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Dear Parents
What a wonderful concert to end the term! Thank you to all those who joined us in the nave to create that warm and supportive Children’s House atmosphere. I felt incredibly proud seeing those final performances, knowing how much progress the children had made in the run up. Teachers had worked energetically to build confidence and encourage clear and loud articulation. For many children, a large room full of adults is extremely daunting, but the practice paid off. Their singing and dancing was also a delight to behold. Only two days before, on Monday, we had had our first dress rehearsal, and like all dress rehearsals, there were many areas that we realised needed refining. The teachers had been rehearsing in classrooms for weeks before, but moving onto the big stage required careful planning. The children worked hard to make improvements for the second dress rehearsal on Tuesday and on the day, they were raring to go. An extra special well done to Martha and Pablo for the Spanish news, which was a new addition to the programme. I hope you noticed the script translated in the programme and were able to follow along. How fabulous to see the children so assured in a second language.
If you would like to enjoy the concert again from the comfort of your sofa, please click here.
Aside from preparing for the concert, the children have been immersed in a whole host of seasonal activities. The Winter Fair was a wondrous success, kicking off the festive season and the pinnacle of our 50th anniversary celebrations. The Christmas party was another favourite, as well as designing Christmas cards and Christmas jumper day, on which we raised £230 for Save the Children. Thank you for your donations. Our final celebration assembly was an end-of-term topsy turvy special, in which the children shared some highlights of the term and chose a teacher to celebrate. Heartwarming comments included thanks to teachers for being kind, for providing sporting opportunities and for helping them, but my favourite of all was the very last, when Freddie S in Reception put his hand up to tell me: 'I want to celebrate you, Ellie, for always celebrating everyone else in the school!'
We wished farewell and good luck to Aisha at the end of term, who has gone off for maternity leave, and welcomed Kim and Sinead to Years 3 and 4 respectively. Both ladies have been in to meet the team and the children this past fortnight, for detailed hand over discussions and preparations for January.
Thanks to everyone for your efforts and support of the school this term inlcuding the generous Christmas gifts to staff. Wishing you a restful, happy and healthy holiday season.
Ellie
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Dear Parents,
As we wrap up the Autumn term our last two weeks have been full of festive highlights. Many of the children had their first encounter with Hanukkah showing curiosity and engagement in a variety of crafts. With the help of our cheerful elves, the children have also been busy wrapping presents, making cards, and sending letters to Father Christmas.
Our Home Corner was transformed into Father Christmas's Grotto, where children got creative making toys and paper snowflakes. The Christmas party was lots of fun, featuring an enchanting Christmas play from Bronia and her 'One Moment in Time' theatre. Adapted from Joan Aiken's "The Patchwork Quilt," it added an extra touch of magic to our celebrations.
In the midst of celebrating the children created the cutest Christmas wreaths, adorned Christmas trees and enjoyed festive games.
I think you will agree that the Christmas concert was a heartwarming finale, which showed off the children's talents and everyone's effort. It's been a pleasure seeing them grow and progress so quickly throughout the term.
Thank you for working alongside us to ensure the term was a great success. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Taiba
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Nursery School Dates
Thursday January 4th - Spring Term begins:
Breakfast Club drop in from 8am
After School Clubs 3:00 –4:30pm
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Upper School Dates
Thursday January 4th - Spring Term begins:
Breakfast Club drop in from 8-8:15am
Gate opens 8:30am
After School Clubs 3:45 – 5pm
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Spring Term Important Dates and the term dates for the next academic year can be found here.
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Reminders:
Upper School clubs can now be booked for the Spring Term here.
Labelling items brought into school - please ensure every item is labelled for the new term as we struggle to find the owners of unlabelled items and currently have a large box of lost property in the office. Do pop in and have a look if something has gone missing.
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PE & Games news
As we conclude the first term of the year, we're excited to share the highlights that have made it truly special.
This starts with the amazing success of our Year 3 students who achieved 3rd place in Young Hackney’s Dodgeball Tournament.
Team spirit, great skills, sportsmanship, and a lot of fun were the key ingredients that made this event memorable for all involved.
The second highlight was the Year 3 and Year 4 Girls' and Boys' Football Tournaments which were filled with excitement, teamwork, and thrilling moments on the field.
For our Nursery children the best part has been the playful learning, songs, and games such as “1,2,3 palito inglés”, and “Dag, dag, gus”.
Reception’s spotlight has been the Gymnastics Theatre Shows: Dazzling displays of agility and creativity using the skills learnt.
The peak of this term in Year 1 and Year 2 have been our balance challenges and games such as "Dodgeball-balance, or Piranhas" where dynamic balance is key to dodging a ball while standing on a bench.
Lastly, the Olympic and Hockey Games, played 2vs2 by Years 3 and 4, demonstrated a commendable spirit of competition, unveiling athletic prowess and collaborative abilities.
