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Did you know that playdough was a conductor? Making circuits in our new Inventors Club.
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Dear Parents,
Some see January, after the rush of Christmas and New Year, as one of the quieter months of the year, particularly as the cold and dark days lend themselves to hunkering down in cosy houses, but the return to school after the break has been anything but quiet. The children arrived back on January 3rd with their usual boundless energy and enthusiasm, and classes have dived eagerly into their Spring term themes. At breaktime, without looking at tightly wrapped up adults on duty, one could forget that the temperatures have dropped below zero. Children have been tearing around exuberantly as usual, getting stuck into the playtime activities with little regard for the cold. This week, I passed pairs immersed in a focused chess game, challenged a group of children to make a new mode of transport out of freshly made playdough (still warm!), and watched others delight in painting houses and homes with bricks made of lego.
Classrooms, as you will read in this newsletter, have been just as busy, and display boards around the school are being laid with new backing paper, preparing for fresh work to go up. Kim and Sinead, up in Years 3 and 4, are well settled in now, and those KS2 children are already looking forward to The Children’s House’s first ever residential trip - just booked, a two night PGL trip in May!
In other enrichment news, our three new clubs got off to a cracking start too, with excitement running high during football with the Futsal stars, agile moves in Capoeira and amongst other projects, further adventures in playdough in The Inventors. See picture above.
Yesterday, Taiba and I hosted a successful Open Day at the Upper School. Whilst regular small group tours are available through the week, we are now scattering larger more formal Open Days through the year, bookable through the website. These are for occasional places as well as for entry into Pre-Reception or Reception, so do spread the word!
Finally, congratulations to Aisha and her partner on the birth of a beautiful baby girl, Farah. We can’t wait to meet her!
Have a warm wintry weekend,
Ellie
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2024 has kicked off engagingly for both our staff and children! We hope you have all settled into the swing of things too.
We're happy to welcome a few more new faces to our nursery, and it's great to see how quickly they have settled in. Some of these enthusiastic newcomers have already taken every opportunity to quiz me on my day-to-day activities in the office, demonstrating just how curious and eager they are!
As our children returned from the break, we noticed a renewed passion for learning among them. They've shared their holiday adventures with great enthusiasm; one child mentioned, "I already opened all my presents and when I was in Italy, you could choose anything for breakfast."
We are particularly excited about the themes the children have been exploring. Critical thinking is clearly emerging throughout the nursery, such as pondering what would happen if you were not wearing a space suit. These discussions encourage creativity, curiosity and a love for learning that will undoubtedly stay with them throughout their educational journey.
At the Nursery we are focused on continuous improvement, and the start of 2024 has been promising. We've received lots of positive feedback from parents who have toured the nursery, and our first open day of the year was a great success. We will be hosting a meeting for all EYFS teachers on behalf of the borough of Islington, sharing our expertise in sustained shared thinking, where we work together in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate activities and extend a narrative to develop and deepen understanding.
As we progress through the spring term, we look forward to more exciting activities and learning adventures. I look forward to seeing those of you who can make it at our Physical Development Workshop on Monday, 29th January.
Have a great weekend.
Taiba.
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Nursery School Dates
Monday 29th January
Physical Development Parent
Workshop 6-7pm
Thursdays 1st February
Parents Evening for new children
Face to Face Details to follow
W/C Monday 5th February
Children’s Mental Health Week
Lunar New Year Celebrations
Activities for children in school.
Thursday 8th February
Express Yourself
Fun dress up day- £1 donation
HALF-TERM
Friday 9th February – Friday 17th February
No school for children on Friday 9th due to staff inset.
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Upper School Dates
W/c 5th February
Lunar New Year Week
Thursday 8th February
Open Classrooms 8:30-9am
Parents welcome to visit their child’s
classroom and see their work.
W/C Monday 5th February
Children’s Mental Health Week
Lunar New Year Celebrations
Activities for children in school.
w/c 26th February
Empathy Week
More info to follow
HALF-TERM
Friday 9th February – Friday 17th February
No school for children on Friday 9th due to staff inset.
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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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Parent Forum and Social Media
Please click through to the parent portal to view our latest forum meeting notes.
