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Oak Class , Blog 4, 2022-2023

English

Oak class have been celebrating the arrival of Spring in their Nature Journals. We have taken the time to stop and look at the growing world around us,  the natural beauty we generally walk past without a second glance. We have been collecting quotations and proverbs about the season, as well as poetry.

We finished reading The Firework Maker’s Daughter, which besides being an entertaining story, led us to learn about the art of pyrotechnics and the beautiful islands of Indonesia and also tied in with our study of volcanoes in Geography.

As part of the school Garden Project, Oak class researched some of the common insects we find in our gardens and presented them, discovering that these often vilified creatures – such as slugs and beetles – have an important role to play in keeping soil fertile and flowers pollinated.

French (Beginners Group with Joanna)

Learning a new language can definitely be more fun than one thinks. This term we worked a lot on what can be a rather daunting theme: telling time in French. We chose to make it more fun to learn by working in pairs and asking each other questions and also playing educational games to make the task less daunting. We also watched a report on the daily schedule of students in a French school and we were able to see the differences / comparisons with our school. The students learned and presented their Poésies de Printemps (filmed hereunder) and we also celebrated La Saint Patrick and learned how we celebrate Pâques (Easter) in France. The last day of term all three French classes got together to make their own ‘déjeuner fait maison’ including healthy starters, pizzas and cakes. We read instructions & recipes in French and had a déjeuner gastronomique all together.

French (Intermediate Group with Christine)

Vega and Sophie went on working with their own learning supports such as books, texts with questions, grammar and writing exercices….  It allowed them to expand their vocabulary, master the structure of French sentences, understand, and apply the construction of the verbs, which help in speaking more fluently. That’s why one of them learned how to write and recognize the complex sounds, while the other trained to master one of the past tense, recognize the masculine form  of adjectives from the feminine… Learning a poem contributes to expanding vocabulary and has it part in the oral expression. That’s why they learned the poem « Pique-nique » they say together as shown on the video. Aside to their own program, each Monday, they have the possibility to be part of the oral time of all the class, when each one speaks about his weekend and answers questions the others students may ask.  

French ( Advanced group with Marie)

Cette quatrième période a été consacrée principalement à la mythologie grecque. En effet, les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français en articulant leurs apprentissages autour de cette thématique :

en grammaire: natures et fonctions des mots, les compléments de phrases (lieu, temps, manière)

en conjugaison: le futur simple et le plus que parfait (avec révision du passé composé)

en orthographe: le champ lexical, les familles de mots, les homophones grammaticaux, les mots invariables

en mémorisation: 2 poésies ont été apprises et récitées

en littérature: la mythologie grecque avec le choix d’un livre de lecture (l’Odyssée d’Homère ou Ulysse et le Cyclope) puis différentes fiches de lecture, lectures silencieuses.

2 dictées et 2 évaluations ont eu lieu pendant cette 4ème période.

French IMYC

Cette période a été consacrée aux origines des céréales. En effet, les enfants ont étudié la manière dont elles ont évolué et voyagé au fil des ans.

Après avoir vu l’émission “C’est pas sorcier: du blé au pain”, les enfants ont répondu à un questionnaire puis ils ont produit leur propre farine à partir des grains de blé à l’aide de mortiers et de tamis:

Puis, ils ont fait leur propre pain:

Après avoir pétri la pâte, les enfants ont formé des “miches de pain”:

Et voilà le résultat:

Nous avons aussi abordé différents thèmes tels que la journée de la femme (8 mars) et la Saint Patrick.

Pour le dernier jour d’école, les enfants ont préparé leur repas (entrée salade de tomates concombres, plats pizza et desserts gâteau au chocolat et quatre quart aux pommes):

Ils ont appris la chanson “La vie c’est comme un jardin” des Enfantastiques:

Geography

In Geography, Oak class continued to learn about the natural phenomena of volcanoes and earthquakes and the effects of these disturbances to the earth’s surface. They charted on a map some of the world’s most famous volcanoes, discovering them to be regular occurrences across continents. This term we also studied tsunamis, their causes and how they develop out at sea and present themselves on land.

History

During this term our Oaks had the opportunity to visit the Egyptian antiquities at the Louvre Museum, looking at many different artefacts created by the Egyptians, like jewellery, pots, and sarcophaguses! They had fun reading the hieroglyphs and acknowledging the precious materials with which the Egyptians artefacts have been made!

The Oak class also started to look at the beginning of Greek civilisation, looking at how Ancient Greeks settled in both the islands and the continental land. Our Oaks also began to look at the main events that characterised the Ancient Greek civilisation, discovering the importance of towns like Athens and Sparta. Oak students explored also the food eaten by Ancient Greeks, researching the products that they grew and the animals that they bred.

Art

Over the course of this term our Oaks worked on colour theory and explored the work of the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. Each student looked at the feeling and the emotions that different colours could represent, creating a small canvas with a grid composition of different concentric shapes. The students worked on the importance of shapes and experimented the creation of many and different colour gradients.

Creative Writing Workshop

Over the course of the term, the Oak students worked on a story set in a natural landscape. Each student worked on characterisation, creating their animal character, and working on the description of his emotional traits and physical appearance. After having chosen a picture of a natural landscape – mainly gardens and fields – in which their animal character could live, the Oak students developed their story, drafting, editing, and proofreading their work.

Global Perspectives

Over the course of this term the Oak class looked at different countries from around the world, researching their culture, their traditions, and their lifestyle. By looking at global and national perspectives, each student carried out research on a specific country, designing very creative posters to present the outcomes of their work.

Science

Oak students explored this term that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object . They identified the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surface and recognise that some mechanisms including levers, pulleys and gears allow a smaller force to have a greater effect. They Also had the opportunity to look at a human food cell on the microscope and plant seeds.

Mathematics

During this term Oaks worked on solving different money and time word problems. We practiced adding up totals for our pretend shop and calculated given change. We matched time on the analogue and digital clocks and used the number lines to solve time problems. We dived into problems where the starting time, finishing time and the duration of our favourite TV shows had to be calculated. We also worked on multiplying and dividing whole and decimal number by 10, 100 and 100 and consolidated the written methods for addition and subtraction

D and T

Planted runner beans,

In an old and cracked rainboots.

We are sure they will have some strong,

healthy roots.


Collected some stinging nettles,

And conjured our own plant food fertilizer.

No need to go to the Jardiland, parents.

We have a solution that is wiser.

Explorer Pythagoras,

Fibonacci and Newton,

Still plenty to go through,

Will start with Darwin’s evolution.


Found Mathematics present all around us in nature.

On the house of the snail or the beautiful sunflower.

Better start designing that

rain water collecting tower.


Compost box, windchime, 

wormery and the birdfeeder.

Observed how seeds are growing

and my fingers get greener.


Trellis for the runner beans

and horse manure for potato.

Just wonder of Mona Lisa

knew about that Golden Ratio.


Green and brown for our compost box,

Apparently it is all about the balance of Nitrogen and Carbon,

Something important

like a pair of socks.


Types of soils

and different climates,

Greenhouse effect.

Ohhh no, I have cut my finger,  not a big deal,

But I better wash it well and disinfect.


We are off on our holiday,

But plants shall continue to grow.

Automated watering system,

Will look after them,

And it should be quite easy,

Cos we planted those plants in a row.

Drama Workshop

Over the course of this term our Oaks worked on drama scripts, learning how to write a collaborative script representing a short scene. By choosing between some different scenarios, students worked in small groups to write their own script, editing it while rehearsing for their performance. At the end of the term, each group performed in front of the class and explained how the script was developed from the chosen prompt.

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Maple Class – Term4, 2023

GREEN FINGERS

This term our topic “Green fingers” refers to gardening or growing plants, and our ability to make plants flourish and thrive. So we worked on trying hard to get an affinity for working with plants and create beautiful gardens as well as indoor vegetation with ease.

We developed our understanding of soil composition and its effect on plant growth, knowing the correct amount and frequency of watering and feeding, pruning and shaping plants.

We worked on the process things take to grow from; planting, seeing the roots appearing and then plants and vegetables growing. We then proceeded to our own planting.

During these eight weeks we kept on talking about the environment and compost. Children were asked to bring some compostable items from home as we talked about matters (natural and non natural during the last term)

History

During this term, we talked about the very beginning of the Earth and the apparition of dinosaurs.

Children were taught that Dinosaurs were a group of reptiles that lived millions of years ago. They learnt that they were some of the largest animals to ever walk the Earth, with some species weighing more than 100 tons. Dinosaurs were also incredibly diverse, ranging from small bird-like creatures to massive sauropods with long necks and tails. They lived all over the world and dominated the Earth’s ecosystems for millions of years until a mass extinction event wiped them out around 65 million years ago. Today, scientists study their fossilised remains to learn more about their anatomy, behavior, and evolution.

Science

During this term, we also worked on life cycles closely looking at bees, butterflies, plants and spiders from the very beginning.

We talked about photosynthesis, the process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of organic compounds, like sugars. This process involves the absorption of light by pigments such as chlorophyll, which facilitates the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen through a series of complex biochemical reactions. Photosynthesis is vital for life on Earth as it produces oxygen, which is essential for respiration, and serves as the basis for most food webs.

