The Reception children had a wonderful time exploring the forest with their mothers during forest school. They delighted in making clay faces on trees, crafting nature crowns and cooking jam toasties over an open fire. Their excitement was evident as they eagerly listened to instructions, shared ideas and supported one another, building strong listening and teamwork skills. The children also enjoyed showing their adult around the forest, making it a truly enriching and memorable experience for all.

Natasha Jacklin, Reception Class Teacher

Year 1 have been diving deeper into their learning on fractions this week with a big focus on quarters. Using their creativity skills, the children explored how to divide different shapes into four equal parts. The children continued their learning, using their problem-solving skills, as they tackled the challenge of sharing objects into four equal groups.

Hannah Feery, Year 1 Teacher

This week, Year 2 took their learning beyond the classroom with an enriching visit to Portsmouth Synagogue. The focus of the trip was to develop respectful understanding around different beliefs and to learn specifically about the Jewish faith. The children showed excellent listening skills as they listened attentively, asked thoughtful questions and demonstrated genuine curiosity throughout the visit. They returned to school with an awareness of the Jewish faith and able to make links to Christianity.

Charlie Millsom, Year 2 Teacher

In literacy, this week, Year 3 were learning how to describe animals, thinking about specific elements of the animals, for example. beak, talons etc. Using their internal bank of creative language and combining it with given adjective and verb word banks, Year 3 painted an imaginary picture of their chosen animals. They have created a bank of ideas which they will collate into a poem about an animal.

Rosie Statham, Year 3 Teacher

As part of our Enrichment programme, the Year 5s thought it would be a lovely idea to collaborate in the making of a quilt for the Beehive. Each pupil in the Year group has (or will have by the end of this term) sewn their own design, including hearts, stars and letter initials, onto small pieces of fabric using a running stitch technique. At the end of term, these sections of fabric will be sewn together to create one large blanket which will be donated to the Beehive.

Rosie Dachtler, Year 5 Teacher

Year 6 have been learning about the Buddha and what its characteristics are. This week, 6SG learned how to draw the Buddha. After completing the features, hair, neck and shoulders they carefully started, adding a warm or cool colour scheme to the background of the drawing. Using their listening skills, the children worked to  include all the characteristics of a Buddha. The children produced some beautiful drawings of Buddha, which displayed snail hair, droopy ears, a third eye, a peaceful expression and beautiful colouring.

Tamsin Pearson, Year 6 Art Teacher

This week in PRE, our Year 7s considered the concept of heaven as part of their topic on life after death. They explored both sacred and secular beliefs and reflected what happens after we die, sharing their own ideas and respectfully comparing beliefs across religions.

Zoe Thesiger-Pratt, PRE Teacher

Year 8 recently took their first exciting step towards their upcoming production of Grease with a lively and inspiring drama workshop focusing on characterisation. Mrs Wilson shared her first-hand experience of performing in the West End and her stories gave the pupils a vivid sense of the energy, commitment and fun that go into staging a professional show. Following this, the children got on their feet to learn the choreography for You’re the One That I Want, embracing the challenge with enthusiasm and positivity. Performing together helped boost their confidence and gave them a taste of the teamwork and spirit they’ll need for their upcoming production.

 Susannah Wilson and  Ed Elgood LAMDA Teacher and Year 6 Teacher