As we enter the Christmas break, let's celebrate these achievements and the joy of the season. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Pablo
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Art Club
Our Christmas project commenced with moulding, cutting and decorating clay shapes, some of which were used for the mini canvas boards, cardmaking or simply tree decorations.
Our canvas and card making designs were adorned with an array of decorations. To say the children went to town is an understatement. This is ART. We love it and it shows! Enjoy.
Curriculum Art and Design
The first leg of mark making techniques concluded with drawing 3D shapes. The artists used a range of shading skills to create different tones and gradients. (See a sample from Year 1’s work).
Year 3 enjoyed a relaxing creative card making activity whilst Year 4 embarked on an internal Christmas design competition.
The children brainstormed and sketched two designs using swatches and colours in their ‘ideas’ sketchbook. They then selected the best one for the final design in their special sketchbook.
Each person anonymously cast their vote for a first and runner up position. Congratulations to our winner Camilla with a lovely collage and runner up; Albert.
The standard of work was very high and at times it was a very close race. The two prizes consisted of an art and craft goodie bag.
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Music
The children have been hard at work preparing for the Christmas concert. We enjoyed rehearsing a wide array of songs from Christmas classics to Spanish tunes. Our whole school song, All Around The World, reflects the theme of our music learning this term. After exploring a variety of musical cultures in our Wonderful World assembly last half term, some classes have continued to explore music from around the world. Years 3 & 4 took a deep dive into Indian classical music in preparation for their trip to the Barbican to see the London Symphony Orchestra’s Festival of Light concert. Year 2 have been virtually travelling around the world via radiooooo.com, learning about the music of Hawaii, Jamaica, Cuba and more!
Olivia
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Hola a todos!
We wanted to share with you the exciting news and preparations that we experienced in our Spanish class leading up to the Christmas Concert in the last two weeks.
In Nursery, the children were delighted as they learnt the song "Merry Christmas" in Spanish. It was heartwarming to see their radiant faces as they had fun embracing the Christmas spirit.
Click here to watch the Nursery rehearsals.
Meanwhile, in Upper School, our students took significant steps. We're pleased to inform you that they successfully met the challenge of preparing and presenting their first Spanish news broadcast, "Chiqui Noticias Internacional"! It was a challenge, but their effort was incredible.
We are very proud to see how they improved, not only in the content of the news but also in their pronunciation! We were excited to share these achievements during our recent Christmas Concert. It was a special opportunity to enjoy the students' talent and celebrate the holiday season together.
Here are the links where you can watch the news broadcast again:
Chiquinoticias Christmas 2023.mp4
Wishing you all a holiday season filled with joy and special moments! Feliz Navidad y un prospero año nuevo 2024!
Martha.
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Tech for good.
We're so excited to share the amazing progress our young tech enthusiasts have made this term! From grasping the basics to exploring advanced concepts, our students have demonstrated incredible talent and enthusiasm for the world of technology.
Our youngest innovators, the Reception students, have become confident digital citizens, navigating the online world with ease while following important eSafety agreements. They've embraced technology and are well on their way to becoming responsible digital users.
Year 1 students, with their curious minds and eager hands, have embarked on a journey of sorting, grouping, and organising, building a strong foundation for essential computer skills. They've exploring the art of typing, learning the home row in this important skill.
Our coding ninjas, the Year 2 students, have taken their skills to the next level, creating interactive programs with buttons, showing off their understanding of basic programming structures. Their creativity and problem-solving abilities shone through as they brought their digital creations to life.
Year 3 students have displayed remarkable strategic thinking, planning scenes and algorithms before incorporating them into their programs. This forward-thinking approach empowers them to tackle complex challenges and develop their problem-solving skills.
Our coding prodigies, the Year 4 students, have pushed the boundaries of computer programming, mastering the art of making computers repeat actions and delving into the intricacies of decision-making in programs. They're well on their way to becoming coding experts, ready to tackle any digital challenge.
As our students continue to explore the world of computing, we encourage parents and caregivers to stay involved in their learning journey. Ensuring a safe and supportive online environment is a shared responsibility. We recommend using tools like Google Family Link, Apple ScreenTime, and Microsoft Family Safety to monitor and manage your child's online activity.
To further enhance your understanding of online safety, we invite you to explore additional tips from Internet Matters. By working together, we can empower our children to become responsible digital citizens who use technology for good.
Click here for Year 2 Projects: Interactive Animations
Year 2 students have showcased their creativity and programming mastery by creating interactive programs featuring button-driven animations. These projects are a testament to their ability to bring their imaginations to life through technology.
Click here for Year 3 Projects: Collaborative Coding Adventures
Year 3 students have embraced collaboration, embarking on a coding project where they designed and built a simple game using sprites and backgrounds. This project demonstrates their understanding of teamwork and their ability to apply programming concepts to create engaging digital experiences.