As part of our project, we decided to build a scarecrow to keep birds and other animals away from our garden. The children used a saw with pieces of wood, old clothes and a marker to make him look like a human with arms and legs. Then children choose a site that provides a good view of the garden.

It has been an amazing experience.

Food Colouring Experiment
During this term, we also conducted an experiment consisting of putting white flowers in food colouring in order to explain to children that water is absorbed by the plant (flower in this case) to its highest level.
Our experience has shown that the flowers, initially with white petals,
,gradually after 3 days, become the coloured. Blue was predominant over red.

Practical life

Practical Life is a key component of the Montessori educational approach. It involves providing children with hands-on, real-life experiences that contribute to the development of physical, intellectual, and social skills.

During this term, we focused on skills related to self-care, such as, dressing and toileting. Care of the environment such as, cleaning and gardening and social skills such as, serving food and cooperating with others.

These activities help children develop their independence, coordination and fine motor skills. Along with concentration and a sense of responsibility. In repeating the same gestures children reinforce their self-confidence and acquire the necessary maturity related to their age and growth.

Sensorial life

Sensorial life refers to our ability to experience and interpret sensory stimuli from the world around us. We focused on using our senses. These senses include sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Our brain processes this sensory information and enables us to perceive, understand and respond to our environment. Sensorial life is crucial for our survival and helps us communicate, learn and connect with others. It is constantly evolving as we interact with the world, and can be enhanced or impaired by various factors such as genetics, environment and experience.

This was provided through a number of our activities related the them Green Fingers. By planting the seeds in the soil, the children developed their touching ability; the daily watering, keeping a log, is also part of the process and development of the sight.

Cooking allows the opportunity to develop our taste buds as well as our cooking and Math skills. We cooked chocolate and vanilla cakes during this term.

Crafts

Through creative activities, we have been able to develop our skills; cutting, sticking, bending as well as working creativity with different materials. Crafting used to make things for personal pleasure and it is also a way to express artistic abilities and create unique items.

During this term, children enjoyed crafting as they find it to be a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend time. They developed their imagination and created things daily, such as, amazing crafts related to insects such as bees, ladybirds and spiders.

Thanks to these activities, children have mostly improved their motor skills and are now able to develop their creativity by using the material they need for and comment this activity.

During this term, we also focused on improving how to use the different matters. This allows the children to be more creative they enjoyed creating insects, plants and diverse works of arts.

Numeracy

During this term, we have continued to work on understanding tens and units and practicing for the children to be more accumulated.

Children have also been strengthening their knowledge of addition and have continued to develop their counting skills by counting from one to hundred, two by two, five by five and ten by ten. The notion of substruction is now becoming more concrete and children have pursued their practice while counting.

We also worked on writing numbers and will continue on the next term.

Spelling/writing

This term we have continued to develop our knowledege and understanding of phonics. We have explored a range of new letters and sounds through actions, songs, story telling and games.

Jolly Phonics phase 4 introduces more new sounds, blends and letter combinations.

The sounds introduced in this phase are :

ai, j, oa, ie, ee, or /ai 

Children will continue to use their knowledge of letter sounds to blend and segment words. They will also learn to read and spell tricky words such as “was”, “my”, “you”, etc.

In this phase 4, children learned to read and write longer words, sentences and stories. They have be encouraged to read with fluency and expression.

Children developed their ability to segment longer words, read and write sentences, practicing tricky words, and using the sounds they have learnt to read and write phonetically plausible words.

We are also focusing on the spoken language thanks to discussions during circle time, we talk about different subjects such as weekend activities, books we are reading in class, their interest in different subjects.

Book read this term :

  • How a seed grows
  • Supertato
  • Superworm
  • What the ladybird heard next
  • I don’t want to eat my dinner
  • The very busy spider
  • The Pout Pout Fish cleans up the ocean

FOREST/PE

During this term, forest activities included building, comparing, tool use, nature art, and wildlife observation. The approach is based on the philosophy that nature provides an ideal setting for children to learn and grow. The children benefit from the freedom to explore and create their own learning experiences in a safe and supportive environment.

Children intuitively explore the world around them and are more aware of how plants, insects, animals take birth, live and die, how they grow. Children also understood that some treasures were hidden in the soil such as seed, roots, insects they discovered that digging was the best way to learn about the local area.

The children also gained confidence in riding their bicycles and were capable of taking long trips.

Children have also worked on developing their ability of throwing and catching through a range of different PE activities and experienced some yoga in the forest.

Music

Music is a form of art that involves organised sounds and rhythms.

During this term, we practiced singing and playing instruments. This has been a way to express emotions, memories and moods through classical and children’s songs and yoga.

Special days

We have worked together with the Primary Section creating ‘Special days’.

In fact, we celebrated Easter by doing traditional activities such as dyeing and hunting Easter eggs , exchanging Easter baskets and preparing Easter activities.

International Forest Day

International Forest Day is observed on the 21st of March every year. It was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 to raise awareness about the importance of trees and forests in sustaining life on earth. The day aims to highlight the significant roles of forests in providing environmental, socio-economic, and cultural benefits to people worldwide.

As a Forest school, we provided a full day in the forest, working, exploraing, understanding and offering recreational values to the children.

An International day has been organised at school with all the parents providing dishes from their own country and creating a very nice ambiance, linking the parents and families .

International book day

World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright.

We celebrated this day with some costumes representing the different characters and offered the children more opportunities to know about the books they were representing.

Zoo

This term has ended with the visit of Thoiry. We have had a very nice walking through the zoo and discovering all these animals. It has been great fun:-)

French

Durant cette quatrième période de l’année, nous avons continué à lire 6 albums de jeunesse (en lien avec le printemps, Pâques…) :

De ces ouvrages, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage, une façon plus ludique et une approche plus concrète.

A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson (7 semaines = 7 chansons):

Le ciel est parcouru d’frissons, L’air du vent, Printemps, Le roi Jazz, Nous aimons vivre, Gentil coquelicot, Pirouette cacahuète.

 Les objectifs de cette période ont été de :

– enrichir la langue française

– construire des phrases plus élaborées mais correctes

– s’exprimer en petit groupe

– tracer le bonhomme de chaque mois

– comprendre les histoires lues

– s’exercer au graphisme

–  reconnaître et nommer des petits mots

– savoir dénombrer une collection

– connaître quelques notions spatiales

S’approprier le vocabulaire du printemps:

– faire des activités en lien avec les fêtes telles que la Saint Patrick, Pâques…

– cuisiner un quatre quart aux pommes

– mémoriser deux poésies (“En mars” et “Printemps)

– s’exprimer de manière artistique

– chanter collectivement une chanson

French IPC

Le thème de cette période était « Green fingers » à savoir en français “Avoir la main verte”. Nous avons principalement mis en lien nos activités avec la germination, le potager (fruits/légumes) et les fleurs. Au travers de 4 albums de lecture, nous avons étudié le cycle de vie d’une plante et la composition de la fleur et nous avons fait pousser des graines de lentilles.

Les enfants ont appris 3 chansons: Savez-vous planter les choux, La ronde des légumes et Fleurs des champs.

Ils ont chanté en forêt.

L’air du vent de Pocahontas
Coccinelle demoiselle
Ani couni en groupe

Forest Exploration

The time in the forest we utilized for all kinds of different activities. Sometimes we were deepening some numeracy skills by organizing a number line or collecting and counting a certain amount of nuts/sticks/leaves.

Often, we used the time to create beautiful nature art or build houses out of sticks.

And, of course, physical education was important for us! We went for bike trips, built , practiced our throwing skills, or went for a nice mushroom hunt.

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Elm Class, Blog 3, 2022-2023

Literacy

Elm are currently reading The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd and have enjoyed trying to work out the whereabouts of Salim, the boy who went up on the London Eye and never came down. They have discussed the possibilities and written diary entries for the boy’s worried mother and for Salim himself, based on their theories for his disappearance. The book’s narrator is an autistic teenager called Ted who struggles with social interaction and whose attempts to decode language (he often takes idioms literally) as well as body language are both touching and humorous.  The book lends itself to reflection and discussion about autism and a different way of seeing the world. The book has lots of cultural references for the class to explore, from the Tate Modern and Andy Warhol to Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the tower blocks that Ted’s father knocks down in his role as a demolition expert.

French

Beginners group with Joanna

We have been very busy this term in French class. The students have been learning new verbs such as avoir (to have) et étre (to be) au présent as well as learning about ‘les déterminants’ (determiners) those little words that are placed in front of the noun and that determine whether or not the noun is masculin/féminin ou pluriel (ex: le, la, les, un, une, des, mon, ma, mes, ce, cet, cette, ces). They have also learned a poem and presented it very successfully (videos hereunder). Since we are living in France ‘pays de la gastronomie’ we have also had the opportunity to celebrate La Galette des Rois & La Chandeleur by baking galettes and making crêpes with the two other French classes.

Intermediate group with Christine

From January to February we explored the world of collections and passions, with Antoine, one of the eight students featured in our study manual. As a reminder, in December we had spoken about the topic of houses with Manon. Through this new topic, we discovered the collections and passions of Antoine and then gave all the students the opportunity to give a presentation of their own collections or passions. By doing this, we learned that one of the students has a passion for shells, another for turtles, specific books, specific cats, dogs…

As each student gave their presentation, others were able to ask them questions about their passion (why, since when, how many…?)

