This week was made more special by some rather tasty and stylish Chinese New Year celebrations. Sharing cultural knowledge through costumes, food, red envelopes and more was wonderful to experience and to witness! Well done to all the children who took part in the Vanguard exams today and congratulations on some wonderful sporting achievements this week (see below!) — we are extremely proud of you all. Thank you to our parents who attended Watch Dance this week. It is always a pleasure to welcome you to school.
A quick reminder that Tuesday 4 February is a home clothes day and we invite the children to dress in Red, White, and Blue as we celebrate French Day in school. Please remember to complete the sign up form for Watch Swim on 11 February (Watch Swim KS1 and 2) and 12 February (Watch Swim Early Years). Please find the links below in the Sport section.
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What happened in School this week?
This week in Lego Club, our young builders put their creativity to the test by designing and building places for animals.
From carefully crafted aquariums to imaginative habitats, the children worked together to create wonderful spaces. Their creations were well thought out to cater to the needs of different animals. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and teamwork bring these ideas to life!
Forest Explorers
In Nursery we have been celebrating Chinese New Year. We have been learning about the Chinese years and how they are named after 12 different animals. For example, there is a Year of the Rat and a Year of the Ox. Chinese New Year marks the start of the next animal's year. It is the year of the snake this year and we made some lovely woven snakes and also red and gold lanterns. We loved dressing up in beautiful traditional Chinese clothes.
Reception
Our story this week in Reception has been the Three Little Pigs. The children have enjoyed reading different versions of the story and learning a rap! In our topic work we have been learning about different types of houses and their features. The children were very excited to receive a letter from the Three Pigs, asking them to design a house that would keep them safe and that would be strong! We have sent the designs to the Three Pigs and are awaiting their response!
Year 1
Year 1 have continued their work on addition and subtraction this week, consolidating their understanding of the number system and working very hard to remember their number bonds - pairs of numbers which equal 10 or 20. At the end of the week we were looking at finding doubles and near doubles, playing lots of games to reinforce their understanding.
Year 2
This week we have continued to look at The Great Fire of London in our Topic and English lessons and moved onto making equal groups and multiplication in maths. In science the children took part in a hands-on activity to learn how germs are spread between people and why it's so important to wash our hands regularly. We had one person rub their hands with glitter, then shake hands with the people either side of them until the whole circle had shaken hands with someone. The children were surprised that even if they were far away from the starter, they still had glitter on their hands! Thankfully our sparkly germs were washed away with soap and water, so Year 2 are definitely our newest handwashing heroes.
Year 3
In science, Year 3 have been learning about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. They enjoyed sorting animals into a Venn diagram, using overlapping circles to illustrate relationships between sets of items, to show which animals eat meat, vegetables or both.
Year 4
This week Year 4 have been celebrating Chinese New Year. Hallie and Janelle arrived in beautiful costumes and we learnt about how they celebrate at home. Hallie taught us to say Happy New Year in Cantonese, and explained why red is a traditional colour.
Year 5
Year Five have been learning that the Ancient Greeks had a unique style of architecture that is still copied today in government buildings, major monuments and building design throughout the world. Before they constructed their own Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns they had the challenge of identifying well known buildings that feature these columns as well as the city and country they can be found in. Next week they will be exploring our alphabet and how it has been influenced by the Greek lettering system.
Year 6
Year 6 have had an excellent week filled with exciting learning experiences! In science, they studied blood vessels and created detailed diagrams of the circulatory system using red and blue cotton. In maths, they continued their hard work on fractions, practising multiplying and dividing them. In English, they learned how to create tension in a story and use dialogue to move the plot forward. The highlight of the week was celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, when Daisy and her mother brought in delicious food for everyone to enjoy. Wishing all good fortune and a happy Year of the Snake!
We also investigated the effect of exercise on heart rate and have come to the conclusion that we are really fit!
Sport News
Watch Swim Week Tuesday 11 February and/or Wednesday 12 February
Mrs Hughes and her team, along with the Monson Club swimming coaches, are delighted to invite you to watch your child's swimming lesson. As you know, all children, from Nursery to Year 6, swim at Kent College every week and the team would love you to see the expert coaching, encouragement and support the children receive, as well as the fun and progress they experience. Please follow the link to sign up.
U10 and U11 Swimming Gala
The Year 5 and Year 6 swim squads travelled to Wally Hall this week to represent KC at a swim gala with 5 other local schools. Everyone swam with excellent effort and determination in their individual races and enjoyed some very exciting relays as a team. Well done to everyone!
Gymnastic News
On Sunday, 26th January, our U11 gymnastics team competed in the BSGA Floor & Vault Regionals, held at Aberdour Prep School in Tadworth, Surrey.
Facing strong competition from ten other schools across the southeast region, our talented gymnasts delivered an outstanding performance, securing an impressive 3rd place as a team.
Congratulations to Nuran, Emilia, Cyra, and Hanna for their fantastic achievement – a brilliant way to start the new year! Mrs Cox
Kent Swimming Championships
Amelie qualified for the Kent Swimming Championships in the U11 50m backstroke and competed at the London Aquatic Centre in Stratford on Sunday.
She delivered an impressive performance, achieving a two-second personal best and finishing third in her heat, just missing out on a place in the final.
Well done Amelie, this is absolutely wonderful news! Mrs Hall
Maisie delivered an outstanding performance at the British Showjumping Area Show, securing first place on both Casper and Dancer.
This achievement has earned her a place at the British Showjumping Championships. In addition, she has been recognised by British Showjumping scouts and invited to join the British Showjumping Area Team—the youngest rider ever to receive this honour. She will compete in the Grandstand Media British Showjumping Final in August.
This early recognition gives Maisie a significant advantage in her journey towards potential selection for Team GBR in the future, when she is eligible to compete on 148cm ponies at an international level.