Christ's Surprise

We looked ahead to 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time this week, and Jesus' reminder that God might call at any hour - he could take us by surprise!  Surprises can be a mixed blessing: some of us love them, some of us hate them, sometimes they're incredibly positive, at other times they can be unwelcome.  What we know for sure is that we can't always avoid them and so it's helpful if we can look for God's hand at work around them, especially when they test our patience and understanding.

We work very hard in school to ensure children understand our expectations and have routines and timetables they can predict and follow.  However, nothing can prevent surprises from disrupting the flow of our day.  We teach children how to recognise their emotions and use regulation strategies to help them calm during times of high change or stress.  

Bits and Pieces

This week, Year 6 started their fractions unit of work. We started the unit by understanding what a fraction is and what this means. We looked at a fraction wall to find equivalent fractions and explored the language that we use. We very quickly noticed the link between our times tables, recognising common factors and fractions! We also looked at fraction denominations and then fraction and decimal equivalents. The children were able to prove that 1/2 as a decimal is 0.5 by using their short division skills. Olivia in 6J was able to recognise and articulate that to find equivalence, we can divide the numerator (dividend) by the denominator (divisor) and we would get the quotient! We built on this by comparing and ordering fractions and decimals and delving into some problem solving skills using clues to guess the fraction. Take a look at some of our fantastic work.

Aggro at the Agora

This week in History, Year 4 travelled back in time to 550BC where we found ourselves in the marketplace in Athens. We learned that, because Greece had such a hot and sunny climate, lots of the business of the day would take place outdoors. The classes were given different roles to act out depicting all the varied occupations and visitors which we would expect to find in the agora (marketplace) . The children found the drama very immersive and used all sorts of original ways to represent their characters. Luckily, one of our visitors was an official from the Government who was looking out for cheats and fraudsters who were short changing customers and giving short measures. Thankfully, our official managed to put a stop to any unnecessary arguments! Next week, we look at Greek artifacts and begin to understand what we can learn from them.

Wise Owls in Year 3

Our English lessons in Year 3 are focusing on the well-known story ‘The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark’, so on Wednesday the children enjoyed a fascinating talk from Angela and Xanthe about different owls. They showed us three different owls: Bamu - an African Spotted Eagle Owl, Chuzzlewit, a Barn Owl and Quinn - a Southern White Faced Owl and gave us many facts about their diet, habitat, appearance and behaviour. The visitors were very impressed with the children’s interesting questions and how well they listened to the answers. One owl was a little nervous and kept trying to spread his wings! Another owl stood on one leg which indicates he is calm and relaxed. Here are some of the interesting facts we learned:

• The Barn Owl’s tummy and chest colour help it to blend into the clouds so mice can’t see it.

• They spread oil around their feathers to keep them clean and make them waterproof, so humans shouldn’t stroke owls.

• Barn owls are nocturnal, can turn their heads 270 degrees, and are native to the UK. They hunt using their hearing. Nocturnal owls have brown eyes.

• African spotted Eagle Owls are daytime owls. They have yellow eyes. Their claws are double jointed allowing them to adjust their grip according to their prey. 

Out & About

After the heavy rain and winds of Storm Ciaran last week, Year 1 put on their wellies and raincoats and ventured out into the local area. This was to kick-start our Geography topic about our local area. We identified many things in the area - some which we knew were there like the church and the Co-op, and some that were more of a surprise - the view of the cathedral, the woods and the allotment.

We were lucky enough to avoid the rain and wind, and were even treated to some glorious sunshine while we were out!

Now that we have a more secure knowledge of the different things in our local area, we can start to identify whether they are human or physical features and plot them onto a map. 

Remembrance Day

This week in Nursery we have been learning about Remembrance Day through a variety of activities. Including, making paper plate poppies, drawing poppies, watching a short CBeebies film with a simple explanation, potato printing poppies,  making play dough poppies and talking about people who we would like to remember. This theme has helped us to understand about the world around us and has given us an opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. 

4I Surprise Us

Our thanks to St Ignatius Class for a beautiful class worship this week, all about surprises.  The children explained that surprises are a very normal part of life - some are lovely and others are challenging.  However, we can always celebrate the support, love and kindness of people around us when surprises affect our lives.  4I reminded us that Jesus warns, God will come at a time and place we least expect!  

Surprising Witnesses!

Congratulations to this wonderful host of witnesses, all of whom either managed difficult surprises in school this week or surprised others by unexpected acts of kindness.  Well done and God bless you all!