In order to speak about their passions, they had to use some specific sentences such as « ma passion c’est… », « je suis passionné(e) de… », as well as specific adjectives (ce/cet/cette/ces). Those who asked questions also had to master questions « how many/combien de » etc.

In this lesson, we also had to master numbers up to 100 (orally and in writing) when speaking about prices or pocket money.

Alongside this topic, the class learnt a poem about Winter, and because of Epiphany in January and Pancake Day in February, we spent time reading and preparing two popular recipes « galette des rois » and « crêpes ». Cooking is appreciated by all the class and it was fun for us all to work together.

After the break, we will start a new lesson with Akiko who will speak about food, recipes, and healthy meals.

Advanced group with Marie

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée au niveau des apprentissages. Les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français.

en grammaire: les différentes propositions, voix active/ voix passive, les compléments de verbe (cod, coi)

en conjugaison: les temps du récit imparfait/passé simple, le passé composé, le participe passé/infinitif

en orthographe: le pluriel des noms et des adjectifs, le féminin des noms et des adjectifs, une dictée préparée

en mémorisation: 2 poésies ont été apprises et récitées

en littérature: choix d’un livre de lecture (Cheval de guerre de Michael Morpugo) puis fiches à rédiger en répondant aux différentes questions, étude du genre poétique et versification

en expression écrite: employer un verbe pour construire une phrase

2 évaluations ont lieu pendant cette 3ème période.

French IMYC with Marie

Durant ce terme, les élèves ont continué à étudier les explorateurs. Ils ont d’abord fait des recherches sur un des célèbres personnages (Zheng Hu, Christoph Colomb, Magellan, Vasco de Gama, Marco Polo, Jacques Cartier, Bartolome Dias), puis ils ont élaboré des affiches par groupe de 2 ou 3 enfants.

Ensuite, ils ont construit un des 3 objets utilisés par ces grands explorateurs

– le groupe des caravelles

– le groupe des globes

– le groupe des boussoles

Ils ont appris et chanté 2 chansons: Les petits souliers de Guy Béart et Aux Champs Elysées de Joe Dassin.

Geography

This term Elm learned to distinguish between physical and human geography. They learned that human geography involves trends and patterns in human population and the impact of human activity on the environment. They then learnt about land use and economic activity and trade links. As part of this, the class looked at the journeys that products, such as bananas and cocoa beans, take from farm to store, a multi-stage process more complex than they had imagined. This led to a discussion about Fairtrade and why this organisation had been set up.  Working in pairs, the pupils chose a specific Fairtrade product and investigated the countries in which it is produced and the benefits (or not) to the people involved in the numerous stages of the growing, processing and transporting of these products to our shops.

History

The Elm class explored the changes and the great discoveries related to the Renaissance period. They looked at the amazing improvements that the Renaissance brought to Europe, looking at art, architecture and science. The Elm class analysed the extent of the change that occurred between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, looking also at how inventions like the printing press stimulated the circulation of new ideas in Europe. They also learnt about the developments in towns and court, getting familiar with figures of Renaissance princes like Francis I and Henry VIII. 

Science

Elm students learned about material changes to help them remember information about acids and alkalis and how they work safely in the laboratory. We had the chance to create a universal indicator from red cabbage and test it on different solutions. Students learned about Litmus paper and pH scale to identify the acidity of different materials and planned a full investigation to neutralize alkali or an acid.

ICT

Elm class focused on the creation of websites for a chosen purpose. They identified what makes a good web page and used this information to design and evaluate their own website using Google Sites.  Elm class started a simple program to build in and test within the new programming environment, before transferring it to their micro:bit. They used Scratch to create a ping pong game.

Mathematics

In Statistics:

This term, Elms constructed and interpreted various tables, charts, and diagrams, including frequency tables, bar charts, pie charts, stem and leaf diagrams and line graphs. We practised solving comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and line graphs.  Elm students worked on solving different statistics problems where information had to be analysed in order to calculate the required average: range, mode, mean and median.

In Probability and ratio:

During this unit, we discovered vocabulary related to probability and know that Impossible, Unlikely, Even Chance, Likely and Certain relate to 0, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1, respectively. We then solved probability problems where we had to find all possible outcomes and calculate the probability of the desirable outcome. We then moved onto solving problems with ratio and now know how to simplify ratios and how to use ratio to compare quantities.

On the 2nd of February Elm and Cedar students participated in Les Concours Archimède. Les JEUX ÉNIGMES SOLIDAIRES pour collégiens francophones depuis 1989.

These puzzle games allowed children to highlight their knowledge, clearly express their mathematical thoughts and use their sense of observation.

37th International Mathematical Games

6 of our Elm and Cedar Mathematicians will participate in the 1/2 final of the 37th International Mathematical Games and on the 18th of March will proudly represent our school. Good luck with crunching those numbers and solving tricky logical problems.

Design and Technology

Elm students will proudly represent our school in the Thomas Edison Pitch Contest where they will present their prototype, explain how it works and what difference it will make. Most importantly, Elms will work in teams and will try their best to achieve their set goals collaboratively.

Helped out with the compost bin,
And wormery contraption.
Participated in “Thomas Edison competition”,
And have acquired the DIY foundation.

Automated food dispenser for dogs
Is under construction creation.
And quite tricky system to create water
Out of thin air is our ambition.

Measuring, thinking,
designing and plotting .
Think outside the box
And nothing is blocking.

Will work hard on our projects,
To make our future brighter.
Do you know what was invented first,
Matches or lighter?

Teamwork approach,
And communication,
We will pull it through even during our holiday,
If we will find dedication.

Art

Over the course of this term, the Elm class explored the work of Pointillist painters, looking at the work of artists like Paul Signac and Georges Seurat. Each student focused on a different subject to portrait, creating different kinds of landscapes and using both their memories and their imagination to create them. By using paint, the students created their own Pointillist piece of art, working on the relationship between light and shades of colours. 

Drama Workshops

Over the course of this term, our Elms practised improvisation and learnt how to incorporate body language, face expression and the use of voice in an improvised performance. Students worked in different groups, creating improvised scenes based on different stimuli, like a specific scenario or a group of objects. The Elm class also learnt how to give feedback when watching a performance, highlighting elements of appreciation, and providing suggestions. 

Creative Writing Workshops

Over the course of this term, our Elms practised improvisation and learnt how to incorporate body language, face expression and the use of voice in an improvised performance. Students worked in different groups, creating improvised scenes based on different stimuli, like a specific scenario or a group of objects. The Elm class also learnt how to give feedback when watching a performance, highlighting elements of appreciation, and providing suggestions. 

Global perspectives

The Elm class conducted research on different languages spoken around the world. They investigated the ways in which languages have been developed and linked to different cultures. They looked at very known languages – like German and Dutch – but also at languages spoken in smaller areas, like Maltese and Welsh. The outcome of their research was communicated through the creation of a short booklet that included all the most relevant information about the targeted language, including links to literature, movies and drama pieces produced in that language. 

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Cedar Class, Blog 3, 2022-2023

Literacy

Cedar are currently reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, their second Victorian novella following last term’s A Christmas Carol by Dickens. The class are building on their understanding of Victorian England, particularly London, which at the time of this story was the richest city on Earth, yet with some of the world’s poorest slums. Besides reading the book and interpreting the themes of duality in human nature as well as in society, the class are learning about the culture of the era with regard to science, religion, literature and art to gain an understanding of the world that Robert Louis Stevenson lived in and to put into context Victorian literature.

French

Intermediate group with Christine

From January to February we explored the world of collections and passions, with Antoine, one of the eight students featured in our study manual. As a reminder, in December we had spoken about the topic of houses with Manon. Through this new topic, we discovered the collections and passions of Antoine, and then each student had the opportunity to make a presentation of their own collections or passions. By doing this, we learned that one of the class has a passion for shells, another for turtles, specific books, specific cats, dogs…

While the students made their presentations, others were able to ask them questions about their passion (why, since when, how many…?)

In order to speak about their passions, they had to use some specific sentences such as « ma passion c’est… », « je suis passionné(e) de… », as well as specific adjectives (ce/cet/cette/ces). Those who asked questions also had to master questions « how many/combien de » etc.

In this lesson, we also had to master numbers up to 100 (orally and in writing) when speaking about prices or pocket money.

Alongside this topic, the class learnt a poem about Winter, and because of Epiphany in January and Pancake Day in February, we spent time reading and preparing two popular recipes « galette des rois » and « crêpes ». Cooking is appreciated by all the class and it was a nice opportunity for all of us to work together. After the break, we will start a new lesson with Akiko who will speak about food, recipes and healthy meals.

Advanced group with Marie

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée au niveau des apprentissages. Les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français.

en grammaire: les différentes propositions, voix active/voix passive, les compléments de verbe (cod, coi).

en conjugaison: les temps du récit imparfait/passé simple, le passé-composé, le participe passé/l’infinitif.

en orthographe: le pluriel des noms et des adjectifs, le féminin des noms et des adjectifs, une dictée préparée

en mémorisation: 2 poésies ont été apprises et récitées

en littérature: étude du genre poétique et versification

en expression écrite: la phrase et sa ponctuation

2 évaluations ont lieu pendant cette 3ème période

French/English IMYC with Joanna

This term Cedar worked on a very important topic: the Student Council. They began the term by introducing the topic to Oak and Elm students showing their skills of public speaking, getting their points across, speaking in a clear & concise way to be understood by all. During these meetings the 0ak & Elm students voted for the person they wanted to represent their classes for the rest of the school year (Arwen for Elm and Chloé for Oak). In further meetings the aim was to brainstorm within each class (Cedar students being the activity leaders) on any suggestions students would want to present to the Head of School (they discussed various things such as the cantine, computers, field trips, equipment, craft workshops, fundraising etc). At the end of this term the Student Representatives held their very first & very successful Student Council meeting with the Head of School where all these subjects were discussed. The 3 classes also voted on a beautiful motto : Learning to Love and Loving to Learn and created a ‘Pass on the Positivity poster’.

Ils ont appris et chanté 2 chansons: Les petits souliers de Guy Béart et Aux Champs Elysées de Joe Dassin.

Geography

The focus this term was Africa and after testing our knowledge of the countries in this vast continent (by trying to identify them on a blank map), each member of the class selected a particular country to research. They looked at its geographichal location, weather and climate, population, physical and human features and, where applicable, tourism and its effects. They also researched historical facts about the country and changes in population, economy and migration over time. The class looked at the effects of climate change, desertification where relevant, rural to urban migration and the particular strengths and challenges facing their selected country.

History

Our Cedars have been engaged with the study of the struggles for civil rights conducted by African Americans in the USA between the 1950s and 1970s. The students looked at the life of famous African Americans, like Jesse Owens and Martin Luther King. They also explored how African Americans fought for their civil rights, looking at the different ways in which they protested over the course of twenty years. Alongside that, our Cedars practised analytical writing, getting more and more familiar with a paragraph structure used to answer GCSE style questions. 

Science

Cedar students enjoyed learning about more chemistry concepts around the electron’s arrangement in shells; they learned about chemical and physical properties of group 1 and their reaction with water and metals. Cedar also explored the properties and trends of halogens and noble gases. Cedar students are now capable of naming metal-metal and metal-nonmetal compounds. They explored the different chemical bondings like covalent and ionic bonds.

ICT

In this unit, Elm students explored the concept of variables in programming through games in Scratch. First, learners find out what variables are and relate them to real-world examples of values that can be set and changed. Then they use variables to create a simulation of a scoreboard. They used the Modify-Create model in which learners experiment with variables in an existing project and then modify them before they create their own project.

Mathematics

In Statistics:

Cedar students constructed and interpreted various data tables, charts and diagrams, including frequency tables, bar charts, pie charts, pictograms, line graphs, stem and leaf charts and scatter graphs (correlation). Cedar students can clearly distinguish between positive and negative correlation, identify if it is strong, moderate or weak and understand that all outliers are not taken into consideration while drawing the line of the best fit. We then dived deeper into the construction of pie charts and calculated desirable percentage and number of degrees for the specific group of data. We also solved probability problems where we had to find all possible outcomes and calculated the probability of the desirable outcome. We then moved onto solving problems with ratio and proportion and now know how to simplify ratios and how to use ratio to compare quantities.

On the 2nd of February Elm and Cedar students participated in Les Concours Archimède. Les JEUX ÉNIGMES SOLIDAIRES pour collégiens francophones depuis 1989.

These puzzle games allowed children to highlight their knowledge, clearly express their mathematical thoughts and use their sense of observation.

37th International Mathematical Games

6 of our Elm and Cedar Mathematicians will participate in the 1/2 final of the 37th International Mathematical Games and on the 18th of March will proudly represent our school. Good luck with crunching those numbers and solving tricky logical problems.

Design and Technology

So they say that I worked hard this term… I had better put my feet up then, I think I deserve it.

Mrs. Harrington would agree…

Art

Our Cedars looked at the life and work of the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, looking at the links between art and music suggested by his paintings. Using Kandinsky’s art as inspiration, Cedar students explored the use of lines, shapes and colour to communicate different moods. Over the course of the term, each Cedar student chose an instrumental piece of music to be represented through abstract painting, using both water colours and paint. 

Drama Workshops

During this term, the Cedar class began to work on Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”. The Cedar students started to read and perform the first act of the play, also doing significant work on tweaking and adjusting the play to the performance that they wanted to create. Our Cedars also worked on the study of their own characters, using the “hot seat” activity as a way to explore the background and the main characteristics of their own characters. The students designed their own questionnaire for the “hot seat” activity, reflecting on the best questions to explore the complexity of their characters. 

Creative Writing Workshops

Over the course of this term, the Cedar class continued their creative writing workshops, looking at how to edit their own fictional texts. The students learnt how to make small or bigger changes to their own writing, making sure that their fictional piece of writing included the main elements of narrative conventions. By doing that, the Cedar students appreciated the complexity of the editing process, learning how to modify their text to convey a specific meaning. 

Global perspectives

Over the course of this term, the Cedar class learnt how to create an academic poster to communicate the outcomes of their research. They focused on migrations – choosing case studies appropriate to answer their research questions. Working in two groups, the students designed their own posters, working on all the relevant sections, like the presentation of the research questions, the discussion of the methodology and the conclusions they developed from the results of their research. 

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Oak Class, Blog 3, 2022-2023

Literacy

This term’s lessons were built around the book The Firework Maker’s Daughter, which we will continue to read next term. The class have enjoyed meeting the characters in the book and discussing their personalities. The story led us to learn about fireworks, their history and the ingredients used to make modern day firework displays, not so different from when they were invented in China many centuries ago. The class learnt how different chemicals are used to give colour – copper, barium , strontium and sodium – and created their own firework recipes, giving step by step instructions, using the imperative form of verbs and relevant time conjunctions.

The class also learnt poetry this term, two poems by Christina Rossetti, ‘Who has Seen the Wind’ and ‘Hurt No Living Thing’ as well as ‘February’ by E N Bodecker. The class were able to recite these beautiful poems by heart and write them out, too.

Mount Merapi, Indonesia

French

Beginners group with Joanna

We have been very busy this term in French class. The students have been learning new verbs such as avoir (to have) et étre (to be) au présent as well as learning about ‘les déterminants’ (determiners), those little words that are placed in front of the noun and that determine whether or not the noun is masculin/féminin ou pluriel (ex: le, la, les, un, une, des, mon, ma, mes, ce, cet, cette, ces). They have also learned a poem and presented it very successfully (videos hereunder). Since we are living in France, ‘pays de la gastronomie’, we have also had the opportunity to celebrate La Galette des Rois & La Chandeleur by baking galettes and making crêpes with the two other French classes.

Intermediate group with Christine

These first two months of the year were much the same as the two previous ones in the organisation of lessons. Vega and Sophie take part in the calendar activity, the oral presentations of the older ones, and in the debrief of the weekend each Monday morning. After that, Vega and Sophie each have specific work according to their level. Each of them is developing their French reading and writing skills at their own pace. Two special events took place this term; in January, we prepared the traditional « galette des rois » for the feast of Epiphany, and in February we prepared « crêpes » for Pancake Day. The class really enjoyed this baking time, as well as spending time with the other students from all classes.

Advanced group with Marie

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée au niveau des apprentissages. Les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français:

en grammaire: phrase simple/phrase complexe, voix active/voix passive, les compléments de verbes (cod, coi)

en conjugaison: le passé simple, le passé composé, le participe passé/l’infinitif

en orthographe: les sons g/j, s/ss/c, k/q/c, le pluriel des noms et des adjectifs

en mémorisation: 2 poésies ont été apprises et récitées

en littérature: choix d’un livre de lecture puis étude de différents passages du livre, le genre poétique et versification, lectures silencieuses

2 évaluations ont eu lieu pendant cette 3ème période.

French IMYC with Marie

Durant ce terme, les élèves ont continué à étudier les explorateurs. Ils ont d’abord fait des recherches sur un des célèbres personnages (Zheng Hu, Christophe Colomb, Magellan, Bartoleme Diaz, Jacques Cartier, Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama ) et puis ils ont élaboré des affiches par groupe de 2 ou 3 enfants.

Ensuite, ils ont construit un des 3 objets utilisés par ces grands explorateurs

– le groupe des caravelles

– le groupe des globes

– le groupe des boussoles

Ils ont appris et chanté 2 chansons: Les petits souliers de Guy Béart et Aux Champs Elysées de Joe Dassin

Geography

This term Oak learnt about the structure of the Earth and about volcanoes and earthquakes. The class learnt that the Earth has four main components:  the crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core  and that each layer has a unique chemical composition and physical state and can have a dramatic effect on life on Earth’s surface. The class learnt about the theories of Continental Drift and plate tectonics as well as the Ring of Fire, a path along the Pacific Ocean characterised by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.

Pacific Ring of Fire

History

During this term, our Oaks looked at life in ancient Egypt, exploring many different topics. They looked at the way in which ancient Egyptians settled around the Nile and built temples and pyramids. They also looked at the Egyptian religion, exploring the different gods and goddesses that were worshipped. They also worked on the Egyptian alphabet, learning how to write their own names with hieroglyphs.

Science

Oak class enjoyed learning about metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks and their properties.  They had the opportunity to make an experiment about rocks’ permeability and test their hardness. They examined a set of rocks and named the most common, based on traits and criteria. They identified and displayed the rock cycle and classified rocks as natural and human made.

