Loving to learn new things

Jag Tag

8 children in year 6 took part in the very first Jag Tag tournament, help by Activ 360 and Winchester University. The team were fantastic and showed all the school spirit that we value. We won some, drew some and lost a couple but above all we tried our hardest and had fun! Well done everyone.

My Happy Brain

The children and staff would like to say thank you to FOSPS for purchasing one Team HAP per class to support our weekly Happy mind sessions.

In our first unit 'Meet your brain' the children have learned that the brain works best when Team HAP - the Hippocampus, Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex - work together. We have learned how 'Happy breathing' sends oxygen to the brain when we may be feeling upset or worried. This helps us to make decisions and ask for help. You can find out more about Happy Breathing by downloading the logging into the free My Happy mind app.

Forest School

This week in forest school some children used the saw to cut pieces of wood which we then used to make butterflies, other played nature bingo or made an Oreo mud cake. 

R2L

Sometimes, it can feel difficult to ask for help because we may feel that we might look silly, others might laugh at us, or we fear being told off.

This week, the children in R2L have been learning that it is ok to ask for help and that everyone needs help sometimes. Sometimes it might be for a little thing, like asking someone to hold a door open, or it might be something bigger like helping us with a tricky task or even helping us to manage uncomfortable thoughts.

We have spent the week trying new things - some things we could do easily and yet other things were more tricky. We learnt how to make a paper aeroplane, how to make an origami snake, and some of us even used a saw to cut wood in Forest School.

The most important lesson that we learnt this week is that using our words, rather than our actions, are the best way to ask for help.

Maple

Children in Maple Class have been proudly wearing their brain hats made as part of their 'My Happy Mind' learning. We think they look great! Children in Year R have been learning numbers 6, 7 and 8. They made a teddy bear's picnic with 6, 7 or 8 guests, plates and food items. Delicious!

We are also drawing to the end of our programming unit in IT. The children have been learning how to plan, programme and debug routes using their BeeBots - they are doing brilliantly!

Rowan

Times Table Rowan Stars!

This week the Rowan class have been enjoying playing on Times Tables Rockstars (TTRS) for the first time. Now they have completed their multiplication and division unit in maths they are ready to rock out and earn some coins. TTRS is a great maths game for the class to play and practice their 2-, 5- and 10-times table facts. The more they can practice at home the better they will get at remembering these facts. Miss Evers is also starting a TTRS house competition, so the more points they score the more they contribute to the competition. If you need any help logging into TTRS please don't hesitate to ask. 

Birch

This week Birch conducted research into different types of soil - the children really enjoyed getting their hands muddy to test whether the soil was silty, sandy or clay. The children also put their basketball skills into practice by playing a game of basketball. They tried really hard to dribble the ball across the court and some even managed to score a goal in the hoops!

Sycamore

This week, Sycamore class have been working really hard to improve their handwriting. We have been learning all about Mount Everest which has resulted in a number of really high quality survival guides. For those of you looking for a new challenge, why not read some of these and see if the challenge appeals to you! 

Elm

This week Elm class finished their Inuit art topic by creating prints in the style of Kenojuak Ashevak. They built on their learning from year 3 and 4 and developed the idea of creating two tone prints. They were really effective as you can see.

Being creative and curious.

My Happy Mind

The children have enjoyed learning more about the brain this week and how we can look after it using as variety of techniques, such as Happy Breathing, exercise and a healthy diet. Here are some of our children showing us the HAP team.

R2L

What a diverse and enriching week in R2L! Our target this week was  to use our words when we need some help. Through a range of different activities including acting out different emotions; being emotion detectives; making anger fireworks; we understood that it is not always easy to know how someone else is feeling. However, by using our words such as "Please can you help me?" "Are you ok?". "I'm feeling in the yellow zone." and by recognising when we are starting to feel uncomfortable emotions, adults can then offer a variety of strategies to support moving from uncomfortable to comfortable emotions.

Can you guess how some children are feeling from their body language?

Maple

Following an assembly on the 'Power of Words' , the children completed a task in class where they thought about how once spoken, words cannot be taken back and can have a lasting impact on the recipient. 