We've taken a little longer to send out these notes as we have been reviewing our Privacy Notices and image consents in response to one of the discussion points.
Our social media handles are:
Facebook - The Children's House School
Instagram - @childrenshouseschool
We'd love it if you'd follow us. Please review our image consent form here.
The Children's House - Parent Forum Feedback (childrenshouseschool.co.uk)
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Eco-Committee and School Council
I am so pleased that I’ve been asked to lead the Eco-Committee and School Council this year. Both groups have truly taken on the responsibility of representing their peers, coming to our biweekly meetings with amazing ideas that will benefit them.
Our Eco-Committee has continued our relationship with the organisation Eco Schools, and we aim to receive yet another Green Flag accreditation. You can find out more on the Eco-Schools website here: https://www.eco-schools.org.uk/. Within Eco-Schools’ framework, the Eco Committee has decided on three environmental issues they would like to tackle. I am pleased to announce that for 2024, we are working on “Waste,” “Global Citizenship” and “Healthy Living.” As our first action based on “Waste,” the children collected tinsel from old Christmas trees. This tinsel would’ve been simply discarded along with the tree, contributing to our world’s plastic pollution. Happily, it can now either be reused or repurposed. Be on the lookout for more upcoming projects focused on those topics.
In School Council, the students recently came up with what they consider to be our school values. While there were many lovely suggestions, they settled on focusing on the following values: problem solving, making smart choices, trying our best, and kindness. They have offered some wonderful ideas of how to improve our school, such as keeping our voices to a normal level during lunch and making sure we share the Wendy House on the playground. They have also suggested that we find a way to take a whole-school holiday, along with our families and friends (we decided due to practical reasons, it was best to press pause on such a lofty goal!).
I’m so grateful for these wonderful children who are helping to make our school and world a better place.
Emily
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PE & Games news
Welcome to an exciting new term in PE full of new skills to learn, games and sports.
Here's a glimpse of what's been happening in each year group so far:
In our Nursery program, our youngest learners are getting hands-on experience with various equipment like cones, balls, and hoops. Engaging in activities that target both their gross and fine motor skills, they've particularly enjoyed the thrilling game of "The Builders." Working in pairs, they navigate specific locations, move a variety of objects, and construct structures - an adventure that's both fun and educational!
In Reception our energetic learners are rolling into the new term with enthusiasm. They've integrated different rolls, including the rock and roll and straight roll, into games like relay races or Rolling in the Mud.
Moving up to Year 1, our students have been engrossed in the world of gymnastics. Exploring shapes, understanding tension, and emphasising the importance of warming up before gymnastic activities. They've even taken on the role of teachers, sharing their newfound knowledge with each other in group settings. The spirit of healthy competition is alive as they engage in gymnastic challenges with respect and teamwork.
Year 2 has jumped into the world of sports with an exciting start in dodgeball. They have been learning various ways of throwing (overarm, underarm), and dodging (duck, jump, side) working in pairs and groups and then incorporating these skills into games like Tidy up 4 Rooms. Adding a challenge of four sides has not only heightened awareness but also expanded their throwing abilities in different directions.
Finally, in Years 3 and Year 4, our students are on the path to mastering dodgeball skills. They're using different hoop sizes to refine their aim and creating connections between throwing and dodging techniques. Understanding the nuances of dodging based on the throw (overarm, underarm, or chest throw), they've begun to implement these concepts in real game situations, witnessing a significant surge in their dodgeball prowess.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead. Stay tuned for more thrilling updates!
Pablo
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Art Club
This session focused on cutting skills. The children were provided with cut out shapes and a printed sheet of clothing. Although some of the outfits were identical their individuality shone through.
Art Competition
The ISA (Independent Schools Association) are running a competition to create a comic strip. The theme is Friendship.
We carried out an internal competition to select the best designs for submission. Years 1 – 4 took part and we are currently waiting to hear the outcome.
Year 1 are studying Houses and Homes. It therefore seemed appropriate for art to introduce them to the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright. They creating a structure inspired by him. Each child had two wooden bricks and one coloured 3D shape. They took it in turns to place their blocks/shapes and their amazing collaboration exceeded my expectations.