ICT

Oak students explored the concept of variables in programming through games in Scratch. They have to find out what variables are and relate them to real-world examples of values that can be set and changed. Then they use variables to create a simulation of a scoreboard. They created games and storyboards and applied their knowledge of variables and design to improve their games in Scratch.

Mathematics

Calculating, measuring and understanding shapes:

Oak students worked on measuring and drawing simple 2D shapes and then converting them into compound shapes. Students practised identifying the main properties of 3D shapes and looked for various 2D shapes present in them. Young Oaks then drew polygons and classified them by identifying their properties, including their line of symmetry. Students worked on visualising 3-D objects from 2-D drawings, made nets of common solids and measured their volume. To deepen our knowledge of 3D shapes, we experimented with cubes/pyramids and cones/cylinders and solved practical volume problems. We filled them with water and found out that the volume of a cone is 1/3 of the volume of a cylinder where the base and height is the same in both shapes.

In Statistics we solved comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and line graphs.

Design and Technology

As part of our collaborative project with Birch and Walnut Classes (and some Cedars came to help), we worked on designing our very own Compost Bin that we will be using next term. Linking our topics in Design & Technology and Mathematics, the children accurately measured the angles, calculated the distance between the planks of wood and used properties of 2D and 3D shapes on their designing journey. Oaks realised the importance of measuring angles and clearly saw that measurements have to be accurate in order for the different parts to fit together correctly.

So there we were,
Cutting and drilling.
Measuring, thinking
Worked well as a team and were quite willing.

We will grow our own veg,
That are very organic.
Will get our hands dirty,
But will wash them, don’t panic.

Compost bin creation,
We have conjured together.
Nothing could stop us,
Even cold weather.

Greenhouse effect
we have discussed in science.
Picked up quite a lot of new things
And self reliance.

Wormery we built,
For our best friends worms.
Amazing things they do,
We hope everyone knows.

Raised beds, greenhouse
And wormery construction.
Enthusiasm was pumping,
Like a volcanic eruption.

Still a long way to go
But we will manage.
Automated watering system, birdfeeders and scarecrow creature.
Hey mum, do you know how to use a drill?
Just look at this, I will teach ya.

Green Garden Project just started,
But we are already delighted.
If you would like to come and help,
Don’t hesitate to come forward, you are invited.

Art

Over the course of this term, the Oak class looked at the Pointillist movement, exploring the work of painters like Georges Seurat and Georges Lemmen. Each Oak student focused on a different type of landscape – real or imaginary – and represented it through the use of Pointillism. Our Oaks mainly used paint and learnt how to create different gradients of colours, focusing on the way light may impact the choice of the colouring effects that they want to create.

Drama Workshops

During this term, our Oaks worked enthusiastically on improvisation, learning how to create short scenes based on different given scenarios. The Oak class learnt how to make use of different elements – voice, face expressions and body language – when improvising a short performance. Oak students continued to work in small groups, learning how to work with everyone in the class and creating a supportive and positive environment for performances. 

Creative Writing Workshops

Over the course of this term, the Oak class looked at the editing process, learning how to modify the drafts of their stories and to develop the final version of their texts. The Oak students learnt how to modify their own texts, adding details or changing the way they have expressed a certain idea. The students enjoyed the writing and editing process and understood the importance of going back to their drafts before finalising them. By the end of the term, our Oaks had created their own book of fairy tales!

Global perspectives

Our Oaks researched about the prevention of food waste. The students have been very engaged, using personal and local perspectives when exploring the cause and consequences of food waste. While researching, the students made meaningful reflections, looking at the way food waste may happen and drawing interesting conclusions. The result of their research – that grouped very practical ways to prevent food waste at personal and local level – has been creatively presented in a very colourful poster.

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Chestnut Class Term 3 – 2023

We had a lot of fun this Term with our topic ‘Stories people tell’. We read many classic stories but we mainly focused on “The Hare and the Tortoise”, “Goldilocks and the three bears,” and “The gigantic turnip.” For Chinese New Year’s we explored Chinese stories that explain the festivities and the Chinese Zodiac and during Valentine’s day we read “Pete the Cat: Valentine’s day is cool.”

During this term we emphasized topics regarding environmentally friendly practices such as using our food and paper waste to make compost and we also discussed the process of planting and growing food, which we will continue through the remainder of the school year.

Making a compost bucket with the Maple, Birch and Walnut classes

We got together to introduce an important topic that will be a part of a big school project regarding composting and planting food. We made a compost bin using different materials that are leftover from our daily activities and snacks (e.g., paper, orange peels). We also made distinction between nitrogen and carbon and discussed how they go well together to make compost. We talked about what compost does for the earth and about being grateful for everything the planet gives us.

We identified the different materials that we dispose of on a daily basis and we discussed how they can be used to help the earth.

Nitrogen: We explored the different smells and textures of used materials like green tea leaves, coffee grains, orange peels, egg shells and , strawberry leftovers.

Carbon: We cut up our paper scraps and egg cartons into small pieces and mixed it with sawdust to help the nitrogen materials to decompose and to also help with the strong odours that come with rotting food scraps.

The Gigantic Turnip

During circle time we discussed more in depth about how the foods we have for snack will rot over time and we looked at some of our leftovers.

We complemented the composting lessons with this lovely story that is all about planting and farming vegetables.

We used different images and materials to learn about how we can plant seeds and roots to get food. We also use this as an opportunity to practice our math skills buy adding seeds then taking them away when we harvested them.

The Hare and the Tortoise

We had a lot of fun exploring this classic fable and understanding its message: “Slow and steady wins the race”. We also used the characters to learn more about biology and understanding the similarities and differences between a hare vs. rabbit and turtle vs. tortoise.

We also made hare and tortoise puppets, which gave us many opportunities to be creative when acting out the race and storyline.

We even took the hare vs. tortoise race out into the orchard and shared some fun times with our friends from the Maple class.

Chinese New Year

To celebrate Chinese New Year we cooked some traditional Chinese dishes with the Maple, Birch and, Walnut classes and we got to eat together with our older siblings and friends.

In the classroom we learned about the Chinese New year story, which taught us all about the Chinese zodiac animals and creatures. We also learned that 2023 is the year of the rabbit and we made our very own bunny ears using the traditional red and golden colours.

We played matching games, made lanterns, got our lucky money and our favourite, got to make our own dragon masks.

Goldilocks and the three bears

We used this version of the story because in the end Goldilocks helps the bears tidy up the mess she made in their house (instead of running away scared and never coming back to the forest, which is the original ending to this story).

We learned all about this fun story by using puppets, pictures, games and also by acting out the storyline with the Maple class.

We made some porridge together and we experimented with different spices and flavours. We used our sense of smell, taste, sight, and touch to really delve into our cooking experience. We made five badges of porridge: Turmeric, paprika, caramel, vanilla and cinnamon. It was interesting to have different preferences, some students liked the savoury porridge and others liked the sweet porridge. All and all we had a lot of fun making it and we learned even more!

We used the story of “Goldilocks and the three bears” to practice the sound ‘G.’ We also used our fine motor skills and sensory skills to place little paper balls and paper mache pieces on Goldilocks.

Valentine’s day

We made Valentine’s day cards for our friends, we had an epic “heart harvest” in the orchard and we learned so much about friendship. We had puppets shows in which the students were presented with different scenarios that can occur between friends when playing or interacting in the classroom. The puppets taught us to use our words and gave us tools to resolve conflict that may occur between friends and classmates.

We also made Vantine’s day cookies for our families and to enjoy amongst ourselves.

We are so excited for what is to come in term 4. We have noticed that the students are very interested in animals so our topic will be the animal kingdom!

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Maple Class – Term 3, 2023

What is it made of?

This term, the whole class have worked together to build upon their speaking and listening skills. It has offered the children a range of opportunities to discuss as well as gain an understand of the different types of materials they would come across on a day to day basis. They have learnt that some materials are “made or created by the human being” and some are “natural”.

We explored the 5 senses and experienced different matters (plastic, glass, textile, wood, leaves and minerals). Taking our learning further we also studied solid/liquid (making ice), rough/tough (through touching), salty/sweet (though cooking and tasting) and exploring the world around us (through sounds and sight).

We also extended our knowledge and understanding of the world by talking about winter and its consequences on trees as well as the water cycle.

Geography/Botanic

During this term, we continue to name the continents and we also associated them to countries, including the flags used to represent them, as well as discovered monuments related to them.

Moreover, we learnt about botanics, exploring the different parts of trees and their living cycle. This allowed us to talk about the water cycle and explain how do trees, plants, grass,…grow and develop. As a class we began to work on recycling, composting waste and developing an understanding of our environment.

Practical life

The Maple class children show great enjoyment in the everyday practical life activities that support and reinforce their self-confidence. We have achieved this by repeating and developing gestures and knowledges. By providing opportunities for the children to improve upon their fine motor skills through; opening, closing, building, cutting this in turn allows the children make their own experiences and learning journey paths.

Alone or in group, children enjoy working with the materials they already know, very well, and finding new ways to develop their skills, along with trying to find new and appropriate ways to use them.

Sensorial life

Sensorial has been the most important aspect of our six weeks term.

