THEECHO ECHO ECHO
Spring 2017 Edition
YEAR 6 ARE RECORD BREAKERS! It is with much pleasure that we acknowledge the remarkable successes of our Year 6 children in their 11+ examinations this term. Not only have we maintained our 100% success rate again this year, but well in excess of 50% of our pupils have been recognised with Scholarships and Exhibitions; our highest number on record! In addition to excellence in academic areas, the performing arts, sport and technology, Alex Dauntsey’s King Edward’s, Bath Warwick School Alexandra Dauntsey’s Academic Scholarship Arabella Dauntsey’s Music Scholarship Beatrix Dauntsey’s Harriette P J Dauntsey’s Isabelle Dauntsey’s Jamie Dauntsey’s Academic Scholarship Katie Dauntsey’s Lauren Dauntsey’s Academic Scholarship Music Exhibition Martha Dauntsey’s Music Exhibition Mickey Dauntsey’s Sport Scholarship Naia Dauntsey’s Academic Scholarship Rory Dauntsey’s Theo D Dauntsey’s Theo M Dauntsey’s Sport Scholarship Thomas Dauntsey’s Jonty King Edward’s, Bath Sport Scholarship Aurora Kingswood Music Scholarship Alexander Prior Park College Design & Technology Exhibition
St Margaret’s pupils demonstrate attributes such as resilience, determination and a desire to succeed; this is what sets them apart and what will undoubtedly contribute to their future successes. We send warmest congratulations to Year 6 and all the staff for this remarkable achievement – their secondary schools will be extremely lucky to have them in September! Lilla Prior Park College Oliver Prior Park College Suki Prior Park College The Royal High, Bath Beatrice Sherborne Girls Annabelle St Mary’s, Calne Elowen St Mary’s, Calne The Royal High, Bath Eva-Rose St Mary’s, Calne Harriet Hi St Mary’s, Calne Harriet Ho St Mary’s, Calne The Royal High, Bath Iris St Mary’s, Calne Isobel St Mary’s, Calne Zia St Mary’s, Calne Hannah Stonar Elouise Warminster School William Warminster School
Welcome to the Spring Edition of The Echo The spring term each year represents an extremely exciting and especially focused period in the St Margaret’s calendar, and in a very few weeks, an extraordinary amount has been achieved. Exam successes have been a highlight, as indeed have sporting achievements, dramatic performances and musical competitions.
Alongside all of this, the children’s endeavours have been recognised and celebrated, placing them in the strongest position to look towards their final term of this academic year. I hope you enjoy reading this edition of The Echo and I send children, staff, parents and friends my good wishes for a peaceful Easter holiday.
Academic Exhibition Academic Scholarship Maths Exhibition Drama Scholarship Drama Scholarship & Head’s Discretionary Award Sport Exhibition Sport Scholarship Choral Exhibition Music Scholarship English Exhibition Academic Scholarship Sport Scholarship Music Scholarship
www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk 2J and The Stinky Cheese Man! The children in 2J enjoyed creating their own alternative fairy tales this term. They started by reading the story of The Gingerbread Man and talked about what characteristics make up a fairy tale. They then read an alternative version called ‘The Stinky Cheese Man’. The children enjoyed the story so much that they performed it in their class assembly. To link with this, the class looked at the different food groups and the food pyramid in Science. Everyone had great fun writing their own alternative fairy tale linking to the food groups.
6C’s Marvellous Microbes After the stresses, strains and huge success of their entrance examinations, Year 6 children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the wonderful world of microbes. Everyone was amazed to learn how these living organisms are used in the production of so many different foods and drinks. Some of the children also investigated the development of vaccines and the work of famous scientists such as Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu and Joseph Lister, who realised how bacteria, fungi and viruses could be harnessed to improve everyone’s health. The role of microbes in decomposition was brought to life through an investigation where bread was placed in different locations around the school. It was discovered that multicoloured mould grew best in warm and moist conditions. Finally, the children chose to take part in one of two investigations: ‘Does yeast grow better if more sugar is included in bread dough?’ or ‘Which drinks allow microbes to thrive best?’ Drinks that contained the most sugar caused the microbes to give off the most carbon dioxide – so helping the children to appreciate the hidden sugar in drinks such as coke, lemonade, orange and apple juice.
5G’s Bake Off
1H’s Material Investigation
Following on from the Adopt-A-Chef sessions with Peter Vaughan, the children in 5G designed and baked their own bread products. Initially everyone was given a selection of breads to sample and decide which they preferred. Children then used these results to plan their own bread, including using different ingredients and shapes.
In Art and Design, the children in 1H have enjoyed using their working wall to investigate different materials. They used a wide range of media and learnt how to manipulate this to create design techniques. The children were enthusiastic to use the variety of materials to create different effects: scrunch, fold, tear, twist, pull, pinch and pleat. The working walls are so colourful and individual; they show an assortment of the children’s fantastic ideas!
