THEECHO ECHO ECHO
Christmas 2017 Edition
Maths - No Problem! In recent months, the staff at St Margaret’s have been specifically targeting all aspects of the children’s mathematical skills, focusing particularly on mental arithmetic, as well their capacity for problem solving and investigative work. ‘Big Maths’ is now fully embedded into the daily routines and the success of this project was highlighted in the children’s outstanding summer term standardised test results. Buoyed with the positive outcome of this new endeavour we decided, for the first time this year, to enter a team of Year 6 children into the National Young Mathematicians’ Awards – the only team maths competition for primary aged children in the UK. Our intrepid team of Hannah, Charlotte, Alistair and Alfie competed in a SW regional heat, followed by a hotly fought semi-final; they clearly demonstrated outstanding problem solving skills, excellent teamwork and a high level of mathematical competence.
Consequently, we are proud to announce that the team from St Margaret’s will represent the South West in the National Final, which will take place at Cambridge University on the last day of this term; the first team to represent this area since the competition’s inception eight years ago! When we return to school in January we will be further extending our mathematical provision for all by introducing a Mastery programme, based on the principles of Singapore Maths. ‘Maths – No Problem’ will support learners of every age and ability, and we look forward to our pupils demonstrating skill, determination, depth of knowledge and absolute enjoyment in all aspects of numeracy. In the meantime, we send Hannah, Charlotte, Alistair and Alfie off to Cambridge with much pride and our very best wishes!
Welcome to the Christmas 2017 Edition of The Echo The joy of the festive season is undoubtedly upon us and at the time of writing we are eagerly awaiting the delivery of our Christmas trees. We are looking forward with eager anticipation to two action packed final weeks and by the time you read this, Christmas at St Margaret’s will have been and gone! The autumn term is always an extremely busy time at school, during which the children make extraordinary progress after the relaxing days of the summer holiday. New classes, new teachers and new challenges never seem to daunt them
and they will all finish this calendar year undeniably weary, but I hope with an immense sense of pride and personal satisfaction for the many great things that they have achieved. They certainly deserve a rest over the coming weeks and I hope that through the pages of this edition of The Echo, you will enjoy sharing with your children an insight into their days at St Margaret’s. As ever, I send you and your families my good wishes for a blessed and joyous Christmas, and a peaceful and happy 2018.
www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk Steamy 1H The children in 1H and 1P really enjoyed their History units on Victorians and Transport this term. They are able to identify the similarities and differences in trains, from the past to present, discussing the changes over time and the need for improvements. To bring the unit to life, the children visited STEAM Museum in Swindon and had a wonderful time. They were very excited to meet Brunel, Stephenson and their tired navvies! As they explored the museum, the children made reference to their learning throughout the day and had great fun discovering more about the steam trains; all aboard!
Fun with Maths in 3R The children in 3R have been going column crazy with their addition and subtraction this term. They initially worked on using formal written methods for their calculations and improving their knowledge of place value, and used this to help set out these calculations; then it was time to learn the method and put it into practice. The children did this on mini whiteboards, in their books, on a maths working wall and then they went really big and drew huge sums all over the playground! Everyone now feels super confident and can use this technique to answer word problems, there is no stopping them.
Florida Fascinates 4NC 4NC have learnt all about the state of Florida in Geography lessons. Given the recent hurricanes in that area the children were keen to find out how people living there protect themselves in hurricane shelters, what supplies they may need to get in advance and how reliable weather warnings are. Satellite images helped them follow the progress of this year’s storms. They then looked at the Kennedy Space Centre, working out why the position was chosen and how being near the equator and following the direction of the spinning earth helps conserve fuel. Finally, everyone discovered how they might protect turtles nesting on the Floridian beaches; wow, what an interesting place!
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Careful Counting in Reception C The children in Reception C have been developing their careful counting skills, through a musical game. They have thoroughly enjoyed playing ‘Musical Maths Mats’; when the music stops they choose a number tile, say the number aloud and then engage in carefully counting objects to match them to the number. Before moving onto the next round the children are encouraged to help each other with their answers, using simple strategies. The biggest challenge is when the single digit number tiles are removed!
Fireworks in 2J 2J children had fun in the classroom this term recreating the firework displays that they had watched on bonfire night, and were all very enthusiastic to discuss what they had seen. They talked about the different sounds, sights and smells and discussed the term ‘onomatopoeia’ - they had great fun acting out some of these words! They fizzed, zoomed, crackled, popped, whizzed, sparkled and banged and much more! In Computing, the children created their own fireworks picture using Purple Mash. They used a variety of different skills that they learnt throughout the term and the end result was very effective. In Art they zoomed out from a single firework to create a bonfire night scene by using different media – paint, pastels, sequins and glitter. This created a ‘layering’ effect and resulted in a ‘wow’ picture!