The House Captains announced a whole school challenge to nominate adults and children who have used words kindly which will be published in assembly on Friday 15th February. If you would like to nominate someone in school, please collect a slip from the school office and return the nomination via your child's teacher of the office.

Rowan

Remarkable Recorders! 

This term Rowan class have been learning to play the recorder with the Hampshire Music service. They have been really enjoying learning how to create different notes with the recorder and create different tunes. They are a big fan of the song 'Spy Cat' where they have to play gently to create a secret spy atmosphere. We are all looking forward to their concert next half term. Well done Rowan class. 

Birch

Birch have had a busy week this week!  In science, the children looked at magnetic fields - they were very excited they could see the direction the fields were going in! In art, the children started printing their ammonites. They had to be very careful so they didn't rip their tiles and thought carefully about how their prints would look with more than one colour. 

Sycamore

Sycamore Class have been learning about the different types of mountains and how they are formed. They then had to match photos of the world’s mountains to the mountain type. 

Aspen

This week in Aspen class we have been looking at administering first aid when faced with a choking incident. The children learnt about the three ways to help: cough it out, slap it out and squeeze it out. The children then practiced their hand placements on parents to learn how to administer first aid and what to do if these methods do not work.

Elm

Having studied Inuit carvings in art, Elm class drew simple designs to carve out of soap. They needed lots of patience and the resilience key to success to produce beautifully carved figures. Continuing the theme of art, some pupils in Elm class used pastel and watercolour paint to produce these outstanding paintings which brought a touch of spring to the class. These were inspired by the work of a local artist Jenny Muncaster.

Happy Lunar New Year

Maple

Children in Maple Class love learning about how their brains work. In this week's 'My Happy Mind' session, they were learning how their brains make new connections when they learn. To illustrate this, the children started to make brain hats with different coloured 'connections' to show learning and growth. 

Maple Class have also been finding out about Chinese New Year. They have made beautiful lanterns, mosaics, tried writing their names and numbers in Chinese and heard about the different activities that are used to celebrate this important even. Today, we enjoyed using chopsticks to try Chinese food including prawn crackers, Singapore noodles and fortune cookies. 

Birch

This week, Birch continued their 'Chinese Lanterns' unit in music and started using glockenspiels to play the pentatonic scale. They worked really hard to remember which notes they needed to play and what order they needed to play them in. 

Sycamore

Sycamore class had a great opportunity to work with our caterers (Caterlink) and make pizzas. We took part in a game and a quiz all about the different food groups and then got to choose our toppings and make our dream pizzas! Best of all, we then got to eat them! 

Aspen

In Aspen class's PSHE lessons the children were learning about head injuries, they learnt about mild and severe, how to assess for both and how to administer first aid. They also took part in a scenario task where they had to assess who had suffered a head injury, how it might have been obtained and each character's role in the accident.

Elm

In music, Elm class have been learning about calypso music and are practising the typical 8 beat rhythm with added embellishments. In Geography, they also been exploring all the different land features that can be seen in the Antarctic and reminding themselves that polar bears live in Arctic and Penguins live in the Antarctic. This links in well with their current text: ‘Shackelton’s Journey.’

Passionate about learning

Maple

Children in Year R are welcomed into class each morning to a variety of fun activities. They settle quickly and use their fine motor skills to explore the tasks at the tables. They have also been learning about winter and this week, about hibernation. The children made clay hedgehogs in Forest School and then in the classroom, created shelters for them to hibernate in. 

Children in Year 1 have continued with their art topic of Rain and Sunrays. This week, they have been exploring texture in art which they will be using next week to create printing blocks. 

Rowan

This week Rowan class have continued with their wonderful flower art. They had their first experience of printing using rollers. They created their design inspired by flowers that they have been studying and pressed it into their polystyrene tile. They rolled the paint onto the tile and then pressed it onto paper to create their design. They were so pleased with their outcomes. Well done Rowan class. 

Birch

Birch class are really enjoying their new dance unit inspired by Matilda. The children have been thinking carefully about how each character might move and how this can be portrayed through different dance moves.

Sycamore

This week sycamore class have been learning lots of new words for our new topic ‘Misty Mountain, Winding River’. The know what a meander is, and they know what happens at the upper, middle and lower course of a river. 

Aspen

This week in Aspen class the children thoroughly enjoyed the start of their Forest School sessions. The children took part in blindfolded team building activities which included children being guided to trees, returned to their starting point and then guessing which tree they had felt. The mud kitchen was a huge success with gingerbread men brownies being served as well as 'wild stew' also available, some budding chefs in the making and everyone getting 'stuck' in!

Elm

This week year 6 have been exploring the relationships between fractions, decimals and percentages and how they are all related to a whole. They started by looking at each aspect individually and then how they relate to each other and how you can compare them. 

Year 6 also wrote very persuasive letters to Hampshire County council to try and stop the closure of Stubbington Study Centre. They were full of passion and showed excellent writing skills. Lets hope they listen.

New Year, New Experiences

Maple

Year R Maple Class children have ben enjoying a range of activities when they arrive in the morning, focused on developing their fine motor skills. They love the threading cards! 

Children in Maple Class (Y1) have been learning about different types of landmarks in Geography. They sorted them into categories and explored landmarks that the may have seen in Winchester. 

Rowan

This week Rowan class have begun their multiplication journey in maths.  They have been doing fantastically and are making great links between equal grouping, repeated addition and multiplication. They have been using cubes to make equal groups and then creating repeated addition sentences and multiplication sentences based on what they've made. Well done Rowan class. 

Birch

This week Birch have been investigating different types of rocks. The children had lots of fun using different methods to determine whether the rocks were sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic. They also worked really hard in maths to multiply and divide a 2-digit number by a one-digit number

Sycamore

This week, Sycamore las have been preparing snacks for our DT unit called ‘Fresh Food, Good Food’. They made hummus with vegetable sticks and fruit pots. We practised the skills of chopping and peeling, as well as considering why these were healthy snacks. 

Aspen

This week in Aspen class the children took part in an exciting new sport - JagTag. All the children got stuck in, practice holding the ball correctly, passing between teammates and dodging attackers! 

Elm

This week the children in Elm class have had two new fantastic experiences. Firstly they took part in a new sport - Jag Tag, which they enjoyed thoroughly.  Later int he week they learnt all about hazard safety in a virtual cycling session. The children used ipads to navigate different environments and were able to spot hazards and discuss how to avoid them.

New beginnings

My Happy Mind

We have introduced a program to all year groups at school called myHappymind. myHappymind is all based around helping children to understand how their brain works and to support them in developing positive skills and habits to be their very best selves.  myHappymind is delivered in schools by class teachers through a series of interactive lessons and then the children apply their learning throughout the day.

To further embed this learning, myHappymind has developed a Parent App. These resources can be accessed online on your computer, or through an app on your phone. The Parent App will support you as a parent in understanding what your child is learning, activities for you to do together at home and also a Kids Zone featuring myHappymind Games.  To access these materials just go to https://myhappymind.org/parent-resources to create your free account. You will need to enter your name, email, and the following authentication code 115962.  

For more information about myHappymind, please follow the following link to an introductory video.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to speak to your child's class teacher or Mrs Fenton. 

R2L

Happy New year from everyone in R2L!

This week, as well as joining our classes for some inspiring learning, we have been thinking about the effect that our words can have. We now understand that although our tongues are small, they can be very powerful when saying words! We created a poster about some of the kind words, or cotton wool words, that we can say to each other. We all agreed that it is so much nicer to say and to hear kind words that build us up and make us feel happy rather than unkind, or sandpaper, words which are spiky, harsh and make us feel sad.

We practised putting our words into action when we made squirrel houses in Forest School. We hope that you like them as much as we enjoyed making them!

Maple

Children in Maple Class have quickly settled back into the spring term. We have started exploring collaging in art, specifically transient art. The children have used a variety of materials to create images of weather symbols. 

Rowan

This week Rowan class have started their new art unit, 'Flower Head' and began the unit by completing some beautiful observational drawings of different flowers. They have been closely observing a variety of flowers and drew detailed pencil sketches of these. They then coloured them in so they looked as real as possible. They loved doing this and were so focussed on making the art the best it could be. Well done Rowan class. 

Birch

Birch have had a really busy week this week! We started our new topic "Rocks, Relics and Rumbles" where the children learnt about the different layers of the earth. In English, the children used dictionaries to find the definitions of words they didn't know the meaning of to make their writing as exciting as possible. 

Sycamore

Sycamore class have been thinking deeply about their times tables this week, learning all about factors. Great collaborative and active learning demonstrated their understanding of this new vocabulary and tested their improving times tables knowledge. 

Aspen

This week in year 5 we have been looking at our new art unit - Light, Line and Shadow. The children had a go at drawing using one continuous line, making sure they didn't take their pencil off the page until they had finished. They produce some lovely drawings and were able to use lines effectively to add detail to their drawings!

Elm

In Elm class, the children have been busy starting their new topics on Electrical circuits and components and also looking at variable in games. They were able to label all the different elements of a circuit as well as being able to identify and alter variables used in scratch

Our busy Christmas week

Christmas lunch

Thank you to all the wonderful kitchen staff for our fantastic Christmas lunch this week. The children loved the Christmas music, decorations and crackers as well as the food and being served by staff members!

Christchurch Carol Service

The children all took part in the annual Christchurch Carol service this week. The choir wowed us with their magnificent singing and all the reader were clear and spoke beautifully. Well done to everyone who came and joined in so enthusiastically. We were very proud.

Our Fantastic Football team

Last week the school football team took part in their first ever tournament. They managed to go past the group stages with some fabulous solo and team performances and made it to the semi finals where we were beaten in penalties. The sportsmanship of the whole team was amazing and not only did they cheer each other on but were supportive of every team. Well done everyone.

Beyond the beat

Children in Year 3 performed in their first ever Beyond the Beat Concert! They were accompanied by the continuing musicians from years 4, 5 and 6. 

Birch class

This week Birch Class have been cooking! The children worked really hard to chop all of the vegetables to make tacos and rataouille. Even though some of them were a little nervous to try new vegetables for the first time, everyone tried both dishes and thought they were yummy!

Sycamore

This week, Sycamore took part in our Christingle tradition. Children were respectful and sang beautifully.

Elm

Elm class have been very busy this week. They explored the difference between whole foods and processed foods and then made their own non-cook pasta sauce. Although some children were a little dubious at the start, most of them enjoyed the final products. Elm class also completed their art unit this week. Their task was to create a piece of art using a medium of their choice, that represented everything they have learnt through our Maafa topic. We were so impressed by the thought and care that went into their ideas and the results were beautiful and thought provoking.

Making Memories

Rowan

This week Rowan class have been looking at animal adaptations in their habitats project. They had a look at how different prey animals adapt to survive being eaten, including their use of speed, armour, weapons and camouflage. They then coloured in four moths, two that were camouflaged and two that were not camouflaged. They hid them around the new forest school area and then some Year 3 'Moth hunters' tried to find as many as they could. They managed to find 12 camouflaged ones and 16 non-camouflaged ones, showing the importance of camouflage. 

Birch

This week Birch Class have been using clay to make their own Beaker Bell pots. The children looked closely at the patterns on Beaker Bell pottery from the Bronze Age and had a lot of fun trying to recreate these patterns in their own designs.

Sycamore

Sycamore class have had a brilliant time in Minstead, earning beads linked to the Keys to Success. The weather was perfect for the long walk and exploring the great outdoors in The New Forest. We really value the experience that Minstead provides, not only is it a magical place, it helps to prepare our children for being more independent and looking forward to other trips and experiences such as Stubbington. 

Aspen

This week in Aspen class the children have been working hard on their hockey skills, they have remembered the basics of passing and shooting. We even had a short match at the end!