In the baking session, everyone had to work hard to get air into their dough before it was left to prove. This allowed the yeast to respire and the dough to expand. The best thing about this kind of practical work is getting to taste it at the end - the aromas were delicious! Now 5G appreciate all the effort that goes in to creating our daily bread.
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Kindergarten at the ‘Dough Disco’! Children in Kindergarten have been enjoying the daily dough disco! Dough disco is a fine muscle exercise which helps the children to get their fingers ready for holding a pencil. They squeeze, roll and splat the dough, and then use their fingers to dance on the dough, make pizzas and even play the piano with the dough balanced on their wrist! Kindergarten always do this to music, which makes it even more fun, and their favourite song this term has been ‘Tragedy’ by Steps!
Time Flies in 1P The children in 1P have been learning to tell the time. They were very excited demonstrating their knowledge of o’clock and half past, and even looked at quarter past and quarter to the hour. Learning about fractions has helped everyone engage and understand how to split the clock face into quarters. Great fun was had playing ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’ making their own clocks with moving hands and setting the hands on the playdough clocks. Keep up your enthusiastic learning 1P!
Fearless Vikings in 4B 5S Explore Hinduism In RE this term, children in Year 5 studied Hinduism and took part in a workshop to complement their learning. They dressed in traditional costumes to represent the Trimurti (the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) and other deities such as Krishna and Lakshmi. They also found their way around Mandirs (Hindu places of worship), and can identify features such as the mandap, inner sanctum and shikara. In Hinduism, Ganesh is the god of strength and wisdom. The children wrote prayers to Ganesh, giving thanks for their education, and asking for guidance and support as they develop at St Margaret’s.
Year 4 rounded off their studies on the Vikings with a workshop led by Devizes Museum. The children learnt about a variety of different areas of the Viking reign, including beliefs, home life, clothing and the origins of some of our language. This took the form of storytelling, fact finding and even playing an old Viking board game. But by far the most enjoyable aspect of the day was learning about weapons and warfare! The children discovered the effectiveness of a long spear in battle and what would happen if a Viking surrendered before death. Did you know that it was up to the Anglo-Saxon enemy as to whether they allowed them to be buried with their sword and go to Viking heaven - Valhalla? Here the Vikings would be able to feast and fight all day long. However, if they were shown no mercy, they would be confined to Helheim - Viking hell!
It’s All About Chocolate in 4NC! Trees Provide the Answer in 6G Year 6 children have been applying their mathematical skills outside the classroom. They were greatly enthused by the mathematical challenge that trees in the school grounds presented them: they were investigating circles and in particular how to find the diameter, radius and area of a circle. They began on a dank and grey Monday morning by drawing circles on the playground in chalk. They then labelled the parts of a circle. After that, the mathematical innovators applied these skills to tree slices. (Don’t worry; no trees were harmed in the making of this educational experience! It was achieved by using a piece of string, a few formulae and a lot of brain power)! By doing this ecologically slanted investigation, the children learnt that if you divide the circumference of a cylinder by the diameter, the answer is always the same: the magic number Pi (π). Also, by measuring the circumference of the tree trunk using a long piece of string, the children worked together to calculate firstly the diameter, followed by the radius and finally the area by using the formula, Area = πr2 The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learnt a huge amount, at the same time becoming one of their favourite lessons this term, even though it was freezing cold.
In Science, the children in 4NC have been doing lots of practical work in their studies on solids, liquids and gases. They decided to investigate which type of chocolate would take the longest to melt, as they have all encountered the problem of collapsing chocolate crispie cakes when out on a summer picnic! Everyone studied three types of chocolate; milk, plain and white, melting them over a bath of warm water and using a stopwatch to time each one. The ‘prod’ test checked that the chocolate had melted – a spoon needed to go through the square completely. It was very exciting waiting for the results and of course the flavours had to be tested whilst the children were waiting! The children also looked at the nutritional values and were very surprised to find that plain chocolate has ten times the fibre of milk and a lot less fat. At the end of the day everyone rushed off to make their cakes using plain chocolate, which took a lot longer to melt and was definitely much more healthy.
3R Bring the Romans to Life Year 3 were very excited to mix their History and Geography studies this term with a trip to Caerleon in Wales. This gave the children the opportunity to check their amazing mapping skills on the journey and they were thrilled to observe the landmarks they had expected to see as they travelled on the coach. Once there, the focus turned back thousands of years to imagining life as a Roman soldier. The children explored the remains of the Baths, marvelled at the size of the
barrack rooms and were in awe of the ancient artefacts and exhibits in the museum. A highlight was being able to re-enact a roman myth in the amphitheatre and pretend that the children were acting to a packed crowd. Everyone was fully absorbed in their workshop session where they learnt about the differences in Roman schooling for boys and girls. The children were disappointed to return to modern day life after such an exciting Roman experience!
