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Winter, by Vivaldi, brought the children in and out of Celebration assembly this morning, and we wondered what wintry images the music conjured up for them. The violin conveys a biting cold, fierce wind and chattering teeth, and whilst it’s not quite that cold in London yet, the temperature is on the decline.
As the cold deepens and the afternoons darken here in London, do please send your children in with warm enough clothes that to allow them to run around during playtimes and games sessions comfortably. I see some pupils sheltering in the nook outside the school office on occasion, and send them in to layer up so that they can run of their excess energy before the next lesson.
A regular joy of my week, I often mention Celebration Assembly in these newsletter pieces. That very special half hour on a Friday morning really brings the school together, as we all savour the successes of the week gone by and bask in pride at what has been achieved. Last Friday, I was delighted to award a large group of LAMDA pupils with their certificates from the summer. All our students were awarded a distinction! What an achievement! This week Spanish took centre stage, with Martha commending our young estrellas on improved participation and confidence in Spanish, including writing from Year 1 upwards. Muy Bien! I must sharpen up my own paltry Spanish (I only ever studied French), as even our Reception pupils can outdo me now!
On Monday and Tuesday of this week I was out of the office, at the ISA (Independent school’s Association) Autumn Study Conference, up in Kennilworth. This twice yearly event gathers a large collection of independent school heads together and is an invaluable learning and networking event. I attended talks on topics ranging from the safe application of AI in the classroom, to new theory on Neurodivergence, and the updates to the ISI inspection framework, which interestingly has now abolished overall judgements and will no longer be grading schools. Instead, they will focus on ‘nuanced reporting‘ within report itself.
Whilst we are not expecting a full inspection for another 3 years, we are still carefully noting all of the changes, and modifying policies and practices in line with these. I am happy to report that the inspectors will be increasing their focus on wellbeing, which is one of our key strengths.
A warm thank you to those parents that either joined us this morning for our first Parent Forum meeting of this academic year, and to those that contributed questions and comments. Feedback to follow next week.
Excitement is building and planning is underway for the two highlight events of the Autumn term: the Winter Fair and the end of term concert. The Winter Fair promises to be even brighter than last years, with the inclusion of The Children’s House 50th Anniversary celebrations, and the Christmas Concert is set to be a seasonal extravaganza. Do make sure these dates are in your diary, December 1st and 13th respectively.
A light filled Diwali to those who will be celebrating, and happy weekend to all.
Ellie
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The first two weeks after half-term have flown by, and judging by the activity in the classrooms, it's been a wonderful return to the nursery. We're delighted to extend a warm welcome to our new joiners and their families. Leonie, whose mum was a former pupil and Ivan, whose big sister attends the Upper School; both have settled in quickly. The children in all classes have begun forming lovely friendships, and their interactions have become a topic of conversation in the staff room, bringing smiles to us all. No doubt you will hear lots of anecdotes in the upcoming parents' evenings!
There have been many excited faces as the children experienced new things, such as making samosas and creating Rangoli patterns for the first time. They've enjoyed interacting with adults, forming strong bonds with the team. Infectious laughter is now a common background melody at the nursery, making it an absolute pleasure to hear.
Our 'Celebrations' theme coincided with a special day that had everyone excited: a surprise rendition of the birthday song for Mihaela. As they awaited MIhaela's return from lunch, chatting in hushed tones to avoid her overhearing, they shared their birthday wishes. Of course many hoping that it would be their own special day soon. Guessing Mihaela's age, they were convinced it was a number greater than 8, perhaps even as old as 18, but sensibly ruled out any possibility of it being 100 one of the largest numbers they knew of!
Enjoy the photos and reading more about what the children have been up to below.
We would also like to invite you to arrange a personal tour of the Upper School to discover our curriculum, transition process, and 11+ preparations. This is your opportunity to ask questions, tour the facilities, and meet the Upper School staff and children.
