This week is Science Week and we have been exploring the theme of ‘curiosity‘ to find out about more about areas of science we are interested in.
At the Upper School, Year 6 have been exploring how batteries work and investigating to see if fruits can be used to create electricity. They have been experimenting with apple, lemons, limes, kiwis and bananas to see if they will work as a battery in a circuit. In Year 5, children have been carrying out a paper aviation experiment to create the ultimate paper plane. They have been working on ensuring their test is fair and have enjoyed refining their initial ideas to create the most plane that flies the furthest distance. Year 4 have bee focusing on animal adaptations and have used their knowledge of how animals adapt to their environment to create an animal that has to adapt to climate change in the United Kingdom. They have planned, designed and made clay models of their creature. Finally, Year 3 have investigating light and shadow using shadow puppets and have explored how they length of their shadow changes throughout the day. We have enjoyed hearing their findings and key learning in our science assembly this afternoon.
At the Lower School, Ms Balhadere led a very exciting assembly looking at chemistry and the effect of mixing different types of acid and alkaline to create a reaction. We have been embracing the theme of curiosity and asking lots of questions through our assemblies and investigations in class this week. Year 2 have been making bird nests out of clay and other materials, then investigating how they withstand different weather conditions. Year 1 have been observing how water travels through plants. Reception have been taking part in a range of experiments this week including making their own butter by shaking double cream, observing raisins ‘dancing’ in lemonade and observing changes when skittles are placed in milk. The children compared using cold and warm milk, then discussed whether the change was reversible or irreversible. Little Cypress have had a great time making cornflour mud for their farm animals, making rain clouds with shaving foam, observing colour ‘dancing’ in milk and creating volcanoes with Coke and mento mints! What a fantastic week of exploration, investigation and developing our curiosity.
There is a wonderful free science festival in South Kensington called The Great Exhibition Road Festival on the 6-7th June 12:00-18:00. You need to register for places on courses and activities: https://www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk/
Gold Award
This half term our Gold Award has been given to those children who consistently show they have fantastic team work skills. Collaboration is a key skill in life and we are so proud of your achievements. Well done to the following children who received this award:
| Red Class: Blake and Deon | Turquoise Class: Ruth and Eli | Lime Class: Molly and Lucas |
| Yellow Class: Bobby and Lucas | Ruby Class: Robyn and Flynn | Hazel Class: Emad and Barney |
| Orange Class: Athena and Ronnie | Birch Class: Etta and Willow | Willow Class: David and Accasia |
| Blue Class: Isla and Sofia | Cedar Class: Poppy and Atticus | Sycamore Class: Amanda and Olivia |
| Green Class: Nevaeh and Theo | Holly Class: Jaydah and Abigail | Beech Class: Leo and Folarin |
| Indigo Class: Una and Bohdan | Hawthorn Class: Luis and Troy | Oak Class: Cayla and Owen |
| Violet Class: Bilal and Amelia | Rowan Class: Elbie and Lyra | Larch Class: Elis and Autumn |
We have also awarded special Gold Awards to children at Cypress with the most improved attendance this half term. Well done to Sufyan, Elena and Erica.
Welcome to Mango Classroom
The outdoor classroom at Cypress Upper is truly a magical space: a dedicated place for our students to garden, watch nature thrive, and take their learning into the fresh air. To ensure this special area felt like an official part of our school, the Eco Squad took on the exciting mission of giving it a proper name. After careful deliberation, they narrowed the choices down to three wonderful options: Bamboo, Mango, and Eucalyptus. Following a school-wide classroom vote, the ballots have been counted, and we are thrilled to announce the winner… drumroll, please… MANGO! We are delighted to officially welcome the Mango room to the Cypress family. A huge thank you to the Eco Squad and all our students for participating!
Year 4 become bakers for the day
As part of the ‘Adopt a Chef’ programme with Harrisons, Year 4 have been bread making with Chef Morad this week. The children have had a wonderful time, planning, making, baking and eating their own bread. Thank you Chef Morad for making this such an enjoyable experience for our children.
Year 5 Maths Challenge at Royal Russell
Well done to Poppy, Phoebe, Caleb and Louis who attended the Maths Challenge at Royal Russell School and should be incredibly proud of themselves. Although they did not win, they demonstrated excellent collaboration, perseverance, mathematical thinking and impeccable manners while tackling a range of challenging puzzles throughout the afternoon. A special mention goes to Louis, who solved one of the puzzles in the fastest time the organisers had ever seen. Well done to all of the pupils involved!
Cypress Superstars
Well done to Violaine in Birch Class who produced some fantastic thematic homework. Violaine has been to visit the Prehistoric caves in Nerja and was inspired to create her own model of a cave painting as part of her home learning. What fantastic creativity!
Well done to Cora in Turquoise Class for her incredible writing! Year 2 have been learning about ‘Rosie’s Magic Horse’ by Roald Dahl and writing their own stories. Cora used some fantastic imagery and description and we were very impressed by her writing. Niamh in Red Class has impressed everyone by creating her very own story book, based on a fairy princess. She created her story totally independently and used her phonics very carefully to sound out new and unknown words when writing. Mrs Sorensen thought it was Year 2 writing! Well done to Sadie, Joshua, Otis and Sophia in Turquoise Class for their fantastic seaside themed home learning. A special shout for Otis for his impressive rock pool model! He was able to confidently talk about the process involved in creating his model, which must have taken hours of hard work and dedication. Leoh in Violet Class has made great progress with his reading and it was a joy to hear him read to Mrs Sorensen this week with such confidence. Mrs Sorensen gave every child in Orange class a very special sticker this week for their FANTASTIC writing! The children have been creating their own fairy tale books and we are absolutely blown away by their incredible writing, using carefully formed letters and their sounds.
PTFA Volunteers
Our PTFA are looking for volunteers to help make Cyp-Fest, our Summer Fair on Saturday 20th June, a brilliant day for our children and school community. Whether you can help before the event, on the day, or both, we’d love to hear from you. Every little bit of help makes a huge difference. Please email hello@cypress-ptfa.org if you can get involved.
We wish all our children and families a relaxing half term and look forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 1st June.
Ms Binks, Mrs Sorensen and the Cypress Team