THEECHO ECHO ECHO SPRING 2017 EDITION
Making-up Stories in Reception C This term the children in Reception C focused on ‘Favourite Stories’. One of their favourite stories is ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and they looked at characters, settings and events. The children all took part in acting out the story during EcoOL School sessions at Highway Manor. They really enjoyed using the familiar setting of the manor and being in a ‘real’ environment, while they took it in turns to dress up as the main characters. For their class assembly, Reception C created an alternative version of the traditional story, with the content linked to retelling their EcoOL School experiences. Lord Sidmouth and Farmer Dave were invited along as VIP guests to see the children in action!
Geology Rocks in 3H Year 3 children have explored a number of different rocks to learn more about their properties and uses, with great enthusiasm. They found out the world of rocks is really quite an exciting place to be! They chose two rocks to take on an exploratory journey over a series of small investigations to see what they could discover, and were amazed to find that coal and pumice floated, whilst granite sank with a thud to the bottom of the bowl! When testing the hardness of each rock, there were some interesting results, as chalk practically disintegrated before their very eyes, whereas galena was difficult to even scratch. Finally, the all-important permeability test; using a pipette to drop an equal number of drips onto the rocks, many children were astounded to see the water permeate on some! Everyone was excited to take this knowledge and use it to investigate rocks in their own environments.
Famous People in 2T 2T had an amazing time learning about famous people from the past who achieved incredible things which still affect the way we live today. They discovered that Grace Darling, Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale were all amazing Victorian woman and that because of their actions, we are safer at the seaside and when we might have to go to hospital. The children also learnt that Edward Jenner’s work led to why we have vaccinations today and that we have Thomas Edison to thank for our brightly lit homes and school. Everyone learnt lots of facts about these famous people, but the most important thing was that they all succeeded through their determination and perseverance. The children shared their knowledge in their class assembly, where they used their love of Dr Who to travel through time to show off all the things they had learnt.
www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk St Margaret’s is RIGHT on the Way The children and staff are currently making great progress on their journey to becoming a UNICEF Level 1 Rights Respecting School and the date of 4th July 2017 has been set for the assessment. Everyone is very enthusiastic and keen to learn about their rights, as well as thinking about children less fortunate than themselves. As part of the process towards understanding about rights, the children have collectively written a school song in celebration of this. A great deal of discussion took place about what should be included and everyone was very pleased with the end product. Ollie in Year 3 was so inspired he went home and wrote his own song!
Pen Pals in France At the start of the autumn term, St Margaret’s established a new link with a school in France, l’École Élémentaire de Boynes. Boynes is a small village situated in the Loire Valley region, in the western-centre of France, 41 kilometres from Orléans and 82 kilometres from Paris. It was the European capital of saffron until the beginning of the 20th century. Our Year 3 pupils embraced the new challenge and always wait for their pen pals’ replies with anticipation. They have just sent their third letter based on their food preferences, entirely written in French, and are looking forward to receiving the next parcel from France. The Year 6 children have maintained their pen pals’ friendship with l’École St Louis in Chantilly, a small town, north of Paris, famous for horseracing, horse-training and last but not least, Chantilly cream. This exchange is now in its second year and continues to bring lots of excitement and interest amongst our children. We are hoping to develop new links with French schools in the future and provide more children with this amazing opportunity to use their language skills and knowledge in a more realistic context.
Rugby Tourists Return to St Margaret’s On Saturday 4th March St Margaret’s welcomed back Priory Preparatory School from Banstead, Surrey for their biennial rugby tour of Wiltshire. A beautiful sunny morning set the scene for some hotly contested matches. On Priory’s last visit to St Margaret’s in 2015 we were well beaten and the St Margaret’s boys knew they were in for one of their toughest tests to date. Whilst the boys were warming up and preparing for the matches ahead, it was clear both teams were up for the challenge. The game kicked off and immediately it was the St Margaret’s U11 boys who started the
better of the two sides, scoring immediately on the left wing within the first 2 phases of play. St Margaret’s was certainly on the ascendancy and with the powerful running of Theo M at full back and the tactical awareness and skill set of Jonty in the centre, this proved too much for the visitors to handle. The match finished with St Margaret’s winning by 3 tries with the final score 35-20. We are grateful to Priory Prep for travelling to Wiltshire and we look forward to welcoming them back in 2019!
St Margaret’s Preparatory School, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 0DF Tel: 01249 857220 Fax: 01249 857227 Email: office@stmargaretsprep.org.uk Website: www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk