Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed a science workshop on rocks and soils with Mr Bonner. They discussed the properties of rocks, tested the hardness of rocks, used microscopes and magnifying glasses to observe the rocks and explored different fossils, including a trilobite, an ammonite, a coprolite (dinosaur poo), a devil's toenail,  an echinoid, belemnite and an Ichthyosaur. The children then made their own fossils and did an experiment to find out how sedimentary rocks become metamorphic rocks!

World Book Day

We decided to have a bit of a change to our usual book character dressing up this year and instead we held a ‘vocabulary parade’. The children all chose a word and dressed up to reflect that world. It was a huge success and the children loved coming up with creative ways to show that they were ‘colourful’, ‘snuggly’, ‘flexible’, etc. For those who aren’t so keen on dressing up it was also easier for them to be involved because they could just be ‘comfortable’, ‘sporty’ or ‘casual’ and dress in their own clothes. We also had a potato character competition where children were invited to create a book character using a potato. Again this was great fun and loads of children joined in, with the winners all receiving the prize of a lovely new book.

On Monday 20th March Year 2 visited Kent Life. The children visited the Victorian Schoolroom as part of this term’s Inquiry into education in the past and around the world and they also had a great time at the playground and meeting all the farm animals. 

Careers Talks

We have had some lovely visits and talks by some of our parents this term and the children have loved finding out about different careers. We have had talks from a psychologist, an anaesthetist, a veterinary nurse, a journalist, a sports’ commentator and some police officers. The police even brought their cars and police dogs for the children to see and our Nursery, Reception and Year 1 children were allowed to pet the dogs, try on uniform and sit in the cars!

Red Nose Day

The school helped to raise money for Red Nose Day with a cake sale this year. Year 5 and 6 school council members ran the stall after school and raised an amazing £122! Huge thanks go to the parents for supporting this worthy cause.

In January, the COPA Choir (made up of Year 5 and 6 pupils) became part of an 8000 strong group of performers at the Young Voices 2023 event. The pupils had an incredible day of rehearsals, before taking part in an evening performance, singing, dancing and beatboxing the night away at the O2 Arena in London. 

Visit from Gareth Johnson MP

We had a visit from our local Member of Parliament, Gareth Johnson, who visited lessons and then met with a group of Year 6 children. They posed some very challenging questions to him about the anti-social behaviour of local teenagers, school budgets and the state of the UK economy generally, leading to some interesting discussions.

iRock Concerts

Since introducing iRock in term 6 last year, children in Years 3, 4 and 5 have had the opportunity to rehearse and perform as part of a band. They practise each week for two terms, rehearsing their chosen song, and then perform to their parents in an iRock concert at the end of the second term. So far this year we have had performances from Years 3 and  5, with Year 4 picking up the drumsticks and plectrum in modules 5 and 6!

The theme for Science Week this year was 'Connections'! As an IB school we strived to ensure that all of our science activities were connected to this term's ‘Central Idea’. This created some exciting investigations in Year 4 where they experimented with glockenspiels to create vibrations in connection with learning about sound. In Cherry Pips Nursery and Reception they looked at a variety of different books about volcanoes and went on to make a class volcano, whilst Year 5 ventured up to Ebbsfleet Academy to learn all about acids and alkalis in their science labs!

Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea

Our amazing Oaks choir joined over 8000 other budding young performers at the O2 Young Voices Concert. Our Year 4 and 6 classes had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We already can’t wait to return next year!

Queen’s Green Canopy Tree Planting

In January, all pupils from Year 1 and 2 joined forces with Maidstone Borough Council’s Biodiversity and Climate Change Department to plant 140 native British trees in the local community of Shepway. This was part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. We were proud to be part of this historical initiative. 

Introduction to Rugby

In February, all pupils from Reception to Year 6 had a rugby lesson from a Weavering Warriors Rugby Club player. Despite this being peak Six Nations season, a lot of our children had never heard of or played rugby. Pupils learned how to kick the rugby ball, pass the ball, score a try and use the rugby tackle bags which were definitely the highlight! 

Our co-curricular provision continues to thrive and is more highly attended than ever before. Our clubs are enjoying working collaboratively across year groups, whilst also linking with the local community. Our Performing Arts club is excited to welcome members of the local care home in module 5 to some seated dance classes and a chance to reminisce about their years at school. Our collaboration with Mascalls Academy is due to continue in the summer months, allowing us to learn from the expertise of secondary pupils,  providing a fantastic transition opportunity for our young learners ahead of moving into the next phase of their educational journey.

Eco-Schools

As part of our commitment to improve our school grounds, we have been looking at different spaces where we can enhance the biodiversity as well as provide a beautiful sight for people in our community walking past. This latest project has involved pupils preparing the space to celebrate the King’s Coronation and we can’t wait to see the patch in full bloom for May!

Astronomy Roadshow  

Earlier this module, we welcomed a travelling astronomy roadshow to the academy. Pupils from across the school learnt amazing facts about our solar system and beyond, including learning information about and taking a flying visit to our incredible neighbouring planets. The entire night sky was projected onto the inside of a dome and we could look at the beautiful stars and constellations.