We have closely worked on developing the five senses; sight, taste, hearing, touch and smell. This has been achieved through experiencing a lot of different matters and materials.

Our Wednesday cooking time provided us the opportunities to develop our taste buds as well as our cooking skills. We made lots of yummy things; salty pie, Galette, waffles, cookies, boa’s and noodles.

Crafts

As part of the imagination development the children, play an active role in our daily planning.

During this term, we focused on improving how to use the scissors by themselves and being more precise in their gestures. This has been a huge part of supporting the children on developing their fine motor skills through painting, cutting, gluing, and using some different materials such as erasers, staplers, rulers, craft punchers.

Numeracy

This term, we have worked on understanding tens and units. The children have continued to develop their counting skills by counting from 1 to hundred. This is also a part of our daily routine. They have also been introduced to the notion of substruction while counting. Along with strengthening their knowledge of addition. They have also made great efforts on writing numbers. The children are also improving counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. We have also been working hard on identifying 3Ds’ shapes and trying to understand their similarities and differences.

Spelling/writting

This term we have continued to develop our knowledege and understanding of phonics. We have explored a range of new letters and sounds through actions, songs, story telling and games.

Children have worked hard on everyday spellings as well as their letter formation and writting skills. The children are now using the materials provided to support themselves as well as to improve their language skills.

We are also focusing on the spoken language thanks to discussions during circle time, we talk about different subjects such as weekend activities, books we are reading in class, their interest in different subjects.

The aim is to ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills by developing a capacity to explain their understanding of books and other reading, also to prepare their ideas before they write.

Book read this term :

  • The Gruffalo
  • The Fox’s Hiccups
  • Tabby Mac Tat
  • One ted falls out of bed
  • The Hueys in the new jumper
  • Cave baby

FOREST/PE

Children intuitively explore the world around them and enjoy the time spent in the forest. They love making new discoveries and naturally challenging their physical strength by climbing, jumping and running. The forest is the place where they feel free to express themselves. The children gain self- confidence and play with others. This term, the class have greatly enjoyed riding bicycles and for some learning to ride a bicycle.

The children have also used different kind of tools to explore the forest, living cycles and experimenting skills. They have used natural materials to support their exploration.

Music

During this term, we discovered a range of different musical instruments. We have used them in different ways to play rhythms and create sound. Children also enjoyed music in the forest.

Special days

During this term, we have worked all together with the primary section creating ‘Special days’.

In fact, we celebrated the Chinese New Year and prepared some food as well as took part in crafting workshops. It has been the occasion to talk about China, the history of the Chinese New Year and the continent of Asia.

As part of out time together we have also began to talk about environment and compost.

At the end of the term, we also celebrated Marias’ and Nicolas’ birthdays as well as Carnaval:-)

French

Durant cette troisième période de l’année, nous avons continué à lire 6 albums de jeunesse (en lien avec l’hiver, la galette, la Saint Valentin, le Carnaval…) :

De ces ouvrages, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage, une façon plus ludique et une approche plus concrète.

A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson (6 semaines = 6 chansons):

J’aime la galette, Loin du froid de décembre, Trois esquimaux, Les petits souliers, Petits flocons blancs, L’amour brille sous les étoiles.

 Les objectifs de cette période ont été de :

– enrichir la langue française

– construire des phrases plus élaborées mais correctes

– s’exprimer en petit groupe

– tracer le bonhomme de chaque mois

– comprendre les histoires lues

– s’entraîner au graphisme

–  reconnaître et nommer des petits mots

– savoir dénombrer une collection

– connaître quelques notions spatiales

S’approprier le vocabulaire de l’hiver

– faire des activités en lien avec les fêtes telles que la galette des rois, la chandeleur, la Saint Valentin et le Carnaval

– cuisiner la galette et les crêpes

– mémoriser une poésie (“C’est l’hiver”)

Comptine “C’est l’hiver”Download

– s’exprimer de manière artistique

– chanter collectivement une chanson

L’amour brille sous les étoiles du film le Roi Lion

French IPC

Le thème de cette période était « What is it made of  ». Nous avons axer nos activités principalement avec la musique. Au travers de 2 albums de lecture, nous avons étudié les différentes familles d’instruments de musique et nous avons fabriqué notre guitare avec des matériaux de récupération.

Les enfants ont appris 2 chansons: Do, le do, il a bon dos et La ronde des musiciens

Ils ont chanté en forêt.

Forest Exploration

The time in the forest we utilized for all kinds of different activities. Sometimes we were deepening some numeracy skills by organizing a number line or collecting and counting a certain amount of nuts/sticks/leaves.

Often, we used the time to create beautiful nature art or build houses out of sticks.

And, of course, physical education was important for us! We went for bike trips, built challenging parkours, practiced our throwing skills, or went for a nice mushroom hunt.

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Birch Class – Term 3 – 2022/2023

Through an active, rich and diverse curriculum, we continued to make excellent progress in our learning during this term.

The Circus is coming to town!

Our topic this term has been “The circus is coming to town!” the children have learnt about the history of the circus and how it has changed over the years. We discussed circus’ of the past and present and what they might be like in the future. Furthermore, we have shared thoughts and opinions on if we are for or against animals performing.

Maths

During this term we kept on developing our numeracy skills.

We continued to use symbols (+, -, =, <, >) in written number sentences and used a variety of vocabulary around these. We have explored number facts within 20 and found different ways to represent them. We have learnt about the number facts and applied these to solve problems in different contexts. Also, we used different strategies for adding and subtracting numbers, including counting on and counting back, bridging ten and finding the difference. We used different concrete resources and representations to help deepen our understanding.

We also continued to gain confidence in counting, reading and writing numbers up to 50. We developed fluency in identifying and representing numbers in different representations and in applying these skills in different contexts. We also learn to count in steps of two, five and ten, and write numbers in numerals and words.

Literacy

We have had great fun this term learning new things and applying what we already now. We have continued to develop our reading and phonic skills through completing a range of tasks.

We have enjoyed playing phonic games!

Also, enjoyed having a little dance when we have got the words correct.

This term, the children have been working on developing their reading and writing skills. They have explored a range of different genres. These activities have supported their development of vocabulary and formulation of sentences.

Firstly, Birch class identified the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts. From this, they explored the features of a non-fiction texts and how they are structured.

The class then worked as a team to retrieve information about a given topic. We chose to learn about fire engines.

Using the information that we had collected we were able to write labels, construct sentences, through cutting and sticking, as well as write short sentences using key vocabulary.

Taking our learning further we applied these newly learnt skills to writing about other things that interest us. We were all able to achieve the same out come at our own pace.

From this, we have continued to work on our understanding of sentence structure. Using pictures and key vocabulary to support our writing.

Science

In Science we have been learning all about materials including wood, plastic, metal, water and rock. We learnt to identify and name everyday materials and had the opportunity to explore the properties of these materials. We carried out a simple investigation to help us decide which material would be most suitable to use for an umbrella.

We also considered what it would be like if the tables were made of jelly or the chairs were chocolate!

Design and Technology

As part of our collaborative project with Oak and Walnut Classes (and some Cedars came to help), we worked on designing our very own Compost Bin that we will be using in the next term. Linking our topics in Design & Technology and Mathematics, the children accurately measured the angles, calculated the distance between the planks of wood and used properties of 2D and 3D shapes on their designing journey. Brilliant Birch students realised the importance of measuring angles and clearly saw that measurements have to be accurate in order for the different parts to fit together correctly.

So there we were,
Cutting and drilling.
Measuring, thinking
Worked well as a team and were quite willing.

We will grow our own veg,
That are very organic.
Will get our hands dirty,
But will wash them, don’t panic.

Compost bin creation,
We have conjured together.
Nothing could stop us,
Even cold weather.

Greenhouse effect
we have discussed in science.
Picked up quite a lot of new things
And self reliance.

Wormery we built,
For our best friends worms.
Amazing things they do,
We hope everyone knows.

Raised beds, greenhouse
And wormery construction.
Enthusiasm was pumping,
Like a volcanic eruption.

Still a long way to go
But we will manage.
Automated watering system, birdfeeders and scarecrow creature.
Hey mum, do you know how to use a drill?
Just look at this, I will teach ya.

Green Garden Project just started,
But we are already delighted.
If you would like to come and help,
Don’t hesitate to come forward, you are invited.

Physical Education

Forest Exploration and cycling

Forest exploration is a huge part of Forest International School.

It is particularly rewarding for the children to enjoy free play in the forest.

This term, Birch and Walnut have ventured further into the forest. We have developed their biking skills and applied themselves to new biking challenges.

In PE we have been playing lots of different games to improve our coordination skills and to reinforce the importance of working together as a team. We particularly enjoyed playing hide and seek.

Music

This term, the children of Birch and Walnut have been learning about beat, rhythm, pace and tempo. First, we explored different sounds using our hands, feet and bodies.

From this, the children investigated different beats and tempo’s using the precussional instruments. We took our learning out of the classroom and into the forest.

Art

Knitting

This term, the children have been learning how to knit this has supported the development of fine motor skills and in the process they have learnt a new skill.

Creative workshop

The children have been given a range of opportunities to explore their creativity. Both Birch and Walnut children have come together to work on many different projects.

First, the children explored this terms theme “The circus is coming to town!” they were provided with a mixture of materials and then asked to discuss and create something that linked to out theme.

