Some of the Year 1 & 2 children created their own School Fair this morning in class, they participated in a range of games and activities. The children were building vocabulary and developing their understanding of story setting; the children will be reading the book Dogger, by Shirley Hughes next week. They enjoyed measuring ingredients to make cakes and finding the correct coins to pay for the games. What an exciting morning!

Year 3 and 4 are looking at the art of William Morris and the birth of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain in the late 19th century, which marked the beginning of a change in the value society placed on how things were made.

Despite what has been a tough year for us all, we’d like to believe that everyone could think of some memories that bring them joy and what you would describe as ‘lovely days’.

We are excited to bring you ‘Lovely Days LG’, our Primary Summer Compilation Show of what our students say are their most memorable and ‘lovely’ days of the academic year, through art, songs and dance. They have been practising, rehearsing and recording since the start of term, in order to bring you their ‘show’, in the form of a pre-recorded musical video. From Reception to Year 6, all are involved and have produced songs, art work and more for their families and friends to enjoy

Using a computer is a way of life for most people these days, with our students being no exception. So much of our world is digital and the students need to learn how to live, work and play safely in it. We, as educators, are here to teach them these skills and our students enjoy weekly computing sessions to allow us to do just that.

The students practise their touch typing skills weekly; a skill that is now a necessity for life and work, in this digital age. We use a programme that is inclusive of all from Year 3 upwards and we can already see improvements in the speed of the typing across our primary section. The students also enjoy using this typing programme; gaining star rewards and progressing through the levels at their own pace.

Since the beginning of the year, we have covered a variety of skills and topics in our Computing lessons, including: Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Slides, Gmail and internet research and Scratch Programming to name but a few. This term we are focusing on improving our skills using Google Sheets. The students in KS2 (Years 3-6) have learned to create tables, use formulae to add, subtract, divide and multiply data in a table, use conditional formatting and draw graphs. They will also learn to sort data in a Google sheet, during the coming weeks. These skills will stand them in good stead for the future and as they move into MYP.

Further down the school, in KS1, the children have continued their introduction to programming, using the ‘Beebots’. They can program them to travel and turn, in order to navigate twists and turns of road systems created by the students themselves. These basic skills will be useful for our students as they continue their journey in programming and coding; using Scratch and other similar software programmes, in KS2, which help them to develop an appreciation for how things work and become better problem solvers. Our younger students are already becoming familiar with Computing vocabulary and most can independently open and load documents or websites for the lesson.

The students work extremely hard in our Computing sessions and we are already seeing lots of improvements, of which we are very proud, as well as the enjoyment that the children get from learning to use their computers safely and efficiently.

In Individuals and Societies, the MYP 1 students have been looking at world religions, in a unit called 'What do people believe in'. They have gained insights into the beliefs and customs of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Indigenous Belief Systems. Knowing about and understanding the beliefs of others is an important element in the development of global citizenship in both young people and adults. In recent lessons, the students have been working on a visual display of Hindu gods and goddesses.

To conclude the unit, the students will be creating and delivering a presentation on a place of worship of their own choice. They will present this to the Year 6 students who will be moving up into the MYP programme when they join the secondary school in September.