At the Upper School this week, we have been thinking about how we use questioning to deepen our learning. In class we have thinking about the question ‘Is there such a thing as a silly question?’ We have talked about how questions help us to explore misconceptions, help those around us and make us curious about new learning. We have been using our questioning skills effectively in class this week.
At the Lower School on Monday, Miss Chapman and our wonderful school dog Seve led assembly. Children learnt more about Seve and the work he does at our school and also marked ‘International Guide Dog day’. On Tuesday we thought more about one of our Pegasus values; ‘We have good manners’. We considered why having good manners was so important and what might be seen as bad manners. Miss Hunt also shared some inspirational stories following the London Marathon last weekend.
Year 4 Hindu Temple Visit
On Wednesday, Lime and Hawthorn Class visited the Hindu temple in Croydon to support their learning in RE. The children were very interested and learnt lots of new information. They were excellent representatives of the school throughout their trip. The children will now be applying this new learning into their work in lessons.
Violet Class visits the Centre for Wildlife Gardening
Violet Class have been on an adventure to East Dulwich today! We can’t wait to hear all about their experience and look forward to Turquoise and Ruby Class enjoying this trip next week.
Year 4 Writing Workshops
On Thursday, Year 4 had an inspiring visit from one of our parents Steve Sobolewski who works for Story Matters. Steve really inspired and motivated the children to produce some amazing writing. The theme for the workshop was dragons and Ms Binks enjoyed seeing some of wonderful writing the children had produced. There was such a range of poems, stories, scary writing and humorous writing. The children will now be using this writing to support their writing unit about fairy tales. Thank you Steve for your wonderful work with Year 4!
Birch Class Assembly
We began today at the Upper School with a lovely assembly from Birch Class. The children took us on a journey through the highlights of their learning this year. We heard some amazing emotions poem inspired by their workshop from the poet Joshua Seigal. The children then told about the Stone Age and how people couldn’t just go to the supermarket but had to hunt and gather their own food. We ended the assembly with a special Stone Age version of ‘We Will Rock You’. Well done Birch Class on your fantastic performance this morning. Thank you also to Mrs Chira and Mrs Dodd for all your hard work with the children. What a lovely way to start our Friday!
Cypress Superstars
It’s been a busy week with lots of superstars at Cypress sharing their wonderful learning. Well done to Geneva in Violet Class for her very creative homework where she has modelled creatures that you might spot at the seaside. Athena, Etta and Darcey in Orange Class have written incredible ‘wanted’ posters for a troll who is on the loose! We are so impressed with your writing where you have used your sounds, fingers spaces and carefully formed letters. Year 2 have continued their writing based on ‘The Iron Man’ this week and have published their very own Iron Man stories. Well done to Sadie, Sophia, Ruth, Lorik, Ruby, Logan, Ivie, Leo, Bilal, Jad, Rita, Paula and Juno who have worked so hard. Mrs Sorensen has thoroughly enjoyed reading your Iron Man stories and been very impressed with your use of vocabulary, expanded noun phrases, handwriting and presentation. Blue class have painted the most beautiful African animals on a landscape. Well done to Favour and Keira who were able to explain how they created their pieces, what materials they used and what they enjoyed most about their creative process.
Well done to Harrison in Lime Class who came to share his wonderful descriptive writing about a dragon. His rich vocabulary choices meant we could really picture what his dragon looked like. Congratulations to Ivy in Hawthorn Class who came to show her brilliant crochet fox she had made at home. It was so professional that Ms Binks thought she had got it from a shop. You are so talented. Well done to Rory in Cedar Class who has produced some amazing writing for an information booklet using his knowledge of the Stone Age. Congratulations to Alan, Alanna and Yakira in Hazel Class who have shown great skill in identifying equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages. Well done to Arona, Sky, Jacob, Clara, Julia and Rosie in Holly Class who had created some amazing models of minibeasts during their enrichment session with Ms Francis. Congratulations to Autumn in Larch Class who achieved a ‘distinction’ in her Grade 2 Drama exam. We are really proud of you!
Hot weather
We have seen some glorious weather this week and summer feels like it’s finally in reach. Please remember to send your child into school with a named hat on very warm and sunny days. Sun cream should be applied before school and we recommend applying a long-lasting 8 hour cream where possible. If children do bring their own sun cream into school please ensure this is named and something they can re-apply themselves, as school staff are unable to assist with this. Water bottles should also come into school daily and on warmer days we will encourage children to drink and re-fill as needed.
We wish all our children and families a relaxing Bank Holiday weekend and look forward to seeing you back in school on Tuesday 5th May.
Ms Binks, Mrs Sorensen and the Cypress Team
