Embedded Files
Dear Families,
December is one of my favourite months as it is a time for celebration, reflection, and appreciation. This month at school we have been celebrating the talents of our wonderful students with our Key Stage 2 Choir, Mother Tongue Drama, Key Stage One Winter Concert, and the Year 5 and Year 6 Winter Bazaar performances. We have also been reflecting on what a kind and caring community we are lucky to be part of. This has been reflected in our Giving Tree initiative and the generosity shown by our families to communities less fortunate than ours.
I am very proud of all our talented students, hardworking staff, and supportive parents, which has helped us all have such a positive and successful first term. The Primary Forest SLT team appreciates all of the support you have given us, and we wish every member of the community a happy, healthy 2024.
Kind regards,
Alison Jones and the Primary Forest SLT Team
director's note
director's note
Mother Tongue Drama – Aladdin
with Mrs. Gwillim and Ms. Lloyd
To continue to raise awareness of the importance of the different languages in our school we ran another Mother Tongue Drama Club. This time the children performed Aladdin in 10 different languages. It was a great show! They translated the script into their languages, rehearsed at school and at home with their parents. We invited all of primary to watch the show as well as the cast parents and siblings. The children did a great job. Well done!
KS2 Choir with Ms Newman
On Wednesday 13th December, the KS2 choir performed winter songs for the 330 primary students and 70 choir parents in the theatre. It was a great way to end the term and the children sang beautifully. Children, teachers and parents all appeared to enjoy their wonderful performance. The choir also performed on the basketball court on Friday 15th December at the primary Winter Bazaar around the festive tree. There were 40 children singing in total and they thoroughly enjoyed singing their variety of songs. The 7 songs we sang in our concert were:
Must be Santa
The choir will enter the stage whilst singing this lively and cumulative seasonal song. It is deceptively difficult as it involves multiple key changes and a pattern which builds up and works backwards, which is great for developing memory. Children need to concentrate attentively to remember the order of the lyrics as well as the Makaton hand signals.
Touch the sky
A stirring song with a Celtic twist from Disney’s movie ‘Brave’ to inspire courage and kindle ambition.
Monster Mash
It’s a scream! This witty, novelty rap from the 1960s is populated with ghouls and vampires, with a guest appearance from Dracula. Children love the hand jives and split parts of this song.
Hot chocolate
This is one of the children’s favourite songs, due to the fun lyrics, melody and actions. Look out for each year group singing ‘hot’ separately in the chorus.
The lights will lead me home
We hope you can sense the touch of winter magic in this captivating and lyrical song. Some children have the chance to share their beautiful voices in solo, duet or small group parts in the verses.
Minka
A Ukrainian folk song with new English words taken from a variety of traditional carols. Listen out for the changes in tempo and the last verse sung in two parts overlapping.
Let it snow
This popular winter song was first written in 1945 and has been performed by many famous singers including Frank Sinatra in 1950, Dean Martin in 1959 and Michael Buble in 2021. The children will use Makaton sign language whilst singing. We hope you enjoy this lively classic as the finale to our show.
We look forward to learning new songs in January in preparation for our summer performance later in the year.
Winter Bazaar
Even more festive fun here on the forest campus! Our winter bazaar was a great success, with all students having a wonderful day. There was an opportunity to shop in our vendors hall, drink hot chocolate in the PTA cafe, listen to the choir and play many games and activities organised by our teachers. The student council set up a candyland and also organised a second hand sale. A big thanks to everyone who was involved and helped make the magic happen!
Pastoral Care & Wellbeing
The giving tree has been a great success this December. The wonderful children at the Zek Forest campus have collected scarves, hats, gloves and socks for children in Istanbul. The items will be distributed by our charity organization TIDER. It was a house competition to see which house was the most ‘giving’. Results will be announced in assembly on Friday!
EYFS
Miss Elise: Preschool 1
Pursuing our Fairytale topic this month, we read folktales from South Africa and Congo. We also read the Three little pigs and we introduced Jack and the Beanstalk. It was really fun blowing the piggies houses, and having the children building different types of houses with different material. We loved sorting the animals in little, medium and big as well as grouping/matching patterns. We can't wait to enjoy our winter party and go on holidays after a fruitful term.
Miss Ogomoditse & Ms Hatice: Preschool 2
In our recent adventures, we delved into the enchanting tales of the Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Beanstalk. The children not only listened but also stepped into the stories, acting them out with enthusiasm. We talked about the moral of the stories. Our hands got busy with creativity as we crafted pig houses, painting them with vibrant colors and using grass to give them cozy roofs. In the world of numbers, we had fun subitising 1-4, making math a playful and engaging experience. Additionally, we've embarked on the exciting journey of patterns, discovering the beauty of sequences together.
Miss Lauren & Miss Melike: Reception
We have been learning about traditional tales this half term. We have shared our favourite traditional tales from around the world, including sharing familiar tales in different languages. We have acted out Three Billy Goats Gruff, retold the story and made arts and crafts to show the story. We have been continuing with our Phonics and using our Phonics to help us write stories. We have been busy making traditional tale art and winter themed art.
Here we are in action!
Year One
Miss Katrine & Miss Sena: 1D
This month, students in Year 1 have been learning about statistics in their Mathematics lessons. As a part of this topic, they have been learning some key vocabulary, such as 'data', 'set' and 'group'. They had a go at sorting objects and images into sets using Venn diagram templates and thought carefully about what the rules for each set should be. They also had a go at guessing the rules for the sets their friends made. The students had a lot of fun making sets and guessing how their friends had sorted their objects - you can see their amazing work in the photos.
Miss Belen & Miss Sena: 1G
Whales class has been working on their Design and Technology project for the past few weeks in which students have brainstormed about what a house for their character would need and why would the house be important. After this first planning stage students focused on building the houses with several materials. They were very creative and resourceful while adding details and perfecting their work!
It has been an amazing term in which we have grown and we have overcome challenges, I am very proud of all the hard work that all the children in Whales Class have made. We will see each other soon for more fun learning!
Year Two
Ms. Verralls & Miss Neslihan: 2V
In English we have been looking at tales from around the world. One of our stories was called The Tangram Cat. We enjoyed exploring the use of the tangram shapes to make the different characters and our own characters. We recognized the problem and resolution for the story by completing a story plan. We made our own character descriptions using adjectives and noun phrases. We then created our own ending to the story. We have been enjoying creating, making and writing cards for our KS1 friends and teachers. Every day, students deliver the cards to the classes.
Year 1 and 2 students enjoyed baking chocolate and orange biscuits.
Ms. Aycan & Miss Neslihan: 2A
2A has been very busy in December. In Literacy, we looked at different genres of writing and their features. Then the children explored Explanation texts- finally writing about how a glue stick works. In Numeracy, when learning about money, we set up our own 2A Winter Bazaar and invited 2V class to come and role play using money. In Science, the assessment task was to plan and conduct investigations involving movement and forces. Finally in Art, the children painted a map in the style of the Australian Aboriginals.
Year Three
Mrs. Robbins & Miss Neslihan: 3R
Year 3 has been discovering how Pnuemayic systems work in Design Technology. Pneumatics is a branch of engineering concerned with the the use of air, under pressure, that makes things move or work. This particular project (Santa coming out of the chimney) was designed by Matlida, a current Year 4 student at BIS. She designed this project after finishing her own class Pneumatic work last year.
Ms. Adesanya & Miss Neslihan: 3A
The children in 3A made shadow puppets and used them to tell a story. We were studying light and shadows for science. We used opaque cards to make shadow puppets that tell a story on the white board, with light reflected from the projector. The light from the projector shone on the puppets and the shadows appeared on the white board. They used their shadow puppets from science to tell a story in humanities. They told the story of the Ottoman Empire. This is cross curriculum at work.
Year Four
Ms. Lincoln & Miss Zerrin: 4L
4L continue to work hard in the classroom. They have been working collaboratively to make up their own stories. Amazing ideas, using skills of description to add effect. Also, they have made their own compasses. Magnitising needles, that have floated on water, showing how they naturally point north. But the most fun part was, of course, playing with the magnets afterwards!
Ms. Newman & Miss Zerrin: 4N
4N have enjoyed their humanities and English topic of Ancient Greece, in which they learnt more about life in this time period, as well as studying the art of Ancient Greek pottery designs and reading and writing a range of Greek myths. They enjoyed learning about the array of Greek Gods and using these as characters in their stories. They thoroughly enjoyed reading the comic-style Greek myths book as well as creating their own comic strips to retell their favourite story. Here you can see the children proudly showing their display of work based on this topic.
Year Five
Ms. Halabi & Miss Mos: 5H
Year 5 students have been busy unravelling the mysteries of the digestive system. From the moment food enters the mouth to its final journey through the digestive tract, our students have explored the process of how our bodies break down and absorb nutrients. The highlight of this science unit was when everyone participated in an engaging hands-on investigation that simulated the digestive process, bringing classroom learning to life.
Mrs. Deufel & Miss Mos: 5D
In humanities, we finished our unit on volcanoes. We looked at the ring of fire, how volcanoes erupt and the devastation they can cause. In particular, we learned about Mt St Helens in Washington State, USA which last erupted in 1980. The photos show this active volcano in the summer of 2020 when I was there.
In English we are coming to the end of our novel study – Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. The children have completed a variety of activities to deepen their understanding of the story.
Sadly, we have had to say goodbye to George. George has been with us since September and is returning to his home in Bulgaria. We wish him all the very best.
In 5D we have been looking at the digestive system in science. The children showed their understanding by drawing and labelling the various parts and how they connect.
Year Six
Mr. McCann & Mr. Furkan: 6M
Over the last two weeks, the elves in 6M have been hard at work researching, designing, and in some cases redesigning, their slippers in time for their holidays. The children learnt how to make paper templates in order to help them design the correct sized slippers and learnt a variety of stitches to help with the durability and aesthetics. In some cases, it was a real test of their resilience, but many were up to the test! Well done, elves!
Ms. Ward & Mr. Furkan: 6W
The Silk Road
We have recently begun studying a History topic about the Silk Road and the impact this had on the world. After finding out about the different countries involved and the goods that were traded we played a trading game to see who could make it from China to Rome. Despite hungry bandits appearing and robust trading deals along the way, it ended in success for a few determined traders.
Community Service for the Winter Bazaar
Our Year 6 students were fully involved in helping behind the scenes for our Winter Bazaar. ‘Many hands make light work’ so it was great to see the enthusiasm and willingness for a huge range of tasks. Thank you to you all for your hard work in making the day a success.
Languages
Miss Talya: KS1 ESL
We have started off this month by talking about how machines work and each child drew their amazing inventions. Year 2 classes also enjoyed watching Wallace and Gromit and had a discussion based on the topic. We also worked on our writing and tried to form longer sentence structures. Year 1 students have been doing activities about the story Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, including animal vocabulary and memory quizzes. With the excitement of the jolliest month of the year, ESL groups have been busy learning festive vocabulary and reading. We have chosen the famous book and film The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. We have looked through the pictures inside the book and have sequenced the events in the story. We also incorporated our feelings while talking about the book and how the story make us feel. We had a great month and we are ready to pay off our hard work with a holiday!
I am wishing you all a happy holiday !!!!
Mrs. Gwilliam: KS2 ESL
We have had a lot of fun in the lead up to the Festive season. However, before that, the intermediates in Years 4, 5 and 6 worked super hard on their writing, with no complaints! In Year 6 after working on words and shapes, we found a hexagon in the garden.
Ms. Hatice: Turkish
Merhabalar!
This month, Year 1 classes learned colors and numbers through interactive and fun activities. They developed skills in recalling and naming colors. Additionally, they practiced remembering and naming numbers through various exercises.
Year 2 classes also learned colors and numbers through engaging activities and games. These activities strengthened their ability to recall colors and name numbers.
Year 3 students explored toys and games this month to remember colors and learn the structure of "Have got/has got." They practiced using sentences like "I have a toy car" and answered questions like "How many?"
In Year 4, students learned about family members and different weather types. They completed a project creating papers with weather-related symbols and terms written in Turkish. Additionally, they enhanced their memory skills for numbers through interactive games and practiced asking and answering questions about classroom objects.
Year 5 students focused on learning the names of sports in Turkish this month. They answered questions about the sports they engage in and developed the ability to express their personal preferences by answering the question "What sport do you like?"
Year 6 classes learned the days of the week and the names of lessons. They also grasped the correct usage of "are" and "aren't" in sentences, especially when referring to plural subjects. To reinforce their memory of numbers, they practiced recognizing the first ten ordinal numbers in both written and spoken form.
Mr. Vincent: French
Bonjour à toutes et à tous.
İn French, Year 3 students have been working on learning about seasonal clothes.
Year 4 students are learning the parts of the body
Year 5 are working on numbers while Year 6 completed an assessment on places in town and directions.
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!
Ms. Ana: Spanish
¡Hola amigos!
Year 3 students have started to learn the types of clothes used in the different seasons of the year. Students are also learning the song of the types of clothes in Spanish to remember the vocabulary.
Year 4 students have learned the types of weather and they are now able to identify what the weather is in Spanish. Students have also learned the weather song to strengthen their vocabulary.
Year 5 students are still working on numbers from 1 to 1000 in Spanish. Students have learnt the numbers in order to improve their knowledge as well as writing and spelling exercises to practice numbers.
Year 6 students have learned directions and prepositions in Spanish. They have learned how to read a map in Spanish and focused on role-play to ask and give directions.
¡Felices fiestas amigos!
Learning Support
Holiday reading journals can be fun!
Make it visual!
Why holiday reading journals?
The holiday season is the perfect time for students to embark on exciting literary adventures. Reading journals adds an element of joy and creativity to this experience. It's not just about reading; it's about capturing the essence of the stories in a way that makes them unforgettable.
How to Make Reading Journals Fun and Visual?
Design a Journal Cover:
Encourage students to unleash their artistic talents by decorating the cover of their reading journal. They can draw their favourite holiday scenes, characters, or even create a winter wonderland by using their imagination!
Illustrate Scenes from Stories:
After reading a book, students can choose a memorable scene and illustrate it in their journals. This not only reinforces comprehension but also allows them to express their creativity visually
Create Character Profiles:
For each book read, students can create a character profile. Draw the characters and add details such as their traits, likes, and dislikes. This adds a personal touch to their reading experience.
Happy Holidays!
The Primary Learning Support Department
OWL (Outdoor Woodland Learning)
Ms. Lloyd
Unfavourable outside weather conditions in the past few weeks has not disrupted the OWL program as students continue to learn about forest environments and nature. They have used materials from the environment to construct a number of items including picture frames, rattles, catapults, dream-catchers and willow stars. Here is an outline of the fantastic learning that has been taking place.
EYFS/Reception: Being Expressive Speaking and Listening.
Year 1 : Nature Picture Frames, Clay Animals
Year 2 : Forces, Picture Frames, Clay Animals, Dream Catchers
Year 3 : Berry Ink, Make a Picture Frame, Rattles
Year 4 : Willow Stars, Nature Picture Frames
Year 5 : Dream Catchers, Rattles
Year 6 : Berry Ink, Catapults, Dream Catchers
As the weather gets colder after the holidays-make sure your child is wearing a coat, a warm hat and gloves on OWL days. Thank you!
Music
Miss Rebecca: EYFS Music & Drama
On the first of December, both KS1 and EYFS students had their Winter production, with fantastic music accompaniment by the students and Mr Dennison. Since then, the drama students have been busy learning new festive games and just started our new topic for next term, Commedia dell'Arte.
The EYFS students have been busy playing festive songs with jingle bells and learning new dances about the cold winter weather. In addition to learning new letters accompanied with dances, Hula Hippo and Zed the Zebra in class.
Mr. Dennison: Y1-Y6 Music
Year 3 practices rhythm and musical form through body movement. We have also been making English language connections to expressive qualities--smooth, flowing, choppy, disconnected, bouncy, fluid, confused, frightening, elated, joyful, etc.
Year 2 has begun exploring some concepts of expression by making what they recognize about high versus low, loud versus quiet.
Year 6 had a successful collaboration with Year 7 at the Winter Bazaar this holiday season. I think we had some fun along the way getting prepared for our performance of some holiday classics!
Year 4 worked on drumming skills throughout several lessons. They have begun reading scores (sheet music) with multiple lines. Now they are becoming more familiar with what it is like to read and interpret many voices or instruments at the same time--like a conductor!
ICT
Mr Hassan
Reminders & Upcoming Dates
25 December-5 January: School Closed
Monday 8 January: Students return to school
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