On completion they observed and drew it in their sketch books.
Year 2 are studying the art of Keith Haring; a pop artist whose work incorporates movement.
In line with this project, we focused on observational drawing skills using mannequins. Each child had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with it by creating a range of shapes indicating movement. They were also introduced to retractable pencils to control pressure when drawing. As expected, there were a few broken nibs but this will improve with practice.
Year 3 have been studying the Romans and a volcano is a major feature of the story. Two groups were formed to brainstorm ideas and plan how to construct a 3D volcano and a wall display illustrating a cross section of a volcano.
We looked at materials, took measurements of display areas and sketched initial ideas.
In Year 4 there will be a collaborative effort by the whole class to build a Trojan horse in line with the Ancient Greece topic. It was decided to build a 3D model and there was much discussion about the size. The children sketched a side profile of a horse then another, imagining it to be wooden. There is much excitement at the prospect of including little Romans hidden inside the model.
Watch this space!
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Hola a todos!
Wishing you a happy new year. The children are truly excited about the new experiences they are having in Spanish. The classroom is filled with excitement and curiosity as we explore and learn together.
In these first two weeks of the new term in Nursery, the little ones are radiant as they sing, play, and learn colours in Spanish. In Year 1, we've embarked on the fascinating adventure of discovering what we can find in a village. They have learned to say and write "panadería" (bakery) in Spanish and explored the products we can find there, like bread. We have also talked about the swimming pool where people from the village go to swim.
Meanwhile, in Year 2, we're reviewing different colours and working on how to write them correctly. In Years 3 and 4, we've begun an exciting study of phonetics in Spanish, a crucial step in the development of our language skills.
It's truly inspiring to see the children so engaged and enthusiastic about learning Spanish.
Let's continue to foster this enthusiasm and celebrate every step in this exciting educational journey!
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Martha
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Tech for good.
We're excited to share the progress your children have made in their technology lessons this term. They've been diligently working on a range of skills and developing an impressive understanding of key concepts.
Reception: Our youngest learners are building a strong foundation for responsible online use. We've grasped crucial internet safety agreements and are navigating the online world with awareness and caution.
Year 1 is actively engaged in data analysis and interpretation. We are extracting meaning from information using tools like pictograms and surveys, while simultaneously improving our keyboard skills through home row typing practice.
Year 2 is diving into the technical aspects of the internet, understanding its structure and functions. We're exploring the interconnectedness of websites and webpages, different browsers and safe searching.
In Year 3 online safety remains a crucial focus. We're learning the importance of creating strong passwords and protecting them diligently. We're also exploring diverse communication avenues and collaborating on our class blog, showcasing growing digital literacy skills.
In Year 4 critical thinking and online vigilance are key themes. We are gaining valuable knowledge about safeguarding ourselves from online identity theft and understanding the permanence of our digital footprint. We're developing the skills to identify phishing scams and deceptive websites, empowering us to navigate the online landscape with confidence and discernment.
As technology continues to evolve, we encourage you to stay involved in your child's digital journey. Tools like Google Family Link, Apple ScreenTime, and Microsoft Family Safety can complement our classroom learning and help you monitor your children's online activity.
By working together, we can equip our children with the necessary skills and knowledge to become responsible and safe digital citizens who utilise technology for a positive impact.
David
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Year 4
Year 4 have had a brilliant start to the New Year!
The children have thrown themselves into our Ancient Greek topic and are looking forward to our trip to The British Museum where we will get to explore artefacts using augmented reality technology.
In English, we have been writing diaries based on the tale of Icarus and Daedalus. The children have taken great care over these and have listened to feedback to improve their drafting skills.
In history, we have been learning about how Ancient Greece was governed and the differences between the many city states. The children have been focused on the pros and cons of living in Athens versus Sparta and have written balanced arguments, defending their choices.
In maths we have been applying our knowledge of multiplication facts and can now all do the formal written method of short multiplication using 3 digits. The children are not afraid of a challenge and we have been using our skills to solve one, two and even three step word problems!