The children were engaged and created their own competition to where the winner would place their design on a canvas. As a result of this workshop the children made Circus posters, 3D models of Circus tents, information leaflets and much more!

Chinese Art

The children of the primary section learnt about the story told of 12 animals that competed in race and of how now each animal represents a new lunar year. We learnt about the importance of red envelopes and how to write in Chinese.

cooking

The Primary Section came together to celebrate the new lunar year. This year is the year if the rabbit. The children learnt about the different traditions practiced over the new lunar year celebrations.

French

Beginner Group with Joanna

It has been a very busy start to 2023 and the students have learned lots of new French vocabulary, songs, poems, read books and played educational games. As we have changed seasons, the students have learned a song about l’Hiver (winter). We have begun a new French beginner learning programme called Tatou le Matou. Each week we listen (audio guide) and read a story about Tatou le chat and then the children have their own workbooks where they listen and answer questions related to the story/theme. The students really enjoy Tatou’s adventures. We also do a weekly session of handwriting where the students are learning how to write in cursive. The children are rightly very proud of how quickly they are developing this technique while also learning to write words in French.

Advanced group with Marie

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée en apprentissage puisque plusieurs notions de grammaire et de conjugaison ont été abordées en plus des nouveaux sons et des fiches de lecture et de compréhension. Nous avons abordé différents thèmes tels que l’hiver, la galette, le Nouvel An Chinois, les crêpes, la saint Valentin…

Les livres lus durant ce terme ont été les suivants:

De ces albums, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage des voyelles et des consonnes.

A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson:

J’aime la galette, Loin du froid de décembre, Trois esquimaux, Les petits souliers, L’amour brille sous les étoiles.

Les objectifs de cette période ont été:

– d’approfondir la langue française

– de s’exprimer de manière plus fluide

– de renforcer la syntaxe en s’exprimant oralement

– de connaître et d’acquérir les sons et les consonnes ( N, P, T, C/K/Q, D, B) ainsi que le principe du code alphabétique

– d’ associer le nom de la consonne et de connaître le son qu’elle produit

– se familiariser avec la dictée

– de lire et de comprendre les histoires lues, de livres (collection Sami et Julie)

– de réciter une poésie “L’hiver” de Karine Persillet

– de chanter collectivement une chanson

– de préparer une carte pour la saint Valentin

French IPC with Joanna and Marie

We have had a very busy and exciting start to 2023 in IPC French class! The main theme for this term was La Cirque (The Circus) where we learned a lot of new vocabulary related to this topic and we ended the term with a fantastic 2 day Circus Workshop where the students got to put what they learned into practice and became acrobats/jugglers/magicians for 2 afternoon sessions with a professional circus artist & teacher with over 20 years of experience. We also celebrated La Galette des Rois, La Chandeleur and Le Nouvel An Chinois (the students learned how to write in Chinese calligraphy). The children showed off their baking skills by making galettes & crêpes and they all enjoyed eating them!

CIRCUS WORKSHOP

During our two-day workshop we learnt some pretty amazing skills. The children of Birch and Walnut took part in a master class workshop led by a professional circus performer.

We learnt all about the different types of equipment a circus performer uses and how it is used safely and properly.

All their hard work led to an amazing performance. The children were able to share their newly learnt skills with the rest of the school.

Posted on

Walnut Class Term 3 2022-23

What an amazing term we have had! Our time together has flown by. We have had some super cool adventures and learnt lots of new things. Let’s have a look back!

The Circus is coming to town!

Our topic this term has been “The circus is coming to town!” the children have learnt about the history of the circus and how it has changed over the years. We discussed circus’ of the past and present and what they might be like in the future. Furthermore, we have shared thoughts and opinions on if we are for or against animals performing.

Literacy

This term, Walnut class have continued to develop their drafting and editing skills. This allows the children to work independently as well as develop their knowledge and understanding of the different features of writing. They became the teachers and gave constructive feedback on others work.

The children continued to develop their use of varying sentence lengths to ensure the reader stays interested. They used a range of different colours to highlight vocabulary used to avoid repetition.

The children have explored a range of model texts (the best examples of writing) to support their development when writing for that genre.

From this, the children worked in pairs to edit and improve sections of the model text. This allowed the children to share, use and develop their vocabulary skills. Once they had completed this task the new sentences were placed together to make a induction for an overcoming the monster narrative.

As a class, we focused on continuing to improve our descriptive skills. The children achieved this through creating different characters and generating vocabulary to describe them.

The children then worked on developing their use of different words. They did this by selecting a noun, adjective, verb and adverb to include in a sentence.

From this, they used the selected words to construct their sentences. In groups they read through the sentences to ensure that they made sense.

Walnut class have been working hard to develop their reading skills. They are encouraged to read at every occasion. As apart of this we have worked on reading aloud in front of the class.

Walnut class have also continued to develop their dictionary and thesaurus skills but leveling the words they use in a sentence. This term, we have focused on verbs.

Mathematics

During this term we have been really focused in our multiplication and division skills. we particularly enjoyed Times Tables Rock Stars and Maths Bowling.

We deepened our understanding of equal groups and learnt how to describe images related to division. When solving multiplication and division calculations, we used a range of concrete resources before progressing to using pictorial representations. Walnut class built on their mental skills throughout, using the rule of commutativity, doubling and inverse to solve multiplication and division calculations.

In Walnut class we also developed the concept of statistics in the form of tables, tally charts, pictograms and block diagrams. We learnt to use tally charts as a systematic method of recording data and to use tally charts and tables to produce pictograms and block diagrams from data we have collected as well as data which was given. In addition we used our knowledge of the two, five and ten times tables to draw and interpret pictograms.

Science

Walnut class have been learning all about electricity and how to use it safely. First we learnt about the different types of electricity and how it is used. We also explored the forms electricity comes in.

As a class we have discussed the do’s and don’ts when it comes to using electricity. From this, we decided that it would be a good idea to share this information with others. So, in groups the children created posters and leaflets to share what they had learnt.

Crazy about building circuits! First we explored the different components used to build a circuit and identified their what they do. We learnt that every electrical thing we use needs to have a working circuit.

We then built our own circuits using our newly acquired knowledge. From this we were asked to apply our knowledge to investigate different circuits to see if they would work or not.

Creative Workshop

The children have been given a range of opportunities to explore their creativity. Both Birch and Walnut children have come together to work on many different projects.

First, the children explored this terms theme “The circus is coming to town!” they were provided with a mixture of materials and then asked to discuss and create something that linked to out theme.

The children were engaged and created their own competition to where the winner would place their design on a canvas. As a result of this workshop the children made Circus posters, 3D models of Circus tents, information leaflets and much more!

We have also taken part in cooking activities that have allowed us to apply our Mathematical and Literacy skills to something a little different.

Knitting

The children have continued to develop their fine motor skills through learning how to knit. They been learning how to cast off, use two needles and how to create rows.

Watercolours

Birch and Walnut have been exploring a range of different materials when creating a piece of art. They have particularly enjoyed working with watercolours and learning all about how to apply pressure, and different amounts of water to create varied textures for one image.

Chinese New Year

The Primary Section came together to celebrate the new lunar year. This year is the year of the rabbit. The children learnt about the different traditions practiced over the new lunar year celebrations.

The children made some delicious Noodles and Boa’s to eat during our celebration. They also created red envelopes, lanterns and wrote in Chinese.

Woodwork and Design Technology

As part of our collaborative project with Oak and Birch Classes (and some Cedars came to help), we worked on designing our very own Compost Bin that we will be using in the next term. Linking our topics in Design & Technology and Mathematics, the children accurately measured the angles, calculated the distance between the planks of wood and used properties of 2D and 3D shapes on their designing journey. The amazing Walnut students realised the importance of measuring angles and clearly saw that measurements have to be accurate in order for the different parts to fit together correctly.

So there we were,
Cutting and drilling.
Measuring, thinking
Worked well as a team and were quite willing.

We will grow our own veg,
That are very organic.
Will get our hands dirty,
But will wash them, don’t panic.

Compost bin creation,
We have conjured together.
Nothing could stop us,
Even cold weather.

Greenhouse effect
we have discussed in science.
Picked up quite a lot of new things
And self reliance.

Wormery we built,
For our best friends worms.
Amazing things they do,
We hope everyone knows.

Raised beds, greenhouse
And wormery construction.
Enthusiasm was pumping,
Like a volcanic eruption.

Still a long way to go
But we will manage.
Automated watering system, birdfeeders and scarecrow creature.
Hey mum, do you know how to use a drill?
Just look at this, I will teach ya.

Green Garden Project just started,
But we are already delighted.
If you would like to come and help,
Don’t hesitate to come forward, you are invited.

French Sessions
Beginner

It has been a very busy start to 2023 and the students have learned lots of new French vocabulary, songs, poems, read books and played educational games. As we have changed seasons, the students have learned a song about l’Hiver (winter). We have begun a new French beginner learning programme called Tatou le Matou. Each week we listen (audio guide) and read a story about Tatou le chat and then the children have their own workbooks where they listen and answer questions related to the story/theme. The students really enjoy Tatou’s adventures. We also do a weekly session of handwriting where the students are learning how to write in cursive. The children are rightly very proud of how quickly they are developing this technique while also learning to write words in French.

