Issue 38 | Spring 2019
News from Bablake Junior and Pre Prep School
I
t is a fantastic achievement for our U11 Girls Netball Team to have made the National Netball Finals.This is a first for Bablake Junior School and reflects our ambition for the children at our school to do as well as they possibly can. And my, those girls have been practicing! At lunchtime and on other occasions they can be seen working hard together, honing their technique and skills. It is also true that almost everyone in the school has represented a team this year and that too is of great importance to them and their pursuit of their own goals. We can also count the myriad of satisfactions that we hope our pupils experience every day in all sorts of different contexts, from Maths lessons where sums and
www.bablake.com
problems are mastered to Forest School where great team work emerges and everyone learns new things about themselves and the world. The pupil experience here at Bablake Junior School is as ever about engagement, participation and aspiration and we are always looking at how we can learn from and develop what we do and support the achievement of our pupils. The U11 girls are at the vanguard of this and they have shown us what can be achieved through hard work, the harnessing of talent and the nurturing of potential. Well done to them and thank you for showing us just what can be achieved. They are inspiring to us all, in whatever we are doing and whatever context – they have done their best. Mr Neil Price Headmaster
Pre Prep News
Year 2’s
Pancake Day Shenanigans
World
Book Day
There was lots of Pancake Day f lipping fun at the Pre Prep. The children got to participate in various activities throughout the day. This included everything from making and eating yummy pancakes – with master f lipping skills demonstrated by the teachers – to running their own traditional pancake races – of course the teachers couldn’t resist having their own race too! Smiles all around for a yummy day!
We celebrated World Book Day this year with lots of snuggly reading, comfy pyjamas and children dressed up to bring many of our favourite book characters to life. There was spoons, jars and potato artwork to stimulate the imaginations and there was topic work around pirate stories and other general themes. Other year groups focused on specific books – one of which was the Wizard of Oz, a timeless classic by Frank Baum that is often overlooked as children’s’ literature because of the iconic film.
Taking Care of Pets Taking care of People
Cienna in Reception dressed as Frida Kahlo for World Book Day – she was inspired by a book of great historical females and it just happened to be before International Women’s Day – what an inspiring way to celebrate strong female inf luences in our lives!
2
SIMBA
hear your heart, “IMrcanPrice. – Henry
Dr Arya please “Could come to waiting room, patients are waiting! – Luca
“
International Women’s Day
“
In recognition of
The Kindergarten class ran their own Doctor’s Surgery – checking patients were healthy and feeling well. The children were learning about ‘Our bodies’ and the importance of being healthy. They used role-play to understand how doctors make us better.
The children in Kindergarten enjoyed learning about how to care for animals and the important job of a Veterinary. They learned about feeding, exercising and the health of animals and how important it is for pets to stay healthy too. There was lots of role-play with visits from Boris the dog and Teddy the guinea pig.
“I’m taking our dog for a walk.” – Nancy
Chinese
New Year
The Kindergarten children celebrated Chinese New Year with a feast of traditional Chinese food. They made Chinese lanterns and enjoyed dancing to Chinese music. Happy Year of the Pig everyone!
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
3
SIMBA
Reception
Year 1
Medieval
A Grrreat Visitor to our Teddy Bear Tea Party
Celebrations
The children have had a fabulous time celebrating with their very own Teddy Bear Tea Party. Reception have been looking at the book ‘The Tiger who came to tea’ as part of their Yummy in my Tummy topic and wrote invitations to their Teddy Bears, inviting them to a tea party at school for sandwiches, cakes and games. The greedy Tiger from the story came for a visit but the children managed to keep the tiger away from their sandwiches on this occasion – they may need to put Mrs Horton on ‘Tiger Watch’ from now on!
We celebrated the end of our last topic with a Medieval Celebration in Year 1. We dressed up as Lords, Ladies and Knights and had a Medieval themed day. We started the day by playing games that were popular in Medieval times. This was followed by us learning our very own Tudor dance. After that, we got creative by decorating goblets ready for our banquet in the afternoon. Our favourite activity was making catapults and testing them in our classrooms! For the afternoon, we had a Medieval banquet. We started by presenting our Tudor dance then entered the room. We ate lots of food, and had lots of fun!
pretended our “We blackcurrant juice was
“
wine!
– Shaan
Big Garden Bird Watch – RSPB
Reception children have been exploring length this term. They’ve been learning all about the language of longer, shorter and taller and using these correctly. The children had great fun using their creative skills to make ‘long creatures’. This provided lots of opportunity for the children to showcase their understanding of the language.
