Hello everyone,

As we approach the end of term and summer break here is a quick update on how things are going.

 

Seedlings → plants!

The seedlings have done very well and are now fully grown flowering plants!



Sweet Pea

Pot Marigold (Calendula)



Vegetables - are also doing well we had some lovely cabbage, radishes and potatoes. Some of the crops are not quite ready yet but are doing well.  



Cucumber

Pumpkin

 

 

Mr Robin is back.

Looking for worms amongst the Sweet Peas.





 

We have lots of ideas for the next school year and I look forward to sharing these with you all.
Thanks for reading and have a lovely summer break!

Nathan Smith
Assistant Gardener
Windhill21



I want to be a.......ROCK STAR!!

Aspirations week has started in Reception at Windhill21.

We have been thinking about what job we would like to do when we grow up. After listening to an inspiring assembly by Mrs Moore about the Musician Ed Sheeran- we went back to class to talk about what we would like to do when we grow up.

Harry told us he would like to be a singer and musician! Miss Clarke shared with Harry that she played the drums which was something she has wanted to do since she was younger too.
We brought down one of the electronic drum kits and all the children had a go at being a Rock Star!!


They loved it and were so good at keeping a beat! Harry even counted himself in: 1,2,3,4!

Preparing for a new school year!

Cassatt and Degas teachers received some very special letters at the start of this week.

Year 6 children have been busy writing welcome letters to the Nursery children, who are getting ready to start in Reception very soon! The older children made sure that they reassured the new Reception children by writing personal messages for each child. Click on the pictures to have a read through!

Meanwhile, the current Reception classes have been writing letters to their new Year 1 teachers. The children in Cassatt have been really excited to meet their new teachers and have been able to play with Mrs Baker on the playground, share stories with Mrs Price and have their choosing time with Mrs Turner. Degas class have shared stories with Mr Conner, and cannot wait to meet their new teacher on Thursday.

Here are some of the letters that the children have sent to their new teachers! Miss Lawrence thinks it's some of their best writing yet!

Internationalism

To celebrate Sports day, the children have been thinking about how special it is to have lots of different countries competing and partaking in events all around the world. 

In the afternoon, we learnt about China. We looked on Google Earth to see where China was in relation to England; we saw that it was quite far away from us and much bigger! Some children felt brave enough to share some of their own knowledge about China. Natalie taught us how to count to 10 and Oliver taught us how to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' in Mandarin. 

The children also watched a traditional Chinese celebration dance. In the performance, the dancers used scarves to accentuate their movements. We really wanted to give it a go ourselves!

The children also tried some Chinese food, including noodles, rice and crackers. The crackers were a real favourite and everyone opened their minds to try something new. Children also enjoyed writing Chinese characters and colouring in the Chinese flag.

Reception at Sports Day!

Mexico

India
Sweden
France
Canada

Today we took part in Sports Day!

We had a brilliant time and really enjoyed all of our races. Here are some pictures from our day:

At the end of the day FRANCE took the trophy! Well done France!

Open the door... what do you see?

Today, Reception went on a journey to "Storyland"! After watching a performance of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", the children came together in the immersion room to find a number of mysterious doors...

We thought about what might be behind these doors, and the children came up with lots of different ideas, including a chocolate factory, a wizard's potion room, and even a spider web land! We were so excited to find out what was behind these doors, that we decided to step inside one of them.

As a group, we chanted

"Storyland, Storyland, take me to Storyland!
Turn around, clap, clap and open the door!"

As soon as the we arrived we felt really cold! Our teeth were chattering and our shoulders were shivering. We put on a coat to warm up. Suddenly we heard some howling in the distance; it might have been coming from the cave, so we crept away really quietly. Just then, we noticed a witch sleeping in the middle of the floor! We had to creep back quickly in case she woke up! 

All around the room, we noticed sparkling sticks. Carefully, we picked up one stick each and noticed that they were wiggling in our hands! We practised using these 'magic sticks' and they made Mrs Cantel fly around the room! They also made Miss Clarke and Mrs Erdogan fall asleep! Together with Miss Lawrence, the children thought of rhyming spells to wake up the teachers and to bring Mrs Cantel back down to the ground. Thankfully, our spells rhymed so well that they worked.

All of a sudden, we noticed a loud knocking coming from the large castle door. Quickly all the children crouched down on the ground, which made everyone invisible. Slowly we crept away from the door and joined hands in our "Storyland" circle. We just had to get back quickly in case we fell into any more trouble!

After returning from "Storyland", the children got into their groups and imagined opening a new door. Where would it take them? We took it in turns to act out our reaction to opening our very own mysterious doors. Some of us found treasures, some of us found spiders, and some even found a spinning vortex! Back in class, the children drew a picture of what they had found behind their door.

All of these imaginative ideas came from the children in "Storyland". It was lovely to share and celebrate such creative and exciting stories!

Writing instructions

This week, we have been teaching out class puppet Agent Alfie how to find his way around school! Now that we are almost in Year 1, Agent Alfie thought we were the best people to ask how to get to the hall from the classroom.

Firstly, we helped Alfie by showing him photographs of all the things he will see on his way there. By putting the photos in order, we were able to explain the route clearly.

Next, we wrote our own instructions detailing how to get to the hall. We made sure to use positional and directional language so that our route was clear.

"Go right out of the corridor"

"Go through the big doors"

"Walk beside the sofas"

Finally, we made large posters combining pictures and written instructions, and some of us even drew a map for Alfie!