sun shone once again and we learnt about lots of different animals, had many hands-on opportunities and even a tractor ride. The journey home was challenging, but the children were amazing, and it all added to the adventure!
Mrs Bleasdale
Year 3
In Maths we revisited directions and angles; we investigated half, quarter, three quarter and full turns clockwise and anti-clockwise. The children worked in pairs to guide their friends around a short course using only turn based directions which was great fun.
In Geography, we researched rivers, looked at the water cycle and the different types of water pollution.
Several Year 3 children attended a fantastic golf event in Lytham and on the same day we had an exciting Year 3 and Year 4 athletics afternoon.
Mrs Blinston
Year 4
Tests completed and Year 4 finally relaxed a little as we start to reflect on a very busy but rewarding year and finish our topics before the end of term.
In Mathematics, we have started to look at line graphs building on our previous knowledge of bar graphs, pictograms and reading scales. For English, we have started to write a holiday brochure all about Sicily - 'Scintillating Sicily'.
In Science, we have thoroughly enjoyed building a circuit to check which materials are good electrical conductors.
Mrs Briggs
Year 5
After their amazing performances in Macbeth earlier in the week, the Year 5 children started a new Maths topic on position. They had fun plotting points on a co-ordinates grid, learning about quadrants and describing movement.
On Wednesday, they enjoyed an exciting Taster Day in the Senior School, where they joined with some new children to meet the Senior School staff and find out about life in Year 7.
In Science, we all carried out some experiments on the theme of changing state; in the lovely weather this was melting of course, maybe in the winter we will see liquids turn into solids if it drops below freezing!
Mrs Whitaker and Mr Worthington
Year 6
In English, the children have been positively critiquing each other’s writing based around Tennyson’s 'Lady of Shalott' – this helped the children engage and reflect upon their work, give valuable feedback and suggest ways it can be improved with a fresh set of eyes.
Year 5 and 6 performed two spectacular performances of Macbeth with up-to-date pop songs and dance routines, whilst remaining authentic to the original story – well done to absolutely everyone for their part in putting on this unforgettable production!
In Science, we have been investigating the affect diet and exercise have on the body as well as discussing strategies to help, change or break an unhealthy habit or adopt a new healthy one.
