THEECHO ECHO ECHO
Spring 2016 Edition
YEAR 6 ARE TOP OF THE CLASS! It is with great pride that we acknowledge the success of the Year 6 children in their 11+ examinations this term. In addition to maintaining our year on year 100% success rate to chosen senior schools, a considerable number of additional awards were also gained. The results are confirmation, not only of our outstanding academic record,
but also of the positive attitude and attributes of self-discipline and endeavour that we instil in our pupils. They excel in many disciplines from academic achievement, to excellence in music and the arts and on the sports field; they are a credit to themselves and to St Margaret’s.
Caspar Charlie Chiara Doyle Florence Freddie Harrison Isabella Jemima Poppy Rhys Sydney Chantelle George Sam Jackson
Katie Bella Jules Oliver Alice Hannah Kitty Lily Olivia Sadie Tessa Evie Phoebe Ariella Isobel Joe
Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Dauntsey’s School Hardenhuish School Hardenhuish School Hardenhuish School* King Edward’s, Bath King Edward’s, Bath* Dauntsey’s School
Academic Scholarship
Academic Scholarship/Music Exhibition Music Exhibition Music Exhibition
Malmesbury School Sherborne Girls St Augustine’s College St Augustine’s College St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne St Mary’s, Calne The Royal High School The Royal High School Westonbirt School Westonbirt School Wycliffe College
* Denotes chosen school
Welcome to the Spring 2016 edition of ‘The Echo’ Where to start with the triumphs of this term? Exam successes, computing achievements, musical awards, sporting conquests, dramatic performances and a Green Flag – to name but a few! Our children are simply remarkable and this list reflects the breadth of their experiences and opportunities, as well as their commitment to learning in all its forms.
As ever, they and the staff have worked extremely hard throughout the term and we celebrate their endeavours. 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.
Art Scholarship
Academic Scholarship Sport Scholarship Maths Exhibition
Music Scholarship/Science Exhibition Academic Scholarship Music Scholarship
www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk Ready, Steady - 5C Cook! As part of their Design and Technology studies on ‘Bread’, the Year 5 children were extremely lucky to be visited by local chef, Peter Vaughan. Over four weeks Peter covered a wide range of topics beginning with an investigation on the sound, texture and taste of bread. As well as learning about different types of flour, the children found out that not all breads need yeast in order to rise. In the second week everyone made their own soda bread where bicarbonate of soda is used as the raising agent. Year 5 then investigated yeast and learnt that it is a living organism that produces carbon dioxide, which in turn produces the air bubbles in bread. Week 3 saw everyone making their own dough and kneading bread properly so that the gluten was stretched. From this they made bread rolls. Finally, in week 4 the children made individual pizzas using dough. They chose their own toppings and flavourings from a selection provided by Peter. The pizzas and rolls all looked and tasted fantastic! The children have continued to bake even after Peter’s lessons finished; everyone has made their bread following their own independent design. Using various flavourings and shapes, the final loaves all looked very different but everyone agreed that, without a doubt, they tasted delicious!
3H on a Memory Hunt! As part of 3H’s effective learning and problem solving skills, the class decided to go on a memory adventure! The children discussed different ways of remembering things. They found out that some pupils are more visual learners, whereas some of us prefer to listen to find cues to remember. Once the children had shared their memory tips they went on an exploratory walk of the school grounds. Along the way the class used their observational skills to point out interesting things. This gave everyone a chance to discuss the exciting changes happening outside at St Margaret’s. Snowdrops were spotted emerging in the Wildlife Garden, the newly planted orchard in the Garden was admired and a sign required decoding skills to read it. The Year 3 teachers shared lots of facts on the hunt and everyone had the opportunity to chat to the Groundsmen about their favourite flowers. Once back in the classroom the children were given the challenge to remember all they had seen and learnt, in order; this certainly tested their memory skills!
Multi-talented 2J 4NC Study Movement The children in 4NC have been looking at people in action! The class started by looking at how we move in Games lessons and collected pictures of us moving in various ways. Next, mannequins were used to position limbs to show sports movements looking at how each joint and bone or body part would be represented. The children learnt how to draw a person so that relative lengths are accurate. Next on the agenda is to make wire models and cover them with Mod Roc to make sports trophies, so lots of mess to look forward to! The children hope to display them at Open Day on 1st July, so come to 4NC and see if you can guess the sport.
The children in 2J very much enjoyed performing their class assembly this term and this incorporated many aspects of the curriculum. The main focus of the assembly was on Kenya and the class all thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in Kenyan clothing; the main highlight was the Kenyan song which they performed brilliantly! In Art the children made African prints, whilst African animal stick puppets were made in Design and Technology. They also talked about electricity and whether items use mains electricity or a battery; they showed posters they had designed to demonstrate the dangers. Poetry also featured, with acrostic poems about Winter. The children were very proud of their performance and quite rightly so! Well done 2J!
www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk Kindergarten Explore Water!
