What an fantastic week it has been! We've been immersed in a whirlwind of activities, from science workshops to essential first aid training. Year 5 students have been introduced to Spanish and were wonderful hosts to Pembury Primary School. With fixtures adding an extra layer of excitement, it's been a week filled with growth, discovery, and abundant learning opportunities for our children.
What happened in school this week?
Assemblies
We were truly amazed by our gymnasts, whose dedication and hard work continue to inspire us. The children, from Year 3 to Year 6, performed their routines in front of the whole school on Monday morning. They were a delight to watch and and their performances were a testament to their courage and talent. Well done everyone!
Extreme Reading Competition
Congratulations to Millie, Esther, Nuran and Isabella for winning the Extreme Reading Competition. The winners of the Classroom Door Competition for 2024 are Year 2 with "Oh the Places 2A Will Go" and Year 4 with "How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth". Thank you to our judges, Chaplain Katie and Miss Handford, for performing this very difficult task!
Science Week
Science is like a digestive system: it takes you on a wild journey from hypothesis to conclusion, with occasional unexpected 'digestive surprises' along the way."
On Tuesday and Thursday this week, Megan from Fizz Pop Bang came into school, to run some Science Week Workshops. The theme of our week was TIME and so we thought the journey of food through the body was very apt! Named ‘Gross Guts’ – it really was not for the faint hearted! The pupils recreated the process of digestion. They placed cornflakes in a bag with some saliva (water). A hole was cut in the bag and the contents were squeezed through (to mimic how food travels to your stomach). There, mixed with acid, the food continues its journey, leaving all the nutrients and passing through any debris that is not needed by the body (commonly known as poo!). The children had a super time and learned an awful lot.
We have a whole Key Stage of First Aiders! Pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 underwent comprehensive First Aid training workshops facilitated by Mini First Aid Midkent this week. Please find below some visual highlights of the training sessions, where they acquired crucial life-saving skills.
Thank you so much for inviting me into your beautiful school today, I was really impressed with ALL the children! They were all so polite and showed they were fantastic Mini First Aiders! I really hope they enjoyed it as much as I did." Katie McCandless - Mini First Aid Midkent
Forest Explorers
It finally felt like Spring was arriving this week and we made the most of the milder weather by spending as much time outside as we could. We spent a great afternoon in the forest foraging for wild garlic which we were all excited to take home and cook. We also found a secret stream with a little bridge which we will be visiting again soon with the boats we made in Science week.
Reception
We have had so much fun experimenting with floating and sinking this week. The children were given the challenge of creating a boat that would float. We discussed what that meant and then they got creative, using a range of materials. After predicting what would happen, we tested each of the boats to see if they could float. To make it fair, each boat was tested for one minute. We were very pleased that all our predictions were right and all the boats could float! Then we decided to find objects that might sink and tested those too, which resulted in some brilliant questioning, thinking and conversations! The children discovered that it was harder than they initially thought to find an object that could sink.
Year 1 and 2
Year 1 and Year 2 delved into the fascinating world of biology with an engaging science workshop focused on the intricacies of the digestive system. Through hands-on activities and interactive demonstrations, our young learners explored the journey food takes from mouth to stomach, learning about the role of each organ along the way. From the importance of chewing to the process of nutrient absorption, our budding scientists were captivated by the wonders of the human body.
Year 3
The Year 3 class assembly took place on Tuesday. The Egyptian extravaganza was a fantastic show highlighting all we have learnt about the Ancient Egyptians. With two fabulous Pharaoh’s, a Mummy and some great Archeologists, parents, staff and children learnt lots of new facts and were also entertained by a variety of songs and dances!
Year 4
In between outdoor learning, science experiments and first aid workshops, Year 4 have been busy learning about words that tell us where or when something is in relation to something else. Under, over, around and between....many poses were struck to demonstrate their understanding of prepositions!
On Wednesday the sun came out and 4B headed down to the veggie garden. They rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in, turning the soil, weeding and hunting for worms. Once the beds were prepared they planted some potatoes and strawberry plants. The class had become very attached to their seed potatoes and gave them interesting names such as Martin, Gerald, Potatorilla, Mr Billybob and the classic, Spud. We look forward to tending to these over the coming weeks and months and harvesting these in June, ready for the kitchen to prepare.
