A - 32nd Ordinary

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.

INVASION!

This week Year 5 have started studying the Vikings and how they invaded, raided and then settled during their time in Britain. Their first lesson was to understand the long boats the Vikings used to travel to the country and why they were so carefully built. Here are some examples of some wonderful work from the children.

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.

Learning on fire in Year 2!

The rain didn't stop us this week as we rounded off our learning on the Great Fire of London with a fantastic day full of games, bread-making, music and art. The children loved all of the different activities and it really helped them to understand the way of life all those years ago. It was touch and go as the day went on as to whether we would be able to do our grand finale, but our prayers were answered and the rain stopped, allowing us to set fire to the houses the children had made. It was a wonderful day!

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.

Light and Dark

This week we have been exploring light and dark in Reception. We kicked off our learning by making some large firework pictures using tea bags and paint!

Next we thought about how darkness makes us feel - we read a fantastic book by Lemony Snicket called 'The Dark'. This captivated us so we made our own darkness dens and explored light through torches, fairy lights and even disco balls! We loved looking at 'A Starry Night' by Vincent Van Gogh and even created our very own versions using dark and light coloured paint. We have been working very hard on our communication and language skills. In class we are trying to extend our sentences using 'because' - sentence stems in class have really helped us too. Lots of children were able to articulate why they liked or disliked darkness , "I like the dark because I get to see fireworks clearly" and "I do not like the dark because it is scary".

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!

What's on locally?

Worplesdon Young Musician Poster 2024.pdf

Synergy Dance Christmas Activities

This Christmas, Synergy Dance® will be running activities for both mainstream children and those with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND). Synergy offers amazing value for money and an opportunity not to be missed for your child to grow in confidence, learn new skills and make friends.

Join Synergy at Guildford Spectrum Leisure Complex, GU1 1UP, for their signature Frozen Winter Wonderland workshop for children aged 3-7 years, on Thursday 21st December, 15:00 -16:00pm. Reviewed by Club Hub, children explore the scenes and songs from smash hit films Frozen 1 & Frozen 2, including Frozen-themed dance and drama games, a giant parachute, magic props, complete with a snow disco.

Synergy is also hosting Elf Adventure Christmas parties. Your children will take part in Elf tasks and challenges, learn the Elf March and train to be Elves, complete with a certificate. Workshop includes Elf activities, storytelling, dancing, music, games, and challenges for a unique Christmas party experience, rounded off with their Signature snow disco. There are two options at Guildford Spectrum: Friday 22nd December, 14:30 - 15:30pm for mainstream children aged 5-11 years or a specialist SEND Elf Adventure Christmas Party, 22nd December 15:45 - 16:45pm suitable for SEND children aged 5-18 years, (split into appropriate groups!).

For those of you who love Festive fun, crafts, dance and drama, join Synergy at the QE Park Centre in Guildford, GU2 9LX, for a Christmas Festival to explore all things magical through dance, drama and crafts. There will be prizes and festive treats to get everyone into the Christmas spirit. For children aged 5-12 years, Thursday 21st December, 13:00 - 17:00pm.

For more information and to book a place see:

Christmas workshops

Booking for more than one child? Use DOUBLEDISCOUNT to save 10%.

Does your child have a December birthday? Synergy also offers private dance party packages, see here:

Synergy Dance parties

Have a question? Contact admin@synergydance.co.uk

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