Spring term Issue 26: 28th March 2024
Dear families
Happy Easter everyone!
Our children and staff team have all worked wonderfully this half term and are all ready for the Easter break. We had a fantastic church service this morning where Mrs McGregor led our joyful singing and Reverend Gill helped up to think about the hope that the Easter story brings.
As always, thank you to all of our families that show fantastic support. We wish you all a great break.
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
We have fit so much into a short week in Reception! We have been investigating capacity in maths, using water outside, having a brilliant time with buckets and gutters. Also, outside we have been transplanting bedding plants and our bean plants (which are now up to our knees).
We have been learning about how Christians celebrate Easter, looking at the story of the end of Jesus’ life and his death on the cross. The children have decorated crosses and made Easter cards and spoke very meaningfully about their faith at home and Sunday school.
We were thrilled to join the whole school for the Eco March on Tuesday and made super signs to wave and learned chants… understanding that our voices matter; though we are all individuals with small voices… together we make a loud noise with a big message!
We hope you have a lovely Easter Break with your families, and look forward to our farm trip on the second day back (Tuesday the 16th April… remember to be in school for 8 am please!)
Year 1
Year 1 have been enjoying all things Easter this week! We spent time in RE discussing Maundy Thursday and the dinner that Jesus had with his disciples. We also found out that Jesus knew one of his friends would betray him, so we looked at the picture of The Last Supper and wrote what we thought the disciples might be saying. We thought they would be quite shocked and worried. We have also loved making Easter crafts and cards, and we even did an easter egg hunt today!
Year 2
In Science this week, we continued to explore the suitability of different materials. We conducted a comparative test by creating homes made from different materials. In doing so, we analysed their windproof and waterproof strengths, then assessing their rigidity. Children worked together as teams and used careful, well thought out communication to create the homes, attempting to make some materials rigid that otherwise wouldn’t be. A great explorative team effort.
Year 3
This week, year 3 have been busy counting the votes from out tea event, ready to feed back to the Royal Tea Taster.
First we had to count the votes and we recorded our results in a whole class tally chart. Next we turned our data into a bar chart so the data was clearer to see. We found out that Lemon and Ginger tea was the overall favourite.
We would like to thank you all again for attending our tea event and for supporting our learning.
We wish you all a very happy Easter holidays.
Year 4
In history, year 4 have been learning about the Anglo-Saxons and their way of life. This week, we focussed on what daily life was like in their settlements. As historians, we glanced through books and highlighted key facts to know, such as the village chief lived in the largest house, in the centre of the village and that the Anglo-Saxons always positioned their settlements near a river or any other type of water source
Year 5
This half term, our topic in PSHE has been ‘Healthy me’. This week, we have focussed on first aid. We have learnt how and when we would need to put someone into the recovery position. We have also learnt how to get help in an emergency.
Year 6
What a wonderful final day of the term we had in year 6! Firstly, we led the Easter Service at church - a BIG thank you to our spectacular readers who represented us so brilliantly. it was such a special school community event and you all spoke with such confidence! When we returned to school, we went to the SJSC cinema to watch the first half of Romeo and Juliet! This half term, we have been studying the play in English and we have been awed by the children's Shakespeare inspired diary entries, narratives, letters of advice and more.
Music this week…
Year 1 were exploring pitch this week using tuned percussion.
We had a couple of keyboard performances from children in Years 1 and 2
Year 3 were using Claves to practise the salsa rhythm of “ Rest, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3” as well as rehearsing the cup actions to accompany the song, Samba Le Le.
Please watch the video of Year 5’s playing one of their recorder pieces.
Please watch the video of Year 6 rehearsing their African drumming for the Percussion Festival in Southwark next month.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art studio, Years 2,3, 5 & 6 have completed their zines. The zines cover a wide range of topics –including music, sport, food and fun, and show how passionate the children are about the world around. Each zine really shows the authors’ voice and creative process. Lots of the children have been creating them at home – they really are a great way to explore ideas and have your say.
Multiverse and other reading news
We were absolutely blown away by all the entries into our Multiverse Writing Competition as part of our World Book Day celebrations. The entries from across the school were so imaginative and engaging – a real treat to read. A huge well done to all entries and especially to our Runner-ups and Winners in the KS1, LKS2 and UKS2 categories. The winners will be added to our Reading Room for all to enjoy!
Our annual Extreme Reading competition again brought lots of laughs on World Book day and we can now share the winners’ photos with you. A huge congratulations to our winners and thank you so much to everyone who participated – we had over 100 entries from children and the teachers’ competition got very competitive indeed with Miss Evans’ crown taken by Miss Laidlaw- Shaw and Mrs Hare!
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Read for Good Readathon as well. As a school we raised over £400 and this money will go towards buying books for children in hospitals. If you still have any outstanding sponsorships, please do go to the Read for Good website to add to our total.
We are so proud of our reading community at SJSC!
Eco News
On Tuesday, the entire school embarked on an inspiring journey to Goose Green for our much-anticipated annual Climate Change March. It was about raising our voices and making a stand for our planet. The children, adorned with banners, whistles, and most importantly, their passionate voices, took to the park, spreading awareness about the pressing issue of climate change. It was a sight to behold as our young activists marched together, their energy echoing throughout East Dulwich. Thank you to everyone who joined us, it was great seeing lots of parents! Let's continue to raise awareness, take action, and work towards a greener, healthier planet for generations to come!
Sports News
On Friday, our Year 6 netball team played against Heber School in their first game with their set positions and teams. They played 2 quarters each and we were very proud of the way they adapted to their new positions and their team work was brilliant. We lost 5-2 in the end but it didn't reflect how hard the teams worked. Well done to Apphia and Kirsty for being piked to be players of the match.
Thank you as always to Ali for giving up her time to coach the teams.
Opportunity to join Westminster’s New Choir
Do you know a girl who loves to sing?
Applications are open now for girls in Year 6 to join our new choir, the St Margaret's Choristers. Established last year, the choir is made up of girls from schools across London, who receive free singing tuition as well as a generous scholarship. The choir performs regularly in St Margaret's Church and later this year will also begin singing selected services in Westminster Abbey.
There are lots of other opportunities to perform too. Last week for example, the girls visited Parliament to sing at a special event celebrating Women's History Month.
If you'd like to find out more about the choir, book your place at our free Chorister Experience Day on Sunday 21st April. Hosted by Greg Morris, Director of Music at St Margaret's, the day will offer a chance to get an idea of what it feels like to be a St Margaret's Chorister, to take part in a rehearsal, to sing with the choir, and to experience the style and level of musicianship.
For more information and to book: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/.../st-margaret-s...
Have a great Easter break. See you April 15th!