Changing States in 4B
One February afternoon, the Kindergarten children filled a water tray with some water and put it outside in the outdoor classroom. When they returned the next morning, they found that the water had turned to ice! The children brought the water tray into the classroom, and began exploring how it felt. It felt cold, hard, slippery and smooth. The ice was left inside for the morning, and everyone watched as it started to melt. By the time Kindergarten went to lunch the ice had turned completely back to water! Everyone thought that the classroom must have been warmer than outside!
The children in 4B have enjoyed learning Science in a practical way during their ‘Changing States’ unit. One way of remembering the properties of a solid, liquid and gas was by learning a catchy song which used the example of water which can be a liquid, a solid as ice and a gas as water vapour. The children discussed the fact that water does not disappear when it dries, it evaporates. To test this theory, they put damp hands onto a paper towel to leave an imprint. After a short while, the handprints seemed to have faded; this is because the water turns into water vapour which then rises up into the atmosphere.
The children then wanted to see if they could make some ice of their own and so poured water into some ice cube trays. They thought that the best place to put them was somewhere cold, and so they put them in the freezer. When they checked on them at the end of the day, the water had turned to ice!
6B Get Their Bearings… 6B took their Maths lesson outside on a sunny, frosty, morning in February. In the classroom they had been learning about taking bearings, looking at scale and distance and they took this knowledge onto the playground to look at the direction of different points around the school grounds. The children were divided into groups and were given a compass and measuring equipment in order to find the bearing of different points. They then measured the distance between the points using suitable apparatus. Everyone discussed the practical application of this aspect of Maths for those orienteering, navigating and using maps.
Condensation was the next process to be covered; the children watched a video clip of a mirror in a bathroom steaming up and were asked what they thought was happening. Mr Browne then boiled a kettle close to the mirror in the classroom and after it had steamed up, the children rubbed their hands on the mirror to discover water droplets on their hands (HEALTH AND SAFETY: after the kettle had been removed!). This told everyone that the water vapour has to hit a cold surface which then turns it back into water droplets.
Reception P ‘Wonderful Winter Washes’ In Reception P the children have been engaged with several winter based activities. One of their favourites was exploring water colours to create a winter colour wash for the background of a bare tree silhouette. All of the children mixed their washes independently, cut out their tree and chose where to stick it on their picture. To complete their masterpieces they typed their names on the computer using their keyboard name prompt cards.
Handwriting Heroes in Reception C This term in Reception C the children have focused on practising cursive handwriting for each of the graphemes in the alphabet. Practical sessions included making the graphemes in Playdough and tracing them with fingers, as well as practising writing with magic pencils in the air, on the carpet and on each other’s backs. Every time they practised, the children remembered to draw their ground line and include lead-ins at the beginning and flicks at the end of each grapheme. They engaged in a range of other gross and fine motor skill activities to improve their pencil grip. The children’s handwriting heroes spread the message that ‘good sitting makes good writing’ and they are beginning to use their superpowers to demonstrate joining together graphemes in digraphs and trigraphs.
6G Discover North America 6G were very excited to investigate aspects of the life and culture of North America in their Geography this term. Initially their knowledge only extended to the USA and Canada, but very quickly they realised that there were many fascinating countries in Central America and the Caribbean. Learning all the capitals and flags has been fun, using apps to test knowledge. Plus, the children discovered a wide knowledge of American Football teams! As well as researching the countries, the children used iPads to create comic strips on some of the wildlife on the continent. There is a huge diversity of creatures ranging from those adapted to the frozen North to the inhabitants of the Tropical rainforests in the South. The finished work is colourful and informative. Just before the end of term there was a chance to explore the varied cultures of the indigenous people of North America. The children made totem poles and dream catchers in the style of American Indians, and worked outside in tribes to complete the tasks.
2T ask – ‘Is it a Bird or is it a Plane?’ In 2T the children have had the most amazing fun looking at Superheroes. They researched their powers, where they got their powers from, what they look like and who their arch enemies are. The class used all this information to create character profiles. Then the fun really started - everyone created their own superheroes with their own super powers. The children’s imaginations certainly ran wild - Super Dog could fly and woof in any language; Super Cat wore a pink cape and could make herself invisible; Mr Masher could mash anything including steel! And you never know when you may have needed Super Freddie with the power to teleport. The classroom was certainly a hive of world-shattering, planet-saving superheroes who looked amazing too! The super fun didn’t end there - in Design and Technology the children designed and decorated their own Superhero Capes and 2T shared their Superheroes with the rest of the school community in their class assembly on World Book day which was at the end of an amazing Book Week in school. When the assembly had finished, 2T were pretty sure that all the teachers and children felt safer knowing they were about to protect the school!
