Windrush Valley Private School Oxfordshire – English Speaking Board Exams
Class Years 2 to Year 6 completed their English Speaking Board (ESB) examinations. Pupils delivered a variety of presentations, poems, and talks. All were delivered with great skill and confidence. The examiner was complimentary about all of the school’s pupils.
Nursery & Reception
Nursery and Reception classes have started Christmas arts and crafts, there is glitter in every corner of the classrooms and our Nativity songs have been playing in the background for us to learn. Our letter of the week has been ‘h’ and in maths we have been investigating AB repeated patterns. We have also been looking at the story of the nativity and recreating it in our own small world stable. In Reception, we have focused on the digraphs ‘ee or’, ‘ng’, and the phonemes ‘w and v’. The children have embraced the challenge and enjoyed reading new words in the tuff tray, underlining the digraphs and matching pictures with words. Our focus on ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ has come to an end, the children all attempted to write simple sentences to retell the story. I was so proud of their efforts. In Mathematics, our focus has been on the number 4. The children have explored the different ways you can make the number 4, writing sums and learning to form the number correctly.
Year 1
Year 1 have been busy working hard on our handwriting. We have been practising our entry and exit tails on curly c letters and tall letters. The children have also been working on their presentation in their workbooks, making sure it is neat, legible and if colouring in, it is in the lines. We have started writing Christmas letters to Father Christmas, which will come home with the children on Monday so they can post them with you at home. This is in support of our topic Paddington and when he gets to meet Father Christmas in ‘Paddington’s Christmas Surprise’. In Maths, we have been working on our fact families as well as subtraction. The children are starting to grasp this concept and have worked very hard this week. We are in full swing with our nativity rehearsals, with children picking up the songs quickly.
Year 2
The children enjoyed their first experience of English Speaking Board (ESB). Now completed, pupils are focusing on performing in the nativity ‘A Miracle in Town’. In Maths, pupils have been working of number bonds. In Phonics, the sound has been the digraph there is also a wordsearch and a crossword to support this.
Year 3
Year 3 completed the English Speaking Board (ESB) exams. Every pupil delivered their work and performances with confidence and skill. In Sport, pupils have been honing hockey skills and athletic skills ready for the up-and-coming tournament in London. In Maths, we have been revising arithmetic. In English, pupils have been looking at grammar skills and recognising verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs and adjectives and picking them out of sentences. French saw the beginning of Christmas card decorating – we have also been having lots of singing practice in preparation for our Christingle service.
Year 4
Year 4 pupils successfully completed the English Speaking Board (ESB) examinations. The children performed very well and presented a wide range of poems, talks, and readings. In English, we have been learning the ‘sion’ ending, for the ‘zhun’ sound. In Maths, we have been revisiting different data representations, in particular pictograms. All of the class are attending the Independent School Associations (ISA) sports day with several pupils from Windrush Valley Private School Oxfordshire taking part in the tournament.
Year 5
Year 5 pupils of Windrush Valley Private School Oxfordshire presented at the English Speaking Board (ESB) examinations. The examiner was very complimentary about all pupils. In English, we read a poem called Playgrounds. We discussed the feelings expressed in the poem and the interesting figurative language. In Maths, we have been extending our knowledge of decimals, fractions and place value. We practised converting fractions to decimals and vice versa. In ICT, we extended our coding skills by animating sprites, including “hide and show” which gave the effect of a character disappearing and reappearing.
Year 6
Year 6 pupils had their English Speaking Board (ESB) exams and the class delivered their presentations brilliantly. It was a great example of our class rising to the occasion, each member left their best effort for the exam. In Maths, we have been looking at perimeter and area and how there can be rectangles with the same area but a different perimeter and vice versa. Continuing with grammar we looked at prepositions and pronouns in our English lesson. In Art, Year 6 pupils at Windrush Valley Private School Oxfordshire have been learning about Clarice Cliff including producing their own painted pottery.