Elm

This week Elm class have been exploring the differences between processed and homemade bread. We looked at the long list of ingredients in a normal processed loaf and then made our own bread using much less ingredients! Most of us decided that the home made bread tasted better (particularly with some honey). In Computing the children have been creating their own webpages. They will use this skill in English next week to publish their finished outcomes.

A Christmassy Musical Week

Our Choir

Our amazing choir represented the school beautifully this week at Winchester Cathedral. They sang amazingly and looked very smart. Well done everyone.

Christmas Fair

Thanks to everyone who attended the Christmas Fair this Friday and to the fabulous Friends of Stanmore for all their hard work. We had a great performance from Integrate and it was lovely to see everyone enjoying themselves.

R2L

This week, R2L have been thinking about the impact of having kinds hands and feet.

We all agreed that having kind hands and feet meant that other children were more likely to want to play with us and that adults are more likely to trust us with precious things.

We demonstrated how marvellous our hands and fabulous our feet are by playing co-operative games such as football. We also had lots of fun making creative festive crafts in preparation for decorating our beautiful Christmas tree.

Maple

Children in Maple Class (Y1) have been practicing their number bonds to 10. To help them remember, they made some 'handy hands' which they can use at home to practice them quickly and speedily!

Rowan

This week Rowan class had their Listen 2 Me concert to parents. Over the past term they have been learning to play different songs on the ukulele by plucking and strumming. They achieved an excellent performance and impressed everyone in the audience. They showed their keys to success over the term in their resilience and persistence to learn to play to such a high standard. We are very proud of them. 

Well done Rowan class. 

Sycamore

Sycamore class were invited to attend a fantastic school trip earlier this week at Winchester College. First, they saw some genuine Anglo-Saxon coins that were over 1,000 years old at the Treasury and then they were treated to a live music concert of ‘Peter and the Wolf’. 

This week in Apsen's music lesson we have been working on our own pentatonic scales and mirror music. The children then performed their pieces to the class. 

Elm

This week Elm class have been finishing their Maafa topic and explored how Africa was colonised after the abolishment of the slave trade. The children thought really carefully about the topic and were able to express their views through discussion and questioning. In RE the children explored two different versions of the nativity and compared the versions written by Luke and by Matthew.

Moovers and Shakers

Be Bright, Be Seen

Last week the children took part in our Be Bright, Be Seen day to promote keeping safe on the roads. Our fantastic Junior Road Safety Officers held an informative assembly highlighting the importance of reflective clothing and thinking carefully about road safety. I don’t think anyone will our children in these clothes.

Book Awards

This term, children in Year 5 took part in the Hampshire Illustrated Book Award.  They read  and discussed a 6 shortlisted picture books for older readers, before submitting their vote for their favourite text. The books are now available in our school library for everyone to enjoy. 

Maple

Children in Year R Maple Class have been enjoying the snow that we had recently.  They loved finding the ice in our outside area and trying to catch the snowflakes in their mouths!

Children in Year 1 Maple Class have been developing their IT skills including using the mouse and keyboard. They have been using these skills to play jigsaw games and a painting app.

Rowan and Aspen

This week Year 5 and Year 2 went to Goodwood Home Farm in preparation for their upcoming topics. The children had a tour of the dairy farm and process as well as looking at the machinery used throughout. Both classes got to try some organic milk, grind flour and churn their own butter.

Birch

This week, Birch Class have been investigating forces using force meters. The children all had different objects that they pulled across different surfaces to compare how objects move across different materials. They saw how friction makes objects move slower and that smooth surfaces (like the tables) generated less friction than the rougher surfaces (like the carpet).

Sycamore

Sycamore class have been making junk modelling musical instruments and performed them in a short performance to their peers. Some created twinkly lullabies, others created a tune as if they were preparing for a battle! 

Elm

This week in Elm, the children have been exploring what it means to be an archaeologist and what discovered artefacts can tell us about the past. This will link with our new book 'Tales of Ancient Worlds', which looks at civilisations throughout history and is written using information texts and factual narratives. The children were able to find some replica ancient Roman artefacts, as well as a few modern day items!