Click here for Year 4 Projects: Delving into Advanced Programming Concepts
Year 4 students have built upon their strong foundation in programming, diving into advanced concepts such as making computers repeat actions and comprehending decision-making processes within programs. Their dedication and enthusiasm are evident in their creative projects, and we can't wait to see what they achieve next year.
We are incredibly proud of the dedication and enthusiasm our students have shown throughout the term. Their passion for technology is truly inspiring, and we are excited to see the future they create with their coding skills.
Thank you for your continued support of our computing program. Together, we are nurturing a generation of young tech superstars who will shape the digital landscape of the future.
David
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Year 4
As we’ve approached the end-of-term and holiday season, our days in Year 4 have certainly been “merry and bright” (with a nod to Irving Berlin). The children have truly developed academic fortitude and emotional resilience over the course of this term. All of their teachers have noted the kind way they treat others, the optimistic way they approach learning and, most of all, the joy they show at school each day. From multiplying a set of three numbers together to knowing how to outline a narrative without help, Year 4 have shown they are capable of excellence.
One way they’ve shown this excellence is in their diligent preparation for our Christmas play. It tells the story of a group of people struggling to pinpoint the true meaning of Christmas. In the end, they realise that Christmas means many things to many different people, and that giving to others is at the heart of it all. We have had many discussions of ways to show we care about others this Christmas season. These chats have shown that Year 4 students have hearts of gold! They truly wish to help others this season (maybe this sentiment will even inspire them to help parents with tidying!).
The children also enjoyed our annual Christmas party. With the aim of transforming our classroom into a winter wonderland, they mastered folding a six-sided snowflake as well as creating intricate accordion chains. The children enjoyed playing several games, including “pin the carrot nose on the snowman” and “guess that carol.”
Amidst all of this holiday cheer, Year 4 has reminded me of the special sort of magic that only children experience at Christmas. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be their teacher these past few weeks and I wish all of them, and their families, a very merry Christmas.
Emily
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Year 3
And so another busy Autumn term has come to an end. Year 3 have worked incredibly hard and have very much earned their Christmas holiday break. I have loved having this class a second time around, seeing just how far they have come since they started with me in Year 1 over two years ago. The children have spent their first term in Year 3 as petrologists, archaeologists, authors, mathematicians, geographers, dancers, singers, linguists, sportspeople and many more. What a whirlwind of a term! I couldn’t be prouder of their achievements.
The last couple of weeks have felt very festive with the Winter Fair kicking things off. The children have been singing like angels and rehearsing their lines ready for the big performance. Ending the week with our annual Christmas party, the children enjoyed games such as ‘Pin the nose on the snowman’, ‘jingle bell throw’ and more, before entering the hall for their Christmas banquet lunch. Year 3 have created their own baubles to take home and hang on their Christmas trees. We hope you will treasure these for years to come!
In amongst the festivities the children have also been busy working on their core subjects. They have been writing incredible five-part stories, learning how to embellish their writing and add depth to their sentences, publishing Christmas haikus using the 5-7-5 syllable method and have been working to perfect their 3- and 4-times tables (with lots of singing involved!).
Thank you to parents, staff and children for all of your support this term. I will be leaving the Children’s House for a short while as I navigate my own child-filled adventure. Kim will be taking over in Year 3 from January onwards and I cannot wait to hear about all of the exciting learning the children get up to next term!
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Aisha
p.s. For those of you who didn’t manage to catch the Year 3 documentary set up as part of the Winter Fair’s Art exhibition for the 50th Anniversary, please click here and enjoy their fabulous interviewing skills!
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Year 2
I can’t quite believe that the Autumn term has flown by so fast! When I reflect on the last 15/16 weeks, I am immensely proud of everything the children have achieved and the tip of the iceberg was the incredible effort from the children in the Christmas play! We all enjoyed rehearsing and performing and thank you for coming to watch us! I’m not quite sure we will ever look at a mince pie in the same way again! With Christmas just around the corner, Year 2 have had a wonderful couple of weeks.
We were honoured to have Bronia run a Nativity Puppet workshop for the children in late November. A huge amount of patience, precision and calm was needed to listen to the different ways in which puppets can come to life. The children had to create a character from the Nativity and use their super gross motor skills to construct their puppets. They looked amazing! Bronia also conducted a short puppeteering movement session and it was wonderful to see the children acting out small scenes.
Year 2 also had a wonderful trip to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. We took public transport, and I was so proud of all the children for their listening skills and maturity as we moved across London. The children had a super time in the Ahoy! play zone and had a blast! They recreated their own stories and there were some orders shouted out from the Captain of the ship! We were lucky to see the real light which was used on the Tarbat Ness lighthouse in Scotland and had a great time exploring the huge world floor map! Who knew that shipping lanes could be so fun.