Intermediate

From January to February, we started as usual the lessons with the calendar activity and its questions/answers. The main topic of this period was Food; we spoke about fruits, vegetables, and covered the basic food served.  All French classes baked the traditional “Galette des rois” and “crêpes”. This topic was introduced by the characters of our learning method ZigZag. We read stories (“Le géant de Zeralda”, “PB3 et les légumes”…) and did the written exercises linked with them. Through this topic, the children did a survey between themselves to know what they like or dislike on different kind of food which made them say sentences and ask questions such as “Qu’est-ce que tu aimes? J’aime/ je n’aime pas…il y a…). They also practiced the vocabulary linked to food through games (Bingo and hangman). They practiced the reading and writing part of the language through their exercise book as well as through additional ones given in class or as homework. As songs and poems also help learning a language, we carried on learning new ones such as: “Ratatouille” and “Bonshommes de neige”. After the break, we will start with a new topic: Sports

Advanced

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée en apprentissage puisque plusieurs notions de grammaire et de conjugaison ont été étudiées en plus des nouveaux sons et des fiches de lecture et de compréhension. Nous avons abordé différents thèmes tels que l’hiver, la galette, le Nouvel An Chinois, les crêpes, la saint Valentin…

Les livres lus durant ce terme ont été les suivants:

De ces ouvrages, plusieurs activités d’apprentissage et de compréhension ont permis d’exploiter ces histoires.

A chaque début de semaine, les élèves ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson:

J’aime la galette, Loin du froid de décembre, Trois esquimaux, Les petits souliers, L’amour brille sous les étoiles.

Les objectifs de cette période ont été:

– d’approfondir la langue française

– de s’exprimer de manière plus fluide

– de renforcer la syntaxe en s’exprimant oralement

– d’effectuer des lectures silencieuses

– de connaître et d’acquérir les sons et les consonnes (gu/gn/in,ain,ein,un/é, è) et de réviser les autres sons et consonnes déjà étudiés précédemment.

– de former des mots à partir de lettres, de syllabes mélangées

– de remettre les mots dans le bon ordre afin de reconstituer des phrases correctes

– de lire des textes et des petits livres (collection Sami et Julie)

– d’intégrer des règles de grammaire (les types de phrases, le sujet, le groupe nominal, le nom et les déterminants) et de conjugaison (le présent des verbes du 1er groupe et des auxiliaires être et avoir).

– mémoriser une poésie “L’hiver” de Karine Persillet

– de chanter collectivement une chanson

– de préparer une carte pour la saint Valentin

French IPC

We have had a very busy and exciting start to 2023 in IPC French class! The main theme for this term was La Cirque (The Circus) where we learned a lot of new vocabulary related to this topic and we ended the term with a fantastic 2 day Circus Workshop where the students got to put what they learned into practice and became acrobats/jugglers/magicians for 2 afternoon sessions with a professional circus artist & teacher with over 20 years of experience. We also celebrated La Galette des Rois, La Chandeleur and Le Nouvel An Chinois (the students learned how to write in Chinese calligraphy). The children showed off their baking skills by making galettes & crêpes and they all enjoyed eating them

Circus workshop

During our 2 day workshop we learnt some pretty amazing skills. The children of Birch and Walnut took part in a master class workshop led by a professional circus performer.

We learnt all about the different types of equipment a circus performer uses and how it is used safely and properly.

All their hard work led to an amazing performance. The children were able to share their newly learnt skills with the rest of the school.

Sports and Cycling

In PE we have been playing lots of different games to improve our coordination skills and to reinforce the importance of working together as a team. We particularly enjoyed playing hide and seek.

Music

This term, the children of Birch and Walnut have been learning about beat, rhythm, pace and tempo. First, we explored different sounds using our hands, feet and bodies.

From this, the children investigated different beats and tempo’s using the precussional instruments. We took our learning out of the classroom and into the forest.

Forest Exploration
Posted on

Oak Class, Blog 2, Term 2 2022/2023

English

Oak focused on the presentation of information. The class looked at various non-fiction texts, observing how they are structured, from contents pages through to the index, with information ordered logically and by topic.

Each member of the class then chose an animal to research, separating information under subheadings such as diet, habitat and behaviour.

Each then made an oral presentation to the class. 

French

Beginners Group with Joanna

The theme for this term linked to our daily workbook (Zig Zag 2) is La Maison (the house). We have studied new vocabulary linked to objects (lampe/lit/bibliothèque/armoire/bureau) that are found in the house as well as the different rooms in a house (grenier/cave/salon/salle à manger etc.). The students all individually presented a drawing of their own bedrooms and the objects/furniture they have, they all did a really good job. We also continue to work on our French verbs (this term spelling tests on les verbes en ER au présent). Throughout the term we learned songs in French for the Christmas show and the students sang them all beautifully on the 10th of December at the Théâtre de Bailly.

Intermediate Group with Christine

During this period from November to December, Vega and Sophie continued to take part in the calendar activity with the rest of the group, by asking and answering questions linked to it, and getting to learn how to tell the time.

After that they went on working on their own program. For one of the girls, this included mastering the basics of reading and writing in French, and for the other, the program was about improving her knowledge in writing, vocabulary and French grammar through exercises but also written materials (books, articles, recipes, letters…). Both girls also get to sometimes leave their work aside to listen the older children doing a presentation on a specific topic or simply hear them talk about his/her weekend which is one of our Mondays’ routines. They actively took part in these oral activities by asking questions or speaking about their own weekend.

Advanced Group with Marie

Pendant cette deuxième période, les élèves ont continué à approfondir les notions de français:

en grammaire: les différentes fonctions de l’adjectif qualificatif (épithète/attribut du sujet), le complément du nom, phrases simples/complexes.

en conjugaison: l’imparfait, accord sujet/verbe

en orthographe: le féminin des noms, utilisation du dictionnaire, accord sujet/verbe, les synonymes/antonymes.

en mémorisation: 1 poésie a été apprise et récitée.

en littérature: choix d’un livre de lecture puis rendu de la fiche en lien avec le livre, 3 lectures silencieuses

2 évaluations ont eu lieu durant le 2ème terme.

French IMYC with Marie

Cette période a été consacrée aux grands explorateurs ainsi qu’aux répétitions pour le spectacle de Noël.

“Douce nuit”

Spanish

During this term the children discovered the vocabulary of the family by playing the ”Memo” as well as a little discovery of Hispanic Christmas.

Mathematics

We learnt about different triangles, their names and main properties. We also identified acute, obtuse, reflex and right angles and then tried to measure them with the protractor. We then worked on finding the perimeter and area of simple 2D and compound shapes.  We practiced measuring in centimeters and meters and then used our findings to calculate the area and perimeter. We now know that in order to find the perimeter of the shape, we need to walk around the shape or add all the sides. So if you need a new fence in your garden, you know whom to ask! And for the area we need to multiply the measurements of two sides or count how many CM2 or M2 are there altogether.

Science

Oak class went through an amazing exploring journey this term, they could explore how solids can be mixed and how it is often possible to then separate them again. Students learned when solids do not dissolve or react with the water they can be separated by filtering, which is similar to sieving. 

Oak students could make a successful investigation and decide ways to classify reversible/irreversible changes and discuss everyday instances of dissolving e.g. sugar in drinks, washing powder in the washing machine etc.

They compared and grouped materials together according to whether they are solid, liquid or gases. And observed some changes when affected by temperature. Oak class were introduced to evaporation and condensation changes in the water cycle associated to the rate of evaporation with temperature.

History

Over the course of this term the Oak class built a miniature Iron Age hunters’ house, using clay and natural materials collected from the forest. The class also started to look at the Ancient Egyptian Civilisation, focusing on the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt and building a timeline of the most relevant events of Ancient Egyptian history. 

Geography

This term Oak learned about the different biomes around the world – ecosystems characterised by the plants and animals that live there as well as the climate, vegetation and rainfall. They discovered how animals and plants in these diverse regions have adapted to the climactic conditions in which they live in order to survive.

Design and Technology

Birch, Walnut , Oak , Elm and Cedar collaborative Christmas decorations and costume design project.

ART

Our Oak worked on the designing, drawing, and painting of the backdrops for the Christmas show. They let themselves being inspired by the stories brought on stage and they designed big and colorful backdrops texturising paint in different ways.

Global Perspectives

During this term, our Oaks looked at national and global perspectives, exploring what is means to live in other countries. Students picked a country of their choice and carried out independent research on that the subject, looking at important monuments, traditions, and typical food. Students worked on a poster, showing the findings of their research. 

Drama Workshops

Over the course of term, our Oaks worked on drama techniques like freeze frames and miming. They practiced these techniques, working on the role that body language and face expressions have in both scenarios.  Students worked also on the use of the voice, learning how to project it when talking to an audience. Oak students used freeze frames and mimes to bring on stage two stories for the schools’ Christmas show: “The Tomten” and “Babushka”.

Creative Writing Workshops

During this term our Oaks worked on fairy tales. Students explored the features of the genre, looking at different mentor texts, like Cinderella, The Beauty and the Beast and The Three Billy-Goat Gruff. After having gotten inspired by mentor texts, students worked on the structure of their fairy tale’s plot, creating a story board that included the opening, the build-up, the problem, the resolution, and the ending. 

Christmas Celebration