Year 1 visit to Cornwall House

Last week, some children from Year 1 were lucky enough to go and visit the residents from Cornwall House Retirement Home and sing songs from our Christmas show. The children had so much fun, chatting to the residents and they even got to have a little snack and drink!

A big thank you to everyone who has helped the children to learn any lines for the nativity over the last few weeks. The children were all shattered after a very busy day last Thursday, but we think you'll agree they did very well!

Year 3 / 4 production rehearsals

Year 3/4 are well under way with their production rehearsals, things are really starting to come  together. We are getting quite excited for our performances next week. Please continue to help your children learn their lines with expression and actions. We can’t wait to show case all our hard work.

Story club

Today in story club, Leo C wanted to tell a story about Sophie the snake!

Sophie the Snake's big day

By Leo and friends

Once upon a time, there was a snake called Sophie. There was also a crocodile called Menia. They were playing but then suddenly the crocodile snapped the snake! Luckily, Miss Lawrence the unicorn came to save Sophie the snake. She taught the crocodile how to be nice. The end.

The children worked together to act out the story and included scenery within their acting. They even challenged themselves to do tree pose to represent the trees in the jungle!

Year 6 at the O2

We all had an ‘awesome’ time at the O2 on Tuesday (in the words of Andy - the choreographer!) The children were all impeccably behaved and a credit to parents and the school. We were part of the world’s largest choir, with over 8000 children coming together to sing with one amazing voice.  The enjoyment and energy that the children exuded was fabulous and a joy to be a part of.  The children agreed that it was one of the best experiences of their lives. The parents were well entertained too - not only by their children but also by a certain Mr Tony Hadley ( of Spandau Ballet fame, for those of you old enough to remember!) The children and parents alike enthusiastically backed him in his fabulous rendition of ‘Gold’! It truly was a golden experience all round.

Reception Story Club

Today in story club, we heard a very scary story! Luckily, it had a happy ending...

"The Wolves"
written by Leo

Once upon a time there was a wolf and he went to eat some little piggies. The wolf found somebody friendly and he didn't want to eat him. Instead they both wanted to play together on a cloud and they lived happily ever after. The end.

The children enjoyed acting this story out very much and spent a lot of time practising their scared faces when they were about to be gobbled up!

Story Club - Reception

The children were so excited to attend Story Club today! They were full of the most magnificent and imaginative stories... Here is just one of our stories from today...

Once upon a time there was a lot of fairies and they went flying through the jungle to try and find tigers. Suddenly, they found some friendly tigers and then the fairies invited the tigers to join their tea party. 

The end.

Our author chose to act out the story whilst it was being narrated. The actors thought carefully about how to portray a friendly tiger and made thoughtful links between our characters and the story The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr.

Story Club: the tale of the friendly cat...

Today's story was told by Izabella:

The Tale of the Friendly Cat
Once upon a time, there was a cat. He had a kitten. They wanted to play with the dog but they were hungry! Then the duck wanted to play, but then they were thirsty now! The end.

The children helped Izabella act out her story, acting out the animals playing with one another but having to keep stopping their games for food and drink! One of the children said that maybe they should have had snack before play time so they could play their games uninterrupted! 

We are very much looking forward to hearing 

another story from the Storytellers themselves!

Singing festival prep!

In Year 4 we have been busy practising for our singing festival next week. We have had performed our class songs to each other, given feedback and really tried hard to act like a professional choir!

It has been great fun to see how we have all been improving with each practise

"We've read that one!"

Story Club in Reception

Having shared some favourite stories during previous sessions, Miss Lawrence picks up another favourite... before she even utters the title, the children call out: "We've read that one!"

Now, the importance of revisiting favourite stories does indeed help children with a number of crucial skills, including listening and attention, understanding of the world and expressive arts and design. However, the children were convinced of one thing; "We can make up our own stories instead!"

So, equipped with this confidence and motivation, the children have decided that story club should be about their own stories! 

This week, Nico took to the stage as our Storyteller, reciting his own story all about a bear:

"The Bear"
By Nico
Illustrated by Leo

Once upon a time, there was a big bear! He lived in a big cave. He had a little baby. Suddenly, there was a noise. It was a doggy. The bear ate him up! The end.

