Where does all that food go?

Using potato mashers for teeth, sieves for the large intestine and washing up liquid for bile, we recreated the whole digestive process in the classroom.  The end results were rather too authentic in some cases!

Year 3 Trip to RSPB Rye Meads

Wow! What a start to the summer term we've had in year 3!   Our visit to  RSPB Rye Meads was absolutely brilliant and went very smoothly despite Mrs Smith being a bit worried about going on the train!  The children (and adults) learnt so much about the different invertebrates that live in ponds during our pond dipping session.  Did you know that there's such a thing called a phantom midge larva?  Neither did any of us until Wednesday!  If you want to find out, ask your child!  The children took part in a scavenger hunt and were brilliant at observing a range of birds from the bird hides including heron, tufted ducks, robin, common tern and Canada geese.  At every stage of the trip, the children were impeccably behaved and made it one of the best trips Mrs Smith and Miss Christmas have ever been on!  We are so very proud of each and every one of them.
Following on from our trip, the children have planned and written a recount of their visit.  They are really beginning to build up their stamina for writing and are impressing us with their independent flair and style.

 

Linking fractions and decimals

We used Dienes in Year 4 to link fractions and decimals, proving that 0.5 = 1/2, 0.25 = 1/4 and 0.75 = 3/4.  It was much harder work to prove that 67/100 = 0.67 though!

What we discovered is summarised below:

What did the vikings eat?

Like real life archaeologists, we studied ‘coprolites’ (fossilised Viking poo) to discover that the vikings ate peas, fruit, bread and fish. Unusually, we found evidence of small stones from the grinding wheels but the were probably not aware that they ate this! In addition evidence of their bad health was discovered when we found tape worms!

Decoding runes

Using our maths skills, we managed to decode the runic alphabet and then write secret messages about Viking facts. We were surprised at how similar the ancient runes were to the modern day alphabet and found it fascinating that there was no distinction between ‘i’ and ‘j’ in runes. Decoding our messages told us about the Viking beliefs in the different realms of Asgard and Midgard. We cannot wait to learn more!

Reception Aerozone Trip!

Today we went to the Aerozone at Stansted Airport!

We were all very excited to go on a coach, some of us for the very first time! With our ruck sacks on we were ready for our big day out!

When we arrived at Aerozone, we started the day by finding out about Stansted Airport, it has been around for 77 years and we learnt about the history of the Airport.

After this we had some activities which taught us about different aspects of aviation and Airports. We tried on some really cool uniforms, sat in some real plane seats and played with some science activities too. We even made paper aeroplanes!

 Next we were really lucky to have a special visit from the Airports Fire Engine! The Firefighter onboard was Thomas' Dad so it made it extra special for Reception. We heard the sirens, saw the lights and even got to have a go at firing the water hose!

We were ready for our lunch and enjoyed our break to refuel ourselves ready for the second part of our day.

After lunch we met Steve who is part of the Airlines Operations Team. He makes sure that the runway is safe for the planes, he drives up and down to check it is clear and even has to frighten away the birds to make sure they are safe.

 

Steve showed us his bright orange signal bats (they looked a bit like table tennis bats!) and demonstrated some of the signals he uses to help park the planes.

Steve took us up onto the observation platform where we saw some planes taking off and landing! Some Pilots even flashed their lights at us when we waved at them.

We finished off some of our activities then Alex's Dad, a Security Officer in the Terminal, spoke to us about his job, making sure people are safe on the planes by x-raying their luggage.

We had a brilliant day at the Aerozone and can't wait to start our topic on Transport when we come back after the Easter holidays!

We wish everyone a lovely Easter break.

Windhill21's Global Goals Evening

What a success the Global Goals evening was! The evening included a presentation about the Global Goals delivered by Windhill21's team of 'Goalkeepers' and the judging of the World Speech Day finalists who performed their speeches inspired by the Global Goals. The children’s speeches oozed conviction and exuded high skill and confidence; the passion in their delivery evoked a few tears of pride and incredulity in the audience! 

150 people attended the event, amongst whom were the Mayor, George Cutting; Suzy Harvey, High Sheriff of Hertfordshire; members of the Bishop’s Stortford Rotary Club, Oxfam, Royal British Legion and The Green Party and other distinguished community guests. The panel of judges comprised of Suzy Harvey, High Sheriff of Hertfordshire; Emma White, our very own music teacher; Jonathan Forgham, Educational Consultant and Norma Symmonds, Councillor. 

Whilst the judges were agonising over their decision of who would be the KS1 and KS2 overall winners, the year 5 and 6 entertained the audience with their spellbinding Performance Poetry offerings. Sienna (KS1) and Sonny (KS2) were the overall winners, delivering speeches about Fair Trade and Gender Inequality (for boys and men!). The Mayor, George Cutting and Suzy Harvey presented the trophies. 

Year 6 Greek Olympics and Food tasting

Unbeaten by the weather, the Windhill21 Ancient Olympics did finally go ahead this afternoon.  The children participated in endurance running, javelin throwing and long jump as well as a timed team building challenge.  The Greek athletes were rewarded with some delicious Greek food tasting including spinach pies, pitta, feta cheese, olives, taramasalata, hummus, tzatziki and Greek yoghurt.

Year 6 Greek Day - Laurel Crowns

As part of our Greek extravaganza, we have been making laurel crowns and learning about the origins and symbolisation of them.  They were worn by Greek gods as a mark of respect following an encounter between Apollo and Daphne.  Greek myths inform us that the woodland maiden, Daphne, was adamant that she would never become a possession of any man, that she set her roots so firmly into the ground that she transformed into a beautiful laurel tree.

Spinach pie from Nostimo!

The children have each had their own spinach pie from Nostimo, a Greek restaurant in Stortford. They were delicious - freshly cooked for us this morning...

Ancient Greek Day - Year 6!

What fantastic costumes - we are ready for our Greek day!