Child initiated learning allows the children the opportunity to have full control over the direction and outcome of their learning and is vital in boosting their confidence, creativity and innovation. This week some of our Reception children decided to explore colour mixing. They used a range of techniques such as drip, spray and hand painting and experimented creatively with different artistic effects. There is nothing more exciting for these young learners than getting a bit messy! The learning progressed to a fantastic and exciting conversation about different artists, which included Kandinsky and Pollock. Some of the children directed their artistic talents in other ways, such as colouring or exploring the endless learning opportunities offered from a cardboard box.

Rosie Snagge, Reception Class Teacher

Our Year 1 learners have been writing a five-part story that follows a logical sequence. The children enthusiastically linked their work to their favourite animal and followed the structure of the current Talk For Writing text. Talk For Writing supports children with the language structures needed to write by ‘talking their story’ first. Creating a story book to take home to share with their families, the children worked with care and attention to detail on their stories, making sure their spelling was correct and using lots of interesting adjectives to keep their readers interested. The children showed their creativity as they painted their illustrations to complete their stories. Despite this being a challenging task as they tackled writing a whole story, the children stayed positive and helped each other with ideas.

Rebecca Lane, Year 1 Class Teacher

In Maths, Year 2 were learning the importance of recognising the value of money. Problem-solving was at the heart of our lesson and understanding that £1 is equivalent to 100p. The children were challenged to demonstrate a variety of ways to make 100p, using different denominations of coin as well as Dienes (blocks that are used to represent numbers). Working together with a partner, our young mathematicians identified the problem to come up with several different ways to solve it. The children used fantastic speaking skills to explain their solutions to the class ensuring they were using the correct mathematical vocabulary in their explanations. The children particularly enjoyed the practical element of the lesson and the opportunity to handle money. Using trial and improvement as they sought out different solutions saw the determined children trying again if they didn’t quite get it right. Some children extended the task further by creating their own addition and subtraction number sentences.

Shirley Jervis, Year 2 Class Teacher

Within their PSHE Dreams and Goals topic, Year 3 were set the task of collaboratively designing a garden which would be good for people who faced a particular challenge. This two-week project required them to think carefully about the essential skill of teamwork. Within their groups, the children allocated roles amongst themselves as landscapers, budgeters, team leaders and event planners with the focus on working well with others by taking responsibility for completing their assigned task. A superb effort was made which the Grand Designs team would have been proud of!

Henrietta Platt, Year 3 Class Teacher

The Year 5 children are starting to hone their map skills and are learning how to read and give four digit coordinates using northings and westings. This week, they focused on the different scales on their OS maps (1:25,000 and 1:50,000). They thought about how the gridlines on a map might be useful and why the grid reference points do not start at zero (as often happens on a graph). The children particularly enjoyed thinking about how they could use the scale on the map to work out how long it would take them to walk the length of the Arun, and how the features on the map related to the real world. They thought about the landmarks and how the key could be used, before practising their skills on their own treasure map. The children came up with some excellent ideas about how maps were made before there were airplanes and satellites.

Stephanie Turner, Year 5 Class Teacher

Year 6 are excited by their forthcoming production, Alice in Wonderland and have been composing their very own incidental music for the show. Using their imagination, the children pictured a characteristic or scene featuring their role and worked on composing a suitable soundtrack to bring it the scene to life. Perhaps you will hear one or two in the show later this year…

John Muhlemann, Director of Music

Woking on their self-portraits, our Year 7s have been considering facial proportion. Taking an initial image on their ipads and transferring it onto a canvas was an exciting task. Painting the canvas taught the children about the properties of paint on the canvas. In art, creativity knows no bounds and the children enjoy the freedom of experimentation, making mistakes and exploring different visual representations.

Olga Houghton, Head of Art

Year 8 embarked on a geography field trip to visit the Olympic Park in Stratford.  The focus of the visit was to look both at the legacy left by the “greenest ever Olympics” and how sustainable the urban development in Stratford has changed the area. We worked our way through the park, looking specifically at the Aquatics Centre and Velodrome, as well as the park itself, with it’s attention to green spaces and biodiversity. Our visit ended in the former Athlete’s Village, now known as the East Village. Throughout the day the children learned about how the area had been developed with an economic, social and environmental sustainability focus. They were challenged to collect their own primary data, conducted by interviewing members of the public in an effort to understand their thoughts on the area, the legacy of the Olympics and the sustainability of the area. They were brilliant during these periods, clearly showing confidence as well as impressive listening skills by using open questions to deepen their understanding. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to focus their attention on a very different part of the UK and it will lead nicely into our forthcoming environmental unit.

James Figgis, Head of Geography