In science, we have been learning about sound and how it is made. We have asked questions such as, ‘Can sound travel through a solid, liquid and gas?’ and have used investigative techniques to find an answer. We look forward to learning more in the coming weeks!
The Year 4 children should be very proud of the hard work completed in the last few weeks and I am delighted to be back teaching them again.
Well done, Year 4!
Sinead
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Year 3
Hello and thank you all for welcoming me to The Children’s House School. Our Year 3 children have embraced the start of the new year with rigour and enthusiasm and helped me to settle into my new classroom with ease.
My authors have already demonstrated how creative and skilled they are in the Literacy lessons. They have begun a historical story, bringing the characters and scenery to life using precise words, subordinating conjunctions and the progressive past tense. They have developed the characters through dialogue and begun to accurately punctuate speech. Also, they have shown that they can show the characters, thought and feelings through the speech tags.
My mathematicians have proved how resilient they can be with learning new strategies. They have learnt how to multiply 2 digit and 1 digit numbers together and format in a formal written method. They have shown their tenacity in this and solving worded problems using this new layout.
My historians have been delving into the Roman’s rationale for invading England. They have learnt all about how rich in resources England was at the time, who was living there and also how the weather was advantageous for the Romans too!
My scientists have learnt about our skeletons and the names of the bones. They have learnt all about the difference between cartilage and can explain why skeletons don’t have ears and noses!
In RE they have begun to explore how Muslims live and the rules they follow to show respect to Allah.
Well done year 3 … we will need a bigger classroom soon to accommodate your growing brains, resilience and all your enthusiasm!
Kim
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Year 2
2024 has really started with a bang in Year 2! The level of maturity and enthusiasm is amazing, and I want to celebrate all the children in Year 2 for their efforts over the first fortnight.
The children have become detectives in the classroom, and we have been practising our inference skills in our Literacy lessons. We have been looking at different interesting pictures, scenes and text to answer a series of questions. The focus has been to look for clues and to provide evidence in our answers. It’s safe to say that the word “because” has been used and spelt correctly so many times already this term! Furthermore, we have started to have speed writing sessions in the class. This will support them with their Big Write and other tasks that they come across this year! I was super proud of their first pieces and I am excited to see how they all progress over the next few weeks.
We have been looking at how we can record, interpret and analyse data in our statistics unit in Numeracy. The children have been using tally charts and tables to collect information and then have been creating bar charts or pictograms to display the data. We had some discussions about why we look at data and we found out that many parents use these mathematical methods in their work.
In Science, we have started our “Everyday materials” unit. We had lots of discussions about the suitability of materials and how some products and items use more than one material. We hunted around the classroom (it was a little too chilly outside!) to identify the materials used in our classroom objects. The children also had a challenge to find which objects used the most materials!
Finally, the children have been learning all about Keith Haring and his incredible artwork. We have looked at how he uses simple lines to bring his art to life and have started to draw and create our own pieces. The children were given the tricky tasks to compromise in pairs and agree upon a top three of their favourite pieces of his work from a selection of twelve pictures. After this, they had to describe the pictures using descriptive art vocabulary and give reasons as to why they like it. I am excited to see what the children think of the artwork and workshop at the Estorick Collection, which we will be visiting on Monday!
Have a lovely weekend.
James
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Year 1
Year one has had a great start to the new term! They have really come back with a positive attitude towards their work.
One morning, the children came in and were surprised with a messy classroom caused by a wolf (which they saw pictures of on CCTV)! To help catch the wolf, the children created descriptive Wanted Posters. They learnt about the wolf’s past crimes by reading the story of The Three Little Pigs. Using this as a basis the children have written their own versions of the Three Little Pigs. We have had, three karate frogs, three fluffy cats, big bad pigs and more! They have worked so hard in their writing, and I have been very impressed with their vocabulary. These will be up on display soon, so keep an eye out!
In Maths, the children have continued looking at place value to 50. They have explored how to partition tens and ones, ordering numbers to 50 and using a number line to estimate where a number is. They have enjoyed using ten frames, Numicon and bead strings to help them partition and compare numbers.
We have started our topic of Houses and Homes this week. In Science the children are looking at everyday materials. They have explored what the properties of materials are in the classroom; whether materials are man-made or natural; and which objects are transparent, translucent, or opaque.