4
SIMBA
“
Measuring Autumn Activities in Kindergarten Up in Reception
Reception children braved the cold to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. The children took turns spotting for birds and noting down what they saw using tallies that they had learned about in their Maths work.
“I liked the dancing. – Karum
Memorial Park Adventures This term in Science, Year 1 have been looking at plants. We have been learning their parts and functions and even planted some of our own seeds! We enjoyed a trip to the Memorial Park to search for different plants and to see different types of trees by doing bark rubbing with wax crayons. BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
5
SIMBA
Small Talk Champion – Free Radio Lennon was the Small Talk Champion early this term on the JD & Roisin Breakfast Show.
World Book Day
Children have people, places and objects described to them and they have to guess what they are in just one minute. Lennon competed against four other children and at the end of the week he came out on top. He was the youngest player and won with a massive 9 points. He was so happy!
The book theme for Year 1 was The Wizard of Oz. Our teachers dressed up as the main characters and we used toilet rolls creatively to match them with our own character creations. We had a busy day making tornadoes, creating an emerald city, exploring dissolving and collaging a yellow brick road.
“I enjoyed making the flowers.” – Kyan
News Flash
Iron Giant Returns! In Year 2 the Bablake news team have been busy reporting on the return of the Iron Giant as well as creating their very own metallic monster inspired by their work on Ted Hughes’ classic book The Iron Man.
Money Matters Moon Zoom Moon Zoom was the Year 1 space topic this term. We have been exploring Outer Space learning about planets, stars and astronauts. We started by learning the planet s and the order in which they are from the sun. We re-enacted the solar system with some of us standing in as planet s, moons, comet s, asteroids and meteoroids! We have also been busy learning about constellations; we used marsh mallows and spaghetti to create some well-k nown ones. We had lots of fun but strugg led to resist the tempt ation of eating them!
6
SIMBA
“I got to be the sun and it was really fun.” – Savannah
“I love singing songs about the planets.”
It’s all about the money, money, money! The tills were ringing as Year 2 hit the shops in order to practise making different amounts of money and calculating the change they were owed. The children had great fun putting the skills that they had been taught into practise in a role play environment.
– Marly
Bread Making The Great British Bake Off has hit Bablake this term with the Year 2 children working hard to create their own unique f lavoured breads inspired by the variety of breads they have taste tested from around the world.
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
7
SIMBA
Junior School News
Singing at Bablake Junior and Pre Prep
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
Singing continues to go from strength to strength at Bablake. In the run up to Christmas, alongside the weekly Choir, the Christmas Choir gathered to practise for several performances. These began with the annual get together at the Parents Association School Fayre; this time several children from the Pre Prep joined us. Later that afternoon, we went on to perform at Quinton Park Baptist Church Christmas Fayre where we were warmly welcomed and congratulated on our enthusiastic performance. Towards the end of term, we attended the Senior’s Tea, in the Senior School and entertained them with our Christmas songs. Finally, the Christmas Choir sang in the Cathedral as the congregation arrived and then joined forces with the Senior School later in the service. We were delighted with the performance by Year 3 and 4 who presented their annual Christmas Cantata, ‘Rock Around the Flock’ and the children enjoyed taking part and dressing up. On Wednesday 13th March, it was National Sing Up Day and both the Pre Prep and the Junior School children took part in an hour’s ‘fun’ singing event. These occasions always prove that singing is enjoyed by all and their enthusiasm is contagious. We look forward to singing to you again at our next informal concert.
Spring Music Concert
The Informal Concert got off to a f lying start with the School Orchestra opening up with three pieces including Pachelbel`s Canon. Various String Solos followed combined with some excellent duets and string playing. As is becoming a tradition the concert was rounded off with the Percussion Group. As you can see by the photo all who were involved thoroughly enjoyed the experience of performing live to a very responsive audience. The evening was a great success with some pupils performing for the very first time. The concert was the icing on the cake for a very impressive half terms’ work combined with some very creditable ABRSM results. Well done to all Bablake Junior School musicians.
A Busy Art Room This Spring Term has been a busy one in the Art room. Our children have been creating a variety of objects, models and artworks from a wide range of materials. We have clay Anglo Saxon brooches and experimental mountain landscapes being created in Year 4. Year 3 are making an array of colourful fish using cardboard, wire, modroc, cane and clingfilm. Year 5 are showing much persistence in making their dragon models, featuring some newly hatched eggs this year! Mrs Jeffcoat
Mr Cooper
Brexit Debate – BBC Coventry and Warwickshire You cannot escape the Brexit debate! At the Junior School Year 6 pupils have been considering the situation and got to discuss their opinions with BBC Coventry and North Warwickshire on the Breakfast Show. Our students, who were very well spoken and informed, were, “Better behaved than Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn,” according to the interviewer. Well done Ethan, Gemma, Lucy, Josh, Maisie, and Arjun and thank you for your insights!
Ms Mason
House Quiz – Capital Cities Over the course of this term the pupils have been learning about the capital cities of countries in Europe and Africa.
Forest School in the Spring
Year 3 and 4 have focused on Europe and Year 5 and 6 have focused on Europe and Africa. After a very exciting competition, Nelson were the victors scoring 50 points, Eliot where second with 38 points and Churchill third with 21 points.
Nelson
Elliot
Churchill
50
38
21
Mr Holder
8
SIMBA
This term the children have been learning about Fire: What is it good for and how if it is not respected or treated with care it can cause injuries such as burns and damage to the natural environment. They’ve also learnt what things you would need to make a fire. Including collecting the right size sticks, and using a fire steel to create sparks. The children then celebrated creating their fire by toasting Marshmallows. They were shown how to make skewers from long sticks by whittling the end to a point. Not everyone was a fan of the marshmallow but they all did a wonderful job taking turns to toast them and were very good in respect of the fire. They were all delighted with the fire and we look to incorporate a campfire into the next sessions where we will do some more campfire cooking.
Forest School has been hard on the washing machines this term – fun in the mud!
Miss Young
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
9
SIMBA
Charity
Year 3
Romans for a Day
Year 3 went on an exciting trip to Chedworth Roman Villa as part of their Humanities topic on Romans. The children got to take part in lots of activities and were given a grand tour of the ruins. They got the chance to handle authentic Roman artefacts, make Roman medicine bags and dress up as slaves. Miss Adcock
Red Nose Day We raised over £1,000 for Comic Relief in a combined effort from the Junior School and Pre Prep for Red Nose Day – an amazing achievement! There were lots of yummy cakes and there were red noses everywhere you looked, which accessorised the red attire everyone was happy to wear on the non-uniform day.
Hazard Alley Safety Centre This term Year 3 enjoyed an interactive visit to Hazard Alley Safety Centre.
University Hospital Every year, the School Choir are invited to sing at University Hospital to help raise money for the UHCW Charity; we sang for just under an hour and raised £203.57 which was a super achievement.
10
SIMBA
Thank you to everyone for supporting our fundraising and charity efforts this term!
It was a great place for the children to learn about safety and how to avoid dangers in a fun and interactive environment. The children visited different scenarios identifying possible dangers and talked about what to do in each situation. They even had the opportunity to make a 999 call!
“I learned that it is important to ride my bike with a helmet.”
“I enjoyed making a 999 call from the telephone box although I felt nervous.”
“I leant that it is important to keep looking left and right as you cross the road.”
– Harriet
– Ollie
– Hafsa BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
11
SIMBA
Year 5
Year 4
Christmas Carol
Probots on the Move
Workshops
Year 4 have been learning how to write code by composing algorithms that make their Probots draw shapes. They were so excited when the Probots drew the shapes perfectly based on their code!
Passover – Religious Education
We were then lucky enough to meet the Assistant Director and a few actors who went through the process of putting on a play, starting with a read through of the script, then rehearsals and staging. We took part in our own drama workshop, developing their own ideas on how to portray characters such a Jacob Marley and Scrooge.
Ros Johnson, a member of the local Jewish community, came to help the Year 4 children understand how and why Pesach (Passover) is celebrated. They heard the story of Exodus and made Seder plates as well as sampling matzo bread which they said was delicious!
We were then given the opportunity to see how the professionals do it by watching the actual production of A Christmas Carol which, I’m sure all would agree, was an amazing show and it was great fun to try and spot any of the props we saw backstage earlier in the day.
Year 4 visited a ‘Living Rainforest’ to find out how plants and animals are adapted to that wonderfully diverse environment.
After the show, the day didn’t and there as we were further treated to a Q&A session with a couple of the actors, the Assistant Director and the Stage Manager. An amazing opportunity and a truly unforgettable day!
To our delight, we found some of the birds and animals were free to roam around and walking under the canopy of giant leaves gave us a feeling of being in the Amazon!
Mrs Hancock
Mrs Knibb
12
SIMBA
Year 4 has been busy in the Art Department making Saxon broaches and shields. They also spent time learning how to chant in Saxon and form a shield wall.
– Prabjan
“
Saxons invade!
My favourite part of the day was the tour: seeing fake blood and Marley’s face on the door.
“
I enjoyed everything. It was such an honour to see back stage and find out – Keira how it works.
“
“
“
“
Living Rainforest – Amazing Adaptations
Year 5 pupils were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the production of A Christmas Carol where we learnt all about the props, quick costume changes and how to use fake blood!
This was an amazing experience and I’ll remember it forever. – Katie
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
13 SIMBA
Year 6
Found Poems
Compton Verney Viking Villagers
As part of their English work this term, Year 6 have been looking at Found Poetry. To make a Found Poem (also known as Blackout Poems), the children were given a random page from a book and they looked for words that leapt out at them. They would then pursue these words and whatever thoughts came to them across the page to make the poem. In preparation for crafting their poems, the children studied vocabulary and figurative language, exploring the different themes found in poetry and then experimented with manipulating language. They have all really enjoyed doing this but Oriana really went for it and crafted the most poems and Philip was extremely enthusiastic, although his poems didn’t always work.
Creative with Cake As part of their Guided Reading work, 6D were given some creative post-reading tasks to complete. They could create anything as long as it linked to the book they were reading – Gladiator, Kensuke’s Kingdom or My Name is Mina. Saanvi and Katie made a gladiator school. Rory made a Roman ship cake. Jack, Oriana and Megan made bird nests. George made a sword and gladiator fact sheet, Disha made an island cake. We have had a lot of fun eating cake in Guided Reading sessions this week!
Year 5 enjoyed a fantastic trip to Compton Verney where they were Viking villagers for a day! After ‘the long journey from Scandinavia to England’ pupils chose a good spot to build their settlement, always keeping an eye out for pesky Anglo Saxons! They then had a go at some everyday Viking tasks such as preparing bread, lighting a fire, building a shelter, constructing a wattle and daub fence (for an animal enclosure or a toilet!), training to be fast and strong warriors by playing the Viking game Kingy Bats and having a go at weaving. They finished the day by sitting around the campfire, handling some Viking artefacts and thinking about the kind of stories the Vikings would tell. There was even a Viking wedding so our leader was finally able to wear her hat! Miss Young
Primary Mathematics Challenge 2018/19 Congratulations to all of the Year 6 pupils who participated in the first round of the Primary Maths Challenge way back in November. Competition has been fierce this year with over 66,000 pupils taking part from over 16,000 schools. Our three talented finalists sat the Bonus Round in February alongside just 2,375 other pupils. It was an amazing achievement for Aditya and Vigneesh to get this far. Amazingly, Vincent was also awarded a Bronze Award, placing him in the top 1,496 pupils. Congratulations to all three pupils as this was an extremely challenging paper. Miss Love
14
SIMBA
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
15 SIMBA
Sport
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
Basketball Success
Cross Country
Double win for boys and girls The Bablake Junior School A and B Boys Cross Country Teams both won their races at the Coventry Boys Cross Country Championships, with Jake Wattis coming first overall and winning the Gold Medal in the B Race. It was a bitterly cold day but the children came determined to win! The Coventry Girls Cross Country Championships took place on a very sunny but windy morning with our runners showing true grit and determination and also a lot of talent! Congratulations to both the A and B Teams who won their races and there were super individual performances. In the A Race, Imogen Lane received the Silver Medal, Antonia Wamala the Bronze Medal. In the B Race Fleur Miller won the Silver Medal.
The Junior School Basketball club has been working hard this term and they’ve had great success at recent tournaments coming out on top as Champions twice – the team has showed great spirit and everyone has played exceptionally well!
During another local tournament, Philip in Year 6, who also plays for the Coventry Tornadoes Basketball Club, won an NBA shootout competition – they had to score as many baskets as possible from different designated spots on the court within one minute. Philip is pictured here (right) with the Assistant Coach of Worcester Basketball Club, Dean Blake, organiser of the British Basketball League (BBL).
16
SIMBA
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
17 SIMBA
Wasps and Bablake Partnership
Girls’ Sport BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
Bablake Junior School Netball this year has been absolutely amazing! We have had to cancel some matches due to the weather but have still had an incredibly busy term with many fixtures and tournaments still able to go ahead across all four age groups with a great deal of success. Well done to all our 11 teams across the age ranges who have won an incredible 57 matches of the 62 that we have contested over the season. Once again we have five of our teams unbeaten for the whole season! Our U11 B team have been unbeaten throughout the last three seasons and have never lost a match whilst competing for Bablake Junior School. What an achievement!
Netball
Well done to everyone competing in all of the sports teams this term for your hard work, and a special thank you to all the parents for your support at the matches; whatever the weather!
