11.11.15

Armistice Day: 11th November 2015

Today is a very important day and to commemorate Armistice Day, we held a special assembly giving everyone a chance to 'remember'.

During the assembly, we listened to the cannons fire in the town and fell silent to think about, pay respect and honour those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom today.

The children were asked to think about the significance of the poppy and why we wear them at this time of the year. We also watched a short video made by The Royal British Legion to show the children how all of the money raised by the Poppy Appeal is spent, supporting ex-servicemen and woman and families affected by war.

Our assembly today, like last year, was calm, peaceful and full of thought. Afterwards, the children were given time to reflect, ask questions and discuss Remembrance Day in their classroom with their teacher.

Thank you to everyone who donated some money towards the Poppy Appeal. Lest we forget.

 

Term 2 is underway...

Term 2 @ Downsview Primary School

 
After a week off, I hope that everyone is refreshed and ready for another busy term of learning. Term 2 is really important – there was lots of good progress made in the first term of the year and we need to maintain this momentum and continue to improve.
 
Teaching staff have been busy planning their topics for Term 2 using our recently introduced Cornerstones Curriculum. There are four phases within the Cornerstones work that we do in school; engage, develop, innovate and express. When starting a new topic, we want to motivate and engage the children so they are fired up about their learning. This is done in the ‘engage’ phase. The ‘develop’ phase gives lots of time for new learning and knowledge whilst the ‘innovate’ phase allows children a chance to apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge. Finishing with the ‘express’ phase, children prepare to share their learning and show just how much they have learnt or improved. The implementation of the new curriculum has really helped us to link concepts in a meaningful and effective manner.
 
Term 2 topics for each year group can be seen below:

Year Group:	Topic Title & Theme:
Year R (Apple Class)	‘Are we nearly there yet?’ Children will be starting with a journey into space and then thinking about other journeys closer to home.
Year 1 (Birch Class)	‘Dinosaur Planet’ History based project focusing on dinosaurs and life long ago.
Year 2 (Cherry Class)	‘Muck, Mess and Mixtures’ An art and design based project focusing on different materials including clay and other messy materials.
Year 3 (Elm Class)	‘Scrumdiddlyumptious!’ A design technology based project based on different foods and recipes.
Year 4 (Fir Class)	‘Traders and Raiders’ History based project focusing mainly on the Anglo-Saxon and Viking life.
Year 5 (Holly Class)	‘Stargazers’ Science based project focusing on our solar system, the sun, moon and stars.
Year 6 (Oak Class)	‘A child’s war’ History based project focusing on WWII and what young children experienced.

 Each topic has a subject theme or focus (e.g: Science, Music, Art, PE) with other subjects and skills creatively linked. Over the year, the school carefully plans to ensure all subjects and skills in the National Curriculum are covered.

Year 3 visit Shorne Country Park

Year 3 visit Shorne Country Park
At the end of Term 1, Elm Class spent a day in the great outdoors to further develop their knowledge and skills. It was an action packed day at Shorne Country Park.The children became:
* Nature Detectives
* Historians
* Archaeologists
* 3D Art Sculptors
An excellent day of outdoor learning. The children were highly engaged and the level of discussion and teamwork was great to observe.

As Nature Detectives the children had to classify materials carefully and justify their decisions.

We met a real archaeologist to discuss the Stone Age. The children handled artefacts that were 10,000years old!

Teamwork in action! As artists, the children had to create 3D sculptures using the nature around them.