Nicolette will be in touch to help arrange tours at your convenience. We look forward to sharing insights into each child's learning journey beyond the nursery.
In case you're interested, here's a link to Bright Start Islington's weekly timetable, featuring a range of services for under-fives and their families:
Bright Start Timetable
Please do take advantage of the opportunities and activities designed to nurture children's growth and development.
Have a great weekend.
Taiba
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Upper School Upcoming Dates
Anti Bullying week 13th to 17th of November
Fri 17th Nov Odd sock day
Fri 1st Dec - 50th Anniversary Winter Fair
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Nursery School Upcoming Dates
Anti Bullying week 13th to 17th of November
Fri 17th Nov Odd sock day
Fri 1st Dec - 50th Anniversary Winter Fair
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Art and Design
Art club:
Art club children were introduced to crochet needles. They made colourful friendship bracelets with loom bands using their fingers as the loom.
The following week we continued with the loom bands in the form of a necklace. Bright beads were interwoven into the design to hone intricate fine motor skills.
Art and Design - Specialist lessons
This week concluded our colour theory activities for this term by creating a series of abstract art that ranged from collage to painting, inspired by the artist Piet Mondrian. The children watched a video based on his work and learnt how he balanced his designs using primary and secondary colours, tones and space.
We commenced our mark making projects with a series of lines and shapes.
Year 1 were provided with strips of primary coloured paper shapes and black strips which they cut to size. They were asked to consider white space within their design and place the shapes before glueing them into their sketch books.
Year 2 Approached the same project using primary coloured paints. They initially sketched the layout of the design before painting.
Year 3 were provided with a template of shapes. They had to cut paper to make an exact fit into the shape, ensuring the black lines were visible. The process involved tracing the shape and transferring it onto the coloured paper before any cutting took place. It was an intricate task that required three colours to be used.
Year 4 created three ideas and selected the best one to feature in their special sketchbook.
They had the opportunity to take the abstract art to another level. The only pre-requisite being to use black demarcating lines.
Rose
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PE and Games
Just three weeks ago, our Year 3 and Year 4 students participated in the Islington Football Competition, and it was a day filled with excitement, teamwork, and thrilling moments on the field. We hope you enjoy reliving the excitement and the great learning experience they had.
Here's a glimpse of what's been happening in each year group:
Nursery: Our Nursery children have been making great strides in their physical development. They've been improving their footwork, focusing on building a solid foundation for their overall agility. Alongside this, they've been exploring basic gymnastics shapes and balances, which are vital for their coordination and strength. Their lessons have been filled with playful and educational activities, including games like "Cross the River," which have been enhancing their skills and spatial awareness.
Reception: In our Reception class, we've concluded our gymnastics shapes theme, and we've now ventured into a new phase of learning. Our students are delving into point and patch balances which encourage them to develop balance and coordination, in a free and creative environment. To make their learning more enjoyable, they've been participating in engaging games such as "The Crocodile," which combines fun and learning.
Year 1 and 2: Our Year 1 and Year 2 students have been on a journey to enhance their spatial awareness. They've been working in pairs, playing games like "Chimneys," which has not only improved their spatial awareness but also fostered teamwork and problem-solving. Additionally, they've been exploring the world of static and dynamic balances through different challenges, obstacle courses, and team games.
Year 3 and 4: Our Year 3 and Year 4 students have embarked on the path to learning various hockey skills, including dribbling, passing, and controlling. What makes this journey even more exciting is the introduction of brand-new equipment, providing them with the tools they need to develop their skills in the sport of hockey.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to parents and members of the staff for your heartwarming congratulations on the arrival of my baby girl. Your warm wishes are deeply cherished.
Wishing you all a fantastic weekend, and we look forward to more exciting adventures in learning and sports ahead!
Kind regards,
Pablo
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Spanish
En Espanol we have kicked off the last term of autumn with high hopes and enthusiasm.
Nursery: We are continuing to practice the song "Estrellita, Estrellita donde estas?" and this week, we have started introducing some colours and numbers from 1 to 5.
