Living for the Moment
This week we celebrated the famous Scottish poet and author Robert Burns. We were delighted to welcome Rev. Beebee into school for our Assembly on Burns’ birthday, 25 January. We were treated to a short biography of the great man as well as some stanzas from his poems.
Two things really struck me. The first was the length of his life - Burns died at just 37 years old. The second was just how hard he worked physically as a farmer whilst his true passion undoubtedly lay with the written word. As I sat and listened, I found myself reflecting on the wisdom that lies in discovering and ultimately pursuing your passions. The modern world tends to dictate what we should do, and what we must achieve. Yet, as with Robert Burns, true and genuine success is achieved if we follow our dreams. Burns was not writing because it would make him rich or indeed famous, as with other greats such as Da Vinci, fame only came once he was deceased. He was writing because it thrilled him, made him feel alive and gave him pleasure. It is a salutary lesson from which I fear modern social media users might benefit.
A favourite quote of mine comes from John Lennon: "Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans".
Burns was writing in the moment for pleasure not for legacy. Life will surely pass us by and opportunities will be missed if we do not follow our hearts. Within school we expose our children to all manner of experiences, opportunities and moments. These, along with the multitude they experience at home with friends or family are lighting fires in their minds.
"Wonder is that magical spark that opens a child's heart to learn. This is the true curriculum." - Sally Hanghey
As we toast the haggis this weekend as many of you may, let us consider living for the moment, following our dreams whilst supporting and encouraging our children to develop and follow their own passions for nothing more than the sheer joy of it. One day it may be their life being celebrated in Assembly!
Claire Boissiere, on behalf of the PYP Leadership Team
Island of the Week
Huge congratulations to Harris who were awarded Island of the Week this week! It was a close contest, with all 4 Islands in double figures. A big thank you to Caitlin F for raising Harris’ flag and to Mrs Beebee as our Island coordinator!
Year 1
Red Envelopes
Andrew in 1P kindly brought in lovely red envelopes to share with all his friends in Year 1. The envelopes are traditionally shared to celebrate the Chinese New Year with small gifts given inside. Every child opens up their beautiful envelope to find a red lantern, red being the colour that brings good luck. Thank you so much to Andrew and his family for gifting these beautiful presents to our Year 1 pupils!
"Gong hei fat choy" (恭喜发财) - Happy Lunar New Year!
1C
Jumping Maths
Year 1C have been learning all about even and odd numbers this week. The students recognised that all numbers ending in 2,4,6,8,0 are even and 1,3,5,7,9 are odd. They reflected using Numicon pieces, remembering that the ‘odd ones don’t have a friend’. The children then used their knowledge to become live jumping beans on a number line outside in the playground, counting in 2’s, from 0-20.
Rabbit Silhouettes
In commemoration of Chinese New Year, 1C created beautiful rabbit silhouettes to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. The pupils used a stencil and traditional Chinese colours of red, yellow and orange. The students were excited to reveal their silhouette by peeling off their rabbit stencil!
Year of the Rabbit
1C have been creating a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration wall with lots of Feng Shui lucky colours. On display are the children’s colourful lanterns, their number sequences and their rabbit silhouettes! Fabulous work 1C, well done!
Fantastic Gymnastics
The children have been learning about flight this week as part of their gymnastics unit in PE. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed performing different body shapes in mid-air, jumping onto a crash pad. Super work, 1C!
Year 2
Simple Machines
This week, Year 2 have been discovering more about the inclined plane, one of the six Simple Machines they are exploring throughout their current Unit of Inquiry. The children have conducted experiments into the effect of an increasing gradient on the speed of travel of an object. They discovered that the steeper the slope became, the faster their skier travelled down.
The pupils also discovered that as you increase the gradient of an inclined plane, it takes more force to pull an object, in this case a toy car, up the slope. This was measured by dropping marbles into a bucket attached to a rope!
As well as conducting adult-led experiments in the classroom, the children have been encouraged to extend and use their own creativity to experiment with Simple Machines through free play and independent inquiry. Some exciting learning has resulted, including models of inclined planes, ramps and giant marble runs.
Year 2 have been very impressive this week with their ability to collaborate, to solve problems and to design and construct creative models that enable them to formulate solutions to problems. They have also shown great ability to reflect and improve on their ideas, and to offer reasoned explanations for the phenomena that they observe. They have truly shown themselves as able to demonstrate the 'Thinker' attribute of the Learner Profile!
Tool Safety
We hope to offer the children the opportunity to use simple hand tools, such as hammers, screwdrivers, saws, and hand drills over the coming weeks. This will offer the pupils excellent, 'real-world' opportunities to use Simple Machines in a meaningful and engaging way. In preparation for this, Mr Hunter from Estates came to speak to the children about the safe use of tools. Year 2 showed themselves to be very risk-aware! This initial visit will be followed up with another demonstration of safe tool use, allowing the pupils to begin using these tools for themselves. Our thanks go to Mr Hunter for his support in offering safety advice and equipment.
Year 3
Magnificent Morpurgo
Writing creatively can be a challenge, not so though when you break it down into component parts. Year 3 are on their own journey to write a poem based on Michael Morpurgo's book Coming Home. This week they have read the book and explored story mapping, specifically the beginning, middle and end. Latterly, small groups took turns to read and act out their own pages from the book, really bringing the story alive. Linking to their Unit of Inquiry on space, they shall be developing their own space based poems in the coming weeks, ensuring that they use fantastic adjectives and attempting to emulate the poetic style of Morpurgo. They aim to demonstrate the different ways one can build magnificent poems. We cannot wait!
Year 4
Colour Spectrum
Year 4 have been investigating light this week, discovering the colour spectrum and how it was created. The children have been experimenting with sources of light, prisms and colour mixing. They are very much looking forward to their visit to the science lab in the Senior School at St Leonards next week to investigate and question further!
Year 5
Rhyming Limericks
This week, Year 5 have continued to explore poetry, investigating limericks as well as poems written by Robert Burns. The children even had a go at writing their own limericks which are incredibly imaginative and very amusing - please see some examples below!
Year 6
Year 6 have been working on their creative writing this week, using exciting sentence openers to make their writing more engaging. Fantastic work, Year 6!
Burns Night
In celebration of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, pupils and staff enjoyed celebrating his birthday on 25 January. Touches of tartan and kilts were all around - with staff, too, dressing in traditional Scottish attire. All Years 1-6 attended a celebration assembly by guest speaker Rev. Graeme Beebee, learning about the life of Robert Burns. The children then tucked into a traditional Burns’ Supper of haggis, neeps and tatties in Restaurant 1877 for lunch. What a wonderful day of celebrations!
On the Astro
Well done to our U11 Girls hockey team who played a very competitive game against Mary Erskine School on Wednesday. The squad showed some excellent skill and determination on the field - a fantastic effort girls!
Nutrition Assembly
A big thank you to Ms Booker, on behalf of Thomas Franks, who delivered a workshop on nutrition to all Year 1-6 this week. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning how to choose the right foods, make healthy decisions and eat a balanced diet.
Construction Club
Some terrific creations were assembled in Construction Club on Tuesday as the children embarked on a 25-minute imagination challenge. Our Year 10 helpers enjoyed it too!
Thinker Club
The Rubik’s cube challenge is well underway after Jos from Year 5 stopped by to share his skill and techniques. We pooled our Rubik’s resources and gave it a bash. Some were more advanced than others but we won’t give up and will continue to practice!