Parent Survey

We were absolutely thrilled with the responses to our recent LAT Parental Survey.  One parent stated that, 'Communication between teachers and parents is really good and my daughters’ teachers make me feel like they are their biggest fans especially when they’ve achieved something. It's a warm feeling to know someone out of the family is just as proud as you are!'  Another commented that we 'create an environment where every child is happy to have been at school for the day, and is missing out if they were absent'.

Not only did we have some fantastic feedback but 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy at Molehill and that their child is well taught at the academy!

Mother's Day Afternoon Tea

World Book Day 

For most of us at Molehill, World Book Day is the highlight of the academic year! We ensure that our pupils develop a love of reading because we know that regular reading provides young people with the chance to increase vocabulary and comprehension skills, challenge their perception of the world around them and escape into different worlds, times and places. We know that the development of strong literacy skills improves the life chances of our pupils and provides them with the key skills that are vital to adult life. Well done to everyone who embraced World Book Day - we were so impressed with the variety of different outfits and were delighted to immerse ourselves in literature learning for the day. 

Peer Mediators

We are extremely proud of the children who peer mediate at Molehill. These children have been trained to mediate friendship conflicts between fellow pupils and are overseen by Miss Miller. Caroline McInnes from Maidstone Mediation, who trains our children in the Peer Mediator Scheme, visited our team of mediators in this module to see how they were finding the responsibility. We were delighted to report to her that all of our mediators have been extremely conscientious in their role supporting the younger children and also assisting the lunchtime staff. They have dealt with any issues in a responsible and sensitive manner and have proved to be 100% reliable in undertaking their duties. A huge thank you to these children for all of their hard work and for their invaluable contribution to our school community. 

Digital Learning and Computing

We continue to develop our use of IT across the academy. Our wonderful EYFS have been taking lots of photos linked to their learning about plants; Year 3 have been coding, learning how to use a sequence of instructions to create a given outcome and we have also been using ‘Crumbles’ in Year 5 to take coding to the next level. Each year group has demonstrated the strengths we see with both the Trust investment for IT and in terms of computing knowledge. 

Choir

Our choir joined over 8000 other children for Young Voices at the O2. It was a long day, with a rehearsal, learning dance moves and then the performance. Listening to that many children singing together sends shivers down your spine and it’s such a wonderful opportunity for our children to experience this - it’s something they will remember forever. 

Sensory Room  

Thanks to a generous donation from our Parents’ Association, Mrs Greene has been able to create a sensory space in the theme of a forest! 

The children met the author Cara Matheson and her dog Scout. She talked to the children about what inspires her to write and the processes involved in having a book published.

Careers Education 

A few parents have visited to talk to children about their careers. We have learnt about finance, investment banking, dentistry, policing, firefighting and coming soon … how the police maintain public order. 

We would like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to all of the companies and individuals that gave up their time to support with this; it was a fantastic experience for all children involved and will no doubt support their understanding of career paths and vocations as they progress through our school but also in their next stage of their education. 

To ensure that all of our children had access to some form of careers education during the week, we arranged for EYFS and KS1 to have some career talks within their classrooms. They were visited by the team from Kent Police, a forensic scientist and an archaeologist. The children were able to take part in a range of activities that included science experiments, looking at historical artefacts and exploring the police cars. 

Whilst the weather was questionable on the day with snow forecast, our Year 2 class enjoyed visiting Wingham Wildlife park which linked to their inquiry learning about animals and habitats. They were able to see some of the animals being fed and they were even lucky enough to see a penguin lay an egg. They were able to ask a zoo keeper some questions about the different animals within the park and were excited to write about their day and research some of the animals they saw when they returned to school. They had a fabulous time overall and are still talking about their memories from the day and the experiences that they had.

Chef Aidan 

All year groups within KS1 and KS2 have been lucky enough to work with a trained chef who has been teaching them some specific skills and recipes that he uses within his kitchen. This has included shortbread, pizzas and chelsea buns. They have not only been able to sample themselves but also have been able to take some home to share with their families. As well as the skills that they have learnt in terms of cooking in relation to the DT curriculum, they have also learnt health and safety skills alongside this that are integral to them understanding what they need to remember when working with food. The children have really enjoyed this and have taken away lots of skills and have even been trialling these out at home.

World Book Day

For this year’s theme, pupils and staff dressed up as heroes and villains. Every class had a poetry focus and were tasked with responding creatively. The work that the children produced was then pulled together for a World Book Day Showcase for parents to attend.

Trips

As part of their inquiry into ancient civilizations, Year 3 visited the British Museum to see a range of artefacts. The trip into London on the train was very exciting! They used the information they learned to inform their writing back in school.

Year 2 visited the Tower of London to find out about the Great Fire of London as part of their inquiry learning. They also found the train journey incredibly exciting! It was fantastic to see the children using their history knowledge in context and for their learning to come to life.