Reception: It's been an amazing week! Our Reception class has begun to learn about jungle animals. Over the past two weeks, they've delved into the world of elephants, lions, and monkeys, complete with fun actions. They've enjoyed it immensely!
Year one: This term, students are continuing their exploration of animals and some of their characteristics. They've also taken on the exciting challenge of starting to write in Spanish.
Year 2: Our Year 2 students are having a great time learning about the four seasons of the year. This week, we are focusing on winter and its characteristics.
Year 3 and Year 4: We have been diving into the concept of time. Last week, we learned the days of the week, and this week, we're tackling the months of the year. The kids have been enjoying the challenge of these activities.
Martha
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Tech For Good
In Reception, our youngest learners are becoming proficient in using computers and exploring basic numeracy.
Year 1 children are understanding the importance of saving their digital work and practising online safety. Additionally, they are refining their typing skills.
Year 2 is exploring various aspects of computers and applying their skills to create an engaging racing game.
Year 3 is all about Code, Test, and Debug. The children are actively involved in creating computer programs. They're gaining the skills to identify and fix errors, enhancing the functionality of their programs.
Year 4 children are delving into more advanced aspects of computer programming. They're learning how to make the computer repeat actions and understanding decision-making in computer programs.
For all our parents and caregivers, we recommend checking out tools like Google Family Link, Apple ScreenTime, and Microsoft Family Safety to ensure a safe online environment for your children. Click here for useful resources and check out Internet Matters for additional online safety tips.
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Year 4
As the colder, wetter weather sets in, the children continue to approach their work with positivity and vigour. I must start by talking about The British Museum. After nearly 10 years of school trips, I can safely say that this class have shown the best behaviours of any class I have ever taken. Not only were they keeping themselves safe through great behaviour choices, but they were so engaged in learning throughout the trip that it made what can normally be a stressful day for teachers, a pure joy. I have to give a special mention to a few people. First, Cooper, who battled through an ear ache to join us on the trip. Second, Romilly, who visibly shocked the British Museum Tour Guide with her in depth knowledge –especially when she was correcting us on the complex web of relationships between the Egyptian Gods. Finally, Frankie (Loelia’s mum) who accompanied us on the trip and was a great help throughout the day. I honestly cannot wait to take Year 4 (and Year 3) to the Barbican on Tuesday 21st November to perform with the LSO. I know, once again, they will be a credit to themselves and the school. Here are a couple of pictures from our trip:
This week at school was Assessment Week. During the week, children took a range of Spelling, Grammar, Reading, Writing and Maths tests using NfER and GL assessments. I am so proud of how the children have done in these assessments and cannot wait to share their progress with you in the upcoming parents' evening. A big focus of this week was making sure that we were giving the children everything they needed to be successful. In education terms, these are called ‘Access Arrangements’. Children were included in this process with many asking to move their desks to face the wall to help remove distractions. For others, it was having their focus aides on their desk in case they needed them. The children are becoming really articulate about their needs and taking ownership over their own success. Children, at any point, can request the questions to be read to them in all but the reading papers; this has had a massive impact on their success.
Finally, the children completed a ‘Big Write’ last week. This is where every class in the school completes the same writing task, and we look at these to see the progress in writing through the year groups. The children were given an unseen prompt (in the form of a picture) and asked to create a piece of writing about the prompt. This term, children wrote narratives about a nighttime forest scene. This term, Year 4 have heavily focused on powerful language, expanded noun phrases and fronted adverbials. I am excited to share that every single child incorporated these features into their writing, showing that their hard work in lessons is really paying off. As well as their writing quality improving, I am blown away by the children’s editing skills. They are continuously identifying opportunities to correct their work and improve the language choices as part of their writing process – a really important skill!
