Friday 10th December

It's been another week of amazing learning experiences and opportunities for our children with the added bonus of the festive season. The Christmas lunch was a highlight of the week as plates were full of food for all. Children sang, pulled crackers and told jokes (courtesy of cracker prizes) to the amusement of school staff. Children were also full of beans when we announced the yearly whole-school trip to the Hackney Empire was to return. This year's production of 'Jack and the Beanstalk ' welcomed a fantastic new team to join Olivier Award-winning Clive Rowe, as well as many of the familiar faces that make the panto one of the best in the land. Children watched on as the happy-go-lucky Jack was tempted into selling his family’s beloved cow for a bag full of magic beans. Both the children and Jack, found themselves tangled in an adventure of GIANT proportions. They joined him on his journey up the enchanted beanstalk as he tried to outwit the rampaging giant, all with the help of his larger-than-life mum, Dame Trot. The show provided plenty of opportunities for children to shout, sing and laugh endlessly during an experience they will never forget.

In the early years, children where also treated to a pantomime of their own to enjoy. The brilliant Hobgoblin theatre company put on a brilliant show for them in school this Friday too. It's not all been fun and theatricals though - reception have been very busy developing their understanding in maths, focusing on 1-to-1 correspondence using paint and their fingers to match a number to its corresponding quantity. They also showed their festive flair when designing reindeer hats for the Christmas lunch that took place on Thursday.

In key stage one, children went back in time, exploring the toys and technology of past years, and were impressed by what they saw. More impressively, Ms Turner-Broadbent brought in her Gameboy from 2001, with accompanying games, that still worked! In maths, children developed their understanding of division as sharing, using manipulatives to support them.

In key stage two, children were recounting the events of their favourite books in order to write a book review to entice their peers to read them for their pleasure. With the Iron age being the focus, children adopted the roles of labourers during this period, creating short videos using Clips to model what life was like for them. Year 4 were busy aiming to change the world, planning and writing their own letter to Boris Johnson in order to persuade him and his government to act quickly to reverse the effects of climate change. In computing, they used a coding program called Scratch to create a game and show their ability to debug a program where their coding may be inaccurate. Year 6 became actors for the day, focusing on a specific scene, showing their ability to re-enact the Shakespearean play, 'Romeo and Juliet'. It's clear to see we have budding and talented individuals that we're sure we'll be seeing on a screen in the not-so distant future. We also have scientists amongst us with Year 6 showing their understanding of light and shadows in order to perform their own shadow puppet show, extending their understanding of how shadows are formed.