For their Topic lessons, we have begun to look at where we are in the world and locate London on a map. They then used another map to locate different cities in the United Kingdom. They used compass points to describe how to get from one city to another in the UK.
Over the coming weeks the children will look at the Lunar New Year, continue to explore different material properties and look at how houses and homes are similar or different across the UK. Well done for a great start to the term, Year One!
Elliot
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Reception.
It has been a so lovely to have Reception back in the classroom and to hear all about their Winter breaks. The children in Reception kickstarted their topic ‘Traditional Tales’ by exploring ‘Humpty Dumpty.’ We created our own Humpty Dumpty puzzles, so we could ‘put him back together.’ The class were given a STEM challenge and were tasked with creating something that would prevent a real egg (Humpty Dumpty) from cracking! It was a joy to watch them become inventors and scientists for the day! The children also used their phonic knowledge to write about imaginative ways they would have healed Humpty Dumpty’s cracks.
Last week Reception looked closely at the story ‘Jack and The Beanstalk,’ using recycled materials to create a 3D castle and beanstalk. The children used their phonics to retell the story and explored using the features of a narrative within their writing. In Maths we have been looking at measure, estimation, and tally marks. The children were tasked with estimating the length of the Giant’s footprint and then measuring it using cubes, counters, coins and even centimetres. The children explored grouping objects into 5s and were introduced to tally marks. Reception looked around the classroom to find objects that were larger, smaller or the same size as the Giant’s footprint and recorded their findings in a tally chart.
This week Reception looked closely at the story ‘Starbird.’ The class imagined they were the Moon King searching for Starbird and discussed what an adjective is and adjectives from within the story. Children then wrote a Wanted Poster, full of adjectives that describe ‘Starbird.’ We discussed the patterns and details used within the illustrations. The children used their fine-motor skills and paper plates to create their own Starbird. As our topic this term is Traditional Tales, the class imagined an alternative ending to the story and wrote their endings.
In maths we continued our exploration of tally marks, calculating quantities and writing them using tally marks. The class also explored bar charts.
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Pre-Reception
What a busy start to the Spring term! Our space explorations are proving to be very popular as the children have enthusiastically engaged in all the topic related activities on offer. Creating a ‘Mind-map’ gave us the opportunity to find out the children’s current knowledge and discover possible lines of enquiry. We are pleased to say that they had lots of questions to ask, showing their curiosity and thirst to learn more. The children loved taking charge when researching the answers to their question, through conducting their own hands-on experiments, exploring non-fiction books and learning how to use a search engine. Questions like “Why does the moon have craters?”, “What is a black hole?” and “How many stars are in the universe?” are examples of the exciting paths our learning journey has taken this week.
The children learned about a number of prominent figures in space travel such as Neil Armstrong, Mae Jemison and Stephen Hawking. Together we contemplated our own hopes and dreams for the future. Lorelle dreams of becoming a police officer, Iris aspires to be a pilot, and Shane envisions himself behind the wheel of a car!
The highlight of the week was enjoying astronauts reading us stories from the International Space Station and joining an astronaut for a yoga session! The children were delighted to witness books floating, hair standing up and having a glimpse inside a real space station.
Mihaela, Jess and the Pre-Reception team
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The Downstairs Team
Last week, we welcomed some new children to the nursery and they have all settled in incredibly well. Our focus was on establishing routines and helping them become familiar with their environment.
We also read the story of 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea.' The children had a fantastic time creating tigers using junk modelling materials. They enjoyed experimenting with whiteboard pens, drawing tiger faces on whiteboards, writing tea party invitations for friends, and engaging in role-playing at our café. The children explored making tea and illustrated scenarios from the story using water paints. Their work has already resulted in three amazing display boards!
This week, the children transformed into superheroes! They dressed up, chose their superpowers, saved the vegetables from the evil peas, and created their own superhero masks. We also attempted to make jelly, mixing different ingredients and exploring textures.
What a fun time we had at the Downstairs Nursery! We hope you all have an equally enjoyable weekend.
Aatika and the nursery team
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