Have a great weekend,
Chris
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Year 3
Over the past couple of weeks the children have been working hard from the moment they walk through their door and greet me with their jolly good mornings, to the moment they finish their school day. In Literacy the children have been perfecting their punctuation skills through the use of apostrophes as well as inverted commas to punctuate direct speech and writing detailed character descriptions of Stone Age woolly mammoths! Continuing with our History focus on the Stone Age, the children learned all about Skara Brae, a village that was uncovered not so long ago, where archaeologists unearthed many interesting findings about prehistoric life in the Orkney Islands. They used their research skills to find out what life was like for people back then.
In other exciting news. Year 3 had an urgent email from one of the UK’s leading Petrologists, Dr Sarah Stone, whose database at the British Rock Society had crashed! She needed help from the children to conduct a survey of the local area bedrock. The children looked at what our local buildings were made out of, carefully observing and comparing the shape, colour and texture of the walls, stairs, roofs and even the kerbs to find out what rock might lie beneath our soil and how it is used in our local area. Their rather comprehensive findings were sent on to Dr Stone and we are awaiting a response!
As Scientists the children also learned all about formation of fossils. They ordered the events that lead to formation of a fossil and had a go as creating their own using play doh and plaster of paris. They have spent all week excavating, using toothpicks and brushes to reveal the fossil hidden underneath.
I want to celebrate the children’s hard work this week. Through all of their assessments, which haven’t always been a walk in the park, the children have shown great skills in determination and perseverance, so a great big well done Year 3!
Aisha
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Year 2
Year two have been very busy bees this week. For our assessment week, they have all been so mature, calm, and diligent. I am so proud of every single child as they have followed assessment protocols, but more importantly done their best. The assessments are a perfect opportunity for everyone to show off what they already know but gives me a chance to reflect on which parts of our learning might need to be covered again.
Below are some highlights of the last fortnight.
In Literacy, we have been looking at fables and especially the Leopard Frog and Indian Red Scorpion. The children, in pairs, produced noun phrases to describe different animals that might be found in other fables, then turned into the frog and scorpion in our hot seat, making predictions about what will happen next and discussing what morals mean and how we can apply them to daily life.
In Numeracy we have started to look at column addition (hamburger method) and how this will be very helpful for us as we go through the year (and through the school). At first it seemed complicated, but after using the method we all discovered that it helps us answer the equations quicker.
In Science (on Halloween) we became scientists and created our new animals. The head, body and tail needed to be from different animals. We discussed the different body parts of mammals, birds, and fish and how we could label them. We also wrote wonderful short descriptions of our “mash-up” creations. The children discussed the importance of being more specific, in naming the animals and not just their groups! The children enjoyed learning about the beautiful but terribly grumpy Siamese Fighting Fish!
In RE, we learnt all about Diwali and how it is celebrated by so many people around the world. We looked at how people in India might decorate their homes and we designed our own Rangoli to be displayed in our classroom.
Finally, another highlight this week was in our PHSE lesson. We looked at assumptions we might have of what boys and girls like. Anonymously we all wrote sentences of something we love and when they were read out, we had to guess if it was written by a girl or a boy! It was so interesting to find out that at no point did we all guess correctly!
James
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Year 1
Year 1 have started the term off working very hard! They have completed their Big Write, which the whole school takes part in and they have completed their assessments this week. Well done to Year 1 for working so hard and putting in their best efforts during the assessments!
In Literacy, the children have used the festivities happening over these past two weeks to write a poem using their senses about Bonfire Night. They have also written a description of Bonfire night. The children’s use of adjectives and conjunctions in their descriptions has really impressed me. As part of an art lesson, they have also created their own pumpkins using coloured paper strips and card. They were all really impressive!
During Maths, we have continued to explore subtraction and have used various methods, such as number lines, to help ourselves solve subtraction problems. The children have been tasked with finding number families for numbers to 30 and representing numbers to 30 using Numicon.