THEECHO ECHO ECHO SPRING 2016 EDITION
Wessex Water Workshop in 5B
1W Explore Antarctica
Water plays a crucial role in our everyday lives, yet it is all too easy to take it for granted. Mrs Smith, from Wessex Water, came to work with Year 5 this term, encouraging them to think more carefully about this humble, yet precious liquid. It was an informative and interactive afternoon, which covered topics from the water cycle to water conservation. Mrs Smith reinforced the importance of water treatment through her popular, if somewhat revolting, ‘sewage soup’ demonstration. Later the children worked in groups to conduct an investigation entitled, ‘Flush or Bin?’ which illustrated how easily sewers can become blocked. The workshop reminded us all to be thankful for the water that gushes conveniently from our taps and provoked us to consider the journey that it has been on before meeting us there.
This term the children in 1W have been learning all about ‘hot and cold’ places in the world. In History, they looked at Scott of the Antarctic and enjoyed learning all about his adventures to Antarctica. The class turned their roleplay area into an igloo and enjoyed dressing up in warm clothes and acting out different stories. Each child pretended to be Scott and asked each other questions about their expedition. Continuing the roleplay, the children wrote letters back to their families as Scott, telling them all about their adventures. Everyone had great fun making their own ice shapes and trying to build igloos with them.
Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem 3R Bones! The children in 3R have become bone specialists within their Science unit this term. They have diagnosed a number of fractures by studying X-rays and now understand the three functions of the skeleton. The children were given the challenge of devising their own investigation, looking into the relationship of different bones in the body, for example, is the person with the biggest head span the tallest? There were many surprises along the way, which the children used to help them form conclusions. They all loved learning the scientific names for bones and were able to use this newly acquired knowledge to change the traditional ‘Dem Bones’ song into a Year 3 spectacular skeleton song!
Fun with Fractions in 1A The children in 1A have been learning about fractions in Maths - they are beginning to use mathematical language to identify halves and quarters of shapes. Making jam sandwiches was very exciting for them. They cut their sandwich in half and quarters and then shared them with their friends. The children then drew a whole shape, shaded it in half and continued to build on their understanding of quarters using chalk in the playground. This was by far the most exciting aspect of fractions, as the children then used their shapes during their play time games. The understanding of fractions has supported the children to tell the time on an analogue clock for quarter turns. Now no-one has an excuse for getting out of bed late!
www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk Cross Country Success A number of children in Key Stage 2 attended the annual Westonbirt Cross Country Tournament on a beautifully sunny afternoon in February. Given the super performances at the tournament last year, they were eager to build on their previous successes. This is a huge competition with over 20 schools attending, from all over the South of England. It is always well supported and this year had upwards of 50 children competing in each age group. The St Margaret’s runners gave a great account of themselves at this event, with some excellent individual performances across the board. This year the U9 boys (2nd overall) and U11 girls (2nd overall) were particularly strong and competed in a field of 60 boys and 65 girls respectively. Huge congratulations go to Harriet in Year 5 who ran in the U10 girls’ category. She dominated her race finishing in 1st place and smashing the existing course record by 45 seconds! We look forward to taking part again in 2017!
Focus on Outdoor Learning Learning outside the classroom is something that we do lots of, in various guises – field trips, Book Week, Culture Week and visiting speakers to name but a few. This academic year we are focusing particularly on EcoOL (Eco & Outdoor Learning) activities and we will be introducing Outdoor Learning more widely throughout the curriculum as a valuable means of supporting different learning styles outside the classroom. The whole school community has been supporting the EcoOL initiatives at St Margaret’s. To date we have had two major whole school events – Den Building in the autumn term and Ground Force Day in the spring term. This focused on developing key areas in the school grounds – St Margaret’s Garden (by North End car park) , the Wildlife Garden and The Early Years Courtyard. Future plans include installing a canopy above the storytelling chair in the Wildlife Garden and establishing an Eco partnership with Whitehall Garden Centre – more details to follow…
Comic-themed Book Week Comic books are back! We were delighted to welcome author Cavan Scott to kick off our Book Week this year. He is a well-known comic book author with some of his credits being Doctor Who, Beano, Dandy and Star Wars. He sparked many an imagination during his energetic assembly at the start of Book Week! Over the following two days he carried out workshops with all age groups, encouraging the children to lie about how they came to school to get the first idea for a story. They went from the bizarre to the ridiculous; but all in the name of fiction! Coming up with a comic villain was relatively easy, using a mixture of a number of animals (and testing Cavan’s artistic skills!) to create a monster OF DOOM! Unfortunately this monster had arrived in school that morning and the children had to question why it was there. Sadly, a number of classes gave the reason because he/she wanted to eat all of the teachers! This was the start of the comic character or strip that the children created for the Book Week competition. However, the undoubted highlight was dressing up as a comic character at the end of the week. The children and staff embraced this challenge and particularly enjoyed identifying each other!
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