Summer term Issue 27: 19th April 2024
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the Summer Term! It is wonderful to see everyone ready and raring to go after the Easter break. The kitchen garden is starting to look great – well done to the mini gardeners who have done all the prep work to get it to this stage, and thank you Sally!
It is important at SJSC that learning is meaningful, helping children to gain a deeper understanding and apply their knowledge. So, this week it has been great to welcome Chef Alice back in Year 4 to train the children in chef skills, Reception visited a farm, Year 1 are exploring space, Year 2 ventured to Tower Bridge, Year 3 enjoyed a pop-up classroom museum, Year 5 discovered Greece, and it was all drama in Year 6 as the children explored Shakespeare.
Please check your emails for important Summer Term dates to take note of. On the 7th May at 9:00am we are looking forward to welcoming Loria Lossa- Grant for the second of our Celebrating Diversity Parent Cafés – all are welcome. We also say farewell to Mr Bell at the end of this half term, please join us giving him a wonderful SJSC send-off at the farewell service on Friday 24th May at 9:45.
Have a lovely weekend
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
What a brilliant start to a new half term… Reception were off early on Tuesday morning, in a luxury coach with 2 staircases! (Thank you PTFA) We went to Bocketts Farm in Surrey and had a wonderful day. The sun shone as we went on a tractor ride, met and handled ducklings, chicks, guinea pigs, a rabbit and a tame Rat. We got to feed nursing ewes and see lambs that were only a few days old. Stik class actually saw a lamb being born! After lunch, we got to watch spotted pigs racing, before a splendid hour in a super-doper Soft Play area… even the teachers all wend down the wiggly slide! Most children were asleep on the journey back, so the journey went quickly! We can’t wait to find out more about animals and lifecycles over the next few weeks.
Next week we start Words and Pictures Club so look out for a letter about that.
Year 1
We have started the week with a bang in Year 1 with our Space topic. It appears that the moon has gone missing, and we are on a mission to find it! We have been thinking of adjectives to describe the moon and have put them into ‘missing posters’. We have also loved using these adjectives whilst discussing moons we made during our choosing and learning time.
Year 2
On Tuesday Year 2 embarked on a trip to Tower Bridge! From exploring the engine rooms to understanding the mechanics behind the bascules lift, every moment was filled with fascination and wonder. Walking across the top of the bridge was undoubtedly a highlight, especially when we had the opportunity to lie down on the glass walkway. The exhilaration of seeing the city below certainly quickened our heartbeats. Inside one of the towers, we were treated to a lesson in a secret classroom, where we learned about Tower Bridge's significant role in facilitating the importation of goods into London from various corners of the globe. Lastly, we were captivated by the remarkable story of Albert Gunter, whose split-second decision saved a bus from a perilous situation. It was a jam-packed day and we loved seeing the children’s enthusiasm learning about this iconic bridge!
Year 3
The Year 3 classrooms were turned into museums this week and in English we examined Ancient Egyptian artefacts. We generated statements and questions about Egypt, using the artefacts to make inferences about Egyptian life and culture.
Year 4
In year 4, we had a great morning with Alice from the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts learning about taste. We tried various new foods and found out about the 5 different ways of tasting: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.
Year 5
This week in geography, Yr 5 students located and described the position of Greece within Europe. We learnt that Greece sits in the southeastern part of Europe and is surrounded by countries like Albania, Bulgaria and Turkey. We also learnt how location impacts climate.
Year 6
In year 6, or should we say, Verona, we witnessed Romeo and Juliet’s love story come to a tragic end. Many questions remained about what would happen next following their deaths and so, we were invited to court proceedings to decide the fate of four suspects brought in for questioning: the Nurse, Friar Laurence, Lord Capulet, and Lord Montague. Each suspect was asked questions by the council and then members spoke in favour for or against them. Finally, we voted on who we felt was the guiltiest and the results were announced by the Prince - with a punishment decided.
Music this week…
In Reception this week, children were introduced the claves. They learnt how to hold and play them before copying simple rhythms and then accompanying a piece of percussion music.
For the next few weeks, Year 1 will be looking at music inspired by The Sea. This week we listened to Benjamin Britten’s piece of music, Dawn from Sea Interludes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c80QuZJkcR4
Year 2 are going to be learning about Mozart and opera music as they rehearse for their performance of The Magic Flute. They will be learning about the different singing voices from Soprano to Base and will also looking at the instrument families of a classical orchestra.
Year 3 were listening to the music of Steve Reich this week and using musical vocabulary to describe the effect of his piece, Drumming IV. They are going to spend the next few weeks learning about note durations from crotchets to semiquavers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tp2Uaj7vpw
This half term, Year 4 will be looking at the Pentatonic Scale and will be making compositions using notes from this scale. This week, the children were listening to pentatonic music from around the world and considering how they could represent what they heard by drawing lines.
Year 5 had their first Samba session today and their focus was outstanding. The Samba leader was incredibly impressed. Well done Year 5.
Year 6 are going to be looking at Protest Songs over the next few weeks before composing their own lyrics. They will also be having their final African Drumming rehearsal before the Percussion Festival on Southbank next week.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art studio, Year 5 have explored the work of Kara Walker.
Walker’s intricate shadow works explore underlying racial tensions and gender stereotypes in our societies. The children have used what they know, think and wonder to add narrative to Walker’s work and explore one our Big ideas – Social Justice. This term, we will create our own narrative silhouette mural.
Stars of the week
Stars are celebrated because they have demonstrated the school values, or gone above and beyond.
Well done to all our stars this week …
SJC Parent Cricket
Calling all parents – parents at SJSC school have run a cricket team for several years, playing against parents from other schools in the East Dulwich/Dulwich area. The team has 5 games this season with the first being played against Bessemer on 19th May. For those that play, the team has proved a brilliant way of getting to know other parents.
If you are interested in playing, please get in touch with Peter Loveday – peter.loveday@sw.co.uk / 07511 050 457.
Have a great weekend. See you next week!