Year 5
If this week was a sandwich, Year 5 would need an enormous plate - it has been action packed! In addition to timetabled lessons and club commitments, the children have taken part in a marvelous Modern Foreign Languages morning, a First Aid course, Science Week activities and preparation for their class assembly.
Year 5 welcomed students from Pembury Primary School for a vibrant morning of Spanish escapades with the Modern Foreign Languages Teachers at the Senior School. The seasoned maestros of Español led two thrilling sessions; delving into the fusion of Art and Spanish in one, and unravelling the secrets of translation skills in the other, to understand a lively Spanish tale.
Year 6
Year 6 have continued to be extremely busy this week. As part of their celebration of Science Week they worked with a partner to measure the length of their legs and then record each other running the length of the tennis court three times. They worked out their average time and the scores were collated. The results showed that Imi was the fastest even though she had the second shortest legs in the Year Group. It was concluded that many factors are involved here – if someone partakes in a lot of sport, they may well be faster. If they are feeling poorly on the day of the experiment (there are a lot of colds at present), this could affect the result. Finally, some pupils did not have their trainers in school, so this could have hindered their performance. All of Year 6 demonstrated great team work and enthusiasm for this task. Later in the week, during our workshop sessions, everyone was amazed to discover how their digestive systems worked – it was certainly a experience to remember!
Alongside this the children have found out about Easter traditions in Germany, continued working on algebra in maths and begun a new topic in English by looking at different short story genres. On Wednesday they learned a range of very important First Aid skills and then concluded their week by helping Reception enjoy an Easter Egg hunt.
Debate Club
This term, Lower Sixth students Poppy, Primrose, Matilda, Sophie and Annabelle have run a Debate Club for Year 5 and 6 Prep pupils. This week was the final club and the debate was on climate change, and Prep pupils were treated to cakes made by Poppy.
I love running debate club as I love being around the Prep School children because they are so sweet and funny. I love having their insight on various matters in the world - they never fail to make me smile." Primrose
I have thoroughly enjoyed running debate club and having a connection with the Prep School children. Every week I look forward to seeing them and discussing what they have to say." Poppy
Carnival of the Animals
Rehearsals are well underway for the Carnival of the animals in which every year group will present a song with featured soloists, and a class poem. It is beginning to sound fantastic!
Our choirs and orchestra will then perform again in the evening at 6pm. Please make sure to buy your tickets for the 2pm showing before we remove the limit on ticket allocation! For parents of children from Years 3-6 who are in a school choir or orchestra, could you please make sure to complete the online form giving permission to be involved in the evening performance.
Competition time!
The Music Department would like to announce an Animal Art Competition! Please could you draw, paint, sculpt or even build your favourite animal and hand in your Artwork at the Prep School Reception after the Easter Holidays. All artwork will then be displayed in the Theatre on the day of the concert and the closing date is on Tuesday 16 April. There will be Amazon gift vouchers for the winners of KS1 and KS2 with yummy prizes for the runners up.
Reading News
Turning on quality subtitles means your child will read a staggering number of words. Put them on and your child will read the equivalent number of words that are in all the Harry Potter books, all of the Lord of the Rings, all of the Chronicles of Narnia and everything Roald Dahl wrote, combined! Research has shown that it can double the chance of your child leaving school as a proficient reader. You can turn them on for the whole family, or most streaming services will now allow you to do it just for children’s profiles.
Perhaps, after all, there is a magic button….
Sport News
Easter Break - West End Musical Theatre Workshops
The Singing Teacher, Ms Olivia Safe (McGibbon), will be running the Easter Musical Theatre Workshops with West-End principles at Kent College. The first workshop that will run is for pupils in Years 5-8 and will focus on material from The Greatest Showman, The Addams Family, Frozen, Hairspray and Wicked. The second workshop that will run is for pupils in Years 9-13 and will focus exclusively on Les Misérables. At the end of each workshop pupils will put on a performance for family and friends to showcase the material they have learnt over the course of the workshop. This will be an excellent opportunity for our pupils to once again work with talented West End performers.