Year 5 Visit the Majestic ‘Mary Rose’ In the second half of term, Year 5 climbed aboard the school minibuses full of enthusiasm at the prospect of the exciting day ahead; their destination was Portsmouth Historic Naval dockyard and Henry VIII’s flagship the ‘Mary Rose’. On arrival at the dockyard the children quickly settled down to the first task of the day. Each group was given different artefacts that would have been used onboard a Tudor ship and used clues to work out what each item was used for. It was then time for dressing up; Year 5 really got into character and enjoyed wearing the velvet and leather waistcoats and a huge variety of hats! The guide took the children through a dimly lit corridor full of artefacts preserved from the ship and at the end the Mary Rose was revealed. They stood in awe and wonder at the sheer size of the galleon; each deck was able to be observed by parallel walkways. The day was a huge success and everyone thoroughly enjoyed learning about the rich history of the Tudor era.
Year 6 Embrace Fair Trade Geographers in Year 6 have learnt about international trade, and its benefits and impacts. As part of this, they found out more about Fair Trade and the way in which it helps workers obtain fairer pay and working conditions. They learnt about banana farming in the Caribbean, and compared the income and lifestyles of Fair Trade and non-Fair Trade farmers. Leading on from this, the children invited Traidcraft to hold an event at St Margaret’s in November, at which a variety of cards, crafts, jewellery, homeware and foodstuffs were on offer. The children enjoyed advertising the sale, and seeing items which are made and sold based on the principles of Fair Trade. It was lovely to see many families coming to support this event, as well as developing their awareness of this important issue.
Repeating Patterns in 1P Wow! The children in 1P had so much fun creating and continuing repeating patterns. They were fantastic at drawing on their previous knowledge from Reception and were all able to continue a simple repeating pattern independently; the challenge was then upon them! Everyone started to use 4 objects or shapes to create their own patterns and then challenge a friend to carry it on; some of the children even started to solve number patterns too! 1P also enjoyed using natural resources to support their independent learning; a fabulous start to the year.
Percy the Park Keeper in Kindergarten What an amazing team of Park Keepers there are in Kindergarten! This term, the children shared stories of Percy and his adventures with his animal friends, and recreated them in a play. Everyone loved dressing up, and particularly enjoyed getting into their dressing gowns and making tea at the end of a busy day! Some of Kindergarten’s cuddly animal friends also listened to the story ‘One Snowy Night’, and found places to sleep in the drawers too!
2T Learn About Sea Rescue
Kind Comments in 4B
The children in 2T have learnt about Grace Darling and how heroic she was saving people from the stormy seas in 1838. They wrote a newspaper report using empathy skills and showed their understanding of how women’s roles have changed since Victorian times. The children also spent time reflecting on how the events led to changes in rescuing people from the sea, with the formation of the RNLI. Everyone really enjoyed working together using junk modelling to build a zip wire for a lighthouse in D&T and then used their understanding of electrical circuits to light the lighthouse. Finally, the class completed the unit by learning the skill of ‘hot seating’ to role play Grace Darling, her father and the newspaper reporter.
To link with the whole-school EASY week theme of ‘All Different, All Equal’, 4B children thought about what makes every member of the class special. Every child received a piece of paper with their names at the top; they all then had to write a statement for each other about what makes them special. Once this had been completed, the sheets were returned to the children and they could read the statements. It was really heart-warming to see the delight on their faces when they saw what their peers had said about them. Afterwards, each child had to pick their favourite statement and write in on a whiteboard. They were then photographed in groups for a whole-school EASY week display.
THEECHO ECHO ECHO
CHRISTMAS 2017 EDITION
Year 5 Enjoy the Wonder of Science
Murder, Mayhem and Witches in Year 6
As well as carrying out a range of investigations in class and in the Science laboratories, the Year 5 children have enjoyed exploring the wonders of Science as part of their regular outdoor learning activities. One such investigation was to find out what factors affect a pendulum. First of all everyone predicted what might affect a pendulum’s swing; factors such as the mass of the bob and the height that it was dropped from were investigated. After much testing, the children found out that only changing the length of a pendulum will alter the time that it takes to make one oscillation.
The children in Year 6 were motivated by the opportunity to study one of Shakespeare’s plays in their Literacy lessons. It is an important part of the curriculum for children to appreciate classic literature and what better than the tragedy of Macbeth? Starting with a study of the start of the play, everyone wrote newspaper articles on the Death of Duncan, working from the premise that only the audience knows the truth of who did the dastardly deed. They were careful not to implicate Macbeth directly, but he seemed to get included in the list of suspects.