A huge thank you to Huxley’s and Arius’ mums for joining us on the trip.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and a peaceful New Year. I’m looking forward to seeing you all in 2024.
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Year 1 have had a busy end to the term! They have continued to work so hard and have really impressed with, not only their academic achievements, but how well they have settled into the year this term.
In Literacy the children continued to write, edit and improve their stories based on the story of the Polka Dot Horse. There were dolls, teddies, ninjas and even a microscope having journeys of their own. I have been really impressed by the vocabulary the children used and their use of conjunctions. They have really created some great stories!
In Maths the children finished looking at shape and created patterns using various shapes and colours. We then spent some time looking over reasoning problems and how we could use all the language we had learnt to answer them. The children have amazed me at how fluent they are becoming using some high level vocabulary already! They are great mathematicians!
In preparation for Christmas the children were busy getting ready for the Christmas performance. They drew pictures of what their character would look like, they created various accessories and practised their singing with Olivia. I'm sure you'll agree, the children were absolutely amazing on stage and I was so proud of them.
Further festivities were enjoyed last week, when the children had their Christmas party. The class were able to make paper chains, snowflakes, Christmas ornaments (from cubes) and even solve a tricky maths problem. They also enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch and activities in the hall. The children had a great time getting into the holiday spirit.
I have really enjoyed my first term with the children and they have worked so hard. I hope you all enjoy a well-deserved, safe rest and holiday season.
Happy holidays,
Eliot
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Reception.
Over these past few weeks it has truly felt like Christmas has arrived in Reception’s classroom! We began the festive period by exploring the ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’. The children used a photo of themselves, tissue paper and drawings to create their own stamps. I am sure you will agree, they are first class! The class looked at the format and language of a letter and created their own that was addressed to a character from the story. The class also looked at ‘The Snowman’, imagining what they would say, do or feel if a snowman came to life in front of them. We have also continued our exploration of subtraction. The class subtracted pictorially and using a number line.
The children were beyond excited for our Winter Fair and created beautiful artwork to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the school. We made our own individual 3D models of the school. The children looked closely at the building's architecture, features and details. We then used pen, colouring pencils and paint to finish their models. Reception created the iconic sign from our school entrance and added a light to bring their ‘Children’s House School’ to life.
We concluded our topic light and dark with a magical performance at The Little Angel Puppet Theatre. The children behaved impeccably and enjoyed discussing their favourite moments from the performance.
The children loved their Christmas Party Day! We created tree decorations, made festive hats, built Santa’s grotto, reindeer and sleigh using Lego and created snowmen using playdough!
It was amazing to see all the children’s hard work culminate in such a joyful Christmas performance. The children have worked tirelessly, we were all so proud to see them take to the stage with such confidence and talent.
It is hard to believe that a full tern has passed. The children have accomplished so much, we have written about faraway places, explored our solar system, the stars and ourselves, to say we are proud of the children would be an understatement!
I hope you all have a wonderful and restful Christmas, see you all in the New Year!
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Upstairs Nursery News
Dear Parents,
We continued our Celebrations topic last week by learning about Hannukah and Thanksgiving. We were amazed by how quickly the children dived into these themes, learned the new vocabulary and showed great focus during all the activities. They have enjoyed practising their counting skills whilst making Menorahs and had great fun developing their fine motor control when playing dreidel games.
The Christmas preparations were in full swing this week! The children unleashed their creativity to make tree decorations, worked on a large scale to create the backdrop for our play, and acted out The Nativity Story using props. The rehearsals for the end of term concert have been going well and we are sure that you are all going to be impressed with the children’s wonderful singing!
A very well done to all the children for their fantastic progress and hard work this term. We are so happy to see you grow into such creative, kind and thoughtful friends!
Wishing you all a fantastic Christmas break.
Jess and Mihaela
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The Downstairs Team
We've all been learning about the celebration of Hanukkah. The children crafted paper and card Menorahs and used lolly sticks to make the Star of David. We read stories about Hanukkah and wrapped presents with colourful crepe paper to give to a friend. During our circle time discussion of celebrations, Gussie said, ‘I had a party celebration, and Kit came to my house.’
The children have been very excited to start celebrating Christmas. They made baubles for our Christmas tree and beautiful paper snowflakes to decorate the classroom. They helped make toys in Father Christmas’ workshop and wrapped them up, ready to put them on his sleigh. Kit shared ‘I’m getting five Christmas presents because I’m a good boy.’
Creating their own Gingerbread men to take home was a highlight for the class. They were so enthusiastic about this that they continued to pretend to bake with flour, salt, and ginger throughout the week. The reading of the Nativity and other winter stories was also thoroughly enjoyed. We think you will agree that the children's efforts to create an amazing winter scene backdrop for the concert and beautiful singing were a real treat.
Have a great break!
The Downstairs Team
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