We have started our new half term topic of Toys, which the children are very excited about! The children first looked at toys from the past and compared them with toys from nowadays. The children brought in their favourite teddies and practised their sketching skills whilst trying to draw them. I enjoyed meeting and hearing about all their favourite teddies and where they are from. These will be used to write a description of them and why they are their favourites. It is a fun topic, which I know the children are already enjoying!
In the oming weeks, we will be planning and writing our own storiesbased on the story ‘The Polka Dot Horse’ and in Maths the children will begin to look at word problems and features of shape.
Eliot
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Reception
Last week the children looked at the Indian folktale, ‘How The Stars Came To Be’. They used their phonics and the features of a narrative to retell the story. The class were inspired by the book's illustrations and we discussed geometric patterns and creating the main character's beautiful skin tone using different shades of brown. Reception also looked closely at henna patterns, using card and foil to create their own beautiful henna prints. We were very lucky to have a visit from Leo’s mother. She discussed Indian culture and traditions with the class. The children had the opportunity to dance to Indian music, wear bindis and discuss Diwali. In maths the class continued their exploration of number bonds of 10, creating number bond rainbows, number sentences and developing their subitising skills.
This week Reception have explored the stars. We looked at the story ‘Hello Star’ and discussed our aspirations for the future. The children used chalk to create their very own supernovas. We also looked at the book ‘What We See In The Stars’, using canvases and pins to create constellations. Finally the class looked at the story ‘Stardust’, using the features of a narrative to retell the story. We particularly enjoyed discussing the meaning behind the story and its final few sentences. ‘We all shine in our own way. Because, remember. . .you are made of stardust, too’.
Zoe
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Pre-Reception News
The whole of the Upstairs nursery has been filled with colour and sparkle as we have started our Celebrations topic.
As one of the classic markers of a celebration, fireworks mean festivities, partying and having fun alongside friends and family. The children loved to create fireworks using a range of techniques, such as dabbing with sponges and printing with star cutters, but the most popular way had to be flicking and splattering paint, just like Jackson Pollock! They have used musical instruments and explored onomatopoeic words to represent firework sounds-‘ bang, whoosh, sizzle, whizz’, then practised segmentation of sounds for writing, to label their pictures. We have been impressed with how much progress the children are making in phonics already!
With their sparkly colours, crazy movements and startling sounds, fireworks make the perfect inspiration to creative movement- whirling round like a Catherine wheel, shooting upwards like a rocket or tiptoeing around at speed like a fizzy sparkler. During dance, the children had so much fun using ribbons and streamers to express themselves, practising skills of cooperation, as they were deciding with their partners what moves to include and how to sequence them.
This week the children have learnt about Diwali, The Festival of lights. The story of ‘Rama and Sita’ provided a stimulus for discussing acts of bravery and kindness and encouraged us to be considerate and helpful towards each other. During our Maths focus sessions, the children enjoyed working with 2D shapes to explore Rangoli patterns, skilfully used 3D blocks to build The Taj Mahal and reinforced their 1:1 correspondence when counting jewels to decorate Indian elephants- symbols of good luck and protection.
The Upstairs Team
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Downstairs Nursery.
The Downstairs Nursery children have been learning about feelings and emotions. We started by spotting and mimicking different facial expressions that show various emotions. To put their new skills into action, the children had a go at drawing and painting happy, sad, and angry faces on whiteboards.
We also talked about situations that make us sad or angry and used practical calming techniques to help the children relax and try to regulate their emotions. As a hands-on project, the children also put together sensory bottles—simple yet effective tools to aid in calming down.
This week we shifted our focus to celebrating Diwali and learning about Indian culture. The children listened to the story of Rama and Sita and used clay to make colourful and sparkly Diva lamps. They practiced chopping vegetables to make their own Samosas - reportedly delicious! They also experimented with various art materials to make fireworks which involved using techniques such as paint splattering, powder paint sprinkling, and using glue and glitter. Shapes and natural materials were also explored to make rangoli patterns.
All in all, it’s been a great fortnight!
The Downstairs Team
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