The Voice OF ST LEONARDS JUNIOR SCHOOL

The acquisition of wisdom is the work of a lifetime, as Her Majesty proved. Let's have fun doing it.

The PYP Leadership Team

Class Representatives

We are delighted to announce this year’s elected Class Reps for Years 1-6, who will hold great responsibility throughout the year.

Congratulations to:

Years 1-3: Harriet L, Bertie M, Meena D, Julia M and Zachary H

Years 4-6: Grace P, Marisa G, Murray HS, Maryam AS, Ella M, James M, Adam G, William M, Phoebe F and Isobel B

The pupils will serve as an extension of the class they represent, acting as role models, sharing their views and supporting at school events. This is a great opportunity to show kindness and maturity. Well done all!

Island of the Week

For the first time ever, the flag was raised for our Island of the Week, flying high above Hepburn House! Every Tuesday, the Island of the Week will be revealed in the Junior Assembly. Our very first winner was Mull! Congratulations to all in Mull for their hard work last week, you deserve to wear your colour with pride.

Year 1

Singing in the Rain!

Year 1 have had another enjoyable week, continuing their work on phonics, practising new letters and sounds. This week the children have been introduced to the sound u-u-u-umbrella, producing some excellent artwork to consolidate their learning.

To link into their Unit of Inquiry Materials, 1P went on to create umbrellas using different materials, ensuring for a fair test to discover which was most effective.

Count-a-Saurus

The children have also continued their work on numbers up to 10. The children loved using the Numicon boards to help create number stories and enjoyed creating number bonds by matching up their favourite dinosaurs!

Super Investigators

Year 1 have been fantastic investigators this week, discovering the properties of paper. The pupils were challenged to find out which type was easier to tear, stretch and scrunch. They got to work with their magnifying glasses, testing the properties of each material.

The pupils discovered that baking parchment, card and crepe all had different properties but were all difficult to tear. Please see their results below:

The children enjoyed their first science experiment so much that they began to investigate which papers were more absorbent using water and scientific pipettes.

The pupils discovered that almost all types of paper absorb water and are definitely not waterproof!

Year 1P continued the investigation by learning how paper is made. They made pulp and then sieved it to make a flat soggy paper. This was then dried to create their own Class 1P paper. Sophisticated work Year 1, well done!

Year 2

La Classe de Français

This week, Year 2 have continued to develop their ever increasing French vocabulary. The children have been busy learning numbers up to 10, the primary and secondary colours, and zoo animals.They have thoroughly enjoyed learning the alternate language through interactive activities and games. Fantastic work, Year 2!

Jobs in our Local Community

Year 2 have continued their work on their Unit of Inquiry, Jobs in our Local Community. This week the pupils have started to focus on the jobs that our parents do and were treated by a special visitor, Ben Vale (Reuben’s father), listening and learning about his work as a nurse. Mr Vale discovered that many of the children already had some knowledge about nursing, and led a very interactive discussion about where nurses are found, what nurses do, and shared what we can do to prevent the spread of germs.

Mr Vale brought along some ‘special powder’ that he brushed onto the children’s hands at the start of the session. At the end of his talk, he used an ultraviolet light to highlight where this powder had moved to. Over the short period he was with us, this powder had spread around the room, transferring from hands to floors, faces, clothes and furniture! This really highlighted the importance of washing our hands thoroughly to prevent infection from spreading.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Mr Vale for such an enjoyable and informative discussion.

Here are some of the children’s reflections on Mr Vale’s visit:

Reuben: This is my dad!

Arya: He is a nurse.

Reuben: Nurses help people who are sick or hurt, or they look after old people.

Hector: He looks after people that are lonely or old, and hurt and sick.

Patrick T-I: Nurses look at people to work out what is wrong with them.

Hudson: My friend just got out of surgery, and he got helped by a special nurse who takes care of you after surgery.

Flossy: Nurses use a stethoscope to listen to your heart.

Meena: You get nurses in hospitals and doctors surgeries, as well as care homes.

Imogen: He had a special powder, and we put the powder on our hands.

Luna: He used a make-up brush to put the powder on our hands.

Owen: When you touch things, the powder moves around.

Imogen: If you want to stop germs spreading, cover your mouth when you cough.

Arya: You should wash your hands.

Luna: Use hand gel.

Meena: Don't cough on your hands; use your arm.

Shreya: And wear a face mask!

Alec: He gave us a goodie bag. It had a water bottle and hand gel in it.

Year 3

Year 3 have been practising their rights and responsibilities this week. Throughout both learning and play, they have ensured they listen to one another, be kind and share with each other, respect one another and to always be honest.

Year 4

Victorian Transport

This week, Year 4 have continued to research their Unit of Inquiry Man-Made Systems and have been introduced to a wide variety of types of transport. The children have been working chronologically, beginning their research with Victorian transport. Year 4 have been using their research to have interesting discussion as to how these inventions have had an impact on how we live today. Great work Year 4!

Year 5

Food Bank Fact-Finding

Year 5 have been busy researching all they can find about food banks. The information they have uncovered was then organised into sections before being accumulated into a presentation which will be presented in their Harvest Assembly next Tuesday. The rest of Junior School will be in attendance and it would be wonderful to see as many parents as able to attend too!

Alfresco Arithmetic

The children have been making the most of the outdoor spaces here at St Leonards, heading out in the lovely weather, to solve difficult Maths problems. The children enjoyed soaking up the sun whilst they put their brains to work, discussing with one another to calculate solutions.

Honey Harvest

Year 5 had a fabulous time harvesting honey from the hives here at St Leonards with Mrs Goodburn. The students had to carefully remove the wax cap before extracting the honey from the combs. It was sticky work but the class remained focused and worked hard to extract as much honey as possible. A big thank you to Mrs Goodburn for sharing her knowledge and expertise, and for helping to look after our bees in the apiary!

Year 6

Sophisticated Structures

With one week left of Year 6’s current Unit of Inquiry, A Material World, the pupils have been busy adding the finishing touches to their models and presentations to showcase their structure designs. There were glue sticks, clay, straw, lollipop sticks, plasticine and more all across the classroom as the students refined their structures. Creativity has been flowing, producing some wonderful outcomes including a castle, sports stadia, hotels, bridges and houses.

Literacy & Numeracy

This week in Mathematics, Year 6 have been looking at a variety of different addition and subtraction strategies for large numbers, calculating complex calculations. They also began to investigate intriguing number patterns in large numbers.

In literacy, the students have been paying their respects to the late Queen, writing memories, facts and quotations to remember her by.

SALJGA Success

Congratulations to Annie P in Year 6 for her outstanding effort in the St Andrews Junior Golf Association (SALJGA) tournament. We are proud to announce that Annie won the U12 Girls competition. Well done Annie!

Other News

Year 4-6 Class Reps

The Year 4-6 Class Reps met for the first time this week and are already off to a flying start. They are full of great ideas and their first task was to conduct a survey on their favourite meals and snacks in school. The pupils discussed their thoughts and determined that they would like to add more of an international flavour. They now plan to meet with the catering team to discuss their ideas further.

Awards of Excellence

Congratulations to Elin T, Layla K, Olivia R, Max M and Theo K who received their Communicator certificates this week! All of the pupils demonstrated the important attribute of communication, listening to the ideas of others as well as voicing their own.

A big congratulations to Serena K, William M and Phoebe F who were awarded their Music Certificates last week in Junior School assembly for outstanding attainment in their ABRSM qualifications!