Lessons this term began with investigations into the three States of Matter. As well as looking in detail at the properties of gases, 5C prepared an excellent performance for their Class Assembly on this subject. More recently, the properties of solutions and mixtures have been the focus of Year 5’s laboratory sessions. The children have loved finding out which materials are soluble in a range of solvents. Testing how to separate solutions and mixtures, as well as creating saturated solutions has been messy but great fun!
Watching the Animated Tales version of the play brought the whole story to life and allowed the children to see how the characters of Macbeth and his wife developed. It also allowed plenty of discussion on how much the witches were to blame for the whole tragedy. Some of the children wanted to know if Macbeth was a real person, which broadened the research to Scottish history in the 11th century. 6G created a cartoon strip of the whole story, featuring captions, quotes and some inspirational thoughts. Whereas in 6S they introduced each other as a character from the story: ‘This is Lady Macbeth; she is a loving wife and a devious plotter of the death of a king.’ Finally the children wrote acrostic poems on one character, to show their personality traits.
Finally, during Culture Week the children were extremely lucky to learn all about the science of bubbles. Have you ever wondered why all bubbles form spheres? It’s amazing, it’s all to do with Surface Tension; whatever shape you blow through, the bubble always turns into a sphere. Everyone has agreed that Science is fantastic!
3H Erupt with Enthusiasm! Within their Geography lessons, the children in 3H have learnt about tectonic plate boundaries and how these cause both earthquakes and volcanoes. They relished the opportunity to learn more about these amazing natural disasters and were even able to continue their learning in D&T lessons, when constructing a pneumatic system. They used syringes and pipe to create a very realistic volcano, complete with moving lava and ash clouds. The class learnt that volcanoes erupt when pressure builds in the magma chamber and when magma reaches the earth’s surface it is called lava; lava then cools to form rock. Bringing this to life, within their own volcano demonstration, was an exciting experience for all - although most children would not like to get so close to the real life version!
The unit on ‘The Scottish Play’ was a great success in stimulating an interest in Shakespeare and in developing the children’s literacy skills.
www.stmargaretsprep.org.uk LEGO League Hydro Dynamics The theme of this year’s LEGO League Challenge is centred around ‘Hydro Dynamics’ and is all about water – how we find, transport, use or dispose of it. The FIRST LEGO League Challenge is a worldwide competition with more than 28,000 teams of pupils aged 9 to 16 participating, all working on the same challenges and theme. The first challenge was to establish a team! The LEGO League season is always greeted with much enthusiasm by the Year 6 pupils at St Margaret’s and choosing a team of ten is never an easy task, but unfortunately there is a limit on the size of the team. Once selected, the team decided to invent a filter that would act as a sieve to prevent unwanted debris from blocking our drainage system. This was not a straightforward task so the children decided it was best to split into subgroups and work on various aspects of this. They devised surveys, developed and tested prototypes and contacted large organisations such as Wessex Water, Hills and Dyson, for advice. Fingers crossed that the judges at the Regional Heats enjoy their findings! The other part of the project is to solve a series of demanding Robotic Missions all revolving around the theme of ‘Hydro Dymanics’. Firstly, a team of LEGO model builders had to assemble the complex missions and then they had to design and construct a suitable robot, complete with sensors. When the strategy for achieving the missions was finalised, the team had to program the robot with EV3 software. It took many hours of programming and debugging in order for the robot to successfully complete a selection of missions. One of the big challenges was to create an attachment for the robot which would collect and take a broken pipe back to base and then go back with a replacement pipe.
Underlying both the research and programming aspects of the LEGO League Challenge are ‘Core Values’. These are at the heart of the competition and by embracing these Core Values the teams learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping each other is the foundation of teamwork. At last year’s heats, St Margaret’s were praised by the judges for offering one of our ‘competitors’ a battery charger as their robot’s battery was flat. We strive to uphold and display Core Values in all we do! On January 18th, our team of ten, enthused by their solid background of research and programming, will set off to the HP Labs in Bristol to compete against a number of other schools. Win or lose, the children will do their best and we know they will make St Margaret’s proud.
Girls’ Cross Country Success
Year 3 (U8A)
Year 3 (U8B)
Year 4 (U9A)
Year 4 (U9B)
In early November, a selection of Year 3 (U8) and Year 4 (U9) girls took part in a Cross Country event at The Royal High Junior School in Bath. The course was hilly in parts, with a tough climb towards the end of the 800m run. The girls lead from the front in the majority of their races and all demonstrated such determination throughout their run. What was highly impressive was that they also really pushed for the finish line! There were some impressive individual performances in the U8B race Daisy and Leafy came 1st and 2nd respectively and finished well in front of the main pack. In the U9B race Emily came 1st with a lovely sprint finish. Overall, the U8A team came 1st and the U8Bs came 2nd; both the U9 teams won their respective events. We are very proud of the girls what an amazing afternoon of running!
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