After the recital, the children re-enacted the story 'on stage', playing the part of each character, including the cave, noises and even the poor dog!

We cannot wait to hear a brand new story next week!

Year 4 Andy Griffith Trip

Yesterday afternoon Year 4 visited the Bishops Stortford College Literature Festival where they had the opportunity to meet and speak to Andy Griffith, the author of the Treehouse book collection. The children enjoyed asking Andy questions about his inspiration, his stories and his favourite books. A few lucky children even received signed copies of his books! A great time was had by all. 

Year 4 Birchwood games (Rousseau)

On Friday 28th September, Year 4 visited Birchwood Hich School to try out lots of new sports and activities. We chose to take our photograph in front of this inspirational message because we believe that our school and class follow this motto. 

We really loved the hip hop session where we were taught a dance by a professional dancer. We also enjoyed handball and basketball which tested our skills in dribbling, scoring, passing and shooting (and coordination!). 

We hope to take what we have learnt and apply the skills, attitudes and sportsmanship we experienced into our PE lessons at school and beyond. 

Girls Football Tournament

On Wednesday 18th April, 9 of Windhill21's footballers went to Howegreen Primary School for the Bishop's Stortford Primary School girls football tournament. The girls worked well as a team against some tough competition winning 3 out of 9 games and drawing 2. There were some fantastic goals scored by Maya and Elizabeth. Maggie also won Goal Keeper of the tournament having only played in this position for two of the matches. With the blazing hot sun making the competition even harder for the girls, we are really proud to have placed joint 6th out of 9 teams. The girls seem to really enjoy the afternoon and have learnt a lot about playing as a team! Well done to you all, Maya, Brooke, Elizabeth, Grace, Jacqueline, Catherine, Maggie, Daisy and Holly. ⚽😊🌞

The Bolds!

What a treat year 4 had on Friday when they got the opportunity to hear Julian Clary read one of his famous children's books 'The Bolds' at the Bishops Stortford College. As you can imagine, the book was full of humour! The children thoroughly enjoyed the author experience, even if some of the jokes were aimed at the adults in the audience!  To top it off, the children all proudly received signed copies of this book, which will go home this week.

To give you a flavour of the author experience that the children received, click on the following link to hear Julian Clary read from this book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwmQf2rWSKI

Science Fayre - Year 6

Fourteen pupils from Year 6 are representing Windhill21 today at the annual Big Bang Science Fayre at Herts and Essex High School. Through child-led enquiry, the pupils have investigated their own scientific questions and are presenting their projects in their own unique style. 

Year 4 Literature Festival

Yesterday Year 4 visited the Bishop’s Stortford College Literature Festival! Author, Jo Cotterill, spoke to us about her newest series of books called Electrigirl! We had the opportunity to ask her questions about her inspiration to become an author, why she chose to write about superheros and about the electrigirl books in particular. A great afternoon was had by all!

Orchestral manoeuvres from Moore class

Since the start of Year 4, Moore class has been learning how to play string instruments (violins, cellos and double base) with Mrs Emma White from the Hertfordshire Schools’ Music Service. We were thoroughly impressed with their efforts and progress. As proud parents and teacher looked on, the children were obviously enjoying themselves immensely. Well done Moore class and thank you Emma White.

Bishop's Stortford Festival of Literature - Year 3

Year 3 were extremely lucky to spend the afternoon learning about 'How to become an author' from the very talented author Jeanne Willis. She shared stories from her childhood which inspired her to become a writer, extracts from some of her books (including her most recent publication) and also answered many of the children's questions.
She even showed us how books could also be used as umbrellas (linked to the theme of her newest book which describes how books are more than something to simply read).

O2 rehearsal time!

We have arrived safely and rehearsals have begun! The children were overwhelmed when they walked into the arena and all are well :) 

Christmas Lunch Year 3

Here are Done Class Christmas hats ready for the Christmas lunch.

Spectacular Singing

On Tuesday, the children in choir sang brilliantly in their performance to their parents.  We even got the parents to join in too!  We sang songs from a few different countries including Un Elephant from France and finished off with a few festive songs as well. A lovely time was had by all!