This term we have continued our close links with the Wasps Netball Team. A group of Year 5 and 6 girls went to watch the Wasps compete against Manchester Thunder the at the Ricoh Arena where they were lucky enough to be chosen to be the ‘Guard of honour’, waving f lags to create a tunnel on the court to allow the players to run through when they were introduced to the crowd. A great time was had by all despite the Wasps loosing! The Year 6 Netball Teams have also been visited by top Wasps players Samantha May and Bongi Msomi and the girls benefitted from some excellent coaching.
Rugby Bablake School welcomed Wasps Rugby Club to its playing fields to host a rugby day for local primary schools. The day started with a focus on safety, as all players were fitted with mouth guards ready for a day of contact rugby. Inspired by the recent Six Nations performances, the children involved were ready and raring to go as Bablake and Wasps Rugby Coaches led a morning of training. Refuelled by a hearty lunch, the schools split into teams in the afternoon with each team assigned a specific coach. After some final training, the teams showed off their new skills in a mini-festival of matches. The achievements of the teams were then celebrated with a presentation as spectators and children enjoyed the end of an excellent day of rugby. There were some super prizes handed out to thoroughly deserving young players. The players were able to reciprocate the support by attending a Wasps home game. Thank you to all the schools that attended, to Wasps Rugby and to Bablake’s Junior and Senior School rugby coaches, especially Messrs Benfield, Burdett and Hazell for arranging the day.
18
SIMBA
The U11s Played Amazingly in the IAPS National Netball Finals at Epsom What a day it turned out to be! There were 30 of the best schools in the Country playing each other in the tournament. The pace of play was incredibly fast and intense, and the standard was amazing. Bablake were the only Midlands team to qualify for the quarter finals, and after an epic match we won 7-6 against St Gabriel’s school; we were through to the Semi-finals of the Plate competition. In the Semi-finals against Guildford High School the girls played with such grit and determination to narrowly miss out on a medal losing 3-4 and finishing in 4th place in the Plate competition, 12th place overall. I am so proud of all the squad, despite many of the girls feeling under the weather, or being asked to play out of
position, they fought like warriors and played their hearts out in every match. They played for each other, cheered for each other, and were just brilliant! A mention must be made as well, to all the parents and grandparents who made the journey down to Epsom for the finals; sharing with us the emotional rollercoaster, providing great encouragement, fantastic scones and cupcakes, and the best banner ever to cheer us on! Thank you, your support is invaluable. Mrs Haywood
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
19 SIMBA
Boys’ Sport
Brian ‘Harry’ Roberts
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL
Bablake Junior School have played over 90 football fixtures this term and have been undefeated in over 60% of these matches. The U8s have improved dramatically over the course of the season and now play well organised football. They are very enthusiastic and we had to arrange more fixtures to satisfy their desire to play! The A and D teams were rewarded with great victories over Solihull School. The U9s are arguably the most talented teams. They are an extremely athletic group and never give anything less than 100% effort to lessons and matches. The B and C teams are undefeated which shows great strength in depth and the A team have only lost twice – both with the last kick of the game! The U10s have some wonderful natural ability and have enjoyed
playing in all their fixtures. The A team haven’t really shown their true class but they had some fine wins against Eversfield and King Henry VIII. The B, C and D team have also had a full set of fixtures and there has been a lot of success amongst all the teams. The U11s have made remarkable improvements this year and the A and B teams have played some excellent passing football. Highlights for the A team were wins against RGS The Grange and King Henry VIII whilst the B team played their best football at the Warwick School Festival. The C team enjoyed their win against Crackley Hall whilst the D team’s highlights were wins against King Henry VIII and Warwick!
Photo credit – Coventry Football
Well done to all the boys who have taken part and all the staff and coaches who have helped to make our football a great success!
All the teams have enjoyed their football immensely and we have been lucky enough to have an ex-professional coaching the teams and refereeing matches.
Mr Benfield
Brian ‘Harry’ Roberts played more than 400 games in the Football League. He was captain of Coventry City, Hereford United, Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers and he was widely regarded as the best defender in the country who never played for England. Most famously, Brian also played against Pele in a pre-season tour to America where he was awarded man of the match by Pele himself! He has undoubtedly enhanced our football coaching at Bablake Junior School and we thank him for all of his efforts, humour and passion!
Bablake Junior School
Bablake Pre Prep School
t 024 7627 1260 e jhmsec@bablakejs.co.uk
t 024 7622 1677 e bablakepreprep@bablakejs.co.uk
Coundon Road, Coventry CV1 4AU
f facebook.com/bablakejunior
8 Park Road, Coventry
t twitter.com/bablakejunior
w
bablake.com
Designed by The Jade Studio – thejadestudio.co.uk Printed on paper sourced from sustainably managed forests.